RTHK: Italy's reluctant president stays on for second term

Italian head of state Sergio Mattarella was re-elected for a second term on Saturday, with party chiefs asking him to carry on after a week of fruitless, often fraught voting in parliament to choose a successor.

Relieved party chiefs thanked 80-year-old Mattarella for agreeing to remain, but the failed attempts to replace him during seven rounds of balloting have left deep scars, with potentially dangerous repercussions for political stability.

Nonetheless, financial markets are likely to react positively to the status quo, which will see Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who had made clear he hoped to become president himself, continuing on as prime minister instead.

At the eighth round among more than 1,000 lawmakers and regional delegates in the Chamber of Deputies, loud and prolonged applause broke out when Mattarella passed the 505 votes needed for election.

Mattarella had ruled out remaining in office, but with the country's political stability at risk he changed his mind in the face of appeals from parliamentary leaders who met him at his palace earlier in the day.

In Italy's political system, the president is a powerful figure who gets to appoint prime ministers and is often called on to resolve political crises. Governments in the euro zone's third-largest economy survive around a year on average.

The leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) Enrico Letta, who had championed Mattarella's re-election, spoke to reporters to express his "enormous thanks ... for his generous choice towards the country."

Draghi earlier called Mattarella and urged him to stay on, a political source said.

Relations among the parties in the ruling coalition have deteriorated during the election process amid mutual recrimination over the failure to find a consensus figure.

Draghi's coalition includes the main centre-left and centre right parties as well as the right-wing League, the once anti-establishment 5-Star movement and a range of smaller parties.

"The overall political backdrop has become less supportive for Draghi's government, which is facing a daunting task in the year or so left before the next general election," said Wolfango Piccoli of political risk consultancy Teneo. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2022-01-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Chinese firm's architecture projects strengthen Sino-Egyptian friendship, cooperation: report

Xinhua) 08:52, January 30, 2022

CAIRO, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The architecture projects of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in Egypt have strengthened friendship and cooperation between China and Egypt, said a recent report issued by the Chinese firm CSCEC.

In its 2020-2021 sustainability report dubbed "Witness Friendship," the CSCEC said the ongoing construction of the central business district (CBD) in Egypt's new administrative capital is the largest project implemented by a Chinese company in Egypt so far.

"This is an architectural miracle created by China and Egypt together. The CBD project will become not only the new landmark of Egypt but also a symbol of the country's modernization," said the report.

The first phase of the project covers an area of 505,000 square meters, and involves 10 office buildings, five apartments, four hotels, the 385.8-meter-high "Africa's tallest" Iconic Tower that will be "Egypt's pyramid in a new era," and supporting municipal works, according to the report.

On Jan. 21, 2016, the CSCEC and Egypt's Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities signed a framework agreement for the general contract for the construction of Egypt's new administrative capital.

During the construction of the Iconic Tower, the CSCEC set a number of records in the architectural history of the Middle East and Africa, the report said.

The roof-sealing of the Iconic Tower has been not only an important achievement of mutual understanding and cooperation between China and Egypt, but also "a milestone for Egypt to introduce modern technology and usher in a new era of architectural development," it added.

The CSCEC and the Egyptian government have planned to found a joint venture to operate the CBD project including the 20 high-rise buildings, the municipal infrastructure, and real estate assets.

On Feb. 8, 2021, the CSCEC and the Egyptian Ministry of Housing formally signed the general contract for the high-rise complex project in New Alamein City. After completion of the construction, the new coastal city will become the "summer capital" of Egypt, the report said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Newport News Vice Mayor Saundra Cherry's late husband, Gregory Cherry, bought the James A. Fields house from Newport News and restored it. The house reopened to the public as a museum in January, featuring exhibits focused on the historical legacy of Americans of African heritage in the Hampton Roads region. (Kaitlin McKeown/The Virginian-Pilot)

The last words Gregory Cherry ever spoke were to ask a nurse if shed heard of the James A. Fields House.

Cherry devoted about seven years of his life to the red building on 27th Street. He made it his mission to transform the house into a museum that would tell the story of former owner James Apostles Fields and other influential African Americans from Newport News.

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When he died on Aug. 18, 2007, wife Saundra Cherry was left to decide what to do with the museum.

I prayed and asked God  How do I do this? This is bigger than me ... This is a legacy of a house of two men now  its so rich in history, she said.

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Saundra Cherry, the citys vice mayor, kept the house open for tours until it started showing signs of water damage in 2009. While the museum was closed for repairs, it was damaged again in 2016 by Hurricane Matthew.

Thirteen years later, the house reopened Jan. 1 to the public. For now, Saundra Cherry is the sole tour guide, so tours are available by appointment only.

She says her husband didnt know the houses history when he purchased it from the city for $1 in 2000 because Newport News was going to demolish it.

He  and city leaders at the time  didnt know it had once been the home and law office of James Apostles Fields  an enslaved Black man who escaped and became a member of the General Assembly, a Commonwealths Attorney and Virginias first Black judicial officer.

An image of James A. Fields is displayed on a wall inside the James A. Fields House on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, in Newport News, Va. Fields, who escaped from slavery, became a lawyer and a member of the Virginia General Assembly. The James A. Fields House reopened to the public as a museum in January after it was closed for several years. (Kaitlin McKeown/The Virginian-Pilot)

They didnt know that while the Fields family lived in the home, it also served as the first site for Whittaker Memorial Hospital  the first place in the city, other than the jail, to provide medical treatment for Black people.

The basement is staged to look like a classroom. Fields used it to teach other Black students the practice and theory of law, and all his students were said to have passed the bar examinations on their first try, according to a Washington Post report.

If the walls could talk ... Saundra Cherry repeats at various stops throughout a tour.

The story packed into the rooms and on the walls isnt just about Fields or Gregory Cherry. The former home has Black history exhibits from the Revolutionary War to present day.

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Upstairs, theres a room dedicated to Black history in Newport News with an emphasis on the citys Southeast Community. The room tells the story of Pinketts Beach, now King-Lincoln Park, which was the public beach space in the city for African Americans during the segregated 1950s. It pays tribute to Black artists from the city, such as jazz musicians Ella Fitzgerald and Queen Esther and entertainer Pearl Bailey.

It opens the door for conversation for African Americans because we were not taught a lot of the things youre going to see in the house ... It makes us aware of the struggles, the triumphs and the accomplishments of African Americans ... from slavery up until today, Saundra Cherry said.

She says history was Gregory Cherrys passion  she wasnt interested  but she listened to him lead tours and tell stories, and found herself gaining the confidence to lead them, too.

The day Gregory Cherry died, someone was planning to tour the Fields House. Saundra Cherry said she watched as Gregory struggled to breathe in his hospital bed, noticing he kept looking to his wrist, as though checking a watch. She didnt plan to give the tour that day, but a nurse said her husband needed to be intubated and she couldnt be in the room.

So, she left the hospital and gave the tour.

When Saundra returned to the intensive care unit, a nurse asked about the house, saying Gregory had asked whether shed ever heard of it. She hadnt.

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I said, Well, Ill tell you a little bit about the house and when he wakes up, Ill let him tell you the rest of the story, Saundra recalled.

He never woke up.

I knew in my spirit that it was something that I needed to do to maintain the house, she said. It was challenging, but I am blessed, richly ... It helped me in the journey to try to keep the legacy going.

Gregorys work led to the house being listed on the Virginia Landmark Register, the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Civil War Trails.

Saundra isnt just preserving the work Gregory did. She has plans to expand it.

She hopes to add an accessory building with another exhibit designated to more Newport News history and a theater, and shes found an artist to paint a mural on the side of the house.

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Every piece of the house is something  its a piece of African American history, Saundra said. Its a history that people may not have ever seen or ever known. ... (Gregory) started the work and the work is continuing.

The James A Fields House is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday by appointment only. To make an appointment to tour, call 757-813-6014 or email jafieldshouse@hotmail.com.

Jessica Nolte, 757-912-1675, jnolte@dailypress.com
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Playing Hooky On the N. Oregon Coast During This Week's Sun

Published 01/25/22 at 5:36 PM PST

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Nehalem, Oregon)  A run of fine weather on the Oregon coast for the week, and well, work just seems to fall apart. The sun is out along the beaches, the temps will feel more like 70 at times (if the wind stays calm), and let's face it: it's been a long, dreary winter.

Itchin' to call in sick and head for the coast? Here's where to hide from your boss. [Warm, Sunny Skies for Washington / Oregon Coast - But Also Sneaker Waves Temps close to 60 in some places, some sneaker waves and stagnant air]

First, A Delicious Little Oregon Coast Travel Secret: Right now, the entire Oregon coast and Washington coast are at their lowest possible winter rates, and the great weather is only for the weekdays. You may find overnight stays as low as 30 bucks per night. Get ready for some awesome price deals, including perhaps specials such as three nights for the price of two. Talk about getting your Vitamin D for cheap. See the Oregon Coast Hotels page

In Seaside and Cannon Beach, it's where the generations have played hooky from work in the Portland area. While Cannon Beach has only become such a hotspot in the last thirty years, Seaside has been the big draw for a good one hundred years.



Photo courtesy Seaside Aquarium

In Seaside, the big attractions are the Promenade, the beaches and the shops along Broadway. Together, the three form this unique, multi-sided identity that is Seaside's: part historical nugget, part natural wonder and part kitschy playground. This is, after all, the town that had a giant Ferris wheel for years until the 80s.

The Prom is about a mile and a half of charming leftover Americana that takes you back in time if you spend some careful moments strolling its length. The family fun happens along the main drag, with a smattering of kiddie attractions, loads of shops, restaurants and a handful of bars.

However, it's the beaches that are the real attraction. The sands here run a few miles from the "cove" end at the south, just below Tillamook Head, to the mouth of the Necanicum River to the north. From its southern end, things go from a rickety, cobblestone-covered beach to softer sands, becoming dunes at the northern end of town, until it all dumps you off into an estuary and the river.

In Cannon Beach, this arty resort town is smothered in cedar siding and boasts a plethora of upscale hotels, eateries, galleries and shops. On its north end, Ecola State Park contains such natural jaw-droppers as the cozy crescent of Indian Beach, great views of mysterious Tillamook Head Lighthouse looming offshore, and the cliffs overlooking the town to the south.

On the beach, Haystack Rock is of course the most prominent feature, but head to the town's extreme southern or northern ends and you'll find things less dense in population and containing a few funky geologic wonders.

Head south into Nehalem Bay for more north Oregon coast pleasures.

Even on chilly winter days it can be a bit of madness just north of here in Cannon Beach and Seaside, especially if everyone else has the idea for mid-winter down-low getaway. The tiny towns of Nehalem, Wheeler and the beachy burgh Manzanita still retain a sense of the laidback and peaceful, however. Even if these towns become packed, it's hard to not feel relaxed.

Besides, Nehalem and Wheeler host a ton of secrets just inland from the beach. Wheeler, right on the bay, is a mere few blocks, but contains numerous surprises if you wander its streets just a little bit. Antiquing takes on new dimensions, or rent a kayak and explore the rugged wilderness of the bay. Maybe even pretend you're Lewis & Clark.

On Manzanita's beaches, Neahkahnie Mountain watches over with its spooky, looming presence. Miles of pristine sands run from beneath these cliffs, past beautiful vacation homes to Nehalem Bay State Park and the end of the spit. The further you walk on the spit the more you're likely to become completely alone - possibly for the rest of your hike.

For an astounding aerial view of it all, hike to the top of Neahkahnie Mountain along its few miles of winding, twisting trails. There's even a bench plopped at a break in the trees, about a quarter of the way up, allowing you to pause and ponder the view at this already impressive altitude.

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If you want to vote in the March primary, only a few days remain to register or correct your name or address.

Monday is the deadline to file these changes.
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When students returned to classroom instruction, COVID-19's impact on them became clear.

At Sam Houston Elementary in Port Arthur ISD, students in English as a Second Language classes were behind in academic skills, brought an increased number of discipline issues back to the classroom and exhibited more challenges interacting with each other.

Sam Houston has 360 students learning English while also developing their native language -- Spanish for most of these students -- in bilingual or ESL classes, said PAISD multilingual/migrant director Karla Obregon in an email.

These students make up about half the school's total student population.

About ESL and bilingual classes Depending on a student's English skills when they start school, they may begin in a bilingual class, where the majority of the class is taught in their native language, said third grade ESL reading language arts and social studies teacher Brenda Torres. Students who have more English skills are placed in ESL classes where the class is taught in English with some native language support. Fifth grade ESL science teacher Cindy Trahan said that ESL teachers focus on writing, reading, speaking and listening -- adding on to skills students have acquired since they've exited the bilingual class. In addition, they provide other accommodations for things like vocabulary, which might take some time for the students to learn. Overall, PAISD has more than 2,000 emergent bilingual students in bilingual or ESL classes. "Our teachers here have to learn how to fill gaps that maybe other districts don't have to fill," Trahan said, noting that she'd put Port Arthur teachers up against any others, in part because of the training and other support the district provides. By reiterating foundational skills, students are able to progress, even if it is incremental. "Another teacher is going to see the fruit of our labor down the road," Trahan said. See More Collapse

Typically, these students spend their days immersed in English at varying levels, which aids their knowledge of the language and others skills. However, virtual learning meant students spent just three hours with their teachers online.

And since they've returned to in-person learning, third grade ESL math and science teacher Erica Wilson said she's noticed them struggling with reading and the ability to focus on classroom tasks and assignments.

"I would say there's been a big gap in the learning because they were virtual, for our kids, the first nine weeks (last school year)," Wilson said. "Everyone was virtual and then they had the option to come back, which not many did."

In-person learning allows a teacher to see first-hand a student's strengths and weaknesses, which can then be addressed, Torres said.

"When they're home, we only got to see them for three hours, whether it was one and a half hour for reading, one and a half hour for math," she said. "Therefore, on the screen, being that they're muted, you're trying to teach -- you don't get to see their struggles as much as you do in the classroom."

To make up for learning loss in foundational math skills, such as addition and subtraction, Wilson said she's spending extra time teaching and reteaching foundational skills each week.

"It's definitely hard to fit it in," she said. But it's necessary to get students on the correct grade level.

And it's already paying off.

"From the beginning of the year when they came in and where they are now, I see growth," Torres said. "But for those that were struggling, the growth is still not grade level growth, but it's growth."

Fourth grade ESL language arts teacher Christine Kolar said she's glad to be back teaching completely face-to-face and feels her students are benefiting from it, too.

"It was very difficult (during virtual learning) to be able to provide the support that I need to provide because I did have Spanish speakers at home," said Kolar, who is not a fluent Spanish speaker. "There's really no way to support them over the computer or even have other students help them. It was just not good."

Third grade ESL reading language arts and social studies teacher Brenda Torres and Wilson agree that virtual school hindered their students' learning not only because of the shortened learning time but also because some students didn't have access to materials needed to be successful, including having a stable environment to learn.

In addition, it's important for ESL students to hear English from a native speaker, Torres said.

"Exposure to the language -- that right there alone will help them improve their own language because they can hear it from a native speaker," she said.

And many students don't have an English speaker at home.

"When we do have those first-generation students that come around, they'll go home and teach their parents (English)," Torres said. In an in-person environment, they experience daily repetition of certain concepts. That language immersion is sometimes lost when learning from home.

With all these these factors to consider, fifth grade ESL science teacher Cindy Trahan she's worked to implement more interactive activities for students. She said it's also important to simply give students more time to learn.

"One of my big (accommodations) in science is just wait time, just being patient and letting those kids who may need a little bit longer to write their notes or whatever to catch up," she said. "One of the most important things we do is showing them pictorial representations of vocabulary, so they can put the words with the pictures in their mind."

But the pandemic didn't just impact students' academic performance.

"A lot of them I think have a little bit of trauma from this experience, because you can tell their emotional skills are not there," Wilson said. "A lot of them have really bad coping skills, and they kind of lash out."

Torres said an increased number of students lack social skills and struggle to make friends while back in the classroom.

"They don't know how to make friends," she said. "They struggle to hold just peer conversation. So, I feel like (the pandemic) has affected them in that sense, not only academically, but in learning how to go outside of the classroom and socialize ..."

For Torres' and Wilson's third graders, this is the first year since kindergarten that they are able to have a "normal" school year. The teachers said they try to facilitate conversations between students to grow their social skills.

"We give them opportunities to talk to each other," Wilson said. "Even though we tell them to be quiet, they have to talk to each other in order to grow their social skills, whether it's in small group or with partner work."

Kolar said some of her students are having trouble adjusting to a normal school day again.

"I have a student, she sticks out in my head," she said. "And she's a (gifted and talented) student, but she just struggles so much because she did virtual all year long last year, and so she's having a difficult time getting back into the swing of things. She's not able to complete assignments and doesn't know what to do."

Kolar said she saw more behavioral issues last year with the students who returned for in-person classes, though this year there have been fewer discipline issues.

"I saw a lot of the acting out, they were just wild," she said.

But Torres and Wilson said they've seen improvement here, too.

"At the beginning of the year, they were more to themselves, or they would stay at their desks instead of finding somewhere to sit with a partner," Torres said. "Now after Christmas, they're all in a little circle, they have someone that's leading the group, they're talking and discussing their answers."

Out of the four third grade classes, only Torres and Wilson are ESL-certified. Each have about 20 ESL students in their classes.

But Torres said that she thinks every teacher could be ESL certified, because most of the support teachers would provide in a "regular" classroom would also be provided in an ESL classroom. And teachers do not have to be fluent in another language to become ESL certified.

Sometimes I feel like teachers are afraid of taking the certification test or having more work assigned to them (because they feel they will) have to go above and beyond for this student, she said. In reality, what youre doing in the classroom for your struggling (non-ESL) student, is the same thing you would do for your ESL student.

If all the teachers were certified, students would be distributed more evenly and have more exposure to native language speakers.

"You just provide extra support," said Kolar, who is not fluent in Spanish. "Drawing pictures, for them, stopping to explain what a word means or looking up a word -- pictures are very helpful in acquiring the language. It's not a huge barrier, not being (fluent in Spanish), most of the students are fluent in English by the time they get to fourth grade."

Kolar said she also uses tools such as Google Translate for papers sent home to parents. The school also has translators when necessary.

Moving forward, Torres and Wilson said they'd like to see an intervention program where struggling students are moved to smaller classes for part of the day to receive more one-on-one instruction with fewer distractions.

This could be particularly valuable for students struggling with phonetics. She said some of her students are reading at a kindergarten or first grade level.

"If they had that intense intervention where they're actually removed from the classroom and their only focus is strictly on these phonics skills, I feel like when they come back to the classroom, their reading would be better. Comprehension would go up as well," she said.

While teachers help students develop their English-language skills, Trahan noted Port Arthur ISD pays particular attention to each student's own culture.

"We celebrate all cultures, and we have more of a 'We' community than an 'I' community," she said. "It helps the kids value other cultures, and I think it helps them feel included and that they're a part of our community. Most of our kids are Hispanic or they come from a Spanish-speaking home. So, I think it's only natural that we should honor and celebrate that."

Trahan said while ESL classes continue to support English language development, they do not take away the native language and cultures that the students had before.

We try to teach them to believe in themselves, to not give up on who they are and their culture, she said. We try to build trust with them. Also a big thing we try to do is including our families  making sure were communicating with our parents in their native language, so that they feel comfortable coming to us.

How much time it will take to remedy the pandemic's impact on students remains to be seen. And Trahan noted it's not going to happen overnight. But she said the progress is promising.

"Maybe the student is in fifth grade, but at a second grade (level), and you get them to third grade," she said. "And then next year, they may go up two grade levels, and then the next year, they're caught up. But if you don't lay the foundation down here, obviously it's never going to happen."

olivia.malick@hearst.com

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HOUSTON (AP)  A Houston man accused of stabbing a police dog and wanted for questioning in the death of his father, whose body was found hidden in his home's garage, was arrested Tuesday after evading capture for several hours, according to authorities.

Police say Ryan Mitchell Smith, 26, is considered a person of interest in his father's death and had warned he should be considered a public threat given his recent actions over the past few days, including charges related to trying to steal a car and attacking the police dog.

Given his previous charge and what were looking at now, I think it goes without saying he has a tendency for violence, Houston police Commander Kevin Deese said. I would say hes considered to be dangerous, certainly.

After disappearing in a wooded area in Houston following a police chase early Tuesday, authorities said Smith was located around 2 p.m. about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Houston, walking along a highway in Waller County. Police said a tip led authorities to Smith's location. He is facing a charge of evading arrest.

It is the second such charge Smith is facing since police allege he attempted a carjacking Saturday morning. After fleeing the scene of the carjacking and allegedly stealing merchandise from a store, Smith went to a nearby apartment parking garage, according to police.

At the garage, a Houston police dog named Nate caught up with Smith, who is accused of stabbing the animal. Smith was arrested on charges of robbery, interference with a police service animal and evading arrest.

Police said Nate underwent surgery and was recovering at home.

Smith was released Sunday from the Harris County Jail after family members posted his bonds, according to Deese.

Family members of Smiths father became concerned Monday when they had not heard from him. Both Smith and his father were staying at the same west Houston home, Deese said.

After only finding the fathers cellphone in the home, family members called police, who searched the house but found nothing.

As officers continued searching the home Monday evening, they noticed the fathers truck parked nearby, Deese said. Officers approached the truck and saw Smith behind the wheel.

Smith fled the scene and led officers on a chase that ended early Tuesday after he crashed the truck near a park, Deese said. Officers lost track of Smith after he ran into a wooded area. A weapon was found in the truck, he said.

Homicide detectives continued searching the home and found the fathers body in the garage.

He was hidden in a location that made it very difficult for anybody to find him, Deese said.

An autopsy is pending to determine a cause of death, but Deese said it appears the father did not die of natural causes.

Ralph Manginello, Smiths attorney, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Tuesday, citing the ongoing investigation.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
DALTON  Well over two years after he was injured in a New Hampshire crash that killed seven motorcyclists in 2019, Joshua Morin is still recovering, with his 25th surgery to repair his leg upcoming.

Physically, Im still beat up. My leg doesnt work like a normal left leg should work, and emotionally, its a roller coaster depending on what day it is, depends on how I feel. But for the most part, I stay optimistic, he said.

He was among the members of the Jarhead Motorcycle Club who were injured when Volodymyr Zhukovskyy crossed a double yellow line on U.S. 2 near Randolph, N.H., on June 21, 2019, striking the motorcyclists who were out riding that day. Seven motorcyclists were killed.

A federal inspection report found that Zhukovskyy was on drugs just before he crashed into the group of bikers. His criminal trial on manslaughter charges is set to begin in July.

Morin is suing the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles in Berkshire Superior Court. The suit, filed on Monday, claims the agency willfully, wantonly or recklessly failed to process thousands of license suspensions and revocations reported from out-of-state.

That failure allowed Zhukovskyy, whose license had been suspended in Connecticut after he refused a chemical breath test, to continue operating a motor vehicle, getting a job with Westport Transport and obtaining his commercial drivers licenses.

Morin is seeking unspecified monetary compensation for personal injuries, medical expenses, lost wages and other financial loss, pain and suffering, to be determined by the court.

A spokesperson for MassDOT declined to comment on the litigation.

For Morin, who was a Marine Corps mortarman and lives in Dalton, the injuries he suffered in the crash has caused financial loss as well, as he could no longer work as a traveling, trauma-trained nurse, and now works in insurance, making a quarter to a half as much as he used to.

The revelation that the Registry of Motor Vehicles hadnt been acting on scores of out-of-state notifications about driving violations was described in a report from the National Transportation Safety Board and a Pulitzer Prize winning series in the Boston Globe.

Morin bristles at the fact that person at the helm of MassDOT at the time of the crash, Stephanie Pollack, was tapped for a job in the Biden Administration after the deadly crash.

She got a promotion, he said. How do you have so many people die and a huge scandal in the registry, but get a promotion? To me, thats unreasonable.

He believes that with so many notifications having gone unprocessed for so many years, his lawsuit may not be the last of its kind against the registry.

Its definitely a case that uncorks the bottle, because this isnt a one-time shot where the registry has neglected to suspend a license, he alleged. How do we know somebody else wasnt hurt?
Two people wearing face masks and gloves burglarized the Ollies Bargain Outlet Store in Hampton just after midnight Saturday morning.

The two suspects  both male  broke into the store, in the 4000 block of West Mercury Boulevard, at 12:02 a.m., Hampton Police said.

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A news release from police said a glass front door to Ollies was shattered, setting off the stores burglary alarm. But the suspects made off with items from the store, fleeing before police arrived.

One of the males was wearing dark blue coveralls, white gloves, a black hoodie and a dark-colored face mask, police said. The other was wearing dark blue coveralls, black gloves, a dark hoodie, a black face mask and dark boots.

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Police said the suspects were of unknown race.

Anyone who knows about the crime is asked to call the Hampton Police Division at 7577276111 or the Crime Line at 1888-LOCK-U-UP or by sending tips on P3Tips.com. Crime Line callers can remain anonymous, dont have to appear in court and could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, pictured in 2019, supports same-day voter registration and does believe further study is necessary, a spokesperson said. The Massachusetts House voted to replace a proposal for Election Day registration with an order for Galvin to study the policy, splitting the four Berkshire County representatives.
The former church rectory is now a hit on Instagram
The Outlook is today's look ahead at the week's weather, its impact on the Berkshires and beyond. Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com.
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Gov. Glenn Youngkin, center, signs executive orders in the governor's conference room as Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, left, Suzanne Youngkin, Second from left, Attorney General Jason Miyares, second from right, and Secretary of the Commonwealth, Kay Cole James, right, look on at the Capitol on Jan. 15 in Richmond. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (Steve Helber/AP)

Virginia is at war with ideas.

The war was declared by Glenn Youngkin in his first official act as the 74th governor of the commonwealth. Executive Order No. 1 orders the Virginia secretary of education to identify [all policies] that promote inherently divisive concepts  Such policies shall be ended.

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That raises an obvious question: What is an inherently divisive concept?

Well, that depends on whom you ask  and whos doing the asking. Its often said that one mans terrorist is anothers freedom fighter; the determination depends on the perspective of the observer.

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In this case, the inquisitor is the state, in the form of Youngkin and the members of his administration. And they intend to root out any divisive concept in public school classrooms, something that  were Democrats in charge  would drawl howls of opposition from the governors fellow Republicans.

Putting the state in the role of policing history in the classroom is a deeply troubling prospect, especially in the birthplace of Jefferson and Madison. Involving parents in discussions about curriculum and instruction is a noble goal, but this approach hardly seems the way to do so.

Consider, for instance, the Civil War. The conflict between North and South is, by its very nature, a divisive topic of debate. One can reasonably argue that many of those who fought did so with courage and bravery and honorable intent, while also acknowledging the brutal inhumanity of human bondage that the South unquestionably sought to perpetuate.

The Civil War was complicated, and its scars are plainly evident to this day. Teaching those concepts is certain to inspire difficult conversations without educators fearing punishment should those conversations make students feel uncomfortable.

Extend that to the whole of American history. The founding of this country is both remarkable and romanticized, a nation born of ideals it routinely violated and whose authors fell short of in their own lives. The aspiration to meet them drives us even as our failure to achieve them infuriates us.

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How can we talk about segregation without acknowledging that it was exclusively white officials who used the power of the state to deny Black Americans the full measure of their citizenship based only on the color of their skin? How can we discuss Virginias history of racial terror and discrimination, including Massive Resistance to integration, without stating clearly who was responsible and why?

Its almost as though the critics would rather not have such discussions. But Youngkin insisted on the campaign trail, and has repeated since taking office, that Virginia will teach the full scope of the history  the good and the bad. But history is, more often than not, a chronicle of the bad and this executive order intends to make its teaching perilous for educators, who will rightly fear wading into turbulent waters as a result.

But Youngkin isnt alone in his efforts. State Sen. Jen Kiggans, a Republican from Virginia Beach with aspirations for a seat in Congress, has sponsored a bill that would codify this unenforceable proposition in state law. What effect would it have? Nobody can say, though we can speculate it would be grim.

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Lets not forget how the governor has proposed to collect information about potential violators: an email tip line he touted during a radio talk show appearance that week. The visceral response it received, along with comparisons to some of the darkest moments in history, should tell the administration its on the wrong path.

Youngkin campaigned against Critical Race Theory, a framework taught in law schools employed as a catch-all term for policies and initiatives that seek to advance equity and diversity. Though it is not taught in public schools, it has been employed as a cudgel to beat back efforts to make classrooms and instruction more inclusive.

Virginia would be poorer should such efforts succeed, just as its students would be less prepared for their futures without understanding, discussing and debating difficult ideas in the classroom.

A war on ideas is a war Virginia doesnt need. Its a war the governor cannot win.
In the 1950s, American school kids celebrated the coming of summer with a poem: "No more pencils, No more books, No more teacher's Dirty looks!" Today, the "dirty looks" are cast at traditional grading as much has changed in the nation's public schools. Progressive policies that harm children are being installed around the country, but many don't understand what's really going on because there is little media coverage. Let's analyze the effort to eliminate grades. According to leftist philosophy, traditional grading is racist because some minority students are deprived and can't compete with privileged white children. And there is some truth to that. I saw it first hand while teaching high school in a ghetto north of Miami, Florida. The progressive solution is to eliminate "A to F" evaluations and replace them with a totally subjective "does the student understand the classwork" mandate. That system allows the teacher vast power because there's no specific academic baseline. Also, many schools are under pressure to promote kids even if they don't know anything and the teachers know it. Those who embrace this soft academic approach justify it by citing slavery, societal bias, and anti-American grievance in general. But the real reason so many minority children don't compete well in school is poor parenting. The same goes for white and Native-American students. In fact, few children of any race can succeed academically if they live in chaotic homes with parents who don't care about them. That. Is. The. Truth. And unless the public school system acknowledges that truth, children in terrible circumstances will not prosper. I mean, how could they possibly compete in the marketplace with the "white privilege" crew? And if young Americans can't compete, what is likely to happen? You can do the math on that question. The largest school district in the country, New York City, spends more than $28,000 per student each year. Yet, most kids cannot master Math and English. The average Catholic school spends half that, and those students perform much better academically. Why? Simple. Parents who pay to send their kids to Catholic schools obviously care about academic discipline because that's what most private schools provide. Public schools often do not foster discipline. And now, in New York City, classroom attendance is no longer even required for academic evaluation, nor is civil conduct. The cold reality is that the progressive educational zealots are setting up deprived kids for lifelong failure. There is no skin color factor when it comes to native intelligence. Under disciplined circumstances, almost every child can learn and develop their talents. But just like the criminal-justice system, the progressives want to eliminate accountability and are playing the race card to do it. What a colossal mistake.
Dedicated National R&D Policy to bolster Indian Pharma Sector

The India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai hosted a roundtable, India  Pharmacy of the world as part of the ongoing Health & Wellness week, wherein many governments and industry experts discussed the key focus areas including regulatory reforms, pharma exports, ease of doing business, R&D financing mechanisms and clinical trial scenario in India.

In his virtual address, N Yuvraj, Joint Secretary (Policy, Medical Device, Pharma Bureau), Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India (GoI) said, The current valuation of the Indian pharma industry is $41 billion, which has the potential to grow up to $130 billion by 2030. There is a strong potential for further growth for the industry, but it should be in a holistic manner from across the value chain.

Dr Rubina Bose, Deputy Drugs Controller (India), Central Drugs Standard Control Organization said, We have taken various measures to streamline the drug regulatory system in the country by ensuring transparency, accountability and promote innovations, scientific and ethical research. These measures are aligned with the National Health Policy, which aims to improve and strengthen the regulatory environment for easing drugs and devices manufacturing while promoting Make in India.

Uday Bhaskar, Director General, Pharmexcil, Ministry of Commerce, GoI said, India is doing extremely well in the pharma export. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is continuing the legacy of providing the medicines at a very affordable price not only to the underdeveloped countries and the developing countries but also to the well-developed and highly regulated markets.

The roundtable was also attended by Taher Karampurwala, Cluster Head  APAC and MENA, Cipla along with other dignitaries, who joined the session virtually including Dr Dulal Panda, Director, NIPER Mohali, Dr Manish Diwan, Head  Strategy Partnership & Entrepreneurship Development, BIRAC, Department of Biotechnology, GoI, Vikrant Shrotriya, MD, Novo Nordisk India, Dr Murali Ramachandra, CEO, Aurigene Discovery Technologies (Subsidiary of Dr Reddys Laboratories) and Ms Suneela Thatte, Vice President and Head- R&D India, Merck KGaA.

Indian pharma manufacturers export nearly half of the pharma production, both in terms of volume and value to the US, UK, South Africa, Russia and other countries.

The Health & Wellness week at India Pavilion will conclude on 4th February 2022.
New Delhi: A Delhi Court has rejected the bail plea of Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged creator of the 'Bulli Bai' app observing that various women journalists of a particular community have been targeted by the accused person, to be abused and insulted on a public platform, which is certainly going to have an adverse impact upon the communal harmony.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana dismissed the bail plea of Niraj Bishnoi and said, "Considering the nature of the crime, the seriousness of allegations and nascent stage of the investigation, I do not find any merits in the application at hand and the same is accordingly dismissed. "

The Court noted that in the case at hand, around 100 women journalists of a particular community have been targeted by the accused persons, to be abused and insulted on a public platform.

"The act is certainly going to have an adverse impact upon the communal harmony of a society wherein woman has been deified since time immemorial and any attempt to scornfully objectify them is certainly going to invite vehement resistance from the community at large," said the court.

"The act of the applicant accused cannot be countenanced by any civilized society and the modus operandi of the alleged offence suggests meticulous planning and deft execution," stated the court.

The court also noted that the sardonic conduct of the applicant/accused Bishnoi in targeting women journalists of a particular community, using offensive monikers with derogatory communal overtones, on a social platform is not only an offence against the essence of womanhood but also an act designed to enrage passion cause ill will amongst communities and disturb communal harmony.

The court observed that the allegations against the applicant/accused are serious in nature.

"The investigation is at a nascent stage. I do not find any merits in the application at hand, " said the court in its order dated January 29.

The Delhi Police on Tuesday opposed the bail plea of Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged creator of the Bulli Bai app, saying that the investigation is at a very nascent stage.

Public Prosecutor Advocate Irfan Ahmed appearing for Delhi Police submitted that the contents on his Twitter handles were derogatory, accused with others were using words like "Suli" and "Buli" against the girls of a particular community.

Advocate Irfan Ahmed also submitted that the accused used his Twitter handle to target women of a particular community. Only one victim has turned up by now and there are many others who are yet to be found out.

Advocate L Ojha appearing for Niraj Bishnoi submitted, "I was arrested as a suspect. It's a bailable offence but during disclosure, sections of the IT Act was slapped on me. The Twitter handle which was used in the offence of committing the crime, my client have not used any derogatory language." He also submits that section 153A also invoked in FIR, it says about communal harmony. The complaint is by an individual and there is no group or community.

Bishnoi, a 21-year-old engineering student, who is said to be the main conspirator and creator of the Bulli Bai app on GitHub and the main Twitter account holder of the app, was arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell's Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit (IFSO) from Assam's Jorhat on January 5, 2022.

Earlier, the Magistrate court had dismissed the bail petition of Niraj Bishnoi stating that a vilification campaign against women containing derogatory content and offending material having communal overtones was run on this App being made by the accused.

Delhi Police had earlier said that during interrogation, Niraj Bishnoi disclosed that the app was developed in November 2021 and updated on December 21 and he had created one more Twitter account to talk about the app.

Several complaints were received by police stations in the country regarding the listing of Muslim women for "auction" on the 'Bulli Bai' mobile application with photographs sourced without permission and doctored. It has happened for the second time in less than a year. The app appeared to be a clone of 'Sulli Deals' which triggered a similar row last year.

An engineering student from Bengaluru, a young girl from Uttarakhand, and one of her friends have also been arrested by Mumbai Police in connection with the 'Bulli Bai' app case.
The employees rejected the government's claim that the wages would go up under the PRC. (DC file image)

Vijayawada: With no headway in resolving the deadlock over revised payscales, a majority section of employees is ready to accept the upward revision of house rent allowance (HRA), restoration of city compensatory allowance (CCA) and additional quantum of pension of 10 per cent to pensioners aged 70 to 80 years.

Employees in the AP Secretariat and in the offices of heads of departments located in the capital Amaravati and its surrounding areas used to get HRA of 30 per cent which was decreased to 16 per cent in the revised payscales.

Employees working in district headquarters and in urban centres used to get HRA of 20 per cent and those in villages and mandals 12 per cent. It was cut to eight per cent for both.

State employees working in the capital used to get CCA of Rs 1,000 and those in other places Rs 700. The state government abolished the CCA. Pensioners in the age group of 70 to 80 years used to get additional quantum of pension of 10 per cent of basic pay which was also abolished.

The government announced interim relief of 27 per cent of basic pay in 2019 and recently announced fitment of 23 per cent. This meant the balance would be recovered from the employees.

To resolve this, employees unions asked the government to revise the three slabs of HRA upwards, restore CCA and additional quantum of pension.

Meanwhile, the state government issued GO Ms No.12 on Saturday revising the HRA to 16 per cent from 8 per cent to the employees working in head of the departments of the director of works accounts and pay and accounts office, Ibrahimpatnam, based a request from HoDs situated around Vijayawada on par with the employees working in the Secretariat at Velagapudi and other HoDs working in Vijayawada.

The revised HRA is applicable to all the employees of the HoDs, who are relocated from Hyderabad and those whose working office locations fall under the 8 per cent HRA area.

Welcoming the gesture, employees want similar relief by some percentage points to ease the tense situation and prevent the employee strike from February 7.

The employees rejected the government's claim that the wages would go up under the PRC. They claimed that if the revised payscales were to be implemented in the present format, the government will recover differential amounts for HRA and IR to the tune of several thousands of rupees from each employee.

For instance, an employees leader said that in the old scales, an employee with basic pay of Rs 34,100 would get DA of Rs 18,949 (55.568 per cent of basic), interim relief of Rs 9,207 (27 per cent), HRA Rs 10,230 (30 per cent) and CCA of Rs 700, totalling Rs 73,186.

In the new PRC, the employee with basic pay of Rs 52,600, would DA of Rs 10,531, HRA of Rs 8,416 and no IR and CCA. The total pay would be Rs 71,547. The net loss calculated in new PRC was Rs 1,639 for January 2022.

The monthly salary loss for 21 months, when the PRC calculation began, comes up to Rs 34,419. IR recovery is Rs 52,154 and HRA recovery is Rs 1,82,537 and total loss is estimated to be Rs 2,69,110.
OTTAWA - Trucks jamming Ottawa streets shut down the core of the national capital on Saturday as a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd packed Parliament Hill to demand the federal Liberal government end vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions, promising to stay for as long as needed to fulfill their goals.

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OTTAWA - Trucks jamming Ottawa streets shut down the core of the national capital on Saturday as a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd packed Parliament Hill to demand the federal Liberal government end vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions, promising to stay for as long as needed to fulfill their goals.

The sounds of honking horns echoed around downtown from vehicles parked and idling in front of the parliamentary buildings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office and the National War Memorial as protesters weaved between the semis and personal vehicles parked for blocks.

ADRIAN WYLD - THE CANADIAN PRESS A statue of Terry Fox is decorated with a Canadian flag, protest sign and hat as protesters participating in a cross-country truck convoy protesting measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine mandates walk gather Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022.

By the afternoon, the swell of traffic forced police to close streets and warn there was no longer room for vehicles downtown, other than first responders.

Eschewing masks and holding signs proclaiming the need for freedom, some protesters were seen carrying copies of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Still others brandished expletive-laden signs targeting Trudeau.

Parliament Hill was awash in cold air and the unmistakable smell of marijuana as protesters outlined a range of concerns with COVID-19 restrictions. Those concerns went well beyond the initial focus of the event: to oppose vaccine mandates for truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border.

"I can't go on a holiday. I can't go to a restaurant, I can't go bowling. I can't go to a movie. You know, these are things that it's just gotten out of control." Tom Pappin

"This is a lot more than just COVID. This is about control (and) tyranny," said Luke Winkels, who said he opted for early retirement once he needed to be vaccinated to drive his truck across the border.

CP A person pumps their fists as they stand on top of a transport truck after arriving on Wellington Street in front of on Parliament Hill as part of a cross-country convoy protesting measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19, in Ottawa, on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

"This has brought people's true feelings out. It's not going back in the box again."

The weekend-long rally had led the Parliamentary Protective Service to expect as many as 10,000 protesters, with local police getting reinforcements from other municipal forces, the Ontario Provincial Police and RCMP to handle the crowd until it dispersed.

But by late Saturday, it wasn't clear when that would happen.

Several in attendance, such as Winkels, vowed to stay parked by Parliament until vaccine mandates and public-health restrictions are lifted. Others wanted Trudeau forced out as prime minister, or chided him for not meeting with demonstrators to hear their concerns.

"We need to fix this. We've got this amount of momentum going," said Karen Klus, who said she came from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., due to frustration over ongoing restrictions that have left her without work as a meeting planner in the travel industry.

"This is the Canadian space to have the debate, so that's why we're here." Phil Powers

Phil Powers, a truck driver from Oshawa, Ont., who parked his trailer truck in front of Parliament Hill for the weekend, was less optimistic that the government would fold to demands:

"It's a nice thought, but I don't think anything will happen immediately," he said.

Protesters participating in a cross-country truck convoy protesting measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine mandates protest near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

While the federal government has imposed a vaccine mandate for federally regulated workers and at the Canada-U.S. border, almost all COVID-19 restrictions fall under provincial jurisdiction. Those include mask mandates, business and school closures, and other public and private gathering limits.

Not all those assembled downtown were opposed to public health measures.

"Masks are important, vaccines are important, and mandates are important only because we need them to stay alive and not fill our hospitals up," said Phil Haggart, who came to deliver a pro-vaccine message, as protesters rang cow bells close by.

But some politicians threw their support behind the demonstrators, including Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. He issued a statement on Saturday vowing to end his province's proof-of-vaccination policy "in the not-too-distant future." He also said the cross-border vaccine requirement made no sense and voiced support for calls to repeal it.

The border rule, announced in November, took effect this month alongside a reciprocal American policy. Since the American requirement kicked in one week ago, the number of trucks crossing the border fell by just under five per cent compared with the same week one year earlier, based on statistics from Public Safety Canada.

Previous estimates indicated the vaccination mandate would affect about one-tenth of Canada's cross-border truckers, such as Winkels. His compatriots in Ottawa said they were stocked with food, ready to sleep in their cabs and were receiving donations and gift cards to help them through an extended stay downtown.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump, speaking Saturday in Texas at one of his trademark rallies, shouted out the protests briefly as he urged the crowd to reject vaccine mandates in all their forms.

In "resisting bravely" what he called "lawless" mandates, truckers in Canada "are doing more to defend American freedom than our own leaders, by far," Trump said.

"We are with them all the way. They have really shown something."

While the mood of attendees was largely jovial and peaceful on Saturday, there were flashes of the simmering tension that has kept the city on edge in recent days. Some in the crowd waved Confederate flags or held signs with Nazi symbols or references.

Maverick Ontario politician Randy Hillier tweeted a video of himself trying to get past parliamentary security, saying they should open up Parliament Hill "or we might have to open it up for ourselves."

A memo being pushed by Canada Unity, the group that mainly planned the convoy, unlawfully demands Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and the Senate force federal and provincial governments to lift all COVID-19 restrictions, including vaccine mandates. It does not mention truckers, and was initially sent to the Senate and Simon on Dec. 11.

Still, Canada Unity organizer Patrick King used an afternoon speech to argue that politicians would have to listen to their concerns as he spoke from a flatbed in view of Trudeau's office and Parliament Hill.

"To finally see you guys stand up and say, 'no,' is the most amazing thing I've seen yet," said King, who has also been called out in the past for espousing misinformation about COVID-19.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance said many in the crowd had no connection to the trucking industry and were there to push a separate agenda.

In part of the statement directed at truckers in attendance, the alliance said their actions would effect the "majority of your colleagues from coast-to-coast who do not share your opinion but share your passion for the industry and country."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2022.

- With files from Laura Osman and Mia Rabson
Real estate entrepreneur Antony Catalano and backer Alex Waislitz will exclude their publishing business from an ASX listing as part of a lengthy proposal that involves a takeover of multiple assets and a shell company that once held regional broadcaster Prime Media Group.

Mr Catalano is expected to increase his stake in classifieds business Real Estate View to 72 per cent by the end of the week as he prepares to bring together a range of companies controlled by investment vehicle, IMP, and list them on the ASX by the end of this financial year. Mr Catalano said he can offer investors a competitive alternative to real-estate giants News Corps REA Group and Nine Entertainment Cos Domain.

Former Domain boss Antony Catalano is preparing to bring together his real-estate assets and list publicly. Credit:Peter Braig

But the pairs regional publishing business Australian Community Media, which houses The Canberra Times and The Newcastle Herald, will not be listed, according to a proposal which is expected to be discussed with the board of PRT Company Ltd (formerly Prime) in the next few weeks.

The details of his plan have come to light after The Australian Financial Review reported earlier this month that Mr Catalano, former CEO of real-estate listings portal Domain, was pursuing a listing on the ASX for the second time. Mr Catalano was CEO of Domain when it publicly listed in 2017. He abruptly left the business two months later.
As per the cadre strength fixed by the Centre, at least 52 IAS officers from AP should be on Central Deputation Reserve' but the current number is a mere 15

Amaravati: More than the proposed changes to the cadre rules, non-empanelment for various ranks has become the major stumbling block for Indian Administrative Service officers of Andhra Pradesh cadre, depriving them of the opportunity to serve at the Centre.

The 360-degree' system, under which senior IAS officers, and even retired bureaucrats, are called at random to evaluate junior officers before they are considered for empanelment at the Centre, is affecting their prospects, the officers lament.

From the AP cadre, there are now only three IAS officers in the Secretary rank, one Additional Secretary rank and four in the Joint Secretary rank working in the central government on deputation. One more is at the Director level.

Two officers are empanelled in the Additional Secretary rank and four in the Joint Secretary rank, making them eligible for central posting.

For the record, as per the cadre strength fixed by the Centre, at least 52 IAS officers from AP should be on Central Deputation Reserve' but the current number is a mere 15, with little empanelment in the last few years.

This is the lowest number of empanelled officers from the state to the Centre in decades, though many are competent. If this trend continues, soon there will be little AP presence in the central bureaucracy, a top IAS officer pointed out.

Of the three Secretaries (from AP cadre) in the central departments, one will retire at the end of February and another in August. The third one will retire in June 2023.

After that, for years there may not be a Union Secretary from our state cadre at the Centre. Earlier, there used to be at least half a dozen officers from AP holding crucial Secretary posts in the GoI, the officer said.

What has become worrisome for bureaucrats is the depletion of bench strength at the Centre.

Of the four Joint Secretaries now at the Centre, three are on only a few months' extension and have to return to the state soon.

The central deputation tenure of the lone Director level officer is also coming to an end.

The state government has recently issued the no-objection certificate to only one IAS officer for deputation to the Centre at the Joint Secretary level.

Beyond that neither there are officers empanelled, nor is the state willing to spare those already eligible. This is worrisome as hopes of middle-level officers to gain exposure at the national level are getting dashed," a officer lamented.

Since 2007, a two-year central deputation at the Director level has been mandatory even for empanelment as Joint Secretary.

If the state doesn't send Director or Deputy Secretary level officers on deputation, they can't become Joint Secretary or further up at the Centre. It affects the career progression of IAS officers adversely, but importantly the state will be the ultimate loser as there will not be any representation at the Centre in a few years, a top bureaucrat told PTI.

Referring to the grounds cited by the Centre for the proposed amendments to the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954, officers observe the claim that states are not sponsoring adequate number of officers for Central deputation leading to shortage was not valid.

After the 360-degree system of evaluation was put in place, somehow the AP cadre officers lost out and many could not even get empanelled for Additional Secretary and Secretary-rank posts in New Delhi, the top bureaucrat said.

These officers are many a time giving wrong and negative feedback about their colleagues, leaving the juniors in the lurch. The government of India should discard the views of these officials or do a 360-degree afresh for the cadre, the top bureaucrat said.

It is based on the feedback provided by the bureaucrats that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi two days ago, welcoming the proposed changes to the cadre rules.

More IAS officers from the state cadre at different levels in the central government will help the state. The AP government will take all necessary measures as per the proposed amendments to ensure required number of officers are sponsored from the state, the Chief Minister said.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size From Elon Musk to Warren Buffett, the idea of applying a tax on estates or inheritances, popularly known in Australia as death duties, has gained some unlikely advocates in recent years. Generally, I think the estate tax is a good tax, said the worlds richest man Musk, who is under pressure over the size of his tax bill, in December. When then-newly elected US president Donald Trump looked at abolishing the US federal estate tax in 2017, legendary investor Warren Buffett warned that would be a terrible mistake. Dynastic wealth, the enemy of a meritocracy, is on the rise, Buffett observed at the time. Equality of opportunity has been on the decline. A progressive and meaningful estate tax is needed to curb the movement of a democracy toward plutocracy. Credit:Artwork Steve Kiprillis If abolishing death duties is a mistake, its one that Australia made years ago when Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen became the first of the state premiers to abolish his states death duty from the start of 1977. Other states quickly followed suit, fearing an exodus of wealthy older people. The COVID pandemic has dealt a body blow to public finances while delivering windfall gains to some billionaires, prompting calls for countries to consider heavier taxes on inherited wealth such as death taxes.

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How do death duties work? Does Australia need one? And would it help to fix the budget or reduce inequality? What is a death duty? A duty, or tax, is simply an amount that the government collects on certain activities. There are only three things governments can tax:income, consumption or wealth. A death duty is a tax on wealth, payable on the value of accumulated wealth at the time of death. The tax may be applied directly to the holdings of a deceased persons estate (an estate tax) or levied on the person who inherits the money, at whatever their marginal tax rate is (an inheritance tax). It does create work for tax lawyers ... which doesnt mean to say its a bad idea. Death duties usually exist alongside a gift tax, to stop people simply making inter vivos transfers (between the living) and gifting away all their money before they die. Australia has neither. University of Melbourne professor of tax law Miranda Stewart is an advocate of both, noting that Australia taxes wealth relatively lightly compared to other countries.

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I do think its a good idea to tax estates. It does create complexity. It does create work for tax lawyers  theres no doubt because these are precisely the people who tax plan  which doesnt mean to say its a bad idea. Why did Australia abolish its death duties? Death duties were first introduced in Australia in NSW in 1851 where they were abolished in 1874 and then reintroduced in 1880. Loading According to economist Saul Eslake, By 1895, all the Australian colonies had some form of death duty; and by 1910, estate duties accounted for more than 30 per cent of total state government revenues. In 1914, the Commonwealth government imposed a federal death duty on top of state-based duties, to fund the war effort. However, as the tax system evolved and states were granted other revenue-raising powers, such as taxing payrolls, death duties shrank as a proportion of total revenue.

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Meanwhile, death duties began to bite harder into middle-income families. Eslake explains: By the late 1960s, the failure of state and federal governments to adjust the thresholds at which estate duties became payable since the 1940s meant that individuals with quite modest levels of wealth [as little as $5000 for estates passing to beneficiaries other than a surviving spouse, children or grandchildren] were becoming subject to duties that were originally only meant to tax very large inheritances or bequests. Farming families, in particular, despised the tax, which made it hard for cash-poor inheritors to pay the tax without selling the family farm. During the 1977 election, both Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser promised to follow suit with state premiers and abolish the federal death duty  a promise later fulfilled by Fraser as prime minister in 1979. Which countries still charge death duties? As it turns out, Australia was something of a global pioneer in the abolition of death duties. The last of Canadas provincial-based death duties was abolished in 1985 followed by New Zealand (in 1992), Israel (2001), Portugal and Sweden (2004), Hong Kong (2006), Singapore and Austria (2008), and Norway and Estonia (2014). However, death duties are still the norm among the 37 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), existing in 24 countries. Belgium and France raise the most revenue from such taxes in Europe while in Asia, South Korea and Japan also tax estates relatively heavily. Inheritors of the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee are preparing to pay what is believed to be one of the worlds biggest ever inheritance tax bills. The South Korean billionaires surviving wife and three children will collectively pay around $US10 billion ($14 billion) thanks to the nations hefty 50 per cent inheritance tax on large bequests. They will reportedly sell some company shares and real estate to pay the tax, while also donating a large portion of Lees fine art collection, which includes pieces by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, to reduce their liability.

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Different countries apply different thresholds to exempt a portion of inherited wealth from taxation. In the United States, president Trump increased the tax-free threshold to $US11.7 million of all estates, so in practice, only 0.2 per cent of estates are liable to pay any tax (and then only on the portion above the threshold). Belgium currently has the lowest threshold, at around $US17,000, meaning that in the Brussels-Capital region, 48 per cent of estates is taxed. In South Korea, the family of the late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-Hee, pictured here, will pay one of the worlds biggest inheritance tax bills. Credit:AP Are inheritances driving rising inequality? You might think one of the main reasons to implement a death duty is to stop the inter-generational transmission of ever larger inheritances from deepening inequality in society. But surprisingly this is not the case, according to a Productivity Commission research paper released in December. Yes, richer parents do leave bigger dollar sums to their children. But as a proportion of the childs existing wealth prior to receiving an inheritance, it is lower- and middle-income children who benefit the most.

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Two-year-old Jonathan loves going to the park with his mother. When there, Gemma Najem is his body  taking the cheeky and bright youngster on the equipment and helping him play with his brother.

Roughly one in 10,000 babies are born with spinal muscular astrophy, a disorder similar to motor neurone disease which causes muscle weakness. For Jonathan, the impact the condition  diagnosed at birth  will have on his life was reduced substantially when he received access to gene therapy before he turned five months old.

Gemma Najem with her son Jonathan (aged 2) who has received life-saving spinal muscular atrophy treatment from viral vector therapy. Credit:James Alcock

Although she is grateful for the treatment he did receive, Ms Najem said she was aware that, had Jonathan been born a little later, or in a different place, maybe he would not need her help to jump.

In America, where the gene therapy was developed, there are kids being treated pre-symptomatically now, she said. A child can be picked up as needing therapy, treated and may never need mobility equipment.
The NSW government will give families a $500 voucher for every primary schoolchild in an effort to ease the childcare burden and give parents more options as they return to work.

The $155 million program will also be a much-needed stimulus for the out-of-school hours care industry, which once struggled to cope with demand but is now fighting to remain viable after two years of low enrolments due to COVID-19 uncertainty and parents working from home.

Parents are to be given a $500 voucher for each primary school child to help cover the costs of childcare. Credit:Eddie Jim

As students in the Catholic system return to classrooms on Monday, and public school students head back on Tuesday, Premier Dominic Perrottet said parents could apply for the vouchers through Service NSW from February 28.

The vouchers  similar to the Dine and Discover program  will cover the parent gap fee, which is the portion paid by families after the Commonwealth-funded child care subsidy is applied. The daily cost of after-school care ranges from $20 to $40, and for middle-income parents the gap fee is about half.
Queensland appears to be passing its Omicron peak, with a substantial decline in the number of people in hospital with COVID, however the state has recorded one case of a new Omicron sub-variant.

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said the sub-variant, BA.2, was detected in a person overnight.

Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard. Credit:Dan Peled/Getty Images

What we know about this strain of virus is it does appear to be a bit more contagious, he said.

It doesnt seem to be any more harmful and, as far as we know, it appears that the vaccines are equally effective against this strain, so Im not unduly concerned about it.
In 1975, 16-year-old Deb Sweeney told her mum she would spend the Australia Day long weekend at a friends house in Reservoir, in Melbournes north.

In fact, a friend drove Sweeney and four other mates to the Sunbury rock festival, where she had a ball seeing bands and meeting thousands of new friends.

Deb Sweeney with a Sunbury 75 beer can in front of a photo of the Sunbury music festival site. Credit:Chris Hopkins

It was the best time of my life, says Ms Sweeney, who now runs a Facebook page celebrating the four Sunbury music festivals, which were held on a farm in Diggers Rest.

Ms Sweeney, now 63, helped lobby the City of Hume to stage an exhibition called Barefoot in the Grass that opened on Saturday to mark the 50th anniversary of the first festival in 1972.
Trapped at home in isolation for the final week of her summer break, incoming year 12 student Gitaanjali Nair is doing her best to put a positive spin on a bad situation.

For me, its a good thing because I have to finish reading these English texts, she says.

Melbourne student Gitaanjali Nair is using her time in isolation to get ahead on reading her year 12 texts.

Gitaanjali is about to start her final year of school at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar and cannot wait to be back in the classroom this week.

She believes its a sentiment shared by nearly all of her peers, who are desperate to mix with friends and even teachers in real life, despite the continuing high case numbers of the Omicron variant.
There are now 889 people in hospital with the virus in Victoria, 63 fewer than on Saturday. Thirty-five people are on ventilators and 111 are in intensive care. More than 25,172 PCR tests results were returned on Saturday. Victoria has 78,294 active cases, down from 191,058 last Sunday. Of the new cases reported on Sunday, 4479 were confirmed in PCR tests, while 6110 were self-reported from rapid antigen tests. Mr Andrews noted there had been a very significant reduction in the number of people in the community that have COVID from last week, but not every positive case in Victoria was being caught by testing.

There will be more virus in the community than [we know about], thats always been the case, he said. Thats why we have mask rules  Theyre all about common sense and everybody playing their part to try and limit the spread of this wildly infectious virus. Opposition Leader Matthew Guy on Sunday called on the government to rule out mandating booster doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for the general Victorian community. Mr Guy also called on the government to end use of QR codes for check in, rule out any future lockdown restrictions and lift working from home recommendations. Asked about the comments, Mr Andrews said he would follow the advice of experts.

Theres a lot of people who continue to refuse to accept the logic, refuse to accept the fact that vaccines save lives. Theyre free, theyre safe, and theyre incredibly effective against very, very serious illness. Mr Andrews said some of those who consider themselves part of the mainstream have adopted anti-vax language. Loading First few weeks of school will be challenging and messy: Premier Mr Andrews said Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton believed Victoria was past the peak of the Omicron wave.

Its certainly the view of many experts that we are past the peak  the data would certainly indicate that  but theres still very significant pressure on our health system, he said. These numbers are more positive than we had hoped, and lets hope that trend continues, but thats all in our own hands. With the bulk of Victorian school students returning to classrooms on Monday, Mr Andrews said he expected the first few school weeks to be challenging and messy, with a likely increase in COVID cases. I think that going back to school, there will be cases and that will obviously add to our tally, but the benefits of having school back far outweigh those sorts of challenges, he said. Students and teachers will return to classroom for the start of term 1 this week. Credit:Scott McNaughton

Its not easy, but our staff, our students and school communities, everyones working as hard as they can. He said schools had received more than 4 million rapid antigen tests in the past week. About 37.5 per cent of children aged five to 11 have received one vaccine dose since the rollout for primary school-aged children began this month. About 31,000 vaccination appointments for those aged five to 11 are available across the state in the next week. A small number of immuno-compromised children have had a second dose, Health Minister Martin Foley confirmed on Friday.

COVID-19 cases rise in aged care homes Loading Mr Andrews said he believed there were now active COVID-19 cases in five state-run aged care facilities. The number of Victorian aged care homes with active coronavirus cases has risen sharply in the past month, with outbreaks in the states facilities growing from seven to 296 since late December, federal government data shows. About 1700 aged care residents are currently sick with COVID-19, compared with about 400 on January 7. Staff infections have increased from 450 to 1350 in that time.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the federal governments plan to deliver booster shots to all 2650 aged care homes nationwide by the end of January appears to have been postponed, with 500 facilities yet to receive their shots. Federal Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck told the heads of the sector in a briefing on Thursday that this would be delayed by a week, and that the booster uptake among aged care residents was about 80 per cent, according to people in the briefing. The federal government, which is responsible for most aged care facilities in Victoria, confirmed the booster shots would be delivered next week. With Rachel Eddie
Archaeologist Sean Ulm is the deputy director at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. He says the distinctive pottery of the Lapita is an archaeological calling card of their migration across Oceania. It was accepted knowledge that Lapita migration from its starting place in the northern hemisphere only ever moved eastwards across the Bismark Archipelago to the northern New Guinea coast and then radiated across the Pacific. You can literally hold a piece of pottery when were doing excavations on Lizard Island and pull it out from a metre underground, a piece the size of your thumbnail, and you say: everything changes after this, Professor McNiven says. Credit:Sean Ulm Experts had uncovered no evidence that these seafaring people sailed west along the southern New Guinea coastline, until 2008 when a team of archaeologists started digging at a site in Caution Bay around 30 kilometres west of Port Moresby, ahead of a planned gas plant development. Professor Ulm says he and a team of archaeologists almost immediately found Lapita pottery that was radiocarbon dated to 2800 years old.

The team published that work for the first time in 2011 and it was met in the academic community with a lot of critique that it couldnt possibly be Lapita, because Lapita people didnt go westward along the southern New Guinea coast, they only went east (into the Pacific), Ulm says. But, you know, here we are 10 years later and none of those critics disagree with us now. So it was a huge paradigm shift in the way people thought about the colonisation of the huge part of the planet and opened the door to suggest, if these people were in southern New Guinea 3000 years ago, where else could they be? They have watercraft, technology and seagoing technology. Anthropological archaeologist Ian McNiven also works with the Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. He says archaeologists also started finding pottery in Torres Strait around 20 years ago, but there was no historical or ethnographic or oral history of pottery production by Torres Strait Islanders. An illustration of an early outrigger canoe. Credit:Monash University They started working with communities on excavations and found pottery for the first time. It was buried one metre under the ground, relatively deep in archaeological terms. The shards of pottery were discovered on Lizard Island by Ulm and McNiven in 2017.

Everybodys was saying hey, thats very different. Im saying bloody oath thats different! That was unexpected, McNiven says. He says it appears pottery was traded into Torres Strait from New Guinea 3000 years ago, and some was produced locally. Finding a connection between the Lapita and Torres Strait, once they were known to have moved westwards across New Guinea, was not entirely unexpected, he says. But what came next on Lizard Island was a bolt from the blue. Literally, a little tiny piece [of pottery] like that changes the way we view the history of our continent and ... the Indigenous peoples with the outside world. Professor McNiven What was unexpected is finding similar pottery, of similar age on Lizard Island. It is 600 kilometres down the Queensland coast and that makes you say hang on, this is a serious game changer, Professor McNiven says. It was a seminal moment.

You can literally hold a piece of pottery when were doing excavations on Lizard Island and pull it out from a metre underground, a piece the size of your thumbnail, and you say: everything changes after this, McNiven says. A little tiny piece like that changes the way we view the history of our continent and its interactions in the past, the Indigenous peoples with the outside world. Now we know Aboriginal peoples of North Queensland have these ancient connections going up through Torres Strait and into New Guinea and the pottery is telling us that its the calling card of people who are interacting over literally thousands of kilometres. An illustration of an ancient vessel used by Indigenous Australians. Credit:Monash University McNiven, based at Monash University, says the evidence suggested it was not just the goods, but the knowledge of pottery making that had been passed on to people in Queensland. That Lizard Island pottery looks like it was made locally, he says. All the minerals in the pottery are essentially what you get around Lizard Island and that part of Cape York.

Professor Ulm, of James Cook University, explained the pottery shards are smoking gun evidence that overturn the idea of Australias ancient isolation. Theres long been arguments that after people colonised Australia, somehow they lost that watercraft navigation technology, but we simply dont know that because watercraft made out of organic materials dont survive in the archaeological record, he says. So these pottery finds, for example that we have on Lizard Island or in Torres Strait, show us that people are voyaging. Even though we dont have the watercraft, its indirect evidence that people were making these voyages and we can trace how this knowledge or the objects themselves are moving. An artists impression of an early outrigger canoe. Credit:Monash University The historical evidence of trade across communities in the Coral Sea is extensive. These recent finds along with artefacts collected by 18th and 19th Century European voyagers shows a complex trading web across the region where goods particular to one location - including bamboo smoking pipes, canoes, spears and necklaces, as well as language and cultural practices - were passed back and forth across a long network. This has given rise to the concept of the Coral Sea Cultural Interaction Sphere.

Piecing together what was traded and by whom shows it involved hundreds of clans and dozens of language groups. The groundbreaking pottery archaeology and evidence of ancient trading networks is showcased in a new exhibition, developed in partnership with the Walmbaar Aboriginal Corporation and Hope Vale Congress Aboriginal Corporation. Connections across the Coral Sea is at the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville. It will move to Brisbane in June. Professor Ulm says evidence for two-way trade, from New Guinea to Australia and vice-versa, overturned false stereotypes that had prevailed in historical assumptions about Aboriginal peoples. There was a prevailing view throughout the 19th and early 20th Century that any traded goods came south from New Guinea, but nothing went north, Professor Ulm says. This was feeding into a racist construct that Aboriginal cultures are somehow simplistic and New Guinea and Melanesian cultures are somehow advanced were of course objects would only come south.

But even in the 19th century, in the early 20th century, when writers began writing that, it wasnt supported by the evidence then. We know that the Gulf of Carpentaria was linked to Adelaide, and Broome was linked to Alice Springs. But if you know what youre doing you can cover a lot bigger distances in a boat than you can walking, carrying all your goods with you. Professor McNiven says Western science and Australia are catching up with what Indigenous communities have known for a very long time. Loading Australia was seen to be the only continent on the planet that didnt have a pottery tradition, and that sort of played into all sorts of colonial representations of Indigenous people as being primitive or backward, he says.
Its largely forgotten now, but after the 2016 election there was a small reckoning among Australian political journalists. About three weeks before the vote, prominent reporters had begun to express the view that the election was more or less over: the Turnbull government had it sewn up. In the end, Turnbull did get across the line, but the election was far, far closer than those reports suggested; he only declared victory a week later.

This mattered not just because the reporting seemed misguided, but because the assumption of a Turnbull victory affected coverage of the campaign  a fact that was, as Matthew Knott reported after the election, conceded by several journalists.

The assumption of a Turnbull victory affected coverage of the 2016 election campaign. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Perhaps because that mistake was not based on the public polls, which suggested a tight election, but on private briefings from party strategists, coverage of the next election was influenced a little too much by assumptions at the other end of the spectrum: that the public polls were both predictive and accurate. Much of the commentary and coverage in 2019 was skewed by the widespread belief that Bill Shorten would soon be prime minister. Wrong again.

How, then, to predict the result of the 2022 election? A few years ago I came up with my own imperfect system. Think of any term of a federal government, then try to remember three things from those years. Were the three mostly good or mostly bad? If good, victory followed. If bad, the government lost. The system was a little rigged, because hindsight and election results tend to colour what we remember  I suspect its main use is in pointing to a fact that is always useful to keep in mind: few political stories register with voters. Only very large events tend to matter.
More than a third of the cash flowing to the Liberal and Labor parties is coming from shadowy entities that can hide the true source of the funds, according to a new analysis that shows the main parties collected $1.2 billion over the past two decades.

The property industry led the list of business sectors donating to both parties, giving $37.4 million to Labor and $53.1 million to the Coalition, but the study by the Centre for Public Integrity, an independent organisation, concludes that too many other donations are being hidden.

The property industry led the list of business sectors donating to the Liberal and Labor parties, according to a new study. Credit:Louie Douvis

With both sides relying on associated entities such as investment companies and foundations, the work finds that 42 per cent of Coalition donations and 33 per cent of Labor donations have come from entities that do not always reveal the source of their cash.

University of Melbourne professor Joo-Cheong Tham, a director of the CPI, said the figures highlighted the need for greater disclosure, including real-time reports of all donations so voters knew the sources of campaign finance before the election due by May.
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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is calling for the end of emergency financial stimulus in favour of a return to normalised policy settings as Sydney entrepreneurs struggling through an unofficial phantom  or shadow  lockdown urge the state government to keep further support on the table.

The NSW government unveiled on Sunday a $1 billion support package for small- and medium-sized businesses that had been hit by the latest outbreak. It will run throughout February, with the option of being extended into March.

Shop owner Leah Kress has welcomed the financial support, but says it has come too late for some businesses. Credit:Edwina Pickles.

Announcing the measures, NSW Treasurer Matt Kean took aim at Mr Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison for not stepping up to contribute to its program.

But Mr Frydenberg said the Omicron wave meant Australia had entered a new phase of the pandemic.
Airbrushed perfection is not quite the saleable commodity it once was. Now the local influencers imprimatur, which carries with it a mix of aspiration and attainability, is the endorsement many lower end brands want. There is no better illustration than a $39.99 corset top from the venerable New Zealand chain Glassons, established in 1918. The Australian TikToker Sophia Begg, who goes by the handle Sophadophaa, posted a video wearing the top on October 23. Where her other posts from around the same time garnered 100,000 to 300,000 views, this one received almost 9 million. The top has been almost constantly sold out since. Beggs representatives at Zooz, a talent agency, declined to make her available for interview. Glassons did not respond to a request for an interview. But Glassons is far from the only brand to trade on the trend. Cotton On, which also owns Supre, Rubi and Typo, works with influencers including Gershon. At least in relative terms though, it is new brands that have come from nowhere and built themselves into major players for the teen fashion dollar that have been the biggest winners. There is Brisbane-based Beginning Boutique, which ships a package a minute; the Brisbane-founded Princess Polly, now part of an $US850 million US fashion conglomerate; and Melbournes Thats So Fetch. TikTok, which was targeted by then-US President Donald Trump because of its ownership by the Chinese company ByteDance, now claims more than 1 billion people use its app every month. Credit:Bloomberg

Like Beginning, the company is private, so its true scale is hard to gauge, but chief executive Timothy Mcfadyen, 34, says that sales grew 300 per cent in 2021 and 600 per cent in 2020. At any one time, Mcfadyen says, Fetch is working with more than 100 influencers. (The business, Mcfadyen says, was not named after the perennially popular 2004 comedy Mean Girls but instead inherited its name from a store selling products for pet dogs. When it went under, Mcfadyen bought the web address name as speculation. Years later, when his partner Sam Finlayson, 30, wanted to launch a fashion business, they decided to reuse it.) Both Fetch and Beginning employ teams of people to find influencers, field requests from those that want to become influencers, and manage their existing roster. Across the industry, most influencers start out being paid only in free clothes but those with larger followings can earn real money, in the thousands per video, and acquire agents of their own. Ruby Henshaw, 21, is an account manager at Sydneys Born Bred, perhaps the first agency in Australia to really recognise the power of TikTok and harness it for brand deals. Her age, she says, lets her connect to her clients.

TikTok is basically in control of everything at the moment, she says. It runs all the trends globally. When a slice of that power is on offer, the prized authenticity of the sales pitch in a clothing haul can become blurred. Loading Crystal Abidin, an associate professor at Curtin University who studies social media pop culture, says many influencers pursue an authentic image through a concept called calibrated amateurism. In the age of picture-perfect saturation, many influencers have begun to perform or underperformed intentionally or break the fourth wall in a bid to convince people that as much as they have risen up the ranks and become A-listers in terms of income, theyre still very much your girl next door, friendly neighbourhood teen.

That can mean crying on camera, including bloopers, revealing struggles with acne, or shooting videos against the backdrop of a messy room. If youre not casual enough, not accessible and authentic enough through your mess and vulnerability, youre a suspect in this space, Abidin says. At the same time, brands want to present their products in a desirable light. Balancing the two, says Sarah Timmerman, 37, the founder and chief executive of Beginning, can be tricky. Its definitely a challenge if the space sort of overtakes the clothing or maybe they dont have a steamer and so the clothes are quite creased, she says. We try to make sure that we still look professional and at the end of the day, we are a business but I do know that it is really important to be authentic, otherwise theres just no theres no way you can continue to do business. There are other issues too: Curtin professor Leaver says there is research pointing to how visual social media platforms can amplify body image issues in young people.

Loading Abidin also points out that some brands commitment to diversity can be limited, only accepting a defined deviation from the well-spoken, young, slender and beautiful industry norm. This has also meant that a lot of these brands sometimes partake in tokenism, she says. Mcfadyen says Thats So Fetch doesnt have specific policies on working with diverse influencers but receives interest from a wide range of creators. The more people that want to have collaboration with you, it just makes it easier, he says, while Beginning does have a diversity target as a key performance indicator for its marketing team. That number has not been made public. And then there is the toll that TikTok users can take on each other. Abidin says that social media users often conflate the status of a Hollywood celebrity - with PR agents, managers and lawyers at their disposal - with that of a TikTok influencer, sometimes under 18, who enjoys none of that power and is subject to the same level of criticism. We forget that internet celebrities are not trained to manage this type of public critique, Abidin says.
Kyiv: Ukraines tourism board has urged holidaymakers to keep calm and visit as it reassured that the country was safe, despite the threat of a Russian invasion.

Some 100,000 Russian troops wait at the border, with blood supplies moved to the frontline. Moscow denies it plans to invade the former Soviet state.

Members of a Ukrainian far-right group train in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, January 29, as the Ukraine tourism board urges people to visit the sleepless border city at the centre of the crisis. Credit:AP

Visit Ukraine said there was no reason to panic and the situation on the border remains under control.

There is too little positive news in the information space today, explains the press release, which exhorts people to visit majestic Kyiv, sleepless Kharkiv, fragrant Lviv, cozy Chernivtsi, exciting Odessa.
Now we have all these resources in place, its important for us to do this exercise to make sure that we have the capability intended, says Major General, Jonas Wikman, the deputy commander of Swedens Joint Forces Command, who has come in from Stockholm. As well as testing the ability of different regiments to work together, the exercise is designed to send a signal to Russia that this Baltic island is defended. Members of Gotlands Regiment patrol in a tank, on a road in Visby, northern Gotland, Sweden. Credit:AP We are doing a lot of things that are not visible, that are not known, Major General Wikman continues. This is something that is visible. Its important that everybody knows that we have the capability, and the will.

Gotland, a diamond-shaped chunk of land between the coasts of Sweden and Latvia, has long been the key to the eastern Baltic. Loading In an underground fort at the islands military museum, there is a display of British ships crockery dating back to the Crimean War, during which British and French navies used the northern harbour to shelter the fleet that blockaded the Baltic and starved Russia of imports. The island was even occupied by Russian in 1808, albeit for only a few weeks, and Russian military plans obtained by Sweden during the Cold War made it clear it was a target. Mike Winnerstig, head of security policy at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, says that when they war-game conflicts, the person playing Russia very often takes Gotland as a first move.

If you really want to disturb transportation of troops and reinforcements to the Baltic states, having Gotland as a platform for your long-distance missiles and anti-aircraft artillery is a very good thing, he says. Loading Until quite recently, Sweden made sure the island was defended. At the height of the Cold War, Winnerstig explains, 50,000 troops could be on the island in a matter of hours, backed up by 36 tanks. The coastline and its harbours were defended by 25 fortified, fixed-artillery units and the entrances to the islands harbours were filled with mines that could explode under incoming ships at the touch of a button.

Winnerstig said that by remaining outside the NATO alliance, the traditionally neutral Swedes miss out on a powerful block to any Russian attack on the island. If they want to do something before there is a full-scale war between NATO and Russia, as were not part of NATO, they could treat us as they treat Ukraine right now, he said. Sweden is stepping up its defence activities in the Baltic Sea due to a deteriorating security situation as Russia and NATO conduct military operations in the area. Credit:AP And NATO might say, we will support you, of course, tell the Russians that theyre evil, that we wont come to your help militarily. Then Gotland would be up for grabs. Rutger Bandholtz, who commanded a battery of three 120 millimetre Bofors cannons guarding Slite, the islands eastern harbour, remembers the last time the island saw tensions similar to those of today.

A Soviet submarine ran aground in 1981 outside Swedens biggest naval base in Karlskrona, and Sweden feared the Soviet Union would send in warships to rescue it. Loading That was the only time we had live ammunition in our cannons, Bandholtz remembers, as he shows me one of the 120 millimetre Bofors guns at the museum. The prime minister said keep the border, and we did. They didnt cross it, because they realised our guns were loaded. In 2005, the Gotland regiment was shut down, due, Winnerstig snorts, to the end of the Cold War, the eternal peace and the end of history. The demilitarisation was reversed following Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014 but, four years after the Gotland Regiment was re-established, it still only numbers 300 personnel.
Walking through Kyiv in recent days, it has been easy to forget the political storm clouds brewing overhead.

In the trendy Podil district, the Christmas markets have only just been squared away (winter holidays are celebrated well into January) and the festive mood remains palpable. Cafes were bustling with impossibly chic hipsters and crowds formed outside Kino42 for Stop-Zemlia, an avant-garde film about Kyiv teenagers.

A customer shops at a cooked meats stall at a weekly farmers market outside the Klovska Metro station in Kyiv on Friday. Credit:Bloomberg

On the historic Andriivskyi descent, children used cardboard boxes as toboggans over the snow still blanketing the city. Behind them stood a canvas commemorating Vasyl Slipak, a Ukrainian opera singer killed during the war in Donbas. But there were few other reminders that just 100kms away, Russia is threatening a fresh assault.

Moscows saber-rattling includes more than 100,000 troops, tanks and artillery encircling Ukraines borders and hybrid-war tactics intended to sow panic, like last weeks bomb threat in Ukrainian schools and mid-Januarys cyber attack on government websites.
She said she tries to stay calm as she wages a paper war with New Zealands quarantine system, but that she worries about how the stress she has been under will affect her baby. Loading I am very concerned about a premature birth and ... also the implication of stress, she said. Bellis has found an Afghan gynaecologist, who promised she could call her if she wakes up in the night with a problem. Bellis toured the doctors clinic which has basic facilities, including one incubator. The doctor told her the incubator is often occupied. Bellis has found a lawyer who is handling her case pro bono and has submitted over 60 documents to the New Zealand government, answered countless questions, only to be rejected twice for entry to her home country.

On Sunday, she received her most recent email from the New Zealand government, this one telling her to apply as a person in danger and that this would get her home, she said. Bellis said she was rejected earlier because her pregnancy didnt meet the criteria of threshold of critical time threat. If I dont meet the threshold as a pregnant woman then who does? she asked. Speaking from Kabul on Monday morning, Bellis said that, while she was not disregarding the offer of help, applying under the new category would have consequences. New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis. Credit:Instagram There are consequences to it in terms of they are saying there is a serious risk to our safety, but weve just gone on the record saying the Taliban welcomed us and said youre safe to come on in. So that would seem insincere.

It would show there were still limited to no pathways for pregnant women to come home, she said. Loading If I just say OK, fine throw me in the risk to safety category, what does that say to other pregnant women who are Kiwis who are in South Sudan or El Salvador or somewhere else? I mean, thats essentially saying like, you dont have a pathway home. Bellis said she was wary of applying under the new category, as it absconds the New Zealand government of liability. She said she would publicly share both the letter she received from MIQ and a response letter from its lawyer, once it had been written.

An email from a generic New Zealand government account, with no human attached to it had been stark in comparison to the other offers of help she had received, she said, including from another country, in which both she and Huylebroek are not citizens. Bellis said the countrys officials had asked her not to reveal what country it was. I want to hear from them [New Zealand government] how they justify the ethics around putting pregnant New Zealand women through the wringer saying they dont meet the threshold whilst letting in foreign entertainers, athletes and TV crews through a back door. Bellis said her lawyer had represented 30 pregnant women attempting to gain MIQ spots, eight of whom had gone to court. Just prior to the court date, the women were offered MIQ allocation, she said.

Theres no acceptance of liability or improvement of the system. MIQ head Chris Bunny said his agency was sympathetic to the difficult circumstances many New Zealanders were experiencing due to the global pandemic. The date Bellis had requested was not within the 14-day window required for an emergency allocation and the travel must be time critical to fit within the emergency allocation category. So she did not meet the criteria. She received a response inviting her to reapply within the 14-day window, and to contact MIQ if she intended to change her flights to return to New Zealand earlier, Bunny said. Our emergency allocation team keep a close eye on applications, and Charlottes location of Afghanistan came to their attention.

Shortly after her application was received the team contacted Charlotte to provide her with additional information should she choose to change her flights. This is an example of the team being helpful to New Zealanders who are in distressing situation, Bunny said. Bellis said that prior to returning to Afghanistan, she sought permission from the Taliban. She said she had feared that arriving with a little bump and not married could be problematic. Instead, the Taliban response was immediate and positive. I appreciate this isnt official Taliban policy, but they were very generous and kind. They said, You are safe here, congratulations we welcome you,  she said.
The liquidation proceedings of Siva Industries and Holdings, a Chennai-based firm, is all set to land in the after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) rejected a settlement offer made by one of the shareholders, Vallal RCK.

In its order, the said as the mandatory deadline of 330 days as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is breached, the liquidation of the company can go ahead. Timely liquidation is preferred over fruitless and endless resolution proceedings, the said in its order dated January 28th.

Earlier, nine financial creditors of the company led by IDBI Bank had agreed to receive a settlement amount of Rs 328.21 crores from Vallal, as against the total admitted claims of Rs 4,864 crores  which amounted to 93 per cent haircut for the lenders. This settlement proposal, however, was rejected by the National Company Law Tribunal, Chennai in August last year which slammed the lenders for the huge haircut saying it would rather go by its judicial wisdom rather than approving the commercial wisdom of the CoC and sent the company for liquidation. The NCLT had said the application made by RCK Vallal, father of founder of Siva group, C Sivasankaran, is not conforming to the Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The Section 12A of the IBC gives an opportunity to the promoters to get back their if 90 per cent of the lenders agree and the promoters' clear their past dues.

The lenders had informed the NCLT that if a company is liquidated or in a resolution plan involving a third party, all claims made by the operational creditors including tax authorities will be wiped out. Hence, they had approved the 12A petition by the promoters.

In its order, the NCLT had said the 12A proposal from the promoter was not voted at all by the CoC and instead banks only voted on the withdrawal of bankruptcy proceedings. Vallal moved the saying the NCLT did not consider that the view of the majority of the members of CoC who have unanimously taken a commercial decision to recover more than the amount they would be able to receive in the event of liquidation of Siva Industries and the dismissal of withdrawal application under the guise of judicial wisdom' will infringe upon their "commercial wisdom".

But the NCLAT said If the time period for bankruptcy proceedings was extended and the resolution plan was not accepted by the NCLT, then the liquidation of the company can be ordered under Section 33 of the I&B Code, 2016.

The company was sent to bankruptcy court in July 2019 after it defaulted on loans to both operational and financial creditors. The liquidator of the company till date has received claims worth Rs 8,085 crores. Of this, Rs 6,515 crores claims were admitted.

Siva Industries was set up by Chennai-based serial entrepreneur, C Sivasankaran who disassociated himself from the company a decade ago and the company is now run by his extended family members.
The (CBI) has changed the team probing the death of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand, officials said on Saturday.

The development came after the Jharkhand High Court recently slammed the agency for its "laxity" in probing the murder, and observed that it seemed that the CBI was trying to quit the investigation and even protect the accused.

The officials said the team will now be headed by Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikas Kumar, posted at agency's Special Crime Unit in Delhi. He has already taken over from VK Shukla.

The new team has already reached Dhanbad where they sought the court's permission to question two accused, Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma, who have been chargesheeted and are being held in the district prison, they said.

The high court had ordered the CBI to produce reports of the narco test conducted on the arrested two accused. There is a greater conspiracy and that should be unearthed, it had said.

The CBI had filed its charge sheet in October last year against auto-rickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his accomplice Rahul Verma under IPC sections related to murder (302) and destruction of evidence (201) besides common intention (34), the officials said.

The central agency had kept the probe open in the case, they said.

The 49-year-old judge was allegedly mowed down by the autorickshaw while he was on morning jog on July 28, 2021 in Dhanbad.

CCTV camera footage showed that Anand was jogging on one side of a fairly wide road at Randhir Verma Chowk in Dhanbad when the auto-rickshaw veered towards him, hit him from behind and fled the scene, killing him.

The case was handed over to the CBI by the Jharkhand government.

The agency had taken over two more FIRs -- related to theft of mobile phones and auto rickshaw used in the crime -- from Jharkhand police in order to unravel alleged conspiracy in the murder of the judge, they 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.)
A has dismissed the bail application of Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged creator of the Bulli Bai app, saying his offence was not only against the essence of womanhood but was also designed to disturb communal harmony.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana denied the relief to the accused on January 29, noting that the allegations against him were serious in nature and the investigation was at a nascent stage.

Several complaints were received by police stations in the country regarding the listing of Muslim women for "auction" on the 'Bulli Bai' mobile application with photographs sourced without permission and



doctored. It has happened for the second time in less than a year.

The app appeared to be a clone of 'Sulli Deals' which triggered a similar row last year.

The judge passed the order after hearing arguments of the accused as well as the prosecution.

The sardonic conduct of the applicant accused in targeting women journalists of a particular community, using offensive monikers with derogatory communal overtones, on a social platform is not only an offence against the essence of womanhood but also an act designed to enrage passion and cause ill will amongst communities and disturb communal harmony, the judge said in the order.

The accused had sought bail on the ground that the investigation against him was already complete and no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping him behind bars.

He had submitted that he is an engineering student and has no criminal antecedents.

The prosecution had opposed the bail application arguing that in the present case, doctored photographs of the complainant, a journalist, were shared on Twitter handle @bullibai through a web app.

It submitted that the accused created a web app Bullibai on Github website/portal platform by using Proton VPN to hide his identity.

It further submitted that after the arrest of the accused, his laptop and mobile phone were analysed and various incriminating material have been recovered including many lewd comments and derogatory remarks on the doctored photographs of victims in Bullibai web app using Twitter handles @wannabesigmaf and @bullibai.

The Delhi police had further submitted that the investigation was at a nascent stage and if the accused was released on bail, he may attempt to influence the fair course of the investigation.

The probe agency had told the court that the accused used his Twitter handle to target women of a particular community.

It told the court that the contents of Bishnoi's Twitter handles were derogatory as he and others were using words like 'Suli' and 'Buli' for the women of a particular community.

Bishnoi, a 21-year-old engineering student, is said to be the main conspirator and creator of the Bulli Bai app on GitHub and the main Twitter account holder of the app.

He was arrested by Delhi Police's Special Cell from Assam's Jorhat on January 5, 2022.

An engineering student from Bengaluru, a young girl from Uttarakhand and one of her friends have also been arrested by Mumbai Police in connection with the 'Bulli Bai' app case.

The Delhi Police had registered a separate case based on the complaint of a journalist for offences under Sections 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration), 354A (sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.

(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.)
Five terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfits, including a self-styled commander, were killed in two separate overnight encounters with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Sunday.

The gunfights, which broke out on Saturday night, took place in Pulwama and Budgam districts of the valley.

While four terrorists were killed in the encounter in Naira area of Pulwama, in south Kashmir, one ultra was killed in Chrar-i-Sharief area of the central Kashmir's Budgam district, a police official said.

He said the four terrorists killed in Pulwama gunfight belonged to JeM.

Arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter, the official said.

In the encounter at Chrar-i-Sharief, one terrorists affiliated with LeT outfit was killed, he said.

Incriminating material, including an AK 56 rifle, was recovered from the encounter site, he added.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the killing of the five terrorists, including JeM commander Zahid Wani, was a big success for the security forces.

"05 #terrorists of #Pakistan sponsored proscribed # outfits LeT & JeM killed in dual #encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani & a Pakistani terrorist among the killed.Big #success for us," the IGP said in a tweet.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Alleging betrayal by the Centre, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday announced a country-wide observance of "Betrayal Day" on Monday over farm issues.

The national spokesperson of the influential north Indian farmers' union claimed the over-a-year-long protest at Delhi's borders was withdrawn on the basis of a letter of promises by the government on December 9 but those remain unfulfilled.

"A nation-wide 'Betrayal Day' will be observed on January 31 because of government's betrayal to farmers. The movement was suspended on the basis of a letter given by the government on December 9 but those promises have not been fulfilled, Tikait, whose BKU is a part of the SKM, said in a tweet in Hindi.

The protest on Delhi's borders had started under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a farmers' collective, in November 2020 over the main demands of withdrawal of three contentious farm laws that were introduced by the BJP-led Centre.

The farmers, who occupied key border points of Singhu , Tikri and Ghazipur for over a year, also demanded a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) of crops.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in November 2021 announced that the contentious farm laws would be rolled back, leading to the protestors eventually vacating Delhi borders in December.

(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 cancelled and rescheduled a significant number of its February flights during the last few days, industry sources said on Sunday.

Moreover, during the last few days, a considerable number of affected passengers have stated on social media that they have been facing difficulties in contacting Vistara's customer care.

spokesperson, however, told PTI that the airline is adjusting "capacity to demand" in view of the "volatility" in the Indian market due to the current COVID-19 wave and resultant restrictions imposed by the state governments.

ISRO Scientist Shibasish Prusty tweeted on Sunday that his Delhi-Bhubaneswar flight for February 5 has been cancelled and Vistara's customer care number is a "cheap gimmick" as it has been busy for the last 48 hours.

Another passenger Arpit Singh Khurana said on Saturday on Twitter that his Delhi-Kolkata flight for February 12 has been cancelled by and his calls to the customer service number are going unattended.

Pronab Kumar Mandal said on Saturday that he is a cancer patient and he needs to have his chemotherapy session on February 9, but Vistara has cancelled his Kolkata-Mumbai flight, scheduled for February 8.

Mandal said he has been trying to contact the airline for the last two days.

A passenger named Mohammed Dawood said on Saturday that his Delhi-Kolkata flight for February 10 has been cancelled and he has not been provided with the option to reschedule.

"Now, fare cost is double and your customer service is extremely unhelpful, even the call doesn't get connected," he told Vistara.

On Sunday afternoon, he tweeted that he has been trying to reach the airline through calls, tweets and emails, but there has been no response.

A passenger named Sanjit Kumar Das said on Sunday afternoon that his Bhubaneswar-Delhi flight has been cancelled and he has been trying to connect with Vistara's customer service "without any luck".

A similar set of complaints were posted on Twitter by the airline's passengers whose flights have been rescheduled without prior discussion.

In response to PTI's queries regarding the rescheduling and cancellation of February flights, Vistara spokesperson told PTI, After a sharp decline in demand for air travel, due to the surge in COVID-19 numbers and restrictions imposed by various state governments, we are observing a marginal increase in traffic in February compared to the previous month."



"However, in view of the volatility, we continue to closely monitor the situation and adjust capacity to demand," the spokesperson added.

With the objective of minimising inconvenience to our customers, the airline is offering waiver of change fee for one-time rescheduling on all direct bookings with travel until March 31, the spokesperson mentioned.

Direct bookings are tickets that are booked directly with the airline and they do not include the ones booked through agent websites such as MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Cleartrip etc.

The spokesperson stated, "We are also assisting the impacted customers with rescheduling, refunds etc., as applicable. We have also advised and empowered our travel agent partners to extend support to customers, as and when required.

(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.)
Closing stocks of sugar in the country could hit their second lowest level in 10 years at the end of the 2021-22 sugar season that started in October. This should augur well for millers and help in clearing sugarcane dues accruing to farmers quickly.

At the same time, it may also ensure a steady price of the sweetener in the open market because of reduction in stock overhang. According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association's (ISMA)s latest report, sugar stocks are expected to be around 6.65 million tonnes at the end of the 2021-22 season. This is 1.5 ...
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India's crude production rose by nearly 18 per cent to 118 million tonne (MT) in 2021, while world leader China recorded a 3 per cent decline to 1 032.8 MT, according to worldsteel.

India, which is the second largest producing nation, had manufactured 100.3 MT in 2020 and China had produced 1 064.7 MT of steel in the same year, World Steel Association (worldsteel) said in its report.

"Total world crude steel production was 1,950.5 MT in 2021, a 3.7 per cent increase compared to 1 880.4 MT in 2020," the global industry body said.

According to the report, in 2021, Japan produced 96.3 MT steel as against 83.2 MT in 2020. The United States' output was at 86 MT compared to 72.7MT a year ago.

While Russia produced 76 MT steel, South Korea produced 70.6 MT, Turkey 40.4 MT, Germany 40.1 MT, Brazil 36 MT and Iran produced 28.5 MT steel in 2021.

Out of 1,950.5 MT, the top ten steel producing countries jointly produced 1,624.8 MT, the rest came in from other steel producing member nations.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If the of Parliament was a washout, the prognosis for the upcoming Budget session that begins on January 31, with the President's address to both Houses of Parliament, is no better. As Opposition parties reached out to each other to fine-tune parliamentary strategy, the Narendra Modi government is expected to be in the Opposition's cross hairs on issues such as the new revelations on snooping by intelligence interception company Pegasus, farm distress, management of the third wave of Covid-19, the sale of national carrier Air India, and Chinese "incursions" into eastern Ladakh.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 2021-22 on Monday and the Union Budget on Tuesday. This is expected to go off with only sporadic interruption. But the Budget session is taking place amid a heated election campaign in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur - that go to polls in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.

As parties go head to head in the field, reverberations will hit Parliament as well. This is not all. Some Bills awaiting discussion and passage are also hotly contested. The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, for instance, has been opposed vigorously by several Opposition-ruled states, including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Kerala.

Another issue that is hanging fire is the suspension for the entire of some Opposition Rajya Sabha (RS) Members of Parliament. In the Maharashtra state Legislative Assembly, similar suspension of 12 Members of the Legislative Assembly was struck down by the Supreme Court (SC), which chastised the state legislature machinery and government. If that ruling is extrapolated in the RS, the government might come in for Opposition criticism.





ALSO READ: Annual Economic Survey explained

One Bill that is unlikely to come up is the Bill to outlaw cryptocurrency. Prime Minister Modi had flagged this issue in his address to the World Economic Forum, seeking concerted global action. An earlier proposal to ban cryptocurrency was struck down by the SC. However, it seems that the government will not do anything on this issue in a hurry.

The Personal Data Protection Bill is eagerly awaited and may come up in the Budget session.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and RS Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu have called separate meetings with floor leaders of political parties on Monday for smooth functioning of the House during the session. The government has also called an all-party meeting on Monday. This is unlikely to break the ice.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has already held one round of meetings with parliamentary party leaders and will reach out to other Opposition parties. Trinamool Congress leader Derek OBrien has warned of his intention to force the Standing Committee of Parliament attached to the home ministry to take up the issue of TekFog, the application that, he sayd, has serious national security ramifications.

According to legislature watchdog PRS Legislative Research, in the winter session, the Lok Sabha (LS) functioned for 77 per cent of its scheduled time and the RS for 43 per cent of its scheduled time.

Given the ongoing third wave of the pandemic, the LS and the RS will return to have separate sittings in shifts with members seated across both chambers of Parliament to ensure distancing norms.

The LS will take up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address from Wednesday and PM Modi is expected to reply to the debate on February 7.The first part of the Budget session will be held from January 31 to February 11, after which it will go into recess to examine the budgetary allocations for different departments. The session will resume on March 14 and conclude on April 8.
Ahead of the Legislative Council in Bihar likely to be held in March-April this year, the 'Mahagathbandhan' of Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal is on the verge of a split as Tejashwi Yadav refused to contest the together, following which Congress said that the party is capable of contesting the polls on all 24 seats on its own.

Notably, in the held on these 24 Legislative Council seats in 2016, the Congress party had contested on 4 seats, in which it could win only 1 seat. This time the Congress party wanted to contest on 6 seats under the alliance, on which the talks did not materialise.

Interestingly, in the month of October 2021, by-elections were held for two seats, Kusheshwar Sthan and Tarapur for the Bihar Legislative Assembly, in which RJD and Congress decided to contest separately.

Tejashwi had hinted on Saturday while speaking to the media that his party would contest the MLC polls on its own and RJD is in alliance with Congress in New Delhi.

Speaking to ANI, Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha alleged that his party leaders sought time from the RJD chief to hold talks on the seat-sharing, however, they did not receive any response from his side.

"Our leaders sought time to meet Lalu Yadav so that there could be talks on seat sharing, but till now no time has been received from Lalu Yadav's side. Therefore, the Congress party is preparing to contest the Legislative Council elections at its level," he said.

Madan Mohan Jha, referring to a statement of Lalu Yadav, said that after the by-elections in Bihar, Lalu Yadav had said that the alliance partners will fight the upcoming Legislative Council elections together and give 6 to 7 seats to the Congress in the Legislative Council elections. Therefore the RJD supremo has to decide on the alliance.

Jha further said that RJD has to take a decision on the future of the grand alliance in Bihar.

"There is a difference between the statements of Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Yadav, so first the father-son will have to decide whether they want to keep the grand alliance or not. Whether they want to do seat-sharing with Congress in the election of the Legislative Council or not," he said.

Talking about the stance of his own party, Jha said that Congress is capable of contesting on all the 24 seats on its own and the party has a list of candidates willing to hit the ground.

"Congress party is capable of contesting all the 24 Legislative Council seats to be held in Bihar. The party has a long list of candidates who want to contest elections. We are very strong in many seats and can contest elections effectively," he said.

However, the Congress state president clarified that the party high command will take the final call on contesting on all the 24 seats of the Council.

"All the information has been given to the Congress high command and now the party high command has to take the final decision to contest on 24 seats," he told ANI.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Samajwadi Party chief on Saturday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in poll-bound and alleged it had created problems for farmers.

He slammed the BJP-led government for bringing three new farm laws which were later repealed. Yadav said Samajwadi Party and its allies will register a "historic win" in the polls and BJP will be defeated.

"When farmers were protesting for their rights, BJP was creating problems for them. But I am happy that farmers got united and defeated BJP," Yadav said at a press conference.

"BJP could not give reasons that why it brought three farm laws and why did it repeal those laws if they were beneficial for the farmers? They (BJP) called agitating farmers 'terrorists'. This time, BJP will be swept away from Uttar Pradesh," Yadav claimed.

He said that SP will work for the welfare of farmers and will also create a revolving fund for them.

"We will work for the interest and benefit of farmers. We will create a revolving fund for farmers if there is a need so that they do not face any problem," he said.

The SP leader said "farmers are ready to oust" the BJP government and claimed that the BJP will fail to win a seat in western .

Elections for the 403-assembly constituencies in will be held in seven phases from February 10.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The on Sunday released fourth list of 61 candidates including 24 women for the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh to be held in seven phases.

So far the party has given tickets to 127 women in UP. In the first list of 125 candidates, 50 are women; in the second list of 41 candidates, 16 are women; and in the third list of 89 candidates, 37 are women.

The fourth list includes candidates from Rae Bareli and Amethi. From Harchandpur, Surender Vikram Singh has been given ticket and from Sareni, Sudha Dwivedi has been fielded. Both seats are in Rae Bareli. In Amethi from Gauriganj, Mohd Fateh Bahadur is being fielded.

The other candidates who are in the fray are -- from Hathras, Kuldeep Kumar Singh; from Kasganj, Kuldeep Pandey; from Kishni (SC) Dr Vinay Narayan Singh; from Bisalpur, Shikha Pandey.

During the release of the first list, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had said the party is fulfilling its promise of giving 40 per cent tickets to women candidates.

In the first, list she said women have been chosen from diverse backgrounds. These include the mother of Unnao Rape Survivor; Poonam Pandey, an Asha Worker; Nida Ahmed, a journalist; and social activist Sadaf Jafar from Lucknow who was at the forefront of anti-CAA protests.

--IANS

miz/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.)
Punjab chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday, talking about the factionalism in the state unit, said that nobody can defeat his party, only his own party can do so in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Speaking to the media here, Sidhu said, "No one can defeat . Only can defeat itself."

Notably, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu had urged Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state to announce the Chief Ministerial face for the polls, following which Gandhi had said that the decision in this regard would be taken by the party workers.

Hitting out at his opponent from the Amritsar East constituency, Bikram Singh Majithia, who the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) fielded from the same constituency where Sidhu is the sitting MLA, the Congress state president said, "He (Bikram Singh Majithia) is 'Parcha mafia'. He has filed cases against so many people. I haven't lodged a single case against anyone. Everyone knows that Congress will give a strong & secure government We will make a new Punjab."

Earlier on Saturday, Sidhu took on Majithia and challenged him to contest the upcoming poll only from the Amritsar East constituency after SAD fielded the latter from Amritsar East as well as from Majitha constituencies.

Punjab will go to Assembly polls on February 20 and 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 Sunday released its third list of eight candidates for the February 20 Punjab assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister from Bhadaur and Chamkaur Sahib seats.

The also fielded former Patiala mayor Vishnu Sharma from the Patiala assembly seats against its former leader Amarinder Singh.

Sharma was once considered a close confidant of the former chief minister.

Former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's son Manish Bansal has been fielded from the Barnala assembly constituency.

The party announced Mohan Singh Phalianwala from the Jalabad assembly seat against Shiromani Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The also named Sukhpal Singh Bhullar as its candidate from Khem Karan and Tarsem Singh Siala from Attari (SC) seat, while Satbir Singh Saini Balichiki will fight from Nawanshahr.

From Ludhiana South, the Congress has named Ishwarjot Singh Cheema.

The Congress is seeking to retain power in Punjab where it is pitted against the AAP, the SAD-BSP and the BJP which is in alliance with Ex-CM Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's Shiromani Akali Dal Sanyunkt.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf travelled to where he discussed trade ties and other issues with the top Afghan leaders who assured him that the Afghan soil would not be used against its neighbours, including Pakistan.

Yusuf, who led a high-level inter-ministerial delegation to Kabul on January 29-30, held talks with Afghanistan's acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi and Acting Foreign Minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Hanafi assured the delegation led by Yusuf that the Afghan soil would not be used against its neighbours, including Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported.

"The policy of the Islamic Emirate (of Afghanistan) is clear that we will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against [our] neighbours and other countries, a statement issued by the presidential palace in Kabul quoted Hanafi as saying, according to the paper.

"We also want similar action from others, Hanafi said, while hosting the inter-ministerial delegation in the Afghan capital.

Pakistan is yet to recognise Afghanistan's interim government led by the .

Yusuf - the third senior Pakistani official to visit Kabul since the seized power in in August just before his visit said that Pakistan was "not completely optimistic" of the Taliban government as organised terrorist networks are still operating in the war-torn nation and the Afghan soil is still being used against his country.

The top security official made the remarks while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs here on Thursday where he spoke about the threat posed to Pakistan by the presence of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in .

His remarks came in the wake of spike in terrorist attacks in Pakistan since August after the Taliban came to power, belying Islamabad's expectations that they would take harsh measures against their former comrades-in-arms and expel them.

The Afghan Taliban had persuaded Pakistan to enter into talks with the TTP, which Islamabad did with the vain hope that the Afghan Taliban would use their influence to tame the militant group.

The TTP announced a month-long ceasefire on November 9 and presented tough conditions, including implementation of their brand of Shariah and release of all detained rebels. The government faced a backlash and refused to accept the demands and the TTP refused to extend the ceasefire once it ended.

The TTP, known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan.

The group, which is believed to be close to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on the Army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the NSA office here on Sunday said that during his visit to Afghanistan, Yusuf, who also heads Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC), discussed trade ties and other issues with the leaders of the host country.

"The objective of the visit was to discuss with Afghan leadership the humanitarian requirements of the country and Pakistan's proposals for deepening economic engagement to overcome the current challenges Afghanistan is facing, it said.

The statement confirmed Yusuf's meetings with Hanafi and Acting Foreign Minister Muttaqi, but said they discussed the current situation in Afghanistan and strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries.

He also held delegation-level meetings with other relevant Afghan Ministers and senior officials dealing with humanitarian and economic issues.

The visit yielded substantive outcomes in terms of forward movement on trade facilitation and social sector support as both sides agreed to establish a National Level Coordination Mechanism for enhancing facilitation at Border Crossing Points, it said.

They also agreed to initiate barter trade, modalities for which will be worked out immediately.

During the two-day visit, Pakistan offered Afghanistan capacity building and training support in multiple sectors including Health, Education, Banking, Customs, Railways and Aviation, among others, it added.

Both sides also reiterated their commitment to early completion of the three major connectivity projects, CASA- 1000, the Turkmenistan AfghanistanPakistanIndia (TAPI) pipeline, and Trans-Afghan Rail project.

Afghanistan and Pakistan emphasized their commitment to ensuring peace and stability in both countries, the statement added.

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Cash-trapped is looking to secure a USD 3-billion (PKR 529 billion) loan from and investments in half a dozen sectors during Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to Beijing next week, according to a media report on Sunday.

Khan will visit the Chinese capital on February 3 to attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics and to also meet the top Chinese leadership on the sidelines for bilateral talks.

The Express Tribune reported quoting government sources that a final meeting to shape the agenda of the visit would take place on Tuesday.

A senior finance ministry official said the government was considering requesting to approve another loan to the tune of USD 3 billion in China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange, known as SAFE deposits, so as to boost its foreign exchange reserves.

has already placed around USD 11 billion (PKR 1.940 trillion) with in the shape of commercial loans and foreign exchange reserves support initiatives, including USD 4 billion (PKR 705 billion) in SAFE deposits.

The Chinese money is part of the country's current official foreign exchange reserves recorded at USD 16.1 billion (PKR 2.8 trillion).

In the last fiscal year, the country had paid over PKR 26 billion in interest charges to China only for using a USD 4.5 billion (PKR 794 billion) Chinese trade finance facility to repay the maturing debt.

Last month, also received a loan from Saudi Arabia of USD 3 billion (PKR 529 billion), which the country has used.

The Pakistan government aims to secure Chinese investment in six priority sectors by highlighting the competitive advantages that the country - cheap but skilled labour, geographic access to Europe and Asia and tax exemptions.

"We will market textile, footwear, pharmaceutical, furniture, agriculture, automobile and information technology sectors for Chinese investment," said Chairman of Board of Investment Azfar Ahsan.

The government is expected to tell the 75 Chinese companies that it provided access to trade routes to the Middle East, Africa and the rest of the world offering greater incentives in the shape of reduction in freight cost.

"Unlike in the past when we would only talk about Pak-Sino friendship being higher than the Himalayas and sweeter than honey, this time we are going to prepare for China with a structured approach," Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar told The Express Tribune.

He added that with the involvement of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority the government had selected those sectors for foreign investment where there was evidence of huge benefits for Chinese investors.

Pakistani authorities said they believe its labour is two-times cheaper than that of China. This offers a greater opportunity for relocation of the dying Chinese industries.

However, all these areas and the competitive advantages are already known to the investors but they remain reluctant to bring in big money to Pakistan because of its inconsistent fiscal and energy policies.

China has decided to move into a more sophisticated and high-tech-driven textile and apparel industry and engage in more value-added functions under its 2021-25 plan.



Needing A Thrust

Pakistan PM Imran Khan will visit Beijing on February 3 to meet the Chinese leadership for bilateral talks

Pakistan PM Imran Khan will visit Beijing on February 3 to meet the Chinese leadership for bilateral talks  China has already placed around $11 billion with Pakistan in the shape of commercial loans and forex

 In the last fiscal year, Pakistan had paid over PKR 26 billion in interest charges to China

 Last month, Pakistan also received a $3-billion loan from Saudi Arabia

 The Pakistan government aims to secure Chinese investment in six priority sectors

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and India have a "gehri dosti" (deep friendship), Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Saturday and thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for his "deep commitment" to the "strong and robust friendship", as the two nations celebrated 30 years of establishment of diplomatic relations.

Describing the opportunities of collaboration between the two countries as "endless", Bennett stressed that "the ties between and India are strong and together they will only grow stronger".

"There is something I wanted to tell to all of the people of India. and India have a "gehri dosti", Deep Friendship. Today we honour 30 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and India. Thirty years of a wonderful partnership, a deep cultural connection, and military and economic cooperation", Bennett said in a special video message released on Saturday evening.

Though India had recognised Israel on September 17, 1950, full-fledged diplomatic relations between the countries were established on January 29, 1992.

"I would like to thank my dear friend, Prime Minister Modi, for his leadership and deep commitment to this strong and robust friendship. Our countries may be different in size but we share much in common - our rich history, the inherent warmth of our peoples, and our cutting edge innovation and technology", the Israeli prime minister said amidst a series of activities under way to mark the occasion.

The video was tagged to a tweet which said, "Today, we celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations between Israel & India. We celebrate a strong partnership, An incredibly deep friendship, & optimism for the future!".

To his friend Narendra Modi, he wrote in Hindi, "Together we will continue to achieve more remarkable achievements".

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi, in his special video message, said there cannot be a better time to set new goals for taking forward India-Israel relations and asserted that the importance of the relationship has increased amid significant changes in the world. Modi said people of India and Israel have always shared a special relationship.

"This day holds importance in our relationship as full diplomatic ties were established between the two countries 30 years ago. A new chapter between the two countries had begun. It was a new chapter but history between us is age-old," he said.

"For centuries, the Jew community has stayed in India in a harmonious environment without any discrimination and has grown. It has made an important contribution in our developmental journey," Modi said.

Earlier this week, External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar and Israel's foreign minister, Yair Lapid, penned op-eds in an Israeli and an Indian newspaper emphasising that "friendship and trust" are not only positive traits, but also "real assets" with which the two countries have worked together to "deepen their roots" for the last three decades, expressing hopes that their achievements together will continue to bear fruit.

The celebrations to commemorate 30 years of diplomatic ties are likely to continue through the year but anniversary celebrations have been marked by illumination of historic sites in both countries - the Gateway of India and Teen Murti Haifa Chowk in India and Masada in southern Israel's Judean desert which is a popular tourist site.

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Israel's figurehead president flew to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday in the first official visit by the country's head of state, the latest sign of deepening ties between the two nations as tensions rise in the region.

The and normalised relations in the fall of 2020, part of a series of US-brokered diplomatic deals between and Arab states that had long avoided formal relations with over its decades-old conflict with the Palestinians.

The office of President Isaac Herzog said he would be meeting top officials including Abu Dhabi's powerful Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the de facto Emirati leader, along with members of the country's small but growing Jewish expat community.

He also was expected to visit Expo 2020, the world's fair in Dubai, where Israel has hosted a series of events at its national pavilion.

The president plays a largely ceremonial role as a national unifier in Israel's parliamentary system, where the prime minister holds the most power.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett last month made his first official visit to the Gulf Arab sheikhdom and discussed strengthening relations on a number of fronts with Sheikh Mohammed.

Shortly before takeoff, Herzog said his visit sought to bring a blessing of peace and a message of peace to the entire region."



The show of Israel-Emirati cooperation comes at a delicate time for the .

Fighting in Yemen's seven-year civil war has intensified, widening to reach Emirati soil for the first time this month. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels fighting the Saudi-led coalition claimed aerial attacks against Abu Dhabi one that killed three workers at an industrial area and another that was intercepted and scattered missile shards over the capital.

The assaults shocked residents, puncturing the sense of safety pervasive in the region's globalized business hub. The Houthis have threatened further strikes this week.

Meanwhile, negotiations in Vienna between world powers and Iran to curb Tehran's rapidly expanding nuclear program paused on Friday, with European officials saying the talks had approached the final stage. Former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the landmark nuclear deal nearly four years ago in a move welcomed by Israel and America's Gulf Arab allies and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran.

Shared enmity of Iran and mutual fears over its nuclear program helped push the and Israel to formalize relations after years of clandestine ties.

Palestinian leaders have condemned the normalization deal as a betrayal of their cause for statehood.

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fired one suspected ballistic missile from the Jagang Province area on Sunday and the missile landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone.

On Sunday morning, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) that Pyongyang had launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan).

In a later update, Yonhap said citing the South Korean military that the suspected ballistic missile was launched from North Korea's Jagang Province area.

Meanwhile, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters on Sunday that the suspected ballistic missile launched by Pyongyang flew 800 km (497 miles) reaching a maximum altitude of 2,000 km (1,243 miles), and fell outside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after its estimated 30-minute flight.

According to Matsuno, the Japanese government has expressed strong protest over the suspected launch, which, if officially confirmed, will be the seventh test carried out by this year.

A crisis response center has been set up under the office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in connection with Pyongyang's suspected Sunday launch. Kishida has also called a National Security Council meeting, according to the Kyodo news agency.

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has no plans to deploy combat troops to non- member in the event of a Russian invasion, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday.

Asked on BBC Television whether he would rule out putting Nato troops in if does invade, Stoltenberg said: "We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to ... we are focusing on providing support."

"There is a difference between being a Nato member and being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine. There's no doubt about that."

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on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since President Joe Biden took office, as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and neighbors amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy.

The Japanese and South Korean militaries said the missile was launched on a lofted trajectory, apparently to avoid the territorial spaces of neighbors, and reached a maximum altitude of 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) and traveled 800 kilometers (497 miles) before landing in the sea.

The flight details suggest the North tested its longest-range ballistic missile since 2017, when it twice flew intermediate-range ballistic missiles over Japan and, separately, three intercontinental ballistic missiles that demonstrated the potential to reach deep into the American homeland.

Sunday's test was North Korea's seventh round of launches this month. The unusually fast pace of tests indicates its intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled nuclear negotiations as pandemic-related difficulties put further stress on an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called an emergency National Security Council meeting where he described the test as a possible mid-range ballistic missile launch that brought to the brink of breaking its 2018 self-imposed moratorium on the testing of nuclear devices and longer-range missiles.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi also told reporters that the missile was the longest-range the North has tested since its Hwasong-15 ICBM in November 2017.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chaired a ruling party meeting on Jan. 20, where senior party members made a veiled threat to lift the moratorium, citing what they perceived as U.S. hostility and threats.

The latest launch suggests Kim's moratorium is already broken, said Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert and honorary research fellow at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute.

In his strongest comments toward the North in years, Moon said the situation around the Korean Peninsula is beginning to resemble 2017, when North Korea's provocative run in nuclear and long-range missile testing resulted in an exchange of war threats between Kim and Trump.

Moon said the North's latest moves violated U.N. Security Council resolutions and were a challenge toward the community's efforts to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, stabilise peace and find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff.

The North should stop its actions that create tensions and pressure and respond to the dialogue offers by the community including South Korea and the United States, Moon said, according to his office.

Moon had ambitiously pushed for inter-Korean engagement and held three summits with Kim in 2018 while also lobbying to set up Kim's first summit with Trump in 2018, where they issued vague aspirations for a nuclear-free peninsula.

But the diplomacy derailed after the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea's demand for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Sunday's missile flew for around 30 minutes and landed in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. There were no immediate reports of damage to boats or aircraft.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the condemned North Korea's testing activity and called on Pyongyang to refrain from further destabilizing acts. It said the latest launch did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or that of our allies.

Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs at Japan's Foreign Ministry, discussed the launch in separate phone calls with Sung Kim, Biden's special envoy for North Korea, and Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea's nuclear envoy. The officials shared an understanding that Sunday's missile was of enhanced destructive power and reaffirmed trilateral cooperation in the face of the North Korean threat, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

Experts say the North could halt its testing spree after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics next week out of respect for China, its major ally and economic lifeline. But there's also expectation that it could significantly up the ante in weapons demonstrations once the Olympics end in February to grab the attention of the Biden administration, which has been focusing more on confronting China and Russia over its conflict with Ukraine.

is launching a frenzy of missiles before the start of the Beijing Olympics, mostly as military modernization efforts. Pyongyang also wants to boost national pride as it gears up to celebrate political anniversaries in the context of economic struggles, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

It wants to remind Washington and Seoul that trying to topple it would be too costly. By threatening stability in Asia while global resources are stretched thin elsewhere, Pyongyang is demanding the world compensate it to act like a responsible nuclear power,' Easley added.

North Korea has justified its testing activity as an exercise of its rights to self-defense and threatened stronger action after the Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions following two tests of a purported hypersonic missile earlier this month.

While desperate for outside relief, Kim has showed no willingness to surrender the nuclear weapons and missiles he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. Analysts say Kim's pressure campaign is aimed at forcing Washington to accept the North as a nuclear power and convert their nuclear disarmament-for-aid diplomacy into negotiations for mutual arms-reduction.

Kim last year announced a new five-year plan for developing weapons and issued an ambitious wish list that included hypersonic weapons, spy satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched nuclear missiles.

State media said Friday that Kim visited an unspecified munitions factory producing a major weapons system, and that the workers pledged loyalty to their leader who smashes with his bold pluck the challenges of U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces.

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has re-emphasised its commitment to start Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project soon.

Meanwhile, some economists say that the implementation of the project will provide job opportunities for around 12,000 people in Afghanistan, according to Tolo News.

The Taliban say that the practical work of the project will begin in the near future and all the preliminary work has been prepared for its implementation.

Bilal Karimi, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said that work on the security and financial sectors of the project has been partially completed and that practical work on the project will begin as the weather warms up.

"The project should be implemented in a good way, and the Islamic Emirate is well prepared for its financial part. From our side, its technical and logistical problems have been solved," he said.

"The TAPI project is one of the biggest projects in the whole region, we are very sorry that we have not been able to start this project in the last few years. We all know that it has great benefits for the people of Afghanistan," said Mansour Hedayat, an economist.

"The Taliban are now controlling the situation of Afghanistan, the obstacles have been removed and they are expected to play an important role in this project by using all the necessary means," said Shakir Yaqoubi, an economist, as noted by Tolo News.

Meanwhile, is part of the Turkmen gas pipeline project to Pakistan and India, and it is expected that will earn about USD 400 million a year for allowing transit across its territory.

Also, Turkmen officials expressed optimism about the future of the project after a meeting three weeks ago with the head of the Afghanistan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, according to Tolo News.

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Britain is preparing to offer Nato a "major" deployment of troops, weapons, warships and jets in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced, to respond to rising "Russian hostility" towards .

The offer, set to be made to NATO military chiefs next week, could see London double the approximately 1,150 UK troops currently in eastern European countries and "defensive weapons" sent to Estonia, his office said.

"This package would send a clear message to the Kremlinwe will not tolerate their destabilising activity, and we will always stand with our Nato allies in the face Russian hostility," Johnson said in a statement late Saturday.

"I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, ensuring we are able to support our Nato allies on land, at sea and in the air," he added.

The British leader said if Russian President Putin chose "bloodshed and destruction" in Ukraine, it would be "a tragedy for Europe".

" must be free to choose its own future," he argued.

Johnson, who has been under intense political pressure for weeks following a series of scandals, said Friday he will speak to Putin in the coming days to urge de-escalation over .

Meanwhile, he is to visit the region next week.

Relations between and the West are at their lowest point since the Cold War after Moscow deployed tens of thousands of troops on the border of Ukraine.

Britain's foreign ministry is expected to announce the toughening of its sanctions regime on in parliament Monday, to target strategic and financial interests. Meanwhile UK officials will be dispatched to Brussels, home to NATO headquarters, to finalise details of the military offer after ministers discuss the differing options also on Monday.

Britain's chief of defence staff Tony Radakin, the head of the armed forces, will brief the cabinet on the situation in Ukraine the following day.

The possible deployment of aircraft, warships and military specialists as well as troops and weaponry will reinforce NATO's defences and "underpin the UK's support for Nordic and Baltic partners", according to Johnson's office.

On the diplomatic front, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace are preparing to visit Moscow for talks with their counterparts in the coming days, it added.

"They will be asked to improve relationships with President Putin's government and encourage de-escalation," Johnson's office said.

Wallace is also set to travel to meet with allies in Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia next week.
The US Embassy in Kiev urged its citizens to leave due to the "unpredictable" security situation and recommended them a number of possible destinations.

This comes as the US has accused of aggression against . 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.

"The security situation in continues to be unpredictable due to the increased threats of Russian military action and can deteriorate with little notice. US citizens in Ukraine should consider departing now using commercial or other privately available transportation options," the US Embassy said in a statement on Saturday.

The embassy suggested that citizens go to countries near Ukraine, for example, to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. However, it is not recommended to enter Moldova "through the breakaway region of Transnistria," as in this case, the diplomatic mission will be unable to provide citizens with full assistance.

The embassy said those American citizens who are currently facing difficulties buying tickets for commercial flights can be granted a loan at the embassy.

The US Embassy already published similar recommendations twice earlier this week, citing unpredictability regarding Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the US State Department authorized the voluntary departure of US direct hire employees and ordered the departure of eligible family members from the embassy in Kiev.

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Air India has officially been handed over to Tata Group, ending its decades of public ownership. The airline, before it was nationalised, had of course been one of the jewels of the Tata empire, and former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata in particular never seemed to have given up the quest to regain the company that had been set up as Tata Airlines in 1932.

The Tatas won the airline at an auction in October with a bid of about Rs 18,000 crore as enterprise value, including taking on Rs 15,300 crore of the airlines debt. The airline, by some estimates, lost Rs 20 crore a day, and ...
A day after Prime Minister addressed the 30 years of diplomatic ties with Israel, Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Sunday took a jibe and asked whether it was the best time to ask for advanced Pegasus spyware.

He said, "PM said that it is the best time to set new goals in the India-Israel relationship, Of course, it is the best time to ask Israel if they have any advanced version of the Pegasus spyware."

"The last deal was for $2 billion. India can do better this time. If we get more sophisticated spyware ahead of the 2024 elections, we can give them even $4 billion," he added.

After the new expose in an international publication on Pegasus, the Congress on Saturday targeted and alleged that the Modi government was involved in the whole incident and snooped on rivals 'which was an act of treason'.

Addressing a press conference, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala jointly said that the snooping was an "act of treason".

"The Modi Government is the deployer and executor of the illegal and unconstitutional snooping and spying racket through Israeli surveillance spyware Pegasus & the Prime Minister Shri is himself involved!"

"This is a brazen 'Hijack of Democracy' & 'An Act of Treason'," they said.

Surjewala said, "The Modi government purchased Pegasus Spyware in 2017 and other military technology as the 'centrepieces' of a package, including 'weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion' from Israel during PM Modi's visit. It is not a coincidence that the Budget of Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) reporting to NSA went up from Rs 33 crore to Rs 333 crore in 2017-18."

--IANS

miz/dpb

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Congress leader Vadra on Sunday attacked the Centre over the issue of employment, saying its priority is "spying" on citizens when it ought to be jobs for the youth.

Her attack on the government came over a media report which claimed that there are 3.03 crore unemployed youth in the country.

"The priority of the government should be jobs for the youth, but the priority of the government is spying on citizens," the Congress general secretary alleged in an apparent reference to the Pegasus snooping allegations against the government.

The country needs an agenda for the youth, it needs a roadmap for employment for the youth, said in a tweet in Hindi.

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Embassy Office Parks REIT will invest Rs 850 crore to develop nearly two million square feet office buildings in Bengaluru as the company remains bullish on demand for premium workspace, a senior company official said.

Embassy Office Parks REIT, the country's first public listed trust (REIT) sponsored by Blackstone and realty firm Embassy group, is also evaluating the acquisition of a five-million-square-feet IT park in Chennai.

In an interview with PTI, Embassy REIT Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer Vikaash Khdloya said, "We have started a new growth cycle by starting new development of 1.9 million square feet area in Embassy Tech Village in Bengaluru."



"As demand has started to rebound, we are now focusing on growth. We will develop 1.9 million square feet in one shot across four buildings," he told PTI.

Currently, Embassy REIT is developing a total of 4.6 million square feet area, including the new 1.9 million square feet office buildings.

Asked about the investment, Khdloya said the total construction cost is estimated at around Rs 850 crore for the new 1.9 million square feet area.

Moreover, he said the pending in the remaining 2.7 million square feet is Rs 750 crore.

The construction of the ongoing 4.6 million square feet will be completed over the next three years.

"We are very positive on organic growth," he added.

Apart from the organic route, Khdloya said the company has recently received 'Right of First Offer' (ROFO) from its sponsor Embassy group for the acquisition of the five million square feet area at Embassy Splendid TechZone in Chennai.

"We will evaluate whether to buy or not this five million square feet portfolio in Chennai for acquisition," Khdloya said, adding that around 1.5 million square feet in the Chennai IT park has already been completed.

In 2020 also, Embassy REIT acquired an IT park 'Embassy TechVillage' at a total enterprise value of Rs 9,782.4 crore ( USD 1.3 billion).

Khdloya said the demand for Grade-A office is picking up and the company leased around 4,30,000 square feet area during the December 2021 quarter, of which 3,50,000 square feet is new leasing and rest renewals.

He said the demand for quality office space remains strong, especially from the IT/ITeS sector, which has seen a lot of hiring even during this pandemic.

The spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has delayed the return of the corporate workforce to the office by few weeks, he pointed out.

Last week, Embassy REIT has reported a 30 per cent increase in its net operating income to Rs 621.3 crore and will distribute Rs 493 crore to unitholders for the quarter ended December.

Its net operating income (NOI) and distribution to unitholders stood at Rs 478 crore and Rs 431.3 crore in the year-ago period.

Based on the robust Q3 performance, Khdloya said the company has revised its FY22 guidance for the NOI, distribution to unitholders and leasing number.

He said the company expects the NOI at around Rs 2,450 crore and distribution to unitholders at around Rs 2,050 crore.

The guidance for the new leasing area has been increased to one million square feet for the full financial year from 4,00,000 square feet earlier.

Already, new leasing of seven lakh square feet has already been achieved in the first three quarters, he highlighted.

Khdloya said the company's rental collection is almost 100 per cent while the vacancy is around 13 per cent.

Embassy REIT got listed on stock exchanges in April 2019, after raising Rs 4,750 crore through the initial public offering.

Currently, Embassy REIT owns 42.6 million square feet portfolio of eight large office parks and four city-centre office buildings in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and the National Capital Region (NCR).

Out of the total portfolio, Embassy REIT's assets comprise 33.6 million square feet completed operating area, 4.6 million square feet under construction and 4.4 million square feet of future development potential.

Its IT parks are home to over 200 of the world's leading .

The portfolio also includes two operational business hotels, four under-construction hotels, and a 100-megawatt (MW) solar park.

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India has set ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2070, which experts say will take trillions of dollars, access to technology and an overhaul of some sectors of the economy to achieve. For this, our analysis shows that Union Budget 2022-23 will have to change past trends in India's budgetary spending and provide a renewed push to current key climate-change abatement schemes.

India is the third-largest carbon emitter in the world although our per capita carbon emissions are low. Achieving carbon neutrality, also known as net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, by 2070--i.e., balancing carbon emissions and carbon absorption from the atmosphere--is a necessity for India, which has been experiencing increasing extreme weather events. India is one of five countries with the most exposure to extreme heat over the last five years.

"We find that the aggregate investment support required by India to achieve its 2070 net-zero target will be $1.4 trillion [Rs 105 lakh crore]," said a November 2021 analysis by Delhi-based think-tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), "at an average of $28 billion [Rs 2.1 lakh crore] per year".

Yet, the coal ministry has a larger budget than the renewable energy ministry or the environment ministry, progress lags behind India's aims for its solar and wind mission, and India has only partially met its targets for electric vehicles, our analysis found.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of five emissions pledges at the global climate meet in Glasgow in October 2021 was a promise to take steps towards controlling India's emissions. India's five new pledges are: net-zero emissions by 2070, and by 2030 achieving non-fossil fuel energy capacity of 500 GW, 50% energy requirements from renewable sources, reducing total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes and reducing the carbon intensity of the economy to less than 45%.

To achieve its goals, India needs to invest more to increase the share of renewable sources in electricity generation, electrification of fossil-fuel dependent industries, commercial manufacturing of green hydrogen and promoting electric vehicles, experts have said.

Coal receives more money than renewable energy, environment

India's budgeted expenditure on coal-based power has continually increased, as its energy requirements are growing, we found. Coal is one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions and, therefore, of global warming. The union government has, for long, allocated a budget several times higher to the coal ministry in comparison to key ministries addressing .

While there is no single ministry responsible for moving India towards net zero, the ministries of new and renewable energy (MNRE), environment, forest and (MoEFCC), and heavy industries (which runs the scheme to promote electric vehicles), will drive India's effort in this direction. Budget allocations to the coal ministry have thus far, however, outpaced allocations for the MNRE, heavy industries or the MoEFCC.

In the union budget 2021-22, the coal ministry was allocated Rs 19,246 crore ($2.5 billion) while the MNRE was allocated Rs 11,778 crore ($1.5 billion), a continuing trend since 2009-10, IndiaSpend reported in August 2019. The allocation to the Action Plan under the MoEFCC reduced from Rs 40 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 30 crore in 2021-22. In January 2022, the government approved an investment of Rs 1,500 crore ($200 million) in the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, which provides project financing to the RE sector. The government also approved a green energy corridor scheme for laying infrastructure for connecting electricity generated from renewables with the power grid in seven states. The corridor scheme, with a total estimated cost of Rs 12,031 crore ($1.6 billion), would receive 33% central financial assistance, or Rs 3,970 crore ($530 million).

Key schemes lag

While the year 2070 may be far away, our analysis of progress on key climate abatement schemes shows India may struggle to meet the other four ambitious targets, which are the means to that end and have a much nearer deadline of 2030.

Towards the target of achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, India recently hit 156.83 GW. This is 40.1% of the country's total installed electricity capacity of 390.8 GW, and 31% of the 500 GW target. Renewable energy (RE) sources make up 26.5% of electricity generation capacity at present, against the target of 50%. The majority of India's RE comes from solar (12.4%) and wind (10.2%), and India will need to greatly expand these capacities within eight years to meet the PM's pledge.

Solar: Installed capacity of solar energy in India has increased from 2.63 GW in March 2014 to more than 42 GW in October 2021, the government said. India aims to increase this to 100 GW with programmes such as the National Solar Mission (NSM). Under the NSM, the government had approved the scaling up of grid-connected solar power projects' capacity from 20 GW to 100 GW by 2022, of which 40 GW was to be achieved through rooftop solar projects, the MNRE told Parliament on December 9, 2021. In March 2019, the government had announced a target of adding 4 GW of rooftop solar capacity in the residential sector by 2019-20, of which only around 1.07 GW capacity (27%) had been installed by December 5, 2021.

About 2.09 GW capacity was to be added by 2019-20 through central financial assistance, but a capacity of only 1.31 GW (63% of the target) was achieved until December 5, 2021, per the ministry.

The PM-KUSUM Scheme, launched in 2019, aims to add 30.8 GW solar power capacity for agriculture, through the installation of 2 million standalone off-grid solar water pumps and solarisation of 1.5 million existing grid-connected agriculture pumps by 2022. It is being implemented through three components. As part of the first component, solar power plants of a total 4.91 GW capacity have been sanctioned but only plants of 20 MW capacity (0.4%) had been installed by November 30, 2021, the minister told Lok Sabha on December 9. A total of 359,000 standalone solar pumps were sanctioned, of which only 75,098 pumps (21%) had been installed. Sanction was issued for solarisation of 1 million existing grid-connected agriculture pumps, but only 1,026 pumps had been solarised.

The MNRE's budget includes Rs 2,369 crore ($315 million) set aside for development of grid interactive solar power, the capacity of which will increase by 7.5 GW Solar Power in 2021-22. However, the Centre's allocation for off-grid solar power fell by over half from Rs 525 crore to Rs 237 crore between 2019-20 and 2021-22. Off-grid solar power includes funds for the installation of 300,000 solar street lights, distribution of 2.5 million solar study lamps and installation of solar power packs.

Allocation to the PM-KUSUM scheme also decreased from Rs 300 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 221 crore in 2021-22. However, under the off-grid power category, allocation for this scheme increased from Rs 700 crore to Rs 776 crore in 2021-22.

Wind: The tale is no different for wind power, wherein India has a gross potential of at least 302 GW but has managed to harness only 40 GW so far. To give impetus to the sector, the government introduced measures such as concessional customs duty exemption on some components required for manufacturing wind electric generators, generation-based incentive to wind power projects, technical support, including wind resource assessment and identification of potential sites through the National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai. Even so, massive offshore wind energy potential remains untapped, IndiaSpend reported in November 2021.

While India struggles to increase its share of non-fossil fuel sources for power, usage of coal is set to increase further, according to the International Energy Agency's Coal 2021 report. In India, stronger economic growth and increasing electrification are forecast to drive coal demand growth of 4% per year and India is set to add 130 million tonnes of coal demand between 2021 and 2024, the report said.

"Our energy demand is going to grow four-fold by 2040. If all or most of this new demand is met through renewable energy sources, it would be a significant step because reducing coal consumption [that meets the majority of India's present power demand] is impractical at the moment for India," Ashwini Swain, fellow at the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, told IndiaSpend.

Electric vehicles in slow lane

India launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in 2015, with the aims of reducing dependency on fossil fuel and addressing vehicular emissions, per the Ministry of Heavy Industries, but progress on this front is patchy.

India had less than a million electric vehicles (EVs), at 877,117 by December 8, 2021, less than 0.5% of the over 273 million vehicles in use countrywide. The five-year second phase of FAME India, being implemented since April 2019 with a total budget of Rs 10,000 crore ($1.32 billion), is focused on supporting electrification of public and shared transportation. It aims to support, through subsidies, the manufacture of 7,090 e-buses, 500,000 e-3 wheelers, 55,000 e-4 wheeler passenger cars and 1 million e-2 wheelers, or around 1.5 million EVs. Just over halfway into phase II, by December 7, 2021, the scheme had incentivised only 176,327 EVs--11% of the target.

Under Phase II of the scheme, 520 charging stations for EVs were sanctioned, of which 452 (87%) have been installed, the ministry informed Parliament on December 14. India will need a more widespread charging infrastructure network if consumers are to move towards EVs, a Centre for Social and Economic Progress report ahead of India's net-zero pledge at Glasgow had noted, in September 2021.

For EVs to truly contribute to reducing India's emissions however, the share of renewable energy over fossil fuel sources in India's electricity generation must also increase, say experts. "Decarbonising the energy sector will lay the groundwork for the transport sector to transition as well. It is only when clean electricity is available will electric vehicles be truly considered clean," Chirag Gajjar, head of subnational climate action at World Resources Institute India, told IndiaSpend.

The wait for Green Hydrogen

PM Modi announced a National Hydrogen Mission in his Independence Day speech in August 2021 with the aims of increasing India's energy self-reliance and also enabling its clean energy transition. The mission aims to scale up production of green hydrogen, by using renewable energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen instead of the conventional process which uses fossil fuels, per the MNRE. Green hydrogen has the potential to decarbonise major greenhouse gas emitting sectors like steel, chemicals, shipping and transportation, IndiaSpend reported in September.

The draft National Green Hydrogen Mission document was still under inter-ministerial consultations as of December 12, 2021, the MNRE informed Parliament on December 9, but experts hope that it will find mention in the budget 2022-23.

"I hope the Hydrogen Mission is considered in the upcoming budget even if it is a small amount for a specific purpose," Gajjar said. "Research and analysis is required to gauge where demand can come from, what kind of technology is needed. Some big corporations in India have electrolysers [for making hydrogen] that are used for other purposes but whether they will make those available for production of green hydrogen will depend on whether it makes economic sense for them."

Companies including Reliance Industries and JSW Steel, along with experts from think-tanks, have formed the India Hydrogen Alliance to plan India's green hydrogen roadmap.

Nature-based solutions to reduce emissions

India was targeting reducing total greenhouse gas emissions by 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes by 2030 even before COP26 in Glasgow, per its 2015 climate commitment in Paris. While the PM's latest pledge at COP 26, Glasgow to reduce emissions by 1 billion tonnes is low on specifics, forests can play an important part in sequestering carbon if done while protecting the rights of forest dwellers, IndiaSpend reported in November 2021.

The MoEFCC listed implementation of its programmes such as National Afforestation Programme, Development of Wildlife Habitat, Project Elephant, Project Tiger and Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme towards meeting this climate pledge and for conservation of forests, in a reply to Parliament in November 2021. But the budget for the Green India Mission afforestation programme decreased from Rs 246 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 235 crore in 2021-22. The budgets for Project Tiger and Project Elephant too decreased. This article was originally published on IndiaSpend.

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Digital Editor Read our full coverage on Budget 2022
India, which is set to regain the worlds fastest-growing major economy title, will likely prioritize growth over fiscal consolidation by boosting spending, according to economists surveyed ahead of Tuesdays presentation of the nations federal budget.

Finance Minister will probably increase the budget by about 14% year-on-year to 39.6 trillion rupees ($527 billion) in the fiscal year beginning April, according to the median of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. She is expected to leave tax rates largely unchanged, and instead rely on income from asset sales and a near-record borrowing of about 13 trillion rupees to partly fund the plan, the survey showed.





Elevated expenditure will, for yet another year, keep the governments budget deficit wider than 6% of gross domestic product. Economists predict Sitharaman will target a fiscal gap of 6.1% of GDP next fiscal year after ending the current year with a 6.8% shortfall, thanks to looser spending to see the economy through the pandemic.



The recovery from the pandemic has been swift but incomplete, Dhiraj Nim and Sanjay Mathur, economists at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. wrote in a report. A fine balancing act between fiscal retreat and economic recovery is thus needed.

With curbs to stem the omicron variant of Covid-19 fanning unemployment and inequalities, Sitharaman will be under pressure to step up spending on everything from infrastructure projects to health care in a bid to create jobs and pull people out of poverty. Oxfam is recommending the government impose a 1% surcharge on the richest 10% of the population to invest in health and education.





Wealth has surged for the rich globally during the pandemic as the value of everything from stock prices to crypto and commodities has jumped. India, where urban unemployment jumped close to 15% last May and food insecurity worsened, now counts more billionaires than France, Sweden and Switzerland combined, according to Oxfam.

Most survey participants see Sitharaman desisting from any populist steps in the budget despite the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party heading into key state elections next month, even as expectations are growing that she will change some tax rules to boost foreign demand for Indias sovereign debt.

Scrapping the capital gains tax on bond investors will advance Indias case for inclusion in global bond indexes, which HSBC Holdings Plc estimates could pave the way for as much as $40 billion of foreign inflows. It can also ease domestic pressure given expectations of near-record borrowing by the government just as the central bank winds back some of its pandemic-era monetary stimulus.





Most respondents see the manufacturing sector emerging as the biggest beneficiary of the budget, with few economists expecting any major gains for the countrys dominant services and agriculture sectors. At the same time, they think its the poor who would benefit the most from the governments growth-boosting policies.

The budget will continue to support the rural sector via employment generation and higher fertilizer subsidies, said Gaura Sen Gupta, an economist with IDFC First Bank Ltd. in Mumbai. The focus of fiscal policy will shift from near-term relief measures to strengthening engines of growth -- consumption and investment, she said.

(With assistance from Tomoko Sato, Subhadip Sircar and Archana Chaudhary.)
Covid-19 has not just caused a health emergency, but also a financial emergency for millions of families. Prolonged illness and high medical bills added to the woes of people who were badly affected by this deadly infection.

Many are possibly still recovering from the damage caused to their health and financial planning. To overcome such situations in the future and for India to grow stronger and healthier, insurance is possibly the only solution.

providers suggest that the Union government bring in a favourable policy in the upcoming Union Budget to encourage all Indians to opt for .

" policies are not just to cover medical expenses, but insured individuals will have the freedom to avail quality . Changing lifestyles and newer ailments are posing increased threats to the well-being of our societies, and it is important we gear up to meet these challenges effectively," said D.V.S Soma Raju, Executive Director, SLG Hospital.

He hoped that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech will give importance to because only an 'Insured India' will develop into 'Healthy India' eventually.

"When age is on our side, we all are healthy and tend to take enhanced risks on personal and professional fronts. But there would be a time when we must think about the future and be prepared for any eventuality. Covid-19 infection and the unprecedented devastation it brought to mankind is the perfect warning to wake up and act. While we all must stay safe and ensure our health is well protected, taking health insurance will add to the welfare of the individuals, families, and the societies at large," said Hemanth Kaukuntla, Vice-Chairman, Century Hospitals.

Speaking on the significance of health insurance, Satwinder Singh Sabharwal, COO, Aware Gleneagles Global Hospital, said that fast-paced lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits, ever increasing levels of pollution, and growing incidences of diseases at a young age, could lead to medical emergencies at any stage and for anyone.

"Without proper insurance coverage, medical emergencies often leave families cash- strapped, which at times could be more damaging than the ailment itself," he added.

"Leading a financially secured life is the dream of every individual. Irrespective of saving enough money or not, one must give importance to apply for health insurance, because that is certainly the most important parameter for financial freedom. Health insurance provides prompt access to medical treatment, with the usual flexibility to customise policy as per individual's or family's needs," said C.Raghu, Director, Aster Prime Hospital.

In addition to encouraging more and more Indians to apply for insurance, professionals also wish the Union Finance Minister to make substantial allocation to improve health infrastructure in the country.

--IANS

ms/khz/dpb

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government may provide for targeted fiscal incentives and allocation of funds for promotion of green in the country in Union Budget 2022-23, which is slated to be unveiled in Parliament on Tuesday.

The government launched National Mission in 2021. Earlier this month, Power and New & Minister R K Singh had indicated that a green policy will be unveiled in February which would feature many incentives to boost green hydrogen in the country.

"While 2021 saw the launch of National Hydrogen Mission, it is likely that the Budget may provide for targeted fiscal incentives for R&D in green hydrogen segment, creation of domestic supply chain for hydrogen and reduce customs duties on electrolysers to boost green hydrogen production," says Venkatesh Raman Prasad, Partner, J Sagar Associates (JSA).

Prasad is of the view that India's commitment at COP 26 of achieving net zero emissions by 2070 and meet 50 per cent of energy requirements from by 2030 shows that the government intends to focus on cleaner sources of energy.

Hemant Mallya, Senior Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) opines that green hydrogen has many industrial uses and can potentially decarbonise many hard-to-abate sectors, like the iron and steel industry.

He says that an outlay of Rs 1,200 crore by 2024 in the upcoming Budget could trigger pilots in various end-use applications such as testing green hydrogen readiness of natural gas pipelines, underground hydrogen storage, and pilots for equipment such as furnaces, boilers, and process heaters.

He suggests that another Rs 165 crore could support R&D, especially on catalysts and electrolyser membranes, finding substitutes for critical minerals, setting up testing labs and enforcing safety standards.

These investments would help indigenize green hydrogen production and use as an industrial fuel, he opines.

Davinder Sandhu, Co-founder & Chairman, Primus Partners says that electrolysers used to manufacture hydrogen at present are expensive and bringing down their cost will contribute to reducing the cost of green hydrogen.

This will enable the country to meet the target of establishing 10 gigawatt of domestic manufacturing capacity as well as making India a global leader in the sector, he opines.

In this regard, he suggests that the government should consider a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme which can support indigenization of electrolysers and scaling up of green hydrogen production at optimized cost.

Earlier this month, Union minister R K Singh had said a new green hydrogen policy will feature incentives like free power transmission for 25 years, dollar denominated bids, offer of land in parks and land allocation near ports for creating bunkers for green hydrogen or ammonia.

(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.)
China-Europe freight trains boost interconnectivity, mutual benefits

Xinhua) 09:16, January 30, 2022

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The total number of China-Europe freight train trips has topped 50,000, as a cargo train left the city of Chengdu in southwest China for Nuremberg, Germany, on Saturday.

The value of goods transported by the cargo service skyrocketed from 8 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 to 74.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, surpassing a ninefold increase, said China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

During the six-year period, the number of train services recorded an average annual growth of 55 percent after all railway routes were merged into the China-Europe freight train service brand and given blue branding in June 2016.

With 78 routes planned, the trains now reach 180 cities in 23 European countries, transporting more than 50,000 types of goods including IT products, automobiles and parts, chemicals, and mechanical and electronic products, according to the company.

Since it began operations in 2011, the China-Europe freight train service has served as a crucial link for trade and economic cooperation, propelling interconnectivity and bringing mutual benefits to countries along the routes.

In a smart factory owned by the Chinese equipment manufacturer Sany Group in the Liangjiang New Area of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing, large excavators have rolled off the assembly line and been loaded onto a China-Europe freight train heading toward Central Asian and European markets.

In the eyes of Li Bing, general manager in charge of Sany Group's business in the southwestern region, major railway channels such as the China-Europe freight train service have brought Chongqing closer to the rest of the world. "We can better expand the Central Asian and European markets based in the municipality," he said.

Once faced with logistics disadvantages, inland Chinese cities such as Chongqing and Chengdu are now emerging as industrial bases for the electronic information, automobile and equipment manufacturing sectors, as global investors voted with their feet after the railway launch.

Agnieszka Maliszewska, director of the Polish Chamber of Milk, said that the export expansion of Polish dairy products to China has much to do with the fast logistics between Poland and China. "We are very happy because it is a very fast and good solution for dairy products and their producers," he said.

As of Saturday, more than 4.55 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods worth a total of 240 billion U.S. dollars have been transported by China-Europe freight trains.

Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, the safe and efficient transport offered by the China-Europe freight train service has helped stabilize global supply chains while offering a lifeline for the distribution of anti-virus materials.

Official data shows that since the pandemic began, over 100,000 tonnes or 13.62 million units of anti-pandemic supplies have been transported by freight trains to European countries including Germany, Poland and Belgium.

By Jan. 19, the city of Wuhan had sent out 11 China-Europe freight trains this year, transporting a total of 921 tonnes of COVID-19 prevention goods.

Looking ahead, the China State Railway Group is working to improve its overseas network by opening new routes that travel across the Caspian Sea, the Baltic Sea, as well as countries such as Ukraine and Finland.

And the China-Europe freight train service is set to play an even bigger role as countries along the routes seek higher-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Official data showed that the total imports and exports between China and the European Union gained 27.5 percent in 2021 to reach 828.11 billion U.S. dollars. China remains the EU's largest trading partner, while the EU is China's second largest trading partner.

(Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun)
The of Parliament starting Monday is likely to be stormy with opposition parties all geared up to raise the Pegasus snooping allegations, farmers' issues and the border row with China.

The session is being held in the midst of crucial assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is locked in a bitter electoral contest with its rivals, and with the campaigning in full swing, it will have an effect on Parliament proceedings.

The opposition is preparing to unitedly take on the government on the Pegasus snooping row after the New York Times claimed that India purchased the snooping spyware as part of a defence deal with Israel in 2017.

Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha has already written to Speaker Om Birla for moving a privilege motion against the government and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for "misleading" the House, as the government had denied the charges of "spying" in a statement in Parliament last year.





ALSO READ: Union Budget 2022-23: Expectations on changes in income tax slabs and rates

The Pegasus row had led to a washout of the last Monsoon session when a united opposition did not allow both houses to function and sought a discussion on the matter. Sources said the government is unlikely to agree to a discussion on the issue and will focus on getting its legislative business cleared.

The principal opposition Congress has said that it will reach out to like-minded parties to raise issues such as farm distress, Chinese "incursions", demand for a relief package for Covid-19 victims, sale of Air India and the Pegasus snooping row during the session.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu are set to chair separate meetings with floor leaders of political parties on Monday to ensure smooth functioning of the House during the session.

The session will begin with President Ram Nath Kovind's address to a joint sitting of both houses in the Central Hall and chambers of both the Houses in view of the Covid-19 situation.

Finance Minister will present the 2021-22 on Monday and the Union Budget on Tuesday.

The is being held in the shadow of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will return to separate timings with members seated in the chambers of both houses to ensure social distancing norms. While the upper house will sit from 10 AM to 3 PM, the lower house will sit from 4 PM to 9 PM.





ALSO READ: Capital goods: Capex push likely in Union Budget to support growth

The Lok Sabha will take up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address from Wednesday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reply to the debate on February seven.

Lok Sabha secretariat officials said four days beginning February 2 have been provisionally allotted for the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address.

The first part of the will be held from January 31 to February 11 after which it will go into a recess to examine the budgetary allocations for different departments. The Session would resume on March 14 and conclude on April 8. The first part of the session will have 10 sittings while 19 sittings are scheduled for the second part.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla this evening took stock of arrangements for the Budget session. The two met at the residence of the Vice President and both the presiding officers went over various issues for about 40 minutes.

The session offers only a seventy-nine and a half hours window for the government's legislative agenda and for taking up issues of immediate public concern over the scheduled 29 sittings of both the Houses.

A total of 135 hours of sitting time is available for Rajya Sabha for transacting various items of business during the 27 sittings scheduled during February 2 to April 8, 2022 with 5 hours per day.

Of this, the first part of the session with 40 hours accounts for about 30 percent of the total scheduled sitting time while the second part with 95 hours accounts for about 70 per cent. Rajya Sabha will have Zero Hour reduced by half to 30 minutes per day with a total time of 13 hours 30 minutes for raising issues of public importance besides laying of papers and reports during 27 sittings.

The timeshare of Question Hour will be 27 hours. A total of 15 hours' time is scheduled for Private Members' Business on six days. During the first week of the second part of the session, Private Members' Bills will be taken up on Thursday as Friday is a holiday.

This leaves only 79 hours 30 minutes for considering and passing Bills to be proposed by the Government besides discussing issues of immediate public concern under Calling Attention Notices and as Short Duration Discussions.

The Budget session beginning tomorrow is the sixth to be held since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020. The Budget session of 2020 was curtailed by eight sittings and the Budget session of 2021 was shortened by 10 sittings.

(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 30 (ANI): One of the most keenly awaited announcements in the every year is related to personal taxation. In every budget rates and slabs are reviewed. However, the slabs have not been changed since 2014. Will Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman change the slabs and give relief to taxpayers in the budget on Tuesday?

The basic personal tax exemption limit was last revised in 2014. Presenting the first budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 2014 the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the basic exemption limit from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. For senior citizens, the exemption limit was increased from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. The basic exemption limits have not been changed since then.

Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present her fourth on February 1, 2022. Some analysts feel that the finance minister may announce major relief to taxpayers.

The expected relief include an increase in the basic exemption limit from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. For senior citizens, it is likely to be increased to Rs 3.5 lakh from the present Rs 3 lakh.

The top income slab is also likely to be revised upward from the existing Rs 15 lakh.

According to a pre-budget survey conducted among different stakeholders by KPMG recently, the majority (64 per cent) of respondents expect an enhancement in the basic income tax exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh.

"Our pre-budget survey indicates that relief for individual taxpayers by way of an enhancement in the basic income tax exemption limit of Rs 2.5 Lakh is highly awaited. Respondents also support an upward revision in the top income slab of Rs10 lakhs," said Rajeev Dimri, Partner and National Head of Tax, KPMG in India.

Although Sitharaman has not changed tax slabs and rates, she introduced a new tax regime in budget 2020. Under the new tax regime, the tax rates are reduced for those willing to forego tax exemptions and deductions.

The new tax regime remains optional for taxpayers. This means a taxpayer has the option to either stick to the old regime or choose the new one.

Currently, income upto Rs 2.5 is exempt from taxation under both regimes. Income between Rs 2.5 to Rs 5 lakh is taxed at the rate of 5 per cent under the old as well as the new tax regime.

Personal income from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh is taxed at a rate of 20 per cent under the old regime, while under the new regime the tax rate stands at 10 per cent. Income between Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh is taxed at a rate of 20 per cent in the old regime, while in the new regime the tax rate stands at 15 per cent.

Under the old regime personal income above Rs 10 lakh is taxed at a rate of 30 per cent. However, under the new regime, there are three slabs above Rs 10 lakh. Personal income between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 12.5 lakh is taxed at a rate of 20 per cent under the new regime. Income from Rs 12.5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh is taxed at 25 per cent and income above Rs 15 lakh is taxed at a rate of 30 per cent.

The effective tax rate is much higher due to cess and surcharges.

An individual with a net taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh is allowed to avail tax rebate of up to Rs 12,500 under Section 87A in both the old as well as the new tax system. So effectively, the tax liability of individuals with income up to Rs 5 lakh is zero under both the tax regimes.

The limit for deduction under Section 80C has also remained unchanged since 2014. In the 2014 budget, the 80C deduction limit was increased to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh, while the deduction limits for interest on the home loan was increased to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh.

Both these deductions remain unchanged since 2014. However, some additional deductions have been introduced in the subsequent budgets. In the 2015 budget, the government introduced an additional deduction of Rs 50,000 for contribution under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) under Section 80 CCD. The deduction limit on health insurance premiums was also increased from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.

Major steps towards simplification and rationalisation of the income tax regime are also expected in this year's budget.

In the Budget 2020-21, around 70 exemptions and deductions of different nature were removed. The finance minister had announced that the "remaining exemptions and deductions will be reviewed and rationalised in the coming years with a view to further simplifying the tax system and lowering the tax rate."

In the 2021-22 Budget the finance minister did not make any significant change in the income tax rates or slabs.

"Although the Government has taken several measures to resolve tax disputes and overhaul the tax dispute resolution framework over the past few years, further measures in this regard may help in reducing litigation. Rationalisation of TDS and TCS provisions to ease compliance burdens will also be welcome," said Dimri.

(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 Burkinabe controlled possession in the opening exchanges with Steeve Yago and Ibrahim Toure pulling the strings in midfield.

Cyrille Bayala had the first opening of the closely contested match when he found space on the left to shoot straight at Bechir Said in the Tunisian goal midway through the first half.

The Carthage Eagles were denied by Koffi on 26 minutes when he dived to his left to save Wahbi Khazri's fierce free kick.

The two sides continue to cancel each other in midfield while they try to break on the counter.

A defensive mistake in the Burkinabe box almost allowed Jaziri to score when he charged down Soumaila Ouattara. Dango broke the deadlock with a neat finish from a swift counter attack. Ibrahim Toure played him through on goal and he cut inside before firing past Bechir. The Tunisians returned after the break with more determination as they search for the equaliser.

Kouakou Koffi pulled another brilliant save from a set piece to keep his lead. Substitute Ali Maaloul struck a sumptuous strike but Koffi was equal to it.
In what seems to be a regular occurrence at this point, Mazda has announced a product stoppage anew at their Japanese factories this May.
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Pressmen Matt Chan, left, and Todd Grewe prepare to print the latest edition of The Swift County Monitor-News at Quinco Press in Lowry, Minn., Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. The weekly paper, which has a circulation of roughly 2,000, does cover Swift County intensely, the city council, the county commissioners, the school board and nearly every other gathering of consequence. With declining circulation and ads, the publisher estimates his three little local newspapers are worth at least $1 million less than a decade ago. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
The existing beach wheelchair the Indian Beach Fire Department provides for beachgoers sits outside the Indian Beach Fire Station on Salter Path Road. The department recently received a donation to purchase a new beach wheelchair. (Joshua Haraway photo)
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: What is going on?
Photo: Transparency International Transparency International's 2021 corruption index sees Canada continuing to slip in rankings under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Canada has, once again, slipped down an international ranking for corruption, standing at 13th in the world and well back of world leaders, such as Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore.

Since 2015, the year Liberal leader Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, Canada has fallen nine points, to a score of 74 out of 100 on the Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index. No country has seen a bigger drop in ratings since 2017 than Canada.

While the latest ranking is Canada's worst in a decade, the country remained at the top of the rankings in the Americas, where progress on stamping out corruption has "ground to a halt" and democracies like Chile and the United States rank even lower.

Transparency International, a non-profit non-government organization dedicated to sunshine laws, specifically cited ethical breaches by former Finance Minister Bill Morneau for awarding the administration of a $900 million grants program to WE Charity, which has a history of paying politicians and family members, including the Trudeaus, for speaking events.

Also cited is the SNC-Lavalin foreign bribery case that spiralled into a political crisis when Trudeau breached conflict of interest rules by improperly pressuring then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to defer prosecution of the construction company.

Transparency International notes how "top-scoring countries," such as Canada, have proven too weak to meet the challenge of increasingly globalised, networked corruption  which is not measured by the Index.

As a result, these seemingly clean countries are enabling or even fuelling cross-border corruption, even if it may originate from other places further down the CPI table.

And, as these countries continue to enable transnational corruption, there are consequences for their own corruption levels, stated the group.

Transparency Canada has often commented on real estate transparency in Canada. And while it continues to be an issue in B.C., the group notes the provincial government has taken steps to improve anti-corruption measures, such as by establishing the first provincial beneficial ownership registry for residential property as part of the Land Owners Transparency Act. The registry  a service the government intends to charge money for  has been delayed to fall 2022, and questions remain over the effectiveness of enforcement.

The limited availability of real estate data and of beneficial ownership data, in particular, means that we still know very little about who owns properties and whether they have been purchased with dirty money. This continues to be the case in the four markets  Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States  we had analysed in 2017, stated Transparency International.

According to Transparency International, this years Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) reveals that corruption levels are at a worldwide standstill.

This year, the global?average?remains unchanged for the tenth year?in a row, at just 43 out of a possible 100 points. Despite multiple commitments, 131 countries have made no significant progress against corruption in the last decade. Two-thirds of countries score below 50, indicating that they have serious corruption problems, while 27 countries are at their lowest score ever, notes the report.

Transparency International asserts that the lack of improvements worldwide are negatively impacting democracy and human rights.

"Transparency International found countries that violate civil liberties consistently score lower on the CPI. Complacency in fighting corruption exacerbates human rights abuses and undermines democracy, setting off a vicious spiral."
Photo: The Canadian Press People gather in support of the trucker convoy protesting measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine mandates at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. The event, which a provincial spokesman said attracted an estimated several thousand people, was one of numerous convoys that were held in conjunction with a national convoy against vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers that rolled across Canada this past week and arrived in Ottawa on Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Like many of those gathered near the Alberta legislature to support a convoy of trucks that inched their way through Edmonton's downtown streets for several hours on Saturday, Kyla Keulers has been to protests against COVID-19 health restrictions before.

But there were so many more people at Saturday's event, and so many truck horns honking, that she felt optimistic things are about to change  that their protests will finally make a difference.

"I think people are really waking up and we're all uniting," said Keulers, standing beside a stroller with her three-month-old son inside.

"I want to be able to choose and I want my child to be able to choose, and it's just ridiculous what the government thinks it can get away with."

The event, which a provincial spokesman said attracted several thousand people, was one of numerous convoys that were held in conjunction with a national convoy against vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers that rolled across Canada this past week and arrived in Ottawa on Saturday.

"I think there's a lot of people who've been silenced because we've been bullied into silence," said Megan Crowther, who attended the Edmonton protest with her four children, her parents and friends.

"We can't get onto a train, a plane, a bus. We've lost our right to have a job. People are losing their homes," she said.

Other protesters openly espoused debunked conspiracy theories about the virus and the vaccines used to combat it.

Further south at the U.S. border in Coutts, Alta., RCMP said several hundred, possibly up to 1,000 vehicles, took part in another protest, eventually blocking Highway 4 to the U.S. border crossing in both directions.

Cpl. Curtis Peters, an RCMP spokesman, said there was no access to the border on the Canadian side and that U.S. officials were turning traffic around on the other side.

He said no arrests had been made by late Saturday afternoon, but that Coutts itself was blocked off in case emergency vehicles needed to get in.

"We're engaging in dialogue with them and encouraging them to rethink that," Peters said from Coutts late Saturday afternoon.

Police in Vancouver posted on Twitter shortly after 1 p.m. saying heavy traffic throughout the city due to the "planned trucker convoy protest" may lead to disruptions.

Victoria police also tweeted that a large protest was disrupting traffic around the provincial legislature, while videos posted to social media showed a group of trucks and other vehicles in Prince George honking in support of those rallying in Ottawa

Nova Scotia issued a directive aimed at prohibiting those protesting against COVID-19 measures from blocking the Trans-Canada Highway near the New Brunswick boundary.

The province said the directive also applied to people who stopped or gathered alongside the highway in support of the 2022 Freedom Convoy, the Atlantic Hold the Line event, or others who organize to interfere with traffic.

In the end, though, a storm forced the highway between the provinces to shut, and traffic was diverted away from the boundary at Amherst, N.S.
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Photo: Brendan Kergin

Heavy rain is expected throughout the Metro Vancouver region Sunday.

Environment Canada is cautioning those in the Lower Mainland that up to 70 mm of rain may fall. Areas of particular concern are the central and northeast parts of the city, North Vancouver, and the Fraser Valley.

"A weather system continues to bring heavy rain to the region today," says the federal agency in a weather statement.

They warn that drivers may find visibility reduced.

"Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible. Watch for possible washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts," they add.

The rain is expected to clear up later in the day, as winds of up to 70 km/h arrive. The weather is forecast to calm down by Monday morning, when there'll be a mix of sun and cloud.
Photo: CTV News The Canadian embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine is seen on Jan. 25, 2022.

Global Affairs Canada says "non-essential" Canadian employees and their dependents from the embassy in Ukraine will be temporarily withdrawn amid concerns over a buildup of Russian troops along the country's borders.

A statement released Sunday says officials are monitoring the situation and their highest priority is the safety of Canadians, for whom the embassy remains open.

The move comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced supports for Ukraine last week, including expanding Canada's efforts to train the Ukrainian military and sending non-lethal military equipment, such as body armour.

Trudeau stressed at a news conference last Wednesday that "this is not a combat mission," but it's intended to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.

Russia has positioned about 100,000 troops along the border, raising fears across Europe and the NATO military alliance of an invasion, something Russia has denied.

The statement from Global Affairs says the team at the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv will be reinforced by officials with expertise in areas such as conflict management, democratic reform and consular services, helping to increase diplomatic capacity.

Much of the current standoff between Russia and NATO has revolved around Moscow's demand that Ukraine never be allowed into the transatlantic military alliance, which includes Canada, the United States and 28 European countries.

The Kremlin has also demanded that NATO withdraw all its forces from the territory of member states that once belonged to the Soviet Union.

The alliance has rejected the demand, leading to fears of a new war in Europe.

With a $340-million commitment to extend Canada's training mission in Ukraine for three years, the prime minister said last week that he had 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.

Trudeau also committed $50 million in development and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, on top of a $120-million loan offered to help stabilize its economy.

NATO members are also in talks about bolstering the alliance's presence across eastern Europe as a further deterrent to war, with some allies such as France and Denmark having already announced additional commitments.
After a US newspaper report surfaced regarding the alleged Pegasus spyware purchase deal, lawyer ML Sharma has moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to register FIR and probe the matter.

The petition said the alleged India-Israel deal was not approved by Parliament and, therefore, needs to be cancelled and money is recovered.

The petitioner urged the apex court to also issue directions to investigate alleged misuse of public funds in the interest of justice and prosecution of concerned persons.

Sharma, the lead petitioner in the original case, filed an application has also sought recovery of money paid for the deal.

Last year on October 27, the top court had constituted an independent committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran to probe into the Pegasus allegations.

The pleas were filed last year sought inquiry headed by a sitting or retired judge of the top court to investigate the alleged snooping.

The pleas had said that the targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware is an unacceptable violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 by the Supreme Court in the KS Puttaswamy case.

In July 2021, names of several Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and over 40 Indian journalists appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, according to a report published in The Wire.

However, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said there is 'no substance' in the media report regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp, adding that the report was an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions.

Later, journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh, and Ipsa Shatakshi, who are reported to be on the potential list of snoop targets of Pegasus spyware, had also approached the Supreme Court along with The Editors Guild of India (EGI) among others.

(ANI)

Also Read: Chidambaram hits out at Centre over Pegasus spyware issue
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged the Taliban to both recognize and uphold the basic human rights that belong to every girl and woman.

With Afghanistan "hanging by a thread" six months after the Taliban takeover, members of the international community have repeatedly raised concerns about the deteriorating human rights condition in the country.

"In Afghanistan, women and girls are once again being denied their rights to education, employment & equal justice. To demonstrate a real commitment to be a part of the global community, the Taliban must recognize & uphold the basic human rights that belong to every girl and woman," the UN chief tweeted on Sunday.

Afghanistan is struggling with drought, a pandemic, an economic collapse, and the effects of years of conflict. Some 24 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity. UN estimates say more than half the population will be facing famine this winter and 97 per cent of the population could fall below the poverty line this year.

UN chief earlier on Wednesday said the world cannot abandon the country now - for the sake of its people and overall global security.

"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 Secretary-General said Afghanistan has long been unfairly used as a platform for political agendas, geopolitical advantage, ideological dominance, brutal conflicts and terrorism.

(ANI)

Also Read: UK to offer NATO 'major military deployment' in Europe
Country musician and song writer Merle Travis enjoyed eating at Nikkis Drive Inn on Cherokee Boulevard when he was traveling through Chattanooga. It was in early 1966 when Travis came to entertain at the Tennessee Valley Playhouse in Kensington, Ga. The Rosewood, Ky., native had written Sixteen Tons - the number one song made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Travis had several big country hits of his own including Dark as a Dungeon.

At the time WDOD was broadcasting a portion of the show live. Ray Hobbs was the MC and I was the engineer. One Saturday Travis was due to perform and before the show we all went to Nikkis for an afternoon meal. One of the managers, Wally West, found out that Mr. Travis was in the dining room and insisted that the musician get his guitar and pick a little. Travis went to his pickup truck, brought one of his guitars inside the restaurant and started playing. I remember one of the songs was the Cannonball Rag. Travis then enjoyed some of Nikkis Gulf Coast Shrimp, French Fries and tossed Salad. Before hed completed his meal, Mr. West brought him some of those famous onion rings.

Before the concert started Mr. Travis told the audience how much he enjoyed eating at Nikkis. The country entertainer became good friends with Mr. West and would often stop at Nikkis when he was going through the Scenic City. Merle Travis died Oct. 20, 1983.

Travis wasnt the only entertainer to stop and eat at Nikkis. Roy Rogers ate at Nikkis when he visited the Moccasin Bend Shooting Range in 1967. Several autographed pictures of the stars lined the dining room with five booths, three tables and a counter where many would enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings or complete dinners.

Nikkis was a favorite of Luther Masingills lunch bunch on Tuesday. The radio personality would always order a fried bologna sandwich. The landmark restaurant closed two years ago and the iconic building was torn down over the weekend.

In the words of the late Jim Crittenden, There will never be another Nikkis.
Sylvia Louise Reesor, 74, of Chattanooga, Tennessee went to be with her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ peacefully, on Friday, January 28, 2022, at her home, surrounded by her husband and loving family.

She is survived by her husband, Bill Reesor; daughters, Robin (Bob) Wilber, Stacy Reesor, Tracy (Andrew) Saving, and five grandchildren.

Louise was a devout Christian and was loved by all who knew her, never saying an unkind word toward anyone. She was never without a smile, and was always thinking about others before herself. She left a void in our lives that no one could ever possibly fill.

She is now safe in the arms of our Lord, and we will see her again someday, in Heaven.

Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Heritage Funeral Home, E. Brainerd Chapel, 7454 E. Brainerd Road, Chattanooga, Tn. 37421.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3, in the funeral home chapel with Sheriff Jim Hammond officiating. Interment will follow in the Chattanooga National Cemetery, 1200 Bailey Ave,, Chattanooga.

Visit www.heritagechattanooga.com to share condolences with the family.

Arrangements are by Heritage Funeral Home, E. Brainerd Chapel.
George Harrisons wife Olivia once said that George and Bob Dylan had a soul connection. However, it wasnt always so. George had to coax Dylan into opening up to him and letting him in during one of the first times they hung out.

What loosened everything up and got Dylan to take down the protective walls around his heart in the otherwise awkward meeting was music, of course. And a song called Id Have You Anytime.

George Harrison and Bob Dylan | Ebet Roberts/Getty Images

George Harrison wrote Id Have You Anytime with Bob Dylan

In his 1980 memoir, I Me Mine, George wrote about the origin story of his song Id Have You Anytime. He wrote it with Dylan when he visited him in America for Thanksgiving in 1968. However, it wasnt easy getting Dylan to relax around him.

Id Have You Anytime was started in America, in WoodstockI was invited there by the Band, George explained. It was Thanksgiving time and Id just finished producing a Jackie Lomax album, directly after the Beatles White album.

Bob Dylan had gone through the thing of breaking his neck in a motor-cycle accident and being out of commission for a time. Hed got himself back together and had finished Nashville Skyline shortly before I arrived there.

I was hanging out at his house, with him, Sara and his kids. He seemed very nervous and I felt a little uncomfortableit seemed strange, especially as he was in his own home.

Anyway, on about the third day we got the guitars out and then things loosened up and I was saying to him, Write me some words, and thinking of all this: Johnnies in the basement, mixing up the medicine, type of thing and he was saying, Show me some chords, how do you get those tunes?

I started playing chords, like major sevenths, diminisheds and augmenteds and the song appeared as I played the opening chord (G major seventh) and then moved the chord shape up the guitar neck (B flat major seventh). The first thing I thought was: Let me in here/ I know Ive been here/ Let me into your heart.

I was saying to Bob, Come on, wrote some words. He wrote the bridge: All I have is yours/ All you see is mine/ And Im glad to hold you in my arms/ Id have you anytime. Beautiful!and that was that.

RELATED: Why George Harrison Was Not a Fan of Neil Young: I Cant Stand It

Georges wife, Olivia, said George was talking to Dylan through Id Have You Anytime

Its clear that George had to give Dylan a little nudge to get him to open up. Thats where lyrics like Let me in here come from. Georges wife, Olivia, explained that George talked directly to Dylan when they wrote Id Have You Anytime.

In Martin Scorseses documentary, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Olivia explained that George had an almost romantic relationship with Dylan and the rest of his friends.

They say in this life you have to perfect one human relationship in order to really love God, she said. You practice loving God by loving another human and by giving unconditional love. Georges most important relationships really were conducted through their music and their lyrics.

I mean Id Have You Anytime, the song that George and Bob wrote together. Let me in here/ I know Ive been here/ Let me into your heart.

He was talking directly to Bob because hed seen Bob and then hed seen Bob another time and he didnt seem as open and so that was his way of saying, Let me in here, let me into your heart. And he was very unabashed and romantic about it in a sense. I found that he was very-he had these love relationships with his friends. He loved them.

RELATED: George Harrison Wrote Dont Bother Me as an Experiment to See if He Could Write a Song

Dylan said his friend was like the sun, the flowers and the moon

George and Dylan became close friends after writing Id Have You Anytime. Dylan participated in Georges benefit concert, Concert for Bangladesh, and later, they became bandmates in the Traveling Wilburys.

George began to love Dylan like he did all his other friends. In a special edition of Rolling Stone, Remembering George, Tom Petty wrote that Georges love for Dylan grew so much that the ex-Beatle would often quote Dylan like Scripture.

Bob really adored George, too, Petty said. George used to hang over the balcony videoing Bob while Bob wasnt aware of it. Bob would be sitting at the piano playing, and George would tape it and listen to it all night.

George adored Bob Dylan, like Dylan makes Shakespeare look like Billy Joel.'

Dylan adored George just as much; he just kept his feelings about his friend to himself for the most part. In Remembering George, Dylan had some touching things to say about George after he died in 2001.

He was a giant, a great, great soul, with all the humanity, all the wit and humor, all the wisdom, the spirituality, the common sense of a man and compassion for people, Dylan wrote. He inspired love and had the strength of a hundred men.

Dylan concluded, He was like the sun, the flowers and the moon, and we will miss him enormously. The world is a profoundly emptier place without him. Leave it to Dylan to say something so eloquent.

RELATED: George Harrison and the Traveling Wilburys Didnt Even Think About Replacing Roy Orbison After He Died
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have agreed their countries should have a stake in the space race by developing an orbiting lunar base way ahead of the United States.

Similarly, NASA plans to keep American supremacy in space which Beijing contests. This alliance is seen as crucial to China, and Russia won't be left behind the west.

China, Russia to build research station on the moon

NASA has plans to construct the Lunar Gateway, which will serve as a base for communication and research. According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), last Friday, it has verified it would develop the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), reported the Express UK.

CNSA deputy director Wu Yanhua stated China is embarking on the historic project with Russia to begin assembling the basic structure for ILRS by 2035. Plans included developing energy systems, life support, and communication technology for the space station.

There are stark differences with the planned US Lunar Gateway, and the ILRS would be composed of an orbiting vehicle and a base on the moon's surface. Added equipment would be lunar rovers to move about on the surface.

Xi and Putin confirm corroborating the launch of the automated space vehicle 'Chang'e 7' by 2025, which was revealed by Liu Jizhong, the director of the China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, cites Bloomberg.

Read Also: How will the Chinese Space Station 'Tiangong' Redefine the International Space Station's Mission in Space?

The two other superpowers, China and Russia, have decided to combine space and military tech earlier in the week after conducting Naval drills conducted in the Arabian Sea.

If Moscow would rollout over the Ukraine border, officials of the Western alliance charged that China would support it.

UK warns about China-Russia alliance

During her visit to Canberra, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss gave a statement about China, which was very aggressive, saying that if Putin does invade Ukraine, Beijing will flex its muscles simultaneously in the Indo-Pacific.

She mentioned that the two nations are working together, which she added ominously, and called on other nations to block the attempts of these aggressors as well. This alliance's announcement has sparked rumors of a new space race between the US and the two countries.

US officials have said a big test of the Artemis program is scheduled for next month. If successful, it will signal the start of a manned mission to the moon very soon, noted Space.

China's first lunar probe

Ye Peijian, the chief designer of the first Chinese moon probe, remarked that if all goes well, the first astronauts for the first lunar missions will be ready by 2030.

However, Liu mentioned that they want to send robotic probes to explore the moon if there is enough water on both poles. Another is if there is water found, then how much is available.

In 2020, the Chinese probe Chang'e 5 was sent into space and returned with samples last year.

In April 2021, Tianhe, the core module of Tiangong, was launched, and China will add more parts to the planned space station. Director Wu of CNSA encourages global scientists to be part of a joint program.

Xi and Putin know the importance of getting the orbiting lunar base operational as a foothold in space that cannot be lost to the west.

Related Article: US Expert Fears the Advancing Chinese Space Program Will Leave a Dangerous Hole in American Defenses

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Prince William and Kate Middleton have announced that they will be making the trip to the United States this year. It marks the first time the pair will be on U.S. soil since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved stateside. Unless they patch things up quickly, it doesnt look like the Sussexes home is on Will and Kates list of places to visit. However, some royal fans are holding out hope that the Cambridges will get to meet Lilibet.

Well have to wait and see if that happens. But going to America now will be tricker than ever for William and his bride, according to a royal expert. Heres why.

Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle at Commonwealth Day Service in 2020 | Phil Harris  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Prince Williams second Earthshot Prize cermony will be held in the U.S.

In October, the Duke of Cambridge told People that the second ceremony of his environmental initiative, The Earthshot Prize, would be held in the U.S.

This is just the start, the prince told the publication at the time. Im thrilled that in 2022, The Earthshot Prize will be heading to the United States, where we will continue to spread this vital message of urgency, optimism, and action. The urgency of the situation cant be overstated. But through The Earthshot Prize, I want to show people across the world why there is reason to be hopeful.

Why it could be a tricky visit for William and Kate

Prince William and Kate Middleton talking with staff at Clitheroe Community Hospital | James Glossop-WPA Pool/Getty Images

Royal biographer Angela Levin spoke to GB News about the Cambridges trip to America as well as Williams upcoming visit to the United Arab Emirates.

The trip to Dubai for William is absolutely perfect, Levin said (per Express). In 2018 he went to Israel and Jordan, which is a diplomatic minefield, and he did very well there. This is an extension of that. Charles already has a lot on his plate because he has taken on the majority of what the queen would do. It works well for both of them that William takes this on  They think William will charm [the ruler of Dubai].

But Levin felt a little different about the princes trip to the U.S. with his wife, opining: He will be going to America this year for the Earthshot Prize, but that is a tricky one because they need to get the Americans on their side. Harry and Meghan have done well to make the Americans believe that what they say about the rotten royal family is true. So William has some heavy duties coming his way.

The last time the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in the U.S.

Prince William and Kate Middleton smiling as they arrive at a Christmas community carol service | Samir Hussein/WireImage

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have not been to the U.S. since 2014 when they visited New York City and Washington D.C. Kate was pregnant with Princess Charlotte at the time and they did not bring then 16-month-old Prince George along.

Its not known whether or not the couples three children will join them on this trip.

RELATED: Kate Middleton Has 1 Key Ability Princess Diana, Meghan Markle and Sarah Ferguson Lacked, According to Royal Expert
Snoop Dogg is one of the most famous rappers on the planet, and over the years hes built up quite a reputation. One aspect of Snoops persona has stayed constant over the decades: his love of marijuana. Snoop Dogg is pretty much synonymous with weed, with quite a few songs referencing it and even his own brand of marijuana products!

Snoop Dogg | Noam Galai/Getty Images

Its safe to say that using weed is a big part of what it means to be Snoop Dogg, so it follows hes made significant investments in the habit. In fact, Snoop has gone so far as to hire his own professional blunt roller (PBR)! On top of that, the blunt roller earns a decent living from it. Just what does the PBR get for rolling Snoops blunts?

Being Snoops professional blunt roller is a pretty good gig

In a conversation with Howard Stern and Seth Rogen on The Howard Stern Show, Snoop discussed his professional blunt roller. Rogen brought it up, mentioning that he had spent time with Snoop and the PBR, and was impressed.

The duties of the job apparently include offering blunts at opportune moments (according to Snoop, that motherfs timing is impeccable), rolling blunts, and keeping them organized. The blunt roller is paid somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000 per year, but there are other perks: he travels with Snoop on tours, gets free clothing and other promotional goods, and, of course, gets to smoke the weed.

So what led Snoop to hire the guy? Not just his desire for blunts on demand: he saw the man rolling joints and noticed his skill. Apparently, Snoop just likes to hire people who are good at things, so he signed him on  and the rest is history!

Snoop Dogg does in fact smoke a lot of weed

Some more savvy readers might wonder if Snoop Dogg smokes as much weed as his public persona might indicate. But his weed consumption level seems to be legit: according to Marijuana Moment, Snoop smokes roughly 81 blunts per day  over 3 per hour, probably more if you factor in sleep.

Snoop was also one of the first celebrities to get in on the legal weed business, starting Leafs by Snoop in Colorado in 2015. He also has his own marijuana culture website at Merry Jane, featuring many other celebrities. Snoop really does know what hes talking about when it comes to weed.

Snoop isnt the only stoner celeb

Snoop is probably the modern face of weed, but there are other celebrities who are known for getting baked. As mentioned, Seth Rogen is also a pretty big stoner, and hes even a partner with Merry Jane! Willie Nelson is another major stoner celebrity, and like Snoop, he got in on the legal weed business in 2015 in Colorado.

In the world of sports, Mike Tyson is a pretty big weed aficionado. So, when it became legal to grow weed in California, he opened a major weed farm. By now, we should all know that Miley Cyrus smokes weed, but you might be surprised to hear that she was into the stuff when she was on squeaky-clean Hannah Montana! However, apparently, a vocal surgery led to Cyrus quitting smoking. Nonetheless, for a brief time, she was known as someone who used quite a bit of weed.

RELATED: Snoop Dogg Taught His Son the Proper Way to Smoke Weed
CBS The Amazing Race Season 33 is back after a pause in production due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The iconic race around the world picked back up and brought back the teams who were still running the race. But a few teams couldnt make it back to compete. Taylor and Isaiah Green-Jones, the couple known for their incredible wedding dance video, didnt return. And they explained they couldnt run the race due to a devastating family reason.

[Spoiler alert: Spoilers ahead for The Amazing Race Season 33 Episode 5.]

Taylor and Isaiah Green-Jones joined The Amazing Race Season 33 cast

Taylor Green-Jones and Isaiah Green-Jones | Screengrab/CBS

Taylor and Isaiah Green-Jones were one of the teams to join The Amazing Race Season 33 cast. According to the CBS website, theyre both YouTube sensations from Portland, Oregon. It was the couples flash mob at their wedding that put them on the map as viral sensations.

We really surprised our wedding guests, Taylor told KOIN 6 news regarding the flash-mob wedding. Nobody had any idea we were doing that.

As for competing in The Amazing Race, Taylor also noted he and Isaiah love watching competition reality shows. Thats one of the very few ones that we can compete together as a team, he added. He also noted he and Isaiah felt theyd be great at it.

A million dollars, travel around the world  how could you say no? Isaiah said.

The couple also noted it was a long process for them to get cast, and they went through multiple interviews prior to competing. But they brought their personalities to the forefront and joined the cast.

The couple didnt rejoin the cast after the coronavirus shut down due to a death in the family

When The Amazing Race Season 33 picked up filming again after the pause in production due to the pandemic, a few teams didnt come back to the race. Taylor and Isaiah Green-Jones took to Instagram to explain why they didnt return. While the couple had every intention of coming back  and they even made it to the location  they received sad family news prior to beginning.

We were slated to return to the restart of The Amazing Race, Taylor explained in a video featured on The Amazing Race Instagram. We actually flew out to be a part of the show. A day and a half into us arriving, a producer came to our room and told me they had my mom on the phone.  Upon talking to my mom I realized that my big brother passed from COVID.

Taylor then noted it was a shock to hear the news, as he thought his brother was recovering. My brother had COVID before I left to be on the show, but he seemed like he was doing a lot better, he added. So, he passed a day and a half into us being there. So, of course, we dropped everything and flew out to support my family, support my mom.

Taylor and Isaiah Green-Jones noted theyre open to returning

Taylor Green-Jones, Isaiah Green-Jones, and Phil Keoghan | Michele Crowe/CBS

While Taylor Green-Jones family tragedy kept him and Isaiah from competing on The Amazing Race Season 33, theyre open to returning to the show in the future.

Thank you, CBS, for being so supportive, Taylor said in the Instagram video. Thank you to all of the teams. They were all so present in their support for us. We hope that we have the opportunity in the future to return.

Taylor and Isaiah also added a text post to Instagram reiterating theyre open to coming back. Hopefully, we can return to the race in the future and reclaim victory, the post reads.

As for the rest of the teams, a clear frontrunner emerged in The Amazing Race Season 33 Episode 5. Ryan Ferguson and Dusty Harris came in first once again, and it seems like the best friends might keep up the pace.

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RELATED: The Amazing Race: Show Creators Admitted They Like to Cast Partners Who Come With A Little Drama
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Youre reading the English translation of the winner of Christianity Todays first ever essay contest for Christians who write in Portuguese. Learn more about the competition and CTs multilingual work and check out the winning essays written originally in French Indonesian , and Spanish

The character of a church is revealed by how it treats its most vulnerable members. The poor, exiles, widows, and orphans constitute, according to American philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff, the quartet of the vulnerable. It would not be an exaggeration to include among these widows the Brazilian victims of domestic violence, invisible women who have been crying out for help, but whose cries still finds little resonance.

An overview

Brazil is a dangerous place for women. In 2018, every two hours, a woman was murdered. Every two minutes, a woman was beaten, and every day, an average of 180 women became victims of rape. These statistics place the country among the worlds champions in aggression against women, according to the Anuario Brasileiro de Seguranca Publica (Brazilian Public Safety Yearbook). Worse yet, these numbers are underreported, since, according to the yearbook, only 40 percent of victims register these crimes.

While general indicators of violence in Brazil have improved over the past decade, violent deaths among women have increased by 4.2 percent between 2008 and 2018, according to the 2020 Atlas of Violence. Other survey  carried out by Datafolha between December 5th and 6th, 2019  shows that Brazilian evangelical churches are composed mostly (59%) of poor, black women. This group, who make up the majority of those in the pews of Brazilian evangelical churches, were the hardest hit: The homicide rate among black women increased 12.4 percent in the period, while falling 11.7 percent among non-black women, also according to the Atlas of Violence. While 54 percent of the Brazilian population is black, a 2021 survey from the IBGE (the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), indicates that the average earnings of a black or brown person is less than two-thirds of that of the white community, contributing to this populations vulnerability.

Violence in the home

Behind these grim numbers are a significant number of female evangelical victims. Researcher Valeria Vilhena interviewed many domestic violence survivors for her masters thesis, which eventually became a book: Uma igreja sem voz: analise de genero da violencia domestica entre mulheres evangelicas (A Voiceless Church: A gender analysis of domestic violence among evangelical women). The interviews revealed that 40 percent were evangelical. Her research analyzed the reports of women who visited a domestic violence support center in the south zone of Sao Paulo, Brazils largest city. The study went viral, becoming a reference work on the subject.

Vilhenas research reveals that churches and their leaders have inadvertently helped to perpetuate this tragic scenario. As they turn to their local pastor for advice and support, hoping to escape physical and psychological abuse, many women invariably receive the same sermon: Sister, you must pray more, fast, cry out to God for the conversion of your husband. They quote 1 Peter 3:12: Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

This attitude, which seeks to treat a criminal issue with spiritual tools, adds fuel to the fire of violence against Brazilian evangelical women. Taking this approach, many pastors, albeit unknowingly, have contributed to the perpetuation of domestic violence in Christian homes, resulting, in some extreme cases, in the murder of the women involved. Few understand the negative impact and consequences that their theology has for survivors.

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Thus, our sisters in the faith are victimized twice: first by the violence at home and second through a legalistic reading of the Scriptures, which keeps them imprisoned, waiting only on God for deliverance, when help could come from their pastors.

In my research for the book O grito de Eva (Eves Cry), I interviewed some of these suffering women, coming into contact for the first time with a universe filled with pain and resentment. Many had their young lives destroyed by the ruthless men with whom they lived, some of whom had even been empowered by church leaders.

A complex and challenging issue

Why do these women stay and submit to this? I asked myself many times after these interviews. Looking for an answer, I sought out psychologists with experience in assisting evangelical Christians, such as Jungian analyst Dora Eli Martin Freitas. These women often reproduce family patterns and come from a context of violence in the home, she says:

In some cases, it was a cruel and domineering mother; in others, an authoritarian or alcoholic and oppressive father. The child either learns to strike with the same weapons with which she was struck, becoming evil and even perverse, or becomes passive and fearful. Men who beat their wives also have these same backgrounds.

The submissive behavior of the mother toward the father, or the opposite, can traumatize the children, who become either very aggressive or excessively passive. These more passive women, who are not allowed to express their desires, are prone to somatization, whether it is recurring migraines or cancer. They cannot live an authentic life, and neither can they transgress, so they end up betraying themselves. Transgressing, in a Jungian sense, as Martin Freitas explains, is the failure to fulfill the expectations of others with regard to oneself. It is when a person sees the standard they have been subjected to and has the courage to say: I am not, and I will not be, that person. It is having the audacity to break with that expectation.

In addition to these psychological barriers, economic dependency is another important reason why victims remain silent. Fear of their partners is the greatest reason why women fail to report their partners, according to a DataSenado Institutes national survey of 2,400 women. The second is lack of financial autonomy.

Submission

As Christians, we are all called to manifest a willingness to serve and submit to others out of reverence to Christ (Eph. 5:21).This convocation applies to marital relationships as well. The challenge is to prevent the obedience to this principle from turning us into victims in an unbalanced relationship, in which one spouse dominates the other.

After this general principle, the text in Ephesians 5 goes on to describe in detail what it expects from the specific dynamics of the marital relationship. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. (v. 22). It adds right after, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (v. 25).The text states that the womans submission must correspond to the husbands sacrificial love for her. Thus, according to the biblical concept of submission, the woman should not submit to a husbands violence, but should submit to his love.

Psychology can also help us to better understand the biblical concept of submission. I understand, says Martin Freitas, that serving the other is not subjecting yourself to the power of the other. It is about demonstrating the availability to help the other, regardless of who this other is. It is not subjecting oneself to the role that the other represents. Many times, husband and wife are just pre-established roles, full of stereotypes, and to fulfill these roles, people need to become personas, that is, actors, distancing themselves from their deeper selves. To transgress, in this case, is to sayI don't accept living as an actor.

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In Martin Freitass view, many pastors only reinforce these female stereotypes, limiting women to the little boxes of religion or even culture. Their attitudes are reminiscent of the German saying, which reserves for women the three Ks: Kinder, Kuche und Kirche: children, kitchen, and church.

Attorney Priscila Diacov has contributed a legal point of view to the biblical understanding of the concept of submission. She works as a mediator of family conflicts in Sao Paulo and shares information with churches. In her seminars, she teaches about the different forms of abuse and shows that the attitudes of evangelical women, compared to nonevangelical women, are related to the teaching of submission to the husband at any cost; the obligation to forgive the partner for his violent acts; the feeling of guilt for damaging his reputation within the community, should she denounce him; and the fear of being judged for going against the Word of God. They also feel guilty for not praying enough for their spouse to change his behavior, and if they seek a divorce, they feel responsible for destroying the family, Diacov said.

Based on this misconceived notion of submission, pastors and leaders often help form a mentality in men and women that is distorted and difficult to change. But little progress can be made without confronting these convictions and bringing their distortions of Scripture to light. In the view of Daniela Grelin, director of the Avon Institute, a philanthropic organization with programs combating violence against women: At the core of Judeo-Christian culture is the idea of the dignity of the human being, male and female, created in the image and likeness of God. This is the standard that must be taught.

The challenge of change

Violence against women is not just a womens problem; it is a problem for all areas of society: families, churches, companies, and the government. We can all play a role in raising awareness in our areas of influence. According to Grelin, just as we cannot allow only black people fight for the end of racism, or leave only Jews to fight antisemitism, so it is not possible to relegate the defense of this cause only to women. It is necessary to engage men in this transformation.

Welcoming victims of aggression within the churches depends on a strong commitment from leadership. It is a complex job, requiring the participation of all, and it depends on the training of pastors and church leaders, says Diacov.

Unfortunately, however, the issue of domestic violence by Christian men is not on pastors agendas. They simply ignore this reality or place the responsibility on women to deal with the problem. Many are unaware of the different forms of abuse and are poorly informed about gender and child violence.

With the support of volunteers and members in the areas of mental health, the law, or social work, pastors and other leaders of the local church could set up small safe spaces for listening to, receiving, and welcoming these women. It is important that these women are listened to, welcomed and that they receive adequate guidance to save their lives and their dignity, Diacov adds.

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But the aggressors also need help. Mature, capable men can form conversation groups focused on listening and mentoring, as many aggressors bring deep emotional wounds as a result of abuse they themselves suffered in childhood.

Unfortunately, domestic violence is a very serious and widespread social problem, a challenge for both the less developed countries in Latin America as well as the wealthier countries in the Northern Hemisphere. In a country like Brazil, in which unemployment, poverty, and inequality have gotten worse during the pandemic, violence against evangelical women is yet another item on a challenging social agenda.

The church of Christ, in its manifold wisdom and discernment, does have the moral strength and content to reduce these terrible indicators, becoming part of the solution instead of part of the problem. At the end of the day, we have all received, through Christ, the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18). But for this to happen, it is essential that the teaching dealing with the submission of women be proper and call not only wives to have an attitude of loving companionship and respect for their husbands, but also on husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and sacrificed himself for it.

Marilia de Camargo Cesar was born in Sao Paulo, is married, and has two daughters. A journalist, she is assistant editor of special projects at Valor Economico, the largest economic and business newspaper in Brazil. She is also the author of books that provoke reflection among evangelical leaders. Her best known works are Feridos em nome de Deus (Wounded in the Name of God), Marina  a vida por uma causa (Marina: A Life for a Cause), and Entre a cruz e o arco-iris (Between the Cross and the Rainbow).

Translation by Paul Brian Connolly

[ This article is also available in Portugues. ]
Youre reading the English translation of the winner of Christianity Todays first ever essay contest for Christians who write in Indonesian. Learn more about the competition and CTs multilingual work and check out the winning essays written originally in Portuguese French , and Spanish

The feature film Nanti Kita Cerita tentang Hari Ini (One Day Well Talk About Today) is one of a number of quality Indonesian films that have recently caught my attention. (Caution: spoilers ahead.) The film tells a simple yet touching story of a family: a father, mother, and their three children, Angkasa, Aurora, and Awan. The father is overprotective of Awan, the youngest child in the family. He demands that Angkasa, the eldest, take care of her and put aside his own interests. At the same time, Aurora, the middle child, sometimes feels neglected and ignored by her father.

The plot reaches its climax when it is revealed that Awan had a twin who passed away. It becomes apparent that this is why the father has been so overprotective. Having just learned about this, Angkasa explodes at his father. This family, which had seemed so harmonious, splits up. The mother, who has stayed largely in the background, begins to speak up in an effort to reunite the family. The father then works to make peace with himself and his family, learning how he might divide his attention equally among his three children. The film ends with everyone coming together.

I saw this film two months before the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in Indonesia and kept returning to it after we entered lockdown. Each characters individual response to tragedy helped me empathize with the variety of ways I saw people coping with the pandemic around the world. Further, the film helped me realize that these reactions could become a story to tell in the future, whether as silly distractions for our grandchildren or cautionary tales for our community.

The Bible is filled with stories of people experiencing God in their lives in both good and bad ways. If we look at our lives as followers of God who are trying to understand Him, we will find that our stories are just some of the many that He has given us as living testimonies.

Taking inspiration from One Day Well Talk About Today, here is the first draft of what I imagine Ill one day be telling others once the pandemic is over.

Life is funny. The things we look for disappear  the things we chase after run away from us  the things we wait for go away. And just when we get tired and give up, thats when the universe works. Some things appear as expected, some much better than planned. The Creator is very kind. Awan

Here, Awan expresses her feelings for a character named Kale. Awan wrongly thinks that Kale wants something more than friendship because he has been paying attention to her. However, when Awan confronts Kale to see what their status is, he turns her down.

In life, most of us have experienced the loss of something we had hoped for. I experienced it when I lost my father. I should confess that before he passed, I was not a child who felt much for her father. You could even say that I was the most rebellious member of my family and had turned my back on him. Everything I had done until that point had been in reaction against him, including my wanting to go to seminary. However, once I was in seminary, God allowed me to see and understand the many ways I had gone wrong. When I made my peace with my father and restored our relationship, God soon called him back home to heaven, regardless of how much I needed him.

My father's passing brought about deep feelings of sadness. However, I have no regrets because God was the one who brought about our reconciliation. There are no longer any problems between me and my father. Understanding this made me believe even more in the beauty of Gods design. With this knowledge, I was able to get through this time of loss with an open heart.

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Over the course of the pandemic, Ive seen many people have their expectations dashed in other ways: people who were extra careful contracting COVID-19 and others who didnt believe the virus even existed coming to believe in it only once theyd contracted it. It seems as though the more weve tried to avoid the virus, the more rampant its become. Its even mutated multiple times, rendering once-effective lines of defense null.

Its interesting that something so small, invisible to the naked eye, has proven more powerful than any one person in terms of changing the times we live in. It is through this invisible virus we can witness firsthand the helplessness of humanity in the face of the almighty power of God. Beyond anything that has occurred, the Creator has remained sovereign. Even though He is invisible, He is at work in our lives and makes use of everything according to His plan. What C. S. Lewis said in The Problem of Pain remains true: suffering is Gods megaphone; it makes us realize His importance in our lives.

We have experienced a large number of losses throughout 2020 and 2021: sudden death of loved ones and acquaintances, loss of work, reductions in income, the boredom of having to stay at home, among many other things. We still dont know when this pandemic will end. We are without clarity or certainty.

On the other hand, life is filled with a diverse array of possibilities, especially when it comes to religion. Christians have not been the only ones to experience this. Prior to the pandemic, all religious activities tended to occur indoors at houses of worship. However, now, as a result of lockdown measures, we have had to learn to worship from home. There is currently no need to gather in a sacred place. The meaning of house of worship has changed. The pandemic has altered how we worship.

In the end, everything that happens on earth can seem like its part of a joke. What we hope for inevitably ends differently than what we expected. We can make plans and choose whether we want to be in line with Gods will or not. But in the end, God is sovereign, and we are reminded to accept itwhether we want to or notwith full openness, as Job rebuked his wife: Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (Job 2:10).

However, if interpreted correctly, a loss can show Gods inclusion and care, no matter how much we may suffer in the moment. This can take a number of forms: comfort from unexpected people, new opportunities for business, job offers from old friends, or opportunities to serve others who are also suffering. The suffering that comes from a loss can also help give us a greater appreciation for life and help us live in a more honest way. Time is precious, and there are no do-overs.

Sadness sometimes takes us to a higher ground. The points on a compass cant be controlled, but the direction of a sail can be. Kale

Kale says this to help comfort Awan.

We cant reject the suffering or problems that come our way. Nevertheless, God has given us the ability to overcome these things. Whether our lives are miserable or filled with joy, what matters is how we react to the things that happen. As I discovered when I grieved the loss of my father, an event may be initially sad at first, but we may later find acceptance or even happiness. God can also provide what we need during a difficult situation, so that we can still be grateful even in the midst of our difficulties, as my mother and I experienced.

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Two days before my father passed away, my mother saw her older sister laid to rest. As resilient as my mother is, I knew that these two events occurring one right after the other would be a struggle for her. However, I know now that God had designs for me to accompany her in her grief. As a result of the pandemic, it was possible for me to continue my studies online while being physically present for my mother as our whole family mourned. Despite my family's pain, I nevertheless bore witness to God's sovereignty and provision.

Do you think life is like a button that you can keep pressing when youre sad and suddenly you become happy again? Aurora

The eldest daughters words bring to mind the challenge of instantaneously turning sadness into happiness. Everything takes time: processing a loss, wiping away tears, healing from wounds, and even starting to feel happy again.

In the story of Job, three of his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, sit with him for seven days and nights (Job 2:1113). Once the seven days pass, each friend begins to give Job advice. This is where a problem occurs: Job no longer feels comfort from his friends but instead the stress of his predicament. Jobs suffering has not ended, his wounds have not healed, his grief has not passed, and his friends have now burdened him with the complexity of his situation.

In all the suffering that we currently face, the most important thing is that we can still be grateful for the process. God is a lover of process. He appreciates how we try to process everything and make sense of our suffering. Impatience and fault finding only create new problems or make existing problems worse.

Theres always a first time for everything, including failure. Angkasa

In this scene, Awans brother, Angkasa, tries to comfort her after she has just been fired from her job.

Failure, suffering, and struggle are all a part of life. When we face them, God want us not to give up but to try and rise again, to not be hopeless, to hold on to the hope that we have. Hope makes us resilient in the face of failure and suffering. It keeps us from sulking. Hope also makes us thankful that we still have the opportunity to enjoy life, even if its just for a few minutes. Perhaps in those few minutes, we can say goodbye to someone we love, tell others how thankful we are for them, or just let them know that we love them.

However, whats most important is the basis for our love: Jesus Christ. Because of him, we can feel safe and still have hope in the midst of suffering. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him (1 Thess. 5:910).

And so, when will you be happy? Lika

Angkasas girlfriend, Lika, challenges him because she is troubled by how he always prioritizes his family over himself.

How would we respond if someone were to ask us this question? As Christians, our answer might be found in our ability to appreciate every small thing, no matter how simple, that comes to us while were alive: family, friendship, studies, even the opportunity to make a mistake and try to make amends. I have learned to appreciate the little things in life. I long to one day talk about what Ive been through and say, God is good. In this way, Ill be able to testify that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28).

Vika Rahelia is a designer who takes inspiration from being an imperfect seminarian at the Indonesian Reformed Theological Seminary in South Jakarta, Indonesia. She likes to visualize her words through graphic design, hand lettering, and T-shirt prints. You can follow her on Instagram at @imperfectseminarian.

Translated by Adam Mele

Additional translation work by Jim Swartzentruber

[ This article is also available in espanol and Indonesian. ]
Brian Houston, cofounder of the Hillsong megachurch and media empire, announced he is stepping aside as global senior pastor, telling worshipers via a prerecorded video played during the Sunday morning service at Hillsongs Sydney, Australia, headquarters that he would be taking a leave of absence from the church until the end of this year.

Citing a decision by the Hillsong board and external legal counsel, Houston, standing with his wife and cofounder, Bobbie, said best practice dictates that he absent himself completely from church leadership as he faces trial for allegedly failing to report sexual abuse. The court proceedings, he said, are likely to be drawn out and take up most of 2022.

Its been an unexpected season, and we are thankful for you all and for the community we share, Houston said on the video streamed toward the end of the service. I never get tired of the praise reports and miracles, especially those committing to Jesus.

Houstons leave of absence comes after more than a year of scandals that rocked the church both in Australia and abroad and amid Houstons own legal troubles at home. Houston stepped down from the board of Hillsong in September.

The result is that the Hillsong Global Board feel it is in my and the churchs best interest for this to happen, so I have agreed to step aside from all ministry responsibilities until the end of the year, Houston said in the January 30 video announcement.

Houston, 67, was charged in August with concealing a serious indictable offense of another person. Police say his late father, Frank Houston, also a preacher, indecently assaulted a young male in 1970. Court documents allege Houston knew of his fathers abuse as early as 1999 and without reasonable excuse, failed to disclose that information to police.

Frank Houston died in 2004 at age 82.

His lawyers told the court in October that Houston would plead not guilty, but his trial has been delayed multiple times, according to Perth Now.

Image: Religion News Service

In his statement to the church Sunday, Houston said the allegations came as a shock. He said he plans to fight the charge and welcome the opportunity to set the record straight, and he needs to be fully committed to preparation and engagement with the case.

The board is supportive, Houston said, and they have talked about the effects of the situation with my father, which go back many years up to the current legal case, and the impact this has had on me emotionally.

As CT and The Associated Press noted in October:

Hillsong Church has said repeatedly that it has not been involved in this matter, as Frank Houston never worked for the church, and has defended Brian Houstons response. Upon being told of his fathers actions, Brian Houston confronted his father, reported the matter to the National Executive Assemblies of God in Australia, relayed the matter to the governing board of Sydney Christian Life Centre, and subsequently made a public announcement to the church. Brian sought to honor the victims multiple requests not to inform the police, the church said in a statement in July. As a recent development, charges have officially been filed against Brian Houston, the church said at the time. We are disappointed that Pastor Brian has been charged, and ask that he be afforded the presumption of innocence and due process as is his right. He has advised us that he will defend this and looks forward to clearing his name.

Phil and Lucinda Dooley, the lead pastors of Hillsong Church Cape Town, will step in as the interim global senior pastors, according to Houston. His wife, Bobbie, will remain fully engaged in church life, and her leadership positions, he said.

It is 50 years this week since I commenced Bible college in New Zealand, so with five decades of active ministry behind us, be assured we will make the best of this season to replenish spiritually, emotionally and physically, Houston said.

Houston, a New Zealand native, founded Hillsong Church with Bobbie in 1983 in the suburbs of Sydney. An evangelical church affiliated with the Pentecostal network of Australian Christian Churches, Hillsong now boasts 30 locations around the worldand launched an Atlanta campus in June 2021with an average global attendance of 150,000 weekly. Two Hillsong College campuses, in Sydney and Phoenix, Arizona, offer biblical training and ministry experience.

The churchs growth was, in part, spurred by its wildly popular worship bands and their music, now nearly ubiquitous in churches around the world. Hillsong became its own denomination in 2018.
Donald Trump, former US president, says that if a red wave washed over in Congress, the Senate would install him as Speaker of the House, according to an expert. It is the third-highest position in the US that will allow Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be impeached.

This is based on the analysis of Dr. Jan Halper-Hayes, a political analyst who claims these observations show how unstable the White House is.

Trump as Speaker of the House

Trump has been poking the Democrats, who have failed miserably with their bet in the White House in the past months. Teasing a run in 2024, which was based on a 33 percent drop approval, which the president considers is insignificant, reported the Express UK.

Courtesy of the US president shooting his foot with failed policies, the 45th president could come rebounding if both houses are in the GOPs' hands. To this effect, the president is panicking and trying to overhaul elections in his favor.

More of the GOP and conservatives nod to the move, which will allow impeachment for the top positions in the US government.

Halper-Hayes told GB News that the issue had been moving for six or seven months. Now there are 29 Democrats not seeking re-election, possibly due to Joe Biden's first-year performance, which might doom the midterm elections, cited The Global Herald.

She said if the Republicans sweep away the Democrats, getting Donald Trump as the Speaker of the House position will start toppling Joe Biden.

Read Also: Pence says No to 25th Amendment, will not Allow Removal of Trump

If they are impeached, it will be the ex-president leading the White House, which is the buzz in the GOP.

Dan Scavino, who handles the ex-president's social media, had been dropping the hints in many ways but let's wait for 2024. It's a big tease for many but a harsh reminder for the current president that his position is tenuous.

Trump's strategy

The US Constitution says the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, has it. He does not have to be a member of the House of Representatives if ever Trump was to be chosen as the first appointed speaker.

Speakership is the leader of the House and top officer in session, and it is the third in line most crucial position in the US government if either the president or vice-president fails to do their job.

News host Stephen Dixon criticized the scenario and called it totally corrupt, should it be done in other countries. He added that they were on the subject of Russia and wanted to stress a point.

Mentioning the strategy to get Trump back is how Vladimir Putin would operate to still be in power. The same can be said of how Joe Biden had rigged the 2020 election.

Halper-Hayes said that the American people want him as the speaker, not a political party, noted Forbes.

She added that the conservatives are talking about the option, with the position in question not needing an election. Though nothing is set in stone, the following event should be watched.

Getting Donald Trump to be the Speaker of the House will be a scenario for the Democrats, and a red wave is possible due to Joe Biden.

Related Article: Harvard Professor Says Democrats Violated the Constitution Six Times During Impeachment Process

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Brian Houston steps down as global senior pastor of Hillsong

Brian Houston has stepped down as the leader of the global multisite Hillsong Church, saying he will remain absent for the rest of this year as he faces trial for allegedly concealing sex abuse committed by his father decades earlier. Phil and Lucinda Dooley will be new interim global pastors.

Last year, I  received unexpected news of charges against me that allege the concealing of information that may have been material to prosecute Frank Houston. These allegations came as a shock to me, and it is my intention to vigorously defend them, Houston told the church in a statement on Sunday. So I have agreed to step aside from all ministry responsibilities until the end of the year.

Last August, police officials announced that Houston was being charged with concealing child sex offenses, The Associated Press reported at the time. Police will allege in court [that Houston] knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police, stated Australian authorities, as quoted by the AP.

In a statement to The Christian Post through Hillsong at the time, Houston expressed shock at the charges. These charges have come as a shock to me given how transparent Ive always been about this matter, he said. I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.

Houston explained in Sundays statement that during a December board meeting, Hillsongs external legal counsel advised that it would be Best Practice for me to step aside completely from church leadership during the court proceedings, which are likely to be drawn out and take up most of 2022.

Houston, who founded the global church network in the suburbs of Sydney in 1983, said he intends to fight the charge and welcome the opportunity to set the record straight, adding that his wife, Bobbie, intends to remain fully engaged in church life.

Houston also announced that Phil Dooley and his wife, Lucinda, who are currently leading the Hillsong ministry in South Africa, will be interim (or acting) global senior pastors.

The Dooleys are well-loved by many in our church, having successfully served as our youth pastors in Australia for many years, he said. Over the last 13 years they, with their family, have resided in South Africa and have raised up a phenomenal multi-campus Hillsong Church.

The probe into whether Houston tried to cover up the incident, in which his late father sexually abused a minor in the 1970s, was initiated years ago. In 2014, in response to that probe, Houston denied knowing anything about the $10,000 compensation payment made to a man who his father sexually abused as a child.

Houston said he was totally devastated to learn about his fathers abuse and he had to come to terms with the fact that the person I looked up to was not who I thought he was.
In San Juan, the oldest US church

Most visitors to Puerto Rico seem unaware that the oldest church anywhere in the United States can be found on the Caribbean island territory.

Puerto Rico, discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493, was later established as a Spanish colony in its own right by conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon in 1508  a full century before Samuel de Champlains founding of Quebec and 99 years before the English settlement at Jamestown in Virginia. It was from his base in Puerto Rico that Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513.

As with elsewhere in the New World, clerics and other missionaries propagating the Christian faith through the lens of the Roman Catholic church stood side-by-side with explorers as Spain grew its empire.

Having been founded in 1521, the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan is in the midst of its quincentennial anniversary. The occasion, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, kicked off earlier this month with a visit by King Felipe VI of Spain.

Located at the heart of Old San Juan, as the historic old town is called, the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist (Catedral Basilica Metropolitana de San Juan Bautista) was one of the first buildings erected.

With its dedication to St. John the Baptist, the cathedral is a reminder that San Juans very name comes from John the Baptist, the prophet who prepared the way for Jesus Christ. Reminders of this Christian heritage are everywhere, including in the heraldry of the territorial governments coat of arms and great seal.

The cathedral has gone through various iterations since Bishop Alonso Manso, the first prelate.

Notably, a significant renovation in the 19th century resulted in the present neoclassical appearance. A later alteration after the U.S. acquired Puerto Rico following the Spanish-American War extended the height of the west front along Christ Street (Calle del Cristo) to ensure the seat of the Roman Catholic bishop wasnt overshadowed by the construction of a now-demolished Protestant church belonging to Episcopalians.

However, traces of what originally stood can be found at the cathedrals east end, which houses a small chapel constructed out of sandstone in a vernacular adaption of medieval Gothic architecture. As far as this columnist knows, the space is one of only two examples of true Gothic anywhere on U.S. soil. The other is the recently restored Church of St. Joseph (Iglesia de San Jose), also in Old San Juan, with its Gothic vaulting dating to 1532.

One of the cathedrals most important treasures is the circa 1836 tomb of Ponce de Leon. He was interred in San Juan after dying in Cuba from wounds sustained during a 1521 battle with Indians in southwest Florida.

Sadly, a thorough restoration is desperately needed, as category-five Hurricane Maria inflicted significant damage to both the exterior and interior.

If you go

The Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist is open daily with no admission charge for visitors. Roman Catholic masses are celebrated at 9 and 11 a.m. every Sunday and again on Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 12:15 p.m.

Book a room at the Palacio Provincial Hotel. The relatively new boutique hotel, housed within a Spanish colonial-era building, has incredible views of the cathedral from its rooftop infinity pool.

Discover Puerto Rico has full trip planning resources available through its website.

Dennis Lennox writes a travel column for The Christian Post.
Donors raise over $50K for family of man fatally shot in front of 2-year-old son while sharing the Gospel

An online fundraiser has garnered nearly $50,000 for the family of a 37-year-old man who was shot to death in front of his 2-year-old son and pregnant wife while he was sharing the Gospel in Montgomery, Alabama, last weekend.

The funeral of Thomas Hand Jr. will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Hand is originally from, on Friday, the wife, former Miss Mississippi Christine Kozlowski, announced on social media days after her sister launched the fundraiser for her nephew, Roman, and the couple's unborn child.

A teenager approached and shot Hand as he was sharing the Gospel on Texas Street in Montgomery last Saturday. Hand, who was with his 2-year-old son and his wife, who is pregnant with the couples second child, suffered a fatal wound and was pronounced dead at the scene, WSFA reported.

This fundraiser is going to serve as a savings account for the son and baby of Thomas Hand Jr., the GoFundMe page reads. The funds raised by this account will go toward helping pay for my nephew Roman and the babys future expenses. Any and all funds donated will be appreciated during this tough time for the Hand family. My sister Christine Kozlowski Hand will be the beneficiary for this account.

As of early Sunday, it had raised $50,782 of the goal of $3,000.

Police have arrested 17-year-old Jerimiah Walker of Montgomery, charging him with capital murder in the shooting death, according to the media outlet.

The motive of the murder remains unclear.

It was a complete random act of violence, Hands wife told the Daily Mail, which also said Hand, a fitness buff and ex-competitive bodybuilder, became a Christian in 2018, and it was the couples tradition to visit low-income areas in Alabama and share the Gospel.

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers during this time of the passing of my husband Tommy Hand. I feel the love and support from everyone and just wanted to let everyone know that indeed, she wrote on Facebook last Sunday.

The Hands moved to Montgomery last year to escape growing violence in the New Orleans suburb where they previously lived, longtime friend Kevin Rayan told Daily Mail. Its crazy because he was telling me every day, I want to get away from this crap, go buy a house in Alabama. And then this happened.
New omicron BA.2 strain hits the US, over 49 other countries

The omicron subvariant, known as BA.2 and which is even more contagious than the original omicron strain, known as BA.1, has spread to nearly half of U.S. states, including California, Texas and Washington, but is currently circulating at a low level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

There were at least 127 known cases of the BA.2 variant in the United States as of Friday, according to a global database that tracks Covid variants, CNBC reported.

NPR said that the states where the BA.2 variant has been detected include California, Texas and Washington and scientists expect it to spread in the country over the next month.

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, Kristen Nordlund, a CDC spokesperson, told The Washington Post.

Currently there is no evidence that the BA.2 lineage is more severe than the BA.1 lineage, Nordlund added.

First identified in early December, BA.2 has spread to 49 countries, CNN reported.

Denmarks Statens Serum Institute has said about half of all new COVID-19 cases in that country are of the BA.2 variant.

The U.K. Health Security Agency has said BA.2 has a substantial growth advantage over the original omicron, as the former spread faster than BA.1 in all regions of England where there were enough cases to conduct an analysis.

However, a preliminary assessment suggests that BA.2 might not reduce the effectiveness of vaccines any more than BA.1.

BA.1 and BA.2 arose around the same time and come from the same ancestor strain, Theodora Hatziioannou, an associate professor of virology at Rockefeller University, told The Wall Street Journal, adding that the two have many mutations in common but also around 20 different mutations.

The differences between the two can be seen in the spike protein of the virus, Hatziioannou explained.

Mark Zeller, a genomic epidemiologist at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California, was quoted as saying that BA.2 could lead to another surge in cases, but at a slower rate because those who have been infected with BA.1 may have some immunity to BA.2.

The original omicron was designated as the fifth variant of concern by the World Health Organization in November but the global agency hasnt given BA.2 any designation as of now.

Scientists and public health experts do not know yet whether BA.2 has symptoms that are significantly different from BA.1, but many believe BA.1 is less likely to lead to severe disease.

Scientists and public health experts don't yet know whether BA.2 has significantly different symptoms from BA.1, but many believe BA.1 is less likely to lead to severe disease.
Nigerian authorities release journalist after 84 days in detention for reporting on attacks against Christians

A federal high court in Nigerias Kaduna state has granted bail to a local journalist from the anti-communist Epoch Times who was arrested for his reporting about attacks against predominantly Christian communities in that country and the governments response.

The High Court in Kuwa granted bail to Luka Binniyat, a Roman Catholic, at a hearing on Thursday in which he pleaded not guilty to the charge of cyberstalking a government official, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide said in a statement.

Epoch Times' Africa Desk Editor Doug Burton earlier attributed Binniyats arrest to an Oct. 29 article he wrote, titled In Nigeria, Police Decry Massacres as Wicked But Make No Arrests. The article is part of the newspapers coverage of the deadly persecution of Christian farming communities in the African country that human rights advocates say has escalated to near genocidal levels in recent years as thousands have been killed.

In the article, Binniyat pushed back on Kadunas Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwans characterization of an attack on Christian farmers in the state as a clash.

The Nigerian government has long refuted claims by human rights activists that a religious genocide is taking place in Nigerias Middle Belt states, where radicals from the Fulani herding community have been accused of invading countless Christian farming communities. The government has long attributed attacks and reprisals as being part of decades-old farmer-herder clashes.

In his article, Binniyat included a quote from a Nigerian senator, who accused the Kaduna government of using Samuel Aruwan, a Christian, to cause confusion to cover up the genocide going on in Christian Southern Kaduna by describing the measure as a clash as opposed to a targeted act of violence against Christians.

We urge the Kaduna state authorities to ensure due process continues to be observed as his trial progresses, and to prioritize the arrest and prosecution of genuine instigators and perpetrators of violence, along with the protection of citizens regardless of creed or ethnicity, CSWs founder and President Mervyn Thomas said.

Binniyats arrest for cyberstalking is not the first time the journalist has faced legal headwinds for his reporting. He was previously imprisoned in 2017 for breach of the peace.

The journalist had previously served as the bureau chief of Vanguard Newspapers until 2017.

Then after he was imprisoned, I dont think he got hired by any newspaper group because, the way it was explained to me, hes considered a controversial reporter, Burton told The Christian Post earlier. So I started working with him in March this year, maybe May of this year. And I encouraged him to  compile reports for The Epoch Times. I worked with him as his editor. And so hes published some very timely and factual reports about kidnappings and mass murders this year.

According to a recent study from the Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, at least 60,000 Christians have been killed in the past two decades in Nigeria. The organization, which is run by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi, reports that hundreds of churches have been threatened, attacked, closed, destroyed or burned in 2021.

In the northern parts of Nigeria, criminal groups and terrorists have conducted several large-scale abductions of school children in recent years. In 2014, about 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok in the northeast Borno state by the Islamic radical group Boko Haram. As many as 112 of those girls remain missing.

In February 2021, armed militants kidnapped nearly 300 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara state. The children were released weeks later.

Watchdog group Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, ranks Nigeria as the ninth-worst country when it comes to Christian persecution.
PCUSA head doubles down on comparing Israeli occupation to 'slavery'

The head of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has doubled down on earlier comments suggesting the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories was comparable to slavery.

PC(USA) Stated Clerk Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II garnered outrage from Jewish groups when, as part of a statement released in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day last Monday, he declared that the continued occupation in Palestine/Israel is 21st-century slavery and should be abolished immediately. He called on the Jewish community in the United States to influence the call to join the U.S. government in ending the immoral enslavement.

After being accused of antisemitism by Jewish advocacy groups, Nelson released a message on Saturday in which he defended his original remarks.

Nelson maintained that no one who is informed regarding the use of military power and racial bias to control the lives of Palestinian citizens can honestly avoid the truth of this situation.

I made special reference to the injustices currently suffered by the Palestinian people under Israeli domination, marked by confiscation of rich land they have farmed for generations, destruction of their crops, barriers to access their holy places of worship, lack of access to certain types of employment and other forms of economic opportunity, he said.

For us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) these realities make it imperative that we, as Presbyterians, find ways to have the necessary conversation with Jews who will talk with us about the real tragedy of the Palestinian/Israeli struggle.

Nelson stated that his denomination has a long, clear policy of abhorrence of anti-Semitism, but contends that we must also be linked with the refusal to give Israel a pass in the face of injustices done to Palestinians in Israel-Palestine.

Nelson said that a policy enacted at the 221st PC(USA) General Assembly in 2014 calling for equal rights for all inhabitants of Israel and Palestine was the basis for his statement.

If we are to be able to work toward a just and equitable future for both Israelis and Palestinians, we must honor all involved as children of God and we must learn to seek peaceful, just resolutions to the complex histories faced by both parties, Nelson stated. May God give us the wisdom, courage and persistence to join in this quest for justice for all.

Critics of Nelsons earlier remarks include the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. The organization said in a statement that it was dismayed and labeled the prelates assessment of Israeli foreign policy dangerous and false.

The antisemitic nature of his statement is made even more clear by his failure to mention serious human rights abuses occurring elsewhere in the world, such as the ongoing genocides against the Uyghurs and Rohingya, stated JCPA.

As Jews, we reject those who callously use the tragedy of the Holocaust to make political points, so we were saddened that Rev. Dr. Nelson trivialized the suffering, torture, and murder of millions of slaves as a tawdry rhetorical device.

The organization Presbyterians for Middle East Peace also decried Nelsons statement, saying that he seems to blame all Jews as the culprit, ignoring the many reasons why Americans support Israel.

The Rev. Dr. Nelsons actions in lashing out at the U.S. and global Jewish community is beyond the pale. Gratefully, his actions and words do not match the work of local PCUSA and Jewish congregations in communities across the nation, the organization stated.

We hope the Stated Clerk will spend more time talking and working with American Jewish community leaders and less time writing blasts filled with reprehensible misrepresentations of our Jewish neighbors.

The Jewish nongovernmental organization Anti-Defamation League sent Nelson a letter last Wednesday, arguing that his Jan. 17 statement is nothing less than antisemitism.

Your demonizing language towards Israel appears to question the validity of Jewish statehood, and the morality of Jews and Judaism, the letter reads. By your formulation, unless they act against Israel, Jews (specifically American Jews) are implicated and judged guilty.

This not only holds all Jews accountable for Israeli policies, but essentially demands that Jews deny an integral aspect of their Jewish identity, that of a connection to Israel, their historic homeland, and to Jewish self-determination, the ADL letter continued. It must be noted that support for the existence of Israel is affirmed by the vast majority of Jews in the U.S. and around the world, and is not synonymous with supporting policies of a particular government, nor is it synonymous with opposing self-determination, and a viable and secure state for Palestinians.

In 2014, the PC(USA) General Assembly voted 310-303 to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions due to their reported business ties to Israel. The move was criticized by organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Union for Reform Judaism.

The disputed territories are those in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip captured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel has controlled those territories for over five decades but sovereignty over those territories has long been debated by the international community. Many, including the United Nations, have opposed Israels plans to annex the West Bank, claiming it would do serious harm to a two-state solution.
Pope Francis installs women in 2 ministries after formally expanding roles in Catholic Church

Pope Francis installed female catechists and lectors on Sunday for the first time since adapting the laws of the Roman Catholic Church to expand the formal roles of women in the church.

During the papal mass for the Sunday of the Word of God in St. Peters Basilica on Jan. 23., the pontiff conferred the ministries of catechist and lector upon both lay men and women  two ministries previously reserved only to men, the National Catholic Register reports.

Previously, the ministry of Lector  was reserved only to men because it was considered preparatory to receiving Holy Orders, the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization said in a statement last week.

A well-established practice in the Church, however, has confirmed that lay ministries, founded on the sacrament of Baptism, can be entrusted to all the faithful who are suitable, whether male or female, according to what is already implicitly indicated by canon 230 of the Code of Canon Law, which the Pope has modified for the occasion.

The pope installed six women  from South Korea, Pakistan, Ghana and Italy  and two Italian men in the ministry of lector. He told them they were placing themselves "in the service of the faith, which is rooted in the word of God."

The pope prayed: "You will proclaim that word in the liturgical assembly, instruct children and adults in the faith and prepare them to receive the sacraments worthily. You will bring the message of salvation to those who have not yet received it."

Lectors read from Scripture during mass, while catechists  a ministry instituted by Francis last year  teach the faith to children and adult converts.

In most countries, women and men were already serving as lectors and catechists in the Catholic Church. However, with the official ordination, more conservative bishops will be unable to prevent women in their dioceses from taking on those roles, CNA notes.

Throughout his papacy, Francis has called for women to have more formal roles in the church, but has remained firm on forbidding women to become deacons or priests. Catholic doctrine prohibits the ordination of women as priests, as those roles are reserved for men.

In April 2020, the pope established a commission to study whether women should be granted the right to become ordained deacons. In this role, women would be permitted to preach and baptize, but not to conduct mass

In January 2021, he changed the laws of the Roman Catholic church to formally allow women to give readings from the Bible during mass, act as altar servers and distribute communion.

Last May, he established the ministry of catechist as an instituted service within the Catholic Church.

In a letter published with the change to the law, Francis stressed that the services of reader and altar server entail stability, public recognition and a commission from the bishop, Catholic News Service reported.

These services allow women to have a real and effective impact on the organization, the most important decisions and the direction of communities, while continuing to do so in a way that reflects their womanhood, Francis added.

A 2020 survey of 224 young Catholic women in formation and ministry in the U.S. found that 82% of those surveyed felt that women's ministries were not valued equally to men's.

Of the 224 young Catholic women who responded, 80% were dissatisfied with the ministry opportunities available to them in the global church, and 73% said the same about local opportunities.
'Redeeming Love' movie review: Big screen adaptation of beloved Christian romance falls flat

In the 90s and early 2000s, Francine Rivers novel Redeeming Love took the Christian world by storm. Her modern retelling of the biblical account of the Hosea and his wayward wife, Gomer, sold 3 million copies and garnered hoards of loyal fans, not coincidentally at the height of purity culture.

Now, the book is hitting the big screen in a Universal Pictures film adaptation starring Abigail Cowen, Nina Dobrev, Tom Lewis and Eric Dane. The film is directed by DJ Caruso and produced by Roma Downey (The Bible) and Cindy Bond (I Can Only Imagine).

Redeeming Love opens in gold rush-era California, where disheveled men scrounge for gold in murky water before heading to Pair-o-Dice, where a cold woman known as the Duchess runs a brothel. There, the most sought-after prostitute is a young woman named Angel. Beautiful and flaxen-haired, Angel draws crowds of swarming men eager to receive her services.

One particular man who spots Angel as she walks down the street, flanked by her towering bodyguard, is Michael Hosea. A soft-spoken, doe-eyed farmer, Michael is confident that God has appointed Angel to be his bride, the one he has waited for and prayed over. Though confused by Gods choice for him, Michael nevertheless decides to act in obedience and pursues Angel despite her reputation.

Through a series of flashbacks, viewers learn Angels heartbreaking story.

Named Sarah, she was born out of wedlock in New England to her mother, Mae (Dobrev), and a married businessman, Alex (Josh Taylor). Afraid his reputation would be ruined should news of his infidelity come out, Alex rejects Sarah and cuts Mae off financially, forcing her to engage in a life of prostitution at the docks to make ends meet.

Its not long before Mae dies. And an orphaned Sarah symbolically throws her mothers cross necklace into the ocean, rejecting the faith her mother claimed.

What follows is nothing short of a nightmare.

With nowhere to go, she finds herself trafficked by an Irish nobleman, the Duke, who sexually abuses her from a young age. Now known as Angel, she escapes the Dukes clutches with the help of an older prostitute  who pays dearly for her efforts.

But after heading West, Angel once again finds herself in prostitution after being robbed of her earthly goods. But this time, a savior is waiting in the wings.

Michael pays top-dollar to see Angel, using his hard-earned gold to spend 30 minutes simply talking to her. Though she parades in front of him naked, Michael refuses her advances, repeatedly telling her that shes going to marry him.

We cant do this yet, he tells her as she attempts to seduce him. We should wait until it means something to you.

Michael continues to visit her until she becomes frustrated.

I feel nothing for you, she tells him. Youre a dirt farmer.

Defeated, Michael returns home. But after Angel is brutally beaten by the brothels bodyguard, Michael travels to Pair-o-Dice and purchases the bloodied woman from the Duchess. He brings her home to his farm in an emotionally-charged scene.

Michael tends to Angel as she recovers, and she agrees, begrudgingly, to marry him. But despite her new environment, Angel cant shake her past  and abandons Michael on three occasions, leaving her wedding ring on the dresser. Though hurt, Michael continues to pursue Angel and offers her the choice to either stay with him or run away again.

Ultimately, Michaels persistence and unfaltering faithfulness soften Angels heart. Although it was a grueling process, she eventually finds her self-worth, prompting her to forgive herself and champion other women involved in sex work.

While the film is light on Scripture references, Redeeming Love is a clear retelling of Hosea 1-3.

In those passages, God instructs the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomer. God tells Hosea that Gomer will continue to return to prostitution, yet hes to forgive and love her, regardless of what she does.

Hoseas story is beautiful, serving as a reminder of Gods unconditional love for His children and pursuit of them despite their disobedience.

But the story  and the nuances of the biblical account of Hosea  dont easily translate to the big screen.

Rated PG-13, Redeeming Love tries hard to deal gently with tough topics, but theres no way to sugarcoat prostitution, sex trafficking, murder and incest. The film is rife with themes of redemption, forgiveness, unconditional love and mercy, but viewers will want to proceed with caution.

The sexual content in Redeeming Love is explicit.

Angel appears partially naked on several occasions, covered only by her hair and drapery. There are several sex scenes in the film, two between Michael and Angel, and others are referenced. Euphemisms for sex are littered throughout the movie, while prostitutes wear revealing outfits. Its implied that the Duke repeatedly rapes Angel as a child  and disturbingly, shes not his only young victim.

The film also contains violence. In one instance, Angel watches as her caregiver is strangled, and she is also physically harmed by men on several occasions. Angels estranged father dies by suicide after discovering hes had sex with her, and two men are shown hanging from the gallows. Vulgar language is also littered throughout the film.

Rivers was heavily involved in the film adaptation of her book, and she previously spoke to The Christian Post about her heart for the film. I want people to see that no matter whats been done to us or the sins we commit, God loves us and offers us new life through Jesus, she said.

The films redemptive and biblical themes are evident, but they are all too often overshadowed by explicit, sometimes unnecessary content that may not sit well with some Christian viewers. Though fans of Rivers novel will likely find the film nostalgic, conscientious viewers would do well to pass.

Redeeming Love hit theaters on Jan 21.
Hillsongs Brian Houston says sex abuse concealment charges are a shock to me

Pastor Brian Houston, the lead pastor of the global multisite Hillsong Church, has expressed his surprise at being charged with concealing sex abuse at his influential congregation.

On Thursday, police officials announced that the 67-year-old leader of the Sydney-based megachurch was being charged with concealing child sex offenses, The Associated Press reported.

Police will allege in court [that Houston] knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police, stated Australian authorities, as quoted by the AP.

In a statement to The Christian Post through Hillsong, Houston expressed shock at the charges.

These charges have come as a shock to me given how transparent Ive always been about this matter, Houston said. I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.

The church also provided a statement to CP, explaining that they were disappointed that Pastor Brian has been charged, and asked that he be afforded the presumption of innocence and due process as is his right.

He has advised us that he will defend this and looks forward to clearing his name. Given that this matter is now before the court, neither Pastor Brian or Hillsong Church will be making further statements, Hillsong added.

Years ago, Australia issued a royal commission probe into whether Houston tried to cover-up an incident in which his late father, Frank Houston, sexually abused a minor in the 1970s.

In 2014, in response to the probe, Brian Houston denied knowing anything about the $10,000 compensation payment made to a man who his father sexually abused as a child.

Houston said he was totally devastated to learn about his fathers abuse and he had to come to terms with the fact that the person I looked up to was not who I thought he was.

The charges come not long after revelations surfaced of serious leadership problems at the United States-based Hillsong East Coast, especially regarding the financial and sexual scandals surrounding Carl Lentz, including an affair.

Other Hillsong resignations that followed Lentz included Darnell Barrett, creative director of Hillsong Church Montclair in New Jersey, and Reed and Jess Bogard from Hillsong Dallas, which has since closed.

In March, Houston apologized for scandals occurring at Hillsong East Coast, vowing to enact sweeping changes aimed at correcting the issues and misalignment of the culture and practices of the U.S. branch.

We know that Hillsong East Coast has failed to be the kind of church it should be. On behalf of the Global Board and as Global Senior Pastor, I accept responsibility for these failings and apologize unreservedly, said Houston earlier this year.

As the events of last year unfolded, there was a lot we didnt know. Now, thanks to the courage and honesty of many of you, we have a much clearer understanding of the state of Hillsong East Coast. Thank you to all of you who have enabled us to reach this place.
Russian Navy held live-fire drills in the Baltic Seas as President Vladimir Putin continued to pressure the west on the Ukraine border.

The warships are said to have wiped out all the targets destroyed by live armaments in the area of operations. On land with the military contest helmed by the US and NATO, the Kremlin wants to roll out over the border as it did with Crimea.

Russian military forces train in the Baltic Sea

NATO is very sensitive to what Moscow does, and Putin is using that to his advantage in the Baltic Seas as Russia's maritime forces train just in case war does break out, reported the Express UK.

According to CNBC, which published the video given by the Ministry of Defense depicting target practice, cited Techno Charger.

David Shepard remarked that Russia is adding to the military force close to Ukraine. He added a video showing how Moscow has tank and artillery practices close to the border.

Planners did not hesitate to deploy vessels in the Baltic as a show of force to NATO that the Kremlin won't waver. One of the exercises is shooting at aerial drones as targets to simulate an attack on the naval vessels.

Furthermore, the American media said more fighters landed in Belarus, one of Putin's allies near the Ukraine border.

Minsk talks of the Soviet presence

Belarusian officials state that the Russian planes are for joint drills only, scheduled to leave once the exercises are done.

Putin's Russian Navy live-fire drills have been criticized by many experts who say that he is determined to unify what was once the USSR returned to the time Moscow held sway during the cold war, noted India A2Z.

Read Also: Russia Launches Secret Missile, Military Jets in Test Flight as NATO Allies Practice Drills in Black Sea

Ian Shields, a Cambridge University lecturer, stated that the Russian President would send troops. He added that it is worth the risk despite the disadvantages. But it conflicts with some experts who think that's not the case.

The objective is to make an already unstable alliance and make NATO indecisive about wedging them apart that seems to be happening.

He added it all boils down to Vladimir Putin's image with him on horses shirtless and a strongman vision that his countrymen respect. It is the opposite of the US president, who is seen as a weak and ineffective leader after Kabul's fall.

Kremlin accuses the west of provocation

The loss of the USSR still does not seem right to him, who is a pure cold war warrior. He does not like his country as a second-stringer in the Cold War, and he wants to return Moscow to its former glory.

The image of the Kremlin leader is perfect for westernized Russia is a macho culture, epitomizing manliness. Putin is everything that the image of a strong leader is.

Moscow has a problem with isolation or stopping invaders, and hardship is nothing to the Russian people, they can endure, unlike the west epitomized by the US president, remarked Shields.

Vladimir Putin will unite his country, and that's not the case with the leadership of the US. Russian Navy live-fire drills are only one of the ways that the Kremlin can virtually attack and sow confusion to the western alliance. The west is not good at putting a good response, as the Kremlin accuses the west of provocation.

Related Article: War Fears Heighten as Russian Ballistic Nuclear Submarines Are Seen in the Baltic Sea While NATO Has Drills

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This week in Christian history: Baylor charted, 'Four Chaplains' tragedy

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. 30 to Feb. 5  marks the anniversary of the death of a Christian daimyo, the chartering of Baylor University, and the Four Chaplains tragedy during World War II.

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Biden admin. withdraws COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large businesses

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has withdrawn its emergency vaccine mandate proposal for businesses with at least 100 employees, though it is still pursuing a permanent rule on the requirement.

In a decision made official on Wednesday, OSHA withdrew its emergency temporary standard issued last November to require large businesses of 100 employees or more to get more of their employees vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing and wear masks.

In a Federal Register entry, the administration withdrew the emergency measure in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this month to block its enforcement through a temporary stay while a lawsuit against the policy is litigated.

Notwithstanding the withdrawal of the Vaccination and Testing ETS, OSHA continues to strongly encourage the vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace, stated OSHA.

The decision was first announced on Tuesday, with OSHA explaining that they are not withdrawing the ETS as a proposed rule.

The agency is prioritizing its resources to focus on finalizing a permanent COVID-19 Healthcare Standard, OSHA said on Tuesday.

The First Liberty Institute, a legal nonprofit that represented Daystar Television Network, the American Family Association and Answers in Genesis in legal challenges against the mandate, celebrated the news.

The Supreme Court made it clear that the President Biden administrations attempt to federalize the nations workforce is blatantly unconstitutional, said First Liberty President Kelly Shackelford in a statement.

We will continue to fight on behalf of our clients and the American people to protect them from being forced to violate their faith.

In announcing its temporary standards in November, the agency determined that many employees in the U.S. who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 face grave danger from exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the workplace.

This finding of grave danger is based on the severe health consequences associated with exposure to the virus along with evidence demonstrating the transmissibility of the virus in the workplace and the prevalence of infections in employee populations, the statement reads.

In the Jan. 13 per curiam decision granting a temporary stay in the case of Ohio et al v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Applicants are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the Secretary lacked authority to impose the mandate.

Administrative agencies are creatures of statute. They accordingly possess only the authority that Congress has provided, the ruling stated.

The Secretary has ordered 84 million Americans to either obtain a COVID19 vaccine or undergo weekly medical testing at their own expense. This is no everyday exercise of federal power.

The courts three justices appointed by Democratic presidents  Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan  dissented from the unsigned majority opinion.

In our view, the Courts order seriously misapplies the applicable legal standards. And in so doing, it stymies the Federal Governments ability to counter the unparalleled threat that COVID19 poses to our Nations workers, the dissent argued.

Acting outside of its competence and without legal basis, the Court displaces the judgments of the Government officials given the responsibility to respond to workplace health emergencies.

Thousands rallied in protest of vaccine mandates on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.

Last week, a federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction halting an executive order by President Joe Biden requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for federal employees and contractors. Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown, a Trump appointee, proclaimed that the order is "a bridge too far" as it required millions of "federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment" without consulting U.S. Congress.

Earlier this month, another Texas judge sided with a group of Navy personnel seeking religious exemptions to the Department of Defense's vaccine mandate.
CDC is pivoting what it means to be fully vaccinated, director says

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says the agency is preparing to pivot the language about what it means to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Individuals may no longer be considered fully vaccinated without a booster shot, she said during a White House COVID-19 response team press briefing Friday.

Every year, you need a flu shot; youre not up to date with your flu shot until youve gotten your flu shot for that year, she elaborated. And what we really are working to do is pivot the language to make sure that everybody is as up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines as they personally could be, should be, based on when they got their last vaccine.

Those who recently got their second dose and are not eligible for a booster are considered up to date.

If you are eligible for a booster and you havent gotten it, youre not up to date and you need to get your booster in order to be up to date, she stated.

In a previous briefing on Jan. 5, Walensky had said, Individuals are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 if theyve received their primary series, categorically saying also that that definition is not changing.

But consistent with how public health has historically viewed or even talked about how we recommend vaccines, we are now recommending that individuals stay up to date with additional doses that they are eligible for, the CDC director added. And we have now available how you can stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines based on what vaccine you have received and what age group you are in. And that is available now on the CDC website.

According to the CDC, about 63.4% of the U.S. population (210.5 million) is fully vaccinated, while more than 84.3 million people have received a booster dose as of Monday. Over 251 million people (75.6% of the U.S. population) have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC maintains that vaccines protect against severe disease and death from COVID-19.

A CDC data tracker suggests that more than 99% of new COVID-19 infections come from the omicron variant.

Walensky said earlier this month that most COVID-19 deaths were still from the delta variant and that the risk of hospitalization remains low  especially among people who are up to date on their COVID vaccines.

A recently published study of nearly 70,000 COVID-19 patients in California found that while the omicron variant represents the majority of new infections, it is associated with reduced risk of severe clinical endpoints and shorter durations of hospital stay.

On Sunday, thousands protested vaccine mandates on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

This is not an anti-vax rally, Sherry Walker, a Houston-based captain for United Airlines and the co-founder of Airline Employees for Health Freedom, said at the demonstration. This is a rally to tell our government that were going to hold them accountable to illegal mandates, and in our specific case with Title VII with our employer.

Pastor Tony Evans, the pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, said in a sermon this month that he also has an issue with people being told they must get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Our issue is against mandates, not against vaccinations if you choose to, and there are a whole lot of biblical reasons for that, Evans said. People dont know what to do, and stuff keeps changing because God keeps messing stuff up. If you dont see that, if all you see is the medical thing, then you are fighting on vaccines and non-vaccines. ... Feel free to do what the Bible says. The whole Romans 14 says you are free to choose.

The whole chapter says you are free to choose, he reiterated. [Paul] comes to verse 23, and he says that whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So whatever decision you make, be able to trust God with it. Thats the issue. ... People are going to make different decisions.  So you have to be comfortable and not be mandated.
Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit against largest 'sanctuary city for the unborn'

In a victory for the pro-life movement, Planned Parenthood has dropped a lawsuit against the largest sanctuary city for the unborn in the United States.

On Thursday, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Surgical Health Services, an affiliate of the largest abortion provider in the country, filed a motion to dismiss its lawsuit against the city of Lubbock, Texas, the most populous sanctuary city for the unborn in the U.S. In a referendum last year, Lubbock residents voted to outlaw abortion within the city limits, making the West Texas city of more than 250,000 people the largest sanctuary city for the unborn in the nation.

Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit against the city of Lubbock in May 2021, about two weeks after a supermajority of the citys residents (62.5%) voted in favor of a referendum that made it unlawful for any person to procure or perform an abortion of any type and at any stage of pregnancy within the city limits.

The motion to dismiss the lawsuit comes several months after a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Lubbock Division, upheld the ban, alleging that Planned Parenthood lacked the jurisdiction to file the lawsuit. Like the Texas Heartbeat Act that has found itself in litigation since taking effect in September, the Lubbock abortion ban leaves enforcement of the measure up to private citizens instead of city officials.

Planned Parenthood initially appealed the lower court decision but has now decided to pursue a new course of action by dropping the appeal. Attorneys for Planned Parenthood cited the lower court decision in their motion to dismiss and noted that Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 42(b) and Circuit Rule 42.1 gave them the right to do so. The rule states: The circuit court may dismiss a docketed appeal if the parties file a signed dismissal agreement specifying how costs are to be paid and pay any fees that are due.

Additionally, the rule establishes that No mandate or other process may issue without a court order. An appeal may be dismissed on the appellants motion on terms agreed to by the parties or fixed on the court. Planned Parenthoods attorneys explained that both the plaintiffs and defendants in the case agreed that the parties will bear their own costs for this appeal and for the proceedings in the court, adding no additional fees are due.

The motion to dismiss the appeal was filed one day before the 49th annual March for Life, where pro-life protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., expressed optimism that Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, would soon be weakened or overturned when the justices rule on Mississippis 15-week abortion ban.

Pro-life leaders in Texas cheered the apparent conclusion to the litigation against Lubbocks pro-life ordinance.

Mark Lee Dickson, president of Right to Life of East Texas and the leading advocate for creating Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, reacted to the motion to dismiss in a Facebook post. We have said from the beginning that the abortion bans we have drafted are bulletproof from court challenge, and we are pleased that the litigation over Lubbocks ordinance has proven us right. We will continue our work to enact similar ordinances in other cities throughout the United States, he vowed.

Dustin Burrows, a Republican who represents Lubbock in the Texas House of Representatives, described Planned Parenthoods dropping of the appeal as a major and historic victory for the right to life. He rejoiced that the move will guarantee that the ordinance will remain in effect.

Pro-Life Victory!



In a major and historic victory for the right to life, Planned Parenthood is dropping its lawsuit over the city of Lubbocks abortion ban, ensuring that the ordinance will remain in effect! #txlege#prolife#sanctuarycityfortheunbornpic.twitter.com/SrGsx1GlTD  Dustin Burrows (@Burrows4TX) January 21, 2022

Texas state Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican who represents Lubbock, issued a statement congratulating the city and the people of Lubbock on this historic victory  and for becoming the first jurisdiction in the United States to successfully defend an abortion ban in court since Roe v. Wade.

After praising the development as the answer to so many of our prayers, he further reflected on the role the city of Lubbock and the state of Texas have played in the pro-life movement over the past year.

With the Texas Heartbeat Act taking effect last September, and with Lubbock having outlawed abortion within city limits, the state of Texas is leading the way on protecting the unborn despite the continued existence of Roe v. Wade. Texas and Lubbock have shown how states and cities can ban or restrict abortion while immunizing their laws from pre-enforcement judicial review. I encourage other cities in Texas and throughout the United States to adopt similar ordinances.

There are currently 41 sanctuary cities for the unborn in the U.S., with all but three of them located in Texas. Nebraska has two sanctuary cities for the unborn, while Ohio has one.
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 renders mixed decisions on the vaccine mandates

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected President Joe Bidens OSHA vaccination overreach for private-sector employees but has upheld the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) mandate for healthcare workers.

The decisions are important for their immediate effects. The OSHA-related opinion, NFIB v. Department of Labor, bars the president, through his administrative agencies, from imposing a nationwide employee vaccination/testing requirement on larger private businesses. Workers who opposed forced vaccination or vaccination in general view it as a victory that will, in many cases, allow them to retain their jobs. The other opinion, Biden v. Missouri, allows to stand the vaccination mandate issued to facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding. That decision means that nurses and doctors who resist being vaccinated may lose their jobs.

The decisions are not merely about vaccinations and pandemics. What is at stake is the rule of law versus administrative abuse of authority. Lets begin with the case dealing with the OSHA mandate.

The majority of the high court recognized that this case posed one key question: Does the secretary of labor, through OSHA, have clearly given congressional authority to impose what the majority opinion calls a significant encroachment into the lives  and health  of a vast number of employees? To answer that question, the court examined the 1970 federal act which created OSHA. What it found was that OSHA was conceived to further occupational safety; that is, to protect workers from the unique dangers that a plant or factory can present to them. OSHAs targets were, primarily, to be the toxic substances that produced harmful effects on employees engaged in the manufacturing process. Though an employee can be exposed to COVID-19 while working, it can and does spread at home, in schools, during sporting events, and everywhere else people gather. Therefore, the court labeled COVID a universal risk as opposed to primarily an occupational risk. It said that OSHAs powers did not extend to universal risks.

Lacking the undergirding of clear congressional power, the vaccine mandate was exposed for what it was, an unwarranted effort to convert an agency with limited workplace authority into a kind of super public-health entity. The exercise of the enormous power to impact 84 million workers livelihoods could not be sustained. True, the pandemic was an emergency, but emergencies should not destroy established restraints on governmental power. As Justice Gorsuch put it in his concurrence, declarations of emergencies would never end and the liberties our Constitutions separation of powers seeks to preserve would amount to little.

The court, having hit a home run on the OSHA case, struck out when deciding the CMSs medical workers vaccine mandate. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh joined the courts three liberal justices. This majority upheld the mandate which required the vaccination of 10 million healthcare workers employed in facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid. The argument advanced by the majority was far from convincing. Their opinion relied upon a variety of broad references in the enabling statutes, allowing the secretary of health and human services to publish rules and regulations necessary for the efficient administration of Medicare and Medicaid. That general language certainly does not explicitly nor even implicitly amount to congressional authorization of a mandate which warns nurses and doctors: get vaccinated or get fired.

Moreover, the CMS mandate failed to recognize neither a testing alternative nor the presence of natural immunity, the omissions perhaps being a product of the hasty avoidance of the normal process of allowing comments on proposed regulations. Nevertheless, the courts opinion labored to find authorization in various statutory provisions that concerned some 15 different types of facilities from hospitals and skilled nursing facilities to outpatient rehabilitation facilities. The phrases health and safety and infection prevention and controls appear in these statutes, sometimes as catch-all provisions, not meant to give specific authority to act.

The dissenters to this opinion, Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett, saw the majoritys effort as straining to pull together scattered provisions to create an unconvincing hodgepodge. The Biden administration had earlier admitted in the OSHA case that to find authority to act in the way it was advocating required it to do a work-around. When that term is generally used in politics, it means the government was intent upon taking a certain action but encountered an obstacle. In both cases, the obstacle was the lack of clear congressional authorization.

In the CMS case, it was the court that was required to do its own work-around, scouring statutes and regulations to find a basis, however weak, to uphold the medical care mandate. Though the justices managed to cobble something together, the opinion should rightfully produce anxiety in Americans who love liberty and rely upon the certainty of the law. How many other federal agencies with vague statutes could extend their reach by relying on this opinion? For example, what if the EPA declared a climate change emergency that ordered Americans to follow green dictates like shifting from gas furnaces to solar power heating?

While the first OSHA decision reins in the administrative state, the Medicare/Medicaid opinion turns loose the horse of potential administrative excesses.

Originally published at The Institute for Faith and Freedom.
The yellow label of Shiner Bock beer is one of those corporate signifiers thats become an unofficial emblem for the state of Texas along with the orange Whataburger roof, the jaunty red lettering of the H-E-B logo and, of course, the eager Buc-ees beaver.

But at supermarkets across the Lone Star State and beyond, Shiner labels now come in many colors. Theres the black label of Bohemian Black Lager, a schwarzbier, and the white-and-purple label of Weisse N Easy, a wheat beer. There is the mistletoe-decorated label of Shiners seasonal Holiday Cheer. And like so many other beverage companies, Shiner now offers hard seltzer in a rainbow of flavors.

Its Matt Pechmans job to make sure Shiner stays on the leading edge of trends in the beverage industry. He is the chief marketing officer for the San Antonio-based The Gambrinus Company, which handles marketing for Shiner.

In beer, consumers have come not only to expect but to demand a lot more new products from their favorite breweries, he said. Consumers today are less brand-loyal than they ever have been. If youre fortunate enough to have consumer love and loyalty, those consumers are expecting their favorite brands to deliver on their expectations, their desires.

Gambrinus was founded and is led by CEO Carlos Alvarez, who also owns the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, about 90 miles east of San Antonio. All Shiner beer has been made there since it was founded by German-born Kosmos Spoetzl in 1909. Alvarez brought new life to the Shiner brand after buying the brewery almost out of bankruptcy in 1989, Pechman said.

Before joining Gambrinus in 2020, Pechman worked on marketing for other beverage brands such as Deep Eddy Vodka in Austin. He recently met for an interview to discuss trends in the beer industry, Shiners growth outside Texas and the seltzer craze. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Josie Norris /Staff photographer

Q: Why do todays consumers expect more innovation?

A: If you go back one generation and look at consumers, they would have had a favorite beer that they would ask for every time they went out, or they would look for every time they went shopping at the supermarket. And rarely would they depart from that beer. That type of brand loyalty, I think, across almost any consumer good, is kind of gone.

The older sort of millennial generation and through to younger millennials and even now Gen Z, theyve grown up with almost infinite choice, right? And thats extended toward their purchase preferences.

It makes it a lot more interesting and a lot more challenging for brands to cut through all of those different options and get consumers to choose you. In craft beer, consumers are oftentimes on a treasure hunt. They want something thats new, they want something thats interesting, they want something that perhaps other people havent seen before or thats hard to find  to take that unicorn that they just found and put it on social media and be able to share that with their friends.

Q: Tell me about how you come up with new products.

A: Its really me and my team starting from either a consumer insight, something weve learned about consumer behavior, or it could be a category insight. Have we identified an opportunity for us to play in, based on whats happening with the category? Hard seltzer would be a great example. Or a competitive insight: We see something that one of our competitors is doing that is either having success, and we want to investigate that space, or that we think might potentially be a threat that we would like to address through innovation.

Those insights could come from anywhere. It could come from someone on our team walking through a grocery store or spending time in a bar or restaurant. Or it could come through formal research, from being out in market and talking to our salespeople.

Josie Norris / San Antonio Express-News

Q: Do you have a geographic strategy?

A: Absolutely. We do a little under 70 percent of our total volume here in Texas, which isnt surprising. This is our backyard. And we are absolutely focused on Texas. But a lot of our growth and a lot of the opportunity is coming outside of Texas. Even when were absolutely killing it in Texas, because were on such a big base were looking at mid-single-digit growth rates, whereas if you look at other markets in the U.S., some of those markets might be growing 15, 20-plus percent. If you look five, 10 years down the road we certainly see a massive opportunity to continue to grow outside of Texas.

Were going to grow in a way thats true to our brand roots. You know, Shiner is unique in craft beer right now in that we are a fully-independent family-owned company. Every drop of Shiner is brewed in Shiner, Texas. Were never going to want to lose that authenticity.

Q: How do you attract customers outside Texas?

A: Whether its in Texas or outside of Texas, our goal is to recruit the next generation of Shiner consumers. These are your younger legal-drinking-age consumers: Right now its those younger millennials and the leading edge of Gen Z that are over 21. Its kind of the kiss of death if those consumers are viewing Shiner as their dads beer or, God forbid, their grandfathers beer.

As were looking to recruit that next generation, theres a huge opportunity with having this brand appeal more to multicultural consumers. Its incredibly important here in Texas, right? You know, were the second most diverse state in the country. We know that over 25 percent of our consumers are multicultural  specifically, Mexican-American consumers. Historically, this brand hasnt done a lot to bring those consumers in so thats going to be a focus for us as we look forward over the next few years. We have some products coming out in 2022 that will really be focusing on multicultural consumers.

Finally, craft beer tends to be skewed a little bit towards male consumers. Theres this huge opportunity with women consumers, but theres not too many brands out there in craft that are speaking to them. We want Shiner to be on the front end of that and weve started to address that with some of our new product offerings. We have some brands out there like our Shiner Light Blonde, like Sea Salt & Lime, like Weisse N Easy, like Ruby Redbird that are hugely flavorful but tend to have non-traditional beer flavors.

Were proudly, unabashedly, Texan. We want to lean into everything that we think is great about this state. If you talk to consumers about what they think of when they think of Texas  and we know this because we did it  theyll tell us: Texans are neighborly; theyre friendly, fun; theyre opinionated, of course. We love good food, were quirky, were weird, but were also polite, were easygoing, were loyal, were approachable. If you ask consumers what Shiner stands for, a lot of those same words come out. Were talking to the consumers that share those same values. Call them spiritual Texans.

Q: Where do you find those shared values?

A: Illinois is one of our big markets. Wisconsin is strong for us; Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, and then the states that are closer in  Oklahoma is our third-biggest market behind Texas and Louisiana.

Q: Its become a joke that everyone has a seltzer. Why are they so popular?

A: I think what captivated consumers is you have a light, easy-to-drink, in many cases boldly flavored product that tastes really good. And its 100 calories, very little sugar, very little carbs. Whereas you have a margarita and that thing could contain 600 calories.

We were very cautious about entering the category. We know its not something thats in Shiners wheelhouse historically, but clearly its something that our consumers were asking for. Ultimately, thats the reason we did it. We did a lot of research on it. We saw that in other markets youve got these two big market leaders that are out there and then youve got a few other big players like your Bud Lights and your Coronas and now your Topo Chico. Theres been a pretty nice niche there for a regional self-serve player that does things a little differently, and we thought that could be us in Texas.

Q: What other trends are you looking at?

A: Theres obviously a lot of categories that are huge within beer that Shiner hasnt traditionally played within. You know, were not strong in IPA and IPA is over 40 percent of total craft beer in the U.S. So were really excited next year to be entering IPA in a way that consumers absolutely will not expect from Shiner. This Shiner offering is hugely different than anything weve done in the past. In fact, consumers almost wont recognize it as a Shiner product  the Shiner is pretty recessive on the packaging.

I think that the lines between beer, wine and spirits are increasingly being blurred. When I started my career, there were pretty specific These are spirits occasions, these are beer occasions, these are wine occasions. Instead of bringing a beer can to an occasion, like youre having beers at the lake, now you can have a spirits-based cocktail or a can of wine.

Q: With all this diversity of product, is there a risk the original Shiner could get lost?

A: Its certainly a risk, and its something that is forefront in our minds. We know that Shiner Bock is our flagship, and we know that going back to our founding in 1909, Shiner is a beer company. We want to make sure that were continuing to grow that flagship.

Thats our first order of business, always, prior to focusing on our other priorities like Shiner Light Blonde or Sea Salt & Lime. Bock is always going to be the flagship, and that will remain our focus as we bolster that up with our faster-growing brands. Its really about having a very clear vision and portfolio strategy behind overall Shiner  but never losing sight of what got us here, which is Shiner Bock.
The British government is contemplating a substantial NATO deployment to boost Europe's borders in response to Russia's massing troops on Ukraine's border, which the US and the West see as a prelude to invasion.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering the largest possible offer to members of the NATO defense pact in the Nordic and Baltic regions. According to his office, the said package aims to increase troop numbers significantly as well as to send defensive military equipment to Estonia, per Reuters.

Britain has warned that if Russia makes any moves towards Ukraine, Moscow will face sanctions that would possibly result in devastation on both parties.

In a statement, Johnson said that the UK could send troops to defend NATO allies if Russia takes military actions towards Ukraine even though it is not a coalition member.

"This package would send a clear message to the Kremlin - we will not tolerate their destabilising activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility," Johnson said.

The 30 members of NATO include the US, UK, and nations that were part of the dissolved Soviet Union, some of which border Russia. Members of the coalition agreed to help each other if armed aggression occurred.

Among Russia's demands is the assurance of NATO rejecting Ukraine, which Moscow considers a threat to its security. However, the US and the West have refused.

The British Armed Forces prepare its troops for deployment across Europe this week.

On Monday, defense ministers will evaluate military possibilities, while foreign officials will finalize the specifics of the offer in Brussels next week.

Read Also: Volodymyr Zelensky Criticizes West for Causing Panic Over Russian Invasion; Ukraine President Denies Dispute on Phone Call with Joe Biden

UK, Russia Diplomatic Talks

Amid the tensions, according to his office, PM Johnson plans to bolster diplomatic efforts by visiting NATO counterparts in early February after being criticized for inadequate actions.

Moreover, Britain's foreign and defense ministers are expected to travel to Moscow in the coming days to discuss with their Russian equivalents in the hopes of mending relations and de-escalating tensions.

PM Johnson will also talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin via phone call to step up measures in resolving the Ukraine border crisis in a diplomatic approach.

The Prime Minister is expected to reiterate to Putin the need for Russia to be involved diplomatically, per BBC.

Aside from the planned visit of Johnson to the region, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will visit Moscow within the next two weeks, according to the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom.

Growing Concern over Russian aggression

Around 100,000 Russian troops, tanks, artillery, and missiles are positioned near Ukraine's border, rising tensions. However, the Kremlin denies plans to invade Ukraine, per USA Today.

This weekend, Johnson asked military and security officials to provide him more options to address what Downing Street has dubbed as "growing Russian aggression." The possibilities include deploying additional British military force to NATO countries in eastern Europe.

On Monday, the Foreign Office is expected to announce to Parliament a toughening of sanctions, which would enable the UK to target Russian interests.

Related Article: US, Russia Still Open for Diplomacy on Ukraine Tension, But Britain Warns On Cyber Attacks From Moscow

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When the vast majority of your life is happening within the four walls of your home, every square foot counts. So the past two years have inspired some serious, space-saving creativity.

"Everybody all of a sudden was just surrounded by their environment, just sort of thinking, 'If I'm going to be spending this much time here, I really want it to be great quality space,'" says interior designer and HGTV host Vern Yip.

Oddly enough, one popular strategy for creating multipurpose spaces at home in 2022 is an innovation born more than a century ago: the Murphy bed, a fully made bed emerging from a wall to instantly transform a living room into a bedroom.

New Jersey-based interior designer Karen Topjian remembers seeing Murphy beds in old black-and-white Hollywood movies and thinking they looked wonderfully glamorous. It seemed almost magical, she thought. Unlike a sofabed that requires moving cushions and some degree of assembly, Murphy beds have the superpower of transforming a space with just a single motion.

Of course, the spring-loaded metal bed that nearly destroyed Charlie Chaplin in his 1916 short film "One A.M." appeared pretty uncomfortable. Even the World War II-era models probably weren't especially cozy, Topjian says, no matter how chic they looked in the movies. But technology has improved dramatically.

Today, she says, high-quality Murphy beds open easily and can be outfitted with high-end mattresses and lush bedding.

So when a client with a New York studio apartment challenged her to create a space where he could eat, sleep, live and work, Topjian designed a Murphy bed built into custom hardwood shelving, giving the compact living space plenty of storage and flexibility.

And the appeal of Murphy beds is moving beyond those who live in apartments. As the pandemic lingers, even people with larger homes are facing "small-space living issues," says Heather Higgins, another New Jersey interior designer.

Whether elderly relatives are moving in or adult children are returning home, many people are puzzling over how to add extra sleeping space to existing rooms. Depending on the circumstances, a Murphy bed can be the solution.

Among its best uses:

Making guests feel at home

Interior designer Gonzalo Bueno has a meticulously planned home office in Dallas. Behind his desk, a dramatic black-and-white painting extends from floor to ceiling, flanked on both sides by built-in shelving.

For 90% of the year, he says, his office is laid out in exactly this way. But when relatives visit from Mexico, his desk is moved forward and that painting is pulled down to reveal a Murphy bed.

It's a better option than even the highest quality sofabed, he says: "This is a queen-size bed  a real bed. So it's heaven" for visitors. "But for my 90% of the year, it just looks like a beautiful built-in with an art piece."

Bueno created a similar design for clients who needed a playroom for their children and a guest room for visiting grandparents. They didn't want older relatives sleeping on a sofa bed, but also didn't want to lose an entire room to a queen-size bed. One end of their playroom now houses a Murphy bed concealed within built-in storage.

Murphy beds can also be practical for single parents whose children don't live with them full-time. Bueno has a client who uses a spare bedroom primarily as a meditation space. But when his child lives with him, a Murphy bed is kept open and the room feels entirely like a bedroom.

Hybrid homes

Higgins says the pandemic is inspiring some city dwellers to shift to a smaller apartment so they can afford a second space outside the city. In cases like this, a Murphy bed can make the city space more manageable.

Topjian recommends mapping out the room with the bed open to make sure it won't feel too crowded. Make sure any furniture you'll need to shift out of the way isn't too heavy or awkward.

If you'll be using a Murphy bed as your primary sleeping space and opening it frequently, it helps to choose a lightweight memory foam mattress rather than a conventional model. And look for a good-quality one that lowers slowly and "makes a soft landing," Topjian says.

Make sure your Murphy bed comes from a reliable manufacturer, the designers emphasized. The name was once trademarked, but has been used by a wide range of retailers since 1989.

A quick spare

For those who have converted a spare bedroom into a work-from-home office, it can be challenging to create a space that looks professional on video calls while still keeping a bed there.

"People are paying a lot of attention to what their background is" on video calls, Yip says. "That little portion of your living environment that you're sharing now with the rest of the world -- what does it say?"

A Murphy bed can offer the elegant appearance of wooden doors, rather than a view of a bed laden with pillows and blankets.

Beyond creating a work-friendly Zoom background, that can also help you concentrate.

"You wouldn't want to be working all day seeing a bed next to you," Bueno says. "It will just be too too tempting."
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MILFORD  Starting in June, Milford will be home to PierPressure, a Pedal Cruise party boat that Colin Caplan said is going to be a floating party.

We have Elm City Party Bike, where you go to streets and bars, he said. In this case, youre pedaling, also floating, and instead of a bar, you are witnessing one of the most beautiful scenes in Connecticut, which is Long Island Sound, Milford Harbor and just the gorgeous shoreline that we have.

Caplan said he started with Taste of New Haven about 11 years ago doing walking tours, then about five or six years ago, incorporated the party bike.

So this is the next thing, he said. A lot of people, they want to be on the water. Boats like these started in warm weather locations, but they started to migrate to places with seasons like Connecticut. We got about a four to five-month season where you want to be on the water, and its an evolution of fun things to do.

The party boat business started in Sanford, Fla., and Caplan said he soon realized the party boat model could work in Connecticut.

We had our eyes set on different harbors, but the City of Milford, theyve really been supportive of all of our ventures over the years, he said. From the party bike to supporting anything local like charities, the library, and any event that is going on in Milford. They were excited to bring a party boat to Milford Harbor.

Part of the scouting process was to look for navigable areas and have a destination.

Milford is a really awesome destination, not just for people from Milford, but for people all over Connecticut who want to come down to a place like Milford, Caplan said. We were excited to combine with all the activity and increased energy that Milford has to offer and bring our activity into the mix.

The boat is essentially an oversized luxury pontoon party boat meets a group bicycle.

The boat seats 12 but fits 20, he said. So its 12 pedaled seats that make the boat actually move, besides the motor, but theres space for 20. So people can stand and linger, and you dont really need to pedal. It is a fun part of it, but its not necessary on the boat.

Like the party bike, the boat is bring your own for food and drink, Caplan said.

Obviously, we want people to act responsibly, but it is about bringing the party onto the water, he said.

The people who rent the boat arent going to be left alone, as cruises will include both a captain and a first mate.

So its us who are steering, and its us navigating, and we determine where we can go, he said. The plan is to get out to Long Island Sound from the Milford Harbor, and when you get out, youre basically in this wonderful cove. You get to see Silver Sands Beach and Charles Island. So theres a lot of scenic things to see in a small area.

The tours are two hours and vary between cruising the Sound and circling different locations.

I dont think people are going to realize where they are, just because when youre on a boat, its boat time, he said.

Caplan said people can now visit their website to purchase tickets to rent the party boat in advance.

We highly suggest they purchase tickets in advance because we will probably get sold out on weekends, just like the party bike does, he said.

The ultimate goal is to give people who visit Connecticut an entire day of fun.

So you go to Milford, you hang out and have lunch, then go on the party boat, and when you are finished with that, head over to New Haven, get on the party bike and spend some time downtown in the evening. That is what we call a Connecticut shoreline day, said Caplan.
EDWARDSVILLE  Three Texas men have been indicted for allegedly having nearly 150 pounds of marijuana when stopped last week in Madison County.

According to court documents, on Jan 11 Jose M. Alvarez-Chavez, 42, Luis D. Euceda, 21, and Carlos D. Sandoval-Garcia, 22, all residents of Port Arthur, Texas, were indicted last week for unlawful cannabis trafficking, a Class X felony.
Top Texas Republicans used a Houston-area rally with former President Donald Trump on Saturday to cheer on a potential comeback campaign by Trump, showing how much sway he still holds with the state Republicans over a year after leaving office.

Speaking before Trump at the rally in Conroe, two of the most pro-Trump state leaders, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, made clear they want the former president to run again. Miller touted himself as the first statewide official to endorse Trump for 2024 and said Republican candidates everywhere should be asked about it, suggesting it will reveal "who the real patriots are."

I dont know whats happening in 2024, but I have a feeling if 45 wants to be 47, America will lift him up again," Patrick said, later introducing Trump as the "45th and soon-to-be 47th president of the United States."

Trump has not announced whether he is running again in 2024 but has teased a potential run for months. At the rally, he repeatedly attacked the Democrat who defeated him, President Joe Biden, and promised Republicans would "kick the Biden crime family out of the White House in 2024."

Trump remains very popular among Republicans in Texas, the largest red state in the country, and the rally was yet another reminder. Speaking before Trump, the state party chair, Matt Rinaldi, hailed Trump's influence as he recalled how he used to be disappointed with the GOP as an activist.

"The Republican Party of Texas now is no longer that weak and compromising party," Rinaldi said. "We are the bold party of Donald Trump and will stay that way.

The rally also showed how some Texas GOP leaders are still helping fuel false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump alluded to the topic shortly after taking the stage, saying Texas is "never, ever turning blue  that is, unless they rig the election."

While Patrick was speaking, he was confronted by chants that sounded like, "Fix 2020."

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Conroe on Jan. 29. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune

"Well, we all know who won in 2020," Patrick said in response.

Trump's false claims about the 2020 election culminated in the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. At the rally, Trump spoke about the people who have faced criminal charges in connection with that day while imagining a second presidency.

If I run and I win [in 2024], we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly," Trump said, "and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons."

Republican candidates continue to jockey for Trump's support, especially ahead of the March 1 primary in Texas when some statewide officials are facing challengers. Among them is Gov. Greg Abbott, who faced some boos when he was introduced to speak before Trump. Abbott came out to a video from his campaign highlighting Trump's backing, and the former president later reiterated Abbott has his "complete and total endorsement."

Trump also expressed his support again for Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is in a hotly contested primary, facing challenges from Land Commissioner George P. Bush, former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler. Gohmert was in attendance and Trump singled him out as a "wonderful guy" and a "friend of mine from day one."

Patrick in particular has Trump's ear when it comes to endorsements  and the former president spoke openly about it. He said Patrick calls him asking him to endorse candidates and he responds, "Absolutely, Dan. Whatever you want." Patrick, Trump added, has "gotten a hell of a lot of endorsements" out of him.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
Millions of people across the US Northeast were put under winter weather alert as a fierce blizzard delivered record-breaking snow as well as floods.

Around 16 million individuals across the Northeast were put under winter weather alert Saturday night which are expected to remain in effect through Sunday morning, particularly for Eastern Massachusetts and most of Maine.

The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a snowfall with blowing winds not lower than 35 miles per hour and visibility of a quarter-mile or less for at least three hours, per CNN.

Authorities have urged residents to stay put as the fierce nor'easter made its way through the country's northeastern tip, bringing "dangerous" chilling wind as the blizzard heads out the country.

Read Also: Pittsburgh Bridge Collapsed On Biden's Infrastructure Visit, 10 Injured; Human Chain Helps Rescuers

Record-Breaking Snowfall

More than two feet of snow and blizzard conditions blanketed parts of eastern Massachusetts, Long Island, and Rhode Island, while a few locations in Massachusetts experienced hurricane-force wind gusts, with Cape Cod receiving the strongest winds.

As per ABC News, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito reported that some coastal communities in Massachusetts are experiencing minor to moderate flooding.

On Instagram, officials in Nantucket warned of "significant flooding," accompanied by a video showing strong winds and flooded streets in the area.

By Saturday evening, the weather agency has recorded a staggering 30.4 inches of snowfall at Sharon, Massachusetts.

According to the National Weather Service, Saturday was the snowiest January in the history of Boston. Logan Airport recorded 23.3 inches of snow, which beat the city's previous snowfall record of 22.1 inches.

"This is coming down hard and fast, and so it's been historic," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in an interview with CNN.

Aside from the heavy show fall, strong winds also resulted in seawater surges in coastal areas of Massachusetts that flooded streets.

In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the snowfall recorded has reached 33.2 inches, which had beaten the monthly record of 20.3 inches which was set in January 1987. While in New York City's Central Park, the snowfall hit 7.3 inches, beating the prior record of 4.7 inches set in 1904. Philadelphia experienced 5.8 inches of snow on Saturday, which was above the 1904 record of 5 inches.

Land, Air Travel Disrupted

The severe weather conditions also paralyzed flights going in and out of the United States. More than 3,580 flights were canceled, and more than a thousand were already canceled for Sunday, as reported by FlightAware.

Major airline companies provided waivers to passengers affected by the snowstorm. Delta offered travel waivers to passengers planning to fly out of 28 airports across the East Coast this weekend. United Airlines also announced that it would waive change fees and any difference in fare for flights departing on or before February 2. The offer involves 26 locations along the coast.

American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have also provided solutions for travelers whose travel plans have been disrupted by extreme weather.

Meanwhile, under a blizzard warning, all non-emergency road travel was prohibited in Rhode Island.

The weather bureau predicts that the worst of the nor'easter will hit Canada by Sunday morning. The Canadian government has already issued warnings for numerous provinces, per AP News.

Related Article: Massive 75-Car Pile-Up, Worsening Snow Conditions, Forces Kentucky Gov. Beshear To Declare State of Emergency

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Man fights for fairness to end his outdated 20-year prison sentence

busterthompson / Buster Thompson / Chronicle Reporter Jason Windham poses for a photograph Jan. 27, 2022, at the Florida Department of Corrections Polk Correctional Institution, where the 34-year-old has been serving a 20-year sentence for an aggravated-assault charge out of Citrus County.

Jason Windham is tired of learning about other Florida convicts getting less prison time than he got for committing the same crime.

The first word that comes to mind is: unfair, the 34-year-old told a Chronicle reporter Thursday, Jan. 27, in a common room of the Polk Correctional Institution.

Our justice system is set up on the premise of blind justice, Windham said, but, in my case, Lady Justice, standing there with her scales, is peeking out from under her blindfold and looking at a calendar on the wall ... and its costing people like me a portion of our lives.

Windham has served over 15 years of a 20-year prison sentence for aggravated assault involving a discharged firearm without the intent to kill. Windhams sentence also included a credit for time he spent in jail prior to his conviction.

Citrus County Circuit Court Judge Richard Howard had no choice but to order Windhams punishment at the end of then-21-year-olds trial in May 2008.

My life ahead of me just hit a brick wall, Windham said, recalling his sentencing. It just felt like it was the end right there, and it was hard to find hope after that.

Floridas sentencing provisions under whats known as the states 10-20-Life law require judges to order mandatory minimum sentences of either 10, 20 or 25 years in prison for those convicted of certain felony offenses while using a firearm.

It is the intent of the Legislature that offenders who actually possess, carry, display, use, threaten to use, or attempt to use any firearm or destructive device be punished to the fullest extent of the law, stated a transcript of Howard reading the statute aloud before sentencing Windham.

At the time, Windhams charge  as State Attorneys Office prosecutors filed it and jurors later decided in their verdict  came with a minimum-mandatory prison term of 20 years because Windham, then 19, fired a gun the night of July 6, 2006, to threaten a Homosassa man.

Granted, I know what I did was wrong, Windham said Thursday. I wasnt supposed to do that, but slamming me with that sentence?

There was a spark of hope for Windham in 2016, when Florida lawmakers passed legislation that deleted aggravated assault from the list of charges under the states 10-20-Life law.

Now, five years is the maximum prison sentence someone can get for a conviction of aggravated assault involving a deadly weapon.

However, the law didnt apply to aggravated-assault cases resolved before July 2016, meaning Windham and other state inmates serving time for the charge still had to finish their mandatory sentences.

Who did they pass it for? Windham said. People who didnt even commit crimes yet?

Wording in the Florida Constitution prevented the 2016 legislation from impacting punishments for any crime previously committed. That was until 62 percent of Florida voters in November 2018 approved Amendment 11 to remove the constitutional language.

Since then, lawmakers in Tallahassee have been pushing legislation to have todays sentencing standards apply for inmates like Windham.

Theres no reason for people to be in prison under a law that doesnt exist under a sentencing provision thats already been stated by the people of Florida to be unacceptable, Windham said. I want the same treatment that other people receive today. ... Give me five years.

Identical bills have been filed this legislative session in Floridas Senate and House of Representatives seeking to apply current sentencing laws retroactively.

The Florida Senate ROUSON

Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, is proposing SB 276, and Rep. Patricia Williams, D-Fort Lauderdale, is sponsoring HB 591.

Windham hasnt been quiet about his predicament behind prison bars. Hes been in regular communication with advocacy groups and lawmakers.

The Florida House of Representatives WILLIAMS

If theres people out there trying to help me, he said, what am I doing just sitting here, doing nothing? So my pen got to moving.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, was one of Windhams early legislative contacts. Eskamani said shes been a cosponsor to bills like Williams and Rousons before, and annually files a bill seeking to repeal minimum-mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.

When it comes to any reform in the criminal-legal system, she said, there are a lot of commonalities between Democrats and Republicans on how the hard-on-crime mentality does not work to actually reduce crime, and instead leads to mass incarceration, predominately for poor people and Black and brown people.

The Florida House of Representatives ESKAMANI

Eskamani said the bills that would do away with mandatory sentencing provisions will help ease prison populations and costs, and give judges more sentencing discretion for defendants who need treatment instead of prison.

Mandatory-minimums have destroyed peoples lives without stopping crime, she said, and so we pursue these policies because we care about public safety, and we know that so much of Floridas penal code is archaic ... and we have the data and resources to make it better.

Windham and his family founded a petition online to bring public awareness and support to their movement. To sign the petition, visit tinyurl.com/54dy2ypn.

Using the hashtag #FREE JASONWINDHAM on social media can also help attract attention to Windhams petition and cause.

I think that even now, after Ive done all this time, its still not too late for justice to be served; its not necessary for me to do two more years in prison, he said. My family wants me home.

Windham, a native of Modesto, California, whose family moved to Florida when he was an infant, lived in Citrus County since 2001 before moving to Fort Myers in 2005.

While working at a road construction site, Windham got a call informing him his then-12-year-old sister had been molested. In response, Windham armed himself with a semi-automatic rifle and drove to Citrus County to confront his siblings purported abuser.

I stepped outside the vehicle, he sees the gun, I fired three shots into the ground, by my feet, as he was running away, Windham said, and I never seen him again until he was in trial, testifying against me.

Windham didnt know his actions put him in the sights of Floridas 10-20-Life law until after U.S. marshals and county authorities arrested him in on a warrant in September 2006 at this home in Lee County.

At that point in time, in my young 19-year-old mind, 10-20-Life never crossed my mind, he said. That was something I saw hanging on a convenience store sign if you go and rob the store.

If Floridas legislators cant help him, Windham will approach Gov. Ron DeSantis for clemency to commute his sentence.

The governor needs to intercede, he said. Im not asking him for mercy, Im asking him for justice.

Windham said hes also planning to file motions in circuit court for post-conviction relief.

Once hes released from prison, Windham would like to start an advocacy group of his own to pursue policies and programs for convicts to become rehabilitated instead of reoffenders.

Because they havent been rehabilitated while theyve been in prison, he said, and to a certain extent, the state of Florida is culpable and responsible for endangering public safety by not instituting programs ... science has shown to help other people and work in other states.

Windham said hes been floating Florida Former Prisoners for Change as his groups name.

I deserve to return to my family and become a productive member of society, he said, and if these lawmakers or this governor want people to get out prison and do that, then Im an example, and I want to be an example of how somebody can do that.
Florida, US (34429)

Today

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable.
Nearly 93 per cent of respondents said the pandemic would either have no impact or make them more interested in gaining Canadian permanent resident status.

Interest in Canadian immigration remains high: study Nearly 93 per cent of respondents said the pandemic would either have no impact or make them more interested in gaining Canadian permanent resident status.

Interest in Canadian immigration remains high: study Nearly 93 per cent of respondents said the pandemic would either have no impact or make them more interested in gaining Canadian permanent resident status.

Interest in Canadian immigration remains high: study Nearly 93 per cent of respondents said the pandemic would either have no impact or make them more interested in gaining Canadian permanent resident status. Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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A new survey of over 13,000 prospective immigrants shows that interest to move to Canada remains strong.

The survey was conducted by World Education Services (WES) Canada, a designated provider of Educational Credential Assessments (ECA) for Canadian immigration.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

In 2020, WES surveyed individuals that had submitted an ECA application to better understand how the coronavirus pandemic was impacting their Canadian immigration plans.

In August 2021, WES repeated the survey to compare responses and to see if the evolving pandemic context has impacted the motivations of respondents to immigrate to Canada.

WES reports there is no decrease since 2020 in respondents being interested in immigrating to Canada. Nearly 52 per cent of respondents said the pandemic would have no impact on their immigration plans. Nearly 93 per cent said the pandemic would either have no impact or make them more interested.

In the 2021 survey, 33 per cent of respondents said they felt the pandemic would negatively impact job availability in Canada, down from the 45 per cent who felt this way in 2020. Meanwhile, 35 per cent said they felt the pandemic would have a positive impact on job availability, compared to 27 per cent who felt this way in 2020.

Some 58 per cent of respondents indicated they were more interested in immigrating to Canada due to the Canadian government and health care systems ability to manage the pandemic and care for COVID-19 patients.

Only 21 per cent stated the pandemic would delay their Canadian immigration plans, compared to 35 per cent in 2020.

On the other hand, 22 per cent said they are interested in immigrating to a country other than Canada, compared with 13 per cent in 2020.

Respondents suggested they would still have a strong desire to pursue Canadian permanent resident status even if challenging economic or personal circumstances arose. For instance, 74 per cent said that an economic recession in Canada would either have no impact or would increase their interest in gaining permanent residence. This is up from the 69 per cent that responded the same way to this question in the 2020.

They also felt more optimistic about job prospects in Canada amid the pandemic versus prospects in their home countries. Some 77 per cent said they felt COVID-19 would have no impact or a positive impact on jobs in their occupation or sector compared with 69 per cent in their home country. Just 23 per cent felt it would have a negative impact, a decrease compared to the 28 per cent who felt their would be a negative impact on jobs in their occupation or sector in Canada in 2020.

Among those considering delaying immigrating to Canada, the top three reasons cited were travel restrictions, a significant increase in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) processing times, and a decrease in jobs in their field in Canada.

Canada was looking to welcome another 341,000 immigrants in 2020, mostly under the economic class, before the pandemic hit. It imposed travel restrictions to limit the spread of COVID which reduced new immigrant landings to just 184,000 that year.

Travel restrictions have since been lifted for the most part. However the pandemic has increased IRCCs backlog to 1.8 million applicants which has slowed processing times. Canadas economy improved in 2021 and the country currently has its highest job vacancy rate on record with nearly 1 million available jobs.

In 2021, Canada sought to land 401,000 new immigrants and achieved this goal largely by transitioning those in Canada to permanent residence. The Canadian government will announce its new Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 by February 14. The plan will indicate the number of new immigrants Canada will seek to welcome this year, and the categories they will fall under.

The current plan aims to welcome 411,000 new immigrants this year of which nearly 60 per cent are set to arrive under the economic class.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
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If a visitor to Israel had the time to take a month to really get to know the country, I would recommend the period that has just concluded  from Passover through Israeli Independence Day. Its Israel in a nutshell. And it also happens to be a time of year when most of the days are picture-
Human rights advocate groups express disappointment on United States President Joe Biden's possible re-designation of Yemen's Houthi rebels as terrorists as it would impact the delivery of relief for civilians.

February last year, the Biden administration scrapped the "terrorist" label of the Houthis, citing the potentially devastating effects of the designation on civilian access to humanitarian aid. But almost a year later, President Biden has remarked that re-designating the group as terrorists is "under negotiation" following the Houthis attacks in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this month.

Scott Paul, senior manager of humanitarian policy at Oxfam America, said in an interview that the recent position was "extremely disappointing."

"A year ago, the administration heeded our warnings - and nothing has changed since then to improve the outlook for what these designations would mean," Paul said per Al Jazeera.

The UAE government publicly requested the US to re-blacklist the Iran-backed Houthis following the rebel's missile and drone attacks on Abu Dhabi on January 17, which killed three persons.

Days later, in a media conference during the commemoration of his first year of presidency, Biden admitted that solving the crisis in Yemen due to years of conflict would be "extremely tough. Thus, reinstating the "terrorist" designation on the Houthis was "under consideration."

The Emirati Embassy in Washington welcomed Biden's offer.

Read Also: At Least 70 People Dead, More Than 100 Injured After Saudi-Led Airstrikes at Yemen Prison Amid 7-Year War

Re-designation of Houthis Is Betrays Biden's Election Promise

Human rights advocates see Biden's remark as a betrayal of an election promise of efforts to resolve the conflict in contrast to the policies of his predecessor Donald Trump. The previous administration had supported the coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, in the fight against the rebels.

In 2015, The coalition, which included UAE, intervened in Yemen to drive out the Houthis, who had control of most of the country, and restore the leadership of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

After the Houthi strikes on UAE earlier this month, the Saudi-led coalition retaliated with intensified airstrikes on rebel targets in Yemen on January 21. The operation killed 82 people and wounded 266 in the rebel's stronghold of Saada, per Bloomberg.

Internet service went offline across the country for days following airstrikes that destroyed a building accommodating an internet service company in the port city of Hodeidah.

Houthis Blamed For The Prolonged Crisis

Last week, National Security Council coordinator Bret McGurk seemed to blame the Houthis for the continued violence in Yemen due to its refusal to engage in "a number of ceasefire initiatives on the table."

The Houthis rejected a US-backed Saudi ceasefire proposal last year, asserting that ending the war requires the removal of the blockade, including the reopening of Sanaa airport.

But Iman Saleh, general coordinator of the Yemeni Liberation Movement, an anti-war advocacy organization in the US, argued that the Biden administration is aware that the re-labeling of the Houthis as terrorists "would starve millions of Yemenis."

"A designation would make him no different from Trump," he stressed.

As a result of the ongoing war, Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula, is on the edge of famine and experienced massive displacement. The United Nations dubs the dire situation in the Western Asian country as the world's worst humanitarian crisis per AP News report.

Related Article: UN Warns of Growing Humanitarian Crisis, Famine in Yemen as Aid Agencies Run Out of Money

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30)  In the third round of CNN Philippines' Senatorial Forum, three aspirants were one in saying that Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth of public officials must be made public.

Former party-list representative Neri Colmenares, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, and civic leader Samira Gutoc said letting the public know about the information on the documents would be a way to gain their trust.

No brainer

Colmenares said he was "definitely" in favor of disclosing such information.

"I don't see any reason why any public official will hide his or her SALN. If you are rich, then you are rich. If you are poor, there's nothing to be ashamed (of) if you are poor," he said Sunday.

He added all public officials should have their SALNs accessible to the public.

"It's a no brainer dapat na any public official, if you really want to run and if you really want to serve the Filipino people, then you should agree to the requirement that you must submit your SALN and make it accessible to the public," he added.

A call for fairness

Meanwhile, Diokno said he would not contest releasing his SALN if elected.

"It's so unfair that ordinary government officials have to make public their SALN, and yet yung matataas na opisyal ay [higher officials are] exempted," he said at the forum.

He added there should even be penalties for those who block the public from accessing information on the SALN.

RELATED: SALN law needs 'more teeth'  Diokno

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/1/26/Chel-Diokno-on-public-access-to-SALN.html

Unpopular opinion

Gutoc admitted her being in favor of making SALN public would not be a popular opinion in her part of Mindanao.

"I'll be very unpopular here when I say that yes, I'm open to urging all my co-Bangsamoro, my co-Filipinos here in the provinces especially with due respect sa dynasties na i-publicize nila ang ating SALN [to dynasties that they publicize their SALN]... I am in favor of this," she said.

Gutoc said the SALN is a useful instrument in keeping track of a person's wealth upon entry into public service until the time they leave.
North Korea launches what it claimed was a hypersonic missile Jan. 5, in this photo provided by the North Korean government. The North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic (IRBM) missile into the East Sea, Sunday, South Korea's military said, raising fears that Pyongyang was inching toward its threatened suspension of a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear weapons and long-range missile tests. AP-Yonhap





North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic (IRBM) missile into the East Sea, Sunday, South Korea's military said, raising fears that Pyongyang was inching toward its threatened suspension of a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear weapons and long-range missile tests.






Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30)  The camp of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Sunday said they are "not cowered" by an alleged plot to assassinate the presidential aspirant but they are taking the threat seriously.

"While this assassination plot is concerning, we are not cowered by such threat. BBM shall continue to personally deliver his message around the country with firm resolve to unify our nation," Marcos' spokesman Vic Rodriguez said.

"Sineseryoso namin lahat ng banta sa buhay ni presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos kagaya nito, at bilang isang bansa dapat din nating seryosohin lahat ng banta at magiging banta kung meron man. 'Wag naman sana sa buhay ng kahit na sinong kandidato," he added.

[Translation: We take all threats against presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos seriously, and as a country all threats should be taken seriously as well. We hope there is no threat against the life of any candidate.]

The statement came after a TikTok user posted a comment on the video-sharing app threatening Marcos of assassination.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating the threat and those behind it.

In a separate statement, the Marcos camp said Charito Zamora, DOJ cybercrime group's officer-in-chief, has requested TikTok "preserve the data related to the subject account while the Philippine authorities are working on the legal process for its disclosure." TikTok's Law Enforcement Outreach is also working on the request.

According to Zamora, the comment from an account with the username @joiedevivre420 read: "Nagmemeeting kami araw araw para paghandaang ipa aasasinate naming si BBM humanda kayo."

Zamora said a concerned citizen alerted authorities about the threat.

"Every now and then then kasi we would receive a text or email from concerned citizens and report occurrences in the social media which they feel must be looked into, and we always act on it," she added.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the National Bureau of Investigation would "give priority attention to any validated information pertaining to a threat to the personal security of any presidential aspirant."

He noted that the DOJ has received similar information about personal threats to other presidential aspirants.

"If a bomb joke is actionable, so is a threat of assassination, whether true or not," he added.

In a statement, TikTok said such threats are not welcome on the platform.

"The promotion of violence has absolutely no place on our platform. The user's account has been permanently banned and we are fully cooperating with the National Bureau of Investigation in their investigations," it added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30)  Senatorial aspirants Neri Colmenares, Chel Diokno, and Samira Gutoc expressed strong disapproval of the proposal to require adult Filipinos to serve in the military, saying the government should instead focus on improving the country's education and employment programs.

In the CNN Philippines Senatorial Forum on Sunday, Colmenares said it violates the peoples free will and may be used to promote repression.

I disagree with that completely, he said of the proposal pushed for by vice presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Even just for high school ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps), the students don't need military training, especially if the teachings for the youth is for repression," he added.

Lawyer Diokno raised a similar concern, as he noted how the military was used during the martial law regime to put people in line and to stifle criticism.

I am totally against the mandatory military enlistment, Diokno said. Hindi na ba tayo nadala doon sa mga nangyari noon na mga hazing, mga corruption? [Didnt we learn from past incidents of hazing and corruption?] This is not going to be good for our country.

Marawi civic leader Gutoc, meanwhile, pointed out the potential challenges the move may pose on certain groups.

One of the comments on this proposal is that for instance, from the Muslim Filipinos, that will be a bit insensitive to our women who have certain limitations in physicality of movement and even publicly mixing with our men, she said.

Colmenares argued the job situation in the country requires more immediate attention and that mandatory enlistment may be an added burden to Filipinos, as some are their families' main providers.

The two other senatorial hopefuls stressed the need to instead improve the Philippine education system. Gutoc, in particular, pushed for a strengthened program in schools geared towards disaster preparedness.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30)  Senator Richard Gordon has filed a resolution urging the Senate to investigate the rising cybertheft cases after some teachers complained about unauthorized withdrawals from their bank accounts.

In a statement on Sunday, Gordon said the Senate is compelled to act on the vicious commission of cybercrimes against the Filipino people, particularly against teachers and other public servants, private employees and businesses, taking away their hard-earned savings, violating their financial security, assaulting their cybersecurity, and disregarding their rights.

Gordon, head of the Senate Justice and Human Rights Committee, added that the inquiry should help strengthen existing laws to adequately protect Filipinos against online fraud.

In a radio interview on Jan. 27, Teachers Dignity Coalition chairperson Benjo Basas said they received complaints from 20 teachers who collectively lost over 1 million after unauthorized transactions were done through their payroll accounts at Land Bank of the Philippines.

The government-owned bank said its systems were not hacked and the teachers fell victim to a phishing scam.

Teachers Dignity Coalition said Landbank is still liable as its systems are not secure." Basas also maintained some victims never disclosed one-time passwords or OTPs, a supposed layer of defense against scammers.

READ: Landbank says teachers lost money to phishing scam, denies system hack

Citing data from the Trade department, Gordons office said there has been a surge in the number of online transaction complaints amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with 10,323 recorded in the first half of 2020.

In December, several clients of the country's largest lender, BDO Unibank Inc., were also victimized by scammers. BDO vowed to reimburse hundreds of clients and assured it has beefed up its security measures.

Earlier this month, state-owned pension fund Social Security System also warned against an "increasing number of fraud victims" among its members.

RELATED: Customers urged to be responsible with personal information amid rise in online fraud

Apart from the probe, Gordon urged fellow lawmakers to expedite the passage of a bill mandating the registration of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards. The measure is seen to help track down those who use mobile phones to engage in criminal activities.

Once there is an enabling law that mandates telecom companies to screen and record every SIM card owners pertinent details, we can make sure that the numbers linked to crimes will make them responsible under the full extent of the law, Gordon said.
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
IDCs 10 digital-trend predictions for Australia, New Zealand businesses

Research firm IDC has published a list of 10 IT trends it expects organisations in Australia and New Zealand to adopt over the next five years as they move to become what IDC calls digital-first businesses.

[ Keep up on the latest thought leadership, insights, how-to, and analysis on IT through Computerworlds newsletters. ]

The predictions are:

By 2024, digital-first enterprises in Australia and New Zealand will enable empathetic customer experiences and resilient operating models by shifting 75% of all tech and services spending to as-a-service and outcomes-centric models. By 2022, 40% of publicly listed Australia and New Zealand organisations will reset cloud selection processes to focus on business outcomes rather than on IT requirements, valuing access to providers portfolios from device to edge and from data to ecosystem. 2023, 75% of Australia and New Zealand enterprises will use AI-assisted, cloud-linked governance services to manage, optimise, and secure dispersed resources and data. But 70% will not achieve full value due to IT skills mismatches. By 2022, 45% of large Australia and New Zealand enterprises IT budgets will be redistributed due to adoption of integrated as-a-service bundles in areas of security, cloud platforms, virtual workspaces, and connectivity. By 2026, industry leaders in Australia and New Zealand facing systemic or mandated transitions in the coming decade will triple IT spend for new environments but struggle to achieve the needed six-times gains in IT operational efficiency. By2024, 65% of publicly listed Australia and New Zealand organisations will gain twice as much, in terms of meaningful returns, on tech investments that augment employee and customer activities compared with ones that automate individual processes. By 2026, regional divergences in data privacy, in security, and in placement, use ,and disclosure mandates will force 80% of Australia and New Zealand enterprises to restructure their data governance processes built on an autonomic foundation. By 2023, 40% of publicly listed Australia and New Zealand businesses will shift half of their new technology hardware and connectivity spending to modernise and reconceptualise in-person experiences for customers and employees in their own locations. By 2025, 65% of publicly listed Australia and New Zealand organisations will have digital sustainability teams, tasked with assessing, certifying, and coordinating use of business and IT sustainability data and analytic platforms offered by ICT providers. By 2025, public enterprises valuations in Australia and New Zealand will be based as much on confidence in data controls for proper and effective use of data as in financial controls, focusing increasingly on spending on data-centric solutions.

Cloud spending to surpass $20 billion by 2025 in Australia

Spending on cloud computing in Australia is expected to surpass $20 billion by 2025, predicts research firm GlobalData. What will drive this growth is large-scale digital transformation initiatives taken up by businesses to counter pandemic-related operational issues.

According to GlobalData, more than 50% of the cloud market is made of public cloud services, including software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS). PaaS will be the fastest growing, GlobalData predicts; it sees an enterprise preference for cloud-native application development platforms due to its cost advantage and application management capabilities.

Australias fibre rollout had marginal growth

An analysis of broadband services worldwide has placed Australian fibre services in 41st place in a tally of 80 nations. The data is from 2020, and in that year, according to research firm Omdias Fibre Development Index Analysis, Australias rollout of fibre slowed, with the country dropping three places compared to 2019.

Omdias metrics have different sources, which include national statistics offices, national regulatory bodies, data from third-party specialist companies, and Omdias internal data sources.

An Omdia spokesperson told Computerworld Australia that Australia increased in each of the metrics, but the increases were marginal when compared to other countries. In particular, FTTP [fibre to the preimses] coverage in particular only increased marginally over the year, and without greater rollout FTTH [fibre to the home] and FTTB [fibre to the business] penetration rates had also slowed. This also means that, although average broadband speeds are increasing, they are still well below the market leaders.
Congratulations, ministerregistration.org got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site:

Ministerregistration.org scored 66 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 10 Mar 2015, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

ministerregistration.org is very popular in Facebook and Stumble Upon. It is liked by 2562 people on Facebook, it has 39 twitter shares and it has 3 google+ shares.

The total number of people who shared the ministerregistration homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the ministerregistration homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if ministerregistration has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the ministerregistration homepage on Twitter + the total number of ministerregistration followers (if ministerregistration has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the ministerregistration homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the ministerregistration homepage on Delicious.

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PAGE TITLE Minister Registration - Become an Ordained Christian Minister DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS minister, you must, christian, degree, church, all 50, degree in



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Domain and Server

DOCTYPE CHARSET AND LANGUAGE DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache/2.4.6 (Unix) OpenSSL/1.0.1 OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

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China's Zhejiang reports 22 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases

Xinhua) 09:22, January 30, 2022

HANGZHOU, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- East China's Zhejiang Province reported 22 confirmed local COVID-19 cases from Friday to 2 p.m. Saturday, all in the provincial capital Hangzhou, authorities told a press briefing on Saturday.

Since the lastest resurgence of COVID-19, the province has registered a total of 44 confirmed local cases, all in Hangzhou.

Among the cases, the oldest was 70 years old, and the youngest three. The epidemic mainly spread through a company's year-end dinner attended by nearly 300 people on Jan. 19, and a wedding attended by nearly 250 guests on Jan. 22, an official release said.

One week has passed since the outbreak was first noticed, and the company employees have returned to their hometowns for the Spring Festival holiday. Four related cases have been reported to have travelled out of the province, indicating that the risk of spillover still exists, said Xia Shichang, deputy head of Zhejiang's provincial health commission.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
President Moon Jae-in / Korea Times file





President Moon Jae-in said Sunday that North Korea has inched closer to scrapping its self-imposed moratorium on testing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) shortly after the North fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile.







Moon made the remark while presiding over a plenary meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) for the first time in about a year, an indication of how seriously he takes the launch of what is believed to be the longest-range missile the North has fired in recent years.







South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North's missile flew about 800 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 2,000 km. The flight data indicated that North Korea tested its biggest ballistic missile since 2017.







The launch also marked the North's seventh such show of force this month alone.







"North Korea has kept its moratorium on nuclear tests and ICBM launches so far while expressing a willingness for dialogue. But if it did fire an intermediate-range ballistic missile, we can consider it has moved closer to scrapping the moratorium," Moon was quoted as saying during the meeting.






Tehran118.com scored 47 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 9 Sep 2019, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the tehran118 homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the tehran118 homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if tehran118 has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the tehran118 homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the tehran118 homepage on Twitter + the total number of tehran118 followers (if tehran118 has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the tehran118 homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button.

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PAGE TITLE  118 : / : Tehran Yellow Pages DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS - OTHER KEYWORDS



The title found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 5.0 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English UTF-8English SERVER Microsoft-IIS/7.5 (UrlRewriter.NET 2.0.0,ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2

Character set and language of the site. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Type of server and offered services. Operative System running on the server. The language of tehran118.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms.

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Referring domains for tehran118.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

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Uppababychina.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 23 Mar 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

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PAGE TITLE |UPPAbaby  DESCRIPTION UPPAbabyUPPAbaby KEYWORDS |||||||||stokke|uppababy||BB OTHER KEYWORDS uppababy, uppababy , uppababy, uppababy , uppababy , uppababy , uppababy



The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The title found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE SERVER Microsoft-IIS/6.0 (ASP.NET,PHP/5.1.6) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003

Type of server and offered services. Operative System running on the server. The language of uppababychina.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Character set and language of the site.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for uppababychina.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

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Twitter account link

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We also find out that Nazi Ghost Dad's constant taunting once led Peacemaker to "inadvertently massacre a village full of innocent people" while serving in 'Nam. You know how it is: you're parents are nagging you about leaving the milk outside the fridge, and next thing you know, you're committing war crimes. Anyway, the U.S. government decided this guy would be the perfect candidate for a super-soldier program, naturally, so they sprung him out of jail only two years into his life sentence to train him in a secret base. The most realistic part of this whole story is that the government program sorta fizzled out, and they just let this dangerous psycho walk out of the base one day and become a superhero.

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At one point, Peacemaker gets in the habit of having conversations with his helmet, which he calls "Helm." But no, he doesn't really think it's alive: he simply thinks it's full of the souls of everyone who has died near him. It ... gets pretty crowded in there.

DC Comics

DC Comics "If I collect 100 souls, I get to turn into Aretha Franklin."

While the end of his series made it look like Peacemaker might have kicked the ghost-talking habit, his dad continued pestering him and bossing him around for years ... until Peacemaker finally stood up to him by disobeying his direct orders during a mission. Unfortunately, those orders were "do not crash our helicopter into those tanks."

DC Comics

DC Comics Now his dad is a double ghost.

And that's how Peacemaker died (for a while, anyway, because comics). Again: we still can't believe that, out of the thousands of DC characters out there, this one has his own show now. We can see why they put him on the Suicide Squad, though.

Follow Maxwell Yezpitelok's heroic effort to read and comment on every '90s Superman comic at Superman86to99.tumblr.com.

Top image: Warner Bros.
In more WTF Australia tales and referring specifically to the ferocious animals that ended up roaming that tiny little continent, the countrys birds of prey have officially evolved the cunning ability to start their own fires so they can smoke out dinner.

Wikimedia Commons BBQ at my place yaaaall!

These flying Aussie monsters are deliberately picking up smoking embers from one fire and then dropping them in a grassland area to start a brand new inferno, so the local animals would have to make a run for it. That is some cold-hearted calculating crap. No wonder so many people just desperately want to believe that Australia doesnt exist.

This horrifying behavior of birds willing to destroy entire habitats for a snack was first recorded back in 2016 in both black kites and brown falcons species. Since then, it has become clear that predatory birds are definitely doing this deliberately and capitalizing on lightning strikes specifically since that is how wildfires are often started in northern Australia. Truly, a magical place.

Aboriginal Australians have known about their frightening fire-wielding raptors for a long time. Theyve testified that the birds are indeed spreading fires and that the phenomenon could even explain how fires often jump fire breaks. It took quite a while for everyone else to take their tales of the birds did it seriously, but now that the cats out of the bag because it has to outrun another effin wildfire, people are paying attention, and accounts are stacking up.

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Were just looking forward to the all-Aussie movie starring Wolverine, probably, about firefighters caught up in a blazing inferno battling their fiercest, most terrifying enemy: Them Birds.

Top Image: Georgina Steytler/Unsplash
As Electric Boat scrambles to hire 3,000 people this year in Connecticut and Rhode Island for two major submarine programs, its president is already looking ahead to a third that could support more than 20,000 jobs for decades to come.

A subsidiary of General Dynamics, Electric Boat is Connecticuts largest private employer with some 18,000 workers at its main Groton shipyard and an auxiliary yard at Quonset Point, R.I., and an engineering design center across the Thames River in New London.

Electric Boat hired 2,500 people last year as it gets to work on the new Columbia class of ballistic missile submarines, with General Dynamics targeting a launch schedule of one sub annually for 12 total to replace Ohio-class submarines nearing retirement.

At the same time, Electric Boat is building several more Virginia-class attack subs over the coming decade. And looking furter ahead to the next decade and beyind, the Navy is planning the proposed SSN(X) attack sub that will replace those Virginia-class boats.

The designation X is used for ships that have not yet been named.

The Biden administration wants Congress to authorize another half-dozen SSN(X) subs, which would push the total to 72 vessels at a cost in the neighborhood of $6 billion each. The Navy currently has 50 attack submarines in its fleet across the Virginia and older Los Angeles and Seawolf classes.

The SSN(X) program is shaping up as another team effort between Electric Boat and its rival Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia owned by Huntington Ingalls Industries, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis last year. Under that model, each shipyard would contribute major components toward final assembly, as the case with the Columbia subs which are being completed in Groton.

Speaking last week in Hartford during an economic summit sponsored by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, the president of Electric Boat, Kevin Graney, said the manufacturer has the capacity to keep up with both the Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarines, and in time SSN(X) production.

Graney said attrition remains an issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether workers taking early retirement or leaving otherwise. With no vaccine mandate in place, the company reports 86 percent of its workforce have been inoculated against the virus.

There were a number of people who may have left the business had we invoked that mandate and we would have lost a significant portion of our workforce  a portion that we couldnt afford to lose, Graney said last week. About 40 percent of our cases  all time, since the beginning of the pandemic  have occurred in the last eight weeks.

Electric Boat is not just dependent on its Groton and Quonset Point employees. It relies on hundreds of subcontractors in the region as well, who rely in turn on suppliers for various parts and services. On Wednesday, the CEO of General Dynamics noted that has raised issues for the manufacturer as well.

Electric Boat in particular, weve seen some challenges in the submarine supply chain, said General Dynamics CEO Phoebe Novakovic, speaking Wednesday on a conference call. Were continuing to work with the Navy to shore up that supply chain so we can get normalized Virginia schedules.

The submarine fleets role in deterrence has gotten fresh attention as Russia amasses forces on the Ukraine border, and extends naval exercises into the North Atlantic and other zones.

Graney said Russias newest sub is far quieter than others in its fleet to evade detection, and will be capable of launching hypersonic missiles Russia is developing that are designed to fly five times the speed of sound to strike ships or land targets, too swift for existing countermeasures to be deployed.

With the 2019 launch of the USS South Dakota, Electric Boat debuted improved designs to reduce the acoustic footprint of Virginia-class subs, which in time could become standard on the SSN(X).

The newest Virginia-class subs are also built to accommodate any Navy developments in seabed warfare, a term used by naval planners to describe emerging tactics including setting up complex networks  or disabling any undersea cables on which a combatant nation relies for its own information systems.

Talk to Navy leaders and what theyll tell you is what we put on that boat and what our capabilities are, is to quote them, game-changing, Graney said. Theres a new energy here.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
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SHELTON  State police have identified the two people who were killed this week in the single-car that officials said was connected with a Bridgeport police investigation.

On Saturday, state police identified the occupants as Jose Rosario, 32, of Bridgeport, and Raul Calderon, 33, of North Branford.

The incident occurred in the area of the Old Stratford Road on-ramp to Route 8 northbound in Shelton. Police arrived at the scene around 11:30 a.m. Thursday and found a 2002 Honda Accord overturned on its roof on the right side of the on-ramp, police said. Both occupants had already died, police said.

The states Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the autopsies were completed Friday. The cause of death for both victims was blunt injury, with the manner a motor vehicle collision, the office said.

Police have said they believe the crash occurred before Thursday.

Officials said Friday the incident was connected to a Bridgeport police investigation.

Scott Appleby, Bridgeports director of emergency communications and emergency management, said the crash was related to an incident in Bridgeport, and the Bridgeport Police Department is cooperating with the state police investigation.

State police said the circumstances of the accident are still under investigation.

Anyone with information can contact state police at 860-706-5652 or the C.A.R.S. unit at 860-706-5653.
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BRIDGEPORT  The last time Connecticuts largest city launched a search for a permanent police chief, Armando Perez, the then-acting top cop, made it clear he wanted the job, and the mayor and several City Council members wanted him to have it.

Four years later and, after Perez pleaded guilty in October 2020 to federal charges of cheating in that 2018 competition to get the five-year contract, Bridgeport is on the hunt for his replacement.

But unlike her predecessor, Acting Chief Rebeca Garcia  who made local history as the first woman to lead the department  is not saying whether she intends to apply. And also unlike four years ago, several influential council members are making it known ahead of time they would prefer someone else take charge of the force.

Up to now I think shes done a good job. But I think our department needs a fresh outlook, said Councilwoman Jeanette Herron who, along with colleague Matthew McCarthy, chairs the legislative bodys contracts committee.

That group of seven will ultimately vote on hiring whoever Mayor Joe Ganim selects as the new police chief, and four of its members are either openly against Garcia or hoping for other options.

Asked if it should be Garcia, McCarthy said, Absolutely not.

I feel we just need someone fresh and new from outside the department to come in and just clean things up, he said.

City Council President Aidee Nieves offered similar sentiments earlier this month.

Im supportive of Chief Garcia and the work shes done and been able to accomplish, but as a whole the department requires a different set of eyes without a tainted view who can foster new relationships and community connections, Nieves said.

Ganim this week announced he had ordered the personnel department to launch a national search for a chief that will result in his being forwarded three finalists. He will pick one and their contract will go to the council for approval.

Asked whether she was interested in going from acting to permanent, Garcia in an email this week responded, At this time I will not be making an announcement as to whether I have decided to or not to participate in the competitive testing.

Perez, in contrast, after two years as acting top cop in late 2017 publicly urged close friend Ganim to launch a search so he could attempt to get the contract and the job security that comes with it.

Im gonna try my very best to be a finalist, Perez, who joined the department in 1983, had said, adding: Theres no guarantees.

Still, it was no surprise when, in November 2018, Ganim selected Perez and the council fairly quickly approved the choice. Despite some opposition from community activists who felt Perez lacked the management skills and independence needed to reform the force, he enjoyed the support of the mayor, many other elected officials and community leaders  particularly fellow Cubans  all of whom praised his lengthy career and community ties.

In September 2020 Perez was arrested along with then-Personnel Director David Dunn for conspiring to help the former cheat to become a finalist in 2018. In April 2021 Dunn was sentenced to four months in federal prison and Perez a year-and-a-day. The ex-chief was just released early.

Ganim put Garcia, who had been promoted from captain to assistant chief in late 2019, in charge of the department following Perezs arrest.

The mayor this week did not respond to a question about how he believes Garcia is performing. But asked if he would encourage her to seek the permanent position, Ganim responded, The city encourages all able and qualified individuals to apply.

We want the most comprehensive competition and complete pool of talent with the best possible candidates, Ganim continued. All should apply with assurances (that) this will be a process with integrity and transparency.

Does Garcia even have the qualifications to become chief? Or might the upcoming search criteria be tailored to accommodate her? In 2018, for example, applicants for chief were advised that bachelors and masters degrees and other law enforcement schooling were preferred but not required if they have 10 years of policing under their belts, five of those in a command rank.

That aided Perez, who had not graduated college.

In February 2021 Hearst Connecticut Media submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Ganim administration for Garcias resume. Nearly a year later the city has not produced that document. However a copy of Garcias resume from July 2019, filed in state Superior Court as part of a challenge against her promotion to assistant chief, shows she has received associates degrees and attended various policing/law enforcement courses.

According to that resume, Garcia joined the department in 1991 and has commanded the domestic violence unit, the internal affairs office, which investigates misconduct, and the academy.

Garcia has had some high profile challenges to her leadership since taking over for Perez. Last March the police union held a vote of no confidence in her, although the mayors office at the time dismissed that action, claiming the vote only represents 25 percent of the department (while) the other 75 percent voted in favor or elected not to participate.

Last summer the Guardians, representing minority officers, claimed Black colleagues are being subjected to hostile working environment, unfair employment practices, and unfair disciplines handed out by Acting Chief (Rebeca) Garcia.

Then in November a state Superior Court judge, acting on a lawsuit filed by three Bridgeport police captains and a deputy police chief, ruled Garcia was improperly made assistant chief in 2019. The city has appealed that decision.

Thomas Bucci, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in that case, declined to comment on the prospects of Garcia becoming permanent top cop. Bucci, however, noted one of his clients  Captain Roderick Porter  has a separate federal discrimination lawsuit pending against Bridgeport over the 2018 chief search. Porter, who is Black, was one of the finalists Ganim passed over for Perez.

(Porter) is seeking a remedy of being named chief of police, Bucci said, adding all of the Bridgeport officers he represents have superior command experience than Acting Chief Garcia.

Council members Jorge Cruz, Ernie Newton and Maria Pereira also sit on the contracts committee. Pereira said Garcia has every right to apply if she meets the qualifications and that she admires the fact she is a resident and a powerful woman.

But, Pereira continued, based on Garcias performance so far, If she was selected and came before the contracts committee, I would be a definite no.

Pereira said there has been too much chaos, negative press and poor morale during Garcias brief tenure.

Newton said, I think maybe its time to go outside of the local police department. It may bring a breath of fresh air.

Cruz, on the other hand, said were Garcia to be a finalist and ultimately given a contract by Ganim, he would support her.

I dont think Rebeca Garcia is the problem with the Bridgeport Police Department, Cruz said. The problem is the unions and other people in there. I dont look at Rebeca as the problem.

Cruz added, I dont believe that an outsider police chief will be able to make the necessary changes. Its wishful thinking. Id rather have an experienced candidate from Bridgeport.

The two remaining contracts committee members  Rosalina Roman Christy and Avelino Silva  could not be reached for comment.
A healthcare worker speaks with a COVID-19 patient over the phone at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin



By Lee Hyo-jin



ANSEONG, Gyeonggi Province  "How are you feeling today? Are you still coughing badly?" asks a hospital nurse who is on the phone with a COVID-19 patient at home.



The nurse went on to ask, "If the pills you took aren't working, you can either get prescription medicine after a face-to-face consultation with a doctor here, or you can ask your family to buy over-the-counter medicine. Would you like to schedule an appointment with the doctor?"



On Tuesday morning, healthcare workers, wearing headsets with microphones at an office on the second floor of Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, were busy speaking via phone with coronavirus patients.



The province-run hospital is the only medical institution providing care for coronavirus patients in Anseong, a satellite city home to about 200,000 people, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul.



A 24-hour medical team, consisting of 19 nurses and five doctors, monitors patients in home treatment through two phone calls each day and a mobile app.



At a contactless outpatient clinic on the first floor of the hospital, Jeong Hyeon-ju, an internal medicine specialist, was seeing COVID-19 patients through protective glass, using an intercom system.



Showing a chest X-ray on his monitor, he told one patient, "Do you see the cloudy area here? This seems to be the cause of your breathing difficulties. It doesn't seem so serious now, but if your symptoms worsen, we can arrange for you to get hospitalized."





Jeong Hyeon-ju, an internal medical specialist at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, consults with a COVID-19 patient at a contactless outpatient clinic in the hospital, Jan. 25. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin



"We receive about five outpatients a day whose symptoms have deteriorated while undergoing home treatment," Jeong told the reporters during a tour of the hospital's facilities.



He added that Paxlovid, Pfizer's oral antiviral pill, which was introduced into the country on Jan. 14, has been prescribed to three patients so far.



Home treatment becomes the default as Omicron cases surge



As Korea continues to see record-breaking numbers of infections driven up by the spread of the Omicron variant, the government is seeking to shift its strategy from focusing on hospitalization to home treatment.



After it was introduced in October of last year, home-based treatment for COVID-19 patients has increasingly replaced hospitalization, which is now reserved only for patients with chronic illnesses and those aged 65 and over, who are at risk of falling into critical condition.



"Home treatment is crucial at this point of time when the Omicron variant is expected to put a strain on hospitals," said Kim Seung-il, the head of the home treatment management team at the health ministry.



In the fourth week of January, 69 percent of patients were receiving home care, and the government is seeking to increase the proportion to 90 percent in the near future.



By early February, the government also plans to increase the number of hospitals dedicated to home care to 400 nationwide from the current 369, and to secure 40 more outpatient clinics, bringing the total up to 91.



Explaining how the current home treatment system operates, Kim said, "Once a person tests positive for COVID-19, he or she is contacted by officials at the local public health center, who collect basic information from the patient via phone calls."



The information will then be handed over to the Central Disease Management Headquarters at the health ministry. Ministry officials contact the patient for an initial evaluation to determine his or her eligibility for home treatment depending on current symptoms and any underlying health conditions.



The patient will then be matched with a healthcare worker at a medical institution, who then monitors the patient two or three times per day for the next seven days.



The local government provides patients with home kits, which include a thermometer, an oximeter, medicine, diagnostic test kits and other protective equipment, as well as food and water.





This photo shows a sample of a home kit provided by Anseong public health centers to COVID-19 patients undergoing home treatment. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin
The death of Lauren Smith-Fields, a 23-year-old Bridgeport woman, was a tragedy under any circumstances. The mystery and lack of transparency that surrounded her death made a difficult situation all the worse. Police and other authority figures must do better for families, people in crisis and the victims themselves.

Smith-Fields died in December after meeting a man on a dating app who reportedly then found her unresponsive the next morning. A medical examiner in recent days ruled Smith-Fields death from an accidental overdose of a combination of fentanyl, prescription drugs and alcohol.

But it appears to have taken heavy pressure from her family and friends to prod authorities into action. Smith-Fields died on a Sunday morning, but her family was not informed by police until that Monday. When her family went to her apartment after not hearing from her, they found a handwritten note on the door with a phone number. That put them in touch with the landlord, who told them Smith-Fields had died.

It was only after an outpouring on social media followed by a march in Bridgeport on Jan. 23 to mark what would have been her 24th birthday that officials seemed to take serious interest. An investigation is currently underway.

Its a sad truth in America that a comparable situation where the races of the people involved were switched is almost unimaginable. Had a young white woman died under mysterious circumstances and the last person to see her alive been a Black man, its likely this story would have played out very differently.

No family should have to fight to make people in charge show interest in their loved ones death. But that is how this story has played out, and it shows how far we have to go as a society.

The past week has seen a belated flurry of activity from all parties concerning Smith-Fields last day. The man she met on the dating app is said to be cooperating with investigators, and police are actively looking into the situation to find out what happened. If, as seems possible, there are no criminal charges filed in the case, it would still give family members some peace to know that all avenues were explored.

The case also highlights the dangers of fentanyl. A synthetic opioid, the drug is increasingly being substituted for other substances by dealers, often without a users knowledge. Lawmakers in Hartford are exploring ways to get a handle on a scourge that is causing an uptick in deaths around the state, but everyone needs to be aware of the dangers.

But wherever the investigation leads, the pain caused by the initial reaction to Smith-Fields death should not be forgotten. Nothing could be done to bring her back, but the least the family deserved was information and some compassion. The people who loved her deserved that much.

Its something everyone in a position of authority around the state should remember the next time such a case arises.
Barbara Faye Boyles, 75, of Raceland, Kentucky passed away Tuesday, May 3, 2022, at her residence. Barbara was born August 1, 1946, in Load, Kentucky a daughter of the late Homer and Gladys Johnson Boyles. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by one nephew Robert Boyles. Bar
The buildings and property of the Country Cupboard in Lewisburg became available to purchase when the shop closed its doors at the end of February.
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For years now the slow but steady decline in Western birth rates has been blamed on selfish women in pursuit of 'having it all'.

In our eagerness to indulge our own ambitions, the thinking goes, we ignore our biological clock  with dire consequences both for ourselves and society.

The price for freedom and self-fulfilment (or punishment for our vanity, depending on your point of view) is infertility and IVF.

The judgmentalism that surrounds older mothers  or those who don't want children at all  is astonishing and antediluvian.

Even now they are considered an abomination, an affront to the correct order of things.

I'll never forget a friend of mine being told she was acting in wilful defiance of her 'biological imperative'. Hard to imagine anyone ever saying that to a man.

For years now the slow but steady decline in Western birth rates has been blamed on selfish women in pursuit of 'having it all'. In our eagerness to indulge our own ambitions, the thinking goes, we ignore our biological clock  with dire consequences both for ourselves and society. (File photo)

Anyway, the point is that, like it or not, having children is now a choice for a woman.

It's easy to forget that for my mother's generation  and all those who came before  it was not.

Which is why the past 50 or so years have been so seismic. Women have obtained control over their bodies and their lives. Hence the declining birth rate.

As my mother once said to me, years ago, 'If people thought for more than 30 seconds about having children, Sarah, the human race would grind to a halt.'

She had a point.

This week marked a new twist in this ongoing saga. The latest figures show that more than half of women now remain childless at the age of 30  the first time that has happened since records began.

Not only that, but the overall drop in births is not where you would expect it to be  that is to say, among ambitious career-class women.

On the contrary, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that from 2011 to 2019 the share of births to women in 'higher managerial, administrative and professional' occupations grew from 45.2 to 49.3 per cent.

For the past two decades the things that families need  an affordable house, childcare, food, decent education  have been drifting steadily further out of the reach of ordinary people. (File photo)

No, it's among those on lower incomes, unemployed or with poor employment prospects where the decline is steepest  with their share of births falling from 25.9 to 23.1 per cent.

What this shows, I think, is that it's less about women not wanting children  and more about simply not being in a position to afford them.

The truth is that for the past two decades the things that families need  an affordable house, childcare, food, decent education  have been drifting steadily further out of the reach of ordinary people.

The average house price in the UK is now 270,000. And yet the average annual salary is just under 40,000.

Most young people haven't a hope of getting on the housing ladder, and even if they do they'll need two sets of wages to stay there.

The model of a two-parent family where one person works and the other raises the next generation is increasingly unsustainable.

Even I, with my well-paid job and plenty of advantages, spent pretty much all of my salary  after tax and National Insurance  on childcare during the early years of my children's lives.

The model of a two-parent family where one person works and the other raises the next generation is increasingly unsustainable. (File photo)

I did it because I enjoyed working, and also because I was worried that if I dropped out of the workforce, I would never get back in. But if I found it tight, God only knows how most people cope.

And things have become much worse since I was having babies. I'm no socialist, but so much of the support that used to be offered to young families has been withdrawn. Increasingly, it seems to me, being able to afford a family has become a luxury.

So yes, women are having fewer children, and later on in life.

But I don't think it's always for 'selfish' reasons, rather a practical response to the financial restrictions imposed upon them by a cost of living crisis that only seems to be deepening.

If policymakers are worried about a dearth of future taxpayers to prop up an ageing society, they need to stop being so short-sighted  and address the soaring cost of family life in the here and now. Otherwise we'll all end up paying the price.

I was cheered by the story of an 84-year-old stopped by the police who was found to have been driving without a licence since the age of 12.

Very naughty of him, of course, but nonetheless encouraging to think that in our 24-hour surveillance society there are still some rebellious souls who manage to slip through the cracks.

Come off it, Adele

Adele, darling, you are a wonderfully talented young woman. You are one of the highest-paid artists on the planet.

You deservedly enjoy all the trappings of a diva lifestyle. If it's all getting a bit much, fair enough: take a break.

But enough with this, 'don't blame me, I'm just a poor girl from Norf London', nonsense. It's not fooling anyone.

Adele, enough with this, 'don't blame me, I'm just a poor girl from Norf London', nonsense

On one hand, the nation's vets are telling us almost half of Britain's cats are obese and at risk of diabetes.

On the other, fanatics at animal rights group PETA are calling for a ban on cat-flaps to stop our feline friends killing birds.

Cats have been around for several millennia. I really don't think they need stupid humans to tell them what to do.

Hiking National Insurance contributions to find an extra 12 billion for the NHS is the kind of thing I would expect from a government led by Jeremy Corbyn, not Boris Johnson.

The truth about the NHS is that it is a sprawling organisation in desperate need of restructuring  and has been for years.

The waste in the system is horrendous, as any responsible medic will tell you.

The Conservatives are supposed to be the party of fiscal competence. This is the precise opposite.

Is this feminism, Jacinda?

You might have thought a proud feminist like Jacinda Ardern, Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand, would be outraged at the thought of a fellow countrywoman, TV reporter Charlotte Bellis, being stranded  pregnant and alone  in Taliban- controlled Afghanistan.

But such are Ardern's draconian Covid regulations that Bellis has been unable to return home.

You might have thought a proud feminist like Jacinda Ardern, Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand, would be outraged at the thought of a fellow countrywoman, TV reporter Charlotte Bellis (above), being stranded  pregnant and alone  in Taliban- controlled Afghanistan

Despite submitting 59 documents, she now faces giving birth alone in a country where being pregnant out of wedlock  Ms Bellis is in a long-term relationship, but not married  can have very unpleasant consequences.

Seems that the sisterhood is all very well and good when it suits Ardern, but threaten her iron grip on her poor citizens and you're on your own, love.

The sombre-sounding Discrimination Law Association (they must be super fun at a party) have called for the menopause to be reclassified as a 'protected characteristic'.

Seriously? It's bad enough finding work as a woman over 50.

Turning us into a legal liability would be the final nail in the coffin.

Hero of the week: Neil Young, for standing up to streaming giant Spotify over its decision to allow podcaster Joe Rogan free rein to spread baseless conspiracy theories about Covid-19.

Rogan is a frighteningly plausible broadcaster with a huge following, especially among the young and gullible (my 18-year-old and her friends are avid listeners).

But just because someone is charming and engaging doesn't mean they are right.

Hero of the week: Neil Young (above), for standing up to streaming giant Spotify over its decision to allow podcaster Joe Rogan free rein to spread baseless conspiracy theories about Covid-19

Indeed, earlier this month a group of 270 US doctors, scientists and healthcare professionals dubbed Rogan 'a menace to public health'.

Rogan clearly brings in the big bucks for Spotify, but not everything is about money  something that Young has always understood. Seventy-six, and still sticking it to the Man. Respect.

'Little boy' destroyed a life

Angel Lynn, 19, was abducted by her abusive boyfriend, Chay Bowskill, in September 2020 and left permanently brain-damaged after she tried to escape from the back of his van.

Last week he was sentenced to just seven and a half years  out in three  after the judge, Timothy Spencer QC, appeared to agree with the defence's plea that he was just a 'little boy in man's shoes'.

That may be, but it doesn't give him permission to destroy a young woman's life.

Should we conclude that if Bowskill is a 'little boy in man's shoes', then Mr Spencer is a misogynist in judge's robes?

For the first time in the sorry Prince Andrew/ Virginia Giuffre saga, the Duke has finally done the right thing by asking for a proper trial.

He needs his day in court, as does Giuffre.

If he really is innocent of the charges against him, it's the only way he will ever truly clear his name. Sure, it's a gamble. But what does he have left to lose?

For the first time in the sorry Prince Andrew/ Virginia Giuffre saga, the Duke has finally done the right thing by asking for a proper trial

The resignation of Lord Agnew, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, over fraudulent Covid loans is a real blow to the Government.

I'm told his forensic response to sloppiness tormented Civil Service staff who are presumably thrilled at the prospect of being able to spend more time with their Pelotons.

Yesterday saw the introduction of new Highway Code rules compelling drivers to give way to cyclists, who are now encouraged to ride two-abreast in the middle of the road. As someone who cycles regularly, I have no objections.

But now cyclists are on a par with motorists, isn't it time they paid their way? Road tax raises a whopping 40 billion a year  cyclists don't contribute a penny. Without it, who would pay for their shiny new cycle lanes?

Something to think about before we drive all those wicked motorists off the road.
It is now quite clear that the Governments decision to keep the country open over Christmas was the right one.

It was a hard choice to make because at the time, some experts were warning that the Omicron variant could lead to a huge increase in hospitalisations.

Yet other experts, especially in South Africa where Omicron had first appeared, were telling a different story.

One day the whole history of the past 22 months will be written and examined  and one of the things it will probe is the advice given to Ministers by modellers and experts.

We may have to wait a long time for such evaluations to be made. But we can already say for sure that the decision to stay open for Christmas was correct.

The prophets of doom were wrong, and the damage to the economy and society that would have been done by closing down the country would not have been justified.

We may have to wait a long time for such evaluations to be made. But we can already say for sure that the decision to stay open for Christmas was correct

England, as a result, is more prosperous, sociable and cheerful. It is among the most relaxed and unrestricted places in Europe.

Who should take credit for this? Most of us have believed that the Prime Minister, with ultimate authority, should do so. We can reasonably assume that he thinks so too.

But, as The Mail on Sunday reports today, leaks are emerging suggesting that Chancellor Rishi Sunak, as well as Lord Frost, played a considerable part, if not a decisive one, in the key decision.

We make no judgment. Only those who were there can know for sure. But it is an old rule that while failure is an orphan, success has many fathers.

It is surely far better to have a government whose members are competing to receive credit for a wise action, than one where everyone is avoiding blame for a blunder.

Power of people will level us up

It is good to see Communities Secretary Michael Gove, in this newspaper, giving a cogent explanation of what Levelling Up will actually mean.

Now that the Covid crisis is receding, this vital element in the Tory revival needs to be restated  and it needs to be acted upon.

Mr Gove rightly argues that opportunity is not evenly spread in this country. This means that we waste a good deal of talent. It is the single most attractive aspect of levelling up, that it aims to reduce this tragic waste to a minimum.

This country has proved throughout history that it has huge reserves of ability. But we fully harness them only in times of war or crisis. Then we slip back into the old ways.

We need a peacetime plan to use the full power of our own people. And there has never been a better moment to act on this.

It is good to see Communities Secretary Michael Gove, in this newspaper, giving a cogent explanation of what Levelling Up will actually mean

Nadine will tame techs monsters

Congratulations to Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, already a breath of fresh air in Whitehall, fast making her mark.

Fresh from taking on BBC bias and the licence fee, she now plans to tackle the overmighty internet giants. While much of the rest of Government seems paralysed, she is getting to grips with one of the most difficult problems of our age  how to rein in the arrogant monster corporations which dominate the World Wide Web.

It simply is not right that, by sheer monopoly power, these electronic mega-companies are able, by the use of clever algorithms, to push the public towards some sources while nudging them away from others.

The planned new rules should also tackle the existing lack of equality between the largest platforms and publishers. This should help redress the imbalance of bargaining power in fixing fair payment for content. These are major steps forward.
A sign for social distancing is seen as passengers line up to board planes at the domestic flight terminal of Gimpo airport in Seoul, Jan. 29, ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday which falls on Feb. 1. AP-Yonhap





Daily COVID-19 cases reached an all-time high of 17,532, Saturday amid the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus as people headed to their hometowns or went on trips during the Lunar New Year holiday.







The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 17,532 new infections, including 17,303 local ones, raising the total caseload to 828,637.







The number of cases broke the daily record for the sixth consecutive day, spiking from 8,570, Monday.







The KDCA had earlier said Friday's total reached 17,542 but corrected this to 17,526, citing erroneous reporting.







The government has urged people to refrain from traveling during the holiday to prevent the spread of COVID-19, warning the infection tally could surge to as many as 100,000 a day in the next several weeks.







Passengers wearing face masks as a precaution against COVID-19 line up to board planes at the domestic flight terminal of Gimpo airport in Seoul, Jan. 29, ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday which falls on Feb. 1. AP-Yonhap





This year's Lunar New Year holiday runs from Monday to Wednesday and is extended by two days due to the preceding weekend.







The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,732, up 20 from Friday, for a fatality rate of 0.81 percent.







Critically ill COVID-19 patients numbered 277, down 11 from the previous day.







On Saturday, South Korea introduced a revised virus response system to tackle the Omicron wave.







Some 250 testing stations set up at public health centers and large hospitals began providing both rapid antigen self-tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. People can choose which one they want to take, however, those aged over 60 or in high-risk groups, such as having underlying illnesses, are prioritized for PCR tests.







Local hospitals and clinics will also administer self-test kits beginning Thursday.







The KDCA said the revised regime is designed to minimize critical cases and deaths, while preventing an overload and collapse of the medical system.







The system will expand nationwide after the three-day holiday.







Of the locally transmitted cases Sunday, Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul reported 5,662, followed by the capital with 4,157 and the western port city of Incheon with 1,306.







As of Sunday, 27 million people, or 53 percent of the country's 52 million population, had received booster shots, the KDCA said. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44 million people, accounting for 86 percent. (Yonhap)






Spurred on by so many tales of food poverty, I set off last week to deliver supplies to my local food bank. But I was prevented from reaching it by a police cordon across the road.

Like other passers-by, I stopped to watch the many squad cars and officers going about their business, wondering what had happened.

As I turned for home, I recalled another crime scene on my street the previous day and left thinking just how ubiquitous they seem to have become in my neck of the woods.

A few hours later, news broke of the horrendous murder of Yasmin Chkaifi by her former husband Leon McCaskre and the brave actions of a man (known only as Abraham) who drove his car into the couple, killing McCaskre in an attempt to stop the relentless stabbing. That was the tragedy taking place behind the cordon just before I reached it. Ludicrously, the driver is now being investigated on suspicion of murder.

A few hours later, news broke of the horrendous murder of Yasmin Chkaifi by her former husband Leon McCaskre and the brave actions of a man (known only as Abraham) who drove his car into the couple, killing McCaskre in an attempt to stop the relentless stabbing

The area where the murder happened is lively and multicultural, with an occasional street market just a few yards away and a pedestrianised concourse where locals congregate to drink and chat. The streets are filled with small flat conversions and housing association tenancies  quite a contrast to the expensive stucco villas of Maida Vale nearby. Its not a particularly safe area of London, but Ive never felt remotely nervous walking about because there are usually so many people around.

Yet that was the case when Yasmin was attacked. Although a few witnesses attempted to help, McCaskres threats kept them away.

Id have liked to think I would have tried to intervene, but Im pretty sure I would have been too terrified. Violent crime is a part of city life.

In this case, it was a targeted attack on a woman by a man she lived in fear of, and on whom she had taken out a restraining order. But many crimes are more random. You can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time and encounter the wrong person.

Its often reassuring to think we are protected from harm by the presence of other people.

But the reality is that its much easier to look the other way  and much rarer for someone, like the driver of that car, to be brave and resourceful enough to intervene in a life-threatening attack.

Childfree beats being childless

Are you childless or childfree? Official figures show most women now dont have their first child until they are over 30.

But theres a big difference between the two words we could use to describe them. Traditionally, being childless is a cause for sadness  a condition that should be remedied as soon as possible. But increasingly the more celebratory term childfree is becoming the norm. It implies putting off the moment when the fun stops and the hard work of parenting begins.

I remember spending an awful weekend in my early 30s with a group of smug people around the same age who had all produced babies while I was childless. They clearly thought I was a sad specimen.

In a similar situation now I would be considered childfree  which sounds much more enjoyable.

Snow way! Its even falling in Greece

Theres been snow this week in the most unlikely of places: Jerusalem, South Carolina, Greece. But not a single flake here. Im longing for it. Waking up to see the world outside carpeted in white is one of the great treats  and one Im beginning to fear my grandchildren may never experience here in London.

Why do I feel guilty for drinking alone?

As the partner of a non-drinker, ordering wine in restaurants is always tricky. Not the grape, but the quantity. I know I will drink more than a glass but a bottle would be far too much. Single glasses are always the most expensive option, so when I see the word carafe (smaller than a bottle) on the menu, I generally jump at it.

The waiter duly brings the carafe with two glasses, which is when I reveal itll be me alone drinking and begin to feel pointlessly guilty about it. I always sense their disapproval, but really its only me projecting my own disapproval of myself on to someone else. After all, why should they care?

Lofty ambitions for our empty stores

Visiting a spacious warehouse conversion the other day, it dawned on me that the idea of turning defunct department stores into residential properties is brilliant. Most of the available old warehouses have already been repurposed, so the huge empty stores would be a modern-day replacement.

The early loft conversions were best, with their big open-plan rooms, high ceilings, wooden floors and original windows. Later ones have been mucked up by carving up the space into too many rooms and lowering the ceiling.

Hopefully if developers get their hands on these retail spaces, they wont make the mistake. Although they might have a struggle with natural light, as department stores are so vast that windows are in short supply. Even so, a large apartment in an old John Lewis in the centre of town? Bring it on.

Meredith deserved her glossy send-off

The joint memorial service for magazine journalist Meredith Etherington-Smith and her husband Jeremy Pilcher was a clan gathering of the glossy magazine world from the 1980s on. There were wonderful tributes and a splendid turnout, including many people I hadnt seen in decades. There were also a number of people I knew that I knew, but simply couldnt remember who they were. It reminded me of someone who approached me recently with the question: Didnt you use to be someone?

With friends like Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew declares he is not a close friend of Ghislaine Maxwell despite being photographed in her company on numerous occasions and hosting her at Sandringham. Maybe he thinks their relationship fell into the just a friend category. Or perhaps he regards her as an acquaintance. Whatever the case, hes certainly trying to put distance between them now. When is a friend not a friend? Its a question we might all ask from time to time.
Tory Party fundraisers are desperately telling donors, disgruntled over endless scandals, that they should give money for the party  not Boris.

The drip drip of Partygate and the bungled way Downing Street has handled it has already caused a number of donors to turn off the tap.

But now several chequebooks tell me that the message has shifted to try to keep the money flowing as Boris is increasingly being seen as a liability.

One donor said: We are being told the Conservative Party will always be there, that leaders change. They are trying to move the focus away from Boris.

Tory Party fundraisers are desperately telling donors, disgruntled over endless scandals, that they should give money for the party  not Boris

This appears to be the first time the bombastic blond is no longer the big-ticket attraction.

A Zoom call with Tory donors last week held by Downing Street pollster Isaac Levido and the partys CEO Darren Mott failed to reassure. Some donors were perplexed by the pep talk and one source said Levido appeared out of his depth.

Talk that the Conservative machine is struggling to recruit campaign managers for London ahead of the May elections  which CCHQ denies  hasnt helped matters. Another Tory donor, who has significantly cut back donations over the Downing Street scandals, summed it up as follows: The biggest problem of the Conservative Party has always been its us and them image.

Wed just started to cut through in the past few years. We had finally started to show people we werent the problem, we werent the enemy, and we would stand up for the people. And this whole saga has completely undone any progress we have made. It has done huge damage.

Sometimes you just cant have your cake and eat it.

Mixed messages, MLord?

The plot thickens over Lord Bethells lost personal mobile phone. Readers will recall that despite initial denials from No 10, the former Health Minister had conducted Government business by WhatsApp.

When legally challenged to disclose messages connected with 90 million in Covid contracts, Bethell has since August come up with shifting excuses for why he couldnt oblige: the phone was missing, then it was broken, then he remembered giving it to a family member. Finally, he said in a witness statement last October that he often cleared messages to free up space.

Now records of his ministerial meetings show a September 14 sit-down with Facebook listed as a meeting to discuss WhatsApp message retention. Was he asking for tips from WhatsApps owner?

The Department of Health refuses to say what was discussed or why the meeting took place at all, since it was not within Bethells brief.

COP26 President Alok Sharma was so busy meeting multi-nationals and multilateral lenders in the run-up to last years climate change summit that he had time for only one individual meeting between July and October, according to new documents released by the Cabinet Office. And who was the lucky person bending Sharmas ear? Why, Stanley Johnson, the PMs papa, of course, who, no sooner had the Glasgow shindig ended, got on a plane to eco-friendly Dubai.

Talking of excuses, the best of the week goes to Ian Liddell-Grainger. The Tory MP has been found guilty of failing to register a 10,000 freebie to a nuclear plant in China, paid for by the Chinese state.

Liddell-Grainger, who has Hinkley Point C in his Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency, then moved a parliamentary debate on the local power plant, referencing Chinese investment in it, but omitted to mention his jolly earlier that month.

Failing to flag an interest when starting a debate is another breach of the rules. Liddell-Grainger says he got carried away making his speech as my enthusiasm to get stuck into the text of my speech in a debate can get the better of me.

Extraordinary  but the Standards Commissioner bought it and gave the MP a slap on the wrist.
All dictators need an enemy to distract from domestic woes, to justify their aggression and demonstrate strength. And so, it is with Vladimir Putin. Diplomatic talks with the Kremlin have collapsed. Exceptional Russian firepower now surrounds Ukraine on three sides.

Meanwhile, Putin condemns Nato as the aggressor after refusing an ultimatum that he always knew would be impossible to accept.

For weeks, I have predicted Russia will invade Ukraine. Conflict now seems overwhelmingly likely. The consequences will be serious, of course, from the loss of innocent life, to collapsing world stock markets and rocketing energy costs. The West will look divided and impotent. But the wider significance is more troubling, still.

For Putin has been emboldened not merely by vanity, expediency and overwhelming military strength, but also through the tacit support of his far-Eastern neighbour, China.

Tobias Ellwood has predicted that Russia will invade Ukraine for weeks

After decades of animosity Russia and China have patched up their differences, keen to exploit their mutual dislike of the West. Economically, technologically and militarily, the two countries are rapidly increasing their co-operation.

Together, following the Iraq War, they created the Shanghai Pact  an eight-member trade alliance covering three-fifths of the Eurasian continent, 40 per cent of the world population and more than 20 per cent of global GDP.

Deals are struck without consideration of such awkward things as human rights issues. Russia provides oil, gas and military hardware. China, in return, provides advanced technology.

Joint war games now regularly take place. Plans are in place for joint development of helicopters, missile warning systems, satellites and even a joint research station on the moon. Why, then, has Putin so far failed to launch his forces into Ukraine? Although it's been denied by Chinese state officials, President Xi has quietly instructed Putin to hold fire until the Beijing Winter Olympics are over.

Today, we are seeing the birth of a potent anti-democratic alliance. It is on track to see the world shear into two spheres of competing influence. And we have let it happen.

Distracted by the pandemic, not to mention competing domestic agendas, America and its European allies have lost all focus, all sense of what they hope to achieve. Meanwhile, Putin the dictator sits in the Kremlin like a James Bond villain stroking his cat, enjoying the spectacle of us dancing to his tune.

He can see how timid and disunited the West has become after last summer's disastrous scuttle from Kabul. He is almost daring us to hit him with sanctions to drive him further into the arms of Beijing.

Let us be frank, our response to Putin's adventurism has been far from impressive. On learning that 100,000 combat troops were massing on the borders of Ukraine, Nato's response was simply to say it had no role to play. Ukraine was not an alliance member.

And so, we handed the strategic advantage to our foe. We have ruled out the use of force. We are in a straitjacket of our own making.

Let us be frank, our response to Putin's adventurism has been far from impressive

Europeans cannot even agree among themselves. Would the rattling sabre of sanctions dissuade an attack? Not if Germany and some other European partners continue to wring their hands, saying they have too much to lose. There's no point suspending Russia from the international finance system unless everyone supports the ban. It might seem logical  and lucrative  for Russia to look west.

But Putin, a former KGB spy who blames Europe and America for the demise of Soviet Union, is not the type of leader to do that. He wants to rekindle a form of superpower status for Russia and, at the age 70, is thinking of his legacy. Reviving a Slavic sphere of influence  recreating a Russian Empire, but this time based on ethnic identity not communist ideology  is, for Putin, the only game in town.

We are facing what the distinguished American political scientist Professor Samuel Huntingdon has called the 'clash of civilisations'. Now that the Cold War is over, the world has reverted to what is  in historical terms  a more normal state of affairs, one characterised by cultural conflict.

Today, non-western civilisations such as Russia and China are starting to shake up the old world order. They have rejected western democracy and are determined to overthrow it. Yet we are neither looking at that bigger picture, nor learning.

We are facing what the distinguished American political scientist Professor Samuel Huntingdon has called the 'clash of civilisations'

Turning a blind eye to a dictator with a mission is always going to end in disaster. As Chinese strategist Sun Tzu said in The Art of War: 'If you know neither yourself or your enemy, you will then lose every battle.'

We do not 'know' ourselves because we have no clear objective beyond avoiding immediate danger to ourselves. We do not know our enemy because we assume that Putin thinks like us. He does not.

Burying our head in the sand means we pay little attention to Putin's actions around the globe  the mercenaries stirring up foreign conflict, the cyber-attacks, the money laundering and now the new relationship with China.

The threats facing us are growing in number. The dangers are more complex and dynamic. Yet it seems the West has lost its unifying mission: to retain and strengthen global security and democracy. To lead.

A new Cold War is developing with two irreconcilable antagonists, a democratic West and the forces of dictatorship. The Munich Crisis paved the way to the Second World War. Is Ukraine the canary in the coal mine of our own times?

Thanks to the efforts of Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, the penny is now dropping. The dire economic and security consequences of an invasion will sweep across Europe, including the UK. Oil and gas disruption would affect the international energy supply and prices.

Thanks to the efforts of Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, the penny is now dropping

Ukraine also accounts for about 16 per cent of global grain exports. It is the sixth largest producer of corn, the seventh largest producer of wheat and the world's largest grower of sunflowers. It is among the top ten producers for sugar beet, barley, soya and rapeseed. Global food security will be threatened. The price of bread and other staple foods might double. Or disappear from our shelves.

We are standing at the precipice of a new era in global uncertainty. If we blink now, the events of 2022 will determine how the next decade plays out. Nato needs a plan for Ukraine and a strategy for Russia.

This is our Cuban missile crisis. It is time to show strength, purpose and resolve. Britain should lead the call to move a Nato division into Ukraine, with enhanced forward presence in neighbouring countries, to make Putin think twice.

And before anybody denounces me as a war-monger, this is the very essence of the deterrence that kept the post-war peace. It made the world safe for democracy.
Dame Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has a magical ability to make a bad situation even worse.

The point was proved yet again last week with an utterly inept response to the so-called Partygate inquiry at Downing Street.

First the Met declined to investigate claims that the people making the Covid laws had broken them in flagrant terms.

Then, at the last moment, Dame Cressida announced a change of heart, claiming there may be evidence of law breaking, after all  even though she hadn't started collecting it.

She has muzzled Sue Gray's report for Parliament, saying it must only make 'minimal' reference to the parties Ms Gray is supposed to be investigating.

Dame Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has a magical ability to make a bad situation even worse, writes Nazir Afzal

What rubbish. A purely factual report by Sue Gray cannot possibly prejudice a police investigation. What should have been a relatively straightforward thing  an independent report for Parliament, and a police inquiry that followed the evidence  has been complicated and confused.

Here was an opportunity for the police to finally get things right and make it clear they are investigating properly. To say that chance has been missed is an understatement.

People are aghast, and rightly so. They feel as though clear answers have been taken away from them, that the wool has been pulled over their eyes.

And, as a consequence, the public's trust in policing has been set back more than I can measure.

Dame Cressida's watch has been a catalogue of blunders.

Take the enormous insensitivity in the way women were treated at the vigil after the murder of Sarah Everard last March.

A purely factual report by Sue Gray cannot possibly prejudice a police investigation

They were simply protesting that Sarah had been murdered by a police officer  an officer who faced allegations of previous sexual impropriety.

No wonder some women began to ask how they could trust the police.

Then came the report into the 1987 murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan.

It criticised Dame Cressida personally for delaying the public inquiry because she did not disclose crucial documents.

The Met Police was subject to worldwide condemnation for its woeful policing at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in July. A report by Baroness Casey found spectators had been exposed to significant risk of injury or death.

Meanwhile, we have suffered a plague of knife crime, record murder rates and an all-time low in the prosecution of rape charges.

How many more failings will emerge on Dame Cressida's watch? Just what will her legacy be?

The Met Police was subject to worldwide condemnation for its woeful policing at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in July

I spoke to several police officers about the Partygate inquiry last week, and they told me they just can't understand what's going on. They feel personally affected. There is a growing perception that we are being policed badly  particularly in London  and this is dangerous.

One of the officers I spoke to had been off-duty with his family in a coffee shop when he overheard a conversation at the next table.

'You just can't trust the police,' said the speaker. 'You don't know what they're up to, they're clearly in the pocket of the Government.'

I have spent three decades trying to restore confidence in policing after allegations of corruption involving several high-profile miscarriages of justice and in the aftermath of Stephen Lawrence's murder.

Now Dame Cressida is undoing all that painstaking work.

There are a lot of angry people in this country right now, and their anger is palpable.

They are angry because they don't know what is going on, and what is being said and done, behind closed doors. All the Met has done is feed that anger.

It's certainly doing Boris Johnson no favours.

All the Met has done is feed that anger. It's certainly doing Boris Johnson no favours

This is only the second time in the history of our parliamentary democracy that the police have started investigating our political leaders  and our Prime Minister. The first came with the Cash for Honours inquiry with Tony Blair in Downing Street 15 years ago.

It is almost unprecedented, and therefore requires a confidence-building response. Cressida Dick has given us the exact opposite.

The Sue Gray report must be published in full, without redaction.

The Prime Minister must make a statement to Parliament based on that report. And the police must do their job, which is to follow the evidence and see if there's any criminal activity that requires prosecution. It's as simple as that.

I have already called for Cressida Dick to resign  twice. Once after Sarah Everard's murder and then last September when, bizarrely, the Home Secretary extended her contract to April 2024.

Now I'll make it a third time and say she should go now, or risk damaging the public's trust in the police beyond repair. Her lack of self-awareness is mind-blowing.
At a time when we face a cost of living crisis, steeply rising taxes and even a war on European soil, the country has been convulsed by scandal.

Politicians and their advisers are said to have behaved as though all the privations suffered through the years of pandemic were just for the little people.

Parties, suitcases of wine and birthday cake have brought a bitter aftertaste of anger and recrimination. Public confidence in leaders, and even in our governing institutions, has been brought to a new low.

It has often been said that, in the face of hidden wrongdoing in high places, daylight is the best disinfectant. Not everything can be revealed all the time, and some things are rightly concealed from the public gaze: secrets that keep us safe.

Politicians and their advisers are said to have behaved as though all the privations suffered through the years of pandemic were just for the little people

But, in general, transparency in power is an essential ingredient in holding our leaders to account. And where malpractice, deceit and betrayal are concerned, transparency matters above all else. Put bluntly, the public deserve to know the truth and our institutions must serve it up.

In this, we are now failing.

Sue Gray was supposed to be part of the solution. She is, by all accounts, a formidably upright character. Her appointment to lead the inquiry into Partygate was welcomed. It seems she has worked assiduously and without favour, reacting with anger to No 10s recent clumsy attempts to spin her findings in advance.

There is every reason to believe her report will be forthright and that it will tell the truth. But now we wont know for sure.

Though a watered-down version may be released as early as today, the full report may not be published for months as the Metropolitan Police conduct their own Partygate investigation.

This will only prolong the awful paralysis these events have brought to national affairs. The Prime Minister will sigh with relief and public anger will simmer. How is any of this in the national interest?

The police tell us that it must be this way, because to publish Sue Grays findings without redactions might prejudice their inquiries.

Parties, suitcases of wine and birthday cake have brought a bitter aftertaste of anger and recrimination. Public confidence in leaders, and even in our governing institutions, has been brought to a new low

But what exactly are these inquiries  and how might they be prejudiced? Are they elaborate or complex? Well, hardly. They will apparently consist of officers emailing alleged partygoers (no doubt identified for them by Sue Gray) to ask for their written explanations to be returned, again by email, to the police.

Once theyve read these replies, officers will decide whether or not to issue their correspondents with fixed penalty notices.

So there we have it: no interviews under caution, no taking of witness statements, no intelligence-gathering: just basic administrative procedures conducted by email and leading, at worst, to the equivalent of a parking ticket.

None of this is drawn from an episode of Line of Duty. And yet it is apparently to protect this rather feeble exchange of emails from prejudice that the police tell us Grays full report must remain concealed from the public. This is farcical.

Against the minimal prospect that this elementary investigation could somehow be damaged by the release of Grays report, we have an overwhelming public interest in speedy publication.

This is so that the public might begin to approach the truth, the boil might be lanced and some semblance of confidence in our governing structures rebuilt.

It is the worst possible outcome that the spotlight should now be switched off by the police, and that this matter should fester for months while they busy themselves composing emails  as Mr Putin eyes up Ukraine.

Perhaps the most depressing aspect to this affair is the way that police officers, rather than doing the publics business, have made themselves part of the long cast of villains viewed with despair by people all over the country.

As retired Supreme Court judge Jonathan Sumption pointed out, the Met has no constitutional right at all to order Gray not to publish.

No doubt that is why, in the absence of any power to direct her, they resorted to bullying instead, making their demand public without warning her first.

As they doubtless intended, this put her in an impossible position: a senior civil servant could hardly decline the police request, no matter how ill-judged it must have seemed. She was forced to accede to the Mets foolish and disproportionate stance and the public are the losers.

And so, instead of nearing resolution this week, we are stuck. With the public mood so febrile, and despite some temporary political relief, this is not good for a Prime Minister who remains under beady suspicion, and it is not good for the country.

We are left indignantly spinning in limbo  and all because the Metropolitan Police lost their sense of proportion.

Ken Macdonald QC is a crossbench peer and a former director of public prosecutions.
Nadine Akkerman, based in the The Netherlands, who recently published her book Elizabeth Stuart: Queen of Hearts, has brought to light the portrait, which depicts Elizabeth wearing the Tudor crown

He was unpopular with the British public, eventually being convicted of treason and executed - yet not everyone in King Charles I's family was so heavily frowned upon, with his sister Elizabeth Stuart proving to be endlessly beloved by her supporters.

One fan even created a treasonous portrait that displayed the so-called Queen of Hearts as the monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland, according to author Nadine Akkerman, based in the The Netherlands, who said the painting could've resulted in the owners execution.

Nadine, who recently published her book Elizabeth Stuart: Queen of Hearts, has brought to light the portrait, which depicts Elizabeth - daughter of King James VI and I - wearing an ermine robe and the Tudor crown.

This simple drawing - now part of a private collection in Scotland and first painted by M. Mierevelt before it was reportedly modified during the 17th century when Elizabeth's brother reigned - could've proved to be highly treasonous, if it had been shown to the general public.

The Treason Act of the 1530s meant treason included the mere imagining of the kings death, or of him being harmed, or of depriving him of his title, according to History Extra.

Several believed Charles I's older sister would've made a better monarch apparently thanks to her fearlessness - she was said to be skilled with a bow and even hunted boars from horseback when pregnant.

Her connection to Elizabeth I, her godmother, also played a part in her popularity, as many supporters saw her as the late queen's natural heir or even reincarnation, according to the author.

The royal - who was also the granddaughter of May, Queen of Scots - played into this connection by often sporting Elizabeth I's jewellery.

This simple drawing (pictured) - now part of a private collection in Scotland and first painted by M. Mierevelt before it was reportedly modified during the 17th century when Elizabeth's brother reigned - could've proved to be highly treasonous, if it had been shown to the general public

Several believed Charles I's older sister (pictured) made a better monarch apparently thanks to her fearlessness - she was said to be skilled with a bow and even hunted boars from horseback when pregnant

Commenting on the portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Nadine told the publication: 'I only got an idea of how potentially explosive this portrait may have been when my research revealed that Elizabeth had been seen as a serious contender for Englands throne.

'To commission or own a painting of the Stuart princess wearing this crown would be to risk an accusation of treason.'

Born on 19 August 1596 at Falkland Palace, Fifeshire, Scotland, to King James VI and I and his wife Anne of Denmark, Elizabeth was the older sister of Charles I.

She was first seriously considered as a potential contender to the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland after her elder brother Henry died of typhoid in 1612. Her younger brother Charles was still 'fragile and sickly'.

Elizabeth repeatedly advocated war over diplomacy, urging officials even to 'pray tell the king [her father] that the enemies will more regard his blows than his words.'

When in the British royal court, she was highly sought after, with her beauty and charm attracting plenty of attention and leading to her becoming a favourite subject of the poets at the time.

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Philip III of Spain, and Frederick V, the Elector Palatine, all wished to marry the royal.

And while her mother favoured the Spanish match, her father insisted on a wedding between his daughter and Frederick, in the hopes that it would strengthen his ties with the German Protestant rulers.

The royal's (pictured) connection to Elizabeth I, her godmother, also played a part in her popularity, as many supporters saw her as the late queen's natural heir or even reincarnation, according to the author

Following the wedding in February 1613, the couple left for Heidelberg, and their first child, Frederick Henry, was born a year later in January.

Their most well-known son, Prince Rupert, was born in December 1619, while their daughters Princess Sophia of the Palatinates son Georges became king of Great Britain in 1714.

Her marriage to Frederick V, Elector Palatine, one of the most powerful princes of the Holy Roman Empire, made them European Protestantism new power couple.

In 1619 Bohemians offered the crown of Bohemia - a historical country of central Europe that was a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire and subsequently a province in the Habsburgs Austrian Empire - to Frederick.

This was in defiance of their Habsburg king Ferdinand, and Frederick was made King Frederick I in November 1619, while Elizabeth was crowned Queen.

Yet in November 1620, the Bohemian forces were defeated by the Catholic League acting for Ferdinand (then Holy Roman emperor).

The royal (pictured) - who was also the granddaughter of May, Queen of Scots - played into this connection by often sporting Elizabeth I's jewellery

Elizabeth and Frederick fled, were stripped of their German lands and titles, and exiled to the Dutch Republic.

But this didn't stop English and Scots alike believing Elizabeth would one day return as their queen.

Meanwhile, when her brother's kingdoms later become embroiled in civil war, Elizabeth's court The Hague would reportedly home hundreds of royalist refugees.

Nadine suggests that the popularity of Elizabeth never fading was seemingly reason enough for even her nephew Charles II to not invite her to his coronation in 1661.

Despite the public's wishes, Elizabeth spent the next 40 years in exile, while her husband died in 1632.

Nadine Akkerman's Elizabeth Stuart: Queen of Hearts is available now
The Duchess of Cornwall is wearing a beautiful mint-green Anna Valentine suit. But she doesnt mind a bit that a horse has currently deposited a little dribble on it while Camilla gently strokes the animals face in this world-class centre for veterinary care.

You poor thing, youre in good hands now, she whispers to the quivering animal with terrible open sores on its nose, who was also being treated for a broken leg after being hit by a car in the bustling streets of the Egyptian capital.

Camillas love for horses runs deep.

Fifteen years ago, as a blissfully happy newlywed, she made headline news when she made an inaugural visit to The Brooke Animal Hospital in Cairo, where I joined her again at the end of last year.

It was a time in which Camilla was taking on many royal duties for the first time: wearing tiaras, attending state banquets and opening hospitals.

After visiting The Brooke Animal Hospital in Cairo in November, the Duchess of Cornwall is now lending her voice to their cause (pictured)

Camilla made headline news when she made an inaugural visit to The Brooke Animal Hospital in Cairo fifteen years ago (pictured in 2006)

This wasnt lost on her husband, the Prince of Wales, who accompanied her and I heard remark to her as she fed one of the centres horses: Darling, your first carrot!

Joking aside, the Royal Familys then-newest addition was deeply moved by what she saw. And she quickly agreed to become the equine charitys first President, hence our return to the centre in November (where the same animal that was so affectionate with her tried the same trick with me).

Ever since her first visit, Camilla has quietly banged the drum for the charity wherever she is in the world - from Patika, a mountainous village in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, where I accompanied her to one of its impressive mobile clinics, to Petra in Jordan.

Now, having renewed her presidency of the organisation, she wants to shout about it just that little bit louder.

Like most charities across the world, Brooke - which treats about 160,000 working horses, donkeys and mules each year in Egypt alone - has been pushed to breaking point by the pandemic.

The poverty-stricken owners of these animals, many of whom work in the now-decimated tourist industry, have been hit even harder.

Like most charities across the world, Brooke - which treats about 160,000 working horses, donkeys and mules each year in Egypt alone - has been pushed to breaking point by the pandemic (pictured, the animals at work in front of the pyramids)

Working equines carry out everything from transporting passengers and carts to carrying punishingly heavy loads of building materials including bricks, metals and cement (pictured)

And if they suffer, then so do their animals. Tenfold.

Which is why, after she visited the hospital again during her and Charless successful tour of the Middle East last year, the duchess asked to speak to me about their work.

Im a lot older now, well into my 70s, says Camilla as we fly back to the UK. But to quote Richard Ingram [editor of The Oldie magazine], I like to think weve still got a snap our celery. Its such a good expression!

The Duchess explains how she remembered our previous trip and why she felt compelled to revisit it.

I suddenly thought, gosh 15 years ago. it would be lovely to do another article especially now they need our help more than ever.

I remind her of our 2006 carrot story.

She laughs uproariously: Oh yes, I remember!

Turning to an aide, she adds: It was 15 years ago and Rebecca and I came across each other for the first time. In the middle of the desert. Boiling hot!

Its a moment she has reminded me of before - several times - once after learning that I had undergone treatment for skin cancer.

I remember seeing this young woman running up a hill, in these very high heels, no hat - NO HAT! - and beetroot-red in the face. And thinking: Who on earth is that?!

The organisation was founded by Dorothy Brooke who, when she travelled to Cairo with her husband in 1930, was so horrified to find Britains loyal former war horses working in appalling conditions on the streets that she decided to make it her lifes work to help them (pictured)

The Old War Horse Memorial Hospital in Cairo developed its work, installing shelter and water troughs for the many working animals in the city (pictured, one of the first war horses rescued by Brooke in 1931)

Today, of course, Camilla, 74, and Charles, 73, are still travelling the world on behalf of the government - and dedicating themselves to the charitable causes that mean so much to them.

When the duchess discovered that she and the prince were going back to Egypt, another visit to the hospital in Cairo was at the top of her wish list.

It was founded by Dorothy Brooke - the wife of a Major General in the British Army  who, when she travelled there with her husband in 1930, was so horrified to find Britains loyal former war horses working in appalling conditions on the streets that she decided to make it her lifes work to help them.

She wrote at the time of the poor beasts dragging out wretched days of toil in the ownership of masters too poor to feed them - too inured to hardship themselves to appreciate, in the faintest degree, the sufferings of animals in their hands.

How many years since their they have seen a field, heard a stream of water, or a kind word in English? she said of the animals, many of whom were near-blind and skeletal.

While some well-wishers suggested raising funds for a memorial to their efforts in the UK, the redoubtable Mrs Brooke said a more fitting tribute would be to buy the animals back, restore those they could to health and bring a merciful end for the rest.

By 1934 she had managed to raise enough donations to build a refuge to save 5,000 of those horses - born and bred in the green fields of England - from suffering and to end their lives in peace.

By 1934 she had managed to raise enough donations to build a refuge to save 5,000 of those horses - born and bred in the green fields of England - from suffering and to end their lives in peace

The Old War Horse Memorial Hospital in Cairo soon developed its work, installing shelter and water troughs for the many working animals in the city, and even buying its first motorised ambulance.

Today, more than 80 years later, the charity still operates from the same site, although it has been renamed Brooke in her honour, and now boasts four hospitals and 28 mobile vet units in Egypt.

Its work has also spread throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, providing free care for sick or injured working animals whose owners who cannot afford to treat them.

Working equines carry out everything from transporting passengers and carts to carrying punishingly heavy loads of building materials including bricks, metals and cement, as well as working in the fields.

Many have appalling sores and injures from their harnesses, or have been hit by cars. Others need urgent attention from a skilled farrier or vet.

But, crucially, Brooke also teaches owners to care for their animals better with free welfare education programmes.

By protecting and improving the lives of these beautiful creatures, the charity firmly believes it can help people in the developing world to work their way out of poverty.

But Covid has had a catastrophic effect.

During the pandemic, the charity was forced to run a feeding programme for 1,700 horses working at tourist sites across Egypt, as their owners income all but vanished due to the sudden drop in tourism.

The charity's work has spread throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, providing free care for sick or injured working animals whose owners who cannot afford to treat them (pictured left, one horse in India, and right, an animal being loaded with bags)

Many of the working animals have appalling sores and injures from their harnesses, or have been hit by cars, while others need urgent attention from a skilled farrier or vet (pictured, drinking at a centre in Pakistan)

Brooke is clear that it needs more funds urgently.

I cant emphasise it enough,  says Camilla. They really do need our help. And I need you to write about it. Hopefully it will strike a chord. Everyone in the UK loves animals, after all.

Indeed, the Duchess herself was a pony-mad schoolgirl, never happier than when cantering off with her sister and brother into the Sussex countryside.

It was an idyllic childhood and she often used to ride to Dumbrells - her primary school near the family home in Plumpton - where she would tie her pony up outside, instead of a bicycle.

One of her favourite memories concerns her naughty pony, Jack Sprat, whom she had entered into the Ditchling Horse Shows fancy dress competition.

The guest of honour was forces sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn, who lived in the village, but unfortunately Jack didnt cover himself in glory.

We went to the gymkhana, I think it was fancy dress. Anyway, I won a rosette, Camilla once told me.

But I had an extremely naughty pony. And when she [Dame Vera] came on, she had one of those huge circular skirts on that were the fashion then. And my pony just grabbed it and ripped it, literally ripped it. It was so awful.

Mother was standing there, we were both helpless with laughter and it just wouldnt let go. He literally ripped it down to her underclothes. 

The Duchess reminded the Dame about it on meeting her years later.

Dame Vera took it remarkably well, she chuckled.

By protecting and improving the lives of these beautiful creatures, the charity firmly believes it can help people in the developing world to work their way out of poverty

During the pandemic, the charity was forced to run a feeding programme for 1,700 horses working at tourist sites across Egypt, because their owners income all but vanished due to the sudden drop in tourism

Royal editor Rebecca was charmed by the animals during a visit with the Duchess to the sanctuary in November last year

The duchess says although she first became patron of The Brooke in 2006 at Charless suggestion, she had already been introduced to its work by her beloved late father, Bruce Shand.

Somebody suggested it to the prince (ever loyal, Camilla always refers to her husband in a formal manner, out of respect), would he like to take it on, and he said no, I think it would be much more appropriate for my wife to take this, because I have got masses of things and I know she loves horses.

[But] actually I heard about it through my father who was in Cairo at the beginning of the war. He was a soldier, captured at Alamein. He actually met Dorothy Brooke, who had decided she wanted to help the horses that were left over there after the First World War.

They couldnt bring them home as it was too expensive, as you can imagine, to ship hundreds of horses back to England. So she thought heavens, we are in a country, where they are probably not great animal-lovers, so what are we going to do about these horses? Thats how she started Brooke.

The Duchess has been a vocal supporter of the organisation of which she is president, and is pictured at the Brooke Carol Concert and reception at the Guards Chapel in London in 2018

The duchess explains: Its about education as much as welfare. This is their livelihood, they have got to look after their animals in order to feed their families.

So they need to learn how to look after their feet - how to file them - and how to care for their animals.

You saw those awful sores on their noses, didnt you, Rebecca?

Yes, I was in tears, I say.

I knew you would be, she replies, So was I. Thats why the charity is trying to get their owners to use these soft head collars they provide.

The trouble is that they think the only way to control them is to put these horses in iron and give them a good yank. They dont understand if they put them in something softer, the animal is going to respond at least as well, if not better.

They are entirely reliant on donations, she explains.

Today, the charity still operates, although it has been renamed Brooke in her honour, and now boasts four hospitals and 28 mobile vet units in Egypt (pictured, Camilla in November 2021)

The Duchess explained that the organisation relies entirely on donations to stay afloat (pictured in 2021 during a visit)

I get a huge amount of letters about Brooke and the work it does, there are so many people in the UK who love animals and respond well to it and they survive on that generosity.

We all love a donkey, dont we?

And there is so much more that they can do.

What really shocked me was when the director said that they had only reached 12 per cent of the population in Egypt so far. The conditions out there are terrible in some places.

I dont know how else I cant put this. I just desperately want to appeal to people - your readers - to help.

Chris Wainwright, our Chief Executive of the Booke, lends his voice to Camillas plea, adding: We are immensely proud to have the passionate support of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. She really understands our cause and our work, and of course the difficulty weve faced over the last couple of years due to the pandemic.

Her visit to Brookes birthplace took place just as we started looking forward into 2022, and this year her support will invaluable as we be launch an ambitious new strategy to reach even more working horses, donkeys and mules around the world.

To learn more about their work or to donate see thebrooke.org
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Guests online have been raving about their stay at The Grove, located on the fringe of a working potato, cattle, and citrus farm.

The Grove tiny house at Ryan's Rest in Quinninup, which is a three hour and 40 minutes south of Perth, has sweeping countryside views and a luxurious outdoor woodfire bathtub and is booked out for the rest of the year

The popular farm-stay is the perfect place to relax and unwind where you can take in the stunning scenery of the surrounding countryside, lemon orchard and forest or soak under the stars in the outdoor bathtub which is heated by a wood fire below

Guests online have been raving about their stay at The Grove, located in the fringe of a working potato, cattle, and citrus farm, which has an chic stylish fit out and outdoor fire pit

The popular farm-stay is the perfect place to relax and unwind where you can take in the stunning scenery of the surrounding countryside, lemon orchard and forest or soak under the stars in the outdoor bathtub which is heated by a wood fire below.

Inside, there is an upstairs loft sleeping nook with a queen-sized bed with luxe French linen, a wide window at the foot and a opening skylight as well as a modern bathroom with high-quality fittings, composting toilet and rain water shower.

The stylish kitchen is compact but has everything you need to whip up any meal with high-end appliances and ample storage space and has a window splash back so you don't miss the view while you're cooking.

Inside, there is an upstairs loft sleeping nook with a queen-sized bed with luxe French linen and a opening skylight and a window at the foot

The stylish kitchen is compact but has everything you need to whip up any meal with high-end appliances and ample storage space and has a window splash back so you don't miss the view while you're cooking

The modern bathroom with high-quality fittings, composting toilet and rain water shower and there is plenty of space to lounge or curl up with a book in the cosy, tiny home with a comfy sofa that can convert into a second queen-sized bed

There is also plenty of space to lounge or curl up with a book in the cosy, tiny home with a comfy sofa that can convert into a second queen-sized bed.

Outside, with the incredible bathtub, is a firepit to keep warm on cool nights and a series of games including bocce ball, cornhole and finska.

The spacious patio overlooking the lemon orchards has a barbecue, dining area and space to lounge on the beanbags.

The spacious patio overlooking the lemon orchards has a barbecue, dining area and space to lounge on the beanbags

Outside, with the incredible bathtub, is a firepit to keep warm on cool nights and a series of games including bocce ball, cornhole and finska

Since opening, guests have been leaving five-star reviews online with some calling their stay a 'magical experience'

The Grove has only been available to rent on Airbnb since December last year and when host, Jo, opened bookings for the next 12 months, they were snapped up within just a few days.

Since opening, guests have been leaving five-star reviews online with some calling their stay a 'magical experience'.

'Excellent and well equipped tiny house! Highly recommended for those looking to recharge and relax. Needless to say the outdoor bathtub was a huge bonus to our retreat,' one visitor wrote.

The Grove has only been available to rent on Airbnb since December last year and when host, Jo, opened bookings for the next 12 months, they were snapped up within just a few days

The Grove at Ryan's Rest is available for rent for a three-night minimum stay at $250 a night

'This is such an experience! It was so beautiful to wake up to natural sunlight from the skylight and window on the second floor. Having the fireplace and the outdoor bath has also been amazing! We also truly appreciate how eco friendly the place is! The place is clean and aesthetically pleasing,' said a second.

The Grove is host Jo's second tiny house since opening her first equally popular, Lakeside, near the town f Pemberton which is booked out until 2024.

It is available for rent for a three-night minimum stay at $250 a night.

View the listing on Airbnb here.
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.

Finding a pair of comfortable shoes that are stylish as well as supportive can be a difficult task.

But some of the world's best dressed celebrities have a go-to brand for functional footwear in the form of M.Gemi, which uses luxurious leather and top quality design processes to make shoes that you can run errands in like an A-lister.

Pulling off white after Labor Day: Eiza Gonzalez, 30, stepped out on to the streets of New York with her boyfriend, Premier League Lacrosse star Paul Rabil, 35, in an all-white outfit

The wide block-heel thong sandal that actress Eliza Gonzalez wore for a New York stroll with boyfriend Paul Rabil are the M.Gemi Electra heels and they're now $148, down from $328.

The M.Gemi Electra thong sandals worn by Eliza Gonzalez are now less than half price in the M. Gemi sale

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Yummy: Gal Gadot and her husband Jaron Varsano took turns swapping a vanilla ice cream cone as they strolled the city after eating

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Elevate your style with the new M. Gemi Elsa loafers, which are similar to ones worn by Wonderwoman actress Gal Gadot

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From Toscana to Naples and Pisa, all of M.Gemi's shoes and bags are made exclusively throughout Italy, using high-quality leathers and unparalleled craftsmanship thats passed down from one generation to the next.

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The M.Gemi Alpi Due boot features shearling fleece to keep your feet and ankles warm in winter without compromising on style

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Christmas was approaching, and Dylan Tobin and his partner Isabell Gillmore were looking forward to treating their two young kids on the big day, while also discussing plans for buying a family home.

For the 26-year-old Gold Coast youth worker, this was the prime of life, with a good future ahead as a young family.

He had been suffering from some recurring headaches over the previous couple of months, but doctors had put that down to tension.

Still, the youth worker felt something 'wasn't quite right' and became worried after Googling his symptoms.

The headaches became more intense and frequent, but doctors hesitated performing scans due to the radiation impact, and because there was no family history of the tumours that he feared.

Scroll down for video

At just 26, Dylan Tobin, from Queensland, Australia, (pictured) has been given just 12 to 18 months to live after doctors found a 'rare' tumour growing in his brain

At the end of November while loading his boat before heading onto the water, Dylan experienced an awful head spin and fell off the boat, breaking his heel.

Despite the fall, doctors still put his symptoms down to 'tension pressure', but at times he also experienced vomiting and then one day it became immediately obvious these were no normal headaches.

'I woke up one morning in early December and I couldn't move,' Dylan told Daily Mail Australia.

'It was a migraine to the point where I had to wear sunglasses in the dark and couldn't look at my phone.'

'I couldn't open my eyes and went to an optometrist who gave me a referral to go straight to hospital.'

Dylan was looking forward to raising his two kids with partner Isabell Gillmore (pictured, right) and buying their first home. But their world was turned upside down when Dylan was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioma tumour on December 10, 2021

After spending a week in hospital doctors performed an MRI and a biopsy to detect and determine what the issue was.

Dylan, Isabell, and their son Huxley, 4, and Kahlani-Mae, 11 months, were together when they got the news, two weeks from Christmas.

Dylan had a rare glioma cancerous tumour that's 3cm long and 7.5cm wide, and due to its positioning, is inoperable.

Most likely, they were told, he has only 12-18 months to live.

Only 25 per cent of glioma patients survive more than one year and only five per cent survive more than five years.

It's a grim diagnosis, but Dylan is determined to be among that five per cent.

'At first it was really difficult to accept but I've come to terms with it,' he said.

'I wake up every day and say to myself: 'I'm going to make it to my daughter's 18th birthday'.

He is now undergoing radiotherapy and takes a daily chemotherapy tablet, which he will need to take for the rest of his life if the treatment is to successfully prevent the tumour from growing.

Before being diagnosed, Dylan enjoyed playing rugby league, riding dirt bikes and going to the gym but is now unable to play any contact sport or go scuba diving.

Thankfully the tumour isn't a melanoma and can't spread into his bloodstream.

After experiencing severe headaches, doctors found a 7.5cm-wide tumour growing in Dylan's brain (pictured), which was blocking fluid from leaving his brain

Dylan and Isabell were told the devastating diagnosis at the same time while with their children, Huxley, 4, and Kahlani-Mae, 11 months

Shortly after being diagnosed, doctors performed surgery to place a 'shunt' from Dylan's brain, under his skin and through his stomach to remove build-up fluid in the brain (pictured)

Dylan was later told the frequent headaches were occurring because the tumour was blocking fluid from leaving the brain.

Doctors can't remove the life-threatening tumour as its position in the brain is 'too risky' to operate on and could result in permanent damage.

'The tumour is basically on the main control centre on the brain and if they removed it my quality of life would significantly decrease,' he said.

'The tumour is basically on the main control centre on the brain and if they removed it my quality of life would significantly decrease,' he said (pictured: black area of water retention)

Shortly after being diagnosed, doctors performed surgery to place a 'shunt' from Dylan's brain, under his skin and through his stomach to remove build-up fluid in the brain.

The permanent hollow tube woks as a drainage system to prevent the headaches and further health side effects.

The daily dose of radiotherapy will cease on February 7 and Dylan will take a four-week break from chemotherapy while on a family holiday.

'The chemo is ongoing in stints of six months; I take a tablet every day for five days, then have three weeks off it then again for five days taking a higher dose,' he explained.

As the medication dose amount increases every time, Dylan also takes tablets to combat the nausea.

What is a glioma? Glioma is a common type of tumour originating in the brain. About 33 percent of all brain tumours are gliomas, which originate in the glial cells that surround and support neurons in the brain, including astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and ependymal cells Source: hopkinsmedicine.org The average survival time is 12-18 months - only 25% of glioblastoma patients survive more than one year, and only 5% of patients survive more than five years. Source: thebraintumourcharity.org Advertisement

'My main focus is my kids and making sure we have enough to support them,' he said, adding: 'I wake up every day and say to myself: 'I'm going to make it to my daughter's 18th birthday'

Dylan has been out of work for two month and was the sole income provider while his wife was on maternity leave, who has recently started working again.

'My main focus is my kids and making sure we have enough to support them,' he said.

Despite the bleak survival statistics, Dylan is not letting the tumour alter lifestyle and is living life as normal as possible.

'It's possible to live with the tumour and at the hospital the nurses told me of some success stories which gave me hope,' he said.

'The hardest part will be going back to work knowing I likely don't have much time left and want to spend as much time with my kids as I can.'

'It's possible to live with the tumour and at the hospital the nurses told me of some success stories which gave me hope,' he said

After hearing the news, Michael Waterland, a kind friend of Dylan's, started a fundraiser with a goal of $15,000 to help support the family of four, and $10,000 has already been raised

'I won't know if the treatment has worked successfully until after six months of finishing radiotherapy,' he said.

Dylan also has to have scans every three months following.

After hearing the news, Michael Waterland, a kind friend of Dylan's, started a fundraiser with a goal of $15,000 to help support the family of four, and $10,000 has already been raised.

On Saturday February 5, there will be a fundraiser in Coomera on the Gold Coast that's free for all to attend.

Those interested in donating to the Go Fund Me page can click here and others interested in attending the Queensland event can click here.
Tiger: (Born in 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010)

Tigers will have a busy schedule and feel a lot of pressure from every direction, especially from the management level.

'Be wise to your boss,' Edgar says.

Tigers born in 1960 must be well prepared and complete assignments wisely and on time.

For female tigers born in 1986 and 1998 it is important to take care of your love life. Be wise and do not make rushed decisions as this could lead to regret.

In 2022, there is an academic star for the tigers which means there is an opportunity to further their study and to better equip themselves.

Tigers who work in the media, education, publication and training sectors will have a very good year.

Health Issues: Arms, gallbladder, hairs, nerves and lung.

Wealth: Good for Tigers born in 1998.

Monkey: (Born in 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016)

There are a lot of changes ahead for monkeys in 2022.

In 2022 the Earthly Branch (EB) YIN is the 'Travel star' for the monkeys, meaning there will be many travel opportunities.

There will be big changes for monkeys in 2022, this could be a career change, job change, position shuffle, school change, house move or a large travel stint.

The monkey also has a yearly star called 'Da Ho' or 'big spending', so they are advised to use their money wisely by buying something that will be valuable in the future. But it is important to avoid high risk investments.

Beware of contract terms if contracts need to be signed.

Monkeys born in 2004 must drive on the road very carefully after obtaining their driver's license. Clashing with the Tai Sui Yin (Tiger) easily causes traffic accidents for monkeys, especially those born in February.

Male monkeys born in that month who have a dark and broken left eye-brow and females with the same on the right need to be extra careful.

Monkeys born in 1968 also need to pay more attention when driving.

If planning of travelling, avoid going to the east, north-east direction. This is the Grand Duke direction which will increase the level of the clash.

Blood donation is encouraged and is one of the best ways to reduce bad luck and attract good luck in 2022 as you could be saving a life.

If, for some reasons, blood donation does not suit you try to do a blood test or visit a dentist in August 2022.

Health issues: Bladder, large intestine and lung.

Wealth: Spending year, budget well.

Snake: (Born in 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013)

Beware of lawsuits or arguments with your business partners.

Paper work and contract terms need to be examined carefully by a professional every time.

You are also at risk of penalty from authorities this year - especially for speeding or drink driving. Snakes born in the month between August 7 and September 7 are at a greater risk for this. There is a triple penalty in their Bazi chart in the year of Yang Water Tiger. It is always good to be more caring and polite to avoid penalties.

The 'Moon' or the 'TaiYin' star is in the snake's palace this year. If a snake sign has a female boss, their work will be appreciated and it will be easier to get a promotion.

Be nice to your mother, mother-in-law and elderly women in your life, call them more often as it will bring you better luck.

Snakes may find their parents or grandparents have health problems his year and there may be a funeral in the family.

Snakes born in 1977 should scrutinise terms and conditions for new projects or joint ventures.

Health: Face nerves, shoulders, teeth, throat, large intestine and hemorrhoids.

Wealth: Average but good for 1965 and 1989 born snakes.

Pig (Born in 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019)

Same as the snake, the pig is in a penalty relationship with the Tiger or Tai Sui.

For the pig, it is a bit more complicated, since the pig is a penalty as well as bonding with the Tiger.

Pig signs born in the snake month, May 5 to June 6, has a triple penalty.

Therefore, the animal sign pig will be easily punished by their superiors or by the law.

Be very careful with what you say and do in public, especially in May and November, 2022.

Drive carefully, because the pig will also easily break the traffic rules, probably by speeding, and get a penalty and fine.

There is a star named 'Fu De', which can help reduce some troublesome energy for pigs.

An elderly person in the family may have ill-health.

The bonding with the Grand Duke will also bring changes for pigs. Be well prepared for the changes. Specifically, for the 1995 born pig who will receive some special treatment from their superior such as a promotion, or the company paying for further study.

Health Issues: Hair loss, kidney, blood, eyes and heart.

Wealth: Good if you are self-employed. Particularly for 1983 and 1995 born pigs.

Rat (Born 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008)

There is no 'lucky star' for the rats in 2022 which means there is very little external help available.

So whatever (study or working) you are going to do, you need to give in 100% and do your best. You will have to be responsible. Do not even think of rely on the others to help you.

Bad news is that there are 4 inauspicious stars for the rat this year.

'Yang Knife' is one of the stars. It symbolises cuts and operations.

If you are working with sharp objects then extra care is needed. For rat ladies, giving birth or caesarean section is a sign of 'Yang Knife'.

Try to be more active and meet new friends and pick up a hobby.

Since there is no lucky star in 2022, learning something or acquiring a new skill is good.

More overseas trips will be available to rats after August.

Health: Excretion system of your body including kidneys, urethra, prostate gland for males and bladders

Wealth: Good for 1948 and 2008 rats.

Ox (Born in 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009)

The gossip and troubles which once plagued you are fading away slowly.

1997 born ox have a very high chance meeting another half or getting married.

For ox born in 1985 and 1973, if you are married, beware of a third person causing troubles for your love life.

Play more attention to your digestive system. There is a sickness star for the ox.

There is a 'Gua Su' star, in the Ox's Palace. 'Gua Su' means sleep alone.

This can be either you or your partner working interstate more frequently.

It could also mean there are other reasons you can't stay in the same bed.

Health: Digestive system, liver and gallbladder.

Wealth: Average.

Rabbit (Born in 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011)

There are a lot of opportunities for 1987 and 1999 born rabbits when it come to meeting new friends in 2022.

The biggest lucky star 'Tai Yang', 'The Sun' is on for the rabbit this year.

This means in 2022 there will be a lot of external helping hands, especially from your male supervisor or boss.

In addition rabbits have the Nobleman for the year too.

There are two romance stars for in the rabbit palace. This is very good news for the singles.

For married rabbits, discipline yourselves. Avoid going to casinos or playing pokies, hanging out at the pub, bars, nightclubs or discos by yourself. Always take your other half, and drink moderately.

Health issues: Legs and liver, may have some major problem with your health.

Wealth: Good.

Dragon (Born in 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012)

Your digestive problems will gradually fade away. However you still need to look after your body. It is suggested to have more greens than meat before your birthday.

The gossip and hectic stress at work will begin to ease. Your supervisor or boss's mood will be better.

No lucky star for the dragons in 2022, it means less external help. Dragons needs to help themselves by helping others first.

There are two inauspicious stars relating to crying and funerals for dragons.

If an overseas trip comes up make sure you budget well and have travel insurance purchased.

Health: Stomach, digestive system and spleen.

Wealth: Excellent for the 2000 born dragon.

Horse (Born in 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014)

The clashes and changes caused by the 'Peach Blossom' in 2020, 2021 seems to feel endless for horses in 2022.

There is 'General Star' for the horses. It represents leadership and will bring this into full play for the horses.

For 2002 born horses, the 'Three Tables' star in 2022 will help their study, at the same time, there is the 'Five Ghosts' star which will influence their concentration. In order to have good study results more effort is needed.

The horse also bonds with the Grand Duke. There are a lot of opportunities to meet new friends. There are also new projects or join ventures available.

Health: Eyes and heart.

Wealth: Improving.

Goat (Born in 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003)

The goat clashed with the ox in 2021, so there were changes in careers and jobs including position shuffles, school changes, moving house, renovations and travelling.

There was also the 'Big Spending' star for the goat in 2021. This superfluous spending lasts until their birthday in 2022.

But goats look to have a better year in 2022, with three lucky stars.

'Seal or Stamp' and 'Month Virtue' help enhance your authority in 2022.

There is 'child birth' star for the goats in the Year of Tiger. If you don't want any more children, be careful. If you want kid, try harder now.

Goats and tigers have a special bonding relationship in 2022, it is very good for single goats.

Married goats need to discipline themselves.

They should avoid dangerous activities.

Health: Digestive system and the back.

Wealth: Improving after the spending.

Rooster (Born in 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005)

2022 is an above average year for roosters.

The project or join venture they started in the Year of the Ox, 2021, will be completed soon.

In the Year of the Tiger, the roosters have no special combination with the Tai Sui.

This means there will be less help or support from the others. You have to work hard for yourself and will see results in the second half of the year.

There are a few lucky stars for the roosters.

The roosters have ZiWei (Emperor star) and TianChu (Heaven Kitchen) lucky stars in their palace.

This means the roosters will be gaining some recognition or fame in the second half of the year, particularly for those are in the culinary sector.

Be sure to budget well in 2022, year of the tiger. There is some big spending coming up in the year of the rabbit, 2023.

Health: Kidney, blood and small intestine.

Wealth: Prepare and budget well into 2022 and get ready for 2023.

Dog (Born in 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006)

The dog had a penalty relationship with the ox in 2021. The gossip and lawsuits are fading away in 2022.

If you have a pet it may have some problems.

There is a 'White Tiger' star in 2022 for the dogs. 'White Tiger' means blood related injury. If possible, donation of blood is suggested.

There is a star 'Huagai' for the dogs in 2022. The Huagai star is related to religion, metaphysics and philosophy. The dog sign people will invest more time into studying them.

Health: Legs, back and heart.

Wealth: Average.

Source: Edgar Lok
Prince William and Kate Middleton 'will move to Berkshire and start a quiet life in the country' because they recognise at 'this stage in their life suburbia makes perfect sense', a source has claimed.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who currently split their time between their London home Kensington Palace and their weekend home Amner Hall in Norfolk plan to relocate to Windsor, according to the Telegraph, as they see it as 'the perfect place' to raise , Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three.

Sources say they have their eyes on Fort Belvedere, a Grade II listed house with tower towards the southern end of Windsor Great Park, where King Edward VIII  the Queens uncle  signed his abdication papers in 1936.

The fort is owned by the Crown Estate and leased to the billionaire Weston family, close friends of the royals.

The relocation, which would bring the family closer to both the Queen and Kate's parents in Bucklebury, is the most significant sign yet that the couple are preparing to take on a far more senior role at the heart of the Royal Family.

Prince William and Kate Middleton 'will move to Berkshire and start a quiet life in the country' because they recognise at 'this stage in their life suburbia makes perfect sense', a source has claimed. The couple are pictured with their three children - Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis

However, the planned move is said to have left those close to Kate, 40, and William, 39, 'aghast' - the Telegraph reported - because many don't consider Berkshire to be 'proper countryside'.

'People can be very snotty about that area west of London, but that mainly comes out of ignorance,' an Eton contemporary of Prince William told the paper.

The couple are said to also believe they can make the commute from Windsor to west London in just 25 minutes if they have a police escort.

While the Queen is based at Windsor castle, many of the royals have made the twon home.

Harry and Meghan made Frogmore Cottage in Windsor their UK base before relocating to the US - their home is now rented to Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson are also based at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, while Prince Edward, Sophie Wessex and their children live at Bagshot Park just 11 miles away.

Windsor is also just 32 miles away from Chapel Row, where the Middleton family are based in a 4,7million estate called Bucklebury Manor.

Sources say they have their eyes on Fort Belvedere, a Grade II listed house with tower towards the southern end of Windsor Great Park, where King Edward VIII  the Queens uncle  signed his abdication papers in 1936.

Kates sister Pippa, her husband James Matthews and their two children also have a home in the village.

Moving the family west  wherever they end up  could prove strategic as well as practical, as the monarchy prepares for major changes in the years ahead.

At the moment, the Cambridges split their time between their London base at Kensington Palace, where they also have their offices, and their country home of Anmer Hall in Norfolk.

The home on the Sandringham Estate was a wedding gift from the Queen and, after carrying out refurbishment work, William and Kate made it their permanent home from 2015 to 2017.

Its rural location had several key advantages at the time: William was working as a helicopter pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, and the couple were keen to give their young children as normal an upbringing as possible, away from the public gaze.

Prince William has been urged by the Queen to stop flying helicopters with his family because she is 'terrified' that disaster could strike

But now, with their eldest two children at school in London, it has become rather far to travel for weekends. At Windsor, they could work in reverse  basing the family there full time and commuting in to London when required.

A source previously told Mail on Sunday: Anmer Hall made sense while William was a helicopter pilot in East Anglia and it was useful for Christmases at Sandringham, but it doesnt really work any more. Its a little too far away for weekends, but Windsor is a perfect compromise. They are eyeing up options in the area.

Following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh last year, it would also no doubt prove a boost to the Queen to have the Cambridges nearby.

The 95-year-old monarch has a close relationship with William, and during his time at Eton College  which is close to the castle  he would often have Sunday lunch with his grandparents in the castles panelled Oak Room.

For years the Queen used Windsor as a weekend residence, and a retreat from the working week at Buckingham Palace. But the monarch now plans to base herself permanently at Windsor.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have reportedly been quietly scoping out new schools - and potentially homes - in Berkshire. Pictured: William on George's first day at school in 2017

She and Prince Philip stayed at Windsor during the lockdown. It meant she was close to her youngest son Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, who live nearby at Bagshot Park, and Prince Andrew, who lives at Royal Lodge with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

Prince Harry and Meghan refurbished Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate, but the property is now used by Princess Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank and their six-month-old son, August.

Having the Cambridges nearby would mean most of the Queens immediate family  barring Prince Charles and Princess Anne  were close at hand to support her.

Kate has long spoken kindly about the county she grew up in, with the family making regular trips back to see her parents.

The duchesss parents Michael and Carole Middleton live in a seven-bedroom Grade II listed mansion, Bucklebury Manor. They also run their party goods business from a business park in the area and are very much hands-on grandparents.

Her brother James has also reportedly bought a 1.45million home in the same village for himself and fiancee Alizee Thevenet.

Writing in the Sun on Sunday earlier this month, royal correspondent Emily Andrews claims a family friend of the royal once told her: 'All Catherine ever wanted was a house in the countryside, loads of kids, dogs and an AGA. She wasn't interested in having a big job or becoming famous.

There's also long been rumours of the couple wanting to send Prince George to a Berkshire boarding school.

Last year, the Daily Mail reported the future Queen and her husband Prince William have been quietly scoping out new schools  and potentially homes  in the appropriately named Royal County, with an eye to a possible move in the future.

George and Charlotte are currently attending private Thomass prep school in Battersea, south-west London, which takes children until they are 13.

Their youngest child, three-year-old Prince Louis, attends the Willcocks Nursery a stones throw from their Kensington Palace apartment.

Both William and his younger brother Prince Harry happily boarded at Ludgrove School in Berkshire from the age of eight before moving to Eton at 13.

Kate and her siblings were also boarders at one point or another in their formative years.

But raising their young family in the bustling capital is not believed to be part of the Cambridges long-term plans.

In recent weeks the couples discreet inquiries about  and visits to  future schools for their children in Kates home county have set local tongues wagging.

Sources are at pains to stress that any changes for the family will have no effect on their set-up at Kensington Palace.

It will remain their London home and office even after they become Prince and Princess of Wales.

But Anmer Hall is a long trek from London  often requiring the family to travel by helicopter  and is far from Kates parents, sister and brother who play a huge part in their childrens lives.

In December, the Queen urged Prince William to stop flying helicopters with his family because she is 'terrified' that disaster could strike, a source told the Sun.

The 95-year-old monarch has had 'several conversations' with William asking him to 'stop flying himself, particularly in bad weather' amid fears an accident could threaten the line of succession.

Unofficial rules usually prevent senior royals from flying together but the regulations have been relaxed since William's children were born, allowing for the young family to spend more time together.
The Crown's Erin Doherty has turned down other upper-class roles to avoid being typecast after playing Princess Anne in the Netflix series.

The 29-year-old actress, who won critical acclaim for her portrayal of the young Princess Royal - said that while she 'loved' playing Princess Royal in the third and fourth season of the royal drama but that she is now deliberately distanced herself from similar characters.

Erin, who was raised in Crawley, West Sussex added that while it was 'nerve-wracking' to turn down work, she took a 'gamble' and declined offers to play various upper-crust characters.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, she said: 'A lot of upper-class characters came my way after playing Anne, and I said no because I didn't want to be stuck doing that. '

The Crown's Erin Doherty says she had refused upper-class roles to avoid being typecast after playing Princess Anne in the Netflix series (pictured)

Erin, who was raised in Crawley, said while it was 'nerve-wracking' to turn down work, she took a 'gamble'. She is pictured attending the premiere for season three of The Crown in London in 2019

The actress, who knew very little about the Princess before landing the part, says she learned a lot from portraying the steely royal - famous for her frankness and headstrong personality.

'Anne taught me you have to care less about people's opinions', said Erin.

Worlds away from Princess Anne, Erin's next role will see her portray the protagonist in upcoming psychological BBC drama, Chloe.

She portrays Becky, a woman from Bristol caring for her dementia stricken mother, who compares her life to the picture-perfect existences of the Instagram influencers she follows.

The actress, who knew very little about the Princess before landing the part, says she learned a lot from portraying the steely royal - famous for her frankness and headstrong personality

Worlds away from Princess Anne, Erin's next role will see her portray the protagonist in upcoming psychological BBC drama, Chloe. Pictured, the cast of the forthcoming BBC show

Becky quickly becomes obsessed with influencer Chloe Fairbourne (Poppy Gilbert) and takes on a new identity to investigate after discovering she has mysteriously died.

Opening up about her own relationship with social media, Erin she 'assessed existential questions' after being thrust into the spotlight following her role in The Crown.

'Why do I do this job, what would the perfect future for me look like? For me it's that I love my job and it's as simple as that', she said.

The actress previously opened up about her love for Anne's courage and candour, much of which she believes comes from not having a typical 'mother figure' during her childhood.

The actress, pictured attending the US premiere of The Crown in 2019, previously opened up about her love for Anne's courage and candour

The series is critical in its dramatisation of the Queen's parenting of her daughter, with the monarch - played by Olivia Colman - boasting of leaving her and Charles alone as young children for five months during her and Philip's tour of Australia in 1954.

Speaking to The Times, Erin said: 'My choice... was to make [Anne's steeliness] come from this childhood of not having that mother figure there as you would have wished. You kind of go, 'Well, that's fine. If that person isn't there, I don't need one'.'

She added: 'I think Olivia does an amazing job at portraying [the Queen], but I think that is what's fascinating about them. This family is completely circulating around this woman who needs to do this thing that she does, but it actually completely detaches her from the beating heart that is a family.'
A generation ago, a bunch of roses or a box of chocolates was all that was needed to keep your other half happy on February 14. No longer. In 2022, if you want to impress them, you will have to hand over a hamper.

Yes, Valentines Day hampers  filled with fizz, biscuits, jams and truffles  have become big business this year. Some of the boxes even manage to squeeze in a dozen roses.

For the first time, for example, Fortnum & Mason has a range of six different Valentines Day hampers. And they are not the only ones to spot the trend.

Weve really increased our range of Valentines Day hampers this year, says Gemma Barton at Cartwright & Butler, the Yorkshire gift company that used to specialise in tea and biscuits but has now branched out. We saw a lot of searches for them last year during lockdown and have responded to consumer demand. I think its because people are more sentimental. Given everything weve been through in the past couple of years, people really want to give presents to those who mean something to them.

Harry Wallop (pictured) gives verdict on a selection of Valentine's Day hampers available to buy in the UK

Hampers on offer range from little more than a token box of chocolates and small bottle of prosecco to extravagant cornucopias, overflowing with truffled cheddar, fine wines and scented candles  and there are several aimed at men, too. After all, what says romance more than real ale and a pork pie?

But with so many on offer, which are the best? And considering Valentines Day is also known as the day when normal food costs twice the usual price, are there any worth forking out for?

ROSE-PETALLED ROMANCE

The Fortnums Couples Retreat Hamper, 175, fortnumandmason.com

As you would hope with Britains most famous hamper provider, this comes beautifully presented and filled with fabulously elegant treats.

It is aimed at someone with a sweet tooth and a love of all things rich. The chocolate gianduja wafer cake is less of a cake and more an enormous, indulgent, flat Ferrero Rocher; the chocolate-covered raspberries (freeze-dried) are super-sweet; and you get truffles, too.

Harry said The Fortnums Couples Retreat Hamper (pictured) is aimed at someone with a sweet tooth and a love of all things rich

There is also English sparkling wine, olives, some pistachio and clotted cream biscuits, and a caddy of fancy rose tea. A slightly odd addition is a small tin of rose petals to help you woo the god or goddess of your life. If you insist.

The hamper contains 122 worth of goods, so you are forking out about 50 extra for an admittedly very elegant hamper. Delivery is a further 6. For many that will be a price worth paying for the seal of quality. For the rest of us, it borders on bonkers. 4/5

TRULY SWEET TREAT

Way To Your Heart Hamper, 40, hotelchocolat.com

Harry said Way To Your Heart Hamper (pictured) looks special thanks to the presentation and for the volume of goodies you get, it's great value

This is an elegant box, rather than a hamper, but looks special thanks to the presentation, with all the different chocolates and the bottle of prosecco on show.

The fizz is a pretty tiny bottle a generous single measure, rather than big enough for sharing. But there are tons of interesting chocolates, including a Hotel Chocolat trademark H-Box, filled with caramels, fruit-filled chocolates and pralines. The strawberries & cream puddles are addictively good. For the volume of goodies you get, this is great value. 4/5

HERE FOR THE BEER

The Way To My Heart Grazing Gift, 40, marksandspencer.com

Harry said The Way To My Heart Grazing Gift (pictured) is fun but it doesn't feel that special

Is this a hamper? No. Though Marks & Spencer is so keen to jump on the hamper bandwagon it lists this  along with the inevitable Colin the Caterpillar gift bag  under a special Valentines Hamper section on its website.

Aimed squarely at the porkand-cheese-loving man in your life, it comes with a canvas tote and includes two bottles of Southwold blonde beer, a chunky pork pie, pork scratchings, a large bag of crisps, caramelised red onion chutney, crackers, cheese twists (which are excellent, by the way) and a heart-shaped truckle of truffleflavoured cheddar, which is also delicious. Plus, you get a bag of gooey chocolate hearts and three Love Whips, Marks & Spencers twist on their moreish Walnut Whips.

Its fun, but it doesnt feel that special. And you could pick up the contents for 26 plus the tote by shopping in the store.3/5

BELLINIS IN BED

Valentines Breakfast Hamper For Two, 65, hampers.com

Harry said Valentines Breakfast Hamper For Two (pictured) comes in a bamboo tray, which is a nice alternative to a hamper

Instead of splashing out on an overpriced dinner for two in your local bistro, why not share breakfast in bed?

This hamper includes some cracking up-and-coming British brands including coffee firm Coaltown, based in Ammanford, South Wales, and Husk & Honey Granola, which makes extremely tasty cereals in South London and supplies upmarket hotels.

Also included: Ace tea, strawberry and tonka bean jam, two large tea cakes, a bottle of prosecco and some peach juice so you can mix your own bellini cocktails in bed.

The bamboo tray is a nice alternative to a hamper and would make a great storage solution for your paperwork afterwards  if youre not feeling romantic!

Theres a fair premium to pay for the hamper but the selection of products is great  and so is the idea. 4/5

CHEESY CHARM

Valentines Luxury Cheese & Bubbly Hamper, 60, snowdoniacheese.co.uk

Harry said Valentines Luxury Cheese & Bubbly Hamper (pictured) has high quality contents that are splendid for cheese lovers

If you are a cheese lover, this is splendid. Smaller than a shoe box, it crams a lot in: a handsome, if small, presentation slate; The Art Of Chocolate sea salt caramel truffles (seriously good); a pack of Millers Damsel scrumptious buttermilk crackers; two of Snowdonias trademark waxed wrapped cheeses: the Black Bomber, an extra mature cheddar; and Red Storm, a vintage Red Leicester, which is spectacularly nutty.

The only duff note is the overly sweet rhubarb & gin chutney. (Why do food companies insist on adding gin to everything?)

Accompanying the hamper, rather than in it, is a bottle of Chapel Downs sparkling rose, one of Englands best sparkling wines.

There is a version of this hamper without the fizz, costing 35. Either are decent value, considering the high quality of the contents. 5/5

. . . AND ROSES, TOO!

Especially For Her Hamper, 69.64, cartwrightandbutler.co.uk

Harry said Especially For Her Hamper (pictured) is less of a hamper, more of an elegant box tied up with a bow

Less of a hamper, more of an elegant box tied up with a bow, this contains a tin of 12 heart-shaped praline chocolates, a full bottle of prosecco, a rather pungent vanilla-scented candle and 12 pink blush roses cunningly packaged in a thin letterbox parcel at the bottom of the main box. Amazingly, the roses emerge completely unscathed.

The value of the contents is 54.50, so youre paying a 15 premium to have it packaged up in a box and delivered, but the clever addition of the roses-by-post makes this fair value. 4/5
That is truly amazing lipstick, exclaims the woman standing next to me at a fancy hotel bar. Thanks, I say breezily. Its couture. I created it with Yves Saint Laurent. Its called Betts Bitch.

I whisk out my YSL compact to reveal my bespoke, Forties-screen siren shade, a gang of fashionable women elbowing each other out of the way to mob me. For the first time in my life, I am the coolest girl in the room  because I am the proud possessor of one of the first personalised lip-colour-creating devices in the country: The space-age YSL Beauty Rouge Sur Mesure.

It may sound like something out of our wildest dreams, but this sleek bit of kit can pump out legions of lip shades at the click of an app. It can match your mouth to your frock, or to a flower you like the look of. Spot a celebrity on the cover of a glossy magazine whose pout youd long to emulate? Give the Rouge Sur Mesure a couple of seconds and its yours, all yours!

Beauty columnist Hannah Betts (pictured) gives verdict on the space-age YSL Beauty Rouge Sur Mesure

As we drag ourselves ever further into the 21st century, the trend for custom beauty is going increasingly mainstream. A British brand called Dcypher uses artificial intelligence to detect skin tone from mobile phone images then knock out perfectly matched foundations.

Another  Base Plus  allows customers to concoct moisturisers and serums based on their skin issues, scent preferences, and chosen active ingredients. The company Carra sets up video sessions to create custom hair products to work with your hairs texture and your lifestyle.

If you have a beauty itch that needs scratching, there will be some whizz-kid who can design tech to do it.

However, all this feels small beer  and tediously long-winded  next to a gadget that creates your very own super-luxe lipsticks.

This superpower doesnt come cheap, at 250 per machine and 60 per cartridge (both available from yslbeauty.co.uk), but YSLs couture kit is the holy grail of customised beauty  and the label claims that, if you equip yourself with all four cartridges, one machine can pump out 4,000 different shades.

As a fashion house, Saint Laurent has long been famous for its kapow colours  saturated satsumas and fabulous fuchsias. This device combines that love of colour with patented technology. It was so hotly anticipated it had a waiting list of hundreds in the run-up to its arrival in Britain.

When mine arrived, I was beyond excited, until I remembered that Im so technically challenged I dont even know how to find face-tuning apps to use on Instagram, let alone use them, and am thus inadvertently forced to keep things real.

Happily, the Rouge Sur Mesure is a cinch. You download the app, then it guides you through each step, with simple, midlife-technophobia-proof instructions.

Hannah (pictured) explained that the shade wheel on the app allowed her to experiment with what her face looks like with different colours of lipstick

Cartridges are sold in nude, orange, red and pink colour universes, each said to supply 1,000 shades when mixed in precisely measured quantities.

Being cool-toned, I opt for pink, like most women harbouring firm views that it must be one palette and no other. There are said to be between 200 to 250 applications per cartridge set, depending on which of the three sub-tones you use most frequently.

Thus a couple of applications a day might last you about six months, meaning 60 for around half a year or more of lipstick.

Matte black, upright, the Rouge Sur Mesure looks like a cross between a fancy coffee maker and a posh sex toy, albeit smaller than the first, and bigger than the second. I plug it into my laptop, switch on the light, and were away. Beat that, Buck Rogers.

On the app, the shade wheel allows me to experiment with what my face looks like in a carnival of pinks from Sixties-dolly-bird pastel to bruised-mouthed goth.

I could gaze at this for ever  trying on virtual pouts proves curiously soothing. Once I find a look I love, all I have to do is click.

The shade-match colour recognition technology allows me to scan something  a bag, scarf, or picture, say  unearth the shade closest to it, then click and create. Vistas open up in which I will be able to coordinate my mouth to my walls, my favourite paintings, or my boyfriends florid face next time he upbraids me for owning too much make-up.

With the shade stylist function, I can, meanwhile, take a photograph of myself and place pins over key areas of my outfit, skin, hair, or slap. The Rouge Sur Mesure will then generate hues based on colour harmony principles to suggest match and clash options. For my metallic party frock, it suggests a ravishing blush hue, or a vivid wine.

Hannah (pictured) designed a trio of shades, but admits that she isn't convinced that she should be in charge of such impressive tech

With each new lip I come up with, then press go on, the machine makes tiny Dalek noises while dispensing different amounts of colour from three holes. I then mix them in its portable compact using the YSL lip brush, ready to carry my new war paint off into the world.

The textures are sumptuous velvet-mattes, so creamy they go everywhere  on my teeth, up my nose. However, once fixed, they prompt coos from every woman I parade them in front of.

I design a trio of shades. There is Basic Betts, a sort of Queen Mother salmon that I dislike, but other people tell me they love. Second comes Bubblegum Betts, a hot Hubba-Bubba with a glossy Eighties finish contrived to match my Marc Jacobs blouse that proves another fan favourite.

And then there is the aforementioned Betts Bitch, a gloriously vampy retro purple that I would happily live in. These three coinages are very obviously different. However, I dont appear able to get as much nuance into my creations as I would like. I crave extremes, yet theres a touch of sameness to my formulas.

Doubtless this is me, rather than the machine. In the same way that I dont want to produce my own perfume because professionals take lifetimes to train themselves to do so, Im not convinced Im the idiot to be in charge of such impressive tech.

Still, its such a tonic, and not just on the female-bonding front. Forgive me for sounding 50-going-on-six, but the Rouge Sur Mesure is simply terrific fun: A Girls World toy for adults, in which I get to be the doll.

If  like me  youre feeling that the Covid crisis has quashed you, then maybe what you need is 4,000 lipsticks up your sleeve, without said sleeve having to be the size of the Empire State Building? (De-cluttering queen Marie Kondo would be proud.)

Rumour has it that YSLs parent company, LOreal, is also working on custom foundation and skincare devices. This makes us one step nearer to being able to computerise our beauty regimes in the way that the heroine of Clueless did her outfits. Technophobe, did I say? No more!
As a breast cancer surgeon, I would speak to my patients about chemotherapy, to tell them that it's a given to try to stop cancer coming back, or sometimes to shrink a tumour before surgery. That there are always side effects. That hair loss is virtually a given.

There's also nausea and feeling too rotten to work. 'It won't be fun,' I'd add. And that was that.

Then, in 2015, aged 40, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy myself.

And I realised, even as a doctor, I'd had no idea what my patients had actually been going through.

I knew I was meant to feel ill, but how ill? What was normal? What wasn't? And what should I do about it?

I began to blog about my experience as a doctor-turned-patient. Through that I found an incredible support network of other women with breast cancer who shared with me their chemo survival tips.

These angels told me things you don't get in medical textbooks, such as the fact that water will taste disgusting and what to wear during treatment when one minute you can be shivering with cold and the next you can be sweating in the grip of a chemo-induced hot flush.

LIZ O'RIORDAN: I want to share some of what I've learned, and hopefully remove just a little of that fear of the unknown I once felt. (Pictured: Liz after competing in a triathlon in 2015)

That your teeth and gums become so sore and sensitive that only the softest baby toothbrush will be bearable. And so much more.

Now I want to share some of what I've learned, and hopefully remove just a little of that fear of the unknown I once felt.

Everybody has a different experience and may suggest other things, and there are so many different side effects, depending on what kinds of chemo you're having, you could fill a book. But I hope this is a good start.

Another excellent resource is the website tickingoffbreastcancer.com.

It starts with everything tasting funny  or nasty

Chemo drugs, of which there are many, all work in the same way  killing cells that divide and grow quickly, like cancer cells.

But the whole body is affected, so there's collateral damage of healthy cells that causes a wide range of side effects.

Because chemo is hard-going, treatment is given in cycles. Most drugs are given via a drip over several hours, but some cancers mean you have to have chemotherapy over several days in hospital.

You then have one to three weeks to recover, before starting another cycle.

It normally takes 12 to 24 hours before side effects start, and the first thing many people notice is a funny taste in the mouth  for me it was either metallic or chalky.

It completely changes your enjoyment of food, and even tea and water taste awful. I found many salty things became unbearable, but my sense of taste recovered between cycles, and during this window wine and chocolate tasted OK.

Make sure you consume enough liquid  two to three litres a day  to make up for the fluid lost through extra sweating and the digestive problems you'll suffer.

LIZ O'RIORDAN: Make sure you consume enough liquid  two to three litres a day  to make up for the fluid lost through extra sweating and the digestive problems you'll suffer. (file photo)

I drank gallons of Volvic lemon Touch of Fruit water, and tonic water was lovely  the fizz cleared the chalky taste. Lemon barley water and fruit squash were also OK.

Coffee tasted wrong, but lemon and ginger tea bags  and oddly, beef Bovril  were good. Pineapple was also great for the chalky taste, and I got hooked on soft buttermilk pancakes.

I was told I couldn't eat rare meat, raw fish, shellfish or blue cheese. This is to prevent you getting a stomach bug that could be potentially serious, but coupled with the loss of taste it makes eating out incredibly difficult.

All I can say is, be careful and use common sense. If you like cooking, get a copy of The Royal Marsden Cancer Cookbook for plenty of chemo-friendly recipes that won't taste weird.

Chemo can also alter your sense of smell, and strong smells that I used to love were suddenly really offensive. I wanted only very mild-smelling toiletries, and perfume and candles were off the menu.

Keep painkillers handy and look after gums

Some chemotherapy drugs can make you feel very, very sick. This usually comes on a few days into a cycle.

There are tablets that can stop this, but they might not be enough. If you are still feeling sick, contact your oncology nurse who may suggest additional drugs.

A sore tongue, bleeding gums and mouth ulcers are common, as chemo dries the mouth. That's why oral hygiene is really important.

Use a soft baby toothbrush and the Biotene toothpaste range which, unlike your normal toothpaste, is formulated for dry mouths and will taste nice.

LIZ O'RIORDAN: Stock up on paracetamol and ibuprofen if you're going through chemo

Brush your teeth after every meal and use Difflam anti-inflammatory mouthwash  you can get it on prescription from your GP. If you suffer from mouth ulcers, ask your GP for Gelclair ointment which will help them heal.

The next thing you might notice is a headache, pain in your bones and joints, and you might feel shivery, as if you have flu.

Stock up on paracetamol and ibuprofen. I was prescribed codeine for severe headaches.

Chemo drugs also kill the cells that line your gastrointestinal tract, so you will probably get heartburn and either diarrhoea or constipation. My oncologist gave me omeprazole for the heartburn.

I had very bad constipation, and I was eventually given a prescription for laxatives, but even these weren't enough.

If you haven't been for four or five days, ring the nurse and they should be able to give you something stronger.

Think of it as a free waxing on the NHS

Not all chemo causes hair loss  but breast cancer chemo does. Your pubic hair tends to fall out first, at around day ten, followed by leg hair and underarm hair  a free Brazilian and leg wax on the NHS.

To limit hair loss on the head, you can try scalp-cooling during your chemo infusion, which most cancer units offer.

This involves wearing a tight rubber cap through which a very cold liquid is pumped.

The cold reduces blood flow to the scalp, stopping the drugs getting to your hair follicles and damaging them.

It will add an extra couple of hours to treatment time, and it's uncomfortable  like having an ice-cream headache  which is why I opted out. But with the treatment, most people keep about 50 to 70 per cent of their hair.

My eyebrows and eyelashes came out at the very end of my sixth cycle, so you may get away with keeping them.

You will also lose your nose hair, which you didn't realise you needed to stop your nose permanently running with snot and the inside of your nose from being sore. A wee dab of Vaseline just inside the nostrils can fix this.

I used the videos and tips on the EyelineHer website (eyelineher.blogspot.com) to learn how to draw my brows on, and what products to use. Some people get them tattooed or microbladed instead.

LIZ O'RIORDAN: Not all chemo causes hair loss  but breast cancer chemo does. Your pubic hair tends to fall out first, at around day ten, followed by leg hair and underarm hair  a free Brazilian and leg wax on the NHS. (file image)

Your head might also get cold, so I had several scarves, although wearing one made me look and feel more like a cancer victim than going bald did. The websites of Breast Cancer Care and Macmillan have lots of advice for appropriate headwear, wigs and hats.

You may find hats are too big for you without hair. I used stick-on hat adjusters which narrow the size and are available on Amazon.

Instead of a wig, I got a fantastic pair of statement glasses. None of my old glasses suited me when I lost my hair, and I thought I could have a bit of fun with outrageous specs so people would stare at those rather than my lack of hair. They were my mask, and felt I could conquer the world when I was wearing them.

Best way to help beat fatigue is exercise

Chemo dries out your whole body. My hands became so dry that the skin on my fingertips peeled, so I began using lots and lots of intensive hand creams from Neutrogena, L'Oreal and Garnier.

Your lips will also become dry  mine cracked, which made life miserable.

A friend who'd been through chemo switched me on to Lanolips lip balm, which is pricey but is widely available, lasts for ever and it was the one thing that stopped my lips splitting at the corners.

Dry eyes are common  they can be very sore and watery, but moisturising eye drops can help.

Your fingernails and toenails will probably become soft, brittle and discoloured, and even fall off. Some people say using black or dark purple nail varnish stops the damage, but my nurse said if your nails are going to go, they're going to go.

LIZ O'RIORDAN: The best thing you can do to help, even though it's the last thing you'll want to do, is exercise. Forcing yourself to get out of the house and walk for 30 minutes, maybe listening to a podcast or audiobook, will help.

After the first day or two of a cycle, you might develop 'chemo brain'  unable to concentrate on anything, including TV and reading. I got quite confused and forgot the names of things  I kept calling the TV remote an orange. This lasts a few days, then you wake up a bit.

Remembering to take tablets was a nightmare for me, so I got a dosette box from the chemist and used a free mobile phone app, Vinehealth, which lets you log symptoms and alerts you when you need to take your tablets and attend appointments.

Create a 'chemo caddy' you can keep by the sofa, with a water bottle, painkillers, thermometer, sweets, lip salve, hand cream etc so you don't have to move.

The other big one is fatigue. Words can't describe the feeling. Some days it feels almost impossible to lift your head off the sofa.

It gets better in the weeks between treatments, but you'll get more and more tired as each cycle goes on.

The best thing you can do to help, even though it's the last thing you'll want to do, is exercise.

Forcing yourself to get out of the house and walk for 30 minutes, maybe listening to a podcast or audiobook, will help.

But don't beat yourself up about being inactive  you'll have plenty of time to get your fitness back after finishing treatment. I started entering charity runs, to motivate myself.

Keep an emergency hospital bag packed

If you're still having periods, chemo could make you menopausal because it damages the cells of the ovaries that produce oestrogen.

As I've mentioned, you are likely to get hot flushes and night sweats. I swore by a cooling pillow that contained a gel ice-pack. I also used a battery-operated travel fan.

Without oestrogen, your vagina may well feel dry and it might hurt when you urinate.

But there's a fab natural lubricant called Yes that you can get on prescription from your GP. They also do a vaginal moisturiser that's not sticky and really works to prevent urine infections, cystitis and painful sex.

If you are feeling feverish, take your temperature. Cheap thermometers are inaccurate and often stop working  I spent 30 on a Braun digital one, and it was definitely worth it.

This is because chemo weakens your immune system, and a simple cold could be very dangerous. A high temperature in a chemo patient is a medical emergency and you need to get yourself to hospital as quickly as possible.

You should have been supplied with information on who to call when you need to get to hospital, but out of hours you might have to go to A&E.

Have an emergency bag packed in advance. You'll need pyjamas, underwear, toiletries, a bottle of squash or flavoured water, a notepad and pen, about 20 in cash and maybe a book.

A nice pillow case is also a good idea, as hospital sheets are not the softest. And slippers for your feet, or socks with rubber grips, so you don't slip on the floor when you go to the loo. And don't forget a phone-charger.

For more advice visit liz.oriordan.co.uk. The Complete Guide To Breast Cancer: How To Feel Empowered And Take Control, by Trisha Greenhalgh and Liz O'Riordan is out now, RRP 14.99.
Imagine if everything around you was clouded by a thick haze of grainy dots  as if you were trying to look at the world through a blizzard of TV static.

For people who suffer from a little-known neurological condition known as visual snow syndrome, this is a regular occurrence.

Although exact numbers are not known, it's often linked to the common headache condition migraine, which affects more than ten million people in the UK.

But it can also occur without migraine, and one recent study suggested as many as two per cent of the population may experience the symptoms  yet most doctors have no idea it even exists, say experts.

Sufferers spend years pushed between specialists, and some, according to studies, are even told they are making it up.

Now leading neurologists are calling for a greater awareness of visual snow syndrome among doctors, to give patients a chance of accessing appropriate treatment.

Although exact numbers are not known, so-called visual snow syndrome is often linked to the common headache condition migraine, which affects more than ten million people in the UK. (file image)

'For some people, visual snow can be incredibly disabling. Some can't drive or even work, because looking at a computer screen is impossible,' says Dr Francesca Puledda, a neurologist and researcher in visual snow at King's College London.

'But it is hugely under-diagnosed because it has only recently been recognised as a condition in the medical community.

'Getting a formal diagnosis can make a huge difference for people's mental health, especially as many will have been told they have invented their symptoms.

'There are drug treatments that could work for some, and people get huge support from patient groups on social media.'

Scientists aren't yet sure what causes visual snow syndrome, but research suggests it may be a problem with the nerve cells in the part of the brain that handles information sent by the eye.

'The eyes themselves appear perfectly normal, says Dr Puledda.

'And on MRI scans, you can see no obvious problem with the brain. But the problem lies with how the information that patients see is processed, which causes a disturbance of vision.'

Isolated case reports of the condition date back to the mid-1990s, when doctors noted that some migraine sufferers also reported a visual phenomenon that affected the 'entire visual field and usually consisted of diffuse small particles such as TV static, snow, lines of ants, dots and rain'.

Migraines are linked to a range of symptoms, from a severe headache, fatigue and nausea to visual aura  seeing flashes and zigzags of light  and photophobia, when outdoor or bright indoor light can be uncomfortable, even painful, to look at.

Isolated case reports of the condition date back to the mid-1990s, when doctors noted that some migraine sufferers also reported a visual phenomenon that affected the 'entire visual field and usually consisted of diffuse small particles such as TV static (demonstrated in doctored image), snow, lines of ants, dots and rain'.

Patients who suffered these visual static symptoms claimed the problem could last long after a migraine attack ended, and some had been affected for years.

However, it wasn't until 2019 that it was recognised as visual snow syndrome, a condition in its own right.

Although about two-thirds of people who experience visual snow syndrome also suffer migraines, they are separate problems  and people who have never had a migraine can be affected by visual snow syndrome.

While migraines attacks may last for hours or days, Dr Puledda says: 'Visual snow is continuous and affects people all the time.'

As well as visual static, sufferers can experience sensitivity to light, night blindness (when vision is especially poor in dim lighting) and floaters  tiny dark dots in the vision.

In order to meet the diagnostic criteria of visual snow syndrome, patients must frequently experience three of the above symptoms, including visual static.

One man who spent more than 20 years searching for a diagnosis for his visual snow symptoms is Stuart Major, a 56-year-old surveyor from Chester.

The problems began when he was in his early 20s, shortly after he suffered a bad bout of flu.

'I started seeing static, like I was looking at an old-fashioned television,' says the father-of-one.

'It got even worse at night, when I would feel dizzy and see flashes of light.'

Over the years, his GP, a specialist neurologist and an ophthalmologist all failed to offer an explanation for what he was experiencing.

'The symptoms came and went and weren't too severe, so I was able to get on with my life,' he admits.

But then, eight years ago, the visual disruption got dramatically worse for no obvious reason.

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'The visual problems became constant and starting having a significant impact on my quality of life,' says Stuart.

He also developed tinnitus  a ringing or other constant noise in the ears, which is common in visual snow syndrome patients.

'I felt as though I couldn't do my job properly, and was worried I'd lose it. Eventually I started to withdraw from people in my life, and became very depressed.'

After searching for answers online, Stuart came across medical papers and online support groups describing visual snow syndrome and instantly recognised the symptoms.

He later visited the neurologist he had seen previously and presented him with his findings.

'At first he didn't agree, but after he'd done his own research he confirmed that this was what I must be suffering from,' says Stuart.

'It was a massive relief to finally have a name for it. I connected with hundreds of people across the world with the same problem, and it helps to know there are others who understand exactly what I am going through.'

However, Stuart has had little luck with treatment.

Neurologists can offer drugs that are usually given to treat epilepsy and severe migraine, but studies show they are effective only in a small number of patients.

Unfortunately, none of the four medications Stuart tried eased his symptoms.

Dr Puledda says there are other remedies that have been shown in studies to offer some benefit. This includes taking multivitamin tablets or wearing glasses with lenses tinted yellow or blue.

Some studies have suggested that the static may be caused by an imbalance of hormones, and taking an antidepressant called amitriptyline, which restores the balance of hormones, has been shown to relieve symptoms.

But Dr Puledda says the value of a correct diagnosis should not be underestimated.

'Patients instantly feel they can cope better with their symptoms, because they know it's not their fault and that other people are suffering too.

'The more attention the condition gets, the more we can research it and, hopefully, come up with effective, low-cost treatments.'
The clock is ticking for unvaccinated frontline NHS staff as the deadline on the Covid jab mandate looms.

By Thursday  unless there's a last-minute reprieve  doctors, nurses and all NHS staff who come face to face with patients must have had their first dose or risk being out of a job. A second-dose deadline is fixed for April 1.

The Government policy has caused uproar, with thousands of staff taking part in protests last weekend to voice their outrage.

Senior health figures are divided. Some say it's vital to protect vulnerable patients from catching Covid as they're being treated; others argue the measure is already outdated  with most people fully vaccinated and the threat of the virus receding, they say the mandate is divisive and unnecessary.

But last week, The Mail on Sunday's GP columnist Dr Ellie Cannon asked readers what they thought about it  and we've been inundated with responses overwhelmingly in support of 'no jab, no job'.

'Is it not the duty of NHS staff to honour their Hippocratic Oath of 'first do no harm' and get vaccinated?' asked Eileen Watson, from Epsom.

David Brown, 68, a former sales manager from Surrey, wrote about his 92-year-old father George, who died after catching Covid while in hospital in January last year (pictured together)

Protestor seen chanting while holding a placard that says 'no vaccine mandates' during the demonstration in London earlier this month

Valerie Goodchild from Bangor wrote: 'My husband has terminal stomach cancer and I do not want medical staff to give him Covid.'

And Ben Davis from Lincoln said: 'My daughter takes immune-suppressing drugs. It should be the right of UK citizens to safely access NHS services.'

Some readers were especially concerned after seeing family members catch Covid in hospital.

This newspaper was the first to reveal that more than 4,000 patients died of Covid infections they picked up in hospital during the first wave in 2020.

David Brown, 68, a former sales manager from Surrey, wrote about his 92-year-old father George, who died after catching Covid while in hospital in January last year.

'He was taken in for a fractured hip after suffering a fall, but was in good spirits,' David said.

'The doctors operated the next morning and he was recovering well. I don't know how he became infected, but it could have been by an unvaccinated member of staff, given that we'd done everything we could to protect him.'

Only a handful of Mail on Sunday readers disagree with the Covid jab mandate for NHS workers - here's what they had to say I resigned as an NHS phlebotomist  drawing blood from patients  this month. How dare anyone else make a decision about what we NHS staff put in our bodies? Many of us have had Covid anyway. My symptoms were so mild that I went to work with it before tests were widely available. Dont push vaccines on people who dont need them - Verity Cheshire People have had three jabs in 12 months but are still not protected, so why put peoples jobs in jeopardy because they wont have a vaccine that doesnt work as well as others do - Alison Watson IM disturbed by the mandate to force NHS staff to have the jab. My husband developed inflammation of the spinal cord after having a safe vaccination. He is now paralysed from the waist down. As a social care worker, I face losing my job as I dont want the jab. Incidentally, Ive had all other vaccinations throughout my life, as has my husband and my children - Karen Blavins If the vaccine is safe and everyone should have one, then why did my mother-in-law end up in hospital with Guillain-Barre syndrome after her jab?I, along with four others I know, were diagnosed with polymyalgia soon after vaccination. People should have a choice whether or not to take the vaccine, and be made aware of potential problems - Liz Dorey COVID is not the only horrible way to die. My father died from a rare side effect of the flu jab  an extreme form of the immune condition I have. It took five months for the medical profession to tell me it could not guarantee I wouldnt suffer the same fate as my father - Linda McWilliam I don't understand why staff cant be tested regularly if they wont take the vaccine. I would rather be cared for by someone I know has tested negative than by someone who is vaccinated and can still catch the virus and pass it on. And Im no anti-vaxxer  Im 66 years old and vaccinated - Christine Harrison Advertisement

Five days after testing positive, George died in his sleep.

David said: 'He ordered sausages and mash for his dinner, then nodded off and never woke up.

'While patients are in the care of unjabbed doctors, I don't think we can guarantee they'll be treated safely.'

Meanwhile, healthcare leaders have warned of an 'exodus' of staff who simply refuse to have a jab at a time of immense pressure on the health service, meaning Ministers face some difficult decisions.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday's Medical Minefield podcast, Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners Council, said: 'We don't believe the mandate is the best approach to improving the level of vaccination.

'Decisions about medical interventions are best made through informed choice, and if people have doubts about it the best thing to do is to have conversations with them, not to force them into doing it.'

He added: 'We can't afford to reduce the size of the workforce in the healthcare sector. If you shut out people who are not willing to have a vaccination, that's going to impact the care we're able to offer to patients.

'If you were to balance the risks of being looked after by a clinician who hasn't been vaccinated against the risks of having no clinician at all, it seems to me to be a very easy and clear decision.'

And not all readers supported the NHS workers' vaccine drive.

'The inconvenient truth is that vaccines for Covid are not perfect,' wrote Bernard Smith.

'The virus can be passed on by the vaccinated, and many vaccinated people test positive for Covid and become ill.'

While Julie Poole wrote: 'Covid is rife in my father-in-law's care home, despite all the staff and residents there being fully jabbed. It's so bad they've just had to put a ban on all visitors again.'

As the vaccine deadline looms, there are predictions that the NHS will be hit with swathes of legal claims brought by disgruntled employees forced to sacrifice their jobs.

'This will come back to haunt the decision-makers when human rights lawyers take them to the cleaners for unfair dismissal,' wrote MoS reader Julie Ball.

Only those members of staff who have 'direct face-to-face contact with people receiving care' will be subject to the mandate, and NHS bosses are advised to explore 'reasonable possibilities for redeployment' for those refusing to be vaccinated.

Some readers' letters suggested that even those who did not have face-to-face contact with patients were being asked to abide by the mandate  such as those in research or administration. So, The Mail on Sunday sought clarification.

We asked the 219 NHS trusts in England if only patient-facing staff would be subject to the mandate, and whether they planned to redeploy unvaccinated staff.

As we went to press, more than 50 trusts confirmed both of these conditions. One, Royal United Hospitals Bath, said it may move staff to local 'partner organisations', away from the main hospital site.

Prof Marshall says: 'It's much less of a viable solution in general practice, with a fewer staff and less space elsewhere in the system. There is the provision of remote care over the telephone over video calls, but that is not a long-term solution.'

Additional reporting Justin Stoneman.
Mammograms are not needed by a fifth of women in the UK who are invited for them, according to a top breast cancer expert.

It would be better to rule hundreds of thousands of women out of screening, sparing them the worry over mammogram results because they are at such low risk of the disease, according to Professor Fiona Gilbert, from Cambridge University.

Professor Gilbert, president of the European Society of Breast Imaging, who helped draw up national UK guidelines on breast screening, suggested a rethink of the current system when she addressed the UK Interdisciplinary Breast Cancer Symposium.

Breast cancer screening is vital for the vast majority of women, saving around 1,300 lives a year. But around one in 100 women  around 20,000 a year across the UK  go through the anxiety of an abnormality being found which would never turn into cancer or cause them harm

Currently all women aged 50 to 70 registered with a GP receive an invitation every three years for a mammogram, unless they have a strong family history of breast cancer or a genetic risk which means that they need more frequent appointments.

However, the one-size-fits-all approach no longer works, Professor Gilbert suggested, raising the idea of completely stopping mammograms for women at low-risk of breast cancer.

This group can now be easily identified using their age, a questionnaire about their lifestyle and a genetic test from a cheek swab. They are estimated to make up a fifth of women invited for breast screening in the UK  around 400,000 women.

Professor Gilbert said: Women are at different risks and mammography is certainly not a perfect test. For low-risk women, they should not have to face the anxiety of a mammogram, or going through a biopsy for a lump when it is unnecessary.

Breast cancer screening is vital for the vast majority of women, saving around 1,300 lives a year. But around one in 100 women  around 20,000 a year across the UK  go through the anxiety of an abnormality being found which would never turn into cancer or cause them harm.

Mammograms are not needed by a fifth of women in the UK who are invited for them, according to a top breast cancer expert

For low-risk women to be spared mammograms, more research is needed and the UK National Screening Committee would need to approve the change.

Low-risk women may also need to update their questionnaires every five years, and have just one initial mammogram to ensure they do not have dense breasts.

Questionnaires, asking questions about alcohol consumption, a womans weight and age, and long-term use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are already in use in various studies, along with tests to see if people carry genetic quirks which make them more likely to get breast cancer.

Professor Gilbert said: A typical low-risk woman would be younger, without dense breasts, someone who is of a normal weight, with low alcohol consumption and a healthy lifestyle.

Dr Simon Vincent, director of research at Breast Cancer Now, who hosted the symposium, said: 'We welcome research that looks at the potential of a more tailored approach to breast screening and we are currently funding studies to help us better understand the benefits and risks of a service based on a womans risk of developing breast cancer.'
The Gilded Age

Sky Atlantic, NOW, Tuesday

Rating:

The Responder

BBC1, Monday, Tuesday

Rating:

Julian Fellowes The Gilded Age, which has been billed as Americas Downton, is set in New York in the 1880s and has a tremendous cast, is blissfully and lavishly styled  this would have been awarded five stars had I only been judging hats  but is somehow underwhelming.

Its the kind of show you want to thrash into some kind of life with a broom. Its quite inert, dramatically. Ive watched ahead (three episodes), but you neednt fear spoilers as not much of anything happens.

It is also blandly familiar, with blandly familiar characters.

The Gilded Age would be five stars, if we were only judging on lobster buffets. Above: : Taissa Farmiga, Harry Richardson and Louisa Jacobson

Theres no Carson, but there is a similar butler, and no Violet Crawley, but a similar spiky dowager, and theres a closeted gay character and even a scheming ladies maid, Turner, who is just like our old friend OBrien.

I am certainly minded to write to Turners mistress, Mrs Bertha Russell, to tell her to look out for a strategically placed bar of soap whenever getting out of the bath. Better safe than sorry.

The Gilded Age is, naturally, predominately preoccupied with money and class.

He must be a nightmare to live with, Julian Fellowes. Julian, darling, shall we go out tonight? I think Ill just stay in, brooding about money and class, if you dont mind, dear. But you did that last night! I never get bored of it, my love.

This is set at a time when, apparently, old money families were trying to hold out against the newly rich who had made their fortunes in the railroads, say.

This is played out via an upstairs-downstairs tale of two households, but we begin with Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) who, left penniless in Pennsylvania after the death of her father, travels to New York to live with her two aunts, Agnes (Christine Baranski) and Ada (Cynthia Nixon).

Ada is sweet and fluffy-headed, while Agnes is our spiky dowager, our Maggie Smith, if you like, but she isnt given any what is a weekend? zingers. Instead, she basically keeps repeating: old money, good, new money, vulgar.

She will persist in spelling it out, as in: We only receive the old people in this house, Marian. Not the new, never the new you are my niece and belong to old New York. Its that, over and over.

But, horror of horrors, whos this, moving into the newly built mansion across the street? Its the Russells, George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha (Carrie Coon), who are stupendously nouveau riche.

Hes a ruthless robber baron, shes a determined social climber who comprehends we cannot succeed in this town without Mrs Astors approval. There are many posh Mrs Astors floating about, in hats, and its quite tough distinguishing who is who.

There is also a younger set that is quite hard to distinguish, apart from the Russells son, but only because hes played by Poldarks Harry Richardson. (Drake Carne! What have you done with Morwenna?).

Anyway, Bertha is perpetually snubbed by the elite. She throws a party for 200, that is definitely a party, rather than a work event, but virtually no one attends. This is a pity. The lobster buffet looked amazing.

This would be five stars, if we were only judging on lobster buffets. This was by far the best scene in the opening episode, but you still couldnt feel that sorry for her. Or feel anything for anyone, in fact.

This somehow keeps you at arms length, possibly because the dialogue is often exposition-y, plain clunky, or a cliche.

They own the future, men like Mr Russell, one servant actually says. Or its George Russell saying: You cant make an omelette without breaking eggs. Really. He did.

And the plot, as I said, is undramatic, and in a nutshell never develops beyond:

Old Money: We will have nothing to do with new money.

New Money: Well see about that.

Old Money: We wont.

New Money: Want a bet?

The characters are, thus far, one-dimensional  Agnes is purely her haughtiness; Baranski is a terrific actress but cant flex her muscles here  and in some cases, unlikely.

Marian befriends a young black woman (Denee Benton) on her journey, whom Agnes hires as her secretary, which seemed implausible, for example.

The servants, meanwhile, are as youd expect, including Turner (Kelley Curran), although wed better keep our eye on her.

The Russells are, admittedly, a hot couple, but this isnt sexy like Bridgerton was, or even Downton. Marian is rather drippy and no Lady Mary. She doesnt kill a Turkish man with sex.

But, by the end of episode three  OK, spoiler alert!  she has volunteered for a charity that helps orphaned children.

What I am saying is that it isnt especially compelling, but its still three stars because if you like this sort of thing (she says, patronisingly), you will like this. And the hats are tremendous.

And now Ive run out of space for this weeks two new police procedurals Trigger Point (ITV) and The Responder (BBC) so Ill try to cover them next week.

In the meantime, if you wish to choose one? The Responder.

Its bleak. So bleak that even though it stars Martin Freeman, it could star John Simm. Its a police procedural via Trainspotting, if youre up for that. It is interesting, at least.
Parallel Mothers Cert: 15, 2hrs 3mins

Rating:

Sing 2 Cert: U, 1hr 50mins

Rating:

Amulet Cert: 15, 1hr 39mins

Rating:

Flag Day Cert: 15, 1hr 49mins

Rating:

Any film directed by the prolific Pedro Almodovar and starring his regular collaborator Penelope Cruz is almost certainly bound to be worthy of attention, and so it duly proves with Parallel Mothers.

This is intelligent, well-acted film-making and you can see why Cruz has been picking up award nominations.

But it does require a modest health warning.

Penelope Cruz shares a maternity suite with troubled teenager Ana (Milena Smit, above with Cruz), who has a neglectful actress mother and a completely absent father

Not only is the often high-spirited Almodovar in serious mode here, but he book-ends his central story  about two mothers giving birth in the same hospital  with a particularly dark chapter from the Spanish Civil War.

Theres no doubt the latter gives the film gravitas, but arguably rather more than it actually deserves.

Cruz is playing one of the mothers, Janis, a glamorous photographer who finds herself pregnant after a brief affair with a married academic.

She shares a maternity suite with troubled teenager Ana (Milena Smit), who has a neglectful actress mother and a completely absent father.

But its when the father of Janiss baby expresses doubts about his paternity that things start to get interesting.

Any film directed by the prolific Pedro Almodovar and starring his regular collaborator Penelope Cruz (above) is almost certainly bound to be worthy of attention

For a short while, youll think youre ahead of Almodovar, who supplies his own screenplay, but he quickly catches up, only to race ahead courtesy of some characteristic surprises, some more convincing than others.

So, serious but still unmistakably Almodovar.

Call me old-fashioned but I dont think a childrens cartoon essentially about happy singing animals should contain serious death threats and fighting between rival gangs of security.

Which is why Sing 2, which arrives a full five years after the original and sees Buster Moon (amusingly voiced by Matthew McConaughey) and the rest of the musical gang heading off to a Las Vegas-style resort in search of even greater tuneful success, never quite hits the high notes.

Its good but it could have been better.

Since 2 its colourful fun for the most part and has a top-class supporting voice cast that includes Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson

Still, its colourful fun for the most part and has a top-class supporting voice cast that includes Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson.

And while a menacing, Simon Cowell-style impresario  voiced by Bobby Cannavale  seems a little old-hat, Letitia Wright is spot-on as a street dancer with a talent for calming stage fright. The show must go on, of course.

Actress Romola Garai joins the growing band of female film-makers embracing the horror genre with Amulet, a film she both writes and directs.

Tomas, a former soldier and possibly illegal immigrant, is rescued from a fire by a kindly nun (Imelda Staunton, above) and given a fresh start

And for a good hour she does an impressively chilling job as we watch Tomas, a former soldier and possibly illegal immigrant, being rescued from a fire by a kindly nun (Imelda Staunton) and given a fresh start in a dilapidated suburban house where a young woman is looking after her dying mother.

But as the bumps in the attic grow progressively more alarming, Garai gets herself in a terrible tangle with an ambitious story involving demons, deities and eternal damnation.

Flag Day is the emotionally over-wrought story of a girl who grows to discover that her perennially impoverished but classical music-loving father is actually an arsonist, bank-robber, counterfeiter oh, and serial liar.

Sean Penn, who also directs, plays the father and casts his own real-life daughter, Dylan Penn, as the daughter.

The actor being most indulged, however, turns out to be himself.
Dr Semmelweis

Bristol Old Vic Until February 12, 2hrs 40mins

Rating:

Mark Rylance was recently seen as a bonkers billionaire with huge teeth in the film Dont Look Up. But now hes back on stage  and high time too.

Before he returns to the West End in April for a rerun of the hit play Jerusalem, hes in this cracking new show he has co-written with Stephen Brown.

Its the true story of a maverick Hungarian doctor in 19th Century Vienna whose breakthrough discovery saved the lives of thousands of new mums.

Mark Rylance (above, with Clemmie Sveaas) is mesmeric as the medical boffin obsessed by the appalling death rate (one in ten) in the maternity wing of the Vienna General Hospital

The show is a real trophy for artistic director Tom Morris, who has lured Rylance to make his debut at the Bristol Old Vic.

Although the play was conceived several years ago, its subject  rampaging infection, handwashing and disputed science  is bang on the money.

Thin hair greased down and gabbling ten to the dozen, Rylance is mesmeric as the medical boffin obsessed by the appalling death rate (one in ten) in the maternity wing of the Vienna General Hospital.

The ghosts of the dead mothers are dancers (wonderful, writhing choreography by Antonia Franceschi) with a live string quartet that permeates the action with Adrian Suttons sinuous music.

What on earth is causing these deaths? Medics mime horribly grisly dissections of mothers with veins like sprigs of blackened thyme whose bodies offer no answers.

Then, in a Poirot moment  the insanitary doctors are the cause of death!  Semmelweis makes his great deduction, only to hit the buffers of establishment denial.

His lancet-sharp tongue wins him few friends, and symptoms of madness start to appear.

Rylance is of course a joy to watch, but this is very much a company show, with Jackie Clune injecting the evening with wry insights as the humble midwife and good work, too, from Semmelweiss colleagues and Thalissa Teixeira as his devoted wife Maria.

The play comes across as a touching lament written in movement. Its also a fascinating medical whatdunnit in the age before bacteria were known about.

And it never lets you forget the terrible cost of entrenched male thinking. The Old Vic has a smash hit on its hands.
Our Country Friends

Gary Shteyngart Allen & Unwin 14.99

Its March 2020 and novelist Sasha and his psychiatrist wife Masha have invited a combustible collection of house guests to ride out the Covid crisis at their family home in upstate New York.

Among them are an app developer, a globetrotting dandy and a charismatic celeb known only as the Actor.

Add love, rivalry and revenge, and in Shteyngarts hands you get a playful, allusive comedy of pandemic manners that triumphantly blends hilarity with soulfulness.

Hephzibah Anderson

Violeta

Isabel Allende Bloomsbury 16.99

At 100 years old, Violeta has led a storied existence. Born in 1920, she spryly chronicles the events and upheavals of her remarkable life in a letter to her grandson.

Theres plot aplenty, with political twists like military coups complicating intensely personal developments including a relationship with an unfaithful mafia gun-runner, her fathers suicide and her wayward daughters drug addiction.

A whistle-stop tale, it sometimes creates a frustratingly blurred portrait.

Eithne Farry

The Love Songs Of W. E. B. Du Bois

Honoree Fanonne Jeffers Fourth Estate 20

Named after the black scholar and civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, this all-consuming multi-generational epic arrives on a wave of hype from across the Atlantic.

Blending a folkloric style with hard-hitting realism, it yo-yos around four centuries in the bloodline of an African-American family, focusing on (among others) Aggie, sold to a sadistic Southern slave-owner, and Ailey, a historian in Washington DC.

An intelligent page-turner about navigating the legacies of trauma.

Anthony Cummins

Real Easy

Marie Rutkoski Tinder Press 14.99

As mid-western strip clubs go, The Lovely Lady is a pretty decent place to work. Thats until two of the women who work there end up murdered.

Rutkoskis first adult thriller offers a tough, convincing portrait of the hard lives of both The Lovely Ladys employees and the overworked cops who are always one step behind in their attempts to find the killer.

A literary crime novel in the Gillian Flynn mould, with real heart and soul.

John Williams
Aquarius 21 JAN-19 FEB With the Sun in your sign at odds with your disruptive ruler Uranus its highly unlikely that the week will be without incident. In fact, there may be so many incidents that you feel youve no control over whats occurring. Dont worry. It will all come right in the end. CALL 0904 470 1171*

Pisces 20 FEB-20 MARCH Unexpected events at home and work will disrupt your week and you may have to stop yourself getting angry. Whatever happens, you mustnt let your emotions cloud your judgment. If you stay calm youll find ways to benefit from sudden changes. CALL 0904 470 1172*

Aries 21 MARCH-20 APRIL Dont make a drama out of a crisis this week. Others can get worked up over nothing if they wish, but you need to keep a level head or it could cost you. Also, steer clear of those who preach doom and gloom. Misery is a poor companion and can be destructive. CALL 0904 470 1161*

Taurus 21 APRIL-21 MAY The powers-that-be will shake things up this week, taking many people by surprise. However, having been warned, you can prepare yourself for the shock. The one thing that you need to remember is that, ultimately, all change is good change. CALL 0904 470 1162*

Gemini 22 MAY-21 JUNE In your rush to get things done this week you could miss something important and have to start again. A few minutes of careful planning now will save much anguish later, so slow down. Life is not a race. You dont always have to be first past the post. CALL 0904 470 1163*

Cancer 22 JUNE-23 JULY Theres a danger your impatience will get the better of you, causing you to turn what should be a certainty into a non-starter. Cosmic activity in the area of your chart that governs investments and joint finances urges you to play safe this week. CALL 0904 470 1164*

Leo 24 JULY-23 AUG As the Sun challenges planet of changes Uranus across critical angles of your chart, upheavals are to be expected this week. Make things easier for yourself by watching what you say and do in the presence of the emotionally volatile. Dont wind them up. CALL 0904 470 1165*

Virgo 24 AUG-23 SEPT Its good to be direct but not so direct that you hurt others feelings. That may not worry you much now, but it will later when they go out of their way to hurt you back. Some people can be alarmingly touchy, so make sure you think before you speak. CALL 0904 470 1166*

Libra 24 SEPT-23 OCT You must be decisive, even ruthless this week, especially when dealing with those who take liberties with your forgiving nature. You have given them plenty of warnings, but they are unwilling to take the hint so youve no option but to get tough. CALL 0904 470 1167*

Scorpio 24 OCT-22 NOV Something that occurs this week will take you by complete surprise, but looking back, youll realise you should have seen it coming. Stay objective and, even if you feel sorry for those involved, dont get emotional. Stuff happens: accept it and move on. CALL 0904 470 1168*

Sagittarius 23 NOV-21 DEC You may just want to have fun, but the planets urge you to get on top of your workload first. Also, something unexpected is about to occur and youll need your wits about you to take care of it  which is unlikely to be the case if you hit the town. CALL 0904 470 1169*

Capricorn 22 DEC-20 JAN Youve thought long and hard about making changes to your life that you know will cause upheavals  to family and friends as well as yourself. However, you must be true to yourself, so start making changes this week  and dont stop until your life is transformed. CALL 0904 470 1170*

To discover more about yourself, visit sallybrompton.com

*For a fuller forecast, call the number next to your star sign above. Calls cost 65p per minute plus your telephone companys network access charge and will last no longer than 8 minutes. SP: DMG Mobile & TV. Helpline: 0330 100 0601.
Wearing the new seasons wide-leg trousers by Acne Studio and a fitted jacket from Rag & Bone to balance the silhouette. Bag, Celine

You know the voice. Its the one that pops into your head when youre thinking about wearing your new skirt. You love it and it fits perfectly. But here comes that wretched voice again, sneaking in out of nowhere and whispering: You cant wear that  your bum is too big and youre too old. That voice loves nothing more than squishing lifes joys. Experts call it your inner critic  and its something women listen to far more than men.

Ive now given mine a different name  Doris  and, strangely, this makes it much easier to ignore her. Every time Doris butts in on my day, I tell her sharply: Not now, Doris. And  poof!  she disappears off to make someone elses life a misery. Stamping out Doris has been transformative  and heres what else has been perking up my 2022

1 A red lip. In January and February nothing cheers like a swipe of red lipstick. Its the most effortless way to look glamorous and pulled together. My current favourite is from Nars and called Inappropriate Red. I like it for its hydration and flattering tone. Gwyneth Paltrow was on to something when she said: Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kickass red lipstick.

Going (head-to-toe) green: Gwyneth Paltrow in Great Expectations

2 90s chic. Talking of Gwyneth, Ive been re-watching her movies for her sleek outfits. A Perfect Murder and Great Expectations are my favourites. Her all-green Donna Karan cardigan and slinky skirt in the latter remain unbeatable. Out of curiosity, I popped into her Goop store when I was in New York recently. It was filled with a carefully curated clothing line, beauty products and scented candles with eye-popping names such as This Smells Like My Orgasm. I felt a little self-conscious sniffing them in the store. But I did buy some Goop Glow Moisturiser which has been working a treat.

3 Warm texture duos. Fashion-wise Ive been mixing leather skirts and trousers with cashmere to create a luxe look. And Im keeping the sparkle until spring  my favourite sequined skirt isnt just for Christmas.

4 Samanthas lucky escape. Something I havent enjoyed as much as Id hoped is the Sex And The City reboot And Just Like That. I find it preachy and the characters have lost their joy. No wonder Samantha fled to London.

Follow me on Instagram @thestylistandthewardrobe

This would look effortless with knee-high boots right now. Dress, 295, rixo.co.uk. Guaranteed to lift your mood. Lipstick, 22, Nars, net-a-porter.com

Leather skirts are having a rebirth. Wear with cashmere for a chic look. Skirt, 220, jigsaw-online.com. Ill never tire of beautiful pearls. Earrings, 195, Completedworks, matchesfashion.com
Melanie Sykes has warned her son about dangers of porn, telling him: 'Not all women look like that and not everybody wants to do those things'
Discovering that her fiance was an undercover cop sent to infiltrate her friendship group turned Donna McLeans life upside down. She tells Anna Moore how she was just one of many unsuspecting victims of a policy that has since rocked the Metropolitan Police

Donna McLeans partner 'Carlo Neri' did not exist. He was a police spy on long-term undercover deployment

It was the perfect setting for a proposal  Donna McLeans partner Carlo had planned it that way. It had been his idea to invite friends round to celebrate New Year on 31 December 2002. Carlo had decorated Donnas flat in Londons Maida Vale: hed put up the tree, hung the tinsel and framed the door with fairy lights. Wearing a new corduroy shirt (a Christmas present from Donnas mum), he welcomed each guest with a Rossini cocktail and charmed them all. Hes a keeper! friends whispered to Donna. The Pogues Fairytale of New York was playing and Donna and Carlo were dancing when he dropped to one knee and asked, Will you marry me?

Yes, yes, I will, she replied, and everyone cheered as he lifted her in the air. I had no doubts whatsoever, says Donna, who was 30 at the time. It felt like it was meant to be. This was the next stage of my life and it was going to be spent with him.

The ring never materialised. The wedding never happened. In reality, the proposal was a piece of theatre. Carlo Neri, this charming Italian, who was practical, protective, politically engaged  and Donnas perfect partner  did not exist. Neri wasnt even his real surname.

Through 2003, as the couple walked Londons canal paths planning their wedding and the names of their future children  Luca for a boy, Frida for a girl  Carlo had been playing a role. He was at work, paid for every minute he spent with Donna. In truth, he was already married with a son. His family lived an hour from Donnas flat.

Carlo was a police spy on long-term undercover deployment known as deep swimming. Hed been tasked with infiltrating left-wing groups and Donna, a former nurse who managed a drug treatment service for homeless people, was his way in. Though she wasnt especially politically active herself, many of her friends were. They were trade unionists, members of the Socialist Workers Party and part of the justice campaign for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. They trusted Donna so they trusted Carlo. In her new memoir Small Town Girl, Donna sets out just what it is like to meet the perfect man, to love and lose him  then discover years later that it was all a lie.

Perhaps most shockingly, her story isnt an isolated case. This highly secret police policy of infiltrating over 1,000 political groups in order to gain intelligence stretches back to 1968. The officers selected had to be married and settled in order to have a secure base to return to. Their deployments typically lasted around five years and in that time, they formed intimate relationships. Donna now knows of 50 women who unknowingly had relationships with undercover officers. At least three had children with them.

The policy first came to light in 2010 because of a chance discovery by Lisa, an environmental campaigner who was on holiday with Mark Stone, her boyfriend of six years. Rooting through the glove box of his van in search of sunglasses, she found instead an old passport under the name of Mark Kennedy. There was also an unfamiliar mobile containing messages from children, referring to Mark as Dad. When she and other activists began digging, they found the birth certificate for Kennedys son, which recorded Kennedys occupation as police officer.

More cases began to emerge in the UK media. In 2011, a group of women launched legal action against the Metropolitan Police and Association of Chief Police Officers for the harm caused by deceiving them into long-term intimate relationships that breached their human rights. Although the Met has offered an unreserved apology and paid damages, the issue hasnt gone away. In 2015, a Public Inquiry into Undercover Policing was launched in response to the growing number of women coming forward  women who had read the victims stories and seen the telltale patterns in their own pasts.

Donna now sees that her relationship with Carlo ticked every spy cop box. They had met in September 2002 at an anti-war march in London (not an extreme, fringe event but the UKs biggest demonstration in 30 years, where hundreds of thousands protested against military action in Iraq). Donna was at a vulnerable stage. Id just come out of a 12-year relationship, so I was a bit all over the place, she says. With Carlo, there was a huge attraction but also a very quick emotional intimacy.

They connected in so many ways. They shared the same political values, read the same books, liked the same music. More importantly, Carlo seemed a little lost, just like Donna. He claimed that hed lived much of his life in Italy (he spoke fluent Italian) but had come to England after his mothers death. His father had been violent towards his mother throughout his life and Carlo was haunted by his failure to protect her. Donna had also grown up with a violent father. When you have a similar experience like that, it speeds up the bond, she says.

It becomes an obsession. You need to know who he really was

Donna has since learnt that spy cops always arrived with a traumatic backstory involving some degree of family separation. In the beginning, it makes you compassionate. You want to look after them, she explains. It also gives them a ready-made excuse for not introducing you to family members. And that trauma is the tool they use to extract themselves at the end.

Their relationship moved fast. Carlo seemed to have everything. He was an accomplished cook  on their first morning together, he cooked eggs benedict, whipping up a hollandaise sauce from scratch while Donna was still in bed. He especially loved dogs (they planned to get a rescue hound and call him Che). Carlo was caring, romantic but also practical  he worked as a locksmith. He advised Donna on securing her flat and changed the locks, as well as the locks of countless other activists, effectively holding his own set of keys to all of them.

Within six weeks of meeting, he had moved into Donnas flat and over the next few months, met her family in Scotland several times, even attending her sisters graduation that autumn. Donnas mother adored him.

Carlo didnt bring many belongings with him. He had a snow globe collection which he lined up on the mantelpiece  Donnas mum began buying him more whenever she went away. He also had some framed photographs. One was of his young son  according to Carlo, the result of a fling. Every other weekend, Carlo visited him, supposedly in Cornwall. (Donna wanted to meet him, but Carlo claimed that the mother was obstructive.) The other picture was of Carlos sister, who he said lived in Peterborough. Carlo claimed that she was unhappy and reclusive, and spent most of her time drinking and smoking inside her home.

For much of 2003, the newly engaged couple were blissfully happy. They celebrated Donnas 31st birthday on holiday with her family in Whitby. For Carlos 33rd birthday, he took her to his home city of Bologna. Back in London, Donna was busy with a demanding job and Carlo juggled political meetings and events with work as a locksmith and also an Italian food business, which involved regular trips to Italy.

Towards the end of that year, though, he began to change. He became irritable, distracted, drank more and talked about his unhappy childhood. His once neat goatee grew into a straggly beard. Hed disappear with no explanation  he was once uncontactable for an entire week then claimed hed been jailed in Italy for urinating on a police car. Hed gone from being utterly reliable and resourceful to chaotic, all over the place, says Donna.

Carlo spent Christmas 2003 in Italy  supposedly with his family  and, while away, told Donna that his father had died. When he finally returned in mid-January, his physical transformation was shocking. Hed lost weight, his hair was long, his eyes looked completely different. Carlo said that at the funeral, his troubled sister had revealed that their father had sexually abused her as a child. He graphically described the acts shed supposedly been subjected to. I was devastated, says Donna. What he was telling me was so awful. I believed it completely.

It was the beginning of the end. Carlo refused therapy. He was distant, unreachable, close to breakdown. He moved out but continued the relationship, insisting he only needed time alone. He once messaged Donna when she was at a friends birthday party to say he was suicidal and Donna did all she could to support him. In November 2004 Carlo told Donna that he loved her more than she would ever know but he couldnt make it work. She later heard through a friend of a friend that he had moved back to Italy.

There followed, says Donna, a couple of dark years while she picked up the pieces. She changed her job, relocated to Folkestone, met someone new and had twin daughters  though she is no longer with their father. With Carlo, I thought Id had this wonderful relationship that had gone horribly wrong because of terrible things, she says. It was very sad but something I had no control over  and I had very good memories, some of the best times in my life. Then, in 2015, I found out none of it was real.

By then, Donna had read the coverage around spy cops and noticed the resemblances to her own story. The way the relationship progressed and the way he left was so similar to the experiences of the other women, but I didnt understand how I would fit into this, she says. I wasnt a prominent activist. I was working in a drug treatment hostel. Why would I be part of this mad story? In July 2015, she was messaged by an old friend, inviting her to a meeting in London. There she learned that Carlo had been positively identified as an undercover officer by activists and researchers who were investigating the scandal.

Her life became a series of shocks. First, its the fact that, Oh my god, hes an undercover cop, she says. Then you find out hes married, so the picture in our flat was his real son. Then you find his wife was pregnant when we were together (Carlos wife became pregnant with their second child towards the end of his relationship with Donna).

Youre playing catch-up with your life, having to reinvestigate everything as your narrative no longer makes sense. When you first find out, you think, He was a cop but the feelings must have been genuine. Then the penny starts dropping. No. I was work. He was getting paid to be with me.

For months, Donna was barely able to sleep  and when she did, she had a recurring nightmare of an intruder in the house. She was easily startled, panicked by the dark. Youre in this odd state of hyper-vigilance, this heightened anxiety, she says. If my privacy had been invaded to that degree  not just my home but my body  were they still watching me? How would I ever know? She was also on a truth-seeking mission, intent on knowing every detail about the real Carlo. It becomes an obsession, she says. You need to know who he really was. You want any bit of truth to hold on to, good or bad.

I had some of the best times in my life. Then I learned none of it was real

With the help of activists, she found that Carlos sister was a real person  not a recluse in Peterborough, but the owner of an upmarket deli in North London. She had a beautiful home and handsome husband. Carlos father hadnt died in Bologna that Christmas  he was alive and well and living in London. That romantic birthday trip to Bologna didnt coincide with Carlos real birthday  and he was a year older than shed thought. Since leaving Donna, his first marriage had ended and he had remarried. (The wives of these undercover officers had no idea their husbands were forming intimate relationships on the job.) In March last year, Donna was paid damages and received a full apology from the Met.

Writing the book has helped her recover. At first, it was just a way of getting memories on paper so I could make sense of them, she says. At one point, she wrote every story Carlo had told her on a Post-it note and stuck each one on a wall, pinning down each lie. Joining with other women who had been deceived into relationships with undercover officers, speaking in public, campaigning for justice and change has also kept her strong.

When I ask how the experience has changed her, she gives the best answer possible: it hasnt. I really dont think Im any different, she says. It threw me and upended me but Ive come back to being who I am. Im not suspicious. Ive got huge trust in people generally. For all the bad people and the bad stuff, I know more good people who are challenging it. Strong, inspiring activists who keep going and dont get beaten.

And what about Carlo? Would she like to meet him again? What would she say? I will see him again, she says. In 2025, hell be at the Public Inquiry into Undercover Policing [which, as well as taking years to gather evidence, has been delayed due to Covid] and hell have a lot of questions to answer.

In terms of confronting him myself, I dont know if theres any benefit to it. These men are such good liars, what would be the point? I dont believe I would walk away with any truth.

Maybe Id ask him, Do you even like snow globes? Did you really like dogs? What was real? She laughs then pauses, before adding, If he walked in now, I guess Id ask, How can you look at yourself in the mirror? How can you sleep at night?
Everything the Queen wears has a meaning  especially the bold colours she so loves. As she celebrates 70 years on the throne, Claudia Joseph examines the many shades of our longest-serving monarch

And, as the outfit she wore for last years Christmas message showed (above), she still likes to accompany the shade with a slash of vibrant lipstick.

When the Queen recorded her first Christmas message since the death of her husband last year, she paid tribute to her beloved Philip. On her desk was a portrait of the couple taken on their Diamond Wedding anniversary at Broadlands, the former home of the Duke of Edinburghs uncle Lord Mountbatten. But it was not just her moving words  nor that Diamond Wedding image, which re-created a photo taken on their honeymoon 60 years earlier  that proved symbolic: she was wearing the same sapphire chrysanthemum brooch that she had worn on both occasions. It was a typically thoughtful gesture by the Queen, who wore an embossed wool dress in festive red created by her senior dresser and confidante Angela Kelly.

As the most photographed woman in the world, the monarch is renowned for her rainbow wardrobe, coordinated hats, Launer handbags, Rayne pumps, pearl necklaces and heirloom brooches  all carefully chosen to honour her hosts. In fact, she has barely put a sartorial foot wrong in her 70 years on the throne. The colour must suit both the Queen and the occasion, writes Angela Kelly in her book The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe. For example, when Her Majesty visits a school she is always dressed in a bright colour, and her hat has the kind of details that will appeal to children  feathers, twirls, flowers, ribbons. When she visits a residential home for older people, she wears a strong, well-defined colour, with a structured hat, to help those who are visually impaired to see her and feel part of the visit.

Each colour suits both the queen and the occasion

The Queen has always paid homage to her host country on royal tours by incorporating national colours or emblems. When Sir Norman Hartnell created an evening gown for a 1961 state dinner in Lahore, he chose ivory and emerald green  the colours of the Pakistan flag. For her visit to Australia in 1974, designer Ian Thomas chose bright yellow silk chiffon, embroidered with sprays of wattle  the countrys national flower. And when she visited Canada for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Hartnell decorated her turquoise silk shift dress with rings inspired by the Olympic symbol.

However, on occasion the design team has got things wrong. During the 2017 State Opening of Parliament, she outlined Brexit plans while wearing a hat with blue flowers and a yellow centre  resembling the EU flag. It was a coincidence but, boy, did it attract a lot of attention, Kelly writes.

The Queens accessories are equally important. Bookies regularly take bets on what colour hat she will wear for Ascot so it is a state secret until the day she appears.

Her custom-made Launer bags tend to have long handles so that she can hang them from her left arm without catching on her cuffs. Although they are said to be virtually empty  a photograph once revealed just a small purse or glasses case  she apparently uses them to send messages to her staff. If she switches her bag to her right arm, it is a signal that she needs to be rescued; if she places it on the table, it means she wants to leave.

The family firm of Rayne, which received the Royal Warrant in 1936, makes most of the Queens shoes: usually in cream, white or black with no more than a two-inch heel. Kelly, who has the same size feet, wears them in so that the Queen is comfortable.

No outfit would be complete without the Queens trademark transparent umbrella with a coloured trim to match her outfit, and gloves, which she was wearing long before Covid to ensure she is germ-free as she shakes hands with hundreds of people.

Red: stately and standout

Red: stately and standout The Queens senior dresser Angela Kelly says that the monarch wears bold shades such as red because they allow her to stand out from the crowd and be visible to well-wishers who have come to see her. And, as the outfit she wore for last years Christmas message showed (right), she still likes to accompany the shade with a slash of vibrant lipstick.

Yellow: always a ray of sunshine

Yellow: always a ray of sunshine The Queens biographer Robert Hardman once suggested that the monarch never wore beige because she wouldnt stand out in it. She does, however, favour sand and buttermilk hues alongside bolder egg-yolk shades of yellow, which allow people to say theyve seen the Queen  even if it was just the corner of a hat.





Green: for hope and luck



Green: for hope and luck From neon green to chartreuse, green is a celebratory colour for our Queen (although she wont wear it at grassy venues so as not to blend in). When she wore an emerald-green Stuart Parvin hat and coat for her 90th birthday celebrations in 2016 (above), she trended on Twitter with the hashtags #NeonAt90 and #HighVisHighness. Some say she enjoys this colour for its associations with hope and good luck.

Blue: a calming favourite

Blue: a calming favourite According to Vogue, the Queens favourite colour is blue. After analysing the monarchs wardrobe for a year, it discovered that she had worn a shade of the colour almost 30 per cent of the time. Certainly, since lockdown, she has stuck to a palette of blue and turquoise in her video calls  shades that symbolise calm and signify the importance of the NHS.

and a shade for all seasons I consider the four seasons separately and individually when designing for the Queen, Angela Kelly has said. Royal blue, for example, is brought out in winter, whereas pastel blues will be seen more in spring alongside flower motifs on lightweight coats and jackets.

and a shade for all seasons I consider the four seasons separately and individually when designing for the Queen, Angela Kelly has said. Royal blue, for example, is brought out in winter, whereas pastel blues will be seen more in spring alongside flower motifs on lightweight coats and jackets.

Pink: from pretty to powerful

Pink: from pretty to powerful Some of Her Majestys most memorable looks have been in monochromatic pink shades  from salmon to fuchsia  and the study by Vogue revealed it was one of her most-worn colours. Baby pink and pastel tones are a wardrobe staple, but she doesnt shy away from bolder blocking in hotter tones. Its a make-up bag favourite, too  preferred over brighter reds.

Purple: the ultimate regal shade

Purple: the ultimate regal shade A colour long associated with royalty and wealth (in fact, Elizabeth I forbade anyone except close members of the Royal Family to wear it), purple truly is the shade fit for a Queen. Shell opt for lighter lilac choices in spring and summer, while Angela Kelly explains that her winter dressing is more likely to see her don deep purple, as well as velvets and wools, with matching scarves and warm hats.
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Ms W.D. writes: I have a problem with a will I tried to make through Simpsons Solicitors of Derby. One of its staff took instructions from me last April, and preparing the will cost 1,200 plus 83 expenses.

A week later, I called and asked whether the will was ready to be signed and witnessed, but was told the firm was very busy.

However, my bank statement showed the 1,283 had been taken. I am nearly 90 and still have not had my will for signature.

'Rules': Simpsons Solicitors of Derby is part of the Right Legal Group

Tony Hetherington replies: Simpsons is part of a network of law firms called the Right Legal Group, so I asked its compliance officer Danielle Wilkes to look into what you say happened, and to let us have her company's comments, particularly as a bill for more than 1,200 for drafting a will seems unusually high. You helpfully signed a letter, authorising Ms Wilkes' company to discuss your complaint with me.

Despite this, Ms Wilkes replied: 'We are unable to comment due to our duty of confidentiality to our client, and for reasons that I cannot disclose, we are unable to accept the form of authority. As a regulated law firm that specialises in wills and probate, we often deal with vulnerable clients, and I strongly suggest that it would not be in Ms D's best interest to continue with publication.'

She added that any complaint should be handled by an Ombudsman, and that if I went ahead and published your letter, then 'we reserve the right to take appropriate action'.

The implication was that you were not competent to give Right Legal permission to talk to me. But in that case, surely this would mean you were not competent to make a will or to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman?

Ms Wilkes simply repeated that there was a complaints procedure which you should follow.

Fine, I said. I will act on your behalf, filing a complaint under Right Legal's internal procedure and then, if necessary, I would represent you in dealing with the Legal Ombudsman.

I asked Ms Wilkes to let me have a copy of her firm's complaints procedure. She refused, telling me: 'We are under no duty to share our internal complaints procedure with you, nor do we believe it is in our client's best interest to do so.' She later added that Right Legal was unable to reveal its complaints policy because 'you are not our client.'

What Ms Wilkes failed to mention though, was that her firm had just contacted you and returned your money. When you told me this, you emphasised: 'To this day, I have never seen my will, printed or witnessed.'

And I have to say that in my own contact with you, I have seen nothing to suggest that you are 'vulnerable' or not competent.

Clearly, Right Legal may disagree. Ms Wilkes commented: 'We have fully investigated the issues raised by Ms D and although we take all feedback on board, we wholly refute the accuracy of the statement and can confirm that the facts of the case are not as described in her letter.'

Her firm was bound by strict rules of confidentiality, she added, and she claimed that Right Legal had in fact acted on your instructions.

Ms Wilkes wanted me to name you in print, despite suggesting you are 'vulnerable'. But she did not explain why you had been given a full refund only after I intervened, and she went back on her hint about your mental state, telling me she had never suggested you were  or were not  vulnerable, in which case I have to wonder why she dropped such a huge hint in the first place.

Two weeks ago, Ms Wilkes asked to be put in touch with The Mail on Sunday's legal team, who would apparently understand that she was legally unable to say anything about your allegations, even with your consent, because she was bound by a duty of confidentiality and legal privilege.

I gave her the contact details but since then we have heard nothing. My Learned Friend comments: 'Sounds like a complete try on to me.' Now there's legal advice I can understand.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Investment house Fidelity International is convinced it pays to have fund managers located in the regions where the companies they invest in are based.

Although Zoom and the pandemic have changed things slightly, being on the ground means easier and quicker access to the management of companies they are either looking to invest in  or already have a stake in.

Investment trust Fidelity Japan is run in this way. The 250million stock market-listed fund has been managed by Nicholas Price from Fidelity's Tokyo office since September 2015.

Price has been based in the capital for the past 20 years, either running money or working as an investment analyst.

'Being on the ground is a big differentiator for us,' says Price. 'We see hundreds of companies every year  businesses we're already investors in and companies we're interested in.'

He adds: 'Over the past ten years, there has been an explosion in entrepreneurship across Japan. The result is more new companies, more disruptors being launched that are challenging the status quo.

'Some are listed, others are unlisted. Being based in Tokyo means we get a close-up perspective on what is going on and what is interesting from an investment point of view. As a result, we often buy into companies before others do.'

There are 3,500 listed companies in Japan, ten per cent are well covered by analysts. We like digging out opportunities outside that top 350

By way of example, the trust invested in Coconala in 2019, some two years before the business did an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The company provides a platform for businesses to buy and sell services  everything from marketing through to web design.

'It has been a four bagger for us,' says Price, referring to the fact that the trust's initial investment quadrupled in value.

Price has since crystallised some profits although he still holds the stock in the portfolio. The trust's board caps overall exposure to unlisted companies at ten per cent.

While the trust's 90 holdings do comprise some names familiar to UK investors such as Olympus  famous for its cameras  Price prefers to invest in companies that are not on the radar of other fund managers and analysts.

'There are 3,500 listed companies in Japan,' he says. 'About ten per cent are well covered by analysts. We like digging out opportunities outside that top 350.'

Examples, he says, include Mitsui High-tec, a company that provides precision machine tools for the car industry.

'We bought into the business last year,' says Price, 'but only after doing a lot of work on it. Its technology is leading edge and its sales are improving as Japanese car manufacturers move to hybrid and electric vehicles.'

The trust's long-term performance is strong. Over the past five years, it has delivered returns of 73 per cent, better than the average for its fund peer group (46 per cent). But over the past year, it has recorded losses (21 per cent) bigger than its rivals (an average 10 per cent).

Price says this is in part a result of the fact that the trust has exposure to companies that are still suffering from Covid restrictions imposed by the Japanese government.

For example, a key holding is Oriental Land, a business that owns Tokyo Disneyland which was closed for four months in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.

Price expects earnings to grow strongly in the coming months as people flock back to the resort. Similarly, earnings at Olympus should improve as hospitals return to carrying out routine operations, using Olympus camera equipment such as endoscopes.

The trust's stock market identification code is 0332855 and the annual charges are a tad under one per cent.
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

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Three of Britain's biggest water companies paid no corporation tax last year, an investigation by The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Our findings that they failed to contribute a penny of the business tax to the Treasury's coffers will infuriate critics at a time when water firms are under fire for pumping raw sewage into rivers and coastal waters.

Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Southern Water  controlled by wealthy overseas investors and foreign Governments  have been repeatedly accused of polluting bathing water and causing catastrophic damage to wildlife. Critics have demanded the overhaul of a 'broken' system that allows water giants to build up vast debts and siphon billions of pounds out of the country.

Leaking money: Thames, Yorkshire and Southern forked out a total of 1.4billion to service massive debts and satisfy other charges linked to their complex financial structures

Our probe discovered that the three companies forked out a total of 1.4billion to service massive debts and satisfy other charges linked to their complex financial structures.

This resulted in the wiping out of their profits and therefore of their corporation tax liabilities. The tax is only charged on companies that are in the black.

The three firms were singled out for criticism four years ago when Michael Gove, then Environment Secretary, complained that they made 'particularly keen use of sophisticated financial engineering' to reduce their tax burden while enriching their shareholders.

The Mail on Sunday revealed in November that nine water companies had amassed debts of more than 50billion despite being privatised in the 1990s free of borrowings. Thames, Yorkshire and Southern are responsible for half of that figure. A separate report earlier last month said a total of 72billion had been extracted by the owners of the companies in dividends and other payments.

The Public Accounts Committee has said there is a 'serious risk' that parts of England  particularly London and the South East  will run out of water in 20 years. Major investment will be required to repair leaking supply networks, as well as importing water into the worst hit regions and building reservoirs.

Feargal Sharkey, the pop star turned campaigner for clean rivers, said: 'What we have with these companies is smoke and mirrors. They have made off with 72billion and we've ended up with rivers full of sewage. They are out of control.

'A lack of investment means parts of the South East are running out of water. Someone is going to have to start spending huge amounts of money.

But with 50billion of debt sitting on the balance sheet, they can't afford to finance that. So the taxpayer gets screwed and our environment has been devastated. Who is picking up the bill for that?'

Sharkey, who is chairman of Hertfordshire's Amwell Magna Fishery, the oldest fly-fishing club in England, called for urgent action from the Government and regulator Ofwat to bring the companies into line. He also demanded that 30 per cent of each privately owned water company is returned to the stock market to improve transparency over their financial affairs.

Southern's biggest shareholders include Australian fund Macquarie, which is known as the 'vampire kangaroo' for squeezing billions of pounds in dividends from Thames Water, which it owned between 2006 and 2017. The company made a loss of 350million on revenues of almost 785million last year.

The owners of Thames now include funds controlled by the Abu Dhabi and Kuwaiti governments. Its parent company, Kemble Water Holdings, reported revenue of 2billion and a loss of 370million.

Yorkshire Water is owned by foreign sovereign wealth funds including GIC Special Investments, controlled by the Singapore government. Kelda Holdings, its parent company, reported revenue of 1.1billion and a loss of 152million.

Each of the water firms paid tax through National Insurance contributions, VAT and other taxes and is investing heavily in infrastructure. They argue the low-tax structure helps keep bills low.

Thames said: 'We have an unprecedented amount of investment directed towards safeguarding our rivers and streams. Between 2020 and 2025 we are spending 1.25billion on maintaining and improving our operational sites.'

A statement on Yorkshire Water's website said it has 'not been required to pay any corporation tax in recent years'. The company said it paid 148million in other taxes last year.
Britain's biggest building society, the Nationwide, has held talks to acquire TSB.

Initial discussions stalled, but the revelation of Nationwide's interest last night triggered a flurry of speculation the deal will be back on.

The mutual held discussions with investment bankers advising TSB's Spanish owner Banco Sabadell in 2020, when the UK arm was put up for sale.

Hotseat: Ex-TSB boss Debbie Crosbie is about to take the top job at Nationwide

Sabadell pulled the process last year  with new chief executive Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno saying he did not want a fire sale of the British bank. But, crucially, he added that he did not rule out selling TSB in the future.

Now Debbie Crosbie, recently departed chief executive of TSB, is to take over as boss of Nationwide later this year. Her knowledge of both lenders would make her perfectly placed to lead a merger.

Nationwide has grown by more than the size of TSB over the last six years and the ambitious Crosbie will be keen to make her mark. A link-up would create a major new force in mortgage lending and savings.

It would be snapping at the heels of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK's largest mortgage lender which has more than 300 billion of home loans, though insiders said it would be unlikely to trigger a competition probe.

Sabadell might look to offload TSB later this year following the bank's recent strong performance. The Spanish giant last week indicated it expects to reach its earnings targets a year early, noting TSB contributed 118million of its 530million profit.

Nationwide said: 'As members would expect, we are always looking at ways to grow the society to better serve them.'

But it would likely face competition from Cooperative Bank which has twice tried to buy TSB  most recently lodging a bid in excess of 1billion.
Top bosses at LV have been paid more than 100,000 in just seven weeks after the collapse of a deal they concocted with a US private equity firm.

While they continue to haul in the cash, LV's 1.2million members remain in limbo over the future of the mutual insurer.

Mark Hartigan, the chief executive, and chairman Alan Cook vociferously campaigned to sell the 179-year-old mutual, previously known as Liverpool Victoria, to US private equity giant Bain Capital.

In the money: Chief executive Mark Hartigan, left, and chairman Alan Cook

They suffered a humiliating defeat after LV members snubbed the 'derisory' offer in December, but remain in their lucrative posts raking in thousands of pounds a day.

As yet, members have had no update on what will happen next. So what is going on? The Mail on Sunday finds out.

What has happened at LV?

Members scuppered a deal concocted by Hartigan and Cook to sell the company to private equity group Bain.

The sale would have meant LV losing its cherished mutual status. Since it was established as Liverpool Victoria in the 19th Century to help poor families in Liverpool pay for funerals, it has been owned by members and run for their benefit.

Ownership by private equity would have meant handing control to a profit-hungry investor. Hundreds of policyholders contacted the Save LV Campaign in the weeks before the vote, outraged at plans to sell the mutual to a buyer likely to milk it for cash.

Hartigan and Cook, both in line for big gains under Bain, chose the private equity route in preference to a bid from fellow mutual Royal London. They refused to say why.

The upshot: members shot down Bain's bid, which included an offer of a paltry 100 each to members  well below the sums paid out in previous demutualisations.

Why are the duo still there?

Good question. After their humiliating defeat, Cook promised to leave when a path for LV's future was established. As things stand, he is still pocketing his 205,000-ayear fee as chairman. This tots up to 29,000 since the vote, which is only just below the median average full-time wage for a whole year.

Hartigan remains in his well-remunerated post despite an outcry from members. He has pocketed 72,000 since December 10. LV declined to comment on whether he would be handed a bonus for 2021.

In previous debacles, top bosses have been replaced with a credible industry heavyweight, brought in from outside to sort out the mess. A suitable person could be drafted by LV's independent directors.

Labour MP Gareth Thomas, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Mutuals, said: 'It beggars belief both Cook and Hartigan haven't had the courage to make way for new independent directors committed to a mutual and British future for LV. What's even worse is they're still trousering members' money. They should go now.'

Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake, who sits on Parliament's Treasury Committee, said: 'It's high time Cook and Hartigan left. Every day they stay they're earning more of members' money, and any delay is only acting in their interests.

'Members want independent leadership to make sure any new deal gets done quickly and is in their best interests.'

Former Pensions Minister Baroness Altmann said: 'There's a strong case for members to request an independent assessment of the Royal London deal and the management's actions, given what's happened. Cook and Hartigan were clearly set on the Bain deal, and the tactics they used to try to persuade members were pretty strong-arm. But they didn't work, and members will now want some reassurance.'

What's the latest?

The announcement that the Bain bid had failed was accompanied by another, stating that Royal London wanted to step in with a new bid. Royal London was prepared to enter exclusive talks with LV and a deal seemed imminent. The original Royal London offer was almost identical to Bain's and the new proposal has been enhanced so it will maintain LV's mutual status.

What are LV bosses playing at?

They have decided to start from scratch, almost as if the years of talks to sell the business, including with Royal London, never happened. A spokesman said the calculations done back in 2020, when the process to find a buyer began, must be redrafted, since almost two years have passed since then. In the meantime, the clock is ticking lucratively for the expensive bankers, lawyers and advisers, all of whom continue to draw fees. The board is again assessing its 'strategic options'.

It is understood not to be actively looking for new bids beyond Royal London. Options now include a possible wind-down of the business  letting current policies mature and then shutting up shop  or continuing to run LV as a standalone operator.

Could LV go it alone?

Bosses claimed in late 2020 it desperately needed cash to survive and thrive. They said it needed to invest in its technology and growth, but didn't have the money to do this alone. So external investment from Bain or Royal London was better than using members' cash, they argued. This was at odds with earlier declarations that it had a flourishing future as a mutual.

Why the silence?

Another very good question. A full 50 days have passed without a peep from the LV board. The Mail on Sunday understands there have been 'high-level' discussions with Royal London, but Hartigan and Cook have so far refused to enter into formal talks. Have discussions stalled? It is not clear. A former LV executive said: 'The board would be mad if they're not in talks with Royal London. They've said they can't stay independent, so a mutual merger looks like the only path.'

Will Royal definitely buy LV?

Nothing is certain. Sources close to Royal London suggested under its initial offer, more money would have gone to LV members than with Bain, but those figures were never made public. And there is no guarantee it will table the same bid.

Are my savings at risk?

No. Members' money is not at risk, thankfully.
A trio of senior bosses have left Royal Mail as the postal giant battles to recover from a catastrophic festive period.

Chief operating officer Achim Duennwald and service delivery directors Jane Simpson and Shiona Rolfe have departed, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

All change: Chief operating officer Achim Duennwald and service delivery directors Jane Simpson and Shiona Rolfe have departed

It is understood Duennwald will be replaced while Simpson and Rolfe's roles are being stripped out.

Duennwald, a former executive at rival DHL and consultants McKinsey, was appointed by former boss Rico Back  and was criticised for running the firm from his home nation Germany during the 2020 lockdown.

Chief executive Simon Thompson is trying to stabilise Royal Mail operations after a tumultuous Christmas when the Omicron surge caused significant delays to deliveries.

Royal Mail last week cut 700 managerial jobs two months after handing 400million to shareholders.

The cuts will save 40million but involve a one-off 70million charge, forcing it to lower profit estimates.
Jeff 'Moneybags' Fairburn can expect to be judged by the company he keeps after his new bedfellow's latest move.

He was ousted from housebuilder Persimmon over a 75million bonus in 2018. Now his new partners at hedge fund Elliott Investment Management have taken aim at his former employer.

Elliott has taken a 42million short position in Persimmon, joining investor Citadel Advisors Europe in betting against the stock. It comes after Elliott provided backing to aid Fairburn's takeover of Avant Homes last year.

Keep your hat on: Elliott has taken a 42million short position in Persimmon, joining investor Citadel Advisors Europe in betting against the stock

Stocks to Watch revealed in November that Elliott had begun shorting rival housebuilders Barratt and Bellway. It is now sitting on a paper profit after all UK builders' stocks plummeted over nerves about cladding bills.

The US investment house is known for its attacks on corporate giants, including GlaxoSmithKline and SSE. It is also stirring the pot at Taylor Wimpey.

It's clearly hard hat time for building bosses.

Threat of fireworks at Hyve AGM

Exhibitions group Hyve hosts its annual shareholder meeting this week with the threat of fireworks.

Adviser Glass Lewis says 'shareholders may reasonably question the suitability' of awards under its bonus scheme as Covid battered the group.

It also says Hyve's response to a pay rebellion last year was 'troubling', but stops short of advising a vote against its bosses' pay.

Let's see if investors are as tolerant as Glass Lewis.

Future of Ultra Electronics in balance

The Future of Ultra Electronics is in the balance.

The Government is deliberating on whether to refer its 2.8billion takeover by defence firm Cobham for a deeper probe by the competition watchdog.

Cobham is owned by US private equity firm Advent and there are concerns over national security risks of selling a key supplier to the Royal Navy to an overseas buyer.

Some investors appear to have decided that the deal will fail. The stock is down 7 per cent this month at 29.64  well below the 35-a-share offer.

The MoS revealed that US hedge fund Davidson Kempner began betting against the stock last year and it confirms that it has now closed the position after the recent slump, sitting on a tidy profit.

Poor governance claims over Liberty Global

Telecoms investors may be buoyed by the prospect of rising internet bills. But there's a fly in the ointment for Liberty Global, which owns Virgin Media O2. Analysts at Berenberg Bank say poor governance is preventing them advising clients to buy into the US stock.

Liberty is chaired by John Malone, a billionaire 'cable cowboy' who owns sprawling US ranches.

Berenberg says Malone and his chief exec Mike Fries have an outsized voting influence, and argues its board (average age, 78) is not diverse enough. Fries was paid 39million in 2020, five times more than his European telecoms peers. Whoa there!
Sydney's love affair with cocaine has exploded in the last 20 years, with the appetite for the drug across the city becoming increasingly 'insatiable'.

TV actors, models and wannabe gangsters who pose on Instagram in bikinis or with luxury cars displaying their tattoos and gangster bling have been arrested, convicted and sent off to jail.

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics figures released this year showed a 12.5 per cent increase of cocaine use and possession arrests over the five years until 2020, whereas drugs like ecstasy had declined in popularity.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission suggests the nation's base of cocaine users is 'broadening', with a growing social acceptability of the drug.

Drug manufacturers of cocaine in South America see Australia as a lucrative market for large exports due to its high price - about $300 a gram - on Sydney streets.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott slammed the 'cocaine culture' which is particularly rife in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Glamorous Bondi 'drugs pin-up girl' Danielle Tara Hogan has just been jailed for a maximum three years and 10 months for supplying 580 bags of cocaine in 370 deliveries across Sydney.

The 26-year-old, who posted photos of her lavish holidays, designer clothes and dinners at trendy beachfront bars despite being unemployed, is in prison for at least 17 months and won't be eligible for parole until April 2023.

Last year, hairdresser and glamour model Wethbet Almaali, also known as Lara Dior, was found unconscious behind the wheel of her pink Mercedes less than five months after she was caught driving with cocaine in her system.

She pleaded guilty to drug driving and was slapped with a fine.

Some, like former reality TV star Jordan Finlayson who fell into the grip fo a $5000-a-week drug habit and lost years of her young life to cocaine-fuelled parties, only received a relatively short sentence.

Glamorous Bondi 'drugs pin-up girl' Danielle Tara Hogan has just been jailed for a maximum three years and 10 months for delivering 600 bags of cocaine across Sydney

The 26-year-old (being arrested, above) who posted photos of lavish holidays and designer clothes, is in prison for at least 17 months and won't be eligible for parole until April 2023

Bondi party boy Darren John Mohr, 46, was jailed for a maximum 32 years over a $150m cocaine importation plot

The onetime Beauty and the Geek runner-up and ex-Penthouse model was caught dealing drugs in April 2020 and was jailed for a maximum 2 years and 3 months, but released in September this year.

Although her 18 months among female criminals in three different women's prisons left her traumatised and 'deeply ashamed', her jailing comes as no surprise after years of massive cocaine busts.

In April this year, police arrested designer-clad bikies after raids on gang strongholds where they seized bags of cash amounting to $1.2m, luxury cars, Rolex watches, Louis Vuitton sunglasses and 12.5kg of illicit drugs worth $12m, including Christian Dior-plated bricks of cocaine.

Just two months earlier, a massive 13kg of cocaine worth $5.8million was found hidden inside an air cargo consignment from Greece to Sydney of Capri wafer ice cream cone packets.

Last year, Bondi party boy Darren John Mohr, 46, was jailed for a maximum 32 years over a $150m cocaine importation plot.

The hulking former cafe owner had conspired to import 500kg of cocaine from Chile to the Sydney fish markets by boat in 2016.

Glamour model Wethbet Almaali, aka Lara Dior, was found unconscious behind the wheel of her pink Mercedes less than five months after she was caught driving with cocaine in her system

Robbery and Serious Crime Squad detectives seized a revolver, ammunition, more than 965g of cocaine, and $290,000 cash in a vehicle stop on December 8 in Sydney

A judge found Mohr - described in court as narcissistic, ego-driven and self-centred - had conspired to traffic drugs for the 'money, prestige' and extravagant lifestyle he flaunted on social media.

Two glamorous models from Canada showed off their luxury cruise ship destinations on Instagram as they sailed from port to port via South America and the Pacific while being tracked, unbeknownst to them, by Australian Border Force officials and police.

Former porn star Isabelle Lagace and Meline Roberge were escorted off the MS Sea Princess after it docked in Sydney in 2016 with 29kg of cocaine hidden in their cabin luggage.

After seeing the sights of Sydney women's prisons during minimum sentences of more than four years each, the French Canadian pair have now been deported back home and will never be able to travel here again.

Glamorous Canadians Melina Roberge and Isabelle Lagace (above) showed off their luxury cruise stops before arriving in Sydney where they were escorted off the MS Sea Princess to separate women's prisons for four plus years

Police seized almost a kilo of cocaine, a gun and $290,000 cash after stopping a car in Neutral Bay (right) in early December and arrested a 28-year-old man who was refused bail

Sydney 'eyebrow queen' Kristin Fisher was caught in a vehicle with bags of cocaine at her feet, but after pleading guilty to drug possession had her conviction annulled

Sydney 'eyebrow queen' Kristin Fisher was luckier after being caught at a dial-a-dealer hotspot in a car with bags of cocaine at her feet.

She pleaded guilty to drug possession, had her conviction annulled and received a six-month community release order, but in sentencing her, Magistrate Ross Hudson said cocaine was a 'stain' on the community.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott has previously said that while cocaine may be 'the drug of choice for the city's elite, that won't protect them from a cold jail cell'.

'The use of any illicit drug is unacceptable,' he said, 'regardless of the demographic or reason and I'll be backing our police 100 per cent in their battle to rid this poison from our community.'

But he's not talking about anything new.

The photographs of cocaine dealers, snorters and drug crime queens and kings from a century ago are not as racy as today's on Instagram.

But those facing Sydney's court after being arrested over cocaine in the 1920s and 1930s were just as caught up in the drug as their contemporaries are today.

Australian Federal Police prepare to burn 25 tonnes of seized drugs worth more than $5 billion including 1.3 tonnes of cocaine which went up in smoke in specialised furnaces

Reality TV star Jordan Finlayson descended into a $5000-a-week drug addiction which saw her attending cocaine-fuelled parties before she ended up serving time in prison

A judge found Mohr - described in court as narcissistic, ego-driven and self-centered - had conspired to traffick drugs for 'money, prestige' and the extravagant lifestyle he flaunted on social media

Sidney Kelly was a well-dressed drug trader and criminal of the 1920s who owned a motor car and associated with criminals and prostitutes

The roaring twenties post-World War I were fast times when brand new crimes, and illicit markets for alcohol, cocaine and opium gave birth to a new trade in Sydney.

The 1920s criminal underworld erupted in a violent turf war of the so-called razor gangs when new laws on firearms were introduced into Australia.

On the tough streets of inner Sydney in the late 1920s, those operating the sly grog and illegal gambling trades seized on an opportunity to make even more money.

Beforehand, cocaine had been a substance administered by pharmacists and dentists.

But the financial rewards for selling 'snow' and creating a whole clientele of addicts was soon realised.

Infamous cocaine peddler Lillian Sproule was a 'parasite in skirts' who 'raked in the money while dopers suffered' and cut the cocaine - known as 'snow' - by 30 per cent with boracic acid

The corner of Liverpool Street at Riley Street (above) in the heart of the inner city Sydney suburb where crime was rife and razor gangs fought over turf to peddle cocaine and sly grog

According to the book Drug traffic: Narcotics and organised crime in Australia by Alfred McCoy, an 'ounce of cocaine purchased from a retail chemist for 22 shillings could be adulterated with boracic acid to make 250 street packets worth five shillings each'.

That is a profit of more than 50 times the original outlay.

Sydney police called Charles Passmore 'King of the Underworld', but in the newspapers of the time he was known as the 'Cocaine King of Kings Cross'.

Passmore had a string of convictions, for fraud, theft, selling illegal alcohol, armed robbery and dealing cocaine and he employed a gang to act as street dealers for his cocaine empire.

Police considered Passmore a criminal mastermind with great acumen for coolly making money from illicit drugs and black market goods.

In 1929, he calmly smoked a cigar down in the cells below Central Criminal Court after a judge sentenced him to 12 years at the age of 57 to robbery under arms and wounding a bank teller.

'Human vulture': Sydney's 'Cocaine king' admitted he took cocaine 'like Aspro' and was said to have left 'a long trail of ruined women' addicted to the drug he sold them mixed with powdered glass

Disfigured snorter: Amy Lee had once been attractive but 'had the bone of her nose eaten away' by sniffing cocaine which was cut with powdered glass and boracic acid, and with her features distorted was now 'a derelict'

Passmore was described in court as 'an absolute human vulture' who had 'ruined more lives and people in this city than any other person'.

Passmore admitted that he had 'taking cocaine for the past 30 years just as other people take Aspros'.

It was reported that Passmore had left 'a long trail of ruined women' and that 'many girls can attribute their downfall to Passmore',

The Sydney Evening News cited the case of one young woman who was 'a splendid specimen of girlhood' but that had gone after associating with Passmore.

'Now with her nose terribly disfigured from the sniffing of glass and boracic passed off as cocaine, she is walking the streets of Darlinghurst - a derelict'.

The newspaper was probably referring to Amy Lee, who was described in court as a 'good looking girl until she fell victim to the foul practice' of snorting cocaine.

Arthur Edward Murray pictured in the Sydney police cells after veing detained in the era when cocaine went from being a dentist's sedative to a lucrative drug known colloquially as 'snow'

'Botany May' Smith was 'clever cunning and violent' and became a major drug dealer in the late 1920s, moving large amounts of cocaine from her Surry Hills terrace

Her dry, blotchy skin at the age of 41 was testament to the evils of addiction.

Fined 250 pounds in 1929 for cocaine possession, Lee had 'the bone of her nose eaten away' by 'continual sniffing at the white powder. or the powdered glass the unscrupulous sell ... until her features are distorted or repulsive'.

Tasmanian Lillian Sproule became involved in Sydney's cocaine trade in the same era and was 'the most persistent' dealer police had contact with.

The infamous cocaine peddler was known as a 'parasite in skirts' who 'raked in the money while dopers suffered' and cut the 'snow' by 30 per cent with boracic acid.

She had multiple convictions relating to drug dealing and when police came knocking at the door of her flat, they watched her running to conceal tins of the powder underneath her mattress.

Sidney Kelly was a well-dressed and well-known criminal who operated as an illegal baccarat gamer and drug trader in the 1920s.

He drove his own motor car when that was rare, wore snappy suits and associated with prostitutes and other criminals.

Barmaid Patsy Neill became involved in theft and selling cocaine and argued with the infamous Kate Leigh which led the crime queen threatening Neill with a gun

Queen of the Sydney underworld, Kate Leigh (above) peddled cocaine and sly grog from her Surry Hills terrace house and fought a turf war with Tilly Devine, who ran prostitutes

William Stanley Moore was a wharf labourer turned dealer who operated with 'large quantities of faked opium and cocaine' and associated with water front thieves and illicit traders at the docks where consignments of drugs came in by ship.

Sydney's underworld bosses of the time were tough, resolute and violent and that included the women, two of whom were so notorious their infamy has survived into this century.

Kate Leigh was a sly grogger and and cocaine dealer known as 'queen of the underworld' who lived in Sydney's crime-infested streets in inner city Surry Hills.

Her biggest rival was Tilly Devine, who ran a prostitution ring and the pair fought a public and violent rivalry, with Leigh getting her minions to slash Tilly's in the infamous 'razor gang' era.

In return, Tilly's hired thugs attacked her Leigh's cocaine peddlers, although Leigh also had battles with competitors in the illicit cocaine and alcohol markets.

Phillip 'Phil the Jew' Jwas involved in sly grog, theft, prostitution, cocaine and illegal gambling, and had influence, with friends in the police force, business and politics.

Fay Watson was arrested in a house in Crown Street, Darlinghurst, and subsequently convicted for having cocaine in her possession, for which she was fined ten pounds

William Stanley Moore was a wharf labourer turned dealer who operated with 'large quantities of faked opium and cocaine' and associated with water front thieves at the docks where consignments of drugs came in by ship

He became quite wealthy and survived being shot during a 1929 gang war and afterwards kept the criminal's code of silence about his assailant.

Another cocaine dealer who could keep her mouth shut was 'Botany May' Smith.

Her nickname came from her origins, in the industrial Sydney suburb of Botany, which is now near Sydney Airport.

Operating out of her Terry Street, Surry Hills terrace, Smith ran a brothel, sold stolen property and supplied cocaine to other dealers.

Sydneylivingmuseums.com.au describes Smith as 'clever, cunning and violent'.

In 1922, Sophia Street, Surry Hills was the scene of the murder of railway worker, Francis Charles Kennedy just near May Smith's house.

She testified in court that the accused brother and sister - who later got off the murder charge - assaulted and robbed passers by hnear her house, causing her to keep a a loaded pistol by her sewing machine.

Smith went on to be a major drug dealer in the late 1920s, moving large amounts of cocaine from her Terry Street terrace.

'The most evil woman in Sydney' was how Ada McGuinness was described by police who charged her with cocaine possession and she was sentenced to a year's hard labour

Ada's daughter Hazel was arrested on charegs of cocaine but was later released on a bond after detectives said she had been raised in 'an atmosphere of immorality and dope'

One of the most active cocaine dealers in the Darlinghurst area in Sydney, Ada McGuinness was described by a police witness as 'the most evil woman in Sydney'.

In 1925 under the alias 'Edith Cavanagh', she had been sentenced to twelve months for having in her possession forged bank notes.

In 1929, McGuinness was convicted of two charges of having cocaine illegally in her possession, for which she was sentenced to concurrent six and twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour.

Her daughter Hazel McGuinness also faced the court at the same time, on similar charges, but was released on a bond.

Police described a raid on the McGuinnesses' Darlinghurst house during which the mother Ada threw a hand bag containing packets of cocaine to her daughter, shouting, 'Run Hazel!'

But detectives spoke up for Hazel McGuinness in court, arguing that she had been led into crime by her mother who had raised her in 'an atmosphere of immorality and dope'. Hazel was given a suspended sentence.
An unvaccinated vegan activist has been thrown out of a busy supermarket for refusing to wear a face mask, calling her treatment an 'injustice' and a breach of her 'human rights'.

Tash Peterson, 27, and her boyfriend Jack Higgs filmed themselves on Friday being told by a security guard they could not enter the Supa IGA in Denmark, in southern WA, unless they were masked-up.

Premier Mark McGowan expanded indoor mask mandates to the Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions from 6pm on Thursday as the number of Covid cases continue to rise.

Tash Peterson (pictured) is known for her wild protests in the name of animal rights, often smearing blood all over herself and screaming outside supermarkets, butchers and even inside restaurants

Mr Higgs claimed they were 'exempt' from wearing a mask before a shopper later approached and call Ms Peterson an 'a***hole' for not complying with the new rules

The pair refused to comply with the security guard's instructions and entered the store before being approached by a worker who threatened to call the police.

Mr Higgs replied by saying 'we are exempt' before a shopper later approached and call Mr Peterson an 'a**ehole' for not complying with the new rules.

'I'm seeing a bunch of brain-washed zombies,' Ms Peterson, who has become infamous across Australia for her provocative animal rights protests, said.

A store manager later pleaded with the couple to leave because 'it's a $15,000 fine for us'.

Earlier that day, the pair were also thrown out of an IGA Express despite claiming to have 'medical exemptions'.

Ms Peterson told Daily Mail Australia the two were 'caught off guard' by the premier's face mask mandate when they entered the store as they had not seen many people wearing them days earlier and had dined at a cafe where they didn't need them.

The staunch vegan (pictured with her partner) has vowed to never give up fighting for animal rights

'I decided to make the decision to say I have a medical exemption but they straight up said "well I'm not serving you" and were just very condescending in the way he spoke to me,' she said.

'I told him you are violating the Discrimination Act and you don't have to see whether I have a medical exemption.

'The way we were treated was so unjust. The way we were treated was violating our human rights to get food.'

The OnlyFans star, widely known for her V-gan Booty clothing brand online, did not disclose whether she actually has a valid medical exemption

However, she said the couple 'decided to put up a bit of a fight because there are genuine people out there who do have medical exemptions and cannot wear a mask'.

'We are fighting for those people,' she explained.

Since uploading the controversial video, the animal rights activist with an army of fanatical fans has copped a brutal backlash from some of her most ardent supporters.

Since uploading the controversial video, the animal rights activist with an army of fanatical fans has copped a brutal backlash from some of her most ardent supporters (pictured)

Infamous animals rights supporter Tash Peterson stormed Perth 's Royal Show in September and leapt over the barrier in the midst of a cattle judging event

'So you're an anti-masker?' one person wrote in a message uploaded by Ms Peterson.

'So although I support vegans and I am vegan for five years, I am not gonna give you anymore support because this is just plain stupid. Unfollowing right now.'

Another longtime supporter added: 'Anyway, unfollow because you're not even an activist at this point'.

Ms Peterson admitted receiving hateful messages from fellow vegans was tough, but vowed to continue opposing state Covid mandates.

'As an animal rights activist that includes humans, I will speak up against any oppression or any injustice that I come across,' she said.

'I'm used to receiving backlash all the time, but obviously it's unfortunate when it's coming from fellow vegans but I still have a lot of support from many vegans and non vegans.'

Ms Peterson admitted that receiving hateful messages from fellow vegans has been tough but has vowed to continue opposing state Covid mandates

In the past, the serial protester has dressed up as a cow and demonstrated in the meat section of busy supermarkets, invaded the pitch at an AFLW match, and donned a blood-soaked apron while screaming at patrons in a KFC and Coles.

Her controversial antics have led police and policymakers in her home state of WA to describe her as 'Australia's biggest pest'.

She has been arrested numerous times for her in-your-face-style of protesting but insists she will continue to 'speak up for animals who can't speak up for themselves'.

Ms Peterson will face court for disorderly conduct in March for her August 21 protest at a Louis Vuitton store where she smeared period blood on herself and marched around the luxury shop topless shouting 'if you're not vegan you're an animal abuser'.
President Joe Biden has expanded his list of candidates to fill Justice Stephen Breyer's seat on the Supreme Court to at least a dozen choices, all of whom are black women, a report says.

An initial short list named at least three potential candidates, and now CNN is reporting that the list may include nine more potential picks, making it at least 12 names long. Some are still awaiting approval for a prior court appointment.

The new candidates include a judge Ted Cruz once called an 'activist advocate'; a civil rights attorney who compared bans on felons voting to slavery, while comparing a need to show 'proof of citizenship to vote' to 'voter suppression'; an NYU professor who was in favor of impeaching Donald Trump and who called New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's defense of the president during the trial a 'death spiral of stupid'; and a North Carolina Supreme Court justice who founded a group that provides lawyers to social justice advocates.

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.

The list solidifies that Biden intends to fulfill his long-held campaign promise of appointing the first black woman to the Supreme Court.

Judge J. Michelle Childs, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger were widely considered on the early short list.

In a statement Friday, a White House spokesman said Childs was 'under consideration' for the spot, but pushed back on the idea that Biden was only considering a few potential nominees.

A list of possible picks for the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer

President Joe Biden (right) grabs the hand of retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (left)

During his remarks on Thursday, Biden promised to hear recommendations from both sides of the aisle, adding that the SCOTUS nominee 'will be the first black woman ever nominated to the Supreme Court.'

The purported list previously included - and according to CNN, still features - Judge J. Michelle Childs, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and NAACP executive and civil rights attorney Sherylinn Ifill.

9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Holly A. Thomas

Thomas, 43, was confirmed to the 9th Circuit Court by a 48-40 margin just nine days ago, becoming only the second black woman to serve on the court.

Prior to her appointment, Thomas was an assistant counsel at the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund. She was also the deputy director of California's housing and employment agency and special counsel to New York's solicitor general.

None of her support in confirmation came from Republicans, with Cruz referring to Thomas as an 'activist advocate' and criticized her during hearings for being unaware of a sexual assault involving a 'boy in a skirt' in Virginia's Loudoun County in 2021.

'You testified to this committee that you were not aware of what happened in Loudoun County until this morning,' Cruz said during a hearing.

'I find that remarkable for someone who has spent years as one of the leading activists for allowing transgender biological men to use girls' restrooms and women's restrooms.'

Her nomination was deadlocked coming out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 11-11 vote along party lines.

Federal Circuit Court Judge Tiffany P. Cunningham

Tiffany P. Cunningham is an intellectual property litigator who serves as a trial and appellate counsel for Fortune 500 companies

Cunningham, 45 was confirmed by a 63-33 margin last July to become the first black judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the only federal appeals court never to have a black member.

The former lawyer has been a partner at Perkins Coie LLP in Chicago since 2014.

She is a member of the Patent Litigation practice and serves on the 17-member Executive Committee of the firm.

Cunningham serves as trial and appellate counsel for large multinational companies, as well as small enterprises and individuals in complex patent and trade secret disputes.

Cunningham is a registered patent attorney before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. From 2002 to 2014, she worked in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP as an associate until she was elevated to partner in 2007.

Cunningham began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Timothy B. Dyk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 2001 to 2002. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2001 and her S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998.

Civil rights attorney and 11th Circuit Court candidate Nancy G. Abudu

Nancy G. Abudu is currently a nominee for the 11th Circuit Court in Georgia

Abudu, 48, is currently a nominee for the 11th Circuit Court in Georgia, a state that has proved a flashpoint in the Biden administration's attempt to enact new voting rights laws.

She has come under controversy for comparing bans on felons voting to slavery, while comparing a need to show 'proof of citizenship to vote' to 'voter suppression.'

'When you add laws that prohibit people with a criminal conviction from voting, it's practically the same system as during slavery  Black people who have lost their freedom and cannot vote,' attorney Nancy Gbana Abudu said in a post for the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center, where she still works awaiting confirmation.

'And without access to the ballot, a victim of the system cannot elect the very officials pulling the levers to hire the police, determine which cases are prosecuted and what sentences are imposed.'

On December 23, 2021, Biden pointed to Abudu's nomination as part of 'the President's promise to ensure that the nation's courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country - both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.'

3rd Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Arianna J. Freeman

Arianna J. Freeman has worked as a community defender since 2009

Freeman, another nominee yet to be confirmed to a judgeship, started her legal career as a clerk for United States District Court judges C. Darnell Jones II and James T. Giles.

She has worked as a community defender since 2009 and since 2016 has been a managing attorney with the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

NYU law professor Melissa Murray

Murray, an NYU Law Professor, has already been interviewed by MSNBC about the opening and Biden's promise to nominate a black woman

Murray, an NYU law professor, has already been interviewed by MSNBC about the SCOTUS opening and Biden's promise to nominate a black woman, which she called 'overdue.'

The professor has been fairly active in appearing on cable news, especially during the impeachment of former President Donald Trump.

In 2018, Murray, 46, referred to Giuliani's defense of the president during impeachment as a 'death spiral of stupid.'

She also clashed with ABC News' Dan Abrams when he called the idea of Congress having a duty to impeach Trump 'nonsensical.'

Murray - a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor - has since referred to the High Court's decision allowing challenges to a controversial Texas abortion ban to be heard but keeping the ban in place an 'existential crisis' for the court.

7th Circuit Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi

Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Jackson-Akiwumi, 43 was confirmed by the Senate by a count of 53-40, meaning a few Republicans crossed party lines to confirm her in June 2021.

A former federal defender in Chicago, Jackson-Akiwumi was a partner in a Washington law firm. Nominated by Biden in March 2021, she was one of three black women confirmed in the administration's first months.

Her work as a public defender earned her praise from Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

'Ms. Jackson-Akiwumi has devoted her life to defending the rule of law, including spending ten years as a federal public defender - representing hundreds of indigent clients at every stage of the legal process and providing them with their constitutional right to counsel. With her qualifications, temperament, and range of experience, Ms. Jackson-Akiwumi will be an outstanding addition to the Seventh Circuit bench,' Durbin said in a statement.

District Judge Wilhelmina 'Mimi' Wright

Judge Wilhelmina Wright spoke to the media after she was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton to the Minnesota Supreme Court in St. Paul

One of the more experienced judges on the list, Wright has been serving since 2012.

Wright, 58, currently serves as a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. She was nominated for the position by former President Barack Obama and was confirmed in 2016 by a vote of 58-36, with more than a dozen Republicans supporting her.

According to the Minnesota Bar Association, Wright was appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2012, becoming the first female black justice on the high court's bench.

Wright, a Harvard Law School graduate, previously served on the Minnesota Court of Appeals and Ramsey County District Court.

Before becoming a judge, she worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for Minnesota. She also worked in private practice in Washington, D.C.

North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls

Associate Justice Anita Earls of the North Carolina Supreme Court

Earls, 61, is another potential nominee who has spoken about being considered, calling it an honor.

The justice currently serves on North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper's Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.

She founded and is the past executive director of the Southern Coalition of Social Justice, a group that 'believed that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression.'

Previously, Earls served as deputy assistant attorney general for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Clinton administration. Earls has also served on the Equal Access to Justice Commission and the N.C. Board of Elections.

2nd Circuit Judge Eunice Lee

Judge Eunice Lee of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Lee, 52 is another ex-public defender on the list.

The controlled Senate voted 50-47 to approve Lee to the 2nd Circuit in August. She joined the court from the Federal Defenders of New York Inc., where she has served as an assistant defender since 2019.

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the judiciary committee, questioned Lee at her June 9 confirmation hearing about what in her career as a public defender made her a good fit to handle an appellate docket packed with securities and antitrust cases and intellectual property disputes.

'Over the course of my career as an appellate litigator, I have often been confronted with topics and subject areas with which I'm not familiar,' Lee said.

'The experience of having to learn new topics in the context of a specific case is something I'm very familiar with.'

These names join four previously rumored candidates.

D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Jackson, 51, 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, 55, has the backing of a powerful Democratic lawmaker from her state, longtime Biden ally and House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn.

Clyburn 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 agency's highest employee award.

She also clerked for late 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, 59, 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 you're not talking [about] the insanity & obstruction of the President's opponents in frustrating his agenda & those of liberal & moderate Dems, you're 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 nation's ideals of equality' in a statement published in the Harvard Gazette on Wednesday.

'Our process is going to be rigorous. I will select a nominee worthy of Justice Breyer's legacy of excellence and decency,' Biden said this week.

'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 this week, 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.

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.'

'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 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.

Durbin added that he looked 'forward to moving the President's 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 Biden's nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to both Manchin and Sinema's offices.
Families face a holiday nightmare after staff at Heathrow Airport threatened to strike during next months school half-term.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that hundreds of refuelling and baggage handlers have voted to walk out for three days from Friday, February 11, in a dispute over pay.

The decision is a blow to families who have raced to book last-minute holidays abroad after two years of Covid misery. It comes as new EU rules, based on passengers vaccination or recovery status rather than their country of origin, are set to come into effect  making it easier for Britons to travel.

Menzies Aviation is among the firms responsible for refuelling British Airways aircraft at Heathrow

Staff employed by Menzies Aviation at Heathrow Airport are threatening to go on strike for more money

Menzies workers also provide baggage handling services for major carriers including American Airlines, Lufthansa, Icelandair, Qantas and Aer Lingus

The Heathrow workers are employed by Menzies Aviation, which is among the firms responsible for refuelling British Airways aircraft at Heathrow. It also provides baggage handling services for several major carriers including American Airlines, Lufthansa, Icelandair, Qantas and Aer Lingus.

Menzies is likely to struggle to find replacement staff to fill the gap because of extensive security vetting process for airport employees to combat terrorism. There may also be higher than normal absences due to employees catching Covid or having to self-isolate.

The MoS first revealed the strike threat earlier this month. More than half the 400 staff belonging to the hard-Left Unite union voted in favour.

Sources said long-haul flights were more likely to be affected because incoming aircraft would need to be fully refuelled before returning to the skies.

Unite wants retrospective pay rises for 2020 and 2021. It argues that rivals, including Swissport and Cobalt, agreed similar pay deals with their workers.

The union has previously accused Menzies of firing and rehiring 810 workers during the pandemic  laying off employees and hiring them again on worse terms.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: Menzies cynically used the cover of the pandemic to fire and rehire its workers to boost long-term profits and it is now refusing to even consider a pay rise.

Unite wants retrospective pay rises for 2020 and 2021. It argues that rivals, including Swissport and Cobalt, agreed similar pay deals with their workers

Given the appalling treatment Menzies workers have received from their employer, it is little surprise that they felt they had no option but to take strike action.

Unite regional officer Kevin Hall added: The strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption and delays throughout Heathrow, but it is taken as a last resort and is entirely of Menziess own making.

Last night, Oli Dannatt, boss of online travel firm Ski Yodl and Sir Richard Bransons former ski instructor, said: These strikes could be another nightmare for families who have had to deal with so many changing travel restrictions in recent months.

Menzies said only a relatively small proportion of its Heathrow workers had decided to strike. It employs more than 1,200 staff at the airport. More than 200 of the 400 Unite members in Menziess workforce opted to strike, but it is unclear how many will decide to walk out next month.

Last night, a Menzies spokesman said it was very disappointed at the vote but insisted that it was confident that we will continue to provide the required services.

A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said: We are aware of an industrial action ballot for Menzies employees who support airlines operating out of Heathrow.

It would not be appropriate for us to comment on the ongoing discussions they are having with their employer.

As always, we remain in constant dialogue with all partners who operate at Heathrow and will continue to do everything we can to ensure that passengers can enjoy a safe and reliable journey.
Police have rounded up 115 alleged gangsters and seized guns, $1.2 million worth of drugs and $100,000 cash in a huge two-day blitz.

An all-out gang war between the Hamzy and Alameddine families is feared after Ghassan Amoun was assassinated on January 6.

Amoun, the brother of Brothers 4 Life gang boss Bassam Hamzy, was shot dead in western Sydney in a brazen lunchtime hit as he sat in his BMW.

Wannabe gangsters were warned they could meet the same fate if they join one of the opposing factions as gang bosses would use them as expendable 'pawns'.

They could also face loss of their Australian citizenship and deportation if they pursue a life of crime.

Police officers (pictured) from Operation Hawk 2022 raid a house in Sydney in a blitz targeting organised criminal networks

A pistol (pictured) seized in an Operation Hawk 2022 raid targeting organised crime in Sydney

A rifle (pictured) seized in during an Operation Hawk 2022 raid targeting organised crime

'A lot have dual citizenship and I'm not ruling out talking to the immigration minister so people get the clear message that if you're running around shooting people, we don't want you here,' Assistant Commissioner Smith told the Sunday Telegraph.

Police raided dozens of homes and businesses from 6am on Thursday to 2am on Saturday, charging 115 people with a combined 292 crimes.

They seized 18 guns, 672 rounds of ammunition, nearly $100,000 cash, and drugs including meth, ecstasy, GHB and marijuana with a street value of more than $1.2 million.

The strike force officers executed 66 Firearm Prohibition Order searches and crime scene warrants, 450 bail compliance checks, and nearly 200 business inspections.

Assistant Commissioner Smith warned young people who are considering getting involved in organised crime to think hard about their choices.

WHERE ARE THE KEY HAMZY MEMBERS? 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

'These people are extremely violent, driven by money and status and they have no regard for you, their foot soldiers,' he said.

'They will use you, you are pawns... Make no mistake, this criminal network will be dismantled. Watch this space.

'We would urge all parents to dissuade their kids from the stupidity of following (criminal gangs) to earn quick cash because it will lead to a lifetime of regret.'

He said the gangs targeted young people, luring them in using rappers they paid to make music videos pretending to be gangsters, so they could do the dirty work and go to jail if they were caught.

Police believe the cause of Alameddine-Hamzy feud is a drug business worth $100 million a year.

Assistant Commissioner Smith said the warring factions provided a distribution network for drugs, and violent services, including kidnapping, shootings, and murders.

The theft of a huge drugs shipment last October escalated the gangland war, along with the involvement of the Comanchero bikies.

'They have hated each other forever. But we have gone a long way to unravelling their operations and I will give an undertaking that they won't be able to function,' Assistant Commissioner Smith said.

Officers from Operation Hawk 2022 (pictured) about to raid a house in Sydney

Police (pictured) carefully look for evidence in a search conducted as part of Operation Hawk 2022

Assistant Commissioner Smith warned there was more to come and that the police are talking with the Crime Commission about seizing assets.

He said money and status were big drivers for Sydney's gang members and taking it away would 'hit them where it hurts'.

The gangs were not just into drugs, but making money providing fake medical certificates to help anti-vaxxers avoid being immunised against Covid.

Mr Smith said criminal gangs had no regard for community safety, citing the case where an Alameddine associate was shot as a baby at a daycare centre came within centimetres of being struck by a stray bullet.

'They could not care less about whether there were kids around, they wanted their target,' he said.

A police officer (pictured left) speaks with a man (pictured centre) during Operation Hawk 2022

A police officer (pictured) on duty during a raid in Sydney targeting organised crime networks

Paul Toole, the NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Police, praised Operation Hawk, and said similar operations would continue for as long as needed.

'If you're a criminal in Sydney, it's now abundantly clear there is nowhere to hide  and that you'll be leaving your current lifestyle behind for a set of prison greens and some plastic cutlery in the near future,' he said.

'The NSW Government will stop at nothing to ensure our communities are safe, and that police remain well-equipped to eradicate these people from our streets using any legislative means that are necessary.'

Some Operation Hawk 2022 (pictured is a police officer and a police van) raids were conducted in the early hours of the morning

Police officers (pictured) working on Operation Hawk 2022, a high-visibility strategy to disrupt criminal gangs including outlaw motorcycle gangs
Nestle announced a new plan to tackle child labor risks in cocoa production. At the center is an innovative income accelerator program, which aims to improve the livelihoods of cocoa-farming families, while also advancing regenerative agriculture practices and gender equality.

A cash incentive will be paid directly to cocoa-farming households for certain activities such as enrollment of children in school and pruning among several others. Nestles new plan also supports the companys work to transform its global sourcing of cocoa to achieve full traceability and segregation for its cocoa products. As Nestle continues to expand its cocoa sustainability efforts, the company plans to invest a total of CHF 1.3 billion by 2030, more than tripling its current annual investment.

According to Mauricio Alarcon, Market Head of Nestle Central and West Africa, Child Labor is unacceptable. We are committed to working closely with key stakeholders to ensure that this novel approach will help address its root causes and support farmers and their families to transition to more sustainable cocoa farming in communities where we operate. Through this new plan, we will extend our cocoa sustainability initiatives to other parts of Central and West Africa.

The incentives will encourage behaviors and agricultural practices that are designed to steadily build social and economic resilience over time. With Nestles new approach, cocoa-farming families will now be rewarded not only for the quantity and quality of cocoa beans they produce but also for the benefits they provide to the environment and local communities. These incentives are on top of the premium introduced by the governments of Cote dIvoire and Ghana that Nestle pays and the premiums Nestle offers for certified cocoa. This cocoa is independently audited against the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard, promoting the social, economic and environmental well-being of farmers and local communities.

Cocoa-farming communities face immense challenges, including widespread rural poverty, increasing climate risks and a lack of access to financial services and basic infrastructure like water, health care and education. These complex factors contribute to the risk of child labor on family farms. Together with partners, including governments, and building on a promising pilot program, Nestles new initiative sharpens focus on these root causes of child labor.

Our goal is to have an additional tangible, positive impact on a growing number of cocoa-farming families, especially in areas where poverty is widespread and resources are scarce, and to help close the living income gap they face over time, said Mark Schneider, Nestle CEO. Building on our longstanding efforts to source cocoa sustainably, we will continue to help children go to school, empower women, improve farming methods and facilitate financial resources. We believe that, together with governments, NGOs and others in the cocoa industry, we can help improve the lives of cocoa-farming families and give children the chance to learn and grow in the safe and healthy environment they deserve.

Creating cash incentives to grow income substantially

The program rewards practices that increase crop productivity and help secure additional sources of income, which aim to close the gap to living income and help protect children. By engaging in these practices, families can additionally earn up to CHF 500 annually for the first two years of the program. The higher incentive at the start will help accelerate the implementation of good agricultural practices to build future impact. This incentive will then be leveled at CHF 250 thereafter as the program starts delivering tangible results. It is not paid based on the volume of cocoa sold and is inclusive to provide smaller farmers meaningful support, leaving no one behind. In a departure from normal practice, the program also offers financial incentives for the farmers spouse, who is typically responsible for household expenses and childcare. By dividing the payments between the farmer and the spouse, the program helps empower women and improve gender equality. Examples of practices that Nestle is incentivizing include:

School enrollment for all children in the household ages 6-16;

Implementing good agricultural practices, such as pruning, which increase crop productivity;

Performing agroforestry activities to increase climate resilience, like planting shade trees;

Generating diversified incomes, for example through growing other crops, raising livestock such as chickens, beekeeping or processing other products like cassava.

Payments will be delivered via a secure mobile service transfer that will ensure traceability directly from Nestle suppliers to the intended recipient. Because cash flow throughout the year is often a challenge, cash incentives will be distributed when they are needed most. Based on feedback from farmers, this includes the back-to-school period and before the rainy season. Third parties, including International Cocoa Initiative and Rainforest Alliance, will work with Nestle to monitor participation.

Helping farmers implement sustainable, scalable practices

Building on the positive results of an initial pilot in 2020 with 1,000 farmers in Cote dIvoire, in 2022 Nestle will expand the program to include 10,000 families in the country, before extending it to Ghana in 2024. It will then assess the results of that test phase and adapt where necessary, before moving to reach all cocoa-farming families in its global cocoa supply chain by 2030.

Nestle will help ensure farmers have the resources, training and social and financial structures to make lasting changes by:

Enhancing the existing monitoring and remediation system to help identify, prevent and address child labor risk and increase school enrollment;

Offering families training through the Gender Action Learning System (https://bit.ly/3g4T2qV) and on household financial planning and entrepreneurship;

Organizing and training local groups to perform pruning and other beneficial agricultural tasks within a given cooperative each year;

Providing income diversification opportunities for farmers and their spouses;

Helping set up Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA), focused on women, to encourage savings and provide loans for small business opportunities.

Feedback and input from farmers and farmer cooperatives, as well as ongoing data collection and evaluation by third parties, will be used to inform, modify and improve the program as it scales up to more communities. In addition, independent oversight will be provided by a multistakeholder strategic advisory committee managed by IDH-The Sustainable Trade Initiative (https://bit.ly/3ACv6Ve), a leading foundation that works to improve the sustainability of international supply chains.

Tracing all cocoa from origin to factory

As part of the program, Nestle will transform the global sourcing of cocoa to achieve full traceability and segregation of its cocoa products from origin to factory. This new effort will help transform the supply chain of Nestle and the broader industry. Nestle will introduce a range of products with cocoa sourced from this innovative program, offering consumers the opportunity to support the improvement of the families livelihoods and the protection of children. This will start with a selection of KitKat products in 2023.

Our actions can help catalyze change on an important topic that is so close to our hearts. They will drive accountability and transparency across the industry, at a time when customers, employees and communities increasingly expect companies to deliver on their shared values, said Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President and Head of Operations. By increasing traceability at scale, we will help build consumer trust in our products and respond to the growing demand for responsibly and sustainably sourced cocoa.

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Scott Morrison has been hammered in an extraordinary outburst by his own party for being 'nowhere to be found' as businesses struggle with Omicron.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean delivered the brutal pasting as he and Premier Dominic Perrottet announced a $1 billion business support package on Sunday.

Mr Kean lashed out at the prime minister for refusing to 'step up' as the highly infectious variant continues to impact the lives of millions.

'I'm very disappointed, I was hoping to make this announcement today standing beside the prime minister and Treasurer [Josh] Frydenberg but they're not to be found,' he said.

'These are not just NSW businesses, they're Australian businesses, businesses that pay their taxes to the Commonwealth government, businesses that are doing it so tough at this time.

'What we want to see is, rather than the Commonwealth government stepping aside, we want to see the government stepping in, like the NSW Government is doing to support small businesses and in doing so supporting our national economy.

'I hope the Commonwealth government steps up to help NSW small businesses and small businesses across the country, because it's in our national economic interest.'

The extraordinary attack - from a member of Mr Morrison's own party - came as the state government announced NSW small businesses would be reimbursed for losses over summer.

'I'm very disappointed, I was hoping to make this announcement today standing beside the prime minister and treasurer Frydenberg but they're not to be found,' Mr Kean said on Sunday

Mr Perrottet said the scheme would include $700 million for small to medium businesses and provide targeted relief for landlords and the performing arts sector.

Eligible businesses will be provided payments every week equal to 20 per cent of their weekly payroll for the month of February, up to a maximum of $5,000.

To be eligible, businesses with an annual turnover between $75,000 and $50 million must have experienced a 40 per cent loss in trade.

'Our approach to the past continues through 2022, and that is to support and have the back of every business in the state,' Mr Perrottet said.

'No other jurisdiction in the country, no other jurisdiction, no other state, today, has provided financial support, except NSW.'

The package will also provide businesses with support to buy vital rapid antigen tests as they try to recover from disrupted Christmas trade.

The deputy prime minister (pictured) responded to the NSW treasurer by stating the federal government had contributed billions in support throughout the pandemic

'No other jurisdiction in the country, no other jurisdiction, no other state, today, has provided financial support, except NSW,' Mr Perrottet (centre) told reporters on Sunday

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce responded to Mr Kean by pointing out the federal government contributed billions in support during the pandemic.

Mr Joyce said the government spent billions of dollars in the form of JobKeeper, JobSeeker, stimulus for the airline industry, concessions for rapid antigen tests, and other pandemic measures.

'It goes on and on and on,' Mr Joyce told Sky News.

'So I don't think it is penny pinching. You can't just keep putting things on the credit card over and over and over again.'

He said the more money paid out on tackling the Omicron variant and other Covid-19 programs meant there was less for the NDIS, defence, education and health.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese also slammed Mr Morrison and said he was pleased to see Mr Perrottet 'stepping into the void of national leadership'.

The NSW Premier has announced a $1billion support package for businesses hard-hit by the Omicron outbreak as the state records its deadliest day of the pandemic

Eligible small businesses across the state will be provided payments of 20 per cent of their weekly payroll for the month of February (pictured, a staff member holds plates in Bondi)

The weekly grants ranging from $500 to $5,000 will be implemented through a new JobSaver scheme and will be allocated through Service NSW.

Small to medium businesses will have to prove they suffered a 40 per cent loss throughout January and can expect a similar hit in February.

The premier declared the Commercial Landlord Hardship Grant would be extended to March 13 and would allocate $3,000 a month per property to landlords who had provided tenants with rent relief.

As part of the extended performing arts package, funding will be allocated to eligible performances scheduled between September 19 last year to April 30.

Business owners were told to expect their payments within five to 10 working days after submitting their application.

Small Business Minister Eleni Petinos said the program would ensure small businesses had the resources and cash flow they needed to survive Omicron.

'We know that the over 800,000 small businesses in NSW are the lifeblood of local communities and that many of these businesses experienced challenges due to the Omicron wave of the pandemic,' she said.

Matt Kean criticised the prime minister (pictured) for refusing to 'step up' as the new variant wreaks havoc across the country during a Covid press conference on Sunday

Eligible small businesses across the state will be provided payments of 20 per cent of their weekly payroll for the month of February, up to a maximum of $5000

The grants ranging from $500 to $5000 will be implemented through a new JobSaver scheme and will be allocated through Service NSW (pictured, a Strand Arcade cafe in Sydney)

Mr Perrottet also announced the small business fees and charges rebate would be increased from $2,000 to $3,000 with the rebate to be used by businesses to obtain vital rapid antigen tests.

He said the Small Business Support Package was designed to provide a lifeline for businesses hard-hit by Omicron.

Mr Kean said it was vital to get businesses in NSW the support they needed after a 'difficult' summer and to keep people in their jobs.

'As we continue to protect the health and safety of our community, we have to ensure our economy is resilient and our businesses are supported so they bounce back from this most recent phase of the pandemic,' he said.

'By ensuring businesses keep their doors open and their employees paid, we are confident our economy will bounce back strongly as it did last year.'

NSW recorded 13,524 new cases and 52 deaths on Sunday - marking the state's deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Perrottet told Sky News on Sunday morning he expected the number of people dying with the virus would remain steady as the country braced itself for flu season.

The announcement comes after the state recorded 13,524 new cases and 52 deaths on Sunday - marking NSW's deadliest day in the Covid pandemic (pictured, pedestrians in Sydney)

The premier said the Small Business Support Package had been designed to provide a lifeline to businesses hard-hit by the Omicron wave over summer (pictured, a Sydney gym-goer)

He predicted it could be 'difficult' to curtail new cases in upcoming cooler months.

'This is the new world,' the premier said.

'We expect those (death) numbers to stay pretty consistent.

'We look at the evidence in front of us and find a balance between the health impact, economic impact, mental health impacts and tailor our settings.'

It comes as a new variant dubbed 'The son of Omicron' has touched down on Australian shores, health authorities have confirmed.

The new BA.2 subvariant has swept across Europe and already makes up 45 per cent of all cases in Denmark.

So far the 'stealth' variant doesn't appear to be more dangerous, however scientists fear it could also be even harder to track than previous strains as it can only be confirmed through lab analysis rather than a PCR test.
A teacher-turned-award-winning-author who faced being cancelled by social media users over claims her work peddled racism says was pushed to the brink of suicide by the row.

Critically-acclaimed author Kate Clanchy, 57, a mother-of-three from Scotland, faced criticism for her Orwell Prize-winning memoir Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.

Although authors and even her own pupils praised the groundbreaking book, some readers online accused her of peddling racism, which led to Clanchy's publisher of 20 years cutting ties with her.

Critically-acclaimed author Kate Clanchy, 57, posing with her MBE. The former state school teacher was cancelled by an online Twitter mob for alleged 'racism'

The author, who was awarded an MBE in 2018, said her publisher Picador, which is an imprint of Pan Macmillan, failed in its duty of care to her.

Instead of protecting her, the publisher has tried to erase her work from existence in a very public whitewashing.

Clanchy says she came close to suicide when she was copied into an email from a senior person at Picador that seemed to show the publisher washing their hands of her.

It seemed as if every author apart from herself had been sent the email.

The mother-of-three's memoir Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me won the Orwell Prize in 2020

She said the feeling to take her own life 'was very strong'.

'I'm a mentally healthy person,' she told The Times. 'I'm very resilient. I'm a teacher. But I was amazed by the strength of the ideation.'

It came as she had already lost both her parents just days apart to Covid that year and was faced with the breakup of her marriage.

Pan Macmillan announced last week it would no longer work with Clanchy and would stop distributing all eight of her books with the publisher, meaning the works are no longer for sale in bookshops or even as ebooks.

Kate claimed some of the offending references were taken out of context but later apologised and said she would rewrite the book.

'I apologise many, many times over. I am sorry,' she told The Times.

Yet she denied the claims of racism and doubled down, saying her book was 'anti-racist'.

Her publisher, Picador, was accused of not going far enough in its initial statement on the row.

It later issued two apologies and said it was discussing the best way to update future editions of the book.

It said it apologised 'profoundly for the hurt we have caused, the emotional anguish experienced by many of you who took the time to engage with the text, and to hold us to account.'

After the mob faced backlash from people not so keen to cancel the author, the publisher added: 'We vigorously condemn the despicable online bullying of many of those who have spoken out.

'This has no place in our community.'

Twitter users slammed Clanchy over the writing online, with some saying the book had 'triggered' them

The controversy surrounding the book stems from passages with phrases such as 'chocolate-coloured skin' to describe a black child and one girl as having 'almond eyes'. The text also describes two autistic children as 'jarring company'.

However, the famed author, who was also a state school teacher for more than 30 years, hit back at the cancel culture mob.

She said the phrases were not racist but derived from how the children described themselves.

Yet one student shared a lengthy statement on Twitter in which she stated Kate had 'given the students platforms they never expected'

The supposedly racist passages were shared on Twitter but many authors jumped to her defence.

Leading novelist Philip Pullman said her book was as 'humane, warm, decent, generous and welcoming'.

Meanwhile, one of her former pupils, Shukria Rezaei, identified herself as the 'girl with the almond eyes' in The Times.

She wrote: 'Critics labelled [Kate's] description patronising, insulting, offensive, colonialist and racist. This upset me I did not find it offensive.'

Meanwhile another pupil, Asima Qayyum, 23, who was at the time studying for a politics, economics and law degree, said Kate's impact on her life was 'unimaginably and overwhelmingly positive'

Twitter users had slammed Clanchy over the writing online. One wrote: 'This has horrified and triggered me.

'This book is full of racism and ableism. Privileged people always hail teachers like this, while disabled people & people of colour have their lives seriously damaged by them.

'Look at all the privileged jumping to her defence too!'

Another said: 'Just caught up on the racist tropes in Kate Clanchy's writing.

'Read extracts, the kind of crude, blunt historical racism that lives on in white discourse.'

MailOnline has contacted Pan MacMillan for comment.

Anyone seeking help can call Samaritans free on 116 123 or visit Samaritans.org
British Airways is scrambling to hire more than 2,000 cabin crew amid concerns staff shortages will hold back the UKs summer travel boom.

Passenger demand has come roaring back since the Government announced it would ditch air travel restrictions. Airlines including easyJet have reported a jump, while TUI said this month bookings were the busiest since before the pandemic.

Heathrow said businesses operating from the airport will need to hire up to 20,000 for this summers season and vacancies could act as a constraint on schedules.

BA is understood to be contacting former staff who were among 10,000 it culled in 2020.

Crew could earn up to 28,000 a year and a tax-fee subsistence allowance. The average flight attendants wage packet has more than doubled from 12,500 in 2019 to 26,672 now.

British Airways is scrambling to hire more than 2,000 cabin crew amid concerns staff shortages will hold back the UKs summer travel boom

BA is understood to be contacting former staff who were among 10,000 it culled in 2020. Pictured, BA cabin crew walking through Terminal 5 at Heathrow on July 14, 2009

Mass redundancies, furlough and unsociable hours have left former workers disillusioned by the industry.

Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi said airlines and travel firms are working to rebuild credibility which he said had been hugely dented over the past two years.

He is looking to hire an additional 1,500 employees over the next six months to ensure that it can increase flight capacity by 50 per cent by the summer.

Employment data from Reed shows aviation vacancies have risen by 491 per cent in a year from January 2021.
Seven people are in critical condition on Saturday night after a carbon monoxide leak in the pool area of a Hampton Inn in central Ohio.

A 911 call was first placed after a two-year-old girl was reported unconscious in the pool at the hotel in Marysville at around 5:30 pm, according to Marysville Police Chief Tony Brooks.

Nine people at the scene were reportedly dizzy and said they had a burning sensation in their throats near the pool area of the hotel.

One patient in critical was taken to OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital in Delaware while the other six were taken to Memorial Health.

Brooks told the Columbus Dispatch that all of the injured were alive when they were transported and that seven of the patients were in critical condition.

Two other people were treated at the scene and five more are seeking treatment on their own at Memorial Health Hospital.

A firefighter at the Hampton Inn in Marysville, Ohio Saturday night, with doors opened and fans running in response to a carbon monoxide leak that left seven people in critical condition

Seven people are in critical condition on Saturday night following a mysterious hazardous materials incident that took place by the poolside at the Hampton Inn in Marysville, Ohio

A 911 call was placed after a two-year-old girl was reportedly unconscious by the pool. People also reported being dizzy and experiencing a burning sensation in their throats

Two other people were treated at the scene and five more are seeking treatment on their own at Memorial Health Hospital

Marysville Fire Chief Jay Riley said the exact source of the carbon monoxide was unclear as of late Saturday evening, but added that any possible sources had been shut off and the building was cleared of people.

Others have remained in stable condition or are walk-in patients at Memorial Hospital.

The updated conditions or ages of those affected have yet to be released at this time.

Riley confirmed that there were life threatening levels of carbon monoxide in the pool area of the hotel and added that more information about the incident will be available on Sunday.

'We continue the investigation into the source and (are) glad that no one died as a result of their exposure' Riley said.

Riley added that a Hampton Inn maintenance team was en route from out of state as of Saturday night.

Marysville Fire Chief Jay Riley said that more information about the incident will be available on Sunday

The investigation for the incident continues to determine whether it was a chemical in the pool area or a carbon monoxide leak

Hazmat crews respond to a carbon monoxide leak at an Ohio Hampton Inn after multiple people were reported unconscious in the pool area

This comes as five people were hospitalized on Saturday in Washington, DC, after carbon monoxide was detected in an apartment building.

Local fire and EMS departments responded to the scene at around 11 am shortly after high levels of carbon monoxide were reported.

Two people were found to be in serious condition and three were under observation.

The building was evacuated and officials are still trying to confirm the source of the leak.

A hazmat incident happens during a release of one or more hazardous materials in an environment which can include exposure to potential biological, chemical and radioactive threats.

Investigations into both incidents are still ongoing.
Authorities in Florida charged 68 alleged drug dealers who sold narcotics on popular gay dating apps after detectives found it 'relatively easy' to get them to incriminate themselves by messaging them undercover on Grindr, Scruff and Taimi.

The six-month-long investigation, dubbed 'Swipe Left for Meth,' was launched by the Polk County Sheriff's Department in July 2021 after they received an anonymous tip that dealers were openly selling narcotics on the three apps.

'It was a shock to us that they were openly advertising,' said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd at a press conference on Thursday.

'Can you believe this? They were openly advertising that they were selling dope on dating apps.'

In total, Judd said that detectives filed 159 felony and 72 misdemeanor charges as a result of the investigation, carrying out three search warrants in the process. Most of those arrested had rap sheets, including one man who had 32 prior felonies.

Detectives seized around 280 grams of methamphetamine (worth approximately $14,000), three grams of cocaine, 130 pills of Ecstasy (MDMA), approximately one and a half grams of Fentanyl/heroin, one gram of LSD, around 28 grams of psychedelic mushrooms and 645 grams of marijuana.

Judd said dealers would use code words and signs - like 'Tina,' the ice cream emoji, the birthday cake emoji and references to 'partying' - to not-so-subtly indicate that they were selling drugs.

Detectives made fake profiles on the apps, finding that it was 'relatively easy to strike up conversations with those who were selling methamphetamine, cocaine, Ecstasy, LSD, Fentanyl and marijuana in Polk County.'

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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd holds up a gun seized from the home of Anthony Ballard, who was arrested for armed trafficking in meth and a slurry of other charges in the sting. In a Thursday press conference about his department's 'Swipe Left for Meth' initiative, Judd said that 'it was a shock' to detectives that dealers were 'openly advertising' on dating apps

Police arrested 60 drug users and dealers after going undercover on gay dating apps to find them, and are still looking for eight people that they have yet to apprehend

(From top right to bottom left) Adam Trembley, 40, Angelo Lopez, 36, Christopher Wright, 32, Willy Dunn, 27, Jezze Valez-Pagan, 31, Donovan Brandt, 40, John Rials, 44 and Matthew Gamwell, 40, are all still at large after they were caught selling drugs on gay dating apps

'It was clear during the conversations and ensuing undercover drug buys that the suspects' primary purposes for being on the dating app were to sell drugs - not find a date.'

More drugs were sold on Grindr than the other two apps, detectives found.

Police found 14 firearms - two stolen - at the Auburndale residence of 46-year-old Anthony Ballard.

Ballard, who had 17 prior felonies, was charged with the capital felony of armed trafficking in meth, along with additional felonies including sale of meth, possession of meth, possession of marijuana, grand theft of a firearm and possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana.

At the press conference, Judd held up an assault-style rifle that had been recovered from Ballard's home.

'There are those that still call it 'low-level, non violent dope,' he said.

'For those dingalings, what is this? It's a firearm. It's a serious firearm that they were using to protect [themselves], and as we seized that dope, our detectives put their life at risk.'

Police found 14 firearms - two stolen - at the Auburndale residence of 46-year-old Anthony Ballard (pictured)

'Every week I see deaths by drugs. It's not non-violent when it's killing people... it's not non-violent when they need a piece of equipment like this to protect their stash from other people.'

Many of the 68 arrested had prior charges, Judd said, presenting a hefty binder of their collective criminal records.

Another of the arrestees, Gator Kleizo, 56, had 26 prior felonies when he was tracked down on one of the apps by detectives, including previous charges for kidnapping and robbery.

Detectives bought meth from Kleizo four times. When police raided his home, 13 of his guests there were arrested and charged with drug-related charges.

Gator Kleizo, 56 (pictured), had 26 prior felonies when he was tracked down on one of the apps by detectives, including previous charges for kidnapping and robbery

Police seized 93 grams of MDMA from known gang member John 'Smurf' Davis, 40, who Judd said had 32 prior felony charges to his name.

And Jeremy Acevedo, 36, did five years for meth possession in 2016 before he was recently charged by detectives in their initiative

Allen Tyson, 57, reportedly told his family members to pass on a message to police: 'If they want me, they can come get me.'

'It took us all of an hour to find him,' Judd said at the conference. 'He's not Houdini, he didn't hide very well.'

Tyson was hit with felony charges for selling marijuana, possession of marijuana and use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony, along with misdemeanors for marijuana paraphernalia.

Adam Trembley of Winterhaven, 40, allegedly shared his strategy for hiding his marijuana use when he was contacted undercover by authorities.

'He said you see, if you get a medical marijuana card you only have to buy that expensive marijuana card one time. Then you buy street marijuana because it's much cheaper and you put it in your medical marijuana tin... then they don't bother you.'

He was charged with felonies for the sale and possession of meth and marijuana, but is still at large.

Allen Tyson, 57 (pictured), reportedly told his family members to pass on a message to police: 'if they want me, they can come get me'

Adam Trembley of Winterhaven, 40 (pictured), has yet to be apprehended by police

Angelo Lopez, 36; John Rials, 44; Christopher Wright, 32; Donovan Brandt, 40; Jesse Velez-Pagan, 31; Matthew Gamwell, 40, and Willy Dunn, 27, all have yet to be apprehended, with the Polk County Sheriff's looking to the public to share any information on their whereabouts.

Judd said that law enforcement is 'working with these mobile app companies to raise awareness,' and asking for their cooperation in their investigations.

'Suspects are getting more creative, but so are our detectives,' he said.
A man has been charged over the deaths of an elderly real estate couple who were murdered and set on fire.

Police arrested a 28-year-old man from Goodna on Sunday morning in relation to the horrific alleged killings of Christine Stephan, 68, and Joe Stephan, 73.

Neighbours told the Courier Mail there were no indication of any suspicious behaviour in the lead up to the alleged murder and they were unaware there was a fire in the property until emergency services arrived.

The man was charged with two counts of murder, one count of arson and one count of unlawful use of a vehicle on Sunday morning, Queensland police said.

Police say they have 'ruled nothing out' as they investigate the deaths of Christine Stephan, 68, and Joe Stephan, 73, who were discovered in a home's charred remains in Collingwood Park, south of Brisbane on Sunday morning

Police said they had 'ruled nothing out' as they investigate the deaths of the pair who were discovered in a home's charred remains south-west of Brisbane on Sunday morning.

The couple's bodies were found in the burnt-out remains of a Collingwood Park home on January 23, with post-mortem results later showing 'evidence of violence'.

Police are now looking for two motor vehicles in relation to the investigation, a green dual-cab ute and a black Mercedes Benz.

Acting Inspector Heath McQueen on Friday described the investigation into the suspicious deaths as 'complex' and expected it to continue into next week after establishing an incident centre at an Ipswich police station.

'Post-mortems have been conducted... I am unable to go into details other than confirming their deaths are suspicious, and not contributable to the fire, with evidence of violence,' Acting Insp McQueen said.

'This is a complex investigation, in which all possible options as to the cause of their deaths is being fully explored.

'We have ruled nothing out at this stage.'

Pictured is the burnt-out garage of the home. Emergency crews arrived at 1am on Sunday

He said 'extensive' forensic tests were continuing at the Hannant Street home, which has been declared a crime scene.

The couple were found in the lower level of the home, which quickly caught alight early on Sunday.

'They were both so genuine, helpful and caring [people] who always offered their help even when not asked,' a Facebook post from Mr Stephan's work colleagues Rudy and Alma said.

Emergency crews were first called to the home about 1am but by then it was well alight with smoke billowing from the roof.

The couple who have been identified by colleagues on social media were found in the lower level of the home which quickly caught alight early on Sunday

Ipswich detectives are leading the investigation - code-named Operation Verdite - with assistance from homicide, forensic and scientific officers.

'Complex and detailed forensic examinations, as well as investigations and interviews by detectives, will continue for some time,' Acting Insp McQueen said.

'I understand the interest from the media and the community, and rightly so, however, to maintain the integrity of the investigation, I am unable to provide any further details or updates at this time.'

He said anyone with information should contact police.
Far-right extremism is on the rise with an attack in London likely in the next 12 months, according to the latest intelligence on threats facing the capital.

Officials who have seen the security assessment said far-Right militants are now thought more likely to mount an attack in London than Islamist terrorists.

Analysis by the Metropolitan Police and MI5 suggests the surge has been triggered by anger at an influx of 15,000 Afghan refugees flown to Britain in August.

Other factors were the Black Lives Matter protests and Covid restrictions.

According to sources, the East London area of Havering has been flagged as a hotbed of far-Right extremism.

Groups including Patriotic Alternative, Identity England and a resurgent National Front are active.

Last August, Patriotic Alternative placed a giant banner outside Havering's town hall carrying the slogan: 'White Lives Matter'.

Analysis by the Metropolitan Police and MI5 suggests the surge has been triggered by anger at an influx of 15,000 Afghan refugees flown to Britain in August. (file photo of Met officers in London)

A source said another factor behind the increase in far-Right activism was the presence of Eastern European groups among minority communities in the capital, adding: 'There are lots of Poles, for example, who are following Polish far-Right groups in London, which are a lot more organised than British ones.'

Last year the head of MI5, Ken McCallum, warned of the rise of racist extremism across Britain, revealing that ten of the 29 plots foiled by his agency in the previous four years involved Right-wing groups.

However, Islamic extremists remain a serious threat and are thought likely to launch random attacks using a 'bladed weapon or a blunt instrument like a hammer' and to strike 'non-symbolic targets' such as suburban streets.
T-Mobile will fire corporate employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 2, according to an internal company memo.

Corporate employees have until April 2 to prove they're fully vaccinated, the memo states, and employees must show proof of at least one dose of the COVID vaccine by February 21 or they'll be placed on unpaid leave.

Customer Experience Center workers will be also be required to show proof of vaccination in order to 'avoid impact to customer experience,' but will not be placed on unpaid leave.

T-Mobile's new policy was announced Friday in an email from Human Resource Chief Deanne King to all staff.

'Data clearly and consistently shows that vaccines offer our best chance at preventing illness and death from COVID-19,' the internal memo, which was posted by TMO blog, reads.

The memo, which was addressed to 'all employees (excluding international),' states that the vaccine rules do not apply to field technicians and most in-store retail roles. The company said it didn't have a tally of how many employees the edict will affect.

Medical and religious exemptions will be reviewed by the company.

The company is requiring vaccination in an attempt to bring its employees back to the office by springtime. The company is hoping to bring back its employees starting in April in an on-site or hybrid work environment, the memo reads.

The move follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on January 13 that blocked President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses.

T-Mobile said it will fire any employee who is not vaccinated by April 2 and will place employees on unpaid leave if they do not show proof of the first dose by February 21

Human Resource Chief Deanne King made the announcement on Friday and said: 'It is clear that this is the right thing to do to help save and prevent serious illness'

'We have weighted this issue carefully with the benefit of input from our medical advisors and the insights from many other large companies with similar policies, and it is clear that this is the right thing to do to help save and prevent serious illness,' the memo states.

'While we hope every affected employee will be vaccinated and return to their workplace, we understand that for some, this means you must make a deeply personal decision. Uniting around this plan helps us all move forward with greater clarity and safety for our community.'

Corporate confirmed that it will require vaccinations, telling Bloomberg: 'T-Mobiles badge-controlled offices continue to be accessible only to those who are vaccinated against Covid-19 and we have shared with employees that we are requiring office workers to be fully vaccinated by April 2.'

It is unknown how many employees are being affected by this.

T-Mobile isn't the first big company to make this move, following American Express, which told its employees they would have to work remotely if they don't get vaccinated.

Other companies like Amtrak, Anthem, Citigroup and Delta are also requiring all staff or those in-office to be vaccinated.

Biden's vaccine mandate for large business was withdrawn after the Supreme Court blocked it.

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 president's mandate 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.

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.

The withdrawal is effective January 26, 2022.

Biden unveiled in September several regulations aimed at increasing the U.S. adult vaccination rate, which currently stands at about 74 per cent, according to U.S. government data.

Among the most shocking was instructing Labor to issue an order through OSHA to mandate that private companies track their employees vaccination status or face fines and penalties from the government. Many were perplexed when Biden announced the initiative after he claimed several times that the administration would not enforce vaccination mandates on private businesses.

The proposed vaccine mandates immediately sparked legal challenges by conservative organizations, Republicans and several business groups claiming there were too many challenges to overcome with implementing such a rule.
The UK-US extradition treaty has been declared 'not fit for purpose' as a British tech tycoon faces removal to America to answer criminal fraud charges.

Dr Mike Lynch, the founder of specialist software firm Autonomy, lost what is believed to be the UK's biggest-ever civil fraud trial on Friday.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered his extradition hours after a High Court judge found Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) had 'substantially succeeded' in its claim against the scandal-hit entrepreneur over the sale of his firm.

But senior MPs and legal experts were quick to criticise the move.

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, last night said: 'Mike Lynch's case is another sign that the extradition treaty signed by the Blair government is unequal.

'US prosecutors can force our citizens to America while Americans are much harder to bring to justice in this country.'

Dr Mike Lynch (pictured), the founder of specialist software firm Autonomy, lost what is believed to be the UK's biggest-ever civil fraud trial on Friday

Mr Tugendhat, who yesterday threw his hat in the ring to be the next leader of the Tory party, called for the treaty to be 'rebalanced'.

'It's not acceptable to have Brits at a disadvantage,' he added.

Dr Lynch, who was once dubbed Britain's answer to Bill Gates, sold his firm to US giant HPE for 8.3 billion in 2011.

But the company accused him of masterminding an elaborate scheme to inflate Autonomy's value before the sale.

The multi-billion pound fraud action brought by HPE concluded at the High Court in London on Friday when Mr Justice Hildyard said HPE had 'substantially succeeded'  but he added that the company would receive 'substantially less' than the 3.7 billion it claimed in damages.

Now Ms Patel has agreed to extradite Dr Lynch, the tycoon has 14 days to appeal  which could trigger another lengthy court process.

Dr Lynch, 56, could face up to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty in the US. He has always denied the accusations and signalled on Friday that he would appeal.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel (pictured) ordered Dr Lynch's extradition hours after a High Court judge found Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) had 'substantially succeeded' in its claim against the scandal-hit entrepreneur over the sale of his firm

Robert Dougans, partner and head of dispute resolution at law firm Preiskel & Co, said: 'The treaty is not fit for purpose. It is one-sided. It allows people to be sent to America for things that happened here.

'For me, it's a basic point. I'm British, if I do something here it is for the courts in this country to punish me or not. I do find the jurisdictional overreach of the United States concerning.'

He added: 'Dr Lynch may not be Snow White, but my view is that this is primarily a business dispute.

'He sold a British company in a contract governed by English law with the English courts to police it.

'It strikes me as insane that a prosecution may now happen in the States.'
A former BBC journalist's pet dog whose theft and subsequent recovery went viral thanks to a Twitter campaign has died at 14.

Cabbage, the collie cross of the BBC's ex-technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, trended on Twitter in November after she and five other dogs were taken when their dog walker's van was stolen in Acton, West London.

Mr Cellan-Jones, 63, who thanked his 197,000 Twitter followers when all six dogs were found safely the same day, shared the news yesterday that 'lovely, energetic' Cabbage had died.

Former BBC journalist Rory Cellan-Jones's pet dog Cabbage (above) whose theft and subsequent recovery went viral thanks to a Twitter campaign has died at 14

Cabbage trended on Twitter in November after she and five other dogs were taken when their dog walker's van was stolen in Acton, West London. Mr Cellan-Jones, 63, who thanked his 197,000 Twitter followers when all six dogs were found safely the same day, shared the news yesterday that 'lovely, energetic' Cabbage had died. (Above, the tweet posted after Cabbage was found)

He tweeted: 'For 14 years she was a lovely, energetic and really smart member of our family.

'It was time for her to go but we miss her so much.'

Cabbage already had an online following before she was stolen because Mr Cellan-Jones regularly documented their morning walks.

On Friday he shared a final photograph of Cabbage on her lead walking up to his front door, tweeting: 'Home after a gentle stroll.'

Broadcaster Sophie Raworth offered her condolences, saying she 'loved Cabbage's adventures'.
Ocorian, the financial services group and leading provider of private client, fund, corporate, capital markets and regulatory & compliance services, wins gold as Family Office Adviser of the Year in the Citywealth 2022 IFC Awards. Ocorian has won gold in this category over four years.

Ocorians Global Head of Private Clients, Nick Cawley, said: Were delighted to be recognised as Family Office Adviser of the Year and bring home the gold from this years Citywealth IFC Awards. We have a market leading private client platform which was strengthened with our recent acquisition of Trust Corporation International in Guernsey and the arrival of Ian Rumens, Karl Bekusch and Karen OHanlon in Jersey. The Ocorian team takes pride in being experts in our clients business to enable personalised, value accretive service delivery for them and their families.

Ocorian was also awarded silver for Trust Company of the Year  Luxembourg and bronze for Trust Company of the Year  Bahamas, Bermuda & Cayman in this years awards.

The Citywealth International Financial Centre Awards highlight the excellence of the advisers and managers in the private wealth sector in the major international financial centres.

The awards are announced just as Ocorians Global Head of Private Clients, Nick Cawley is named on eprivateclients definitive top 50 most influential.

Ocorians family office service is built on long-term personal relationships that are founded on a deep understanding of what matters to clients both now and in the future.

Ocorians global private client and family office team are well-served in key jurisdictions including Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Bermuda, Cayman, BVI, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and Mauritius, offering tailored, practical solutions that are flexible enough to adapt to changing family

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Three-year-olds in Victoria will start school on Monday in an Australian first designed to give every child the best start to their education.

Tens of thousands of children will participate in the extra year of school announced by Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt.

'We're leading the nation when it comes to giving kids the best start in life  (it) marks a huge milestone in our work to build the education state and give every Victorian child the best opportunities, no matter where they live,' Mr Andrews said.

Under education reforms in Victoria, children aged three will have access to kindergarten. Pictured is a child returning to school

The Victorian state government will invest almost $5billion this decade on early childhood education this decade. Pictured is a young boy on a bike and his mother

About 2,700 services across Victoria's 79 local government areas will deliver at least five hours a week of three-year-old kindergarten this year, before gradually scaling up to reach the full 15-hour program by 2029.

The state government will invest almost $5 billion this decade to give three-year-old children an additional year of funded kindergarten programs.

'We couldn't be more excited to welcome families from right across Victoria into our Three-Year-Old Kinder programs  this reform will give a whole generation of children the early education they need to succeed in life,' Ms Stitt said.

The government claimed research showed children who had two years of a quality kindergarten program have better cognitive and social skills when they start school.

It said it also led to higher exam scores and better social and emotional outcomes at age 16 and meant they were more likely to go on to further study after high school.

The plan would create more than 6,000 teacher and educator jobs and about 5,000 construction jobs over 10 years.

Children are pictured and three adults in the Goodstart Early Learning Centre at Albany Creek

The new reform 'will give a whole generation of children the early education they need to succeed in life,' says Victoria's Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt (pictured)

Children enrolled in three-year-old kindergarten will also receive a Kinder Kit, a colourful carry-case packed with educational toys and resources to 'celebrate that kindergarten in Victoria now starts at age three'.

The government said the kits, which will be distributed from the start of Term 1 to children enrolled in the program, were created to complement learning at kinder with activities that encourage family engagement in their child's education and promote awareness of the benefits of continued learning at home.

The state government spent almost $15 million in grants to install better ventilation in schools, and provide free rapid antigen tests twice a week to every staff member.
In a claim submitted to the High Court, her parents accuse their daughters school of failing to take reasonable steps to protect Lauren from bullying

The family of a 16-year-old girl who killed herself after being mercilessly bullied have launched landmark legal action against her school and the police.

Lauren Lelonek died at home in 2016 following years of abuse, including three physical attacks and threats over social media.

In a claim submitted to the High Court, her parents accuse their daughters school of failing to take reasonable steps to protect Lauren from bullying and claim the police did not properly investigate.

It is believed to be the first time such action has been taken against a UK school over a pupils suicide due to bullying.

Let down: Lauren Lelonek wanted to pursue a career in hair and beauty

The teenagers parents, Sarah and Ian Lelonek, said: Our daughter Lauren was a kind, honest, caring and loving girl with a big heart.

She always put others before herself. She was planning on going to college and training in hair and beauty. But all of that, all of her future, was lost following a sustained campaign of bullying at her school.

The bullying of Lauren at the University of Chester Academy in Northwich, now called Rudheath Senior Academy and controlled by North West Academies Trust (NWAT), escalated from September 2015, the claim states. Documents say she was repeatedly threatened with violence and branded a grass after the first physical assault in October 2015 was reported to Cheshire Police.

Lauren withdrew her complaint but she and a friend were attacked again that December and made the subjects of a Facebook post stating snitches get stitches.

A third attack in February 2016 saw Lauren lose clumps of hair but, according to the claim, the school told police they were happy to deal with the incident in house.

Lauren later messaged the friend, saying I cant even remember the last time I was actually happy and [I] just dont know if I can carry on anymore.

Laurens family allege Cheshire Police were aware of a credible harassment claim but failed to properly investigate. After the teenagers death, two girls, aged 17 and 18, were convicted of harassing Lauren for six months.

The case is being brought under the Human Rights Act. Dan Rosenberg, a lawyer with Simpson Millar who represented a mother who sued the Government after her daughter attempted suicide when a school kept her in an isolation unit, said Laurens case was very different because their case did not concern the schools responsibility for pupils behaviour.

A Cheshire Police spokesman said: Our thoughts remain with Laurens family and all those who knew and loved her.

Solicitor Yvonne Kestler, of law firm Leigh Day who represents the Lelonek family, said: The family hope that the school and police have learned lessons from what happened to Lauren to ensure that they take action that will make a difference and help victims of bullying to know that the bodies that are there to protect them will do just that.

An NWAT spokeswoman said: Our thoughts and best wishes are with the family of Lauren Lelonek.

For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.
A surge in the proportion of births to middle-class mothers is fuelling fresh hope that more women will enjoy the 'have it all' dream of a career and children.

Marking a major milestone, more than half of all babies born in England and Wales last year were to middle-class mums.

The figures, drawn from Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, fly in the face of received wisdom that well-educated women are driving fertility rates down by choosing a career over parenthood.

In reality, the birth rate among women at the very top of the employment tree  in the best and highest-paid jobs  is twice the average of all occupations.

But the number of births to women with poorer employment prospects appears to be falling hard and fast.

The data reveals that from 2011 to 2019 the share of births to women in 'higher managerial, administrative and professional' occupations  who make up the top three of nine ONS employment tiers  grew from 45.2 to 49.3 per cent.

The proportion has been steadily rising by about half a percentage point a year, indicating a real trend and not merely statistical 'noise', and means women in middle-class occupations are likely to have last year accounted for more than half of all births in England and Wales for the first time.

The figures, drawn from Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, fly in the face of received wisdom that well-educated women are driving fertility rates down by choosing a career over parenthood. (stock photo)

Baby boomers are the least happiest age group in Britain, study finds Baby boomers have enjoyed a golden age of economic growth and job security, but the post-war generation is the least happy in Britain, say researchers. According to a study, those born between 1946 and 1964 are among the most well-off in the UK but also the most lonely, depressed and suicidal, with only 83.1 per cent saying they are happy. The findings by US sociologists at the University of California, drawn from analysis of data gathered in the European Social Survey, shatter the widely held belief that baby boomers have been the most fortunate generation. Sociologist Yiwan Ye, co-author of the study published in the Journal Of Happiness Studies, put this down to being the most likely generation to separate and divorce and the least likely to socialise with friends, with only 10.7 per cent having daily contact with friends compared to 35.7 per cent for the young Generation Z. Social disintegration and deprivation, not economic impoverishment, appears to be the culprit of unhappiness of the UK baby boomers, he said. He notes that the UK is still one of the happiest countries in the world, ranked 13th by the UN. Advertisement

The picture is starkly different among women in 'routine or manual' occupations, or with no job, who make up the bottom four rungs of the employment ladder.

Their share of births fell from 25.9 to 23.1 per cent.

The changes are set against a background of declining birth rates in the 2010s across all classes, albeit to different extents.

Astonishingly, the total number of babies born annually in England and Wales slumped by more than 83,000 between 2011 and 2019, from 723,913 to 640,370.

Economists are worried about the long-term impact of this fall, because fewer babies now means fewer taxpaying workers in the future to fund the needs of an ageing population.

Those in routine or manual work or with no occupation, who make up about a quarter of working-age women, accounted for nearly half the drop in national fertility  having almost 40,000 fewer babies in 2019 than in 2011.

Dr Sarah Marie Hall, of Manchester University, interviewed women and couples in the North East and said 'financial insecurity' was leading many to postpone parenthood.

She added: 'We are seeing people increasingly unable to choose to have children, or as many children as they wanted.'

Cuts to welfare, such as the two-child limit on child benefit, were also having an impact.

'Concerns around affording everyday living, and access to childcare, maternity and paternity leave, secure housing, a reasonable and steady income and so on, mean that choice is being stripped away,' Dr Hall said.

Aveek Bhattacharya, chief economist at the Social Mobility Foundation, who last year wrote a report on Britain's falling birth rate, said 'slow wage growth' in the 2010s among the poorer paid was a factor but that the trend of women prioritising careers over children might be 'stabilising' among the better off, 'while those lower down the economic spectrum are catching up'.
The police decision to investigate whether Downing Street hosted illegal parties during lockdown has split opinion. Is it a long-overdue move that shows no one is above the law? Or is it politically charged waste of both time and scarce police resources?

While officers will be tied up investigating gatherings that took place more than two years ago, it may help to ask what else Londons Metropolitan Police have on their plates.

Taking last Tuesday as an example  the day it was announced Detective Assistant Constable Jane Connors would head a team investigating partygate  The Mail on Sunday has analysed what else would occupy the forces 30,485 officers, 1,255 community support officers and 8,390 civilian staff in a typical 24 hours.

The police decision to investigate whether Downing Street hosted illegal parties during lockdown has split opinion. Is it a long-overdue move that shows no one is above the law? Or is it politically charged waste of both time and scarce police resources?

Tuesday was a busy day for those officers investigating the fatal stabbing in Maida Vale the previous day, in which a motorist drove his car at the attacker, killing him too. For others, it seems to have been a lighter day. Eltham West neighbourhood policing team in South-East London tweeted a photograph of an officer walking along an empty path with the words: We patrolled Sutcliffe Park and Cator Park SE3 this morning. Its very cold out there.

To judge what the Met achieves  or doesnt achieve  in a typical day we can look to the Home Offices crime statistics. The latest available data covers the first three months of 2020 and records the outcome of police investigations.

If last Tuesday was a typical day in the life of the Met, there will have been 6,217 emergency 999 calls, resulting in 2,290 crimes being reported across London.

But what were they  and what happened next?

Hundreds of thugs get away with violence

On A typical day like last Tuesday, 163 cases of assault with injury will have been reported to the Met. Just 17 of them will end with someone being charged.

No wonder watchdogs say the Mets record on investigating crime requires improvement. In their last report into the force, Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabularies awarded the force just two stars out of a possible four in this category, which should be an essential of policing.

Of the 163 daily cases, 109 will collapse before charges can be brought, either through lack of evidence or because the victim does not want to press charges. In 34 cases a suspect will never be identified, and in three cases the assailants will escape with a caution.

Typically, the Met will record 117 domestic burglaries a day

There will have been a further 602 reports of assault without injury, resulting, eventually, in just ten people being charged and two people being cautioned. There will also be 15 threats to kill, which will result in two people being charged. Eleven cases will be dropped for lack of evidence and in two cases no suspect will be identified.

The police will have better luck prosecuting cases of assault against their own officers: out of six cases expected in an ordinary day, five will result in charges.

In better news, the inspectorate gave the Met the maximum four stars for tackling serious and organised crime, but only three stars for preventing crime and tackling anti-social behaviour.

Thieves and robbers have another field day

Typically, the Met will record 117 domestic burglaries a day  although that is almost certainly just the tip of the iceberg. Two years ago, HM Inspector of Constabulary Martin Parr warned that many victims are no longer bothering to report burglaries because they dont have faith that the police will take any action.

The statistics show that the public is quite right to think that the chances of their burglar being brought to justice are remote.

In 105 of the 117 cases, the investigation will be dropped before any suspect is identified. A further nine cases will be dropped for lack of evidence  and only in three cases will a suspect go on to be charged

No wonder watchdogs say the Mets record on investigating crime requires improvement'

There will also likely to have been 94 robberies on Tuesday. In 68 cases investigations will not get as far as identifying a suspect, 20 cases will be dropped for lack of evidence  and only six people will be charged

A further 138 people will have had their pockets picked, or otherwise had things stolen from their person. But only in one case will anyone be charged.

There will have been 120 recorded cases of shoplifting, resulting in just ten summonses or charges.

Again this is likely to be a gross underestimate of the real number of such offences committed in a day across London as smaller thefts go unpunished.

In 2020 policing minister Kit Malthouse had to remind chief constables that they should be prosecuting cases of shoplifting where the value is less than 200  the threshold below which the Crown Prosecution Service leaves it to police to bring action.

The 'non-crimes' that lead to a police record

The Met is likely to have logged five non-crime hate incidents last Tuesday.

Its a controversial practice, in which officers make a record of any complaint in which someone believes they were targeted because of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation  even if no crime had taken place.

It has led to one man having a police record for racial hatred for whistling the Bob The Builder theme tune at his neighbour. Another for hanging a Union Jack in their window.

Met officers recorded an average of five such incidents a day over the period from 2014, when the practice was introduced, to 2019.

79 cars stolen but just one person charged

Stray into a bus lane for a few yards and you can expect no mercy from the law. In 2019 London councils between them issued 300,000 fines, at 130 a time, for such infringements  822 a day.

It is a different story when motorists are the victims of crime. On a typical day, 79 motorists will report their cars stolen, but only in one of these cases will anyone go on to be charged with the offence.

A further 226 motorists will report property stolen from their vehicles. Again, just one will result in anyone being charged.

There will be 52 reports of criminal damage to a vehicle, with just three suspects going on to face the court.

Failing the survivors of sexual assaults

Victims groups constantly complain about the low number of cases of sexual assault which result in a suspect being charged, and they are not wrong.

On a typical day in London, 27 women will report being sexually assaulted or raped.

Only one or two cases will result in anyone being charged. Four people will be reported for stalking, of whom one will go on to be charged. Six people will be reported for exposure or voyeurism. Again, just one of these will be charged.

Turning a blind eye for London's drug users

Under instructions from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the Metropolitan Police are already going easy on drug offenders.

Mr Khans latest plan is for people caught with small amount of drugs to escape criminal prosecution altogether  and be sent on drug awareness courses instead.

On a typical day like Tuesday, Met officers will succeed in catching just 14 Londoners in possession of drugs. Yet the Office for National Statistics estimates that one in five 16 to 24-year-olds in England and Wales have taken illegal drugs in the past year and 7.4 per cent have taken a class A drug. It is a small consolation that most of those 14 caught will go on to be charged.

Just nine people will be caught for trafficking drugs in a typical day, seven of whom will go on to be charged.

Vandalism? Its barely worth reporting

THE Met scored three out of four stars from watchdogs for dealing with antisocial behaviour. But how much of that is down to people simply no longer bothering to report everyday crime?

Between 2016 and 2020 the Met closed 38 of its 73 publicly accessible police stations counters  making it much more difficult to report crime.

Even where it is reported, dont expect much in the way of action. On a typical day like last Tuesday, 30 people will be reported for criminal damage to a home. One will be cautioned, police will try to bring action against a further 12 but will give up for lack of evidence. Just two people will be summonsed or charged.
Twelve companies awarded contracts worth more than 500 million in total to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) after being placed on a 'VIP lane' of bidders also claimed hundreds of thousands of pounds in furlough cash, an investigation by The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The firms secured the lucrative orders after being added to an exclusive list of Department of Health and Social Care suppliers following recommendations from Ministers, MPs, Lords and top officials  but still took taxpayer-funded handouts.

While the companies are not accused of any wrongdoing, critics have questioned the morality of accepting the cash. Labour MP Meg Hillier, Chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: 'Some companies have done very well out of the taxpayer during the pandemic.

'There are clearly big questions to be asked about why they were doing so well and also claiming such large amounts of furlough.'

The firms secured the lucrative orders after being added to an exclusive list of Department of Health and Social Care suppliers following recommendations from Ministers, MPs, Lords and top officials  but still took taxpayer-funded handouts (stock image)

The firms include Euthenia Investments, run by Sabia Mokeddem, who was given 880,000 in 2020 to arrange the supply of 55,000 overalls from a Hong Kong wholesaler.

She was recommended to the 'VIP lane' by Lord Agnew, who resigned from the Government last week in frustration at its woeful record on tackling Covid fraud.

The 25-year-old, a French financial trader who lives in London, also claimed about 10,000 of furlough cash between May and August last year. Ms Mokeddem  who had no previous experience of supplying medical equipment  last night said that her company had furloughed one employee who was later made redundant.

Lord Agnew said yesterday that he had 'operated a brutal, simple triage system' for those who contacted his office seeking help with bids.

They include Euthenia Investments, run by Sabia Mokeddem (pictured), who was given 880,000 in 2020 to arrange the supply of 55,000 overalls from a Hong Kong wholesaler

Another firm, Monarch Acoustics, saw its year-on-year profits soar by 4,700 per cent after it was given a 28.8 million contract for surgical gowns in 2020.

The company, which specialised in making furniture and has 80 employees, was recommended for the 'VIP lane' by Matt Hancock, the then Health Secretary.

Its owners Stuart and Sophie Hopkin bought their 1.15 million home in a village near Nottingham without a mortgage last year.

Nonetheless, Monarch claimed up to 80,000 in furlough payments between December 2020 and last March, according to official documents.

The company did not respond to a request to comment.

Another company, NKD International, took 8,000 of furlough money between January and May last year after being awarded a PPE contract worth 135,000 for surgical gowns.

In total, 47 firms were awarded contracts worth 4.7 billion after getting a spot on the 'VIP lane'.

There is no suggestion that any of those who recommended them acted improperly.

A spokesman for the Government said that its pandemic furlough scheme had 'provided a lifeline to more than a million businesses... and protected nearly 12 million jobs'.
Looking for love online? Then you need to brush up on your spelling and grammar, according to a new study.

A poll of 2,000 British daters found that 52 per cent would snub potential partners if their messages were littered with spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.

Women were fussier than men, with 58 per cent saying they would be turned off by someone who repeatedly misspelt words or bungled their grammar, compared with 45 per cent of men.

A poll of 2,000 British daters found that 52 per cent would snub potential partners if their messages were littered with spelling, grammar and punctuation errors

People aged over the age of 55 were the least interested in grammar

Among the most annoying habits were misplaced apostrophes, writing your instead of youre and muddling up there and their or where and were. Other bugbears included using more than one exclamation mark and employing textspeak such as YOLO (You Only Live Once), OMG (Oh My God) and LOL (Laughing Out Loud).

The choosiest daters are from Bristol, where 69 per cent said they couldnt abide bad spelling and grammar. They were followed by London (59 per cent), Norwich and Leicester (both 53 per cent). Those from Newcastle (43 per cent) are the least choosy, followed by Birmingham (45 per cent) and Edinburgh (50 per cent). The most irked were daters aged between 18 and 34, with 58 per cent saying that bad grammar and spelling were a turn-off, compared with 52 per cent of those between 35 and 54 and 48 per cent of those over 55.

Georgiana Niven, 41, from Maidstone, Kent, said she was a stickler for spelling, adding: Ive been single now for three years and Ive lost count of the dates Ive rejected due to them mauling the English language. My friends all tell me Im being too fussy, but if someone cant spell my name right or tell the difference between too and to or your and youre, there is no way Im sharing a drink with them, let alone my bed.

Rachael Lloyd, of dating website eharmony, which commissioned the research, said that hopefuls should check their messages for errors before they send them.

A study by Tilburg University in the Netherlands two years ago found that spelling mistakes in a dating profile were seen as showing a lack of care and made the writer less attractive.
Brian Houston has stepped down as the leader of Hillsong while he fights criminal charges that he covered up his father's child sex abuse.

The Australian founder of the wildly popular mega-church made the shock announcement to his flock at a service on Sunday morning.

Houston told worshippers the charge of concealing the serious indictable offence came as a 'complete shock' and he would 'vigorously defend' it.

The 67-year-old is accused of knowing from September 1999 that his father Frank sexually abused a seven-year-old boy in 1970, and helped cover it up.

Brian Houston (pictured with his wife Bobbie) has stepped down as the leader of Hillsong while he fights criminal charges that he covered up his father's child sex abuse

The Australian founder (pictured in Sydney on December 9) of the wildly popular mega-church made the shock announcement to his flock at a service on Sunday morning

Frank Houston sexually abused numerous young boys in New Zealand and Australia from 1965 to 1977 when he lead the Assemblies of God church.

His son on Sunday told Hillsong worshippers he would immediately step down temporarily so he could be 'fully committed' to 'setting the record straight'.

Houston said Hillsong's external legal counsel advised the move to the church board during the annual retreat in December.

'[They said] it would be best practice for me to step aside completely from church leadership during the court proceedings,' he told hundreds of worshippers.

'So it's likely to be drawn out and take up most of 2022, especially considering the backlog in courts exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.

Houston (pictured with his wife Bobbie) told worshippers the charge of concealing the serious indictable offence came as a 'complete shock' and he would 'vigorously defend' it

'[They said] it would be best practice for me to step aside completely from church leadership during the court proceedings,' Houston (right) told hundreds of worshippers on Sunday

'And along with this the board and I have been having detailed discussions around requirements for leadership and we've talked about the effects of the situation with my father, going back many years up to the current legal case, and the impact that this has had on me emotionally.

'So the result is Hillsong's global board feel it's in my and the church's best interest for this to happen, so I've agreed to step aside from all ministry responsibilities until the end of the year.'

Houston last week had the case adjourned until March 3 so a case conference could be held in February and told the court he would plead not guilty.

His wife Bonnie took to Instagram on the same day as the shock announcement to tell Hillsong's 2.9 million followers she would be hosting the Sunday service.

'I feel like God has placed something in my heart, and you know, it's going to be a special morning and an important morning in Jesus' name,' she said.

Last September, the Global Senior Pastor stepped aside as Hillsong's board chairman after being charged six months ago by NSW Police.

In court documents, police allege Houston failed to alert authorities his father had indecently assaulted the young boy despite suspecting the incident had occurred.

His wife Bonnie took to Instagram on the same day as the shock announcement to tell Hillsong's 2.9million followers she would be hosting the Sunday service (pictured)

Last September, the Global Senior Pastor (pictured) stepped aside as Hillsong's board chairman after being charged six months ago by NSW Police

Police allege Houston (pictured in Sydney in December) failed to alert authorities his father had allegedly indecently assaulted the boy despite suspecting the assault

Police will allege the 67-year-old had information that might be of 'material assistance in securing the prosecution of Frank Houston for that offence'.

The period of the charge placed against the senior pastor spans five years from September 15, 1999 to November 9, 2004 - the day after his father died.

The charges can carry a maximum penalty of up to five years' imprisonment, depending upon the exact crime concealed.

It comes a few weeks after Houston was spotted holding secret meetings with mega-church elders and board members at an expensive Sydney hotel.

Over two days of seminars, the embattled leader was seen engaged in serious discussions with senior figures at the $1500-a-night Park Hyatt.

Dressed very casually and wearing his hair pulled back in a ponytail the founder ate a sumptuous $45-a-head breakfast buffet with his wife Bobbie on December 9.

Bobbie, who is also a senior Hillsong global pastor but holds no leadership role on the eldership or board, was not seen attending any of the meetings.

Daily Mail Australia understands 10 board members and elders plus three staff stayed for two nights at the hotel while others dialled-in through video conferencing.

Over two days of seminars, the embattled leader was seen engaged in serious discussions with senior figures at the $1500-a-night Park Hyatt (pictured)

The Hillsong Global Head Pastor arriving (above) at the 2014 royal commission into child sexual abuse which delved into how Hillsong had handled his father's abuses

Daily Mail Australia sought a response from Hillsong about the two-day conference and about the topics of discussion for the board and eldership.

Of concern to Hillsong currently is the poorly performing Hillsong Channel, a Christian-themed TV network and the joint venture of Hillsong and the American Trinity Broadcasting Network.

At least ten staff from Hillsong Channel were made redundant in recent weeks, with salaries of TV channel staff ranging from $49,000 for a video editor to $71,000 for a creative producer.

The days of meetings came after a hellish year worldwide for Hillsong which was founded by Brian and Bobbie Houston in Sydneys Hills district in 1983 and now boasts 131 churches in 30 countries.

Apart from the charge laid against its most high profile member, Mr Houston, this year Hillsong has been embroiled in a scandal involving US Hillsong members and a controversy over former celebrity New York pastor, Carl Lentz.

At Hillsong Australia, staffing is family-oriented with Bobbie and Brian Houston's son Ben an employee and their son-in-law Peter Toganivalu working alongside other relatives of board members.

In an email in September, Mr Houston said he was resigning from his position as chairman of the Hillsong board, so that board members could function 'to their fullest capacity during this season'.

In an email in September, Mr Houston (pictured) said he was resigning from his position as chairman of the Hillsong board so the church could 'function to its fullest capacity'

'I also wanted to let you know that I've made a decision to step aside from my role on the Hillsong Church boards that oversee the governance of our operations,' the email obtained by People read.

'I did this so that these boards can function to their fullest capacity during this season. This doesn't change my role as Global Senior Pastor. I thought it was important to let our church family know in the interests of transparency, and I wanted you to hear it from me directly.'

Frank Houston was accused of sexually abusing a seven-year-old boy from Sydney's east during trips from his native New Zealand five decades ago, in 1969 and 1970.

NSW Police began investigating Brian Houston after a 2014 royal commission into child sexual abuse delved into how Hillsong's forerunners - the Hills and Sydney Christian Life Centres - handled 1999 abuse allegations raised against his father.

Houston, then the president of the evangelical organisation the Assemblies of God in Australia, allegedly confronted his father, who confessed, the royal commission's final report said.

The inquiry alleged that instead of reporting the abuse to police, Houston allowed his father to go into retirement and gave money to the alleged victim.

There is no suggestion Houston was involved in offending against the child.

Houston (pictured) told worshippers the charge of concealing the serious indictable offence came as a 'complete shock' and he would 'vigorously defend' it

Houston (pictured in Sydney in December) told a 2014 royal commission he did not report his dad to police as the victim was 35 or 36 years of age at the time the allegations surfaced

The victim told the commission he met Frank Houston at a McDonald's restaurant in Thornleigh in 2000 and was offered a dirty napkin to sign in exchange for $10,000.

The victim said he felt 'shame, fear and embarrassment' for many years and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder.

Frank Houston died in 2004, age 82, after confessing to a 'continuing problem' of a sexual interest in young boys.

Houston told the royal commission he did not report his dad to police as the victim was 35 or 36 years of age at the time the allegations surfaced.

He said weeks after he became aware of the abuse, the victim told him he did not want to go public or approach the police, however the victim has disputed this.

The pastor claims he is innocent and that the allegations took him by surprise.

'These charges have come as a shock to me given how transparent Ive always been about this matter,' Houston says.

'I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.'
Taxpayers have shouldered the multi-million pound cost of keeping a young woman in hospital for almost 14 years while her parents battled local health authorities over where she should live when discharged.

The parents of P, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, want their daughter  who has complex needs that require around-the-clock healthcare help  to live with them in a specially adapted home.

But successive delays, followed by an apparent U-turn by health authorities who now want her to go to a nursing home, have delayed her release from hospital, where she has spent most of her time in a high-dependency unit (HDU). As an HDU bed costs about 1,000 a day, her extended stay is likely to have cost up to 5 million.

Last month, a judge sitting in the Court of Protection, which deals with cases where a person lacks mental capacity to make their own decisions, ruled she should be moved to a nursing home.

The parents of P, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, want their daughter  who has complex needs that require around-the-clock healthcare help  to live with them in a specially adapted home

Her parents, who spend many hours a day with her, say this will cause her condition to deteriorate because she will be deprived of the support they provide.

While the judge left the door ajar for P to move into the family home in the future, her parents fear once she is in the nursing home she will stay there permanently. They have been determined to exclude us so they can shuffle her off to this care home and wash their hands of her, said Ps father. We believe if she goes there she will never get out.

She is ready for home. She is at the most stable shes been during her time in hospital. To put her in another institution, miles away from family, with visitor restrictions  its just not humane.

The NHS hospital trust declined to comment about the ongoing legal dispute

Ps parents first tried to get their daughter discharged a decade ago. Midway through her stay, they obtained agreement in principal for her to be moved to the family home, but delays  first practical and then Covid-related  have frustrated them.

More recently, say Ps parents, hospital and social services bosses changed their minds. Their lawyers claim the hospital trust and clinical commissioning group concocted a secret plan to place her in a nursing home, without consulting them.

Ps mother said: If shes put in a nursing home, it will be absolutely devastating for her. What crime has she committed, to be put there? If that happens, we fear shell go downhill mentally and physically, because she is highly dependent on us.

The NHS hospital trust declined to comment.
A Florida hospital worker with more than 100,000 TikTok followers has died after being involved in a hit-and-run accident while leaving his shift.

Endoscopy technician Leonardo Gil Fraga, 34, had been riding on his motorcycle at around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday before he was hit by an SUV that was turning left at the intersection of East 8th Avenue and 21st Street in Hialeah, a city in Miami-Dade County.

The driver of a dark-colored SUV was captured turning left onto the roadway only seconds before Gil - who had the right of way - had entered the intersection.

Gil was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he eventually succumbed to his injuries. He leaves behind a young son.

He had been employed at Hialeah Hospital for more than a decade where he started as a janitor after his family immigrated from Cuba before working his way up to a patient transporter and then an endoscopy technician. An endoscopy is a procedure used to examine the inside of the body using a flexible tube.

A GoFundMe page for the TikTok star was created to help cover funeral expenses and $45,289 had been raised as of Saturday night, exceeding the family's $30,000 goal.

The identity of the driver remains under investigation and police are asking anyone with further information to come forward.

Florida hospital worker and TikTok star Leonardo Gil Fraga, who has 100,000 TikTok followers, worked as an endoscopy technician at Hialeah Hospital in the Miami area

Fraga, 34, died on Tuesday night after he was struck by a dark-colored SUV in a hit and run incident

Gil was remembered by his family, friends and fellow hospital workers as a 'loving, kind, selfless young man'

Video footage of the incident has since been released revealing the moment Gil had been struck by a dark-colored SUV.

'In the video, you see that the vehicle pulls forward and it looks like it's about to stop, it does stop for a very short period of time but then it just takes off again,' Hialeah Police Lieutenant Eduardo Rodriguez told NBC Miami.

'So now that person could be facing some very serious charges.'

Police are continuing their search for the suspected driver after he was briefly seen getting out of his vehicle via the footage before taking off and leaving Gil behind.

'We need to ask people to look at their neighbors, look at their coworkers, if they have seen a similar vehicle and if they notice that the vehicle hasn't been around in a couple of days to please give us a call,' Rodriguez told 7News Miami.

'We're going to keep looking for more video. We're going to be going up and down every block, and we're not going to stop till we can find another home, or location, a gasoline station, till we find something that captures the vehicle fleeing and provide us with more information that can help us get to the bottom of this.'

Video footage captured the incident as a dark-colored SUV was seen waiting at the intersection of East 8th Avenue and 21st Street in Hialeah

The SUV driver then made a left turn as Gil was heading down the intersection with his motorcycle

Gil was then struck by the driver who then fled the scene after the incident

Gil had used his social media platform to give a glimpse into his life working at the hospital

Gil's family continue to mourn their loss, remembering him as a 'loving, kind, selfless young man.'

'Our family right now is just devastated,' Gil's niece Delia Acosta told NBC Miami.

'We are just devastated because you never expect something like this to happen.'

'We're just very close family. It's not like just relative that you don't even see. He is my everything, my family's everything.'

Family members, friends and his fellow hospital workers gathered for a memorial on Thursday in honor of Gil.

Tributes were also made to the former TikTok star on Facebook.

'My heart is simply broken.....you were so much to so many.....the smile and the face of your workplace,' his former co-worker Shirley Martell posted.

'What a huge void we will all feel without your joy, energy, making us run for your softball hits, and for being the best Grinch EVER!!

'Gone but not forgotten..... RIP friend, you did good.

Gil's colleagues made tributes to their former co-worker who had been with the hospital for 10 years after moving to the US from Cuba with his family

'I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Leo at Hialeah Hospital and the truth that I still find it a lie that he is no longer with us,' another former co-worker Melanie Gomez posted.

'I will always remember him with a big smile, coffee in hand for everyone, and dancing salsa in the hallways simply because he was always in a good mood.

'I will be praying for his family that God will give him peace in a difficult time.'

Gil's aunt Katiuska Fraga also made a post on her page as the police continue investigate the culprit.

'We continue to search for the culprit of his death. Share if you know anything please call the police,' she said.

'This crime can't stay Impune [sic], maybe you're watching it right now, I'm just telling you, surrender yourself cowardly, dirty bitch, person without feelings. Put yourself in our shoes.'

Gil was also remembered by his TikTok followers where he often gave a glimpse into his life at work and where he often spoke in his native Spanish language.
Big Ben should bong 70 times to mark the Queens Platinum Jubilee, cross-party MPs have said.

Parliament is in discussions over plans to mark the jubilee, which the country will celebrate on a four-day weekend at the start of June.

The Mail on Sunday understands the celebrations could feature a visit by the Queen to Westminster.

Work has been under way to remove all the scaffolding in time from the Victorian-built Elizabeth Tower that houses the 13.5 ton Big Ben, which has undergone a five-year renovation.

Big Ben should bong 70 times to mark the Queens Platinum Jubilee, cross-party MPs have said. Parliament is in discussions over plans to mark the jubilee, which the country will celebrate on a four-day weekend at the start of June

Last night Conservative MPs Alec Shelbrooke and Mark Francois, as well as Labour MPs Clive Betts and Barry Sheerman, called for Big Ben to chime once for every year of the Queens reign during her visit. The Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg also threw his weight behind the proposal.

He told The Mail on Sunday: For the Elizabeth Tower to be fully restored and for Big Ben to chime 70 times  one for each year of her reign  would be a wonderful tribute to mark Her Majestys Platinum Jubilee.

Mr Shelbrooke said: I can think of no better way to mark the Queens Platinum Jubilee and her extraordinary service to the nation.

It would also be an excellent way of celebrating the renewal and restoration of the historic tower named in her honour.

Mr Betts said: Its a once in a lifetime event not merely for the UK but I think for any monarchy throughout the world. We ought to find all sorts of new and interesting ways to celebrate it.

Mr Francois said that it would be a very fitting way to mark the historic occasion.

Mr Rees-Mogg added: This will be a truly historic occasion for the whole nation. I am sure Parliament will wish to mark it in the most elegant way possible.

Buckingham Palace said that plans for the jubilee were still under discussion.

The Mail on Sunday understands the celebrations could feature a visit by the Queen to Westminster

Princess Elizabeth became Queen on February 6, 1952, on the death of her father, King George VI. She was crowned on June 2, 1953, at Westminster Abbey.

Last year Parliament announced plans to present the Queen with a special gift for her jubilee  a pair of bronze sculptures of the nations heraldic beasts to be installed on the Parliamentary estate.

For most of the past five years, the clock has been silenced and the 160-year-old tower shrouded in scaffolding in a restoration that may cost 90 million  more than three times the original estimate.

The tower  previously known as the Clock Tower  was renamed in honour of the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Parliament also created a stained-glass window in Westminster Hall for that jubilee.
The ministry of Health is organising on the last day of the month of January 2022 a vaccination for colle ge students attending varions colleges in the island .



Calendar 31 January 2022 final



Another campaign will be done for Students aged 12  17 years (1st Dose) Staff over 40 years (Booster dose).

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The British Medical Association last night accused Sajid Javid of delivering a kick in the teeth to family doctors over plans for a radical overhaul of the GP system.

The Health Secretary is considering nationalising surgeries in a move that could lead to GPs being employed directly by hospitals, rather than being responsible for their practices.

The plans were outlined in a letter to Boris Johnson  seen by The Times  in which Mr Javid complained of the drawbacks to the current system in which surgeries act as independent contractors paid by the NHS.

The British Medical Association last night accused Sajid Javid of delivering a kick in the teeth to family doctors over plans for a radical overhaul of the GP system

But Dr Farah Jameel, chairwoman of the BMAs GP committee for England, said last night: The way general practice has pulled together through the pandemic it was a kick in the teeth to read about our future in the Press with no warning.

She added the care provided by GPs is poorly valued by policymakers.

It is not believed there will be any forcible takeover of GPs by NHS Trusts under Mr Javids plan, but insiders say doctors may be offered incentives to link up with hospitals.
Ten thousands of acres of countryside earmarked for solar farms should be protected until the full environmental impact is clear, according to a newly formed campaign to halt the march of solar developments.

The mega-farms involve installing swathes of reflective solar panels across agricultural land to meet the Governments targets for green energy.

But the Solar Campaign Alliance (SCA)  which represents 23 separate action groups fighting against proposed developments nationwide  has written to ministers urging them to pause the plans.

It says the panels will blight the countryside and, by taking up fertile land, could significantly affect British food production.

The mega-farms involve installing swathes of reflective solar panels across agricultural land to meet the Governments targets for green energy (file photo of a solar farm in Kent)

SCAs chairman Michael Alder, emeritus professor in rural environment at the University of Essex, said: This is just the tip of the iceberg. Weve identified 300-plus solar sites that are either being considered or going through the planning process. Its growing dramatically.

Theres a lot of fright about the implications on the countryside. When people delve into it, they see there could be environmental and food security issues and realise these things arent as good as they thought.

I have no problem with putting solar on commercial roofs and housing, on brownfield sites and even low-grade land with no environmental use, but to put it on good grade land doesnt make any sense.

Last year, The Mail on Sunday reported that around 1,000 acres of rural land a month were being earmarked for solar farms.

The rollout comes even though solar is a less efficient source of energy than wind.

But landowners and farmers are being lured in by the huge sums of money to be made.

Prof Alder calculates a 64 hectare (158 acre) site could generate around 4.8million gross per year for a developer. Farmers leasing their land to solar companies can expect to receive 1,000 per acre.

The income from growing wheat is around 116,000 per year, so a massive difference, Prof Alder said.

The Solar Campaign Alliance says the panels will blight the countryside and, by taking up fertile land, could significantly affect British food production (file photo of solar farm in Deon)

These are frightening figures. They are going to make money and thats the motivation behind it all.

The SCA is representing groups such as Say No To Sunnica, which campaigns against a proposed mega-scale 2,800-acre farm in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

It is also calling for the regulation of BESS - the batteries sitting alongside solar panels which store energy.

Since 2012, more than 40 fires and explosions, which release toxic gases, have reported at sites across the world.

The Alliance outlined its concerns in a letter to the Government just before Christmas.

If we truly want to be green, we must look closely at the bigger picture and make sure we do not make poor short-term decisions.

solarcampaignalliance.info
A New York City actress was let go from her theater company after ranting about street closures during the funeral for an NYPD police officer who was shot in the line of duty.

Jacqueline Guzman, who has no relation to the reporter, was released by Face to Face Films theater company after ranting in a now-deleted TikTok about 'shutting down most of Lower Manhattan' for 22-year-old NYPD Officer Jason Rivera's funeral on Friday.

'We do not need to shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly,' she says in the video.

'They kill people who are under 22 every single day for no good reason and we don't shut down the city for them, so.'

She then pans the camera to show ambulances and cop cars blocking off the streets of New York.

Thousands of officers flooded into city for the funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown. Rivera and his partner Wilbert Mora, 27, were shot dead in East Harlem while responding to a domestic call earlier this month.

'This is f**king ridiculous, this is f**king ridiculous,' Guzman rants.

'What if someone having a heart attack in this area? No one can get to them because it's all blocked off for one f**king cop.'

New York City actress Jacqueline Guzman, who has no relation to the reporter, received backlash for her 'disrespectful' comments regarding street closures during NYPD Officer Jason Rivera's funeral on Friday

Guzman called it 'f**king ridiculous' that the city 'shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died'

The actress was met with quick outrage.

'New Yorkers turned out by the thousands yesterday to help us honor our fallen brother. One person spreading hate cannot erase that. This kind of garbage has polluted the conversation for far too long. We need the New Yorkers who are standing with us to speak up and push back,' PBA President Patrick Lynch said.

A Brooklyn cop called the actress 'disrespectful' and said: 'Not only to the NYPD but to all New York residents and to all humans. If this the only way she can get publicity, I feel very sorry for her.'

Several social media users were also outraged by the actress' comments, with one writing: 'One can want justice for people who have been mistreated by law enforcement and appreciate the sacrifice police officers and their families make everyday to protect us, at the same time. These are not mutually exclusive thoughts and emotions. Every incident is different.

'That said, wrong place, wrong time girl.'

A mother of a NYPD officer angrily told the girl: 'Miss are you serious? I am the mother of a NYC POLICE OFFICER you should be ashamed of yourself. Both Officer Rivera & Mora made the ultimate sacrifice protecting the citizens of this city and your upset because your [sic] inconvenienced?? Get ready for next week miss.'

Her own company released a statement, calling Guzman's video 'insensitive' and that it does not 'condone' her 'comments made about fallen Officer Rivera.'

'Face to Face Films has just been made aware of an insensitive video involving one of our members, Jacqueline Guzman,' the company wrote in a statement on Facebook.

'Face to Face Films does not support nor can condone these comes made about fallen Officer Rivera. As a result, she is no longer a member of our company.'

The Cuban American later deleted all of her social media accounts.

Her theater company Face to Face Films released a statement saying Guzman is a part of their company and that they do not 'condone' her 'insensitive' comments

Jason Rivera, 22, (pictured) and his partner Wilbert Mora, 27, were shot dead in East Harlem while responding to a domestic call

Thousands of officers flooded the streets of New York City on Friday to honor the fallen officer

Hundreds of New Yorkers, including Mayor Eric Adams, have been flooding the streets to honor those who lost their lives to crime throughout January.

Earlier this month, Big Apple residents honored the lives of Chinese immigrant Yao Pan Ma, 61, and Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, by attending vigils in East Harlem and Times Square - where they injured and lost their lives because of attacks.

Ma was recently taken off life support after he was attacked eight months ago while collecting cans in East Harlem to make a few extra dollars for his family.

Go was attacked in a Times Square subway station and was thrown to her death on the tracks by a homeless person.

Crime overall has been up significantly in the Big Apple, up almost 40 percent in 2022. Felony assaults are also up 12 percent.

Crime has been rising after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg implemented his woke policies, downgrading many crimes and claiming that 'prison is a last resort.'
Thirty-one of the 52 people who died with Covid on NSW's deadliest day of the pandemic were nursing home residents.

The state recorded 13,524 new cases on Sunday, up from 13,354 cases the previous day, as deaths began to peak weeks after infections curved down.

Hospitalisations were steady with 2,663 patients in NSW hospitals, with ICU numbers at 182.

Just two of the elderly patients had booster shots before they died, 20 were vaccinated, two had only one dose, and seven were unvaccinated.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said 31 of the 52 Covid-19 deaths recorded on Sunday were nursing home residents. Pictured is an elderly person with a walker

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney on Sunday, January 30, 2022

Of those who died, 11 people were in their 70s, 26 people were in their 80s, 11 were in the 90s and one was aged more than 100.

Chief health officer Kerry Chant said NSW would be adjusting cut-off periods for reporting Covid-19 cases and deaths from February 1.

'This means the reporting period information will go from 8pm close off to a 4pm close off,' she said.

'The reason for that is that we are transitioning our public reporting to allow our epidemiologists and surveillance officers and data analysts that have been working day and night to move into a more sustainable footing.'

Dr Chant said the changes would allow NSW Health to focus on doing more detailed epidemiology work.

She also addressed the new BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron Covid strain.

'We have confirmed some of the BA.2 variant but there is likely to be more,' she said.

'We have had four sequences identified as BA.2. For clarity, this is a sub-lineage, a sort of breakaway... from the Omicron variant.

'We know that it is circulating in countries and we have seen it grow significantly, for instance, in Denmark, it is now the dominant over BA.1.'

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured) made an announcement on financial support for businesses on Sunday morning

Dr Chant said that 'at the moment we don't see that it is presenting anything different clinically in terms of the severity or its response to vaccine but will obviously be watchful, monitor the situation closely'.

But scientists fear it could also be even harder to track than previous strains as it can only be confirmed through lab analysis rather than a PCR test.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Sunday announced $1 billion in financial support for businesses.

Mr Perrottet told Sky News on Sunday morning he expected the number of people dying with the virus would stay steady as the country braced for flu season.

He predicted it could be 'difficult' to curtail new cases in upcoming cooler months.

'This is the new world,' the premier said. 'We expect those (death) numbers to stay pretty consistent.

'We look at the evidence in front of us and find a balance between the health impact, economic impact, mental health impacts and tailor our settings.'

More than eight million rapid antigen tests have been distributed to over 3,000 NSW schools before term one starts (pictured, a Sydney testing clinic)

More than eight million rapid antigen tests have been distributed to around 3,000 NSW schools before term one of the year begins.

Education secretary Georgina Harrisson said the test distribution has been 'one of the most challenging logistical undertakings in recent memory'.

Parents have been informed about how they can pick up rapid antigen tests before the first day of term for public school students begins on Tuesday.

Those attending private schools returned to school on Thursday.

The government released its back-to-school plan on Sunday, with advice that all students take a rapid test before the first day of term one.

As criticism grew over the distribution of tests, Mr Perrottet said on Thursday there was 'never a requirement' for students to be rapid tested on day one of term.

Department staff have been volunteering their time, some of them delivering tests to schools using their own cars, while one school used a ferry to get kits to families.

The back-to-school plan says testing will continue twice a week for the first four weeks of the term in a bid to reduce the number of infections entering classrooms.

Meanwhile, about one third of eligible five to 11-year-olds in NSW have received a dose of a Covid vaccine as the rollout enters its fourth week.

The government released its back-to-school plan on Sunday, with advice that all students take a rapid test before the first day of term one (pictured, a shopper walks in Sydney)

The premier said on Friday as school returned and people went back to the office there was 'no doubt' case numbers would increase.

He added our 'health care system, hospitalisations and ICU' are in a 'strong position' to handle a possible rise in cases.

'Living alongside the virus means there will be cases of the virus in the community each and every day.

'When mobility increases, case numbers increase. That is the model we've moved to in NSW, Australia and around the world.'
The families of two black women found dead under mysterious circumstances on the same day both say that police in Connecticut didn't adequately investigate their deaths, and never notified their next-of-kin to inform them their relative had died.

Brenda Rawls, 53, died on December 12 after telling her family that she was going to the home of a male acquaintance down the road from her house in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

On the same day, 23-year-old Lauren Smith-Fields was found dead in her apartment. She had spent the night with a 37-year-old man she met on Bumble. A medical examiner later concluded it was an accidental fentanyl overdose and that she died of 'acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol.'

Rawls' cause of death hasn't been confirmed, according to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Now, both families are calling on the state of Connecticut to investigate their relatives' deaths, saying that an internal report will not be fair or thorough enough.

Darnell Crosland, the attorney representing Smith-Fields' family, said on Friday that he intends to sue the city over the police department's 'racially insensitive' handling of her death.

Smith-Fields' family said that, although Bridgeport police confiscated the dead woman's phone, passport and $1,345 in cash from her home, they left glaring pieces of evidence untouched.

Both families attended a rally on Sunday, what would have been Smith-Fields' 24th birthday.

Brenda Rawls, 53 (pictured), died on December 12 after telling her family that she was going to the home of a male acquaintance down the road from her in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Lauren Smith-Fields, 23 (pictured) was found dead by a 37-year-old man who she met on Bumble, and had spent the night with her at her apartment after their first date.

Both of the women's families attended a rally on Sunday, which would have been Smith-Fields' 24th birthday

Darnell Crosland (pictured), the attorney representing Smith-Fields' family, said on Friday that he intends to sue the city over the police department's 'racially insensitive' handling of her death

Smith-Fields' family said she 'didn't do drugs,' and the attorney representing the family, Darnell Crosland, said that a thorough-enough investigation wasn't conducted to know for sure whether someone else drugged her.

Rawls' sister, Dorothy Rawls Washington, said that she and her siblings talk on the phone or text every day. When Rawls didn't respond to their texts and calls on December 12 and 13, she said, her family knew something was awry.

'On the 14th, we said something's wrong,' she told NBC News. 'So two of my sisters, my niece and my niece's boyfriend walked down to that male's house.'

When they asked the man, who Rawls had told them she would be seeing, what had happened to their sister, he told them that he couldn't wake her up on December 12 and called police.

'He gave me the clothing that she had on and her shoes,' said Angela Rawls Martin, another of Rawls' sisters. 'I don't understand why that was left behind.'

On Monday, the office announced that Smith-Fields (pictured) died of 'acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol'

Smith-Fields' family, pictured, are also frustrated with how local police are handling the case, alleging the detective told them to stop contacting him and was uninterested in pursuing Smith-Field's date as a suspect, whom they described as an 'older white man'

Washington told the outlet that 'nobody ever notified us that she died,' and that after they found out on their own, they needed to 'do our own investigation and find out where she was.'

One of the Rawls sisters called a funeral home to ask if her body was there, but it wasn't - a director at that funeral home advised the family to call the state medical examiner's office, where they found her body.

'The next time we saw our sister, she was in a funeral home,' Washington said. 'They never took any opportunity to look for next of kin.'

The family sent four letters enumerating their complaints to Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim and Police Chief Rebeca Garcia - neither party has responded.

In the letters, Martin writes that she spoke to a Bridgeport Police Department sergeant multiple times - and that he said that he was unsure whether police searched Rawls' apartment or the residence she was found, saying that it wasn't written in their police report and that they had 'dropped the ball' on the investigation.

She was given the name of a detective to contact, who she said has yet to respond to four or five messages that she's left.

'They treated my sister Brenda like she was a Jane Doe,' Washington said. 'Like they found her on the side of the road with no identification. They have no respect.'

Smith-Fields' loved ones are also frustrated with how local police are handling the case, alleging the detective told them to stop contacting him and was uninterested in pursuing Smith-Field's date as a suspect, whom they described as an 'older white man.'

Smith-Fields' family said that, although Bridgeport police confiscated the dead woman's phone, passport and $1,345 in cash from her home, they left glaring pieces of evidence untouched

'When I asked the officer about the guy, he said he was a very nice guy and they weren't looking into him anymore. It was almost like he was sticking up for him and it seemed weird to hear that from a detective,' her brother Lakeem Jetter told NBC Connecticut.

'He told me directly on the phone to stop calling him and hung up in my face, it was just like total disrespect, like that's what you tell a family that's going through grief and trying to find answers?'

The 37-year-old man, Matthew LaFountain, told police that he awoke to find Smith-Fields unresponsive with a nosebleed.

LaFountain has remained mum since Lauren Smith-Fields died more than six weeks ago, but his lawyer Peter Karayiannis offered brief remarks a day after the Bridgeport Police Department launched a criminal investigation into her death.

The 'older white man' who was on a Bumble date with 23-year-old Connecticut Lauren Smith-Fields before she was found dead after a night of drinking has been revealed as Matthew LaFountain, a 37-year-old design engineer she knew for three days. His lawyer says he maintains his innocence

'My client has been cooperating with the authorities since Day 1, Karayiannis told DailyMail.com in a phone interview.

He referenced the medical examiner's report, which found that Smith-Fields' death was an accident resulting from her exposure to a cocktail of drugs, including fentanyl, washed down with alcohol.

My client maintains his innocence, the attorney added. He also expressed his condolences to the woman's family.

Smith-Fields' brother, Lakeem Jetter, told Rolling Stone that the family found a used condom in the trash, lubricant, bloody sheets on her bed and an unidentified pill in the unit.

'The first night we saw cups there, flipped plates and the lube. The cops didn't take any of the cups to test the liquor,' said Jetter. 'There was a big stain of blood in the middle of her bed, with streaks going to the right side.'

Smith-Fields' brother, Lakeem Jetter, told Rolling Stone that the family found a used condom in the trash, lubricant, bloody sheets on her bed and an unidentified pill in her apartment where she died, pictured

The Bridgeport Police Department has said that a criminal investigation has been opened in light of the medical examiner's Monday report on Smith-Fields' cause of death. On Monday, Ganim said the department's Office of Internal Affairs will investigate whether her death was properly handled.

Maria Pereira, a Democratic Bridgeport City Council member who district includes the residences of both deceased women, said that she didn't know that both women died on the same day and both of their cases were handled by the same police precinct until the day of the rally.

Pereira said told NBC News that there were an 'awful lot of similarities' between the two cases, although she did not suggest that the two deaths were related. Both women were black, she noted, and died at unexpectedly young ages. Both were on dates with men who told police that they found the women dead in the morning when they woke up, and neither woman's parents was notified of their deaths by police.

Neither crime scene was properly secured and processed for forensic evidence, and both families said that the Bridgeport Police Department treated them without compassion.

'So now what I see here is a pattern with the Bridgeport PD,' she said.
Mark McGown's border backflip will put Western Australia's elderly population at a greater risk of contracting the Omicron variant, experts warn.

On January 20, the hardline premier announced WA would not be opening its border to the rest of the country on February 5 as planned.

He said a new reopening date, which was initially scheduled to align with WA's 90 per cent double-dose vaccination target, would not be considered until next month.

Despite ruining reunion plans for thousands of families, the ultra-cautious response could also put the health of residents aged 70 and over in danger.

The vaccine immunity of inoculated residents in this age group is expected to wane by the end of March, increasing the risk of hospitalisation or even death.

Health experts have warned Mark McGown's border backflip will put the state's elderly population at a greater risk of contracting Covid (pictured, a Perth couple)

The vaccine immunity of inoculated elderly residents is expected to wane by the end of March, increasing the risk of hospitalisation or even death (pictured, a man is tested for Covid)

As of Thursday, 62.4 per cent of people 70 or over had been vaccinated in WA, with the group on track to hit the 90 per cent third dose rate on February 14.

Nearly 60,000 elderly residents received their booster shot by the end of December - which only provides full protection against Omicron for five weeks.

This means the premier's decision to delay the reopening of the border could in turn put over 70s at risk as protection against the disease continues to diminish.

University of Western Australia professor George Milne said the build-up of immunity from booster shots in younger people would be countered by waning immunity from those who had already been vaccinated.

'And there's a point where it doesn't make much difference if we delay opening borders very much,' Professor Milne told ABC Radio Perth.

'And in fact, coincidentally, we're showing that around about the time that the border would have opened, that there is a level of immunity in the population that it's hard to get higher than.'

Premier Mark McGowan (pictured) has reiterated one of the main reasons behind his border delay is to give the eligible population more time to receive a third dose

The expert discovered through his own Omicron modelling that by February 5 the state would actually be reporting superior herd immunity.

However, due to the indefinite closure of the border health care workers and the elderly who were boosted early would be less protected against an influx of cases.

Mr McGowan has repeatedly claimed one of the main reasons behind his border delay is to give people more time to receive a third dose.

He also claimed if the border opened as planned, Omicron cases would pour into WA, citing the rise in cases and virus-related deaths seen in the eastern states.

When the premier was asked if he was concerned about waning immunity against Covid in WA's elderly population he replied: 'Less concerned than those people who haven't had the opportunity to get their third dose.

'If we proceeded with the original plan, we would be deliberately seeding thousands upon thousands of Covid cases into WA and at this point in time, that is not what I'm going to do.

Australia's former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth also issued a warning over the premier's cautious response (pictured, children play in the water at Matilda Bay)

'So it's a delicate balance. And we're trying to get the balance right in order to save lives.'

Just days earlier, Australia's former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth issued a similar warning about the premier's stubborn position.

Dr Coatsworth said postponing the reopening of WAs borders closer to winter risks the inevitable Covid outbreak will strike right on flu season.

'Delay WA border opening until 80% boosted, which will occur sometime around May, to coincide with the start of the winter flu season, which may well be worse this year due to lack of, you guessed it, immunity from recent infection,' he tweeted.

'Theres a gamble being made here with the health of West Australians,' Dr Coatsworth told 6PR adding he thought February 5 was a reasonable opening date and would have been 'as safe as it possibly can be'.

Despite renewing border policy, Mark McGowan's government has since admitted the state could not eliminate the super-infectious strain (pictured, a couple walk in Perth)

Despite refusing to open the border, Mark McGowan's government admitted the state could not eliminate the super-infectious strain.

'Its clear that were not going to eliminate Omicron. Its about how we suppress and manage Omicron,' Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson told reporters last week.

'Thats our intention as a government and its the advice of the chief health officer. Its very clear it cant be eliminated because its so transmissible.

'Its a wake-up call for the broader community that we do have Covid in our community.'

WA recorded 20 new local Covid-19 cases on Sunday of which the majority were linked to existing clusters.

Anyone who makes it into the isolated state from February 5 will still be required to quarantine for 14 days.
Colorado State University is promoting resources aimed at students who claim to be 'affected by a free speech event' on campus.

A sign was spotted on campus and posted to social media which reads: 'If you (or someone you know) are affected by a free speech event on campus, here are some resources.'

The sign then proceeds to list 17 different departments or offices on the university campus that may be of help.

Colorado State University has set up 17 different departments for students who are 'affected by a free speech event'

Colorado State University, pictured, has seen multiple incidents of hostility toward conservative students recently

17 DEPTS. THAT CSU SAYS OFFER HELP IF YOU'RE 'AFFECTED BY A FREE SPEECH EVENT' Dean of Students

Office of Equal Opportunity

CSU Health Network Counseling

Ombuds (for CSU employees)

Employee Assistance Program

Multicultural Counseling

Vice President of Inclusive Excellence

Victim's Assistance Hotline

Incidents of Bias Reporting

Free Speech Student Diversity Programs and Services/Cultural Centers: Asian Pacific American CC

Black/African American CC

Native American Cultural Center

El Centro

Pride Resource Center

Student Disability Center

Women and Gender Advocacy Center Advertisement

It includes Multicultural Counseling, Incidents of Bias Reporting, the Office of Equal Opportunity, and a Victim's Assistance Hotline.

Even university staff are taken care of with specific services for employees including the Office of Ombuds, and the Employee Assistance Program.

The roll call continues with a host of departments and programs set up to assist minority students, including Student Diversity Program centers for Asian Pacific, Black/African, and Native Americans.

LGBTQ+ are not forgotten either with various services and cultural resources designated for the community.

Students with disabilities and given their own hotline together with women, through the Women and Gender Advocacy Center.

Campus Reform first reported on the sign.

The sign was posted on the Instagram account Turning Point USA Rockies Territory.

Turning Point Action is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative values on high school, college, and university campuses across the country.

The account called out the school for 'intolerance,' adding, 'We haven't even had an event yet gotta love the intolerance of @coloradostateuniversity.'

Colorado State University, where tuition is $31,712 a year for out-of-state students, has been hostile in recent months to conservative organizations.

Several incidents occurred during the fall 2021 semester.

In one, a student was filmed harassing Turning Point group members calling them 'right-wing goons' and noting that 'disrupting one of your activities is actually probably one of the most ethical and best things I can do with my time.'

Last fall, students were told that they had to be vaccinated if they were on school property or risk facing arrest and being charged with trespassing

One week later, in October 2021 a liberal student was filmed admitting to knocking down the chapter's property before slapping a member of the group.

Also in the fall, a student was caught as they stole a sign advocating against vaccine mandates after the university threatened any student who didn't register their vaccine status with arrest for trespassing.

The university later clarified their policy saying that they were 'not arresting students who are unvaccinated', so long as they provided their vaccination information or declared an exemption.
Details of Queensland's back to school Covid plan have been released just over a week before classes return, as the state records 13 virus deaths and 8,580 new cases.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says with the new term to begin on February 7, masks will be mandatory for high school students and 'strongly encouraged' from year 3 upwards.

'Teachers can remove their masks to teach and students can remove them when seated,' she said on Sunday.

A teacher is seen wearing a mask in class. Masks will be mandatory for Queensland high school students when classes return on February 7

'We want our schools to be a safe place... I want parents to have confidence and I want to make sure that the children know exactly what they need to (do) going back as well.'

Rapid antigen tests will be available in all Queensland schools and given to the parents of children who develop symptoms in class to take at home.

Likewise, teachers who develop symptoms on site will be able to collect a rapid test from the school.

Education Minister Grace Grace said she is confident the state has enough rapid tests for the policy to work effectively.

'If you are symptomatic, we want to get you home and get you tested,' she said on Sunday.

'We have thousands of tests available at the moment that will be ready for day one on the seventh of February.'

School camps, excursions, assemblies and large gatherings will be suspended for at least the first four weeks and face-to-face staff meetings will be limited.

Visitors on school grounds will also be restricted with exceptions for parents and carers of vulnerable students, and all students in early childhood, kindergarten, prep and year 1.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) says 'We want our schools to be a safe place'

There are 5,000 fully vaccinated relief teachers on call to help manage any staff issues, Ms Grace said.

Covid-19 outbreaks will be managed on a case-by-case basis, with school closures a 'last resort'.

Schools are already open for children of essential workers, and online learning returns for years 11 and 12 this week.

Rapid antigen tests (pictured) will be available in all Queensland schools and given to the parents of children who develop symptoms in class to take at home

Meanwhile, there has been a 'substantial decrease' in hospital numbers with 745 people currently admitted with Covid-19, compared to 833 on Saturday.

'We shouldn't be paying too much attention to a single day, but that is a very substantial decline,' Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said.

'It's hard not to feel that that is a real phenomenon that we're observing.'

Intensive care patients have also decreased in the past 24 hours, down to 41 from 53.

The state's double dose vaccination rate is inching toward 90 per cent and currently sits at 89.49 per cent of eligible people aged 16 and over.
Barnaby Joyce has repeated his claim people are 'hoarding' rapid antigen tests as he defends the government's refusal to provide free tests for all Australians.

The deputy prime minister claimed it was a 'matter of fact' that people were overbuying and stockpiling kits as Australians complain of a shortage of the kits.

Mr Joyce said people were treating the tests like toilet paper during Covid lockdowns, when panic buying stripped shelves of basic groceries.

'There are certainly other big issues at play, but if you deny that rapid antigen tests are being hoarded at all, to deny it would be, I'd have to lie. Because people are, businesses are,' he told Sky News on Sunday.

Barnaby Joyce has repeated his claim people are 'hoarding' rapid antigen tests as he continues to defend the federal government's role in ensuring stock for sick Australians

'And that's just like, people hoard toilet paper and hoard other things. I don't know why they do that. But are you going to say that doesn't happen as well? Of course it does.'

Mr Joyce appeared on ABC last week claiming Australians weren't dying of Covid

He made the assertion on ABC's RN Breakfast program on Monday when he asked to guarantee that pensioners could get access to the home test kits.

'They've been hoarded, as you know,' he said.

The deputy prime minister claimed it's a 'matter of fact' that people were overbuying and stockpiling RATs as people around the country complain of a shortage of the kits

On Sunday he apologised for his statements and admitted people had the right to be upset with the government.

'Well, if they are frustrated, I apologise for that,' the deputy PM said

'But the issue is if they say they're frustrated, because people are holding them, well, that's a problem you have to take up with the people hoarding them.'

Mr Joyce said they were bringing in 'millions' of rapid antigen tests, with 33 million due to arrive next month.

'So you manage these things as you go along. You find these tests. But finding them, obviously they're not made in Australia, they're made around the world,' he said.

'And our problems are not much different to any other country's problems. We're all desperately trying to locate and find these tests.'

Barnaby Joyce has defended the government over the shortage of Rapid Antigen Tests in Australia, claiming the public and employers are hoarding them

Mr Joyce said last week both the public and businesses are stockpiling the instant home tests, which have been hard to find since becoming part of the states' strategies to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

'It is not as if the tests aren't there. The problems that Australia is experiencing are being experienced around the world,' he said.

'We don't manufacture rapid antigen tests like other countries do, such as China You can't, years ago, predict RATs are going to be the things that you need.

'But what we are doing is making sure we deal with issues as they come along. That is what a competent government does.'

Mr Joyce said the government was not responsible for the behaviour of the public and employers in buying up rapid antigen tests.

Mr Joyce said both the public and businesses are stockpiling the instant home tests, which have been hard to find since becoming part of the states' strategies to prevent the spread of Covid-19 (pictured, people queuing to buy rapid tests in Sydney)

The Deputy Prime Minister made the assertion Australians are not dying on the ABC, which he retracted and apologised for (pictured, Mr Joyce with partner Vikki Campion and sons Sebastian and Thomas)

'People have been buying not what they require, but more than they need... even corporations and businesses who buy up more than they require,' he said.

'It's part and parcel of what you'd expect, it's like saying you're not producing enough toilet paper because people are swiping it off the shelves.

'I don't know why they do it, but they do... so next week, next week, we've got 16 million coming in, then we've got more than 33 million after that.'

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said rapid antigen tests should be available on the basis of need for everyone through the Medicare system.

There would have to be a limit, as there is through the government's program that provides the tests for concession card holders.

'That's the way you can control supply. It is not rocket science here,' he said.

Mr Albanese said rapid antigen tests should be available on the basis of need for everyone through the Medicare system

But Health Minister Greg Hunt claimed Mr Albanese's 'vague, sound-good pledge' was simply endorsing the government's program.

He said the government in the first five days of its program has delivered two million tests, through 2600 pharmacies and to 467,000 concession card holders.

'Albanese's first policy of universal uncapped free rapid antigen tests for all would have destroyed the supply chain,' Mr Hunt said in a joint statement with Industry Minister Angus Taylor.

'It would have diverted tests from the ill, aged care, hospitals, people with a disability and Indigenous Australians. It was hopelessly flawed, unrealistic and un-costed.'
Professional wrestler Ronda Rousey made a triumphant return to the WWE after defeating fellow champ Charlotte Flair in the ring and becoming this year's Royal Rumble winner.

Rousey, 34, the 'Baddest Woman on the Planet,' made her comeback in the Royal Rumble match on Saturday at The Dome at America's Center in St Louis.

The wrestling champion entered the match at Number 28, eliminating a series of opponents before tossing Flair over and taking the gold.

She is planning to face Flair yet again at WrestleMania 38 which is set to take place at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas from April 3-4.

Professional wrestler Ronda Rousey, 34, made her triumphant return to the WWE on Saturday after she won this year's Royal Rumble

Rousey made her comeback donning full black with the word 'Baddest' printed across her shirt

Rousey had defeated a series of opponents, including Charlotte Flair, in the match

For her return, Rousey dressed in all black for the occasion with the word 'Baddest' written across her chest as she entered the ring.

She had defeated opponents including the Bella Twins, Shotzi and even got a little help from Shayna Baszler.

In the end, the final four were Rousey, Baszler, Flair and Bianca Belair.

The match was the first for Rousey since at WrestleMania 35 in 2019 where her title as the Raw woman's champion ended when she was defeated.

She ended her reign as champion after being defeated by Flair and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match.

Rousey then left and started a family with her husband Travis Browne, and the couple welcomed a daughter named Laakea Makalapuaokalanipo in September.

Rousey (left center) pictured with Flair (right) as well Nia Jax (center), Brie Bella (right center) and Nikki Bella (right)

Rousey is seen posing for a portrait during a UFC photo session inside the UFC Grand Conference Center in December 2016

Despite her brief hiatus, Rousey is now returning with WWE for a significant run as she is slated to be a part of the SmackDown brand.

She is also set to perform at WrestleMania 39 in 2023.

There were rumors of her return prior to Saturday's match as a WWE official reportedly met with Rousey in California.

Rousey had previously revealed in a 2020 interview with Steve-O's podcast Wild Ride that she had left professional wrestling due to 'ungrateful' fans as well as a hectic work schedule.

'What am I doing it for if Im not being able to spend my time and energy on my family, but instead spending my time and my energy on a bunch of f****** ungrateful fans that dont even appreciate me?' she told Steve-O.

'I love performing. I love the girls. I love being out there ... but, at the end of the day, I was just like, "F*** these fans, dude,"' she said.

'My family loves me and they appreciate me and I want all my energy to go into them. So that was my decision at the end of the day.'

'It's like, 'Hey girls, love what you're doing. I'm gonna try and take all my momentum and push you guys as far as I can. Fly little birds, fly! I'm going f---ing home!' And that was basically it.'

Rousey (right) is pictured with husband Travis Browne (left) at an LA Family Housing Annual LAFH Awards And Fundraiser Celebration in 2019

Rousey left the ring in 2019 to have a baby daughter with Browne who was born in September

In March 2019, Rousey pushed back at the crowd during Monday Night Raw where she addressed getting booed at Staples Center in her hometown of Los Angeles.

'I'm not your dancing monkey, not anymore. Damn your fantasies, damn the man, screw the woo and no more Mrs. Nice B***,' she said.

She later said 'f*** 'em' to fans during her a YouTube video when she called wrestling fake.

'I needed to do it in order to learn and get immersed into it and really understand what's going on, but it's just not the lifestyle for me,' she explained.

'Running out there and having fake fights for fun is just the best thing.  But I was doing basically part-time and I was away from home 200 days out of the year. And when I did get home, I was so sleep-deprived cause you just dont have time to lay down.

'People think youre only wrestling as much as they see you on TV, but they dont realize that theres three or four other days of live shows during the week.'

WWE tweeted the announcement of Rousey's return on Twitter

She added that she was home only 'a day and a half a week' during the height of her WWE career.

On Twitter, Rousey responded to angered WWE fans over her 'fake fights for fun' comment after the podcast was released.

'While you all are tip toeing around bruising some pro wrestlers' huge soft egos - no on is thinking about all the REAL fighters you're insulting when pretending pro wrestling is somehow on the same level of realism,' she wrote.

Before her stint in WWE, Rousey was a UFC's first woman champion and settled at a 12-2-0 record while with the promotion company.

She's also won a bronze medal in judo during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
On the evening of Oct. 26, a patient who came to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Poconos emergency department showing early warning signs of cardiac arrest was sent back to the waiting room.

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Two hours later, the patient died.

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Disorganization, understaffing, a disregard for hospital policy, lack of supervision and failures by senior hospital management were all at play in LVH-Poconos emergency department when the incident occurred, an inspection by the Pennsylvania Department of Health found.

An inspection that occurred between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1 found LVH-Pocono violated both federal and state regulations. Citations included violations of patients rights as well as issues related to staffing assignments and lack of supervision of agency staff the hospital brought in. The report also states the hospital failed to make sure its vice president of patient care services assured adherence to regulatory requirements and patient safety standards.

[ Lehigh Valley area hospitals ranked for safety by health care watchdog Leapfrog: What grade did your hospital get? ]

Understaffing at LVH-Pocono, especially in its emergency room, has been an ongoing issue and it, as well as the problems its caused in the hospital, have been the subject of other state inspection reports.

With the patient who died after experiencing chest pain, a physician had ordered staff to monitor the patients vital signs and oxygen level, as well as put the patient on oxygen therapy, but these orders were ignored. Instead, CPR was the first care the patient received, and only after the patient went into full cardiac arrest in front of family.

Due to the severity of what happened, the department also placed LVH-Pocono under Immediate Jeopardy, the most dire determination a hospital can receive. LVH-Pocono could have lost its federal Medicaid and Medicare certification if it did not immediately take steps to remedy the situation. Hospitals need Medicaid and Medicare certification to receive federal funding. This is the second time in less than a year that state inspectors gave the hospital such a determination.

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LVH-Pocono has been under close scrutiny from the state for some time and was stripped of its full state license in March. The hospital has been on a provisional license ever since. Maggie Barton, a state Department of Health spokesperson, said Lehigh Valley Health Network was not fined as a result of the inspection but the facilitys provisional license was renewed due to ongoing deficient practices. Though a provisional license is only supposed to last six months, the department may renew the license at its own discretion.

Dr. William Cors, chief medical officer of LVH-Pocono, told The Morning Call that hospital leadership has outlined its plans for remediation to the state and is taking steps to address the issues outlined in the report.

We take these matters very seriously and continue to work closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to ensure the health, safety and care of our patients, Cors said. Our emphasis is always on providing our patients and the wider Lehigh Valley HospitalPocono community with advanced and compassionate care.

The patient arrived at the emergency department waiting room Oct. 26 at 6:44 p.m. with complaints of chest tightness beginning that day, radiating down both arms. The report states the patient had a long history of heart problems and had previously received coronary bypass surgery as well as the placement of 14 stents.

On that day, LVH-Poconos emergency room was down two nurses at least part of the day, the report states. The charge nurse responsible for managing the emergency department between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. was also not a hospital employee. Instead, the charge nurse on duty was an agency nurse, referred to in the report as PF1, who had been working in the hospital since March. State inspectors found PF1 wasnt qualified to serve as a charge or triage nurse.

State regulations require proper supervision of nursing staff in hospitals, a standard LVH-Pocono did not meet when it allowed PF1 and other agency staff to serve as a charge nurse. PF1s contract with the hospital stated that Pediatric Advanced Life Support certification was a prerequisite to work in the emergency department, but inspectors found PF1 had allowed this certification to expire in September.

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According to the report:

The patient experiencing chest pain was triaged at 6:57 p.m. and assessed to be at high risk. At 7:01 p.m. a physician ordered that the patient have their vital signs and oxygen levels monitored by nursing staff, receive oxygen therapy and be given an intravenous line. A nurse acknowledged the physicians orders.

But the patient was sent back to the waiting room and didnt receive oxygen therapy. The patients vital signs and oxygen level werent monitored, which violated hospital policy. A hospital employee told state inspectors that at the time the physicians order was made, the emergency departments trauma bay was open and ready for use. The employee said this is where the patient should have been taken immediately.

A hospital employee told investigators that an agency nurse, referred to as PF3, would have been responsible to make sure the patient received a bed and had their vital signs monitored.

Just before 7:48 p.m. the patients family went to the triage desk to report the patient was experiencing what was thought to be a seizure but was actually cardiac arrest. Hospital staff performed CPR on the patient, who was then transported to the trauma bay. It was determined the patient was in a state of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation where simultaneously the lower chamber of the heart was beating too fast to pump properly and the heart muscle was quivering and twitching in such a way that it couldnt pump blood.

At 9:05 p.m. the patient was taken to the cardiac catheterization lab, where the patient died. The hospital conducted its own investigation into the incident some time prior to the state inspection.

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Corrective measures

The report notes another incident where a patient who stayed at LVH-Pocono for evaluation and treatment of suicidal and homicidal ideations was allowed to self-harm while under the hospitals care.

This patient arrived at the hospital Oct. 19 and was admitted to the emergency departments behavioral health unit. While there, the report states, emergency department nursing staff assessed the patient and determined they were not suicidal and did not require one-to-one monitoring. Because of this, the patient was allowed to go to the bathroom unattended.

At 9:49 p.m., staff saw the patient leaving the bathroom with multiple newly made horizontal scrapes and abrasions visible across the neck and throat. An employee told inspectors the patient had used a rusted piece of razor blade to harm themselves, but the report does not state how and when the patient acquired the razor blade.

Another hospital employee told inspectors measuring, providing treatment and monitoring of a patients abrasions was basic nursing yet inspectors found no evidence that the patient received this basic level of care for their injury.

The report states that for at least part of the day Oct. 19, the emergency department was understaffed with only nine nurses working when there should have been 10 on that shift.

There were numerous other instances where the hospital was understaffed. Inspectors note that from Oct. 18 to Oct. 26 there were at least seven days where the emergency department was understaffed anywhere from one to three nurses.

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The report also shows that to make up for inadequate staffing levels, charge nurses were frequently assigned to multiple other roles simultaneously, including triage nurse, pod nurse or behavioral health pod nurse. On several occasions, charge nurses were burdened with as many as three additional roles during a shift.

After the inspection , LVH-Pocono issued a plan of correction. Among the corrective practices the hospital said it would take were:

Creating a visual representation based on hospital policy to guide clinicians through the steps of triaging and providing proper care to patients experiencing acute coronary syndrome and posting it throughout the emergency department.

Providing face-to-face education to all emergency department staff on the hospitals triage policy for acute coronary syndrome triage policy.

Performing audits of at least 20 patient charts per week to ensure compliance with the hospitals acute coronary syndrome triage policy.

Offering bonuses to registered nurses to work day shifts, middle shifts and night shifts in the emergency department.

Continuing efforts to recruit and employ new registered nurses at the hospital and bring on more agency nurses.

Appending the hospitals Staffing Shift Allocation of Nursing Resources-Patient Care Services policy to prohibit the practice of allowing agency staff to serve as charge nurses or triage nurses in the emergency department.

LVH-Pocono also informed the state there had even been a change in management, that involved an end to the employment of the hospitals then vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer on Nov. 19. An interim chief nursing officer was appointed to replace her, while LVHN searches for a permanent chief nursing officer. Marie Jordan, LVHNs chief nursing officer, is serving as the LVHPocono vice president of patient care services.

Cors said LVHN has brought in other network leadership to work at LVHPocono, too. David Burmeister, chair of LVHNs department of emergency and hospital medicine is providing administrative oversight and direction to the hospitals emergency department.

Morning Call reporter Leif Greiss can be reached at 610-679-4028 or lgreiss@mcall.com.
A family of five have been winched to safety and rushed to hospital after their boat capsized in Sydney's west - just days after a similar tragedy claimed a woman's life.

Emergency services were called to the Nepean River, near Bruce Neale Drive in Penrith, about 3.15pm Sunday after reports a boat with five people onboard had overturned.

Multiple agencies - including officers from Nepean Police Area Command, PolAir, NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW Ambulance paramedics quickly launched a joint rescue operation.

Three adults and two children were winched safely from the water by crew members on board PolAir.

Emergency services were called to the Nepean River just after 3pm on Sunday to reports a boat had capsized (pictured)

Multiple agencies worked to rescue three adults and two children (pictured) from the waterway

A man was taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Two adults  a 34-year-old man and 27-year-old woman  were taken to Nepean Hospital in a stable condition.

Two children  a five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl  were taken to the Childrens Hospital at Westmead in a stable condition.

Local police remain at the scene and the boat will be towed to shore for further examination as inquiries into the incident continue.

The incident comes just days after a woman died in an almost-identical accident at the same location.

Two men and two teenagers were rescued from the Nepean River just after 12pm on Wednesday after their tinny capsized on Australia Day.

A woman, believed to in her 30s, was also pulled from the water, but died a short time later.

Speaking about the tragedy, NSW Ambulance Acting Superintendent Greg Marshall urged people to take care in waterways over summer.

'This is a tragic ending for this family on what should have been a fun day out on the water this Australia Day,' he said on Wednesday.

'This is a reminder to everyone out on the water this summer on how quickly things can turn. Paramedics are urging people to take care.'
Train timetables will not be ramped back up to pre-pandemic levels as the government terminates a 16billion emergency bailout.

Insiders said services will remain how they are when Covid subsides due to fewer people commute.

They claimed the Treasury wants to torpedo the rescue package because it has quadrupled from 4billion over the health crisis.

It comes as former ministers criticised the Government's proposals for revamping Britain's railways, hitting out at the decision to scale back electrification plans.

Ex-transport minister Stephen Hammond said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps's blueprint for the Great British Railway (GBR) is 'imperfect'.

Insiders said services will remain how they are when Covid subsides due to fewer people commute. Pictured: Kings Cross in December

They claimed the Treasury wants to torpedo the rescue package because it has quadrupled from 4billion over the health crisis. Pictured: Bracknell in Berkshire earlier this month

Trains are operating at 78 per cent of what they were before the coronavirus struck in March 2020.

Intercity and commuter routes have been slashed as firms let workers stay home rather than come into the office.

Those trying to get from Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly from 7am to 9am last week had just one train available - when it was four in January 2020.

Meanwhile the St Albans to St Pancras service has also been cut, from 32 two years ago to 14 now.

Covid restrictions were abandoned last week but there is not believed to be any plans to ramp up train services again.

The Department for Transport is said to have told rail bosses to slash costs by 10 per cent for the next financial year from April.

It comes as former ministers criticised the Government's proposals for revamping Britain's railways, hitting out at the decision to scale back electrification plans. Pictured: Bracknell, Berkshire earlier this month

Ex-transport minister Stephen Hammond said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps's (pictured last week) blueprint for the Great British Railway (GBR) is 'imperfect'

Sir Michael Holden, who ran East Coast Rail, told the Sunday Times: 'We are at a watershed moment.

'The only way to save 10 per cent of train companies' costs in the short term is to take out whole fleets of trains.

'Such an act will mean that it's impossible in the foreseeable future to build back services should demand increase.'

One source added to the newspaper that the changes were reflective of society in the post-Covid world where people only commute two or three days a week.

Another insider blasted the staggering bailout sums given to the industry and said it would no longer fly with the Treasury.

Despite this there were huge queues last week as the work from home era started to wind down.

Travellers slammed overcrowding on platforms and in carriages as they desperately tried to get back to the office.

In a foreword to a think tank report which calls out the decision to downgrade or shelve track upgrades, former transport minister Mr Hammond said Mr Shapps's blueprint for the Great British Railway is 'imperfect'.

The findings of the Future of GB Rail report have been backed by Chris Skidmore, the former energy minister who signed the UK's net-zero carbon target into law.

Mr Skidmore said recent decisions 'have seen the chance to deliver net-zero rail go backwards'.

The report by Public Policy Projects last week calls for more investment in new technologies, including hydrogen and battery-powered trains.

It also expressed concern over the move to scale back electrification after the blueprints for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail were heavily revised last year.

Mr Hammond, who served in the DfT between 2012 and 2014, said the Williams-Shapps review - which was published in May - 'signalled significant intent' from ministers to 'deliver a cleaner and greener rail system'.

'However, the plan is imperfect,' he added.

In a foreword to a think tank report which calls out the decision to downgrade or shelve track upgrades, former transport minister Mr Hammond said Mr Shapps's blueprint for the Great British Railway is 'imperfect'. Pictured: Bracknell, Berkshire earlier this month

He said 'current investment models must be updated' if rail use was to grow and become more environmentally friendly.

The Williams-Shapps review, expected to be enacted in 2023 at the earliest, will see the control of trains and track brought under a new public sector body as part of sweeping reforms.

The new organisation, GBR, will own and manage rail infrastructure, issue contracts to private firms to run trains, set most fares and timetables, and sell tickets.

But the Public Policy Projects study said there was concern that, following the coronavirus pandemic, the proposals were 'the wrong solution or a solution for a problem that has passed'.

The 44-page document calls for 'major developments' to realise a net-zero carbon rail network.

It said it is 'concerning that recent announcements from the Treasury seem to block electrification plans'.

The paper adds: 'While this may be expensive, it is a rapid solution that pushes the network closer to net-zero with readily available technology.

'Promises with a lack of real support is simply no longer good enough.'

The criticism comes after it was announced last year the eastern leg of HS2 between the Midlands and Leeds would be cut, while a desired Northern Powerhouse Rail high-speed link from Manchester to Leeds via Bradford will not be built.

Tory MP Mr Skidmore said: 'The UK has set a clear target of decarbonising rail by 2050, yet compared to other leading nations such as India and Japan, we risk lagging behind without a clear plan of how to electrify the network.

'Indeed recent decisions have seen the chance to deliver net-zero rail go backwards with projects paused or cancelled.

'The report and launch today set out clear long-term opportunities for how rail can play a wider part in decarbonising transport - indeed rail must be part of the solution in reducing carbon emissions across all transport sectors, rather than being seen as part of the problem.

'But this means committed investment and baking in net-zero policies - after all, decisions taken today will determine the chances of net-zero success in the future.'

Recommendations made by the report for ensuring GBR is successful include delivering regional rail services, reviewing provider contracts two years after being handed out, and creating a one-stop-shop ticketing app that can be used across rail and other modes of public transport.

The findings are backed by Hitachi Rail, Siemens Mobility and ticket operator Trainline.
Children vulnerable to Covid were 'excited' to get the vaccine today as they arrived at clinics across the country.

From midnight half-a-million five to 11-year-olds who are 'at risk' from the virus or live with someone who is became eligible for jabs.

Waiting for his first dose in Surrey this morning Xavier Aquilina said he was looking forward to being 'less vulnerable'.

The 11-year-old, who has a condition putting him on the vulnerable list, added getting the jab was 'not stressful' and that he got a sticker afterwards.

At this centre  one of hundreds in the UK  around 200 children are expected to turn up for their Covid shots over the next few weeks.

The roll out was expanded after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) decided 'at-risk' youngsters should get their vaccines.

But they did not approve jabs for all six million children in this age group, unlike several other Western countries including the US, Spain and Germany.

The youngsters will be offered two 10 microgram doses of the Pfizer vaccine, a third of the amount used for adult vaccinations. The jabs will be given eight weeks apart.

Xavier Aquilina, 11, pictured getting his first dose of the Covid vaccine today in Thames Ditton, Surrey. The drive has been expanded to half-a-million children in the age group

The youngster, who suffers from a condition making him vulnerable to the virus, said he was 'lucky' to be receiving the vaccine

Parents and children arriving at Emberbrook Community Centre for Health in Thames Ditton were among those pleased with the expansion of the roll out.

Speaking today, Xavier Aquilina said he suffers from benign rolandic epilepsy  a condition that can trigger seizures in one side of the face without warning.

Saying he was 'lucky' to get the jab, the youngster added: 'It is exciting to be able to be less vulnerable'.

'Get jabbed or get out of the NHS', Mail on Sunday readers say The clock is ticking for unvaccinated frontline NHS staff as the deadline on the Covid jab mandate looms. By Thursday  unless there's a last-minute reprieve  doctors, nurses and all NHS staff who come face to face with patients must have had their first dose or risk being out of a job. They must get a second dose by April 1. The Government policy has caused uproar, with thousands of staff taking part in protests last weekend to voice their outrage. Senior health figures are divided. Some say it's vital to protect vulnerable patients from catching Covid as they're being treated; others argue the measure is already outdated  with most people fully vaccinated and the threat of the virus receding, they say the mandate is divisive and unnecessary. But last week, The Mail on Sunday's GP columnist Dr Ellie Cannon asked readers what they thought about it  and we've been inundated with responses overwhelmingly in support of 'no jab, no job'. 'Is it not the duty of NHS staff to honour their Hippocratic Oath of 'first do no harm' and get vaccinated?' asked Eileen Watson, from Epsom. Advertisement

Asked what message he would give to other children about the vaccine, he said: 'It is not as stressful as you may think, everyone here is quite nice and you get a sticker at the end.'

His father Joseph, 45, said his son 'knows that we need to protect ourselves and everyone else around us so he decided himself to do it.'

The parent said it was 'lucky' children could now get inoculated, but said this should have been possible 'much earlier'.

Joseph Todd, director of the vaccination centre at Emberbrook said the practice expects to vaccinate about 200 children in the group in the few next weeks.

He said: 'It is so important because these children are kept isolated at home away from their friends and school because the risk of getting to Covid to them is severe.

'Without the vaccine, they are at higher risk because of the conditions they've got or they also might bring Covid home to their parents or family members who are vulnerable.

'It limits their social contact, it limits their ability to go to school in some cases, and it limits their freedom.

'So I would encourage all the children who fit in this category to be brought forward by their parents.

'It's a nice environment with specialist nurses and trained vaccinators to look after them.'

Eligible children vulnerable to the virus include those with diabetes, learning disabilities or immunosuppression.

Eligible children, who includes those with diabetes, learning disabilities or immunosuppression, are being offered two 10mcg Pfizer doses eight weeks apart - a third of the amount used for adults.

Opening the drive to the younger age group today, NHS vaccination lead Dr Nikki Kanani called on everyone eligible to come forward.

Dr Kanani, who is also a GP, said: 'We know vaccines give significant protection against severe illness from Covid, including the Omicron variant, so it is important that our youngest and most at-risk get protected.'

The NHS is already getting in touch with those who are eligible, and said that parent's should wait to be contacted until it is their turn.

Today's expansion of the drive comes two weeks after the vaccine programme was expanded so all 16 and 17-year-olds could have a booster.

And over a year after it was first opened up to vulnerable adults.

The US became the first country in the world to open its vaccination drive to all 5 to 11-year-olds at the start of November.

A total of 52.3million Britons  or 91 per cent of over-12s  have got their first dose of the vaccine.
Boris Johnson was given some respite from his beasting over Partygate today as a poll showed signs of a Tory recovery.

The PM has been facing the threat of a coup after the allegations of lockdown being flouted in No10 fuelled unrest on the government benches.

The ongoing rows have taken a huge toll on the Conservatives' popularity and that of Mr Johnson personally. But research for Opinium is the latest to suggest the party might be clawing back some ground.

Labour's 10-point lead from a fortnight ago has been trimmed back to five points, with the PM's ratings coming off rock bottom.

MPs say they have been reassured that public fury seems to have cooled somewhat, with rumours that Mr Johnson is planning a major clearout of No10 staff as part of 'Operation Save Big Dog'.

However, he has risked a Tory backlash on another front today by vowing that the 12billion national insurance hike will go ahead in April.

And there are still potential landmines waiting for the premier, with top civil servant Sue Gray due to publish her Partygate report this week and police carrying out a formal probe.

Research for Opinium is the latest to suggest the Tories might be clawing back some ground

The PM has been facing the threat of a coup after the allegations of lockdown being flouted in No10 fuelled unrest on the government benches

Boris defies Tories over national insurance hike despite threats of Partygate mutiny Boris Johnson today risked fuelling the Tory mutiny over Partygate and heaped cost-of-living pain on millions of Britons by vowing the 12billion national insurance hike will go ahead. In a pointed show of unity after weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, the PM and Rishi Sunak killed off hopes that the eye-watering increase would be delayed or axed altogether. They insisted in a joint article that the 1.25 percentage point bump to fund the NHS and social care reforms is the 'right plan' and it will go ahead in April. But in a nod to the scale of anger among Conservative MPs, Mr Johnson and the Chancellor felt the need to stress they are 'tax-cutting Thatcherites' by instinct. The decision to rule out a U-turn suggests that Mr Johnson is feeling more confident in his position as polls show glimmers of a Tory recovery. There had been claims he was 'wobbling' and a rethink could form part of so-called 'Operation Save Big Dog' - the desperate effort to prevent a coup bid by MPs over Downing Street lockdown breaches and other rows. Advertisement

The Opinium poll put Labour on 39 per cent support - down two on a fortnight ago - while the Conservatives were up three on 34 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats were unchanged on 9 per cent.

Mr Johnson's approval rating crept up from a net minus 42 two weeks ago to a still-dire minus 37.

In contrast Keir Starmer's rating was zero overall, having deteriorated four points.

Adam Drummond of Opinium said the findings feel like a 'let-down for Labour' despite their advantage.

'Boris Johnson's approval rating is still dire and, interestingly, Labour now lead on most issues including traditionally strong Tory areas such as crime and immigration. The Conservatives are also only barely ahead on 'the economy',' he said.

'But many of these shifts in issues are as much down to people moving from 'Conservative' to 'neither' as they are people moving to Labour and that, alongside the change in vote shares, shows just how volatile things are at the moment.'

Rumours are swirling that Mr Johnson will dramatically overhaul his Downing Street machine in response to anger among Tory MPs.

There is speculation chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, often criticised by backbenchers, could be moved to a civil service role.

Persistent whispers are circulating that David Canzini, a close ally of election guru Sir Lynton Crosby, could be brought in to beef up the No10 operation.

And highly-rated mandarin Antonia Romeo has been tipped for a promotion if Cabinet Secretary Simon Case is forced to move on.

Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday has learned that as part of her inquiry into socialising in Mr Johnson's No 10 flat, Ms Gray has been told about a 'victory party' held by friends of Carrie.

The bash allegedly happened on the night of November 13, 2020, after Dominic Cummings had left with his belongings in a box.

He had allegedly lost a power struggle with the then Ms Symonds and other advisers.

'There was the sound of lots of banging and dancing and drinking, and a number of Abba tracks  including a triumphalist Winner Takes It All,' a source said.

A spokesman for Mrs Johnson said: 'It is totally untrue to suggest Mrs Johnson held a party in the Downing Street flat on November 13, 2020.'

The Metropolitan Police could now investigate the party as part of its probe, and call on Mrs Johnson to provide written evidence.

Last week the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick announced officers have launched a criminal inquiry after assessing a dossier of evidence compiled by Ms Gray.

The police inquiry will reportedly focus on eight out of 17 parties looked at by Ms Gray.

The force then clarified it was looking at potential Covid breaches that are dealt with by fixed-term penalty notices.

It is understood that the Prime Minister's wife has not been interviewed by Ms Gray's inquiry or approached by the police.

Mr Cummings resigned as Mr Johnson's de facto chief of staff after losing the alleged power struggle with Mrs Johnson.

He has previously claimed there was a 'party' in the Downing Street flat on the night of his departure.

Civil servants in the building at the time were advised by officials to go to the Downing Street flat to apologise for not sufficiently supporting the Prime Minister's then-fiancee.

'They were ordered to go up and kiss the ring,' one said.

It comes as a former senior policeman suggested Downing Street staff who have been interviewed by Ms Gray could retract their testimony.

Former chief superintendent Dai Davies, who was in charge of Royal Protection, told the Daily Mail: 'Now it's a legal quagmire.

'Anyone who has spoken to her inquiry could retract their evidence, arguing they did not know it could be used against them in a criminal inquiry.'

Sources said this was possible but any change of evidence would likely be sent directly to the police, rather than Ms Gray amending her report.

A source close to Ms Gray's inquiry said the evidence she presented to police should be seen as a 'starting point'.

The Met Police said suspects will be asked to give written evidence as part of its inquiry, which appeared to undermine reports the Prime Minister could be interviewed under caution.

Ms Gray's long-awaited report is expected to be submitted to the Prime Minister within days.

Sue Gray is said to have been given evidence about a party held by Carrie's (pictured right) friends in the No11 flat after Dominic Cummings (left) quit

The Met is under fire for its 'farcical' handling of Partygate. After first refusing to investigate, last week it announced a criminal inquiry days before the Sue Gray report was due to be published  and asking her to make 'minimal references' to parties at the centre of the row.

Former Supreme Court justice Lord Sumption said the police had 'no legal right to demand that Sue Gray delay publication of her report and it is constitutionally undesirable that they have done so'.

Meanwhile, speculation mounted over an expected leadership contest to replace Mr Johnson, should he be deposed.

Yesterday Tom Tugendhat became the first Conservative MP to declare his intention to run in a leadership contest.

Asked in a Times Radio interview which will air today whether he would like to be Prime Minister, the Tonbridge & Malling MP said: 'It would be a huge privilege.'

He added: 'It's up to all of us to put ourselves forward. And it's up to the electorate, in the first case parliamentary colleagues, and in the second case the party, to choose.'

The former soldier added: 'There isn't a vacancy at the moment', and insisted he had not been canvassing support.

Jeremy Hunt, the former Foreign Secretary who came second to Mr Johnson in the 2019 leadership contest, recently said his ambition to be leader had not 'completely vanished'.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are expected to be the frontrunners in a contest, with other potential contenders including Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi and former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt.

A No 10 spokeswoman said last night she could not comment on the Gray inquiry.
North Korea has fired what is believed to be its most powerful missile since 2017.

The Japanese and South Korean militaries said the missile was launched 1,242 miles upwards on a lofted trajectory, apparently to avoid neighbouring countries.

It travelled 497 miles before landing in the sea.

The flight details suggest it is the territory's longest-range ballistic missile since 2017, when it flew intermediate-range ballistic missiles over Japan and separately flight-tested three intercontinental-range ballistic missiles which showed the potential range to reach deep into the US.

Sunday's test was the North's seventh round of weapons launches this month.

The Japanese and South Korean militaries said the missile was launched 1,242 miles upwards on a lofted trajectory, apparently to avoid neighbouring countries. Pictured: People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul

The flight details suggest it is the territory's longest-range ballistic missile since 2017, when it flew intermediate-range ballistic missiles over Japan and separately flight-tested three intercontinental-range ballistic missiles which showed the potential range to reach deep into the US

Sunday's test was the North's seventh round of weapons launches this month

The unusually fast pace of tests indicates North Korea's intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled nuclear negotiations as pandemic-related difficulties unleash further shock on an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and crippling US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called an emergency National Security Council meeting where he described the test as a possible 'midrange ballistic missile launch' that brought North Korea to the brink of breaking its 2018 suspension in the testing of nuclear devices and longer-range ballistic missiles.

Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters it was clear that the missile was the longest-range weapon the North has tested since launching its Hwasong-15 ICBM in November 2017.

The launch came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chaired a ruling party meeting on January 20 where senior party members made a veiled threat to lift the moratorium, citing what they perceived as US hostility and threats.

The North Korean leader in April 2018 declared that 'no nuclear test and intermediate-range and inter-continental ballistic rocket test-fire' were necessary for the North any longer as he pursued diplomacy with then-US President Donald Trump in an attempt to leverage his nukes for badly needed economic benefits.

President of South Korea shows South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaking about the North's missile launch

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prepares to answer questions from the media about the missile launch

The latest missile's flight details suggest that North Korea's moratorium is already broken, said Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert and honorary research fellow at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute. He said the data suggests that the North tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile or possibly even a weapon approaching ICBM capacities.

In his strongest comments toward the North in years, Mr Moon said the situation around the Korean Peninsula is beginning to resemble 2017, when North Korea's provocative run in nuclear and long-range missile testing resulted in a verbal exchange of war threats between Mr Kim and Mr Trump.

Mr Moon described the North's latest tests as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a 'challenge toward the international society's efforts to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, stabilise peace and find a diplomatic solution' to the nuclear standoff.

The unusually fast pace of tests indicates North Korea's intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled nuclear negotiations as pandemic-related difficulties unleash further shock on an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and crippling US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program

The North 'should stop its actions that create tensions and pressure and respond to the dialogue offers by the international community including South Korea and the United States,' Mr Moon said, according to his office.

Mr Moon, who had ambitiously pushed for inter-Korean engagement, held three summits with Mr Kim in 2018 while also lobbying to set up Mr Kim's first summit with Mr Trump in 2018, where they issued vague aspirational goals for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing when and how it would occur. But the diplomacy derailed after the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea's demand for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Sunday's missile flew for around 30 minutes and landed in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. There were no immediate reports of damage to boats or aircraft.

The latest missile's flight details suggest that North Korea's moratorium is already broken, said Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert and honorary research fellow at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute

The US Indo Pacific Command said the US condemns North Korea's testing activity and calls on the North to refrain from further destabilising acts. It said the latest launch did not 'pose an immediate threat to US personnel, territory, or that of our allies'.

The launch came three days after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday. The North also flight-tested a pair of purported long-range cruise missiles on Tuesday while vowing to strengthen its nuclear 'war deterrent' and build more powerful weapons.

Experts say the North could halt its testing spree after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics next week out of respect for China, its major ally and economic lifeline.

But there is also expectation that the North could significantly up the ante in weapons demonstrations once the Olympics end in February to grab the attention of the Biden administration, which has been focusing more on confronting China and Russia over its conflict with Ukraine.

The launch came three days after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday

'North Korea is launching a frenzy of missiles before the start of the Beijing Olympics, mostly as military modernisation efforts. Pyongyang also wants to boost national pride as it gears up to celebrate political anniversaries in the context of economic struggles,' said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

'It wants to remind Washington and Seoul that trying to topple it would be too costly. By threatening stability in Asia while global resources are stretched thin elsewhere, Pyongyang is demanding the world compensate it to act like a 'responsible nuclear power,'' Mr Easley added.

North Korea has justified its testing activity as an exercise of its rights to self-defence and threatened stronger action after the Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions following two tests of a purported hypersonic missile earlier this month.

While desperate for outside relief, Mr Kim has showed no willingness to surrender the nuclear weapons and missiles he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. Analysts say Mr Kim's pressure campaign is aimed at forcing Washington to accept the North as a nuclear power and convert their nuclear disarmament-for-aid diplomacy into negotiations for mutual arms-reduction.
A 'frat house culture' at Boris Johnson's Downing Street flat 'led to aides banning home from taking top-secret documents home after he left them lying around in view of visitors'.

Martin Reynolds, the Prime Minister's principal private secretary since October 2019, insisted that Mr Johnson's review and approve secret intelligence requests from his office after complaints the flat he lives in with wife Carrie had become a security risk.

The rule change was introduced at the beginning of 2020 when then senior political aide Dominic Cummings became concerned over the 'frat house' atmosphere both within their flat above No 11 and their private rooms at Chequers - Mr Johnson's country home.

Mr Cummings is said to have visited the couple's flat and found Carrie and her friends relaxing while the Prime Minister's red box, containing confidential 'Strap' documents, had been left lying around in view of the guests, The Sunday Times reports.

Paperwork is taken home in red boxes by ministers to be perused and studied overnight, with strap documents identifiable as they are printed on distinctive pink paper.

The codeword normally means the documents have been classified as 'top secret' and are usually only distributed to individuals on a restricted list.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L) and his wife Carrie (R) arrive at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester in October last year

Former senior political aide Dominic Cummings is said to have visited the the Prime Minister's flat and found Carrie and her friends relaxing while the Mr Johnson's red box was left lying around and in view of guests

The flat above No 11 Downing Street, which Mr Cummings claims had a 'frat house' atmosphere and led to changes to protocols that prevented Mr Johnson from taking confidential documents into his home

The revelation has come to light as part of Sue Gray's report into Downing Street gatherings during lockdown, expected to be published next week in redacted form, that 'several' of Carrie's friends were given the access code to enter the No 11 flat.

A former No 10 official said Mr Cummings spoke to Mr Reynolds after becoming 'dismayed' that classified Strap material was being left 'lying around the flat' and 'upstairs in Chequers'.

Mr Cummings is understood to have said the documents were being left in such a way that 'Carrie could see it and potentially her journalist friends' and there had been a 'string of leaks related to national security'.

Mr Johnson's aide and private secretary agreed new protocols to prevent sensitive documents going to the flat or Chequers.

Material was to be shown to the Prime Minister downstairs in No 10 and then 'immediately returned to safekeeping' instead.

Mr Johnson (right) pictured alongside his Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds, who agreed a rule change with Mr Cummings

Another source told The Sunday Times that documents would often 'be there in the morning and often still there in the evening' after not being touched.

Downing Street has refused to comment on the claims.

In 2019, former Prime Minister Theresa May and others in the intelligence community allegedly withheld sensitive intelligence from Mr Johnson after he was made Foreign Secretary over concerns regarding his ability to keep information confidential.

Claims over the 'frat house' atmosphere come as Sue Gray's report has taken evidence about a 'Winner Takes It All' Abba party to mark the resignation of Dominic Cummings, The Mail on Sunday has been told.

It is understood that, as part of her inquiry into socialising in Boris Johnson's No 10 flat, Sue Gray has been told about a 'victory party' held by friends of the Prime Minister's then fiancee Carrie Symonds on the night of November 13, 2020, after Mr Cummings had left with his belongings in a box.

The senior aide allegedly lost a power struggle with Ms Symonds and other advisers.

'There was the sound of lots of banging and dancing and drinking, and a number of Abba tracks  including a triumphalist Winner Takes It All,' a source said.

A spokesman for Mrs Johnson said: 'It is totally untrue to suggest Mrs Johnson held a party in the Downing Street flat on November 13, 2020.'
A middle-aged man has been caught on camera brazenly walking into an eastern Sydney petrol station naked to pay for fuel.

Footage posted online shows a cashier serving customers at Edgecliff BP, on New South Head Road, on Thursday when a clothes-less man waltzes up to the front till.

The man, who appears to be aged in his mid 50s to early 60s, can be seen nonchalantly using his phone to tap and pay for petrol as the shocked attendant avoids eye contact.

A man has been filmed entering an eastern Sydney petrol station in the nude to pay for his fuel

The middle-aged customer casually strolled to the till and paid before returning to his car

After the brief transaction, the nudist swiftly turns around and walks back to his car.

One other worker was in the store during the bizarre encounter, while several other customers were outside refuelling around the time the man was also using the pump.

The video was obtained by Bruno Bouchet, the manager of radio king and KIIS 106.5 co-host Kyle Sandilands, before being shared on Twitter.

Mr Bouchet told Daily Mail Australia the encounter made the attendant lost for words.

'He thought it was crazy like anyone else,' Mr Bouchet said.

Several other customers were at Edgecliff BP refuelling at the time the man (pictured) was visiting the service station

'But there was no conversation about what was happening.

'He [the attendant] was concerned he wasn't wearing a mask, but he was shocked and wanted to be professional, so didn't say anything.'

Mr Bouchet said the time of day or the reason for the explicit incident remain a mystery - but he and Sandilands will continue to investigate the unusual incident on air on Monday.

'It is sort of one of those stories where there are so many more questions to be answered.'
Liz Truss today warned Vladimir Putin he faces a Ukraine 'quagmire' like Afghanistan or Chechnya as she warned there will be 'nowhere to hide' from sanctions.

The Foreign Secretary urged Russia to step back from an invasion as Britain made clear it will boost troop numbers at Nato's borders and consider sending more weapons.

The government is due to announce moves to target Russia's strategic and financial interests tomorrow.

And in an interview with Sky News Ms Truss said 'nobody' would be immune from retribution.

She insisted there will be 'nowhere to hide for Putin's oligarchs involved in propping up the Russian state'.

Ms Truss said Nato powers had to 'make sure' that any incursion caused as many problems as possible for Russia, and predicted Ukrainians would 'fight hard'.

'This could well result in a quagmire like the Russians saw in Afghanistan or Chechnya,' she said.

The comments came after Boris Johnson said a new offer to Nato would 'send a clear message to the Kremlin' that 'we will not tolerate their destabilising activity'.

In addition to bolstering troop numbers, No 10 said this could involve sending defensive weapons to Estonia.

Fast jets, warships and military specialists could also be sent to protect Nato allies.

Liz Truss (pictured) today warned Vladimir Putin he faces a Ukraine 'quagmire' like Afghanistan or Chechnya as she warned there will be 'nowhere to hide' from sanctions

Ukrainian civilians train to resist a Russian invasion over the weekend

Nato powers have been urging Mr Putin (pictured last week) to step back from confrontation

Ms Truss said: 'We are offering to deploy extra troops into Estonia.

'We are providing more air support across the Black Sea and we're supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine to make sure that they are in the best possible position should Vladimir Putin try to stage an incursion.

'What I'll be announcing later this week is improved legislation on sanctions so we can target more Russian interests that are of direct relevance to the Kremlin, because we absolutely need to stop this happening. That is our number one priority.'

She added: 'Of course, we'll use diplomacy. I'm travelling to Ukraine this week. I'll be travelling to Moscow next week.

'However, the number one thing that will stop Vladimir Putin taking action is if he understands the costs of that action. This could result in a quagmire and he should be well aware of that.'

Ms Truss went on: 'Currently, the economic sanctions are fairly narrowly drawn, so we could only target companies with a direct involvement in destabilising Ukraine.

'What we are looking to do is widen that so any company of interest to the Kremlin and the regime in Russia would be able to be targeted, so there will be nowhere to hide for Putin's oligarchs, for Russian companies involved in propping up the Russian state. That's what we are looking at doing this week.'

Ms Truss reiterated the government's call for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be cancelled in response to Russia's actions.

'Fundamentally, the most important thing is defending freedom and democracy, and that is more important than immediate financial issues,' she said.

'That is true not just for the United Kingdom, but also for our friends in Germany, who are now taking a much tougher line on Nord Stream 2. We cannot favour short-term economic interests over the long-term survival of freedom and democracy in Europe. That's the tough decision all of us have got to make.'

Asked if she would tell the Germans it is time to cancel Nord Stream 2, she said: 'Well, the Germans, (Chancellor) Olaf Scholz, has said that it'd be very difficult for Nord Stream 2 to go ahead in the event of a Russian incursion. So, we have seen a toughening of the Germans' position on that. I had a good call this week with the German foreign minister.'

On whether Britain's view is 'if there's an invasion, Nord Stream 2 stops', she said: 'Completely.'

Downing Street said the possible deployment would 'reinforce Nato's defences and underpin the UK's support for Nordic and Baltic partners'.

The move comes as the Prime Minister is expected to speak to Russian president Vladimir Putin and travel to the troubled region early this week.

A second trip to meet Nato member counterparts is being planned for early next month, No 10 said.

The details of the offer will be finalised by UK officials and Nato in Brussels next week, while ministers will discuss the military options on Monday.

Mr Johnson has also directed Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to prepare to go to Moscow for talks with their counterparts in the coming days.

They will be asked to improve relationships with the Russian government and encourage de-escalation, Downing Street said.

In addition, Mr Wallace is expected to travel to meet with allies this week in Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia on Mr Johnson's behalf.

Meanwhile, the Mr Johnson has asked the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, to attend Cabinet on Tuesday to brief ministers on the situation in Ukraine.

The UK already has more than 100 troops providing training in Ukraine as part of Operation Orbital.

There are also 900 British military personnel based in Estonia, and a Light Cavalry Squadron of around 150 people is deployed to Poland, No 10 said.

It comes after Mr Johnson asked defence and security chiefs to consider further defensive military options in Europe during a high-level intelligence briefing on the situation last week.

The Prime Minister said: 'This package would send a clear message to the Kremlin  we will not tolerate their destabilising activity, and we will always stand with our Nato allies in the face of Russian hostility.

'If President Putin chooses a path of bloodshed and destruction, it will be a tragedy for Europe. Ukraine must be free to choose its own future.

'I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, ensuring we are able to support our Nato allies on land, at sea and in the air.'

Boris Johnson (pictured on a visit to the RAF base in Anglesey last week) said a new offer to Nato would 'send a clear message to the Kremlin' that 'we will not tolerate their destabilising activity'

Labour earlier accused the Prime Minister of 'playing catch-up with other world leaders' on deterring Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey reiterated calls for the imposition of a 'register of overseas entities' to 'lift the veil on who owns property and assets in the UK', after it was reported that American officials fear they will not be able to effectively sanction Mr Putin because of Russian money 'entrenched' in London.

US president Joe Biden has suggested moving to penalise the Russian president could be an option in the case of an invasion.

When asked last week if he could see himself sanctioning Mr Putin in those circumstances, Mr Biden told reporters: 'Yes, I would see that.'

Asked if the UK would support personal sanctions against the Russian president, Ms Truss told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday that the Government had 'ruled nothing out'.

Ms Truss has been forthright in speaking out against Russia's threatened invasion of Ukraine, and took the unusual step of declassifying intelligence which suggested Mr Putin was plotting to install a pro-Moscow leader as head of the government in Kyiv.
A six-vehicle crash which killed nine and left one person in critical condition was caused by a driver who sped through a red light, Nevada police said.

The crash occurred after a Dodge Challenger driving at a 'high rate of speed' on Commerce Avenue, Las Vegas, ran a red light at 3pm Saturday and struck multiple vehicles.

Six cars and 15 people were involved in the crash, North Las Vegas Police spokesman Alexander Cuevas told reporters at a news conference.

Some of the vehicles struck were pushed into a vacant lot on the intersection.

Roads were blocked off on West Cheyenne Avenue in Las Vegas after a six-car pile-up left nine dead and one critically injured on Saturday

Some of the vehicles struck were pushed into a vacant lot on the intersection between Commerce Avenue and Cheyenne Street

Investigators said speed was a factor when the driver of a Dodge Challenger did not stop at the red light

North Las Vegas Police spokesman Alexander Cuevas and Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown pleaded with the community to be more careful and pay attention to speed limits to avoid senseless loss of lives

'We have not seen a mass casualty traffic collision like this before,' Cuevas said at the briefing around 11 pm local time.

'Please make this a safer community by slowing down. Pay attention to speed limits,' he added.

The ages of the people who died ranged from young juveniles to middle-aged adults. Roads were blocked off on West Cheyenne Avenue, according to MSNBC.

Police said they would be collecting evidence at the scene for 'several more hours,' NBC reported.

North Las Vegas Police is seen investigating the deadly multi-vehicle crash Saturday afternoon

Police responded to the crash shortly after 3pm on Saturday. Fifteen people were involved in the collision

Two people were taken to University Medical Hospital, where one died and the other was in critical condition as of 11 PM Saturday, Cuevas said.

The driver of the Dodge Dart and a passenger were among the fatal victims, police said.

The other five vehicles involved in the accident were a white Toyota, a white Ford Fusion, a tan Chevrolet Malibu, a white Hyundai Tucson, and a white Mercedes Benz SUV.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who are experiencing a tremendous and unnecessary loss due to a careless and senseless act,' North Las Vegas Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown said after the crash.

At this time, it is not suspected that the driver of the Dodge was impaired from drugs or alcohol, according to police.

Last year, Nevada reported more than 380 fatalities caused by traffic accidents, making it the deadliest year on the state's roads in 14 years.
Deaths due to disrupted medical care quadrupled during the first lockdown, according to a study.

Oxford University hospitals investigators looked at 1,100 autopsies from seven areas of England for fatalities from a 'potentially treatable condition'.

These were deaths where patients had struggled to access medical care, or died after being told to self-isolate.

A total of 44 out of 602 deaths (7.3 per cent) were put down to these issues during the first lockdown.

They included an asthma patient died after being told to self-isolate because they were experiencing chest pain, similar to Covid symptoms.

And a young diabetic patient who died from complications related to their condition after being told to stay at home because they had a fever and were vomiting.

For comparison, 10 out of 498 deaths (2 per cent) were put down to this two years beforehand.

Investigators warned of a 'significant increase' in deaths linked to trouble accessing medical care, and said many of these patients would normally have gone to hospital.

Responding to the study, MPs said it was clear the country will be 'living with' the side-effects of the Covid pandemic for many years.

Experts have repeatedly raised concerns lockdowns would trigger an uptick in deaths due to non-Covid causes, but this is believed to be the first study to confirm a link looking at autopsy reports.

Tory MP Steve Baker (left) said it was clear the country would be living with the side effects of the pandemic for many years. Boris Johnson was warned that lockdowns would have unforseen consequences

In the study, people who died were about 68 years old and the majority were men (66 per cent).

Deaths were from between March to May for both years and were recorded in rural and urban areas of England including Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Newcastle and parts of London.

England does not routinely record the number of fatalities likely down to disruption accessing medical care.

Long Covid sufferers have hidden damage to their lungs, study says Long Covid sufferers may have hidden lung damage, a small study in the UK has suggested. Scientists supported by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre used a xenon gas scan to pick up abnormalities in the lungs of those suffering from breathlessness after having Covid. The study uses the odourless, colourless, tasteless and chemically non-reactive gas, to investigate possible lung damage in the patients who have not been admitted to hospital, but continue to experience the symptom. The initial results of the study suggest there is significantly impaired gas transfer from the lungs to the bloodstream in the long Covid patients despite other tests  including CT scans  coming back as normal. A larger study has been commissioned to confirm the results of this small sample. Lead researcher Dr Emily Fraser told the BBC the study had been borne out of frustration of medical professionals who could not find clinical reasons for the breathlessness using X-rays and CT scans. Dr Fraser said: 'This is important research and I really do hope this will shed more light on that. 'It is important people know that rehabilitation strategies and breathing retraining can be really helpful. 'When we see people in clinic who are breathless we can make progress.' Advertisement

But in this study investigators aimed to determine how many would fall into this category by looking through autopsy reports.

These include testimonies from families, doctors and medical notes showing why the person had died.

Some deaths were marked as 'probably' down to problems accessing healthcare, including those where lockdown 'prevented access' or where a patient 'was advised to self-isolate, subsequently dying from a potentially treatable condition'.

And others were marked as 'possibly' down to this, where a patient did not attend hospital for a 'potentially treatable condition' but it was not clear why they did not seek professional care.

NHS chiefs urged the public to return to hospitals during the first lockdown, after seeing a drop off in admissions for non-Covid conditions  like cancer.

A total of 23 fatalities were marked as 'probably' down to issues accessing healthcare, and 21 'possibly' due to this in 2020.

For comparison, investigators marked five deaths in both these categories for the three months checked in 2018.

Investigators also found a number of suicides and drug/alcohol related deaths linked to lockdowns, although they said this was not a significant rise.

For suicides there were 27 fatalities for three months in 2018 (5 per cent of the total), but 38 over the same period in 2020 (6 per cent of the total).

For drug/alcohol related deaths, there were 29 in 2018 (6 per cent), but a total of 49 in 2020 (8 per cent).

A total of 54 deaths (9 per cent) studied were also linked to Covid during the first lockdown.

Professor Ian Roberts, a pathologist at Oxford University hospitals who led the study, told The Sunday Telegraph: 'I think it's clear from our study that the excess deaths during the Covid lockdown is at least in part due to reduced access to medical care.'

Asked what triggered the study, he said it was down to experiences on wards during the first wave of the pandemic.

'I found myself doing a number of autopsies where the deceased had contacted medical services with symptoms related to their death,' he said.

'But instead of being admitted to hospital, which they normally would have been, they were told to self-isolate at home and didn't have any access to care.'

Pictured above is an intensive care ward in a major hospital. Patients had issues accessing healthcare during the first lockdown, a study has suggested

Conservative MP and chairman of the Covid Recovery Group Steve Baker said England will 'be living with the health side effects of lockdown for many years'.

He warned: 'The Government should be running through a checklist of every implication of lockdowns and restrictions, and ensure they're worth the inevitable costs.'

Experts have repeatedly warned of the 'appalling costs' of imposing lockdowns on nation's  including disruption to education, the economy and healthcare.

Following the first stay-at-home orders the NHS waiting list has spiralled to a record-high with more than 6million people now waiting for care.

Children have missed months of face-to-face lessons, for some coming just before major exams.

And many high street shops have also closed their doors.
Tanzanian President Hassan commends China for hosting Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games

Xinhua) 09:39, January 30, 2022

DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has commended China for hosting the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

"We follow with a lot of excitement the Beijing 2022 Olympics and Paralympics Winter Games. We wish the Government and the People of China best wishes in hosting this world greatest event," President Hassan said late Friday on her official twitter account.

President Hassan joined Tanzania's Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi who on Jan. 22 voiced his support for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics via social media, wishing it a great success.

"I am looking forward to the successful convening of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The Olympic Games is a sport festival for all mankind, so it shouldn't be politicized, and should stay away from politics," he said. "It is only via respecting the Olympic spirit and transcending politics that we can finally realize the mission for global unity and the Olympic creed and motto: faster, higher, and stronger."

On Jan. 25, the Tanzania National Olympic Committee wished China a successful Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

"We are looking forward to a successful Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics like the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games," said Gulam Rashid, the president of the Tanzania National Olympic Committee.

Rashid told Xinhua in an interview that Tanzania fully supported China in hosting the Winter Olympic Games although the east African nation will not participate because it does not have winter games.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Investigators are sorting through the cause and origin of a fire Saturday that heavily damaged a Northampton County trap shooting club.

The fire at Blue Ridge Rod & Gun Club on Maple Drive in Lehigh Township was reported shortly after 4 p.m. The two-alarm fire drew firefighters from Northampton, Lehigh and Carbon counties, according to Rick Hildebrand, commissioner of the Lehigh Township Volunteer Fire Company.

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There were no injuries, Hildebrand said Sunday. He said nobody was in the club at the time.

A passerby spotted the fire, Hildebrand said, but by the time firefighters arrived, smoke and flames were showing from the building, he said.

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The origin and cause were undetermined and still being sorted out, Hildebrand said. While township fire investigators were away at a seminar this weekend, Hildebrand said a state police fire marshal was assisting in the investigation.

The hunting and fishing club had about 600 shotgun rounds inside, but Hildebrand said the ammunition was secured and properly stored, and was not a factor in potentially spreading the fire.

Firefighters were hampered with freezing temperatures and strong winds.

It was cold and windy, but the guys performed as if it was a June afternoon, Hildebrand said. The fire scene was cleared by 8:30 p.m. Saturday, he said.

The club has evolved over the years from fishing and hunting to trap shooting, said Barbara Berger, the groups treasurer and wife of its president, Barry Berger. Trap shooting is a sport of shooting at clay pigeons released from a spring trap.

She said Blue Ridge was founded in 1904, and the Maple Drive building was opened in 1950.
The wife of Tory peer Lord Bates shook hands with China's President Xi Jinping during a Beijing meeting of a group linked to a propaganda unit accused by MI5 of of trying to 'corrupt and coerce' British politicians.

Xuelin Li Bates, who has donated 206,000 to the Conservative Party since 2010, met and shook the hand of the President at a conference of the Chinese Overseas Friendship Association (Cofa) in May 2019.

The Tory donor, 60, travelled to Beijing for the meeting of Cofa's council, held twice a decade, part of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) which has responsibility for intelligence and propaganda operations worldwide.

President Xi gave a speech in which he praised attendees and offered 'sincere congratulations' on behalf of his Chinese Communist Party at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square, according to state media.

She applauded the President and was captured on camera shaking his hand following the speech, The Sunday Times reports.

Lady Bates married Tory peer Lord Bates in July 2012 after arriving in London in 1989 fresh out of a Chinese university and with just 50 to her name.

Lord Bates served as minister under Theresa May, David Cameron and John Major.

The couple met at a private dinner she was hosting for the Speaker of the North Korean parliament. Lord Bates had long been interested in the secretive state and he was also a friend of its closest ally, China.

In Hidden Hand, a book published in 2020, Xuelin was named as a prominent influencer on China matters and claimed she had succeeded in positioning herself close to Britains top elites, where she could spread a Chinese perspective.

Lady Bates (circled) met and shook the hand of President Xi Jinping at a conference of the Chinese Overseas Friendship Association (Cofa) in May 2019

Lady Bates (right) pictured with Prince Charles (left) at a reception for British Red Cross volunteers at St James's Palace in October 2017

Lady Bates with former Prime Minister David Cameron at a reception at 10 Downing Street

Lord Bates and Li Xuelin pictured together on their wedding day in 2012

Despite arriving in London with almost no money to her name, Lady Bates has gone on to become a millionaire.

Originally from Hangzhou, Xuelin studied architecture at Zhejiang University and was regarded as bright with a phenomenal work ethic. After graduating with a masters degree, she moved to London to pursue a broader horizon of knowledge.

She studied English before getting a job with a firm of architects, where she remained for five years. During this period, she married a British doctor and had a son but the marriage foundered.

Switching careers, she launched an import-export business, bringing clothes, shoes and handbags from China.

In time, her business was successful, as was a property company she launched.

Since 2010, she has donated more than 200,000, including to the Tories and paid 50,000 a year to join the Leaders Group, set up by David Cameron for top donors to the Conservatives. Members have special access to senior politicians.

In May 2014, at a Conservative Party luncheon, Xuelin Bates introduced her Chinese guests one by one to David Cameron, in order, it was said, to lay a foundation for future Sino-British cooperation.

She held a parliamentary pass through Lord Bates for several years, but returned it during the pandemic.

In 2017, she campaigned with her husband for Theresa May in the General Election, sitting next to the then Prime Minister as May phoned voters.

Lady Bates also supported Boris Johnson's successful bid to become leader alongside his father Stanley and then girlfriend Carrie.

Other prominent political figures in attendance at the Cofa meeting in 2019 included Wang Yang, a member of China's most powerful political body the politburo standing committee, and You Quan, head of the UFWD.

You was one of six Hong Kong and Chinese officials who have been made subject to sanctions earlier this month after being blamed for implementing a new repressive security law in Hong Kong.

Bates' accommodation and food during the trip to Beijing was covered by Cofa and she is listed in official documents as being a member of the fifth council of the association.

It comes after MI5 accused the United Front Work Department of seeking to 'covertly interfere' with British politics in a security alert to MPs earlier this month.

The security agency has identified Coventry-based solicitor Christine Lee as one of its operatives and listed Cofa as one of her affiliations.

Bates' solicitors say no concerns were raised at the time regarding Cofa's activities and she would not have made the trip if she had been aware. They also confirmed she would not be attending any future events and denied having a role within the body.

Christine Lee, centre, is a solicitor whose firm has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, as well as London

In footage broadcast by state television, Lee was seen sitting near Bates at the conference and was also greeted by the President.

Last week, Bates said she met Lee, but was dismayed by allegations about her activities on behalf of Beijing.

Her links to China have previously been criticised after what Hidden Hand described as one of the clearest signs of the CCPs faith in her when Bates was executive vice-president of the UK Chinese Association for the Promotion of National Reunification.

The group is the British chapter of the Beijing body which promotes Taiwan's reunification with mainland China.

A spokesperson for Lady Bates has previously said she rejects 'in the strongest possible terms any suggestion she has been an influencer on behalf of China'.

Last night her representatives said the Cofa meeting was a 'social' event and she did not liaise or have ongoing contact with the UFWD.
Virginia Giuffre's father has launched a blistering attack on Prince Andrew for 'victim-blaming' his daughter.

Sky Roberts blasted the Duke of York for filing legal papers saying her case against him should be thrown out due to 'her own wrongful conduct'.

He said the Royal was being a 'coward' and feared it would lead to claims his then teenage daughter had trafficked women for Jeffrey Epstein.

But he said he does not think Prince Andrew will go to jail following the outcome of his daughter's case.

It comes as the lawyer representing Giuffre is set to quiz the Duke in London but said he will not require evidence from his ex-wife, daughters or the Queen.

David Boies suggested Andrew will find being questioned under oath 'a little uncomfortable'  but held out the possibility a financial deal could be struck.

Ms Giuffre claims in a civil suit she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with the Royal on three occasions when she was 17.

The Duke last week issued 41 denials, rejecting all allegations of wrongdoing. He stated a further 40 times he 'lacks sufficient information to admit or deny' claims.

Sky Roberts (pictured) blasted the Duke of York for filing legal papers saying her case against him should be thrown out due to 'her own wrongful conduct'

He said the Royal (pictured, with his ex-wife this month) was being a 'coward' and feared it would lead to claims his then teenage daughter had trafficked women for Jeffrey Epstein

Ms Giuffre claims in a civil suit she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with the Royal on three occasions when she was 17

Mr Roberts, 65, a retired maintenance manager, who worked at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago, told the Sunday Mirror: 'It's the coward's way out to try to blame the victim.'

He continued: 'It's ridiculous for him to say that Virginia's hands are unclean or she has skeletons in her closet, or whatever.'

He said his daughter was trying to financially harm the Duke because there was no other way she could get to him.

He continued: 'How else are you going to hurt him? You're going 'to send him to jail? No. He will be protected, he will never see a jail.'

But Mr Roberts added 'it's great' to see what he called the Queen disowning her son as he stepped back from public life and was stripped of his military titles.

A spokesman for the Duke of York declined to comment on the latest claims in the ongoing saga.

David Boies, 80, one of America's most renowned attorneys, yesterday suggested Andrew will find the experience of being questioned under oath 'a little uncomfortable'  but held out the possibility that a financial deal could be done

Giuffre's lawyer Mr Boies is preparing to fly to Britain later this year to take a legal deposition from the Duke, which he expects to last 'a day, or probably two'.

'I'm going to try to get him to understand that this is not going to be combative,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'Obviously, I'm going to ask him a lot of questions.

'And although some of the questions may be uncomfortable, I'm not going to be aggressive or in any way offensive to him. I'm going to be respectful.'

Mr Boies is known as the 'greatest deposition taker' in America and has secured or won for clients nine settlements of more than a billion dollars.

He represented Presidential candidate Al Gore after the disputed 2000 election and helped change the law in California to allow gay people to marry.

Mr Boies is preparing to fly to Britain later this year to take a legal deposition from the Duke, which he expects to last 'a day, or probably two', though he says he probably will not need to speak to Prince Andrew's wider family

Andrew's deposition must be taken before a July 14 deadline set by the judge.

Should the case go to court, Mr Boies said he 'doesn't think we would need' the Duchess of York, Princess Beatrice or Princess Eugenie to testify.

He added while conversations Andrew had with the Queen 'could be used, it's hard to get at those, because he's probably not going to admit to them, and we're not going to depose her'.

The Duke says he has no recollection of ever meeting Ms Giuffre, who now uses her married name Giuffre, and last week said he 'lacks sufficient information to admit or deny' whether a famous photograph of him with his arm around her waist in March 2001 'exists'.

Mr Boies claimed he had tried to avoid litigation and remains perplexed at the Duke's legal strategy.

'He could have said, 'I didn't know she was underage.' He could have said, 'This was an entirely consensual affair.'

There are a number of things he could have said that would have been hard to attack. But this is incomprehensible.'

Legal experts have widely predicted that Andrew will be forced to settle the case out of court with a financial payment.

While Mr Boies said his client will not want to settle if Andrew continued to deny knowing her and suggesting the 2001 photograph was fake, he did accept that she will consider a financial offer if it was large enough to be 'a vindication'.

He said: 'We would be unlikely to settle in a situation in which somebody just handed over a cheque.

'So if Prince Andrew maintains 'I've never heard of this person', 'I don't know who she is', 'The photographs are fake', then I don't think we would settle on that basis.

'That said, if you had a settlement that was large enough to be, in effect, a vindication, then it's something we would obviously look at.'


The top U.S. official for the United Nations said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's build-up of troops at the border with Ukraine proves he has 'intentions to use them'.

President Joe Biden's Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield also told ABC's This Week program that Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting could be the last chance to find diplomatic avenues for Russia as the world waits to see if they will invade Ukraine.

'The Russians have amassed 100,000 troops along the border, they have moved troops into Belarus, they have continued to escalate despite our efforts to try to find a diplomatic route for them and to encourage them to deescalate it,' Thomas-Greenfield said.

She added: 'You don't amass 100,000 troops if you don't have intentions to use them.'

Thomas-Greenfield is the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations as well as the Representative of the United States of America in the U.N. Security Council, which is holding a meeting Monday on Russia's escalation along Ukraine's border.

'Part of the reason we're calling for this meeting on Monday is one more opportunity to find a diplomatic way out for the Russians,' she said.

She insisted: 'We have made clear that we're prepared to address our concerns, Ukrainian concerns and Russian concerns at the diplomatic table. But it cannot be done on the battlefield.'

Comes after Biden has said he could act unilaterally to move U.S. troops to Eastern Europe and the Baltic region if Russia does invade and NATO does not back his deployment.

Russia claims the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is trying to 'drag' Ukraine into the military alliance as fears mount that Moscow is preparing to invade.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Sunday that Russia would not have built a troop presence at the Ukraine border if they did not intend to use them. She also said Monday's Security Council meeting is last chance to find 'diplomatic way out for the Russians'

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warns that Russia's menacing military buildup on the Ukraine border signals the Kremlin's objective.



"You don't amass 100,000 troops if you don't have intentions to use them. https://t.co/tiUtZXER2z pic.twitter.com/A7MRgjjFgd  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

Russia has amassed 100,000 troops at the border with Ukraine, but Moscow has insisted it has no intentions to invade

'[NATO] has already come close to Ukraine. They also want to drag this country there,' Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Sunday. 'Although everyone understands that Ukraine is not ready and could make no contribution to strengthening NATO security.'

Ukraine has sought NATO membership for years, but any prospects of joining appear far off as the country struggles to find political stability and attack corruption.

Since last month, Ukraine has repeatedly said that Kyiv is not under as much direct threat as the west is making it out to be.

'We are not downplaying the risk,' Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova insisted to CBs News' Face the Nation on Sunday. 'We actually see the situation the same way and we see the build up and we also know what Russia is capable of because they have attacked us already.'

'Since 2014, for eight years, we are at war and we are defending our country. At the same time, in order to defend our country, we cannot afford to panic,' she added. 'We have to get ready. All of us, not only our military, our very capable military and veterans, but also all civilians.'

'So we know and we see what's going on. This is the reality with which we live for eight years. This is the reality of this recent escalation since April. So we monitor it. We assess it. We share the information with our friends and allies.'

Markarova concluded: 'We're very grateful for the United States, for very strong relations, strong relations and strong response this time.'

She also dismissed notions of friction between the U.S. and Ukraine.

'Our relations, especially during the last year, has been at the highest level ever, I would say in 30 years,' she told CBS host Margaret Brennan on Sunday.

In comments on state television Sunday, Lavrov also challenged NATO's claim to be a purely defensive structure.

Russia's massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine has brought increasingly strong warnings from the West that Moscow intends to invade.

'We want good, equal, mutually respectful relations with the United States, like with every country in the world,' Lavrov said, denying claims that Russia poses a threat to Ukraine.

He added, however, that Russia does not want to remain in a position 'where our security is infringed daily'.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Sunday NATO is trying to 'drag' Ukraine into the alliance. Lavrov addresses the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia on Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Meanwhile, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are demanding sanctions on Russia.

'There is an incredible bipartisan resolve for support of Ukraine and an incredibly strong bipartisan resolve to have severe consequences for Russia if it invades Ukraine,' Democratic Senator Bob Menendez told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.

Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined Ranking Member Republican Senator James Risch from Idaho to discuss bipartisan negotiations on economic sanctions on Russia.

'So, you will get there?' CNN's Dana Bash asked regarding Congress' efforts to pass sanctions on Russia.

'We think so,' Risch said. 'I'm more than cautiously optimistic at this point that, when we get back to D.C. tomorrow, that we're going to be moving forward.'

Markarova said on Sunday of Ukraine versus U.S. stance on Russian sanctions: 'We may have difference of opinions on when to introduce sanctions, we may have difference of opinions on some issues, but those are friendly, open and candid discussions.'

Moscow last week detailed a list of demands it is requesting as warning of sanctions ensued  the U.S. and NATO responded to those demands but did not agree to some of the top issues for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin demanded that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine or other ex-Soviet bloc countries to join the alliance, and to stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe.

The United Kingdom said it was preparing fresh sanctions against Moscow.

The head of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Sunday rejected Western warnings about a planned invasion.

'At this time, they're saying that Russia threatens Ukraine - that's completely ridiculous,' he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass. 'We don't want war and we don't need it at all.'

Russia has long resented NATO's granting membership to countries that were once part of the Soviet Union or were in its sphere of influence as members of the Warsaw Pact.

Lavrov also underlined on Sunday Russia's contention that NATO expansion is a threat because it has engaged in offensive actions outside its member countries.

'It is difficult to call it defensive. Do not forget that they bombed Yugoslavia for almost three months, invaded Libya, violating the U.N. Security Council resolution, and how they behaved in Afghanistan,' he said.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield tells @GStephanopoulos that Monday's U.N Security Council meeting "is one more opportunity to find a diplomatic way out for the Russians." https://t.co/csX1asIKNl pic.twitter.com/sxE5VhbRJM  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

Russia could attack Ukraine within weeks, intelligence sources have said, after Biden shared a phone call with President Zelensky last night during which he warned an attack is likely to come in February

More aid arrived in Ukraine on Friday. It is the fourth part of a $200 million shipment of American military aid that is being sent to help its ally after Russia mobilized more than 100,000 troops to its border with Ukraine

The U.S. and NATO have formally rejected Russia's demands about halting NATO expansion, although Washington outlined areas where discussions are possible, offering hope that there could be a way to avoid war.

Putin has made no public remarks about the Western response. Lavrov has said it leaves little chance for reaching agreement, though he also says Russia doesn't want war.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that Putin could use any portion of his force to seize Ukrainian cities and 'significant territories' or to carry out 'coercive acts or provocative political acts' like the recognition of breakaway territories inside Ukraine.

Two territories in eastern Ukraine have been under the control of Russia-backed rebels since 2014, after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.

NORMANDY FORMAT The Normandy Format was established between Germany, France, Russia and the Ukraine in 2014. It was formed to broker a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine following Russia's annexation of Crimea. A cease-fire was agreed on in 2015, but continued talks between the nations stalled from 2016 to 2019. In 2019, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, who ran on a promise to bring peace between his nation and Russia, criticized the Normandy Format of 'continuing bickering' and described the support of France and Germany as 'lukewarm.' The group's March 2020 summit was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Normandy Format met during a video call on January 26, 2022, to discuss the current crisis at the Ukraine-Russian border. The group has agreed to meet in two weeks in Berlin, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying that the talks would focus on 'de-escalation' along the border. Advertisement

Putin has agreed to hold talks with Germany, France and Ukraine as NATO fails to take action on the rising conflict in Eastern Europe.

President Joe Biden also announced on Friday that he would deploy troops 'in the near term' without backing from NATO after earlier in the week he put 8,500 troops on standby for possible deployment to the region.

Doubts were already emerging that France, Germany, Turkey and Hungary would not vote in favor of Biden deploying troops if he tried to do so under NATO's Response Force, which requires a unanimous vote from all 30 ally countries.

The blow to NATO and exclusion of America in negotiation talks on the Russian-Ukraine crisis came after Putin accused the U.S. and NATO of ignoring the Kremlin's 'fundamental concerns' over NATO's growth during a call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.

During the call, Putin argued that the West had refused Russians demands of 'preventing NATO expansion, refusing to deploy strike weapons systems near Russian borders' and withdrawing allied forces to positions they held in 1997, prior to NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe, Politico reported.

Rather than meet with NATO, Putin has agreed to discuss the issue with the European-led Normandy Format, a grouping that includes France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia. Their meetings center on the cease-fire agreement that the countries brokered in eastern Ukraine in 2015, and it also offers a path to a broader settlement.

Putin said he had 'no offensive plans' in eastern Ukraine, according to Macron, who said the nations' talks would focus on 'de-escalation' along the Ukraine-Russian border, the New York Times reported.

The Normandy Format will meet in Berlin in two weeks, after Russia has already amassed over 100,000 troops at the Ukraine border.

Although the scheduled talks between the European nations raises hopes for peace, it undermines America's involvement by excluding the U.S, and NATO as Ukrainian officials said they were annoyed by Biden's vow to mobilize troops in the area without NATO's backing.

'I'll be moving troops to Eastern Europe and the NATO countries in the near term. Not too many,' Biden said as he got off Air Force One after a trip to Pittsburgh.

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley had warned of mass casualties in the Ukraine and Eastern Europe should Russia attack with such a large force.

'This is larger in scale and scope, and the massing of forces than anything we've seen in recent memory,' Milley said.

Given the forces Putin has at his disposal, 'if that was unleashed on Ukraine, it would be significant, very significant, and it would result in a significant amount of casualties,' he added.

'You can imagine what that might look like in dense urban areas, along roads, and so on and so forth. It would be horrific. It would be terrible. And it's not necessary. And we think a diplomatic outcome is the way to go here.'

The latest shipment of weapons from the U.S. arrived in Ukraine on Friday ahead of President Joe Biden 's commitment to deploy troops to Eastern Europe without NATO's backing.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that a plane loaded with Javelin anti-tank missiles, anti-armor weapons, grenade launches, artillery, small arms and ammunition has arrived in Ukraine.

It is the fourth part of a $200 million shipment of American military aid that is being sent to help its ally as Biden warned that U.S, troops would be sent near the Russian-Ukraine border 'in the near term'.

However, he said, they would not necessarily be deployed as part of a NATO force.

'I'll be moving troops to Eastern Europe and the NATO countries in the near term. Not too many,' Biden said as he got off Air Force One after a trip to Pittsburgh.

NATO has failed to come up with a common position on deploying troops to the region with many of its 30-strong members against military action.
A number of schools are reinstating rules for pupils to wear facemasks after a surge in Covid cases, despite Government guidance last week which ended the requirement.

On January 20, it was announced that masks in secondary school classrooms in England would no longer be compulsory.

Several schools which initially complied with the Government's rule change have been forced to U-turn after a rise in new infections, The Guardian reports.

Public health teams in Enfield in north London, Calderdale in West Yorkshire, and Hertfordshire have called for the reinstatement of masks in schools where severe outbreaks have been reported.

Nine councils are also recommending that face masks continue to be used in their schools' communal areas.

Children wearing facemasks during a lesson at Outwood Academy in Woodlands, Doncaster

Hailsham Community College in East Sussex is one of a number of schools who have reinstated face masks in the classroom

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: 'It is very likely that we are going to see increased disruption in schools across the next weeks, with cases rising among both primary and secondary pupils. The government has acted prematurely in removing face masks and has acted tardily in providing ventilation solutions.'

According to the Government's latest advice, face coverings are no longer mandatory for pupils as of January 20, and from January 27, they were no longer required by law in England in other public places.

Staff and pupils are still recommended to follow wider advice, as the government suggests to continue wearing a face covering in 'crowded and enclosed spaces' where you 'may come into contact with other people' you do not normally meet.

Figures released by the Department for Education last week showed Covid-related pupil absence in England had leapt by 100,000 in two weeks, with three quarters of the affected pupils testing positive for Covid.

47,000 school heads and teachers were also absent, representing about 9 per cent in all. This was a rise compared to 44,000 two weeks previously. The rate of teaching assistants and other staff out of school was also the same.

Year 9 students wear protective face masks as they take part in lessons on the first day back at school, as the coronavirus disease lockdown begins to ease at Harris Academy Sutton, south London

Andy Byers, headteacher of Framwellgate school in Durham (pictured), told The Guardian that face masks were still needed because of high Covid rates in the area

Following the Government announcement on January 20, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said that local officials would seek to persuade individual schools to abandon masks after a number of headteacher voiced their objections.

He insisted that face-to-face education for all students has consistently been my priority, adding: National guidance to wear face coverings in communal areas will also be removed in line with the national move out of Plan B. This applies to all schools.

But in a letter to MPs, he admitted that masks could be reintroduced in the event of an extraordinary local Covid outbreak.

A DfE insider told MailOnline that the Government does not have a legal mechanism to force schools to follow the new guidance on dropping masks.

The guidance that weve got on dropping face masks in line with Plan B is exactly that: guidance, they claimed.

Year 10 and 11 students at Hailsham Community College in East Sussex wearing masks in the classroom

St Peter's Church of England School is Exeter has also continued with mandatory face masks in the classroom amid a rise in local Covid cases

We do expect schools to follow it, but we do not have a legal mechanism to coerce schools into doing so. We do, however, expect that if schools do want to keep face masks, there would be a good reason for doing so.

We want to work with and support schools, and not take punitive action against them.

In a round of interviews last week, Cabinet minister Kwasi Kwarteng said schools should follow the official guidance on mask-wearing.

The Business Secretary told Sky News: The guidance from the Prime Minister is very clear: that we won't need to be wearing masks.
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Nearly 10,000 people descended on Minnesota's frozen Gull Lake on Saturday wearing their warmest hats and winter coats to compete in this year's Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza.

The annual event offered the thousands of anglers and their friends and family members the chance to win several grand prizes, including the Catch of the Day Prize Giveaway and a Random Drawing Raffle.

This year's winners included Cody Sablatura, who traveled to the event all the way from Corpus Christi, Texas and managed to reel in a 9.15lb Northern Pike; followed by Troy Vetsch from Minnesota, who caught a 4.98lb Walleye; and Tyler Paul Herickhoff, also of Minnesota, who caught a 4.77lb Walleye.

All of the proceeds from the annual ice fishing tournament, which has been featured in National Geographic, NBC Nightly News and even ESPN, go to local charities in the area.

One lucky woman showed off her fish as she waited for the weigh-in during the 32nd annual Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza on Saturday

Anglers donned their warmest winter gear for the annual event as temperatures reached a high of 25 degrees

Kate Spangler showed off her 4.47 pound walleye after it was weighed at the extravaganza after the weigh-in

Each angler and their family and friends found their own place to ice fish on the 9,947.03-acre lake in Minnesota

An angler arrived for the 32nd annual ice fishing extravaganza on Gull Lake with his ice fishing gear in tow

Nearly 10,000 anglers were expected to participate in this year's tournament on Saturday

One angler donned all orange as he waited patiently for a fish to catch his bait under the frozen lake

One man watched the score board for the running tally of the largest fish caught during the tournament

An angler stood next to a flag with elements of both the American and Confederate flags as he carried an iron rod to open an ice hole in the frozen lake

A man put the fish he caught into a bag in preparation for the weigh-in at the annual competition on Saturday

Some anglers expressed their political support at the annual charitable tradition, with participants coming from other states

Fishermen celebrated at the annual tournament, warming themselves up with alcohol and warm embraces at the event

One man reeled in a small fish after sitting patiently in his fold-up beach chair with his large coat and gloves

Zane Schultz used the annual tradition as an opportunity to propose to Courtney Johnson, who said 'Yes'

The happy couple celebrated their engagement by uncorking a bottle of champagne in the freezing cold

Many of the participants at the event wore fur hats to keep warm in the freezing temperatures

The annual Minnesota tradition began in 1991, when the Brainerd Jaycees decided to create a project that would rally members and volunteers, provide opportunities for individual leadership and bring an economic boon to the region.

Every year it draws thousands of participants, and takes nearly 50,000 volunteer hours over the course of nine months to plan and execute.

Since its inception 32 years ago, the extravaganza has donated over $4.2 million to about 50 area charities. It is now billed as the largest charitable ice fishing tournament in the world.

Anglers lined up to collect their prizes during the 32nd annual Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza

Tucker Welch ice fished in a unique deer hat at Gull Lake on Saturday, one of several people who wore unique outfits to the event

Fishermen headed off to find their perfect fishing hole on the expansive ice on Saturday morning

Some fishermen rode a shuttle on the ice to travel further down the frozen lake, with their feet dangling off the side

Many fishermen brought their friend and family along for the annual extravaganza, including some of the youngest fishermen

Each of the fish had to be checked-in and weighed at the end of the day. Here, one of the judges studied a fish

One woman spread a blanket over her legs as she waited for a fish to catch the bait with a cup of warm coffee next to her

An angler held up his fish for all to see as he waited for the weigh-in. Each of the fish were kept in water and were released following the weigh-in

Fishermen headed off to the ice to find the perfect ice fishing spot on Gull Lake with their equipment in tow

Anglers and their families crowded a shuttle on the back of the van that traveled down the ice for the competition

One woman smiled as she waited to catch a fish through a small hole in the ice in the freezing temperatures

Fishermen prepared for the start of the annual tradition in their own spaces across the frozen lake

A volunteer released a fish back into the lake after it was weighed during the tournament, letting it swim to safety

Fishermen waited patiently to see who would win this year's tournament, with the weights announced on a scoreboard

Some women played a modified version of beer pong - with cups taped to one woman's back- as they waited to compete

The largest fish caught at the tournament weighed 9.15lbs, with others weighing in above 4lbs

One fishermen donned a unique fish hat as he waited at the front of the line for the shuttle down the ice

Many of the participants seemed well-prepared for this year's competition with their own gear

After the event was finished, fisherman dragged their belongings back down the ice as they headed out

One man braved the elements, sitting in the ice and the snow as he waited to catch his fish during the day-long tournament

Each fish had to be checked-in and weighed for the competition, with thousands of volunteers helping out
Boris Johnson is facing demands to 'end the circus' on Partygate today as he braces for Sue Gray's report - with allies hoping he has steadied the ship.

The PM is gearing up for another brutal week with the senior civil servant expected to deliver her findings on lockdown breaches in Downing Street as early as tomorrow.

Although Ms Gray is believed to be watering down her report at the request of Scotland Yard, any criticism could reignite the simmering revolt in the Tory ranks.

The allegations before the inquiry include that Carrie Johnson's friends held an Abba 'victory party' in the No11 flat after Dominic Cummings quit.

In interviews this morning, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted Mr Johnson will lead the party into the next election. Asked if she was tempted to challenge for the top job, Ms Truss said: 'There is no contest. There is no discussion.'

The mood among MPs has cooled significantly over the past week, after the extraordinary 'Pork Pie plot' fizzled out.

In another boost for the premier, there were more fledgling signs of a Tory poll recovery.

The ongoing rows have taken a huge toll on the Conservatives' popularity and that of Mr Johnson personally. But research for Opinium is the latest to suggest the party might be clawing back some ground.

Labour's 10-point lead from a fortnight ago has been trimmed back to five points, with the PM's ratings coming off rock bottom.

Mr Johnson is also believed to be planning a major clearout of No10 staff as part of 'Operation Save Big Dog' after the Gray report surfaces.

However, he has risked a Tory backlash on another front today by vowing that the 12billion national insurance hike will go ahead in April.

Boris Johnson (pictured arriving back in Downing Street today) is gearing up for another brutal week in the Partygate saga

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (left) insisted Mr Johnson will lead the party into the next election. Sue Gray (right) could deliver her Partygate report as early as tomorrow

Research for Opinium is the latest to suggest the Tories might be clawing back some ground

Boris defies Tories over national insurance hike despite threats of Partygate mutiny Boris Johnson today risked fuelling the Tory mutiny over Partygate and heaped cost-of-living pain on millions of Britons by vowing the 12billion national insurance hike will go ahead. In a pointed show of unity after weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, the PM and Rishi Sunak killed off hopes that the eye-watering increase would be delayed or axed altogether. They insisted in a joint article that the 1.25 percentage point bump to fund the NHS and social care reforms is the 'right plan' and it will go ahead in April. But in a nod to the scale of anger among Conservative MPs, Mr Johnson and the Chancellor felt the need to stress they are 'tax-cutting Thatcherites' by instinct. The decision to rule out a U-turn suggests that Mr Johnson is feeling more confident in his position as polls show glimmers of a Tory recovery. There had been claims he was 'wobbling' and a rethink could form part of so-called 'Operation Save Big Dog' - the desperate effort to prevent a coup bid by MPs over Downing Street lockdown breaches and other rows. Advertisement

Lisa Nandy has called on the Prime Minister to 'come clean' over claims of lockdown-busting parties held in Downing Street.

She told the BBC's Sunday Morning show: 'The reason that we've got to have the Sue Gray report is because the Prime Minister won't come clean on what has been going on in Downing Street and his involvement in it.

'We could sort all of this out without him having to hide behind a civil servant or the Met Police, he could just come clean, but since he won't come clean we believe that the most important thing is to get that report out in full.

'There are a lot of bereaved families, there are a lot people who made huge sacrifices who deserve to hear the truth from the Prime Minister and if he won't put an end to this circus and this stasis in Government, when people are dealing with huge issues around the country, cost-of-living crisis, levelling-up plans stalled, if he won't do it, then that report has to come out in full, so that people can judge for themselves.'

Among the latest damaging revelations, it has been alleged that a tipsy Downing Street staffer boasted about breaching lockdown to police guarding No10.

The aide allegedly told guards 'we're the only ones allowed to party' as a group left the street in the early hours of the morning, according to The Sun.

The Opinium poll put Labour on 39 per cent support - down two on a fortnight ago - while the Conservatives were up three on 34 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats were unchanged on 9 per cent.

Mr Johnson's approval rating crept up from a net minus 42 two weeks ago to a still-dire minus 37.

In contrast Keir Starmer's rating was zero overall, having deteriorated four points.

Adam Drummond of Opinium said the findings feel like a 'let-down for Labour' despite their advantage.

'Boris Johnson's approval rating is still dire and, interestingly, Labour now lead on most issues including traditionally strong Tory areas such as crime and immigration. The Conservatives are also only barely ahead on 'the economy',' he said.

'But many of these shifts in issues are as much down to people moving from 'Conservative' to 'neither' as they are people moving to Labour and that, alongside the change in vote shares, shows just how volatile things are at the moment.'

Rumours are swirling that Mr Johnson will dramatically overhaul his Downing Street machine in response to anger among Tory MPs.

There is speculation chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, often criticised by backbenchers, could be moved to a civil service role.

Persistent whispers are circulating that David Canzini, a close ally of election guru Sir Lynton Crosby, could be brought in to beef up the No10 operation.

And highly-rated mandarin Antonia Romeo has been tipped for a promotion if Cabinet Secretary Simon Case is forced to move on.

Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday has learned that as part of her inquiry into socialising in Mr Johnson's No 10 flat, Ms Gray has been told about a 'victory party' held by friends of Carrie.

The bash allegedly happened on the night of November 13, 2020, after Dominic Cummings had left with his belongings in a box.

He had allegedly lost a power struggle with the then Ms Symonds and other advisers.

'There was the sound of lots of banging and dancing and drinking, and a number of Abba tracks  including a triumphalist Winner Takes It All,' a source said.

A spokesman for Mrs Johnson said: 'It is totally untrue to suggest Mrs Johnson held a party in the Downing Street flat on November 13, 2020.'

The Metropolitan Police could now investigate the party as part of its probe, and call on Mrs Johnson to provide written evidence.

Last week the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick announced officers have launched a criminal inquiry after assessing a dossier of evidence compiled by Ms Gray.

The police inquiry will reportedly focus on eight out of 17 parties looked at by Ms Gray.

The force then clarified it was looking at potential Covid breaches that are dealt with by fixed-term penalty notices.

It is understood that the Prime Minister's wife has not been interviewed by Ms Gray's inquiry or approached by the police.

Mr Cummings resigned as Mr Johnson's de facto chief of staff after losing the alleged power struggle with Mrs Johnson.

He has previously claimed there was a 'party' in the Downing Street flat on the night of his departure.

Civil servants in the building at the time were advised by officials to go to the Downing Street flat to apologise for not sufficiently supporting the Prime Minister's then-fiancee.

'They were ordered to go up and kiss the ring,' one said.

It comes as a former senior policeman suggested Downing Street staff who have been interviewed by Ms Gray could retract their testimony.

Former chief superintendent Dai Davies, who was in charge of Royal Protection, told the Daily Mail: 'Now it's a legal quagmire.

'Anyone who has spoken to her inquiry could retract their evidence, arguing they did not know it could be used against them in a criminal inquiry.'

Sources said this was possible but any change of evidence would likely be sent directly to the police, rather than Ms Gray amending her report.

A source close to Ms Gray's inquiry said the evidence she presented to police should be seen as a 'starting point'.

The Met Police said suspects will be asked to give written evidence as part of its inquiry, which appeared to undermine reports the Prime Minister could be interviewed under caution.

Ms Gray's long-awaited report is expected to be submitted to the Prime Minister within days.

Sue Gray is said to have been given evidence about a party held by Carrie's (pictured right) friends in the No11 flat after Dominic Cummings (left) quit

The Met is under fire for its 'farcical' handling of Partygate. After first refusing to investigate, last week it announced a criminal inquiry days before the Sue Gray report was due to be published  and asking her to make 'minimal references' to parties at the centre of the row.

Former Supreme Court justice Lord Sumption said the police had 'no legal right to demand that Sue Gray delay publication of her report and it is constitutionally undesirable that they have done so'.

Meanwhile, speculation mounted over an expected leadership contest to replace Mr Johnson, should he be deposed.

Yesterday Tom Tugendhat became the first Conservative MP to declare his intention to run in a leadership contest.

Asked in a Times Radio interview which will air today whether he would like to be Prime Minister, the Tonbridge & Malling MP said: 'It would be a huge privilege.'

He added: 'It's up to all of us to put ourselves forward. And it's up to the electorate, in the first case parliamentary colleagues, and in the second case the party, to choose.'

The former soldier added: 'There isn't a vacancy at the moment', and insisted he had not been canvassing support.

Jeremy Hunt, the former Foreign Secretary who came second to Mr Johnson in the 2019 leadership contest, recently said his ambition to be leader had not 'completely vanished'.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are expected to be the frontrunners in a contest, with other potential contenders including Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi and former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt.

A No 10 spokeswoman said last night she could not comment on the Gray inquiry.
The Project host Lisa Wilkinson has slammed Australian politicians for freezing elective surgeries, leaving thousands of people across the country living in pain.

As Omicron outbreaks surge on the east coast, NSW, Queensland and Victoria have all paused category three elective surgeries to relieve their state's strained healthcare systems.

The halt has sparked a huge backlog, with nearly 57,000 Australians now facing year-long wait times for life-changing operations, including neurological procedures, gall bladder removal, knee and hip replacements, and hernia, ear, nose, and throat surgeries.

On Sunday night, the segment spoke to two Australian women who are suffering from health issues and desperate for medical intervention - fearing they cannot survive the wait.

The Project host Lisa Wilkinson (pictured) has slammed the postponement of elective surgeries in several states which has left tens of thousands of Australians living in pain

Helen Theo has a brain aneurysm that has doubled in size, but her surgery to have it removed, scheduled for earlier this month, was abruptly cancelled the day before.

'Im worried that it might be another year before they actually call me up to get it done,' Ms Theo said.

'And Im worried about, you know, am I going to make it another year?

'Is it going to rupture? Am I going to die? Am I going to be paralysed?

'It feels like theyre playing with my life.'

Ms Theo said she is 'frustrated, angry, and scared' as she lives in uncertainty.

'What, do I need to cry on national TV to get my point across? Its black and white. This is brain surgery,' she said.

Helen Theo (pictured) is waiting for a brain aneurysm to be removed. She said: 'It feels like they are playing with my life'

The program also heard from Imogen Kars who suffers from debilitating carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes pain, numbness and tingling in the hands and arms.

She fears she may lose use of her hands - and ultimately, her employment.

'Im a journalist, so my life and my role is my hands and without those Id lose my job. I also am starting to really struggle with just basic living,' she said.

'It even hurts to wipe after the toilet. It hurts to wash my hair or to feed my cats.'

The 26-year-old said the lengthy wait was becoming 'disastrous'.

'Its awful. Its not just headlines,' she said.

'Its our real lives and its not just a story. Its my life.'

While some patients helplessly wait, Dr Sally Langley from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons said specialist private surgeons who can't be reassigned to work with Covid sufferers are sitting at home.

'Private hospitals, day surgery and smaller hospitals are idle with surgeons and staff at home waiting to restart work and available at any time to recommence elective surgery,' Dr Langley said.

Imogen Kars (pictured) is suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes pain, numbness and tingling in the hands and arms

Wilkinson called for governments to use 'common sense' and work together to fully-optimised the health system.

'It sounds like the hospital system and the various state governments making the decisions arent talking to each other in an effective way that means that these people who are desperate for surgery, that their surgery isnt going ahead for that very reason,' she said.

'How can doctors be sitting at the home doing nothing?'

Co-host Hamish Macdonald agreed, saying state leaders are underutilising their health workforce.

'Obviously everyone in the health system is doing everything with best intent and theres tonnes of people in the system who are being repurposed to deal with covid, but thats not every case,' he said.

'And there are clearly theatres in hospitals that are not being used for this sort of stuff. Doctors, nurses, that are not being used for this stuff, that possibly could be.'

Elective surgeries in NSW and QLD, which were suspended in early January to free up space for Covid patients in hospitals, will resume from mid-February and March 1, respectively.

There are almost 57,000 people across the country who will have to wait more than a year to receive life-changing surgery

Victoria, which announced the measure on January 5, said the temporary ban would remain in place for three months.

The state had initially included IVF procedures in the ban, however, they were recently reinstated after public outcry.

Until the postponements are lifted across the three states, the number of patients waiting to go under the knife - which has tripled to almost 57,000 since the ban - is expected to continue to rise.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrotet and his Victorian counterpart Dan Andrews have both pledged to clear the backlog as soon as possible.

'As soon as we... get advice from our medical teams that we can bring that non-urgent elective surgery back we will do so,' Mr Perrotet said on Tuesday.

'It's a key focus of ours... that we would get that back on track as quickly as possible.'

Mr Andrews said on Thursday: 'As soon as I'm able to get those services back up and running again, absolutely we will, and we'll try to do as much as we can as fast as we can to catch up.'
Dominic Cummings compared his campaign to oust Boris Johnson to 'fixing the drains' today as he accused the PM and wife Carrie of 'f***ing everything up'.

In a rare interview, the former No10 chief said removing the premier from power was 'an unpleasant but necessary job'.

Mr Cummings told New York magazine that Mr Johnson saw himself as a 'king' or 'Roman emperor' and only cared about big infrastructure projects that would act as monuments to himself.

But he swiped that in reality the Tory leader was a 'f***wit' obsessed with 'babbling' to the media rather than 'important' policy problems.

The intervention came as Mr Johnson awaits the verdict of top civil servant Sue Gray and the police on Partygate allegations.

Mr Cummings has been instrumental in stoking the crisis for the PM, having highlighted a series of potential lockdown breaches at No10.

He told the magazine that he viewed getting rid of Mr Johnson as 'an unpleasant but necessary job'. 'It's like sort of fixing the drains,' he said.

The maverick ex-adviser said Mr Johnson had been useful for delivering Brexit and defeating Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.

'But after that what's the point of him and Carrie just rattling around in there and f***ing everything up for everyone and not doing the job properly?' he added.

Downing Street declined to comment on the latest attack from Mr Johnson's former ally.

In a rare interview, former No10 chief Dominic Cummings (pictured in London last week) said removing the premier from power was 'an unpleasant but necessary job'

Mr Cummings compared his campaign to oust Boris Johnson to 'fixing the drains' today as he accused the PM and wife Carrie (pictured together) of 'f***ing everything up'

Boris faces calls to 'end the circus' on Partygate with Sue Gray's 'watered down' report due this week Boris Johnson is facing demands to 'end the circus' on Partygate today as he braces for Sue Gray's report - with allies hoping he has steadied the ship. The PM is gearing up for another brutal week with the senior civil servant expected to deliver her findings on lockdown breaches in Downing Street as early as tomorrow. Although Ms Gray is believed to be watering down her report at the request of Scotland Yard, any criticism could reignite the simmering revolt in the Tory ranks. The allegations before the inquiry include that Carrie Johnson's friends held an Abba 'victory party' in the No11 flat after Dominic Cummings quit. In interviews this morning, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted Mr Johnson will lead the party into the next election. Asked if she was tempted to challenge for the top job, Ms Truss said: 'There is no contest. There is no discussion.' The mood among MPs has cooled significantly over the past week, after the extraordinary 'Pork Pie plot' fizzled out. In another boost for the premier, there were more fledgling signs of a Tory poll recovery. The ongoing rows have taken a huge toll on the Conservatives' popularity and that of Mr Johnson personally. But research for Opinium is the latest to suggest the party might be clawing back some ground. Labour's 10-point lead from a fortnight ago has been trimmed back to five points, with the PM's ratings coming off rock bottom. Mr Johnson is also believed to be planning a major clearout of No10 staff as part of 'Operation Save Big Dog' after the Gray report surfaces. However, he has risked a Tory backlash on another front today by vowing that the 12billion national insurance hike will go ahead in April. Advertisement

Mr Cummings said he had become disillusioned with Mr Johnson 'going on and on' about whether Big Ben would 'bong for Brexit'.

'He sees his job as just to babble to the media every day. I saw the job as actually thinking about what's important,' he said.

'And the truth is, almost all MPs agree with him and think I'm stupid.'

Mr Cummings described one episode where Mr Johnson 'said to me, ''I'm the f***ing king around here and I'm going to do what I want''...

'That's not okay. He's not the king. He can't do what he wants. Once you realize someone is operating like that then your duty is to get rid of them, not to just prop them up.'

Mr Cummings insisted Mr Johnson asked himself 'what would a Roman emperor do'.

'The only thing he was really interested in  genuinely excited about  was, like, looking at maps. Where could he order the building of things?'

He said the PM fantasised about 'monuments to him in an Augustine fashion... ''I will provide the money. I will be a river to my people. I will provide the money that builds the train station in Birmingham.'' Or whatever.

'And it will have statues to me, and people will remember me after I am dead like they did the Roman emperors.'

Explaining his own departure from No10, Mr Cummings complained that Mrs Johnson is 'very forceful' and the PM had not 'got the balls' to resist her goading.

'Carrie's in his ear, saying to him: 'All the media is portraying you as a puppet, you're the one who won the election, you should be the one who seems in charge,' the ex-aide said.

'It's all very damaging that you're seen as a sort of buffoon who Cummings boots around.' She wanted rid of me, and I also didn't want to stay in that kind of dysfunctional environment. So, the whole thing just kind of snowballed.'

Mr Cummings said it was 'perfectly reasonable' for a PM's other half 'to have views about things'.

'The problem was that she went into her own parallel briefing operation from the flat to the media, which is completely disastrous for government communications, particularly in a pandemic,' he added.

' She's very forceful and he hasn't got the balls to say to her, 'Listen, I'm prime minister and this is what I'm doing.'

'She thinks that she understands a whole bunch of things about politics and communications and whatnot. She doesn't.'
Children as young as seven are to be told they are not 'racially innocent' under plans at a local authority, it was revealed today.

Brighton and Hove council sparked uproar after unveiling its anti-racist education plans  with some parents pulling their children from classrooms.

But it has now been accused of 'indoctrinating' youngsters after pushing ahead with training teachers to improve 'specific racial literacy-focused lessons'.

Leaked slides shown to staff, and reported in the Sunday Telegraph, tell staff that children learn to attach value to skin colour when they are just five years old  with 'white at the top of the hierarcy and black at the bottom'.

Another says there is 'ample evidence' that youngsters are not 'racially innocent', despite this being the widespread view in society.

Staff were also told that Christianity had influenced the slave trade, portrayed its heroes as white and that science 'upholds the status quo'.

And that society is obsessed over the muscle size of black sportspeople, rather than their white rivals.

Former education minister Sir John Hayes has blasted the training as 'sinister', and called on the Government to look into the plans.

He warned the Green-controlled authority's plans looked like 'indoctrination' similar to that seen under brutal Communist regimes.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has previously warned schools not to teach children that white privilege is a fact.

Brighton council is the first in the country to launch an anti-racism plan for schools, and said it was needed because of 'inequalities' in society.

Brighton and Hove council is under fire after unveiling plans to anti-racist its education system plans (pictured above is Brighton's Royal Pavilion)

Former education minister Sir John Hayes (left) warned the plans were similar to 'indoctrinating' children. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has previously warned schools not to teach children that white privilege is a fact

In guidance issued to schools, the council reportedly says the training is required for all teachers.

It adds that key stages two, three and four pupils  aged 8 to 16  will 'need specific racial literacy-focussed lessons'.

One slide shown to teachers during training says: 'Between the ages of three and five, children learn to attach value to skin colour; white at the top of the hierarchy and black at the bottom.'

A separate one shows a pyramid diagram containing acts that constitute 'white supremacy', such as the denial of white privilege, and saying 'it was just a joke' when a person of colour becomes offended.

During the training, teachers were also told pupils must not be taught that race 'does not mean anything'.

This was because, trainers warned, 'we leave them [pupils] vulnerable to concluding that white people must just be better'.

Campaigner Adrian Hart, who has a son in sixth form in the city, has led a petition against the plans which gained more than 4,000 signatures.

He claimed that a parent has already withdrawn their 12-year-old child from a Brighton school because of the race strategy.

Brighton launched its plans following widespread protests in 2020 over race relations and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement (Pictured: Protesters in London in 2020)

Mr Hart previously urged the council not to use critical race theory (CRT)  which argues race is a social construct used to exploit people of colour  in its plans.

Instead, he called on them to adopt a more inclusive and liberal approach that he said would foster good relations between groups.

Mr Hart told a council meeting: 'The invitation CRT issues to children is, precisely, that they should define themselves and each other as victims or oppressors according to their colour.

'Among younger children in particular this will foster confusion, upset and division.

'Your choice of CRT is, therefore, a breach of the Equality Act and, specifically, the "public sector equality duty"  the duty to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.'

Mr Hart added: 'We strive to offer children a politically neutral sphere where they learn how to think as opposed to what to think.

'At GCSE or A level stages, partisan political or religious ideologies are rightly presented, discussed and balanced with differing perspectives, but we accept that they should never be promoted.'

Tory MPs have railed against the plans enacted by Brighton council, saying it was similar to 'indoctrinating' children.

Former education minister Sir John Hayes told the Telegraph: 'This echoes the kind of indoctrination used by Maoists and Marxists  there is nothing more cruel than those with duty of care warping the minds of young children.

'I will be raising this as a matter of urgency in the House of Commons and expect the Secretary of State for Education, in defence of Brighton's children, to crack down on these militant extremists.'

Education Nadhim Zahawi has previously warned schools not to teach children about white privilege as though it is a 'matter of fact'.

Mr Zahawi said late last year it was a 'contesting view' and teachers who promote it risk pushing 'partisan' politics on pupils.

He added that political issues on race should be taught 'in a balanced and factual manner'.

And he said schools have a 'legal duty' to maintain 'political impartiality' when covering 'sensitive and complex issues'.

Brighton council launched its plans in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, when protests swept across the US, UK and many other Western countries.

Its chair of children, young people and skills, Hannah Clare, said training has been 'co-developed with people affected by racism, and addresses the urgent need to tackle issues that have historically led to inequalities for people of colour'.

She added: 'Education settings have confirmed that there is a need for this strategy and commitment to the work. It includes behaviour management, recruitment and retention of staff and helping young people understand the complex issues of race.'

Ms Clare said feedback on the programme had been 'overwhelmingly positive'.
Tributes have today been paid to a 17-year-old boy and his best friend who were yesterday killed in a knife attack outside a Doncaster bar.

Janis Kozlovskis, 17, and Ryan Theobald, 21, a former midfielder at Doncaster Rovers FC, were enjoying a night out before the incident outside the Number Fifteens club, according to Janis's sister.

A 17-year-old has been arrested by South Yorkshire Police and remains in custody.

Tributes have come in to Janis Kozlovskis (pictured), 17, and Ryan Theobald, 21, who were killed in a stabbing attack outside a Doncaster bar yesterday

On a GoFundMe page for her brother, Russanda Kozlovska said: 'I've just lost my little 17-year-old brother to knife crime in my own home city of Doncaster.

'We're all heartbroken. I've always seen things like this on the news but now it's happened to my own family.

'My heart goes out to the other people who have lost their loved ones over knife crime.

'Janis went out on a Friday night in Doncaster after their night out with his friends.

Janis and Ryan (pictured), a former midfielder at Doncaster Rovers FC, were enjoying a night out when tragedy struck outside the Number Fifteens club, according to Janis's sister

'An altercation broke out and Janis and one of his friends Ryan Theobald has sadly passed away.

'He was only 21. Both young lads with their whole life ahead of them.'

Writing on a fundraising page to help cover funeral costs, Ryan's friend Alisha Samba said: 'Ryan was loved by so many, he was such a funny, loving and kind hearted young lad.

'Ryan was on a night out on Friday night and ended up in a altercation which has end up with him and his friend Janis losing their lives to knife crime.

South Yorkshire Police were called to the scene outside a licensed premises on Silver Street at 2:39am, where a 21-year-old man was pronounced dead

'This heartbreaking tragedy has left his poor mum and sister absolutely heart broken.'

Alisha added: 'Let's raise some money to help Lisa give him the send off he deserves. Every penny will help.'

Knife crime survivor and friend Josh Lee New, who is from Doncaster but now lives in London, posted: 'It happened just a street down from where I was stabbed two years ago.

'Knife carrying is getting out of hand. You didn't deserve this.'

A third man, aged 18, was also knifed in the brawl but escaped with minor injuries.

A 17-year-old has been arrested following the attacks in outside the Number Fifteens club in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

Police were called at 2.39am to the scene in Silver Street, which has now been cordoned off for a painstaking forensic examination.

The 21-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and the 17-year-old died in hospital.

Yesterday South Yorkshire Police said: 'An investigation has been launched after three men were stabbed in Doncaster town centre this morning.

'Police were called at 2.39am to reports that three men had been stabbed following an altercation outside a licenced premises in Silver Street.

'Officers attended the scene alongside the ambulance service, and two of the men were transported to hospital via ambulance, where one of the men, aged 17, sadly passed away.

'The 18-year-old remains in hospital with minor injuries. Despite the best efforts of police and paramedics, a further man, aged 21, was also sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

A police cordon was in place around the junction of Silver Street, High Street, Hall Gate and Cleveland Street

Officers have arrested an 17-year-old man this morning in connection with the incident, who remains in police custody.

Doncaster District Commander, Temp Chief Superintendent Ian Proffitt said there would be increased police presence in Doncaster town centre yesterday as a result of the ongoing investigation.

'We know incidents like this can be really worrying for local communities, so if you have any concerns, please do go and speak to our officers - they are there to help and support you,' he added.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Oughton, leading the investigation, had said: 'We are keen to hear from anyone who was in the town centre in the early hours of this morning who might have witnessed what happened.

'If you were in the area at the time, if you saw what happened or if you think you may have mobile, CCTV or dashcam footage, please call 101 quoting incident number 135 of 29 January.

'Any information, however small, may assist us in bringing those responsible to justice.

'Alternatively, you can stay completely anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers via their website Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling their UK Contact Centre on 0800 555 111.'
Trucks are seen ready to deliver China-aided humanitarian food supplies to four provinces, in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 29, 2022. Afghanistan's caretaker government began to deliver China-aided humanitarian food supplies to four provinces, an official has said.

The supplies, which will be shipped by 26 cargo trucks to southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces and western Farah and Ghor provinces, included 848 tons of rice and wheat, Hasal Khan Musleh from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation told reporters on Saturday. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

KABUL, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's caretaker government began to deliver China-aided humanitarian food supplies to four provinces, an official has said.

The supplies, which will be shipped by 26 cargo trucks to southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces and western Farah and Ghor provinces, included 848 tons of rice and wheat, Hasal Khan Musleh from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation told reporters on Saturday.

Musleh said that Afghanistan has received several batches of humanitarian supplies donated by China, which are being sent to the vulnerable people in the country's 34 provinces.

Earlier in January, the ministry transported 440 tons of China-donated rice to 10 most vulnerable provinces.

The official expressed gratitude to China for the humanitarian assistance.

China has sent batches of humanitarian assistance including foodstuff, COVID-19 vaccines and winter clothes to Afghanistan. 

Trucks are seen ready to deliver China-aided humanitarian food supplies to four provinces, in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 29, 2022. Afghanistan's caretaker government began to deliver China-aided humanitarian food supplies to four provinces, an official has said.

The supplies, which will be shipped by 26 cargo trucks to southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces and western Farah and Ghor provinces, included 848 tons of rice and wheat, Hasal Khan Musleh from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation told reporters on Saturday. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

Trucks are seen ready to deliver China-aided humanitarian food supplies to four provinces, in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 29, 2022. Afghanistan's caretaker government began to deliver China-aided humanitarian food supplies to four provinces, an official has said.

The supplies, which will be shipped by 26 cargo trucks to southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces and western Farah and Ghor provinces, included 848 tons of rice and wheat, Hasal Khan Musleh from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation told reporters on Saturday. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and his wife have welcomed a baby girl - a little sister for their daughter Francesca, nicknamed Beans, who died of a brain tumor at the age of nine months on Christmas Eve 2020.

Kaczynski and his wife Rachel Louise Ensign, a wealth reporter for The Wall Street Journal, named their daughter Talia Davida - with Talia being the Hebrew of Francesca.

The little girl was born on Thursday, they said.

'Introducing the newest member of our family, who joined us Thursday. Talia Davida Kaczynski. She was named with the Hebrew name of her big sister Beans. We love her endlessly,' he said.

Andrew Kaczynski and his wife Rachel Louise Ensign have welcomed a baby girl, Talia

The proud father then shared a photo of his newborn next to a photo of Beans.

'We love how much she looks like her big sister she's named for. Beans on left, Talia on the right.'

Amid an outpouring of joy, he later tweeted: 'Thanks so much for all the kind wishes. My heart is so full knowing she's Beans' sister.'

Kaczynski, 32, and Ensign have become dedicated fundraisers for research into childhood cancers.

The pair have so far raised $1.8 million in Beans' memory for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Kaczynski is pictured with his wife and Beans. He wrote on Instagram: 'It was right after Francesca was diagnosed with brain cancer. We still didn't know which type, but we knew it was a very aggressive type. We are smiling in the photo though, and we were so so happy because Francesca had just woken up and was off the breathing tube she was on when they did surgery. The world sucked and had just been shattered for us. But at that moment we had our little family and Francesca was awake and smiling and everything was right in the world just for that moment. I'll never forget that feeling when she saw me for the first time when I came back to the hospital because I couldn't stay overnight because of Covid rules. She let out an audible gasp of joy seeing me. You make the best of the worst situation in the world.'

Beans was nine months old when she died from a rare and aggressive brain tumor

The family have been fundraising for childhood cancer in memory of Beans, and have raised $1.8 million

Beans' death came three months after Kaczynski said she had been diagnosed with an 'extremely rare and very aggressive rhabdoid brain tumor' - an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT).

Ensign said on The View: 'She was a very healthy, happy, lively baby, and one night she just started vomiting and wouldn't stop.'

'It was such a lesson as a parent  you really have to trust your gut, because we went to a pediatric urgent care that said, 'It's just a stomach bug. Nothing's wrong.'

'But we came back home and really just felt like it was more and took her to the ER and there, immediately, they told us that they thought she had a brain tumor.'

Ensign added: 'It was the most horribly devastating moment of our lives.'
Christopher Flanigan, who teaches math at Coney Island Prep, posted a photo of thousands of officers outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral on Friday for the funeral of Det. Jason Rivera, saying it was the 'ideal conditions for reciprocity'

A Brooklyn teacher appeared to call for violence against police officers in an Instagram post as they mourned the loss of a fellow detective.

Christopher Flanigan, who teaches math at Coney Island Prep, posted an overhead shot of thousands of officers outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral on Friday for the funeral of Det. Jason Rivera, 22, who was shot dead while responding to a domestic call earlier this month.

Flanigan captioned the photo in his Instagram story: '5/30/20: NYPD SUV drives into a crowd of protestors. Ideal conditions for reciprocity,' according to the New York Post.

He was apparently referencing to an incident following the death of George Floyd in May 2020 in which an NYPD vehicle drove into a crowd of protestors demonstrating against police brutality in Brooklyn.

Then-Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the cops did not use the vehicle in a forceful manner, as former Mayor Bill de Blasio called footage of the incident 'troubling' but also blamed protestors for not moving out of the way.

No injuries were reported at the time.

Police officers carried the casket of slain NYPD Officer Jason Rivera into St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan on Friday

Officers on motorcycles lined up outside of the cathedral for the end of the funeral

Thousands of police officers formed a sea of blue as they watched the hearse carrying Rivera's body go by

In May 2020, a video caught a police van ramming into a group of protesters in Brooklyn

Rivera, 22, was killed in the line of duty earlier this month when responding to a domestic call

Cops who saw Flanigan's post, though, said they were upset that Flanigan was advocating for an unprovoked attack on officers just weeks after Rivera and his partner, Wilbert Mora, 27, were shot dead in East Harlem while responding to a domestic call.

'For a school to condone an act of terrorism is reprehensible,' one Manhattan cop told the Post, noting: 'I wouldn't want him giving my own children instruction of any kind.'

And a Brooklyn officer said: ' You have a city worker wishing physical harm or worse to fellow city workers during a solemn service. It is the ultimate act of cowardice.'

Some on Twitter are also calling on Coney Island Prep to fire the math teacher - who was once featured on NY1 for his musical tributes to first responders during the early days of the pandemic.

'Coney Island Prep Math teacher Christopher Flanigan encouraged violence against NY cops,' wrote Claire Balan. 'Parents watch who's influencing your kids! Do you support this @CIPrep? #FireFlanigan.'

Another Twitter user wrote directly to the school, saying: 'I assume the announcement about he termination of Christopher Flanigan's contract is forthcoming? Or do you want to destroy your school financially? Because it is either him or you at this point, but one of you is going down.'

Others shamed the school, with one person writing, 'Is this the message you want your students to receive? Is the Is kind of person you let #teach?,' while another man simply asked: 'Has Coney Island Prep fired this scumbag yet?'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Coney Island Prep for comment. The Department of Education could not be reached for comment as of Sunday.

People on Twitter have called for Flanigan to be fired from his job as a teacher for his remarks

However, Flanigan claims that his Instagram post had been 'misconstrued' and that he was simply mentioning the 'vulnerability' of the crowd of police officers.

'I respect the NYPD. I do not condone violence,' he said. 'A 22-year-old police officer murdered in the line of duty is reprehensible. I'm devastated by that.'

Flanigan's post came as a New York City actress was let go from her theater company after ranting about street closures during the funeral.

Jacqueline Guzman was released by Face to Face Films theater company after ranting in a now-deleted TikTok about 'shutting down most of Lower Manhattan' for Rivera's funeral on Friday.

'We do not need to shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly,' she says in the video.

'They kill people who are under 22 every single day for no good reason and we don't shut down the city for them, so.'

She then pans the camera to show ambulances and cop cars blocking off the streets of New York.

'This is f**king ridiculous, this is f**king ridiculous,' Guzman rants.

'What if someone having a heart attack in this area? No one can get to them because it's all blocked off for one f**king cop.'

New York City actress Jacqueline Guzman received backlash for her 'disrespectful' comments regarding street closures during NYPD Officer Jason Rivera's funeral on Friday

Her own company released a statement, calling Guzman's video 'insensitive' and that it does not 'condone' her 'comments made about fallen Officer Rivera.'

'Face to Face Films has just been made aware of an insensitive video involving one of our members, Jacqueline Guzman,' the company wrote in a statement on Facebook.

'Face to Face Films does not support nor can condone these comes made about fallen Officer Rivera. As a result, she is no longer a member of our company.'

The Cuban American later deleted all of her social media accounts.
Black Lives Matter transferred millions of dollars to a Canadian charity run by the wife of co-founder Patrisse Cullors, according to a report, which was used to buy a $6.3 million Toronto mansion to house an arts center.

News of the transfer of money to the Canadian group has raised further questions about transparency and accountability within Black Lives Matter - coming days after auditors said an inquiry into the handling of BLM's $60 million war chest was necessary, and less than a year after Cullors was forced to stand down amid questions about her own property empire.

BLM Canada announced in July 2021 that they had recently purchased a three story Victorian mansion in the Baldwin Village area of Toronto, close to downtown. The imposing red brick house was previously the headquarters of the Communist Party.

On Saturday, The New York Post reported that the funds to purchase the property came from Black Lives Matter, and were transferred from the global network to M4BJ - a Toronto-based non-profit set up by Janaya Khan and other Canadian activists.

Khan is the spouse of BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors.

The Victorian red brick mansion, which was previously home to the Communist Party, was bought by BLM over the summer and is being turned in to the Wildseed arts center

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of BLM (left) is married to Janaya Khan (right), a Canadian activist. Khan was reportedly transferred the cash from BLM to buy the Toronto mansion used to house the arts center

Khan, born in Toronto, is described on a speakers' website as 'a black, queer, gender-nonconforming activist (pronouns: they, them, theirs), staunch Afrofuturist and social-justice educator who presents an enlightening point of view on police brutality and systemic racism.'

Khan is one of Canada's most high-profile activists

Khan and Cullors married in 2016, and have two children.

Cullors stepped down as executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network in May 2021, amid scrutiny of her $3.2 million property empire.

It was unclear whether the money was transferred from BLMGN to M4BJ before or after Cullors stepped down, and why the money went to M4BJ rather than directly to BLM's Canada affiliate.

Neither BLM Canada nor Khan have responded to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

The property, at 24 Cecil Street, is home to the Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism.

Khan is not listed among the executive team or staff of the site.

Wildseed describes itself as 'a vessel that seeks to nurture Black radical creation in Canada.'

The website states: 'Wildseed was birthed by Black Lives Matter activists who recognized the need to build an enduring space that could cultivate the most radical ideas from Toronto's diverse Black communities.

'Through opportunities for space booking, collaborations and art fellowships, our hope is that Wildseed will be the kind of space that our hope is that it will be the kind of space that we wished we had when we began the agitations that so fundamentally shifted this city.'

Khan founded the M4BJ charity, which purchased the house used to create the arts center

The city of Toronto has provided the Wildseed Centre with $250,000 CAN ($195,000) for capital upgrades, said Councillor Mike Layton, who represents the district in which the mansion sits.

Sandy Hudson, the co-founder of BLM Canada, told CBC News in the summer that the center was vital for their work.

'Having a space like this that has a level of permanence, that is large, that allows for different types of organizations to come together and create community. It's going to be a really, really big shift for Black Canada and Black Toronto,' she said.

Yet the news of the financing for the center comes at a difficult time for BLM.

Last week, charity auditors expressed alarm at the management of Black Lives Matter's $60 million in donations, after it emerged that people announced as leading the organization never took up the role, and no one seemed able to say who was handling the finances.

The most recent tax filing for the charity, from 2019, gives an address in Los Angeles that does not exist, and the two remaining BLM directors identified by The Washington Examiner were not able to assist - with one even scrubbing BLM associations from his social media after he was contacted by the paper.

They are yet to file a 2020 return, a Form 990, as required - which could see BLM fined by the IRS.

Laurie Styron, executive director of CharityWatch, said the findings were deeply troubling, and said they should have filed their 2020 form by now.

'Like a giant ghost ship full of treasure drifting in the night with no captain, no discernible crew, and no clear direction,' she said.

Paul Kamenar, counsel for conservative watchdog group the National Legal and Policy Center, told the paper a full audit was needed, describing the situation as 'grossly irregular'.

Cullors (pictured) co-founded BLM in July 2013 with Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza. She left the group in May 2021

Cullors, Garza and Tometi (left to right) co-founded the group, but Garza and Tometi left, leaving Cullors in charge as executive director

Black Lives Matter has grown into a global organization. Protesters are seen in Leeds, England, on June 21, 2020

BLM protesters are pictured in Columbus, Ohio, in April 2021

Cullors co-founded BLM in July 2013, after a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Alicia Garza, an Oakland activist, posted what she called a love letter to black people on Facebook, writing, 'Our lives matter.'

Cullors, a friend of Garza, replied with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

New York activist Opal Tometi then used the words while building a digital network of community organizers and antiracism activists.

Garza and Tometi are no longer affiliated with the network, and Cullors was its figurehead and leader throughout the George Floyd protests - which saw huge donations flood in.

The organization's finances had been managed by a group called Thousand Currents, which says it has a 'mission of supporting grassroots movements pushing for a more just and equitable world.'

In the summer of 2020, leaders sought nonprofit status with the IRS, which was granted in December 2020 - allowing the organization to receive tax-deductible donations directly.

Cullors is seen in 2015 speaking at Harvard Law School

BLM protesters are seen in August 2020 in Portland, Oregon

The designation requires the foundation to file public 990 forms, revealing details of its organizational structure, employee compensation, programming and expenses.

In September 2020, Cullors signed documents with Thousand Currents transferring $66.5 million into BLM's accounts.

In February 2021, Black Lives Matter confirmed it took in $90 million throughout 2020, distributed to their partner organizations, and had $60 million remaining in its accounts.

In its report, a snapshot of which was shared with AP, the BLM foundation said individual donations via its main fundraising platform averaged at $30.76 each.

More than 10 percent of the donations were recurring.

The report does not state who gave the money in 2020, and leaders declined to name prominent donors.

Expenses were approximately $8.4 million  that includes staffing, operating and administrative costs, along with activities such as civic engagement, rapid response and crisis intervention.

BLM said at the time that they were sharing the details in a bid to be more transparent - admitting that their structure and finances had previously been opaque.

But two months later, in April 2021, reports began emerging - provided by the National Legal and Policy Center - which showed Cullors had amassed a $3.2 million property empire.

Cullors bought this house in South Los Angeles - one of four she owns

The activist also bought a home in Conyers, Georgia

Cullors now owns three properties in Los Angeles - including this one in the hills above the city

Cullors owned four properties - three in the Los Angeles area and one outside of Atlanta - the researchers found.

Many within BLM turned against Cullors, questioning where she had accumulated the money. Cullors has written two books, has a deal with YouTube, and signed a production deal with Warner Bros. in 2020 to develop programming 'for children, young adults and families.'

However, amid the furor she stood down and announced that two people were taking over as executive directors - Makani Themba and Monifa Bandele.

Yet Themba and Bandele in September said that they had never taken up the roles, following disagreements with leadership.

'Although a media advisory was released indicating that we were tapped to play the role of senior co-executives at BLMGN, we were not able to come to an agreement with the acting Leadership Council about our scope of work and authority,' they said in a statement.

'As a result, we did not have the opportunity to serve in this capacity.'

Themba and Bandele said they did not know who was now running BLM, as their discussions never progressed.

Makani Themba (left) and Monifa Bandele were announced as directors of BLM in May 2021, but never agreed terms and never took the job

BLM protesters tussle with police in Washington DC during the RNC in August 2020

Two other people remained on the board, after Cullors' departure - Shalomyah Bowers and Raymond Howard, according to undated documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.

Bowers served as the treasurer for multiple activist organizations run by Cullors, The Washington Examiner reported, including BLM PAC and a Los Angeles-based jail reform group that paid Cullors $20,000 a month and spent nearly $26,000 on 'meetings' at a luxury Malibu beach resort in 2019.

Bowers has not commented on the current status of the $60 million in the BLM coffers.

Howard also refused to comment when asked by the paper, and has since updated his LinkedIn page to remove references to his work with 'an international social justice organization'.

Tax returns filed by BLMGN in 2019 give an address in Los Angeles that does not exist; when a reporter with The Washington Examiner went to a similar address, and same zip code, a security guard said that many people make the mistake but there was no BLM presence in the building.

An unnamed BLM spokesman told the paper by email: 'In response to your request for a copy of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's 2020 Form 990, we wish to inform you that at this time we do not maintain a permanent office.'

Kamenar said his watchdog group believes there should be a 'full audit' of BLM.

'Bottom line: Lot of questionable financial activity, organizational structure, location of the books, etc. that call for a full investigation,' Kamenar said.

BLM are yet to respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
This is the shocking moment a mother dropped her three-year-old daughter into a brown bear's enclosure at a zoo in Uzbekistan.

CCTV footage shows visitors watch in horror as the mother, who was holding her child over the railings, drops the young girl into the bear's den.

The bear - called Zuzu - went up close and sniffed the little girl after she landed in a trench inside the cage in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, said witnesses.

But zookeepers managed to lure the beast into an indoor part of the cage so that staff could manage to rescue the child.

A member of staff at the zoo in Uzbekistan carries the little girl out of the bear enclosure after she falls in

Visitors watch in horror as the mother, who was holding her child over the railings, drops the young girl into the bear's den

During the clip, the mother is seen moving to the left after holding her child over the railings at the viewing point, then dropping the helpless girl into the bear's den.

Just moments later, six zoo staff enter the external part of the cage, with one picking up the girl in his arms and carrying her away.

The mother, who appears to stay and watch, was later detained and faces a criminal case for attempted murder, say reports in Tashkent. She faces 15 years in jail if convicted.

The girl is being treated in hospital for a head injury and cuts from the fall.

The girl is being treated in hospital for a head injury and cuts from the fall

A zoo spokeswoman said: 'A young woman threw a little girl down into a brown bear's enclosure, in front of all the visitors.

'It was completely unclear what her motive was.

'Both the visitors and the staff of the zoo were trying to stop her - but failed.'

She added: 'We are scared to even think how this would end if the bear were to react at the toddler as its prey.

'Zuzu, a male Caucasian Brown Bear, was watching the woman, who threw the little one over a metal fence. She fell into a trench under the fence.

Six zoo staff run to the young girl's rescue and enter the external part of the cage

Zuzu, a male Caucasian Brown Bear, had been watching the woman who dropped the little girl, a spokesperson for the zoo said

The brown bear approached the three-year-old before members of staff entered the enclosure

'Zuzu got slowly stood up, slowly got down the trench, walked towards the girl, sniffed her - and walked back.'

The mother - who is unnamed - has been detained and faces a minimum of 15 years in prison if convicted, say reports.

The girl suffered a concussion, head cuts and bruising from her fall 'but not a single trace of wounds from the bear's fangs or claws.'

She also suffered 'light shock'.

A spokesman said: 'She was diagnosed with a concussion, caused by her falling from a height of five metres, and an open wound on her head.'

'Currently her state is normal, but she remains under constant observation.'

While rare, there have been cases of children falling into zoo enclosures.

In 2016, a 17-year-old gorilla that grabbed and dragged a four-year-old boy who fell into its enclosure at Cincinnati zoo in the U.S. was shot by keepers.

Last year, an elephant also charged at a father who took his toddler inside a zoo enclosure in San Diego in the U.S.
Police have launched a murder investigation probe after a 17-year-old boy was found stabbed in a park in Salford.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) were alerted about an 'unresponsive male' and called to Clowes Park at about 7.30am on Sunday.

Emergency services attended and the teenager, who had suffered a stab wound, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A forensic officer pictured in Clowes Park, Salford, as police were called to reports of an 'unresponsive male'

His next of kin have been informed and detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry to find out the full circumstances surrounding his death.

No arrests have been made and a large area has been cordoned off around the scene. The public are advised to avoid the area.

Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Davies, of GMP's Major Incident Team, said: 'We have launched a full investigation and detectives are working at speed to establish all the facts and ensure we support his next of kin through this horrific time and ensure the person or persons responsible for his death are brought to justice.

'I would urge anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant you feel it may be, to get in touch with police as a matter of urgency.

'Any information, or video footage, could prove pivotal to our investigation.

'Violence like this will never be tolerated and I understand the deep concern and upset that this will cause for those who live in the surrounding area.

A police cordon in place around Clowes Park, in the Broughton area of Salford, following the discovery of a body on Sunday morning

'I want to reassure you we are treating this with the utmost seriousness and there will be a heightened police presence in the area over the coming days as we carry out enquiries and I would encourage anyone who may be worried or have information to speak with our officers.'

Salford City councillor Ari Leitner tweeted: 'Extremely distressing reports of a body found at Clowes Park this morning.

'The park will remain temporarily closed whilst GMP undertake investigation work.'

Anyone with information has been urged to contact police on 101 quoting incident 854 of 30/01/22.
Folk-rock legend Neil Young is offering listeners a free four-month subscription to Amazon's streaming service amid a fallout with Spotify, which he's boycotting in protest of its controversial anti-vaccine podcaster Joe Rogan.

Young, 76, plugged Amazon Music to his 76,000 Twitter followers Friday, saying 'all new listeners will get four months free.'

'Amazon has been leading the pack in bringing hi-res audio to the masses, and it's a great place to enjoy my entire catalogue in the highest quality available,' he said in a message on his website.

Young last week threatened to remove his music from Spotify unless it fired Rogan, who's been accused by critics of pushing 'anti-vax misinformation' on his podcast.

Other musicians have joined in on the boycott, including Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren.

Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle are also calling on Spotify to fire Rogan. The couple, who signed a $25 million deal with the streaming service, have since April been expressing 'concerns' over Rogan's commentary, a spokeswoman told CNN.

Grammy-winning artist Neil Young is inviting fans to join him on Amazon, where he's offering a free four-month subscription, after he boycotted Spotify for spreading 'vaccine misinformation'. He's pictured performing in East Troy, Wisconsin on September 21, 2019

He put out a call for fans to listen to his legendary work on Amazon Prime Music, saying it 'has been leading the pack in bringing hi-res audio to the masses'

But the formerly royal couple have not split with the firm, instead saying they were 'committed to continuing our work together' as it addressed their issues.

'We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis,' the spokeswoman said.

'We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.'

Young - whose hits include Heart of Gold and Rockin' in the Free World - is a 27-time Grammy nominee and two-time winner who last week gave Spotify an ultimatum to either fire Rogan or remove his catalogue.

'They can have Rogan or Young,' he wrote in an open letter to his manager and record label. 'Not both.'

Spotify acquired The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020, reportedly for more than $100 million

Other musicians have joined in on the boycott, including Joni Mitchell (right) and Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren (left)

Who is Joe Rogan and what are his controversial views? Joe Rogan is a US comedian and UFC commentator who has gained a huge following with his Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, launched in 2009. The podcast features interviews with high profile celebrities and episodes regularly receive millions of views and listeners, making it one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Rogan often shares his own opinions on the show, but this has landed the host in controversy During a three-hour and six-minute interview on the now-viral episode #1757 of The Joe Rogan Experience, Malone compared the US to Nazi Germany and said today's society was suffering from a 'mass formation psychosis' over the use of vaccines. He also claimed to be part of the team that invented the mRNA technology used in the Covid-19 jab and said pharmaceutical companies administering vaccines have 'financial conflicts of interest'. Last April he discouraged young people from getting the vaccine, saying in a conversation with comedian Dave Smith: 'If youre like 21 years old, and you say to me, "Should I get vaccinated?" Ill go no.' Rogan has also promoted taking ivermectin, despite no evidence proving it works to treat Covid Advertisement

Young, 76, hit out at the streaming platform, which offers 72 albums of his work, for 'spreading fake information about vaccines.'

Spotify acquired The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020, reportedly for more than $100 million.

Spotify agreed to remove his music days after he issued the ultimatum, but the streaming platform contended that it has played a role in curbing Covid misinformation.

'We have detailed content policies in place and we've removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID since the start of the pandemic,' a spokesperson told Variety.

'We regret Neil's decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.'

Young wasn't the first one to call Spotify out on enabling Rogan's controversial content.

Earlier this month, hundreds of doctors and scientists signed an open letter to Spotify accusing Rogan of pushing 'anti-vax misinformation' on his podcast - with one branding him a 'menace to public health'.

Lofgren - who has played the guitar for Springsteen, Young, and others - became the latest musician to take his solo work off the streaming service.

He wrote in Young's newsletter that he was joining his bandmate in 'standing with hundreds of health care professionals, scientists, doctors and nurses' in criticizing Spotify over its role in 'promoting lies and misinformation' regarding Covid.

His announcement came as Spotify faces an exodus of talent with podcaster Brene Brown 'pausing' her channel and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl also rumored to be leaving the platform.

Amazon Prime Music, which includes 2 million songs, is included with its Prime subscription.

Its Amazon Music Unlimited platform includes 75 million songs and podcasts at a cost of $7.99 per month and up.

Spotify subscriptions start at $9.99.
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Britain's daily Covid cases fell 16 per cent today to their lowest level in a month and a half  while deaths rose slightly.

Latest Government statistics showed another 62,399 infections were recorded over the last 24 hours, down from 74,799 positive swabs last Sunday.

This marked the lowest daily tally since December 14 when Omicron was taking off across the UK, and the sixth day in a row that infections have dropped week-on-week.

But today's cases update does not include new infections from Northern Ireland, which has likely slightly skewed the statistics.

Another 85 deaths involving the virus were also recorded today, up 13 per cent in a week. And in England latest hospitalisations ticked down eight per cent after 1,342 admissions were registered on January 28.

Britain's Covid outbreak has been gradually ticking downwards since early January, giving ministers the confidence to lift most Covid curbs aimed at limiting the spread of the virus.

Cases did appear to plateau in recent days amid the emergence of a version of Omicron that may be slightly more transmissible (BA.2), but scientists have not raised concerns over the mutant strain.

Expanding the battle against the virus, Britain today opened its vaccination drive to five and 11-year-olds who are vulnerable to the virus or live with some one who is. Eligible youngsters are being offered two doses.

Turning up for his first shot at a clinic in Surrey today, 11-year-old Xavier Aquilina said he was 'excited' to get the jab and looking forward to being 'less vulnerable'. After being vaccinated, he got a sticker.

Xavier Aquilina, 11, is pictured getting his first dose of the Covid vaccine in Thames Ditton, Surrey. The national roll out was today expanded to half-a-million children in the age group who are vulnerable to the virus or live with some one who is

UKHSA figures are normally lower on a Sunday, because people are less likely to get themselves tested for the virus and there are fewer employees available to process deaths paperwork.

Breaking the UK into devolved nations, England saw the sharpest drop in infections which fell 13 per cent in a week (59,559 infections). In Wales cases barely changed compared to seven days ago (2,840).

Scotland saw its Covid infections double compared to last week (6,185), but it was publishing two days of data after not releasing any figures yesterday.

Britain should overhaul its daily Covid death toll to include jabbing status Britain should overhaul its daily coronavirus death figures to split them up by vaccination status, MPs have said. And the casualty toll should be divided into how many had received a booster shot, how many were double-jabbed and how many were unvaccinated. A similar model is used by Switzerland and is seen as a way to encourage the unvaccinated to come forward. Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the UK's methods of calculating Covid deaths figures are 'terrible' and 'have told a pretty false story'. 'We should break it down  did people die jabbed or unjabbed. 'I'm sure it would encourage better vaccine take-up. You'd be able to say to people for certain  these are your odds of dying if you don't have the jab.' The Chingford and Woodford Green MP also called for the deaths data to be broken down to split out people who died of Covid from those who died infected with Covid, but died for other reasons. He added that, at present: 'We have no way of knowing how many died of Covid, rather than with Covid.' Splitting it up in this way 'would give us an indication of where exactly the death toll is'. More than 37 million people in the UK have had their booster jab. And 48million have had their first two jabs. Sir Iain spoke of a case in his constituency where the family of a man who died in hospital suspected Covid was written on his death certificate to cover up a hospital error. 'When there is a chance they may have made a wrong decision, they slip Covid on the death certificate,' Sir Iain said. 'A lot of questions need to be asked.' Advertisement

It came as half-a-million children in the five to 11-year-old age group were today made eligible for the vaccine.

Waiting for his first dose in Surrey this morning Xavier Aquilina said he was looking forward to being 'less vulnerable'.

The 11-year-old, who has a condition putting him on the vulnerable list, added getting the jab was 'not stressful' and that he got a sticker afterwards.

At this centre  one of hundreds in the UK  around 200 children are expected to turn up for their Covid shots over the next few weeks.

The roll out was expanded after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) decided 'at-risk' youngsters should get their vaccines.

But they did not approve jabs for all six million children in this age group, unlike several other Western countries including the US, Spain and Germany.

The youngsters will be offered two 10 microgram doses of the Pfizer vaccine, a third of the amount used for adult vaccinations. The jabs will be given eight weeks apart.

Parents and children arriving at Emberbrook Community Centre for Health in Thames Ditton were among those pleased with the expansion of the roll out.

Speaking today, Xavier Aquilina said he suffers from benign rolandic epilepsy  a condition that can trigger seizures in one side of the face without warning.

Saying he was 'lucky' to get the jab, the youngster added: 'It is exciting to be able to be less vulnerable'.

Asked what message he would give to other children about the vaccine, he said: 'It is not as stressful as you may think, everyone here is quite nice and you get a sticker at the end.'

His father Joseph, 45, said his son 'knows that we need to protect ourselves and everyone else around us so he decided himself to do it.'

The parent said it was 'lucky' children could now get inoculated, but said this should have been possible 'much earlier'.

Joseph Todd, director of the vaccination centre at Emberbrook said the practice expects to vaccinate about 200 children in the group in the few next weeks.

He said: 'It is so important because these children are kept isolated at home away from their friends and school because the risk of getting to Covid to them is severe.

'Without the vaccine, they are at higher risk because of the conditions they've got or they also might bring Covid home to their parents or family members who are vulnerable.

'It limits their social contact, it limits their ability to go to school in some cases, and it limits their freedom.

'So I would encourage all the children who fit in this category to be brought forward by their parents.'

It came as Tory MPs suggested that Britain should overhaul its daily coronavirus death figures to split them up by vaccination status.

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the UK's methods of calculating Covid deaths figures are 'terrible' and 'have told a pretty false story'.

'We should break it down  did people die jabbed or unjabbed.

'I'm sure it would encourage better vaccine take-up. You'd be able to say to people for certain  these are your odds of dying if you don't have the jab.'

Tory MP Steve Baker (left) said it was clear the country would be living with the side effects of the pandemic for many years. Boris Johnson was warned that lockdowns would have unforseen consequences

It came as a study suggested deaths due to disrupted medical care quadrupled during the first lockdown.

Oxford University hospitals investigators looked at 1,100 autopsies from seven areas of England for fatalities from a 'potentially treatable condition'.

These were deaths where patients had struggled to access medical care, or died after being told to self-isolate.

A total of 44 out of 602 deaths (7.3 per cent) were put down to these issues during the first lockdown.

They included an asthma patient died after being told to self-isolate because they were experiencing chest pain, similar to Covid symptoms.

And a young diabetic patient who died from complications related to their condition after being told to stay at home because they had a fever and were vomiting.

For comparison, 10 out of 498 deaths (2 per cent) were put down to this two years beforehand.

Investigators warned of a 'significant increase' in deaths linked to trouble accessing medical care, and said many of these patients would normally have gone to hospital.

Responding to the study, MPs said it was clear the country will be 'living with' the side-effects of the Covid pandemic for many years.

Experts have repeatedly raised concerns lockdowns would trigger an uptick in deaths due to non-Covid causes, but this is believed to be the first study to confirm a link looking at autopsy reports.

In the study, people who died were about 68 years old and the majority were men (66 per cent).

Deaths were from between March to May for both years and were recorded in rural and urban areas of England including Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Newcastle and parts of London.

England does not routinely record the number of fatalities likely down to disruption accessing medical care.

But in this study investigators aimed to determine how many would fall into this category by looking through autopsy reports.

These include testimonies from families, doctors and medical notes showing why the person had died.

Some deaths were marked as 'probably' down to problems accessing healthcare, including those where lockdown 'prevented access' or where a patient 'was advised to self-isolate, subsequently dying from a potentially treatable condition'.

And others were marked as 'possibly' down to this, where a patient did not attend hospital for a 'potentially treatable condition' but it was not clear why they did not seek professional care.
Retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer did not want to 'die on the bench,' his brother said in a Saturday interview.

Breyer, 83, announced he was stepping down from the high court last week, after mounting calls for the oldest justice to retire so President Joe Biden could appoint a younger liberal in his place.

His brother, California US District Judge Charles Breyer, revealed to the Washington Post that Breyer was well aware of and actually appreciated the left-wing pressure campaign.

'Of course he was aware of this campaign. I think what impressed him was not the campaign but the logic of the campaign,' Charles Breyer, 80, said.

'And he thought he should take into account the fact that this was an opportunity for a Democratic president -- and he was appointed by a Democratic president -- to fill his position with someone who is like-minded.'

He added, 'He did not want to die on the bench.'

The report notes that liberals were wary of repeating the situation created by late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death.

She resisted private suggestions to leave the bench despite her advanced age, and her September 2020 passing allowed Donald Trump to appoint conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the bench with a lightening-fast Republican confirmation process.

Stephen Breyer, the oldest Supreme Court justice, announced last week that he'd retire from the bench

'I dont like talking about it because its a sensitive subject. People adore Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But the fact is, due to decisions or non-decisions around retirement, made by her, we got Amy Coney Barrett,' said progressive Rep. Mondaire Jones of New York.

Jones cranked up the heat on Breyer in April when he became the first member of Congress to publicly call for the liberal justice's retirement, joining numerous editorials and even in-person demonstrations by activists.

Breyer's brother is California-based US District Judge Charles Breyer

Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard Durbin admitted on Sunday that age 'is a factor' his committee will weigh when vetting President Joe Biden's prospective nominees to fill Breyer's seat on the Supreme Court.

'It's a factor, I'm not going to mislead you, in the selection of judges at every level,' Durbin told NBC's Meet The Press when asked about Democrats looking for someone younger for the lifetime appointment.

' I have a lot of friends here in Chicago who are attorneys in their 60s, who would like to cap off their career by being a federal judge -- it doesn't really make sense, you know, when you consider how little time they're likely to serve before they reach senior status or leave completely.'

In another television interview on ABC, the number two Democrat in the Senate also defended Biden's decision to appoint a black woman to the bench after a new poll showed Americans are more interested in getting the most qualified person for the job.

'Recall that it was Ronald Reagan who announced that he was going to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, and he did, Sandra Day OConnor, and it was Donald Trump who announced that he was going to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a woman nominee as well,' Durbin said, referring to Trump's third appointment to the high court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

'So this is not the first time that a president has signaled what they're looking for in a nominee.'

In a pair of television interviews, the Senate Judiciary Chair defended Joe Biden trying to follow through on his campaign promise of appointing a black woman to the Supreme Court

Biden is looking for a young liberal judge to elevate onto the high court after Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement

Durbin claimed that any black woman who has reached the level to be considered for the high court has 'done it against great odds.'

'They're extraordinary people, usually the first of anything in the United States turns out to be extraordinary in their background. And the same is true there,' he said.

'Theyre all going to face the same close scrutiny. This is a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, and I just hope that those who are critical of the president's selection aren't doing it for personal reasons.'

The president said he would use Breyer's departure to fulfill his campaign promise to appoint the first ever black female justice.

And whoever Biden picks will have to appear before Durbin's panel for what's sure to be a tense confirmation hearing as Republicans accuse Democrat of playing identity politics by looking for a black woman to fill the role.

Moderate GOP Senator Susan Collins, who is not on the panel but will be voting on whether to confirm the appointee along with her colleagues in the upper chamber, said she would 'welcome' a black woman on the court but claimed Biden was 'politicizing' the process.

'I believe that diversity benefits the Supreme Court,' Collins told ABC host George Stephanopoulos.

'But the way that the president has handled this nomination has been clumsy at best. It adds to the further perception that the court is a political institution like Congress when it is not supposed to be.'

She also took issue with Durbin's earlier comparison of Biden's process to Reagan appointing Sandra Day O'Connor.

'Actually, this isn't exactly the same. Ive looked at what was done in both cases. And what President Biden did was as a candidate, make this pledge. And that helped politicize the entire nomination process.

'What President Reagan said is, as one of his Supreme Court justices, he would like to appoint a woman. And he appointed a highly qualified one in Sandra Day O'Connor.'

It appears a vast majority of Americans are on their side, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.

The survey shows 76 percent of respondents preferring Biden 'consider all possible nominees' compared to just 23 percent who said they want him to 'consider only nominees who are Black women, as he has pledged to do.'

Pressed by @GStephanopoulos on how Pres. Biden's handling of a Supreme Court nomination is different from his predecessors, @SenatorCollins says his campaign vow to nominate a Black woman "helped politicize the entire nomination process." https://t.co/vFmbrUjjxI pic.twitter.com/tPxXWQk6X4  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

It would be Biden's first Supreme Court appointment. Donald Trump put three justices on the bench during his four-year term, giving the court a conservative supermajority

Biden's promise even failed to gain much traction among Democrat voters, 54 percent of whom said they wanted the president to find the best person for the role regardless of race. The number is even smaller among nonwhite voters, at 28 percent.

But one unlikely ally the president has is Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who said even his party was making a 'real effort' to find more women and minorities for key spots.

'Put me in the camp of making sure the court and other institutions look like America. You know, we make a real effort as Republicans to recruit women and people of color to make the party look more like America. Affirmative action is picking somebody not as well qualified for past wrongs,' Graham said on CBS News this Sunday.

GOP Senator Roger Wicker called Biden's pledge an 'affirmative action quota pick,' and former Trump UN Ambassador Nikki Haley tweeted: 'Would be nice if President Biden chose a Supreme Court nominee who is best qualified without a race/gender litmus test.'

Federal judicial nominees need just a simply majority in the Senate to be confirmed to the bench, meaning Biden will either need every Democrat to vote in lock-step or court at least one Republican lawmaker.
Russia has rubbished Western warnings that Moscow is ready to invade Ukraine as 'completely ridiculous' and blamed NATO for increasing tensions in the region by wanting to 'drag' Kyiv into the alliance.

The region has been on a knife-edge since the end of last year when Russian President Vladimir Putin moved more than 100,000 troops, as well as tanks and missiles, close to its border with Ukraine.

And tensions have ramped up in recent days after a surge in equipment and troop movements, among them military police, from the extreme east of Russia to the border - prompting the West to warn that Moscow intends to invade.

But today, the head of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, rejected those warnings of an impending invasion, describing them as 'ridiculous'.

Russia has rubbished Western warnings that Moscow is ready to invade Ukraine as 'completely ridiculous'. Pictured: Russian soldiers of the Teykovo Missile Formation take part in combat patrol and anti-sabotage drills involving RS-24 Yars road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile systems in the Ivanovo Region in Russia on January 28

Russia has amassed 100,000 troops at the border with Ukraine, but Moscow has insisted it has no intentions to invade

'At this time, they're saying that Russia threatens Ukraine - that's completely ridiculous,' Patrushev was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency Tass. 'We don't want war and we don't need it at all.'

Russia has issued a list of security demands to the US and its NATO allies, including a ban on Ukraine joining NATO and the withdrawal of troops from ex-Soviet states. But the alliance has described most of the list as 'non-starters'.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today reiterated Moscow's opposition to Ukraine joining the alliance.

NATO 'has already come close to Ukraine. They also want to drag this country there,' Lavrov said, 'although everyone understands that Ukraine is not ready and could make no contribution to strengthening NATO security.'

Ukraine has sought NATO membership for years, but any prospects of joining appear far off as the country struggles to find political stability and attack corruption.

Russian BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles during drills held by the armed forces of the Southern Military District at the Kadamovsky range in the Rostov region, Russia, on January 27

A Russian military vehicle drive off a railway platforms after arrival in Belarus. In a move that further beefs up forces near Ukraine, Russia has sent an unspecified number of troops from the country's far east to its ally Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine, for major war games next month

U.S. army instructor from the Joint Multinational Training Group trains a Ukrainian service member to operate with M141 Bunker Defeat Munition (SMAW-D) grenade launcher, supplied by the United States, at a shooting range in Lviv Region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released January 30

The US military train Ukrainian soldiers to operate with the M141 Bunker Defeat Munition (SMAW-D) grenade launcher in Ukraine

Lavrov also underlined Russia's contention that NATO expansion is a threat, saying the alliance has engaged in offensive actions outside its member countries.

'It is difficult to call it defensive. Do not forget that they bombed Yugoslavia for almost three months, invaded Libya, violating the U.N. Security Council resolution, and how they behaved in Afghanistan,' he said.

The U.S. and NATO have formally rejected Russia's demands about halting NATO expansion, though Washington outlined areas where discussions are possible, offering hope there could be a way to avoid war.

Lavrov also said Sunday that Russia wants 'mutually respectful' relations with the U.S. and denied posing a threat to Ukraine, as the UK said it was preparing fresh sanctions against Moscow.

Tensions have soared between Moscow and Washington after Western governments accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on its border with ex-Soviet Ukraine.

'We want good, equal, mutually respectful relations with the United States, like with every country in the world,' Lavrov told Russian TV on Sunday.

He added, however, that Russia does not want to remain in a position 'where our security is infringed daily'.

The U.S. on Sunday worked to ramp up diplomatic and financial pressure on Russia over Ukraine, promising to put Moscow on the defensive at the U.N. Security Council .

The American ambassador to the United Nations said the Security Council will press Russia hard in a Monday session to discuss its massing of troops near Ukraine and fears it is planning an invasion.

'Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves,' Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said of the U.S. and the other council members on ABC's 'This Week.' 'We're going into the room prepared to listen to them, but we're not going to be distracted by their propaganda.'

Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, warned that Putin is bent on waging an 'attack on democracy,' not just on a single country. It's a case that some senior foreign policy figures have urged U.S. President Joe Biden to make, including at the Security Council.

'If Ukraine will be further attacked by Russia, of course they will not stop in Ukraine,' Markarova said on CBS's 'Face the Nation.'

Western leaders have scrambled to defuse the crisis by reaching out to Putin, while also vowing unprecedented sanctions should Moscow launch an attack.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Sunday NATO is trying to 'drag' Ukraine into the alliance. Lavrov addresses the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia on Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the West to avoid stirring 'panic' in the face of the Russian troop build-up, while Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it was important to remain 'firm' in talks with Moscow.

Britain said it is preparing to unveil sanctions against Moscow that would target companies close to the Kremlin.

'There will be nowhere to hide for Putin's oligarchs,' UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Sunday.

The Foreign Secretary urged Russia to step back from an invasion as Britain made clear it will boost troop numbers at Nato's borders and consider sending more weapons.

A rocket launcher shoots missiles during tactical and special exercises with scouts of the Guards Tank Army of the Western Military District at the Golovenki training ground in the Moscow region, Russia, on January 28

Ms Truss said Nato powers had to 'make sure' that any incursion caused as many problems as possible for Russia, and predicted Ukrainians would 'fight hard'.

'This could well result in a quagmire like the Russians saw in Afghanistan or Chechnya,' she said.

The comments came after Boris Johnson said a new offer to Nato would 'send a clear message to the Kremlin' that 'we will not tolerate their destabilising activity'.

In addition to bolstering troop numbers, No 10 said this could involve sending defensive weapons to Estonia.

Fast jets, warships and military specialists could also be sent to protect Nato allies.

Liz Truss (pictured) today warned Vladimir Putin he faces a Ukraine 'quagmire' like Afghanistan or Chechnya as she warned there will be 'nowhere to hide' from sanctions

Ms Truss said: 'We are offering to deploy extra troops into Estonia.

'We are providing more air support across the Black Sea and we're supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine to make sure that they are in the best possible position should Vladimir Putin try to stage an incursion.

'What I'll be announcing later this week is improved legislation on sanctions so we can target more Russian interests that are of direct relevance to the Kremlin, because we absolutely need to stop this happening. That is our number one priority.'

She added: 'Of course, we'll use diplomacy. I'm travelling to Ukraine this week. I'll be travelling to Moscow next week.

'However, the number one thing that will stop Vladimir Putin taking action is if he understands the costs of that action. This could result in a quagmire and he should be well aware of that.'

Ms Truss went on: 'Currently, the economic sanctions are fairly narrowly drawn, so we could only target companies with a direct involvement in destabilising Ukraine.

'What we are looking to do is widen that so any company of interest to the Kremlin and the regime in Russia would be able to be targeted, so there will be nowhere to hide for Putin's oligarchs, for Russian companies involved in propping up the Russian state. That's what we are looking at doing this week.'

Local residents train close to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday amid warnings of an imminent invasion by Moscow

Ms Truss reiterated the government's call for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be cancelled in response to Russia's actions.

'Fundamentally, the most important thing is defending freedom and democracy, and that is more important than immediate financial issues,' she said.

'That is true not just for the United Kingdom, but also for our friends in Germany, who are now taking a much tougher line on Nord Stream 2. We cannot favour short-term economic interests over the long-term survival of freedom and democracy in Europe. That's the tough decision all of us have got to make.'

Asked if she would tell the Germans it is time to cancel Nord Stream 2, she said: 'Well, the Germans, (Chancellor) Olaf Scholz, has said that it'd be very difficult for Nord Stream 2 to go ahead in the event of a Russian incursion. So, we have seen a toughening of the Germans' position on that. I had a good call this week with the German foreign minister.'

On whether Britain's view is 'if there's an invasion, Nord Stream 2 stops', she said: 'Completely.'

Downing Street said the possible deployment would 'reinforce Nato's defences and underpin the UK's support for Nordic and Baltic partners'.

The move comes as the Prime Minister is expected to speak to Russian president Vladimir Putin and travel to the troubled region early this week.

A Ukrainian Servicemen patrols the frontline outside of Svitlodarsk, Ukraine on January 30

A second trip to meet Nato member counterparts is being planned for early next month, No 10 said.

The details of the offer will be finalised by UK officials and Nato in Brussels next week, while ministers will discuss the military options on Monday.

Mr Johnson has also directed Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to prepare to go to Moscow for talks with their counterparts in the coming days.

They will be asked to improve relationships with the Russian government and encourage de-escalation, Downing Street said.

In addition, Mr Wallace is expected to travel to meet with allies this week in Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia on Mr Johnson's behalf.

Meanwhile, the Mr Johnson has asked the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, to attend Cabinet on Tuesday to brief ministers on the situation in Ukraine.

The UK already has more than 100 troops providing training in Ukraine as part of Operation Orbital.

There are also 900 British military personnel based in Estonia, and a Light Cavalry Squadron of around 150 people is deployed to Poland, No 10 said.

It comes after Mr Johnson asked defence and security chiefs to consider further defensive military options in Europe during a high-level intelligence briefing on the situation last week.

The Prime Minister said: 'This package would send a clear message to the Kremlin  we will not tolerate their destabilising activity, and we will always stand with our Nato allies in the face of Russian hostility.

'If President Putin chooses a path of bloodshed and destruction, it will be a tragedy for Europe. Ukraine must be free to choose its own future.

'I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, ensuring we are able to support our Nato allies on land, at sea and in the air.'

Boris Johnson (pictured on a visit to the RAF base in Anglesey last week) said a new offer to Nato would 'send a clear message to the Kremlin' that 'we will not tolerate their destabilising activity'

Labour earlier accused the Prime Minister of 'playing catch-up with other world leaders' on deterring Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey reiterated calls for the imposition of a 'register of overseas entities' to 'lift the veil on who owns property and assets in the UK', after it was reported that American officials fear they will not be able to effectively sanction Mr Putin because of Russian money 'entrenched' in London.

US president Joe Biden has suggested moving to penalise the Russian president could be an option in the case of an invasion.

When asked last week if he could see himself sanctioning Mr Putin in those circumstances, Mr Biden told reporters: 'Yes, I would see that.'

Asked if the UK would support personal sanctions against the Russian president, Ms Truss told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday that the Government had 'ruled nothing out'.

Ms Truss has been forthright in speaking out against Russia's threatened invasion of Ukraine, and took the unusual step of declassifying intelligence which suggested Mr Putin was plotting to install a pro-Moscow leader as head of the government in Kyiv.

Putin on Friday held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to speak with the Russian leader next week.

Russian military vehicles prepares to drive off a railway platforms after arrival in Belarus on January 29

Several Western officials are expected to visit Ukraine in the coming days, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock and Polish Prime Minster Mateusz Morawiecki.

Canada's Defence Minister Anita Anand arrived for a two-day visit to Kyiv Sunday after her government announced it will extend its ongoing training mission in Ukraine and sent non-lethal supplies, such as bulletproof vests.

Following a flurry of diplomatic efforts over the past weeks, Washington and NATO presented Moscow with a written response to its security demands.

Russia said the replies, which were not made public, did not address its main concerns but did not rule out further talks.

Ukraine has turned increasingly to the West since Moscow seized the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and began fuelling a separatist conflict in the east of the country that has claimed over 13,000 lives.
A millionaire tycoon could face two years in jail after he filmed himself reaching a speed of 259mph on a German motorway in his 2.5million Bugatti supercar.

Prosecutors confirmed they are investigating Radim Passer, 58, for taking part in an alleged illegal race after he posted a video online of himself racing down the A2 between Berlin and Hanover.

Mr Passer said the stunt in the Bugatti  which can do 0-124mph in 6.5 seconds  was undertaken last year on a six-mile, three-lane strip of road with 'visibility along the whole stretch'.

He claimed 'safety was a priority' but his car can be seen passing other vehicles in the blink of an eye and the light in the video suggests it was taken at twilight.

Police in Saxony-Anhalt said a file had been passed to prosecutors, the Sun reported, with spokeswoman Doreen Guenther adding: 'We are looking at the possibility of a banned car race.'

Mr Passer, according to Forbes, is the Czech Republic's 33rd-richest individual with a wealth of 226million.

Radim Passer (pictured), 58, posted a video online of himself racing down the A2 between Berlin and Hanover. Like many sections of autobahn there was no speed limit.

His stunt sparked outrage in Germany and prompted safety campaigners to call for speed limits to be introduced on the autobahn, where there are currently no restrictions outside urban areas.

In a statement, the transport ministry in Berlin said that it 'rejects any behaviour in road traffic that leads or can lead to endangering road users'.

'All road users must abide by the rules of the road traffic regulations,' it added, citing the first clause of the legislation, which states that 'anyone participating in traffic must behave in such a way that no other person is harmed, endangered or obstructed or inconvenienced more than is unavoidable under the circumstances'.

Noting that the video shows the Czech businessman taking his hands off the steering wheel to celebrate as the car slows down, the ministry said the law also required drivers to 'only drive so fast that the vehicle is constantly under control'.

Mr Passer suggested beneath the video that he placed his faith in more than just his driving skills.

'We thank God for the safety and good circumstances, as we were able to reach the speed,' he wrote.

Mr Passer said the stunt in the Bugatti  which can do 0-124mph in 6.5 seconds  was undertaken last year on a six-mile, three-lane strip of road with 'visibility along the whole stretch' (file picture)

Despite his boast, the investment chief set only the third fastest speed down the autobahn.

The record was set in 1938 when racing driver Rudolf Caracciola hit 268.8mph in a specially-modified Mercedes Benz.

He clocked just half-a-mile an hour quicker than rival Bernd Rosemeyer, driving an Auto Union, the firm that would become Audi.

The pair had had the motorway shut down.

The Green Party, now a junior partner in Germany's coalition government, called for an 80mph speed limit across the autobahn network in last year's election campaign, as part of efforts to cut the carbon dioxide emissions.

But that idea was ditched during talks to form the new government.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo owns the same model of Chiron, which has an electronically limited top speed of 261mph.
TEHRAN, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Health Ministry on Sunday reported 21,996 new COVID-19 daily cases, taking the country's total infections to 6,344,179.

The pandemic also claimed 44 lives in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll since the outbreak of disease in the country in February 2020 to to 132,424, said the ministry.

A total of 6,098,675 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 1,404 remain in intensive care units, according to the ministry.

By Sunday, 60,699,381 Iranians have received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, 54,040,089 two jabs, and 16,877,782 the third booster doses.

A total of 44,694,344 tests have so far been carried out across the country.

Gholamreza Marhaba, spokesman of the Economic Commission of the Iranian parliament, on Sunday told official news agency IRNA that 30 lawmakers have been tested positive with the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi also warned against the surge of a new wave of Omicron-led coronavirus in the country.

He called for accelerating the vaccination of the booster doses which could play a major role in curbing the spread of the virus. 
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Iguanas are dropping paralyzed from trees in Florida as the Sunshine State experiences its coldest weather in 12 years.

No blizzard conditions were reported, but Floridians - seen bundled up and wearing jackets during the weekend - are facing other issues as the thermometer drops due to a nor'easter storm hitting the East Coast.

Temperatures in the low 20s and 30s have caused the reptiles to fall from trees, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning residents of the phenomenon.

The NWS issued a winter weather alert and reported that West Palm Beach hit 37 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest morning of the past 12 years.

Up the East Coast in Vero Beach, the record low was tied at 30 degrees Fahrenheit, set in 1978. The service said on Sunday it will warm up nicely after the weekend.

Iguanas are dropping paralyzed from trees in Florida as the Sunshine State experiences its coldest weather in more than a decade

No blizzard conditions were reported, but Floridians are experiencing other issues as the thermometer drops due to a nor'easter crossing the East Coast

Ice clings to an ornamental plant at a nursery Sunday, January 30, 2022, in Plant City, Florida

Cold Weather in Miami Surfside forced Floridians to dust off their jackets and bundle up to face the low temperatures

The NWS reported that West Palm Beach hit 37 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest morning of the past 12 years

Iguanas are an invasive species well accustomed to the trees of South Florida.

When it gets cold, below 40 degrees, they go into a sort of suspended animation mode and fall to the ground. They usually wake up with the sun's warmth.

Some parts of Florida are already under freeze and frost advisories, while hard freezes are possible in the northern and western part of the region.

The low temperatures near freezing are quite rare in the state, but at first glance the citrus, strawberry and tomato winter crops suffered no major damage.

Farmers spray water onto the crops to help protect them from the cold.

A dog is dressed for cold weather as it walks at Lake Eola Park on January 30, 2022 in downtown Orlando, Florida

A farmer checks his plants in a frozen nursery Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, in Plant City, Fla

The unseasonably cold weather in Florida prompted one church on the Gulf of Mexico side of the state to rethink how it would welcome parishioners and visitors.

St. Michael the Archangel, on Siesta Key, canceled its two scheduled Masses on Sunday because it was too cold.

The church is going through a renovation and has been holding Mass outdoors, as it did on Saturday afternoon in 49 degree Fahrenheit temperatures and with brisk winds making it feel even colder.

Masses have been held under a tent, but Saturday's wind dislodged one of the support posts and rendered the temporary structure unsafe.

The Rev. Michael Cannon was offering the sacrament of communion Sunday - drive-thru style - but Mass would not be held, in anticipation of temperatures falling into the mid-20s shortly after sunrise in the Sarasota area.

Florida farmers spray water on their crops to help keep the fruit from getting damaged by the cold. Temperatures overnight dipped into the mid-20's

Ice clings to a young tree in a nursery at sunrise Sunday

Icicles cling to a barbed wire fence outside a nursery. Central Florida usually experiences average temperatures in the low 70s, but this weekend the Sunshine State is expected to record plunging temperatures

Central Florida usually experiences average temperatures in the low 70s, but this weekend the Sunshine State is expected to record plunging temperatures.

Cold weather shelters have been opened across the state for those who need to shield from the freezing temperatures, whether they're experiencing homelessness or not.

Iguanas, which usually thrive in the ideal Florida weather, tend to become stunned from the cold and lose their trip on branches.

Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) recommends to put the iguana in a bag or pet carrier, or calling an iguana hunter.

Many took to Twitter during the weekend to share their experiences after finding frozen iguanas in their backyards or on the sidewalks

An user tweeted: 'Im seeing frozen iguanas dropping out of trees in Florida dropping like  frozen iguanas!'

Many took to Twitter during the weekend to share their experiences after finding frozen iguanas in their backyards or on the sidewalks.

'Its frozen iguanas falling out of trees season! Miami snow!' Twitter user Albert Huber wrote on Sunday.

Meanwhile, another user tweeted: 'Im seeing frozen iguanas dropping out of trees in Florida dropping like  frozen iguanas!'

Wildlife experts have pointed out that people who find the dormant lizards could 'humanly euthanize' them in order to protect native species and tackle the reptiles' fast reproduction in the state.

'Once you trap it, you are unintentionally responsible for that iguana. If you feel bad...and put it back into the wild, you just broke the law,' an iguana hunter told NBC.

And the law that you're breaking is introducing an invasive species to Florida, which does sound ridiculous because they're already here,' he added.

Iguanas have been banned as pets by the FWC and it is illegal to transport them without a license.
Storm Malik has swept through northern Europe this weekend, killing several people, destroying houses and cars and leaving thousands of households without electricity.

In Denmark, a 78-year-old woman died after falling in strong winds while in neighbouring Germany, a man was killed after being hit by a billboard that was loosened by the storm.

The winter storm was advancing in the Nordic region on Sunday, bringing strong gusts of wind, as well as extensive rain and snowfall in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Storm Malik reached the Nordic region and northern Germany late on Saturday after moving in from Britain, where it caused damage and transport chaos, hitting Scotland particularly badly.

DENMARK: A house damaged by a fallen tree in Charlottenlund, north of Copenhagen, on Sunday

SWEDEN: A construction crane lay after crashing in central Malmo on Saturday night

GERMANY: A car is rescued from flood water by the fire department in Hamburg on Sunday

In Scotland, a nine-year-old boy and a 60-year-old woman were killed on Saturday by falling trees as strong winds battered northern parts of Britain.

Homes were left destroyed and debris lay scattered in the streets this morning after winds topping 100mph were recorded in parts of Scotland on Saturday, with one meteorologist claiming to have seen speeds of 147mph at Cairngorm summit in the Scottish Highlands.

An unnamed nine-year-old boy died in hospital and a man was left fighting for his life after they were hit by a falling tree in Winnothdale, near to Tean, in Staffordshire yesterday.

A devastated relative said today the boy and and a pensioner, whose age has not been disclosed, were on a pheasant shoot together in the grounds of the 400-acre Heath House estate, a Grade II-listed Victorian gothic mansion that featured in Channel 4's Country House Rescue TV series, when tragedy struck.

In Denmark, excessively strong winds with heavy rain caused the temporary closure of several bridges on Saturday, including the key Oeresund road and rail bridge connecting Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmo.

DENMARK: A sailboat off Kronborg Castle was run ashore in Storm Malik in Elsinore on Sunday

GERMANY: The North Sea crashes into the Dagebull ferry terminal in Dagebull on Sunday

SWEDEN: Several trees fell on top of parked cars in central Malmo on Saturday night

In central Denmark, a 78-year-old woman died after opening a stable door from the inside which was then caught in the strong winds.

'The woman was dragged out by the wind... as a result, she fell and sustained injuries which led to her death,' Danish police said in a statement.

In neighbouring Germany, local media reported that a man was killed on Saturday after being hit by a billboard that was loosened by the storm.

Meteorological services in Sweden and Denmark warned about high water levels and flooding and reported hurricane force winds during the night.

Flooding in many parts of Denmark caused substantial damage, with several crashes caused by falling trees and flying debris being reported to police.

GERMANY: The North Sea crashes into the Dagebull ferry terminal, in Dagebull on Sunday

GERMANY: The fish market is surrounded by flood water in Hamburg on Sunday

Southern parts of Sweden were badly hit too and thousands of households were without electricity by Sunday afternoon.

The 7.8-kilometre (4.8-mile) Oresund Bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden had to be closed for traffic Saturday evening and stayed shut until Sunday morning.

Sweden's Transport Administration also advised against unnecessary travel during the weekend because of downed trees and objects blowing in the wind, and rescue services around Sweden and Denmark reported hundreds of emergency calls.

In Malmo in southern Sweden, rescue services warned people Sunday to stay clear of the city's recognisable skyscraper Turning Torso as pieces of the building had come loose due to the strong winds and risked falling to the ground.

FINLAND: Scenes of heavy snowfall and wind in Helsinki following Storm Malik on Sunday

Video from the scene also showed trees uprooted and a construction crane tipped over, destroying a small shack as the counterweight slammed through the road.

In southern and central Sweden, tens of thousands were left without electricity as the storm passed, according to utilities E.ON, Ellevio and Vattenfall.

Severe damage to houses, cars and boats, among other things, were reported in Norway while heavy snowfall throughout Finland caused crashes and disrupted bus and train traffic in parts of the country.
The South Carolina Republican called Childs, a federal judge in his home state, an 'awesome person' and heaped praise on her in a Sunday interview

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham broke away from the rest of his party on Sunday when he backed President Joe Biden's decision to appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee member added that he 'can't think of a better person' than Michelle Childs, a federal judge in his home state of South Carolina.

'Put me in the camp of making sure the court and other institutions look like America. You know, we make a real effort as Republicans to recruit women and people of color to make the party look more like America,' Graham said on CBS News' Face The Nation.

Graham's endorsement could put Childs at the top of Biden's list, where she already appears to be a frontrunner. It gives the 55-year-old judge an edge of solid bipartisan support with powerful Democratic House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn already making her case to the public.

Biden announced last week that he'd fulfill his campaign promise of the first black female justice just as Justice Stephen Breyer said he would retire. The 83-year-old liberal is the oldest member of the bench.

Republican lawmakers seized on it immediately, accusing the Democrat of playing identity politics. Senator Roger Wicker called Biden's pledge an 'affirmative action quota pick' last week and Senator Susan Collins accused the president of 'politicizing' the judicial nomination process on Sunday.

But Graham defended Childs' credentials and reasserted his long-held belief that presidents are entitled to more freedom when it comes to their nominees.

Graham sung Judge Childs' praises and reasserted Biden's right to nominate whatever qualified candidate he wants in a Sunday interview

"I can't think of a better person for President Biden to consider for the Supreme Court then Michelle Childs," @LindseyGrahamSC tells @margbrennan. pic.twitter.com/I90qMetX2d  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 30, 2022

'Affirmative action is picking somebody not as well qualified for past wrongs. Michelle Childs is incredibly qualified. There's no affirmative action component if you pick her,' he said.

'Whether you like it or not, Joe Biden said, "I'm going to pick an African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court." I believe there are plenty of qualified African American women, conservative and liberal, that could go onto the court.'

Childs, a federal judge in Graham's home state of South Carolina, has rare bipartisan public support from the Republican senator and House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn

He added, 'So I don't concede- I don't see Michelle Childs as an act of affirmative action. I do see putting a black woman on the court, making the court more like America.'

Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard Durbin signaled on Meet The Press this Sunday that whoever Biden picks could be confirmed as early as April.

He told host Chuck Todd that how fast someone is confirmed would 'depend on the nominee.'

Asked whether 'Easter recess, mid-April' is a good target, he said: 'By the Amy Coney Barrett test, yes it is.'

In another television interview on ABC, the number two Democrat in the Senate also defended Biden's decision to appoint a black woman to the bench after a new poll showed Americans are more interested in getting the most qualified person for the job.

'Recall that it was Ronald Reagan who announced that he was going to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, and he did, Sandra Day OConnor, and it was Donald Trump who announced that he was going to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a woman nominee as well,' Durbin said, referring to Trump's third appointment to the high court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

'So this is not the first time that a president has signaled what they're looking for in a nominee.'

The president vowed to put a black woman on the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer

In a pair of television interviews, the Senate Judiciary Chair defended Joe Biden trying to follow through on his campaign promise of appointing a black woman to the Supreme Court

Durbin claimed that any black woman who has reached the level to be considered for the high court has 'done it against great odds.'

'They're extraordinary people, usually the first of anything in the United States turns out to be extraordinary in their background. And the same is true there,' he said.

'Theyre all going to face the same close scrutiny. This is a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, and I just hope that those who are critical of the president's selection aren't doing it for personal reasons.'

Breyer, 83, announced he was stepping down from the bench last week, after mounting pressure to retire so Biden could appoint a younger liberal in his place.

The president said he would use the opportunity to fulfill his campaign promise to appoint the first ever black female justice.

And whoever Biden picks will have to appear before Durbin's panel for what's sure to be a tense confirmation hearing.

Moderate GOP Senator Susan Collins, who is not on the panel but will be voting on whether to confirm the appointee along with her colleagues in the upper chamber, said she would 'welcome' a black woman on the court but claimed Biden was 'politicizing' the process.

'I believe that diversity benefits the Supreme Court,' Collins told ABC host George Stephanopoulos.

Pressed by @GStephanopoulos on how Pres. Biden's handling of a Supreme Court nomination is different from his predecessors, @SenatorCollins says his campaign vow to nominate a Black woman "helped politicize the entire nomination process." https://t.co/vFmbrUjjxI pic.twitter.com/tPxXWQk6X4  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

'But the way that the president has handled this nomination has been clumsy at best. It adds to the further perception that the court is a political institution like Congress when it is not supposed to be.'

She also took issue with Durbin's earlier comparison of Biden's process to Reagan appointing Sandra Day O'Connor.

'Actually, this isn't exactly the same. Ive looked at what was done in both cases. And what President Biden did was as a candidate, make this pledge. And that helped politicize the entire nomination process.

'What President Reagan said is, as one of his Supreme Court justices, he would like to appoint a woman. And he appointed a highly qualified one in Sandra Day O'Connor.'

It appears a vast majority of Americans are on their side, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.

The survey shows 76 percent of respondents preferring Biden 'consider all possible nominees' compared to just 23 percent who said they want him to 'consider only nominees who are Black women, as he has pledged to do.'

Biden's promise even failed to gain much traction among Democrat voters, 54 percent of whom said they wanted the president to find the best person for the role regardless of race. The number is even smaller among nonwhite voters, at 28 percent.

Federal judicial nominees need just a simply majority in the Senate to be confirmed to the bench, meaning Biden will either need every Democrat to vote in lock-step or court at least one Republican lawmaker.
Actor Michael Rapaport returned to his neighborhood Rite Aid on Sunday only to find shelves empty just days after he saw a brazen thief calmly walk out of the store with two shopping bags full of stolen goods.

'Back in my Rite Aid,' he said in a video posted to his Instagram on Sunday. 'And there's nothing to steal because this Rite Aid like so many other Rite Aids is closing down because everybody stole everything. And the workers here don't know if they're getting jobs.

'Congratulations, losers,' the 51-year-old actor concluded in the video, which had already garnered 20,570 views in just one hour.

It came nearly one week after the actor, known for his work on Boston Public, captured on video a bold thief sauntering out of the store, at 80th Street and 2nd Avenue, with two shopping bags full of stolen goods.

The Rite Aid in the video has been hit with thefts of the same nature on an almost daily basis, a security guard told Rapaport. The store will be closing on February 15, and 63 other locations will close in the coming months with a rash of thefts one of the primary reasons, the pharmacy chain announced in late December.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Rite Aid store on the Upper East Side as well as the pharmacy's corporate communications department for comment.

Actor Michael Rapaport, 51, returned to his local Rite Aid on the Upper East Side on Sunday to showcase how the shelves were empty

Rapaport said in a video posted to his Instagram that 'there's nothing to steal because this Rite Aid like so many other Rite Aids is closing down because everybody stole everything'

Rapaports video on Tuesday starts with Rapaport filming the thief sauntering out of the Rite Aid, while the exasperated actor fumbles with his words before shouting, I cant believe Im seeing this s**t!

Hes walking down the street like s**t is Gucci, he looked me in the face like ''whats 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 Im 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.

He told DailyMail.com that he initially thought the thief was an employee because he was just so deliberate and casual.

He said 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.

'These criminals know there are no ramifications. We have to put more of these mfers in jail,' he said.

You see all these videos on Instagram of people shoplifting like theyre going for a walk in the park. Its pathetic that this is happening in the greatest city in the world, Rapaport said last week.

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 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

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 whats going on, he knows how to deal with crime. Im 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.

Rapaport said the man in his footage filled two bags with stolen goods before nonchalantly strolling past security and leaving

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

The Rite Aid in the video will be closing on February 15, with thefts a major reason, the pharmacy chain announced late December

Rapaport, 51, an actor-turned-podcaster, began his career in the early 1990s and has starred in films including The Heat, Deep Blue Sea, Dr. Dolittle 2 and True Romance. He was born and raised in Manhattan, where he currently lives with his wife Kebe Dunne.

The two married in 2016. Rapaport was previously married to Nichole Beattie from 2000 to 2007, when they divorced. Rapaport and Beattie have two children: Maceo Shane, 20, and Julian Ali, 22.

Rapaport has been outspoken on a number of issues and has had his fair share of celebrity feuds, most recently with Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.

In March 2021, Rapaport took to social media to share a private conversation in which Durant unleashed a string of homophobic slurs while threatening to spit on him. Their disagreement started in December after Rapaport criticized an awkward post-game interview Durant had on TNT.

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 one day before Rapaport took his viral video, two other 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 Rapaports video nonchalantly watching the thief walk out with his bags of looted goods. It is unclear what Rite Aids 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.'

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'

Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33% in the week ending on January 23, the NYPDs most recent data, with 944 incidents as compared to the 709 incidents reported in same duration last year

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.

Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33 percent in the week ending on January 23, according to the NYPDs 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 years 5,211.
Confusing coronavirus advice could lead thousands Australians to leave isolation too early and infect dozens of others, experts warn.

Australians must stay in quarantine for seven days from the date of their positive test, regardless of whether they are symptomatic.

Previously, anyone who tested positive received a text from NSW Health outlining what they needed to do next and how isolation worked.

'You may leave isolation if you do not have a sore throat, runny nose, cough, or shortness of breath,' the text then states.

Experts fear Sydneysiders have been put at risk after Covid cases misinterpreted NSW Health advice and believed they could leave isolation early (pictured Sydneysiders in the CBD)

However, experts raised concerns this could be misinterpreted and patients would think they were free to leave isolation early if they no longer had symptoms.

'Intelligent people with university degrees are reading stuff like that saying they can come out of isolation because they have no symptoms,' infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy told the Daily Telegraph.

Australian National University epidemiologist Sanjaya Senanayake added: 'If someone thinks that they haven't got symptoms early into their illness, and they're therefore free to leave isolation, they can still be infectious.'

The clarified advice from NSW Health came into effect on Monday.

'Please read the Testing positive to Covid-19 fact sheet for health advice if you have symptoms at Day 7,' the text messages now state.

'This SMS can be used as evidence to show your employer that you have had Covid-19 and that you can be released from self-isolation on [seven days after date of positive test].'

NSW Health has since clarified isolation rules to reiterate that cases must remain in isolation for seven days from when they tested positive

Patients who leave isolation after a week are advised to asked to avoid aged-care facilities or other 'very high risk settings' for another three days.

Those still suffering symptoms a week after they test positive are urged to remain in quarantine and seek medical advice before leaving isolation.

NSW recorded 13,524 new cases and 52 deaths on Sunday, the state's deadliest day of the Covid-19 pandemic.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said 31 of the 52 deaths were nursing home residents, including 21 who died in the aged care facilities.

Hospitalisations were steady with 2,663 patients in NSW hospitals and 182 in intensive care.
The US Treasury said on Friday it is considering alternatives to facial-recognition technology to verify identities for online taxpayer accounts after some lawmakers raised privacy concerns.

The $86 million partnership between the Internal Revenue Service and private contractor ID.me, which was announced in November, would be one of the biggest expansions of facial recognition software made by the US government.

The measure has been met with criticism from lawmakers, who argue that the software is intrusive and inaccurate.

Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, called the move a 'very, very bad idea, ' adding that facial recognition is less accurate with dark skin tones.

'This is a very, very bad idea by the IRS. It will further weaken Americans' privacy. And facial recognition is less accurate for darker skin individuals. The IRS needs to reverse this Big Brother tactic, NOW,' Lieu tweeted on Thursday.

The $86 million partnership between the Internal Revenue Service and private contractor ID.me, which was announced in November, has been met with criticism from lawmakers, who argue that the software is intrusive and inaccurate

Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, called the move a 'very, very bad idea, ' adding that facial recognition is less accurate with dark skin tones

ID.me has stated in the past that the use of the software is not unlike providing regular identification to authorities.

'Face match is equivalent to an airport agent comparing your face to the photo on your government ID card.'

ID.me has stated in the past that the use of the software is not unlike providing regular identification to authorities

'Facial recognition is equivalent to giving your picture to the same agent, putting him on stage at a rock concert, and asking him to pick your face out of the crowd,' the Virginia-based company wrote in a report in.

The IRS announced in November that it will transition this year to identity verification using ID.me technology for accessing online services including tax records and Child Tax Credit information.

The process involves uploading a 'selfie' photograph to create an ID.me account and gained more attention this week as the IRS kicked off its annual tax return filing season.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said on Twitter that he was 'very disturbed' by the prospect of taxpayers submitting to facial recognition.

'I'm very disturbed that Americans may have to submit to a facial recognition system, wait on hold for hours, or both, to access personal data on the IRS website,' Wyden tweeted earlier in January.

'While e-filing returns remain unaffected, I'm pushing the IRS for greater transparency on this plan.

Taxpayers are still able to file their taxes the old-fashioned way, but by the summer they might have to upload videos of their faces to ID.me to confirm their identities.

The IRS announced in November that it will transition this year to identity verification using ID.me technology for accessing online services including tax records and Child Tax Credit information

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said on Twitter that he was 'very disturbed' by the prospect of taxpayers submitting to facial recognition

There is no federal law in place to regulate how that data can be used or shared, the Washington Post reported.

'You go from a government agency, that at least has some obligation under the Privacy act and other laws, to a third party, where [there's a] lack of transparency and understanding, and the potential risks go up,' senior counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Jeramie D. Scott told the outlet.

Roughly 70 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance, pandemic assistance grants, child tax credit payments have already submitted their information.

Taxpayers are still able to file their taxes the old-fashioned way, but by the summer they might have to upload videos of their faces to ID.me to confirm their identities

The American Civil Liberties Union called the ID.me facial recognition technology 'biased' and 'glitchy.'

A US Treasury official said on Friday that Treasury and IRS are looking into alternatives to ID.me.

'The IRS is consistently looking for ways to make the filing process more secure but to be clear, no American is required to take a selfie in order to file their tax return,' the department said in a statement.

A spokesperson for ID.me could not immediately be reached for comment.

The company said in a statement on Monday that its technology complies with National Institute of Standards and Technology guidelines to offer three ways to verify identity.

The firm said it provides digital identity services to 10 federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans affairs, and 30 U.S. states.

Treasury said in its statement that a lack of funding for modernization of IRS information technology systems has forced it to rely on ID.me and other third-party service.
President Joe Biden on Sunday called for the release of U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs, who was taken hostage in Afghanistan nearly two years ago.

Frerichs, 59, a civil engineer and contractor from Lombard, Illinois, was kidnapped in January 2020 from the capital of Kabul.

He is believed to be in the custody of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.

'Threatening the safety of Americans or any innocent civilians is always unacceptable, and hostage-taking is an act of particular cruelty and cowardice,' Biden said in a statement to mark the second anniversary of the kidnapping on Monday.

'The Taliban must immediately release Mark before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy. This is not negotiable.'

Mark Frerichs has been held by the Taliban for almost two years

President Joe Biden, pictured earlier this month, on Sunday issued a statement calling for the release of civil engineer Mark Frerichs, who was taken hostage by the Taliban in January 2020

Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of State, tweeted: 'Tomorrow marks two years since U.S. citizen Mark Frerichs was taken hostage by the Taliban.

'We call on the Taliban to release him. We will continue working to bring him home.'

Frerichs, 59, was working as a civil engineer when he was captured

The State Department emphasized in a statement that Frerichs was working to help Afghan people.

'Mark is a civil engineer who was helping with construction projects for the benefit of the Afghan people when he was taken captive,' they said.

'Despite his innocence, he remains held hostage by the Taliban and its affiliates.

'The United States has raised Mark's case in every meeting with the Taliban, and we have been clear that the legitimacy the Taliban seek is impossible to consider while they hold a U.S. citizen hostage.

'His release is among our core, non-negotiable priorities.

'We will continue to send a clear message to Taliban leadership: immediately and safely release Mark and disavow the practice of hostage-taking.'

The statement came as Afghanistan faces a thorny humanitarian crisis following the U.S. withdrawal in August.

The Taliban quickly seized control of much of the country and the foreign aid that been flowing into the country largely halted, putting at risk the lives of millions of Afghans who could starve or freeze to death.

Charlene Cakora, Frerichs' sister, issued a statement saying that her family is 'grateful' for Biden's words.

'But what we really want is to have Mark home,' she said.

'We know the president has options in front of him to make that happen and hope Mark's safe return will become a priority.'
A man and his accomplice, who were wanted in connection with the murder case of their old roommate in 2017 in Maryland, have been arrested at a homeless camp.

Sheriff officials from Arizona's Pima County said 46-year-old William Rice and 45-year-old Christina Harnish, who also goes by Christina Stallings, were taken into custody following their arrest last Wednesday and are awaiting extradition for the murder of Megan Leah Tilman, 42, and a mother-of-three.

Anne Arundel County police in Maryland said they received a tip that Rice and Harnish were in the Tucson area and notified the Pima County Sheriff's Department.

The victim's father, Jim Tilman, thanked authorities for the arrests and for continuing to work on the case, but he said it still doesn't take away the pain of losing a child.

'It's horrible, it's rough, you think about it every day. Even though it might not come to full surface. It's there, it's back there,' Tilman said.

Maryland authorities said Tilman was reported missing from her home in Annapolis in November 2017. She reportedly could be easily influenced and was described as having borderline intellectual functioning.

Before her death, Tilman reportedly had been living with her boyfriend, Rice, and Harnish in a rented townhome in the unit block of Rockwell Court in Annapolis with her mother, Gloria Owens, 62.

Megan Leah Tilman, 42, was found dead in 2019, two years after she was declared missing in Annapolis, Maryland

Authorities with the Arizona Sheriff's Department arrested William Rice (left), 46, and Christina Harnish, 45, in Tucson, Arizona. Anne Arundel County police said the pair is suspected to be responsible for Tilman's death

Rice (left), Tilman (center) and Harnish (right) were all living under the same roof in a townhome in Annapolis, Maryland, right before Tilman's disappearance in November. Shortly afterwards, the two suspects moved out of state

Owens moved out of the home right before November of that year, and frictions between Megan and her family led to an apparent estrangement. Rice and Stallings had subsequently moved out of state.

A cousin of Tilman's reported her missing to Annapolis Police Department after she hadn't received any news from her weeks prior to her disappearance. Tilman's family feared the worst when their relative  who had two daughters, Paris and Grace, and a son, Ceci  failed to show up in court for a child custody hearing. .

Detectives discovered that the last verified contact Tilman had with anyone was on Saturday, October 7, 2017.

Human remains were found on the shoreline on Shady Side, Maryland, eleven days later and were identified as those of Tilman in April 2019. The case was quickly ruled as a homicide.

The victim's car - a champagne 1998 Jeep Cherokee - was found abandoned at a shopping center in Prince Georges County on November 3, 2017, two days after Tilman was reported as a missing person.

Tilman's car - a 1998 Jeep Cherokee - was found abandoned at a shopping center in Princes Georges County on November 3, 2017, two days after the victim was declared missing. Police could easily identify that the vehicle was hers thanks to her distinct car stickers

Tilman's vehicle also had a rear bumper sticker of a picture of a sailboat reading, 'Put An Island In Your Life Put-in-Bay, Ohio'

The vehicle had several distinctive stickers on the rear. On the passenger side of the rear bumper was a sticker with a picture of a sailboat reading, 'Put An Island In Your Life Put-in-Bay, Ohio'. On the upper portion of the driver's side of the rear windshield was a sticker with a picture of a motorcycle reading, 'LOOK TWICE SAVE A LIFE'. The windshield also had a Harley-Davidson and a animal paw sticker on it.

As of Sunday, it remains unclear Thursday if Rice or Harnish had a lawyer yet who could speak on their behalf.

Tilman's father, Jim, is still haunted by his daughter's murder and can't imagine what he finals seconds could have been like.

'You think how tragic it really was,' he told WBAL-TV in Baltimore. 'You think about their last 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. Did they suffer?'
Fishermen have sent the Russian navy packing after standing up to Vladimir Putins plans to hold war games off Irelands south-west coast.

The Kremlin backed down after the Irish trawlermen threatened to disrupt drills due to take place within Irelands exclusive economic zone (EEZ) this week.

In a first victory for the West against Moscows provocations in Ukraine and beyond, Yury Filatov, Russias ambassador to Ireland, finally buckled under the pressure this weekend.

The Kremlin backed down after the Irish trawlermen threatened to disrupt drills due to take place within Irelands exclusive economic zone (EEZ) this week. A Russian ship is pictured above in the Black Sea

Mr Filatov said the Russian fleet would relocate the exercise outside of the EEZ as a gesture of goodwill.

He retreated after the fisherman pledged to send up to 60 trawlers between the battleships to disrupt the manoeuvres.

Mr Filatov had earlier played down the exercises 150 miles off the coast of Cork, claiming they involved just three or four ships and that he was unaware if missiles would be fired.

Mr Filatov said the Russian fleet would relocate the exercise outside of the EEZ as a gesture of goodwill. A Russian ship is pictured above in Sevastopol, Crimea

The fishermen said the area is home to half a billion tons of blue whiting and that seismic shocks from missiles could affect the migration patterns of tuna.

They also said their industry had taken as much as it can possibly take.

Brendan Byrne, of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association, said he welcomed the sensible decision by the Kremlin to back down.

Irelands minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney tweeted: This evening I received a letter confirming the Russian exercises will be relocated outside of Irelands EEZ. I welcome this response.
Police have launched an investigation after the body of a newborn baby was found in southeast London.

Met Police officers were called to New Eltham shortly after 5am on Sunday morning following the discovery.

The newborn baby was pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance crew, the Met said.

Police have launched an investigation after the body of a newborn baby was found in southeast London (file image)

The infant's mother is receiving medical care and is in contact with the police, officers added.

Detectives are conducting enquiries about the infant's death and no arrests have been made at this stage in their investigation.

The exact location of where the baby was found has not yet been made publicly made available by the police due to the sensitive nature of the case.

A Met Police spokesperson said: 'Police were called shortly after 05:00hrs on Sunday, 30 January, to the body of a newborn baby found in New Eltham.

'Officers attended the location along with London Ambulance Service. Sadly, the baby was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course.

'Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances. There has been no arrest at this stage.

'Officers are in contact with the babys mother, who is receiving medical attention.

'We are not able to discuss further at this time.'
BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday sent a message of sympathy to Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

In his message, Wang said that upon learning of Jaishankar's infection with COVID-19, he would like to extend sincere sympathy to him and wish him a speedy recovery.

Noting that China and India have helped each other and overcome difficulties together since the outbreak of COVID-19, Wang said that he stands ready to work with Jaishankar to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and promote the healthy development of bilateral relations. 
When a shocking video emerged of a so-called prankster dressed as Spider-Man kicking a female supermarket worker out cold, the footage went around the world.

Now a group of fancy-dress superheroes have appeared in court over the incident. The Spider-Man  Josh McDonald, 31  was not at the hearing as he was suffering from Covid.

But his six co-accused, including an Ali-G, a Little Red Riding Hood, and a Goldilocks, all attended Kingston upon Thames Crown Court in south London.

Those in the dock over the incident, in which staff were allegedly beaten and left bloodied, are self-professed pranksters who video antics in supermarkets, watched by tens of thousands of online fans.

When a shocking video emerged of a so-called prankster dressed as Spider-Man kicking a female supermarket worker out cold, the footage went around the world

Sophie Roberts, 18, (pictured) also from Northampton was charged with violent disorder, assault causing actual bodily harm and causing grievous bodily harm by punching a female worker in the face

Led by George O'Boyle, 29  dressed as comedy character Ali G during the stunt at an Asda in July  the group say they were simply having innocent fun by recording 'comedic' antics in the aisles.

The pranksters dressed as superheroes and other characters, including a nun, Batman, and a human fly, raided the Asda in Clapham Junction, south London.

Several of those in costume were making video selfies of themselves as they went through the store despite protests from security.

Footage which spread widely online, some of it 'live-streamed' to the internet as it happened, showed the mounting chaos.

The group ended up in a storage area, in which staff complained of being beaten with metal bars in a bloody fight, before tussles spread back on to the shop floor.

Pictured: George O'Boyle (left) and Josh McDonald. Influencer OBoyle (Ali G), who describes himself as an outgoing young salesman, pleaded guilty on Friday to both assaulting a male Asda worker and violent disorder

Little Red Riding Hood slapped a female Asda worker in the face, then Spider-Man, said to be McDonald, was shown to have kicked and punched the worker until she fell unconscious.

McDonald, who is unemployed, describes himself as a 'sportsperson/entertainer' and lives in Northampton. He has been charged with violent disorder and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm. He has not entered a plea.

Sophie Roberts, 18, also from Northampton and said to have been dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, was charged with violent disorder, assault causing actual bodily harm and causing grievous bodily harm by punching a female worker in the face. She is yet to submit pleas.

Sophie Roberts, 18, (pictured) was said to have been dressed as Little Red Riding Hood. She is yet to submit pleas

'Influencer' O'Boyle (Ali G), who describes himself as 'an outgoing young salesman', pleaded guilty on Friday to both assaulting a male Asda worker and violent disorder.

Online, where he says: 'Supermarkets are my playground', he calls himself 'Gee Money'. He has 50,000 Instagram followers and more on TikTok and YouTube.

In one stunt he set up a camping stove and cooked breakfast in a supermarket aisle. He also staged a pretend mugging at a cashpoint and filmed passers-by reacting. He has already been fined for criminal damage in earlier stunts.

The Spiderman-dressed attacker of female supermarket assistant revealed as kick boxer Josh McDonald. His accomplice was identified as George O'Boyle, 29, seen dressed as Ali G in a yellow outfit and hat

O'Boyle, from Surbiton, south London, has even boasted of plans to sell merchandise to fans, and offers to sell advertisements with his stunts. The other four defendants have pleaded not guilty.

They include O'Boyle's 'missus' Katie Pickard, 30, a mother-of-two, who is accused of violent disorder. She is believed to have been dressed as a nun in the incident.

Rikki McKenzie, 35, from Northampton, who was wearing a Goldilocks wig in his wheelchair, is charged with assault and violent disorder.

Also accused of violent disorder are Charlie Jay Sharp, 18, from Northampton, and Mark Pettigrew, 37, from west London. A trial will take place later this year.
Abu Dhabi today shot down a ballistic missile reportedly fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, as the Israeli President conducted an official visit to the United Arab Emirates.

The capital city's air defence systems intercepted the missile which had been fired at the emirate on Sunday.

The Emirati Defense Ministry told the Jerusalem Post that the attack did not cause any injuries or damage as the fragments of the missile fell in an unpopulated area.

The missile launch came just a week after the Houthi rebels launched a deadly strike on Abu Dhabi on January 17, killing three people and wounding six.

The UAE has been at war in Yemen since early 2015, and was a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that launched attacks against the Iranian-backed Houthis after the group overran the capital of Yemen and ousted the internationally backed government from power.

Abu Dhabi today shot down a ballistic missile reportedly fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, as the Israeli President conducted an official visit to the United Arab Emirates. The rebels have previously used drones in their attacks on the UAE. Pictured: A long-range Samad-3 drone assembled by Houthi forces which was captured by the Saudis and inspected by a UN panel

The attack also came on the same night Israel's President Isaac Herzog (left) met with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (right) on the first official visit to the UAE by the country's head of state

Why are there tensions between the UAE and Yemen's Houthi rebels? The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been at war in Yemen since early 2015, and was a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that launched attacks against the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels after the group overran the capital of Yemen and ousted the internationally backed government from power. UAE and its allies believe the Houthis are tools for Iran to seize control of Yemen, though the Houthis deny they are backed by Tehran. Although the UAE has decreased the number of troops it has on the ground since 2019, it continues to be actively engaged in the war and supports key militias fighting the Houthis. It also cooperates closely with the United States in counter-terrorism operations in Yemen. Pro-coalition forces backed by the UAE have recently joined fighting against the Houthis in Yemen's energy-producing regions of Shabwa and Marib. Yemen's government-aligned forces, aided by the UAE-backed Giants Brigades and with help from Saudi airstrikes, reclaimed the entire southern province of Shabwa from the Houthis earlier this month and made advances in nearby Marib province. The Houthis have claimed previous attacks on Abu Dhabi's airport, as well as the emirate's Barakah nuclear power plant - claims that Emirati officials have denied in the past. The Houthis have used bomb-laden drones to launch crude and imprecise attacks aimed at Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the course of the war. The group has also launched missiles at Saudi airports, oil facilities and pipelines, as well as used booby-trapped boats for attacks in key shipping routes. The ongoing conflict in Yemen, now in its seventh year, pushed the small nation into a humanitarian crisis that has cost tens of thousands of lives and forced millions of people onto the brink of starvation. Advertisement

Hours before the missile attack on Sunday, reportedly carried out by Houthi rebels, a spokesman for the group said they would disclose details of a new military operation deep inside the UAE.

The attack also came on the same night Israel's President Isaac Herzog met with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the first official visit to the UAE by the country's head of state.

It marked the latest of deepening ties between the two nations as tensions rise in the region.

Last week, the Houthis launched a deadly strike on Abu Dhabi and a second foiled missile assault on Monday, after UAE-backed Yemeni militias intervened along frontlines where the Houthis had made inroads last year.

On January 17, a fire broke out at an extension of Abu Dhabi's main international airport and three fuel tanker trucks exploded in the Musaffah area near the storage facilities of ADNOC, Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil company..

One Pakistani national and two Indian nationals were killed after the fuel trucks exploded, UAE state news agency WAM reported, citing the police.

The six people who were wounded in the attack are suffering mild and medium injuries, officials added.

UAE police said preliminary investigations indicated the detection of small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones, that fell in the two areas and may have caused the explosion and fire.

Yemen's Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, claimed on Monday they had launched the attack on the UAE, without elaborating.

Pro-coalition forces backed by the UAE have recently joined fighting against the Houthis in Yemen's energy-producing regions of Shabwa and Marib.

The UAE has been at war in Yemen since early 2015, and was a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that launched attacks against the Iranian-backed Houthis after the group overran the capital of Yemen and ousted the internationally backed government from power.

Although the UAE has decreased the number of troops it has on the ground since 2019, it continues to be actively engaged in the war and supports key militias fighting the Houthis. It also cooperates closely with the United States in counter-terrorism operations in Yemen.

The Houthis have come under pressure in recent weeks and are suffering heavy losses as Yemeni forces, allied and backed by the UAE, have pushed back the rebel group in key southern and central provinces of the country.

Three people have been killed and six wounded in Abu Dhabi following suspected drone attacks carried out by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Pictured: Black smoke billows up into the air following suspected drone attack on January 17

Yemen's government-aligned forces, aided by the UAE-backed Giants Brigades and with help from Saudi airstrikes, reclaimed the entire southern province of Shabwa from the Houthis earlier this month and made advances in nearby Marib province.

The Houthis have claimed previous attacks on Abu Dhabi's airport, as well as the emirate's Barakah nuclear power plant - claims that Emirati officials have denied in the past.

The Houthis have used bomb-laden drones to launch crude and imprecise attacks aimed at Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the course of the war. The group has also launched missiles at Saudi airports, oil facilities and pipelines, as well as used booby-trapped boats for attacks in key shipping routes.

Though there have been civilian deaths in Saudi Arabia from some of these attacks, the overwhelming number of civilian deaths have been in Yemen. The war has killed 130,000 people in Yemen - both civilians and fighters - and has exacerbated hunger and famine across the impoverished country.
Victoria has recorded a drop in Covid-19 cases with 10,053 new infections reported overnight while cases have remained steady in NSW.

The new cases announced in Victoria on Monday marks a dip on the 10,589 reported on Sunday. Deaths have also fallen to eight - down from 20.

NSW recorded 13,026 new Covid-19 cases - marking the fourth day in a row the state has recorded cases around the 13,000 mark. The daily death rate has also remained steady at 27.

Hospitalisations have risen in NSW to 2,779 - up from 2,663 - and dropped in Victoria to 873 - down from 889.

NSW ICU rates remain unchanged at 185 while Victoria has experienced a dip to 102 - down from 111.

A leading expert says there may be a spike in Covid-19 cases as schools begin to return in some states this week, but the best thing remained that children return to the classroom

NSW has recorded 13,026 new Covid-19 cases and 27 deaths while Victoria has recorded 10,053 infections and eight deaths

A leading expert says there may be a spike in Covid-19 cases as schools begin to return in some states this week, but the best thing remained that children return to the classroom.

Chair for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Jane Halton says COVID-safe measures taken by schools - including hygiene practices and rapid antigen testing - would make a difference in reducing transmission.

'That should give parents confidence, particularly using rapid antigen tests,' Prof Halton told the Nine Network.

'We'll have a strategy that means for the next four weeks we will be able to surveil this and be able to tell exactly how many cases have come from schools reopening.'

More than 320,000 children will be starting school for the first time, and about 240,000 students will be starting year 12.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says the state government has ticked every box in terms of managing transmission risks as schools return.

We have ventilation, vaccination, mask wearing, rapid antigen tests, not mixing and mingling the year groups,' she told the Nine Network.

'We have to remember that Covid is a mild illness in children, we have every safeguard and it should give parents every comfort.'

Acting federal education minister Stuart Robert said modelling indicated there would be an increase in transmission, but didn't reveal what the expected increase would be.

'The key thing is its safe for kids to go back to school. We have to get back to normal,' he told Sky News.

On the same day some students return, another 4.5 million Australians have become eligible for the booster shot as the time span between second and third doses reduces to three months.

The head of the COVID vaccination task force Lieutenant General John Frewen said 7.7 million Australians, just shy of 70 per cent of those eligible, had come forward for their booster shot.

'It's a very dangerous pandemic, vaccination has been a really important part of helping keep Australians safe. Now we've had a position where we've got absolutely more than enough vaccines,' he told the Nine Network.

A leading expert says there may be a spike in Covid-19 cases as schools begin to return in some states this week, but the best thing remained that children return to the classroom

'It's really important and boosters are absolutely essential. There's plenty of opportunities to do that straight away.'

Labor continues to push free rapid antigen tests universally as schools return and tens of thousands of new infections are still being posted daily.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said the tests should be available on the basis of need for everyone through the Medicare system.

But Mr Albanese seemingly walked back his policy on Sunday, saying if Labor formed government, the tests would be available on 'the basis of need'.

Despite saying later in the interview the policy would cover everyone, it was a change in language big enough for coalition minister's to seize on during Monday morning's media rounds.

The coalition says Labor's policy would cost $13 billion to role out.

'Why don't you buy my toothpaste as well? Why don't you buy my soap? (Billionaire) Andrew Forrest gets a free one, (mining magnate) Gina Rinehart gets a free one,' Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told the Nine Network.

'You go to the people who cant afford it and are struggling and help them out. You don't just chuck (money) out the door willy nilly because someone somewhere has to pay it all back.'
As he delivered an otherwise unremarkable lecture on business communication, Professor Greg Patton tried to give his many Chinese students a helpful tip.

To illustrate a point about padding out conversation with words such as 'um' or 'you know', Patton gave a common Mandarin example, roughly pronounced 'nay-guh'.

The next thing he knew, he had been suspended from his job at the University of Southern California. Some black students in his class had formally complained that he had been racist.

They had been made to feel 'less than' by a teacher who had deprived them of their 'peace and mental wellbeing', they claimed, demanding he be sacked.

As you may guess from the title, Woke Racism  How A New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, author John McWhorter doesn't pull his punches

Patton  who'd been giving the same lecture for years without complaint  was eventually reinstated, but only after an international outcry in which black American expats in China said they had never suffered despite frequently hearing the term  which sounds a little like the N-word  while Mandarin speakers complained that by censoring their language, they were the real victims of discrimination.

This ludicrous episode is just one example cited in a blistering new book by a U.S. academic, who has fired a broadside against the excesses of the 'anti-racism' drive sweeping through universities, institutions and companies across the Western world.

As you may guess from the title, Woke Racism  How A New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, author John McWhorter doesn't pull his punches. He likens the new, 'woke' anti-racist movement to a self-flagellating religious cult  one that not only stifles debate but actually hurts black people.

Race riots: Minneapolis in flames after the death of George Floyd in May 2020

The new religion is a 'catalogue of contradictions' which holds that being born white is the 'original sin'. It has imposed an 'ideological reign of terror' in which white people are made to feel permanently guilty and black people that their lives are defined by oppression.

But McWhorter is having none of it. Any black student who feels a Mandarin word that 'sounds kind of like the N-word deprives him of his 'peace and mental wellbeing' urgently needs psychiatric counselling', he writes.

It's dynamite stuff, but what's particularly interesting about McWhorter is that he is no diehard white conservative, but an African-American professor of linguistics at New York's Columbia University. He's also a columnist in the usually achingly politically correct New York Times.

As he rightly notes: 'A version of this book by a white writer would be blithely dismissed as racist.'

The new religion is a 'catalogue of contradictions' which holds that being born white is the 'original sin' according to Mr McWhorter. Pictured: Oregon Police march towards protesters on September 5, 2020 who were protesting against racism and police brutality

His courageously outspoken tome has become a bestseller, encouraging those who feel suffocated by political correctness and infuriating many on the Left who have denounced him as a 'traitor' and 'heretic'. In the past week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to rule on whether a policy at the universities of Harvard and North Carolina giving preference to black applicants is lawful, following claims that it discriminates against Asian-Americans.

Given its current heavy conservative bias, the court may well rule with the complainants, overturning 'affirmative action' designed to get black students into elite universities across the U.S.

Having long argued that so-called 'positive discrimination' should more fairly be based on whether students come from rich or poor backgrounds, rather than on their race, McWhorter will be delighted.

Left-wing academics are a particular bugbear for him. In Losing The Race, a book he published more than 20 years ago, he accused them of encouraging black people to think of themselves as perpetual victims  an ideology that came to be known as 'critical race theory'  rather than seeing racial prejudice as a problem that can be overcome.

Pictured: Protesters in New York on August 28 2020 holding Defund NYPD signs

In his new book, he says this kind of thinking has been elevated into a religion with deluded academics its priesthood. He describes the smug, fanatical and mainly white disciples of this new anti-racism as 'The Elect', and says they see themselves as 'bearers of a Good News that, if all people would simply open up and see it, would create a perfect world'.

And what is this Good News? That racism is baked into the structure of society; that white people who claim they're not racist are proving they are; and that black people are so subsumed in coping with this prejudice that special allowances must be made for them in terms of their standards of behaviour and achievement.

Being black is essentially a 'tragedy' that won't end until there's a 'massive socio-psychological revolution among whites'.

And resistance has crumbled: millions of us, including giant corporations and historic institutions, live in terror of 'winding up in the sights of a zealous brand of inquisition' that will happily label people racist while knowing that it's one of the most devastating accusations you can level at a person.

A woman holds a sign saying 'Defund the Police' at a protest on January 15 in Cardiff (pictured)

Given the people espousing this sanctimonious claptrap and perverted logic are more interested in looking virtuous than actually doing good, McWhorter argues that it's hardly surprising black people are not benefiting.

When the anti-racism movement is not directly damaging  such as the Defund The Police campaign, which has spread to the UK and usually weakens policing in high-crime neighbourhoods  it is encouraging black people to think of themselves only as pathetic victims, he says.

'The ideology in question is one under which white people calling themselves our saviours make black people look like the dumbest, weakest, most self-indulgent beings in the history of our species, and teach black people to revel in that status,' he writes.

Pictured: An officer responds to a structure fire in Oregon protests on April 17 2021

In a country in which school officials are being told that virtues such as literacy and punctuality are 'white things', what hope is there for black children, he asks?

McWhorter does not deny racial prejudice exists. But he believes it's being grossly exaggerated.

Now aged 56, he says he knows the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s won important victories for black Americans 'lucky enough' to have grown up in subsequent decades.

For him, a turning point in his views came in 1992, when three of the four police officers filmed beating African-American Rodney King in Los Angeles were acquitted, prompting a week of ferocious rioting in which 63 people died.

On day two of the Black Lives Matter Protest/Justice for George Floyd, the family of Belly Mujtinga and the actor of Star Ward John Boyega (pictured) came to make a speech during the Black Live Matter Protest/Justice for George Floyd in London's Hyde Park on June 3rd, 2020

Why, he asked himself, did people take the King verdict as proof that all black Americans had no hope of racial justice? The same thoughts went through his mind in May 2020 after the 'revolting' death of another black man, George Floyd, as he was being arrested by white police officers in Minneapolis. The incident prompted worldwide protests and riots.

McWhorter writes mainly about the U.S., but many of his points are readily applicable to the UK, where only three months ago the Department for Education had to warn schools not to teach the concept of 'white privilege' as fact.

Myriad examples of innocent victims of anti-racism's vicious 'cancel culture' are cited in his book. They include David Shor, a Left-wing analyst sacked by his consulting firm for tweeting a study, around the time of the Black Lives Matter protests, showing how violent protests can backfire. And there's New York Times food writer Alison Roman, ousted after mildly criticising two celebrity chefs who happened not to be white.

Amid such madness, it may be tempting to give up resisting  but McWhorter insists all is not lost. He looks to Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote of the everyday courage needed to resist Soviet oppression.

'You can make a shark approaching you go away by bopping it on the nose,' writes McWhorter. 'The Elect are like sharks. They need to be bopped on the nose.'
Women's health could be put at risk by replacing words such as 'mother' with more 'inclusive' terms such as 'birth-givers', women's health experts have warned.

Greater use of gender-neutral terms can have 'unintended consequences that have serious implications for women and children', according to a paper due to be published this week.

While the authors said that language meant to be inclusive of transgender people was appropriate in some circumstances, they argued against removing references to the sex of mothers in research and medical information.

Researchers, from institutions including King's College London, said that alternative terminology such as 'lactating parents' instead of 'breastfeeding' risks 'reducing protection of the mother-infant [bond]' and 'disembodying and undermining breastfeeding'

They warned that using terms such as 'pregnant people' instead of 'women' in some contexts risks dehumanising women and threatens to unravel decades of work in improving the visibility of women in medicine.

The paper, first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, states: 'Desexing the language of female reproduction has been done with a view to being sensitive to individual needs and beneficial, kind and inclusive. Yet, this kindness has delivered unintended consequences that have serious implications for women and children.'

The researchers, from institutions including King's College London, said that alternative terminology such as 'lactating parents' instead of 'breastfeeding' risks 'reducing protection of the mother-infant [bond]' and 'disembodying and undermining breastfeeding'.

They added: 'What does the phrase 'women and birthing people' actually mean? This construction could be interpreted in a literal way as meaning that 'women' are not people.'

Professor Jenny Gamble of Coventry University, one of ten authors, said: 'Confusing the idea of gender identity and the reality of sex risks adverse health consequences and deeper and more insidious discrimination against women.

'Pregnancy, birth and early motherhood are fundamentally sexed issues, not gendered.'

Last year an NHS trust introduced 'gender-inclusive language' for midwives including 'chestfeeding' and 'birthing parent'. Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said staff would be asked to use language reflecting people's 'own identities and preferences'.

Instead of simply saying 'breast milk', they can choose from 'human milk' or 'breast/chest milk' or 'milk from the feeding mother or parent', the Trust said.

Professor Jenny Gamble of Coventry University, one of ten authors, said: 'Confusing the idea of gender identity and the reality of sex risks adverse health consequences and deeper and more insidious discrimination against women'

In December the Royal College of Midwives apologised after referring to mothers as 'postnatal people'. The RCM later said it was 'a huge oversight' and it was committed to ensuring 'women are never erased from the narrative around pregnancy [and] birth'.

And in July last year, the Scottish National Party was criticised for referring to 'pregnant people' instead of 'women' in a tweet appealing to expectant mothers to get the Covid vaccine.

The authors of the paper, due to be published in the journal Frontiers in Global Women's Health, stressed that some use of desexed words is appropriate, especially when dealing one-to-one with people who prefer it.

'We fully endorse the importance of being inclusive and respectful,' they said.

'For those who are pregnant, birthing, and breastfeeding but who do not identify as women, the individual's preferred terminology for themselves and their body parts should be used wherever possible.'
It is a celebration of the British countryside that has enraptured millions of viewers.

But the BBC's Winterwatch programme has ruffled feathers in rural Norfolk, I can reveal, after producers banned gamekeepers from carrying guns anywhere within the 4,000-acre estate where it is filmed.

Locals have accused programme-makers of being health-and-safety busybodies and out-of-touch 'townies' who do not understand country ways.

Usually at this time of year, workers on the Wild Ken Hill estate would be culling muntjac deer for the benefit of the wider ecosystem.

But before the BBC descended on the area for their three-week stay, which ended on Friday, producers issued a missive clearing the estate of rifles and shotguns.

'The estate has been advised by the BBC that invasive species control is not permitted while they are there,' one local said.

The BBC's Winterwatch programme has ruffled feathers in rural Norfolk (Pictured left to right: Presenters Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams)

A local said they believed guns were banned in the wake of the accidental shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin's latest film Rust (Pictured: Alec Baldwin)

BBC Studios confirmed that firearms were banned while the production team were on site following a 'standard risk assessment'

'The BBC are so paranoid, especially in the wake of what happened on set with Alec Baldwin, that guns were completely banned for the full duration of their time anywhere on the estate, even when cameras weren't rolling.

'It's become a major talking point among locals, some of whom feel that townies have interfered with the country way of life.

'Some estate staff felt like they were needlessly sitting on their hands at an important time for vermin control.'

Wild Ken Hill's owner Dom Buscall has stopped the traditional pheasant shoot on the site, near the Queen's Sandringham estate, but the source said: 'Culling is still an essential part of the running of the estate.

'Perhaps the BBC's wildlife output is not as aligned with countryside ways as they'd have you believe.'

Chris Packham, who presents Winterwatch with Michaela Strachan, opposes many forms of culling but has conceded 'we have no choice' but to kill deer in the UK.

BBC Studios confirmed that firearms were banned while the production team were on site following a 'standard risk assessment'.

The ultimate earring test

Here's the latest celebrity jewellery craze  and it's a real sign of the times.

Used lateral flow tests are being sported as earrings, as modelled below by Jude Law's influencer daughter Iris, 21.

Dior model Iris has taken to sticking jewels on to her tests and hanging them from her lobes. It's seemingly a bid to point out what a waste of plastic they are.

It's a trend that seems to be catching on and I suppose I can see the appeal... as long as there's only one red line showing in the window!

Used lateral flow tests are being sported as earrings, as modelled here by Jude Law's influencer daughter Iris, 21

Could high-society catering firm Alison Price & Company be dragged into the Partygate row?

A waitress has claimed that the business sent staff and food to a 'relaxed and jolly' party featuring friends of Boris and Carrie Johnson, though she has said only Carrie was seen there in person.

Alison Price is the go-to caterer for society weddings and is famous for making extravagant canapes at high-profile venues including Kensington Palace, Blenheim Palace and the Tower of London.

Its website says: 'Our team of hugely creative and talented chefs and event managers will plan and execute your perfect party.'

The company's events manager declined to comment when I approached him before Partygate broke, and now says: 'It's a no comment, even more so than before.'
When Nell Gifford discovered in 2019 that she was dying of cancer, she made clear her long-term vision for the circus that bears her name.

But now her sister  bestselling author Clover Stroud  and her father Rick are locked in a bitter legal battle with one of the trustees appointed to keep the circus going over claims that those dying wishes are being ignored.

Clover says: 'They're saying it's open to interpretation. Utter nonsense. It was written in front of a solicitor.

'If you cannot be entrusted with someone's dying wishes, go and do something else.

'The thought of being asked to do something very simple, and refusing, is beyond me.

'Nell deeply considered her letter. Having it stamped upon is like stamping out her voice.'

Nell Gifford, pictured with Pozo the Strongman in September 2018

Nell Gifford's sister  bestselling author Clover Stroud (pictured)  and her father Rick are locked in a bitter legal battle with one of the trustees appointed to keep the circus going over claims that Nell's dying wishes are being ignored

Nell (pictured) started the circus, a glorious retro tribute to the big-top days of old, 22 years ago

TV director Rick adds: 'It breaks my heart. Nell has been betrayed.'

Nell, pictured above with Pozo The Strongman in 2018, is a half-sister of homeware designer Emma Bridgewater.

Nell started the circus, a glorious retro tribute to the big-top days of old, 22 years ago.

Giffords tell me they are 'dedicated to Nell's vision'.

How times have changed for sobby songstress Adele.

As she tearfully pulled out of her planned mega-money residency in Las Vegas  reportedly because of an inadequate sound system  I was reminded of simpler times when the girl from Tottenham really did have the down-to-earth attitude her brand tries to promote.

In 2011, Adele was still a woman of the people and proved as much by launching her second album, 21, at The Tabernacle, a community hall in Notting Hill.

My picture shows her at the event. She was already very famous, yet had no qualms about belting out her then-new single Someone Like You on the Tabernacles sound equipment, which is used mostly for am-dram productions.

Her fans know that all Adele needs to perform is a simple stage and a microphone  but perhaps shes not as low-key as she makes out these days

My picture shows her at the event. She was already very famous, yet had no qualms about belting out her then-new single Someone Like You on the Tabernacles sound equipment, which is used mostly for am-dram productions

In 2011, Adele was still a woman of the people and proved as much by launching her second album, 21, at The Tabernacle (pictured), a community hall in Notting Hill

It's au revoir from me

After nearly 15 fabulous years working for the MoS Diary column, including ten as its editor, I've decided to pass on the baton.

And what a wild ride it's been. I've stayed up all night with Kate Moss, partied at Glasto with Ellie Goulding, admonished Justin Bieber for impertinence, played 'beer pong' with a senior Royal on a 'straightforward shooting weekend', spent a month living in a penthouse above a Verbier nightclub, walked countless red carpets and hopped from Cannes to Monaco in a helicopter all in the name of work!

After nearly 15 fabulous years working for the MoS Diary column, including ten as its editor, I've decided to pass on the baton. (Pictured: Outgoing MoS Diary editor Charlotte Griffiths)

Outgoing MoS Diary editor Charlotte Griffiths with Brit pop star Ellie Goulding

But I've made sacrifices too. Let's not forget the times I shaved my head and dyed my hair pink, took up yoga with smelly goats, tried to disguise myself as Victoria Beckham, and crashed a greasy KFC 'VIP' room in Ascot's Royal Enclosure.

But I'm not going far  I'll still be dedicated to bringing in scoops as MoS Editor at Large, and I'm leaving readers of this column in good hands  new Diary Editor Emily Prescott will be giving out all the goss from next week.
Quirky pop duo Bloom Twins charmed me when I met them last week  though their tales of attempting to climb the greasy celebrity pole were quite alarming!

London-based duo Sonya and Anna Kuprienko, 26, have toured with Duran Duran and have 120,000 Instagram followers, but were given some bizarre advice on how to get on in the showbiz world.

Sonya says: 'One manager, who represents a lot of artists I admire, said we were wasting our time in London and we needed to go to LA and sleep with somebody famous.'

The duo, pictured left and above, did go as far as joining Raya  a dating app for the rich and famous.

But their experience took a dark turn when a selection of A-list men on the site behaved rather badly.

London-based duo Sonya and Anna Kuprienko (pictured), 26, have toured with Duran Duran and have 120,000 Instagram followers, but were given some bizarre advice on how to get on in the showbiz world

The identical twins (pictured) want to turn their experiences into a film

Anna adds: 'I've seen six Hollywood-famous people on the site. I matched with three of them. It's crazy.

'One was a famous musician but he was two-timing me.'

Now the identical twins want to turn their experiences into a film.

Could be bloomin' interesting!

Carphone Warehouse tycoon David Ross brought out the big guns to support his artist girlfriend Antonia Showering.

I revealed the pair were an item last year and they finally stepped out publicly last week for Antonias gallery exhibition in Mayfair.

David, 56, was raving about how proud he is of his girlfriend, as well he might, since 30-year-old Antonias work is littered with little clues about their romance and her fondness for Davids toddler son John.

Says my mole at the Timothy Taylor gallery: Antonias work is quite David-heavy. If you look closely you can see lots of hidden pictures of baby bottles  a nod to John whom she adores.

David might have hit his contacts book for the glittering guest list, but he neednt have bothered.

All of Antonias work was sold before the exhibition opened, with one piece reportedly going to David Cameron.

The former PM was among many famous faces at the gallery and he seemed rather amused by the antics of his daughter Nancy.

She has just turned 18 and marked it by downing her first legal pint  and piercing a rather unconventional part of her body. Quite where it was, Id better not say!

You may remember her as a shy 12-year-old leaving No 10 with her family in 2016, right.

Maybe Nancy has inherited a rebellious streak from her mum, or is getting revenge for the time her parents accidentally left her in a pub when she was eight
Lucy Hale demonstrated her winning street style when she was spotted stepping out in Los Angeles this week.

The 32-year-old Pretty Little Liars actress flashed her trim midriff in a moss green crop top and a high-waisted pair of black leggings.

She wrapped up in a tartan coat that complemented her top, adding a splash of dazzle with a couple of necklaces.

Legging it: Lucy Hale demonstrated her winning street style when she was spotted stepping out in Los Angeles this week

Lucy wore her dark hair in its signature bob redolent of the 1920s flapper era, rounding off her ensemble with black slides from Bernardo 1946.

Her upcoming movies include the wacky brain damage comedy Big Gold Brick in which she plays Andy Garcia's daughter.

Megan Fox plays Andy's drastically younger and dissatisfied wife, while Emory Cohen plays an aspiring writer who gets caught up in their lives.

Off she goes: The 32-year-old Pretty Little Liars actress flashed her trim midriff in a moss green crop top and a high-waisted pair of black leggings

Andy's character Floyd hits Emory's character Samuel with a car, injuring his head to the point he begins to hallucinate, as seen in the trailer.

Floyd invites Samuel to stay in his home and write his biography, but an increasingly zany series of events unfolds in the process.

Written and directed by Brian Petsos and due out next year, the movie also features sizzling heartthrob Oscar Isaac as a mysterious character called Anselm.

Incoming: Lucy's upcoming movies include the wacky brain damage comedy Big Gold Brick in which she plays Andy Garcia's daughter

Lucy's character Lily meanwhile is apparently 'Floyd's daughter from his first marriage,' as Samuel reveals in voiceover in the trailer.

Lily appears to be a concert violinist as she is seen onstage with her instrument while decked out in a glamorous scarlet frock befitting an opera soprano.

However her temper seems to be getting in the way of her professionalism as at one point she slams the violin onto the stage and smears her lipstick across her face.
She is a Geordie girl born and bred.

And Chloe Ferry ensured all eyes would be on her on Saturday as she hit the streets of Newcastle for a girly night out.

Reinforcing her wild side in a mesh, leopard print catsuit, the 26-year-old reality star had her curves on full display for an evening of tipples, food and grooving at The Hustle.

Saturday feeling: Chloe Ferry manifested her wild side in a mesh leopard print catsuit as she hit Newcastle's The Hustle for a girly night out

Chloe's coiffure for her outing was one of chic nature, as she swept her raven locks into a tight ponytail.

She applied some products from her eponymous cosmetics range, keen to inform her followers via her Instagram story about her lipliner and lipgloss, which were nude in hue.

Stepping out in the perfect outfit completion, the Geordie Shore starlet proved that boots were made for walking as she strutted her stuff alongside her gal pals.

Stepping out: The 26-year-old reality star had her curves on full display for an evening of tipples, food and grooving

Girls night: Stepping out in the perfect outfit finalisation, the Geordie Shore starlet proved that boots were made for walking as she strutted her stuff alongside her gal pals

Figure flaunting: Chloe's coiffure for her outing was one of chic nature, as she swept her raven locks into a tight ponytail

Also glammed up for a night out - but 144 miles away in Manchester - was The Circle contestant Beth Dunlavey.

The 34-year-old, who appeared on the reality television game show back in 2019, flashed a peek of her abs in a cream bra and khaki two-piece, comprising a blazer and flared trousers.

The business developer was all smiles as she headed to upmarket diner Rosso, boosting her svelte frame with chocolate-hued sandals.

Beauty: Also glammed up for a night out - but 144 miles away in Manchester - was The Circle contestant Beth Dunlavey

Beth played as herself during the second series of The Circle, however catfished as a 'girl next door.'

Her thought process behind this was in case people perceived her real self as b****y.'

In episode 11, she started playing as a 62-year-old woman called Joyce, alongside Jack Quirk, as chosen by the public. They were blocked in episode 18.
Egypt's top archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass attends a signing ceremony for his newly published autobiography book in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 29, 2022. Zahi Hawass held on Saturday evening a signing ceremony for his newly published autobiography book titled "The Guardian: Days of Zahi Hawass." (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's top archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass held on Saturday evening a signing ceremony for his newly published autobiography book titled "The Guardian: Days of Zahi Hawass."

Held in a hotel in downtown Cairo, the ceremony was attended by Egyptian officials, archaeologists, authors and artists, as well as foreign guests including ambassadors and other diplomats.

The ceremony started with a presentation on Hawass's accomplishments, excavations, archaeological discoveries, worldwide fame and testimonies of Egyptian and foreign archaeologists and public figures to his renown and charisma, including late famous Egyptian film star Omar Sharif.

"The book doesn't only narrate my autobiography but documents the history of archeological work in Egypt in the past 40 years," Hawass told Xinhua during the ceremony.

The 600-page book sheds light on the archaeological discoveries and accomplishments made by Hawass who once served as minister of antiquities, and the challenges he faced during excavation and restoration work.

"In the book, I give credit to all the people who contributed to archaeological work, such as building museums and archaeological areas, raising archaeological awareness and retrieving stolen artifacts," said the notable archaeologist.

The title of the book, "The Guardian," was chosen by Nahdet Misr Publishing House, which has been publishing books on all cultural fields in Egypt for 84 years.

"We are honored to have published for Dr. Zahi Hawass a large collection of books over the past 18 years, whether for children or adults, and we have crowned this cooperation with Hawass's autobiography, 'The Guardian,'" said Dalia Ibrahim, CEO of Nahdet Misr Publishing House.

"All generations need to know his biography and his big role in reviving Egyptian antiquities," Ibrahim added.

A discussion panel was also held during the ceremony to analyse the value of the book and its contents, followed by a question and answer session.

Among the attendees were Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Mostafa El-Feki, Hawass's close friend who wrote the back-cover blurb of "The Guardian."

"I had the honor to introduce his autobiography on the back cover. I consider this book a reference for everyone who would like to know about the Egyptian antiquities and their popularity during the time of Zahi Hawass," El-Feki told Xinhua.

"I've always called for appointing Hawass as Egypt's ambassador for tourism, antiquities and culture to the whole world and I believe his popularity certainly reflected on his promotion of Egyptian antiquities," said the head of Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Describing Hawass as "the icon of Egyptian archaeology," Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, also strongly recommended Hawass's new book.

"This book is so interesting that once you start reading the first page, you won't stop until you finish the whole book," Waziri said. 

Photo shows the newly published autobiography book of Egypt's top archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass during a signing ceremony in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 29, 2022. Zahi Hawass held on Saturday evening a signing ceremony for his newly published autobiography book titled "The Guardian: Days of Zahi Hawass." (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
EastEnders is set to see a familiar face return to Albert Square.

Sam Mitchell, is set to make an 'explosive' comeback to the soap with Kim Medcalf, 48, reprising her role of the iconic character, over Danniella Westbrook.

The daughter of Peggy Mitchell, made her first appearance in Walford in 1990, originally played by Danniella, 48, but was replaced by Kim in 2002, while she battled her highly publicised cocaine addiction.

Familiar face! EastEnders Sam Mitchell, 48, is to make an 'explosive' return to the soap as Kim Medcalf reprises the role that was once played by Danniella Westbrook, 48

Speaking to The Sun Kim detailed: 'When the BBC approached me last year to reprise the role of Sam I was thrilled. She's a brilliant character and I can't wait to get back in the Square and work with the amazing cast.'

BBC television producer Kate Oates, 43, added: 'I have long wanted to bring Sam back into the family fold. Her return is guaranteed to be explosive.'

Kim previously played Sam between 2002 and 2005 but in more recent years the role has been taken on by Danniella.

Danniella returned to the soap in September 2009 for a year, then for a final time as Sam in 2016 for a short four episode stint.

MailOnline has contacted Danniella's representatives for comment.

Iconic: The daughter of Peggy Mitchell, made her first appearance in 1990, originally played by Danniella, 48, (left) but was replaced by Kim in 2002 (right) due to her off screen difficulties

Good luck! In a post to Instagram earlier this month Danniella confirmed that she had not been recast as she gave her well wishes to the then, unknown actress

In a post to Instagram earlier this month Danniella confirmed that she had not been recast as she gave her well wishes to the then, unknown actress.

In the sweet post, she penned: 'The @bbceastenders have not contacted me to say they are re casting or if they have. But thats ok. Who plays Sam next I wish all the luck in the world to. Enjoy.'

This comes as Danniella, who was admitted to hospital earlier this month, admitted she's spent a lot of time alone recently 'working on myself and my spiritual side' after cutting 'deadbeats and energy draining people out of my life'.

The actress said that she was 'more than ready' as she promised to be 'back to my best and fighting fit next year' in a post to Instagram earlier this week.

Past troubles: The star has had surgery after her substance misuse caused the complete erosion of her nasal septum, she said this week that she had been 'working on myself'

The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate, who publicly battled cocaine addiction throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, posted a picture of herself as she walked the red carpet at the 2009 TV Quick and TV Choice awards on social media on Thursday afternoon.

Alongside to photo she penned: 'Cant wait for all my surgery to be done, will be back to my best and fighting fit and next year I will be 50! Bring it on, Im ready. More than ready, Im ready for a full transformation physically.

'Ive spent a lot of time alone the last six months. Ive been working on myself and my spiritual side has already begun evolving,Ive cut the deadbeats and energy draining people out of my life. And I am ready to get busy living. And busy working.

'I have a feeling its all going to work out just fine #thewestie #lifeisbeautiful #getbusyliving #gratitude #letsgetmarriedagain #whoknew.'

At the height of her drug use, it was reported she would take up to five grams of cocaine a day, blowing close to 250,000 on the drug.

The star has since embarked on multiple rehab stints in order to battle her demons - and revealed she was finally clean in June 2020, after attending a clinic in Mijas, Spain.
Brendan Cole's wife of eleven years has reportedly been feeling 'anxious and emotional and p***ed off at times' during his Dancing On Ice stint.

The New Zealand-born ballroom dancer, 45, is paired with German skater Vanessa Bauer, 25, on the rink - and while wife Zoe, 37, has been 'fully supportive' of her spouse's decision to partake in the show, she is said to have described herself as a 'Dancing On Ice widow'.

According to The Sun, the former Strictly star rented an apartment in the same block as Vanessa near the Slough Ice Arena, despite his Bucks home being just a 40-minute drive away.

Challenge: Brendan Cole's wife Zoe has been feeling 'anxious and emotional' as a 'challenging few months' comes to light from Dancing On Ice (Brendan and Vanessa Bauer pictured)

Meanwhile, Zoe and their children Aurelia, nine, and three-year-old Dante were holidaying in their Mallorca holiday home, where the strains of solo parenting had been claimed to take their toll.

A friend of the blogger's told the publication: '[Zoe] is fully supportive of Brendans decision to do Dancing On Ice, but it has not been easy looking after the kids by herself for so long while he is skating.

'She has felt anxious and emotional, and p***ed off at times. She has said in the past months that she feels like a Dancing On Ice widow.'

Emotions: While Zoe, 37, has been 'fully supportive' of her spouse's decision to partake in the show, she allegedly described herself as a 'Dancing On Ice widow'

Residence: According to The Sun, the former Strictly star rented an apartment in the same block as Vanessa, 25, near the Slough Ice Arena

However, the source confirmed that Brendan had been 'checking in' on his family while they were abroad, adding: 'She doesnt believe he would cheat on her - she would not be with him if she did. But she has found the past few months challenging.'

Last month, following a family getaway, Zoe penned on social media: 'The last three months of solo parenting in a foreign land and heaps of moving around over the last few weeks were starting to take their toll, so to get away was very welcome.'

Since Zoe has returned to the UK, Brendan has reportedly moved out of the apartment and is commuting between their home and the ice rink.

Tough: A friend of the blogger's told the publication: '[Zoe] is fully supportive of Brendans decision to do Dancing On Ice, but it has not been easy looking after the kids by herself'

And while his wife may have been absent for his debut skate earlier this month, sources are adamant Zoe will attend in the coming weeks.

She is said to be 'grateful' for the work Vanessa is putting in with Brendan - but it can be hard for her to 'see them so close.'

The source concluded that the mother-of-two would be 'happy' if Brendan was 'a bit more restrained' when he's with Vanessa on camera.

MailOnline contacted Brendan's representatives for comment.

Brendan impressed the judges with the 'best first performance ever' as he topped the leaderboard with a total of 30.5 out of 40 points during the Dancing On Ice launch.

Although he and Vanessa achieved an incredible score for his first routine, he received some backlash online as many viewers pointed out his professional dancer background.

While it was a successful evening for Brendan, it was a different story for TV presenter Ria Hebden and partner ukasz Rozycki, who landed in the skate off after securing 24.5 points.
Iconic media mogul Oprah Winfrey is celebrating her 68th birthday on Saturday, January 29.

And some of her celebrity friends took to Instagram to share their love and birthday wishes to the longtime daytime talk show queen and OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) co-owner on her special day.

Some of the high-profile names posting tributes includes the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Will Smith, Lupita Nyong'o, Niecy Nash and Viola Davis.

Happy B-Day! Oprah Winfrey is celebrating her 68th birthday on Friday, January 28, and some of her celebrity friends are sharing tributes to the Media mogul on Instagram

'In honor of the amazing @oprah's birthday, sharing the video that plays rent-free in my head everyday. I  you, OW!!' Witherspoon, 45, gushed about the multi-media icon, alongside a short video posted on her Instagram page.

'We are so actually friends,' Winfrey declared in the clip showing them snuggled up next to each other seemingly at a red carpet event.

Witherspoon ended the clip by declaring, 'We really are friends,' to her 27.2 million Instagram fans and followers, along with a large 'BFF' multi-colored emoji.

Honoring her 'friend': In her first birthday tribute, Reese Witherspoon shared a short video of herself and Winfrey declaring that they are 'really friends'

Glowing: 'We really are friends,' Witherspoon professed at the end of the short clip, along with a large 'BFF' multi-colored emoji

Hilarious: The Oscar-winning actress joked how the video 'plays rent free in my head'

Around the same time, the Walk The Line star posted another photo of the two gal pals walking and talking together at an outdoor event.

'Happy birthday to the most inspiring mentor & friend I could ever ask for!' she wrote in her second b-day tribute, continuing, 'Thank you for all the Good work you put into this world everyday! @oprah.'

In this particular image, the longtime leading lady kept it simple and chic in a form-fitting black dress and matching heels, and Winfrey showed her style in black pants with a green vest over a white blouse.

High praise: The Walk The Line star, 45, posted another tribute to the longtime daytime talk show queen where she thanked her 'mentor' for 'all the good work you put into the world'

B-day shout out: Will Smith, 53, kept it shortand sweet in his birthday tribute to Winfrey

Will Smith kept it simple and sweet by writing, 'Happy bday @oprah,' across the bottom of a photo of himself chatting with the legendary media personality as they walked along a red brick driveway.

The 53-year-old actor looked conservatively cool in dark slacks with a gray-patterned sweater and white sneakers, while the interviewer extraordinaire was the picture of fall fashion in brown pants, a tan sweater and matching suede shoes.

The duo, who appear to be in the middle of an interview, also were all smiles as they made their way down the driveway in front of a home, which appears to be in Los Angeles.

More high praise: Lupita Nyong'o, 38, also got in on the celebratory parade for Winfrey by sharing a photo of the two friends, seemingly on the red carpet for a previous event

Lupita Nyong'o, 38, also got in on the celebratory parade for Winfrey by sharing a photo of the two friends, seemingly on the red carpet for a previous event.

'Happy Birthday, @oprah, she began across the image, which shows the Kenyan-Mexican actress in a colorful sleeveless dress that includes strips of yellow, red, blue, pink, brown and orange, all while it hugs her toned curves.

She added, 'You have touched the lives of so many and we are all better for it!' before ending with, 'Have a beautiful Day.'

More love: Niecy Nash, 51, called the birthday girl a 'Beauty' on her special day

Love for 'Sis': Viola Davis, 56, called Winfrey 'our jewel' when she paid tribute to her on her special day on Friday

Niecy Nash posted a red carpet moment she and Winfrey shared when she honored the former host of the iconic, The Oprah Winfrey Show.

'Screaming Happy Birthday Beauty!!!! @oprah love you to the sky!' the 51-year-old gushed in the caption, along with celebratory and red heart emojis.

'Happy birthday to our jewel, this icon, beauty..... @Oprah!! Love ya Sis,' along with a series of red heart emojis, and an attribution to the @hollywoodreporter.

Winfrey's team at OWN also dropped a tribute on the company's website, in the form of an outdoor photo of her flashing her infectious smile dressed in an orange sweater.

'Shouting happy birthday to the one and only @Oprah!' it began below the image, adding, 'Wishing you many many more,' along with a red heart emoji.
Jess and Eve Gale showcased their incredible figures as they stepped out for a girls' night on the town on Saturday.

The Love Island duo, 22, looked sensational in their all-black ensembles as they headed to sophisticated eatery Bagatelle in Mayfair.

Jess flashed her abs in a crop top while Eve opted for a skin tight PVC jumpsuit to display her toned legs.

Sensational: Love Island twins Jess (right) and Eve Gale (left) , 22, showcased their incredible figures in all-black ensembles as they stepped out in Mayfair on Saturday

Jess wore the slinky long sleeved number with a pair of ruched detailed joggers that highlighted her waist.

She wore her long ombre tresses in a half-up half-down hairstyle that tumbled down her back in loose waves.

The former Love Islander contestant added a pair of peep toe heeled boots and a miniature chain strap bag to complete her look.

Stunning: Jess wore the slinky long sleeved number with a pair of ruched detailed joggers that highlighted her waist

Wow! Eve put on a busty display in the racy jumpsuit as she layered over a backless blazer and turned around to give a glimpse of her pert bottom

Eve put on a busty display in the racy jumpsuit as she layered over a backless blazer and turned around to give a glimpse of her pert derriere.

She wore her bright blonde locks in classy voluminous curls and added fluttery false lashes and a slick of pink lipgloss.

Eve completed her look with a pair of clear heeled mules and a nude Dior saddle handbag.

The outing comes after Jess and Eve were among six reality stars who have been named and shamed for breaking Instagram advertising rules.

The Advertising Standards Authority revealed Anna Vakili, Belle Hassan, Jodie Marsh and Francesca Allen have also been reprimanded after ignoring 'repeated warnings and help and guidance on sticking to the rules'.

Influencers who are paid to promote products on their pages are supposed to declare when it is an advertisement with #ad, to ensure consumers are not being misled.

Glam: She wore her bright blonde locks in classy voluminous curls and added fluttery false lashes and a slick of pink lipgloss

In a new approach, the ASA is now taking out their own ads against these influencers on Instagram, alerting consumers to their failure to follow the rules.

Naming and shaming each celeb, the Instagram post reads: 'NAME has been sanctioned by the UKs ad regulator for not declaring ads on this platform.

'Be aware that products and services recommended or featured by this influencer may have been paid for by those brands.

'Our non-compliant social media influencer page at asa.org.uk is regularly updated to inform consumers of those who break these rules.'
Erika Jayne has officially been dismissed from her estranged husband Tom Girardi's fraud and embezzlement lawsuit.

It comes after the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 50, was the recipient of harsh speculation for months following her 82-year-old former partner's professional and legal drama.

Court documents obtained by Us Weekly said, 'Pursuant to stipulation, plaintiffs claims against defendants EJ Global LLC and Erika Girardi are dismissed without prejudice and without costs.'

Relief! Erika Jayne has officially be dismissed from her estranged husband Tom Girardi's fraud and embezzlement lawsuit.

Initially Erika and Tom were both accused of stealing $2 million in settlement funds from families of Lion Air Flight 610 crash victims.

Girardi, who's a former attorney, was also accused of mismanaging several other clients finances.

Despite claims that she was aware of Tom's mishandling of money, Erika has adamantly denied knowing of any wrongdoing.

The lawsuit against the former spouses was filed in December 2020, one month after Erika filed for divorce from Tom after 20 years of marriage.

Subject of criticism: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 50, was the recipient of harsh speculation for months following her 82-year-old former partner's professional and legal drama

On Saturday the entertainer briefly appeared on Instagram to repost a sentiment from a fan.

Along with a photo of the blonde bombshell the fan wrote 'She's gonna remember those who were with her and those who were against her. Get em, EJ.'

Back in November Erika broke down in tears as she filmed a reunion episode of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.

She was grilled for most of the show by host Andy Cohen, 53, about the headline-making scandal.

Erika continued to defend herself against any suggestion that she knew about Tom's alleged dealings and she said if she knew, she wouldn't be on a reality show.

Seemingly responding to the news: On Saturday the entertainer appeared on Instagram to repost a sentiment from a fan that said, 'She's gonna remember those who were with her and those who were against her. Get em, EJ'

Girardi has been in a conservatorship since last year and cannot answer for himself. His former law firm, Girardi & Keese, filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and he was disbarred last year.

He had his license to practice law revoked in March 2021 after the Los Angeles Times reported that he had been sued more than 100 times and had been the subject of numerous bar complaints alleging financial malfeasance involving millions of dollars owed to clients, including female cancer victims and a burn victim.

As the case against the Girardi's unfolded, Erika revealed during last season's reunion that her legal team told her to quit the show and stop filming season 11.

'I had nothing to hide. And they said, 'Well, you know, that can get flipped around on you.  Everything can be parsed, twisted, turned, and yes, possibly used against you whether it is true or not. It almost doesn't even matter at this point,' she explained.

She's free: Initially Erika and Tom were both accused of stealing $2 million in settlement funds from families of Lion Air Flight 610 crash victims

This latest development follows news from earlier this week that the reality TV personality was asked to relinquish a pair of $1.4 million diamond earrings gifted to her by Girardi.

The trustee in the Girardi & Keese bankruptcy case claimed the disbarred lawyer used money from a client trust account at his former law firm to purchase the jewelry from M&M Jewelers in 2007.

In court documents obtained by DailyMail.com, Erika's attorney said the reality star 'innocently' received the earrings from Girardi 15 years ago and said she has agreed to 'hold and not transfer or sell' the jewelry and 'provide the earrings to a third party escrow to be held in trust' until an investigation has been complete.
Sydney investment manager Charlie Aitken is 'still dating' his estranged wife's best friend Hollie Nasser, according to a Sunday Telegraph report.

Despite a number of split rumours, the couple are 'still in a relationship' but are 'taking it slow' for the sake of their respective children.

'Charlie and Hollie might not be living together, but they are still extremely close,' a friend told the publication this week.

Twist: Sydney investment manager Charlie Aitken )left) is 'still dating' his estranged wife's best friend Hollie Nasser (right) according to a Sunday Telegraph report

Hollie is the wife of Charlie's ex business partner, Chris 'CJ' Nasser, and best friend of his former wife, Ellie Aitken.

'They still talk every day. They just need things to settle down. Right now their priority is their children,' the source continued.

Another friend told the publication that Mr Aitken got a 'little too excited' and announced his relationship with Hollie too early.

'Charlie and Hollie might not be living together, but they are still extremely close,' a friend told the publication this week. Pictured: Charlie Aitken

'Basically Charlie got a little excited and announced their relationship prematurely,' the friend said.

They added he should have just let the relationship grow naturally instead of putting 'too much pressure' on it.

It's the latest update in the rollercoaster romance that rocked Sydney's eastern suburbs.

The way they were: As a couple, Chris and Hollie Nasser (above left) became a permanent fixture in the eastern suburbs social set with the Aitkens (right) and the Nasser family investing $7.5m in Mr Aitkens' company

Mr Aitken has consistently made headlines with his very public marriage break-up, and split with business partner Chris 'CJ' Nasser, late last year.

Mr Aitken's relationship with his business partner's wife, Hollie, and his decision to leave the family home he shared with his wife and their two children made headlines at the end of last year.

After leaving his wife - who had previously called Ms Nasser her best friend who she was 'so lucky to have in my life' - Mr Aitken, 48, and Ms Nasser moved in together at a serviced apartment in Bondi Junction.

Fallout: Along with Chris Nasser pulling out, Ellie (above with Charlie), while remaining a director ceased her executive role at AIM to take a new position with rival fund manager, Pallas Capital

However, It is understood Hollie is struggling with the sudden intense spotlight on her personal life.

'Hollie just wants to move on with her life... Her priority is of course taking care of her two children,' a friend of the family said previously.

'She just wants to go back to being a mum to her two girls.'

Private: Mr Nasser has been focusing on his children and has gone out of his way to avoid speaking of the relationship breakdown

Word of her relationship with Mr Aitken spread quickly through their tight-knit circles on the eastern suburbs, 'horrifying' some who had been friends with both couples for years.

Since his marriage breakdown, Mr Nasser has been focusing on his children and has gone out of his way to avoid speaking of the relationship.

He is being supported by his close friends, many of whom are said to be 'horrified with the nature of what's gone on'.

Ellie Aitken opted to spend the Christmas season on the ski fields of Aspen in Colorado with the two children she shares with Charlie.

She flew out of Sydney on December 15 for a quiet break to avoid the intense limelight of the public fallout of her 19 year marriage.

Split: Hollie Nasser above with estranged husband Chris

'The truth is that despite the support of friends and family I have not coped well with the deeply hurtful lies, gossip and innuendo that has surrounded the breakdown of my relationship,' she said in a statement released on her departure.

She announced she would be 'taking a break from social media' and public view while she adjusted to the separation.

'I had attempted to put on a brave face and tried to manage my feelings and wellbeing despite the fact that I have not had any control over the reasons for my sorrow.'

Ellie has reportedly returned to Sydney.
She's apart from husband Sam Wood as he recovers from Covid-19.

But Snezana Wood had daughter Eve, 16, by her side on Sunday, as the reality TV beauty stepped out in Melbourne.

The 41-year-old is currently pregnant with her fourth child - and her third with husband Sam.

Mother-daughter outing: The Bachelor's Snezana Wood, 41, (left) had daughter Eve, 16, (right) by her side on Sunday, as the reality TV beauty stepped out in Melbourne

Snezana covered her growing baby bump in a black singlet which she wore with blue jeans.

On her feet she wore sandals for the casual outing.

The mother-of-three wore her brunette tresses piled atop her head in a loose bun and had a black face mask hanging under her chin.

Bumping along nicely: The reality star is currently pregnant with her fourth child - and her third with husband Sam

The look: Snezana covered her growing baby bump in a black singlet which she wore with blue jeans

Snezana travelled light for the day of errands carrying a black purse and a takeaway coffee cup and a piece of fruit.

Daughter Eve meanwhile donned a white T-shirt adorned with puppies.

On her lower half she wore a dark skirt and like her mother wore sandals on her feet.

Masked up: The mother-of-three wore her brunette tresses piled atop her head in a loose bun and had a black face mask hanging under her chin

An apple a day: Snezana travelled light for the day of errands carrying a black purse and a takeaway coffee cup and a piece of fruit

The outing comes as Sam prepares to launch a brand new podcast based around health, nutrition and fitness amid juggling his family duties and his business.

But the former Bachelor star, who is married to Snezana after meeting her on the third season of the reality series, revealed that he is currently battling Covid-19 and isolating from his wife and three daughters.

Wood, 41, spoke about his podcast, The Wood Life with Sam Wood, and recovering from the virus as he isolates in his 'family shack' at Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula.

Health battle for the fitness guru: Sam Wood (pictured) recently revealed his battle with Covid-19 as he launched his brand new health and fitness podcast

'It's just (been) like a bad cold and I'm on day six. I'm going to get tested again tomorrow, and if I if I'm negative, I'll be able to reunite with the girls,' the trainer told The Daily Telegraph.

Sam considers himself as one of the 'lucky ones' as his symptoms have not been as severe compared to others.

However, the former reality TV star believes the mental challenge of the virus is just as strong as the physical, which rings some truth for Wood as he continues his isolation while his wife Snezana deals with her pregnancy.

Separated: The Bachelor star recently revealed that he is currently battling Covid-19 and isolating from his wife Snezana Wood and the couple's three daughters in a 'family shack'. All pictured

'Snezana being pregnant was the biggest fear, so as soon as I had a bit of a cold I just thought I'd better just get the test just in case, and thank God I did because it came back positive,' Wood continued.

In the meantime, Sam has been focusing his time on his new podcast, which is free to listen to on the iHeartRadio app.

'It's exciting, and something I've spoken about internally with my team and friends for a few years, but with so much going on, it always got moved back in the priority list and a couple of months ago, I said I really wanted to do this,' he said.

Concerns: The personal trainer believes the mental challenge of the virus is just as strong as the physical, which rings some truth for Wood as he continues his isolation while his wife deals with her pregnancy

The podcast has provided Sam with a new venue to channel his passion for fitness, nutrition and living a healthier life.

He explains that he wanted a 'broad platform' to discuss 'all the facets of health and fitness in a way that cuts through the bulls**t'.

Wood adds that the podcast will be 'real and raw' with a lineup of interesting and impressive guests to boot.

The fitness guru will cover a new topic related to the health and fitness field during each 30 minute episode every Thursday.
In her new two-part documentary Janet Jackson spoke out about the infamous 'Nipplegate' scandal.

Nearly 18 years after Justin Timberlake, 40, accidentally exposed her breast to 140 million viewers at the 2004 Super Bowl, the entertainer, 55, said that she and Justin 'are very good friends.'

She made the statement in her double episode Lifetime and A&E documentary Janet.

New statement: In her new two-part documentary Janet Jackson spoke out about the infamous 'Nipplegate' scandal

To officially clear the air Janet said, 'Honestly, this whole thing was blown way out of proportion.

'And, of course, it was an accident that should not have happened, but everyone is looking for someone to blame and that's got to stop.'

She made specific mention of her current relationship with the Cry Me a River crooner: 'Justin and I are very good friends, and we will always be very good friends.'

The Velvet Rope artist added, 'We spoke just a few days ago. He and I have moved on, and it's time for everyone else to do the same,'

It's all good: Nearly 18 years after Justin Timberlake accidentally exposed her breast to 140 million viewers at the 2004 Super Bowl, the entertainer, 55, said that she and Justin 'are very good friends'

Who's to blame? In the years since the unprecedented incident Justin's and Janet's careers went in opposite directions

In the years since the unprecedented incident Justin's and Janet's careers went in opposite directions.

Jackson was largely blamed for her nipple exposure and subsequently her light was dimmed as Timberlake's star rose.

It wasn't until the release of The New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears debuted last February that the topic was brought to light again.

It spurred the Tennessee-born performer to issue a public apology to both women.

He said in the note, 'I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right.

'I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism.'

Justin added, 'I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.'

He's sorry: Following last year's New York Times Framing Britney Spears documentary, which sparked backlash against him, Justin issued a public apology to both Janet and Britney

Although things between the two legendary music artists are smoothed over now, in 2006 Janet told Oprah she felt Timberlake had 'left her hanging to a certain degree.'

She expressed feeling that 'all the emphasis was put on me as opposed to us.'

In one part of her documentary, however, the Hollywood vet revealed, 'We talked once and [Justin] said, "I don't know if I should come out and make a statement."'

Janet said. 'And I said, "Listen, I don't want any drama for you. They're aiming all of this at me." So I said, "If I were you, I wouldn't say anything."'
Pia Whitesell has been living a life of luxury since moving to Los Angeles to be with her multimillionaire Hollywood agent husband Patrick last year.

But on Sunday, the former Home and Away actress, 38, was back Down Under as she enjoyed a date night with her partner at Entrecote in Melbourne.

Uploading a loved-up photo to her Instagram, Pia appeared to be on cloud nine as she posed alongside her beau.

Happy in love: Pia Whitesell, 38, (left) and her multimillionaire husband Patrick (right) appeared on cloud nine on Sunday as they went out for a date night in Melbourne

Pia flaunted her incredible physique by uploading a mirror selfie to her Instagram story.

Pia was dressed to impress, in a black Aje dress which featured a midriff cutout.

Since relocating to the US Pia and Patrick have been traveling the world while enjoying luxurious stays at hotels.

Smitten: Uploading a loved-up photo to her Instagram, Pia and her beau couldn't wipe the smile off their face as they enjoyed a low-key outing in Melbourne

Wow! Pia flaunted her incredible physique by uploading a mirror selfie to her Instagram story

The Whitesells celebrated New Year's Eve in Malibu, LA after holidaying in Cabo San Lucas, a resort town in Mexico at the southern end of the Baja California Peninsula several weeks prior.

The former AFL WAG, who played police officer Kat Chapman on Aussie soap opera Home and Away from 2015 and 2018, married Patrick last May.

She is mother to two teenage sons from previous relationships, Isaiah and Lennox.

Newlyweds: Pia, who played police officer Kat Chapman on Aussie soap opera Home and Away from 2015 and 2018, relocated to the U.S. after marrying Patrick last May

Pia announced her engagement to Patrick, the executive chairman of the Endeavor Talent Agency, on November 28 last year.

They married in secret six months later and now live together in Los Angeles.

Pia has since sold her Sydney home and relocated all her belongings to the US.
Lily James has spoken out to defend steamy sex scenes in her new Disney+ series about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lees infamous sex tape.

The actress, 32, insists they are 'essential' to the script of the eight-part drama Pam & Tommy.

She told The Sun: 'We really felt that the sex scenes had to be a part of the story and had to be essential to the script and progressing their relationship and looking at what happened.

Screen siren: Lily James, 32, has spoken out to defend steamy sex scenes in her new Disney+ series about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lees infamous sex tape

'It was a really great constant conversation and nothing was set in stone.'

Lily stars as former Baywatch star Pamela, 54, in the show alongside Sebastian Stan, 39, who portrays Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, 59.

Pam & Tommy follows the story of the leak of the couple's sex tape in 1997, which led to devastation for the nineties pin-up and the rocker when their intimate moment spread across the internet for anyone to view.

Sexing it up: Lily stars alongside Sebastian Stan in the upcoming drama which features plenty of saucy scenes

Pamela and Tommy tied the knot on a beach in Mexico in 1995 after dating for just four days. They went on to have sons Brandon, 24, and Dylan, 22, and divorced in 1998.

And Lily said she loved researching Pamela for her role: 'She was one of the biggest stars on the planet and an icon.

'I got a lot out of this. It was definitely the biggest acting challenge of my life. It felt alive and I really loved that.'

Telling the tale: Lily insists the scenes are 'essential' to the script of drama Pam & Tommy, with Lily playing Pamela in the series (Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee pictured in 2003)

In character posters for the upcoming programme which were released earlier this month, Lily showcased her transformation into the buxom beauty while Sebastian perfectly mimicked the rocker.

Lily, who began filming the eight-episode series in May, swapped her classic English rose for all the trappings on Nineties pin-up Pamela - complete with prosthetic breasts and exaggerated make-up.

In the poster for the show, all of which were fashioned to look like video tapes, the Downton Abbey star gave a piercing stare and smouldering pose into the camera in her Pamela aping.

Wow! Disney+ recently unveiled the full trailer and epic character posters showing Lily and Sebastian Stan as the titular characters Pamela and Tommy

The trailer sees Pamela's world crashing down around her as she learns of the sex tape's release and scolds her husband for not acknowledging the leak is more detrimental to her life than his.

In a meeting with lawyers, she is asked about her knowledge of Tommy before she met him, to which she gently admits she 'liked his smile' before a montage of images play out their connection and initial union.

Pamela adds: 'I knew he was the drummer for Motley Crue', as she sits in an uncharacteristically demure mint green suit while appearing to talk to the lawyers while giving a steely gaze to the camera.

She is then seen appearing on Jay Leno, with a warm welcome followed by dazzling greetings to the crowd.

Sebastian is also captured storming out of their lavish mansion with a gun in hand.

The sex tape was stolen by Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogan) after Tommy 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 jewellery, in addition to the sex tape.

The sex tape is OUT! The trailer sees Pamela's world crashing down around her as she learns of the sex tape's release

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."'

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.

The first three episodes of Pam & Tommy hit the Disney+ streaming service on February 2.
ROME, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term by the parliament gathered in a joint session in the eighth round of voting on Saturday.

The following is a profile of Mattarella.

Mattarella, 80, was born in Palermo, the capital city of Italian island region Sicily.

In his earlier years, after graduating in law at the University of Rome, he qualified as a lawyer and taught parliamentary law at the university of Palermo until 1983 when he was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies, or the lower chamber, for the first time.

He became deputy prime minister in October 1998 and Minister of Defence from December 1999 to the June 2001 elections. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies until 2008 and a member of Italy's Constitutional Court from 2011 to 2015. He was elected president of Italy on Jan. 31, 2015, and his first term will officially end on Feb. 3.

Mattarella has repeatedly showed a strong moral authority in the past seven years, during which several coalition governments collapsed.

He has proved a reassuring figure for the country during the past two difficult years of COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, he ultimately stepped in to avert early general elections after then Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned, and appointed former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi as prime minister. 
Jessika Power has admitted she found herself 'conceited and pig-headed' when watching her behaviour back on Married At First Sight Australia.

The Celebs Go Dating star, 30, spoke out about her experience on the show and what she's looking for in a partner to The Sun.

She admitted to being self-absorbed while on the series, and credits it with teaching her about herself.

Credit where credit is due: Jessika Power has said appearing on Married At First Sight Australia taught her what she needed to fix about herself before entering a relationship

During her time on the 2019 series, Jessika wed Mick Gould, 33, but ditched him to pursue a romance with co-star Dan Webb, 36, that was short-lived for the couple.

Speaking to the publication she said: 'I was only 27 when I took part in series six of Married At First Sight Australia, but it ended up being one of the best experiences of my life because it taught me a lot about myself.

'Even though it didnt end well it taught me what I needed to fix about myself in order to be in a healthy relationship. I was conceited, pig-headed and thought the whole world revolved around me.

'Watching it back, I thought: How could someone love me when its clear I dont love myself? I was alone for a long time after that because I was healing.'

Jessika revealed that despite things not working out for her on MAFS she still wants to get married someday and wants someone 'lowkey obsessed with her'.

Bridezilla: During her time on the 2019 series, Jessika wed Mick Gould, 33, (pictured) but ditched him to pursue a romance with co-star Dan Webb, 36

The star is currently in a relationship with British podcaster Connor Thompson.

Connor is regularly seen on Jess' Instagram account with the pair spending a lot of time together lately.

Jessika reportedly struck up a romance with Connor last year, when her season of Married At First Sight aired in the UK.

She has made multiple guest appearances on Connor's podcast Erasing the Bar, where the pair shared several flirty exchanges.

Jessika sent tongues wagging that same month when she announced: 'I am going to go to the UK, and there's someone there that's amazing waiting for me.'

The pair fell in love online, a source told gossip website The Wash.

Loved-up: The star is currently in a relationship with British podcaster Connor Thompson, and on Sunday, the pair visited Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London

'Since then they've spoken every day, developed serious feelings for each other and are essentially in a long distance relationship  despite never meeting,' they said.

'Jess has been hesitant to talk about it publicly in case the media surrounding her love life ruins things. It's sweet how protective she is after enduring so many public romances.'

Jessika, who has had several offers from UK reality shows and expressed an interest in pursuing a career there, plans to pick up some gigs even if the romance doesn't work out.

'Jess has lined up quite a lot of work over there as there's more opportunities in England. As of right now she has zero plans to return to Australia,' they said.

She has some previous experience on the British celebrity circuit, having enjoyed a romance with Geordie Shore's Scott Timlin, better known as Scotty T.

She has also received flirty messages from Celebrity Big Brother star Stephen Bear.

Jessika split from ex-boyfriend Filip Poznanovic in April, just three months after the pair went public.
Danniella Westbrook has lashed out at EastEnders after it was confirmed Kim Medcalf has been chosen to reprise the role of Sam Mitchell over her.

The actress, 48, took to Twitter and claimed the BBC soap would be hearing from her 'legal team' and also hinted at future revelations that she has 'never told' in her upcoming book.

Danniella began her rant with a cryptic tweet reading: 'Well well well who knew [laughing emojis] all I can say is thanks looks like I dodged a bullet.'

The TV star wished Kim well as she reprises the role both actresses have played over the years, while suggesting Kim would have to play it similar to her version of Sam.

Not happy: Danniella Westbrook has lashed out at EastEnders after it was confirmed Kim Medcalf has been chosen to reprise the role of Sam Mitchell over her (pictured as Sam)

She wrote: 'Wishing Kym the best of luck at @BBCEastEnders yet again this poor woman has to recreate a Samantha Mitchell as close to my last two recent come backs on the square go smash it darling..x'.

Daniella then added: 'Oh but not to @BBCEastEnders my legal team will be in touch to know why when I held the...

'@bbceastenders contract too the last two times the character bounced in &out on a ratings or stint. For the record I was never sacked or dismissed and saw out both contracts one of them even being extended for episodes. Its great 2 C the same level of care standards & loyalty 2

'@bbceastenders you bang on about having and giving to both new & old members of cast is still going as strong then as it always has not just me as Sam that needs replacing Id look closer to the top of the show and cut that dead wood after all its all about evolving.'

Replacement: The actress, 48, took to Twitter and claimed the BBC soap would be hearing from her 'legal team' following the news that Kim had been rehired

'Bet you all can't wait for my new book now can ya .. oh it's gonna go way back to the things I've never ever told #beafraidpeople #itsallgood'.

A spokesperson for EastEnders declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

Danniella's words come after it was confirmed Sam Mitchell is making an 'explosive' comeback to the soap with Kim reprising her role this time around.

The daughter of Peggy Mitchell, made her first appearance in Walford in 1990, originally played by Danniella but was replaced by Kim in 2002, while she battled her highly publicised cocaine addiction.

Speaking to The Sun, Kim said: 'When the BBC approached me last year to reprise the role of Sam I was thrilled. She's a brilliant character and I can't wait to get back in the Square and work with the amazing cast.'

Danniella wrote: @BBCEastEnders my legal team will be in touch... Bet you all can't wait for my new book now can ya'

BBC television producer Kate Oates added: 'I have long wanted to bring Sam back into the family fold. Her return is guaranteed to be explosive.'

Kim previously played Sam between 2002 and 2005 but in more recent years the role has been taken on by Danniella.

Danniella returned to the soap in September 2009 for a year, then for a final time as Sam in 2016 for a short four episode stint.

MailOnline has contacted Danniella's representatives for comment.

Familiar face: Danniella's words come after it was confirmed Sam Mitchell is making an 'explosive' comeback to the soap with Kim reprising her role this time around

Iconic: The daughter of Peggy Mitchell, made her first appearance in 1990, originally played by Danniella, 48, (left) but was replaced by Kim in 2002 (right) due to her off screen difficulties

Good luck! In a post to Instagram earlier this month, Danniella said she did not know if the role of Sam would be recast or not and wished whoever got it the best of luck

In a post to Instagram earlier this month, Danniella said she did not know if the role of Sam would be recast or not and wished whoever got it the best of luck.

In the sweet post, she penned: 'The @bbceastenders have not contacted me to say they are re casting or if they have. But that's ok. Who plays Sam next I wish all the luck in the world to. Enjoy.'

This comes as Danniella, who was admitted to hospital earlier this month, admitted she's spent a lot of time alone recently 'working on myself and my spiritual side' after cutting 'deadbeats and energy draining people out of my life'.

The actress said that she was 'more than ready' as she promised to be 'back to my best and fighting fit next year' in a post to Instagram earlier this week.

Past troubles: Danniella has had surgery after her substance misuse caused the complete erosion of her nasal septum, she said this week that she had been 'working on myself'

The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate, who publicly battled cocaine addiction throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, posted a picture of herself as she walked the red carpet at the 2009 TV Quick and TV Choice awards on social media on Thursday afternoon.

Alongside to photo she penned: 'Can't wait for all my surgery to be done, will be back to my best and fighting fit and next year I will be 50! Bring it on, I'm ready. More than ready, I'm ready for a full transformation physically.

'I've spent a lot of time alone the last six months. I've been working on myself and my spiritual side has already begun evolving, I've cut the deadbeats and energy draining people out of my life. And I am ready to get busy living. And busy working.

'I have a feeling it's all going to work out just fine #thewestie #lifeisbeautiful #getbusyliving #gratitude #letsgetmarriedagain #whoknew.'

At the height of her drug use, it was reported she would take up to five grams of cocaine a day, blowing close to 250,000 on the drug.

The star has since embarked on multiple rehab stints in order to battle her demons - and revealed she was finally clean in June 2020, after attending a clinic in Mijas, Spain.
Selling Sunset star Vanessa Villela has revealed she's engaged after partner Tom Fraud got down on one knee at sunset at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

Photographer Tom, proposed with the Hollywood sign in the background, with Vanessa, 44, sharing the moment with fans on Instagram on Saturday, writing: 'Two souls one heart! I SAID YESSSSSS.'

In a video of the moment, Vanessa could be heard laughing with joy as she stood on the steps of the observatory which sits on Mount Hollywood and commands breathtaking panoramic views.

Happy times: Selling Sunset star Vanessa Villela, 44, and Tom Fraud are engaged after Tom got down on one knee at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles

Tom knelt on one knee in front of her as she read a message written on a number of red cards, with the last asking: 'Will you marry me?'

The pair hugged and kissed after the proposal with Tom raising his arm in the air in celebration.

The famous Hollywood sign could be seen in the background against a beautiful orange and blue sky as the sun went down.

Love story: Photographer Tom, proposed with the Hollywood sign in the background, with Vanessa sharing the moment with fans on Instagram on Saturday

Romantic: Tom knelt on one knee in front of her as she read a message written on a number of red cards, with the last asking: 'Will you marry me?'

Telenovela star-turned-realtor Vanessa wrote: 'Two souls one heart! I SAID YESSSSSS.

'One year ago I met the man of my dreams the one makes my heart skip every time, the man that makes me better in every single way, the man that I respect, adore, admire, and love with all my heart.

'You came into my life when I least expected it and you came to make my dreams come true. Our love story is like a movie and you are my prince!!

Magic moment: The pair hugged and kissed after the proposal with Tom raising his arm in the air in celebration

'I always dreamed that I will find someone that will love the way I do and I could give my heart fully, thank youuu for coming into my life mi amore!

'I cant believe I manifested you, the man that is what I always dreamt and more, I cant believe that I am living this life, sometimes I feel like Im dreaming and I have to pinch myself to know that is a dream but in real life.

'You paint the stars in my heart and even when I think it cant be possible to be better there you go painting more stars in it.

Making memories: In a video, Vanessa could be heard laughing with joy as she stood on the steps of the observatory which sits on Mount Hollywood and commands breathtaking views

Golden hour: The famous Hollywood sign could be seen in the background against a beautiful orange and blue sky as the sun went down

'You are my best friend, my man, my pajaro, my hero, my everything.

'TE AMO @tomfraud Thank you for making me the happiest girl in the galaxy. My future husband to be.'

Mexican actress Vanessa, who joined Selling Sunset in series four, has been dating Tom for a year.

Heartfelt: Vanessa wrote: 'Two souls one heart! I SAID YESSSSSS. One year ago I met the man of my dreams the one makes my heart skip every time'

Screen star: Vanessa, who joined Selling Sunset in series four, had been dating Tom for a year before the proposal

She previously dated Cuban actor Mario Cimarro but they parted ways after four years together in 2013.

It comes after Vanessa missed filming half of the show's upcoming fifth season due to COVID-19.

The real estate agent revealed that she tested positive for coronavirus shortly before the fifth season was set to start production in August.

Health struggles: It comes after Vanessa missed filming half of the show's upcoming fifth season due to COVID-19

'Out of 11 weeks of filming, I was sick for five. I got COVID in August and we started filming right in that moment, so obviously they couldn't wait for me,' the former telenovela star told Page Six.

She continued: 'I had a very strong COVID case. My case, it's still going actually.

'It's called long COVID. I'm still dealing with it.'

Vanessa joined the cast of the hit Netflix reality show along with fellow newcomer Emma Hernan in season four, which premiered on November 24.
Actress Jo Kendall has died at the age of 83.

The performer was known for starring in the hit BBC Radio comedy show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again.

Jo, from Lincolnshire, passed away in Denville Hall, a retirement home in London for acting and theatre stars.

The actress was also known for being part of the panel in the first edition of comedy show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue as well as radio show The Burkiss Way.

Heartbreaking: Actress Jo Kendall has died at the age of 83 (pictured in The Good Companions, 1980)

Along with her comedy work, she also appeared in straight dramas including the 1979 film Scum and as a publican's wife in The Remains Of The Day.

John Cleese was one of the first stars to pay tribute to Jo following the news of her death, describing her as a 'cheerful, friendly woman'.

The pair met back in 1963 when they were apart of the Cambridge Footlights Revenue which John credited with kick starting their careers.

Tribute: John Cleese, left, was one of the first stars to pay tribute to Jo, centre, following the news of her death, describing her as a 'cheerful, friendly woman'

'Many happy memories': John and Jo wrote met back in 1963 when they were apart of the Cambridge Footlights Revenue which John credited with kick starting their careers

He wrote on Twitter: 'I woke to hear of dear Jo Kendall's death,' Cleese wrote on Twitter.

'She was in the 1963 Cambridge Footlights Revue which took her, Tim Brooke Taylor, Bill Oddie, David Hatch, Humphrey Barclay and me into Show Business. Jo performed in over 100 'I'm sorry I'll read that Again' shows and the 1948 show.

'She was a very likeable, cheerful, friendly woman - a delight to work with.

'I got to know her well on the 1964 Tour of New Zealand, and subsequently, our appearances on and off Broadway.

He added: 'She was an integral part of the ISIRTA team and we did countless John and Mary sketches. I have many happy memories of her RIP Jo Ke.'

Reaction: Many of Jo's fans expressed condolences at the star's passing as well as praising her for her comedy career

Many of Jo's fans expressed condolences at the star's passing as well as praising her for her comedy career.

One wrote: 'Jo Kendall was just utterly brilliant. So funny and so versatile. Her performances in ISIRTA and The Burkiss Way are comedy masterclasses.

Another said: 'Jo Kendall was wonderful. A gifted comedienne and wonderful actor as her early Emmerdale Farm performances show. RIP.'

Another added: 'Jo Kendall holding her own against the rest of the cast of ISIRTA is one of the most impressive performances ever. She was fantastic.'
Chloe Veitch has shown off her incredible figure in a skintight leotard as she prepares to appear on Celebrity Hunted.

The Too Hot To Handle star, 22, looked stunning in the black bodysuit which clung to her curves and showed off her chiselled legs.

She paired it with a cream roll neck jumper that was cropped extremely short to show off her ample cleavage underneath.

Looking good: Chloe Veitch has shown off her incredible figure in a skintight leotard as she prepares to appear on Celebrity Hunted

Her brunette locks were styled in loose curls and tucked into her jumper, as she smouldered at the camera.

She finished off her look with a soft palette of makeup to accentuate her pretty features.

She also slipped into an all-white outfit, pairing a an unbuttoned shirt with some off-white jeans and a chunky gold chain necklace.

The stunning snaps come as Chloe explained the very personal reason she singed up for Celebrity Hunted in aid of Stand Up To Cancer.

Incredible: The Too Hot To Handle star, 22, looked stunning in the black bodysuit which clung to her curves and showed off her chiselled legs

Chloe exclusively told MailOnline: 'I did it for my Auntie and I did it for the amazing cause in the fight against the horrible and evil C word  Cancer.

'Its been great to join the fight against cancer, and I hope my auntie is proud of me. We were like best friends.

'She died of cancer, she had bowel cancer, liver cancer and breast cancer. She was only in her forties.

'She is the reason why I chose to do Celebrity Hunted  although I am waiting for Channel 4 to realise I am not a celebrity!'

Layers: She paired it with a cream roll neck jumper that was cropped extremely short to show off her ample cleavage underneath

Chloe revealed that she had a difficult childhood growing up, and went on a school trip to a prison when she was younger.

She said: 'I bet my teachers from school thought Id be on the run for different reasons though! I reckon they thought theyd see my mug shot on TV or some police programme rather than me on the run for a TV programme!

'To be honest with you, when I was a lot younger I got taken out of my high school and put into a separated sector of the school, which was for children who were underprivileged, children who were bullied, or who had learning disabilities.

Angelic: She also slipped into an all-white outfit, pairing a an unbuttoned shirt with some off-white jeans and a chunky gold chain necklace

Stunning: She finished off her look with a soft palette of makeup to accentuate her pretty features

'There were about 15 of us that were taken out of normal school and we were isolated away from the rest of the kids.

'My first school trip was a trip to a prison. They took us into the prison and told us, "If you don't sort yourself out, then you will end up being in prison. So, it wasnt exactly like a trip to Thorpe Park like other kids got at that age.

'They were trying to shock us into changing our behaviour. So, it will be shock to those teachers who thought I was difficult  I hope they are proud of me that Ive managed to turn my life around.

'I still feel like its all a dream and I am waiting to wake up! It's been amazing to raise awareness for Stand Up To Cancer and stick two fingers up to this horrid and relentless disease that affects so many of us.'

Celebrity Hunted begins on Sunday at 9.00pm on Channel 4

Inspiration: Explaining why she decided to go on the Channel 4 show, Chloe explained: 'I did it for my Auntie and I did it for the amazing cause in the fight against the horrible and evil C word  Cancer'
Rege-Jean Page looked dashing as he filmed a commercial for Armani in the financial district of Buenos Aires, Argentina on Saturday.

The actor, 32, wore a black T-shirt and smart suit trousers as he stood with a glass of water in his hand on set while girlfriend Emily Brown waited nearby.

His travels to the South American country come after as he was named the clear bookies' favourite to become the next James Bond in the film franchise.

In style: Rege-Jean Page, 32, looked dashing in a black T-shirt and smart trousers as he filmed a commercial for Armani in the financial district of Buenos Aires, Argentina on Saturday

The former Bridgerton star could be standing on the set of his luxury fashion house advert with the golden glow of the sun on his face.

He casually stood with his hand in his pocket as he smiled and chatted to a member of the crew.

The screen star's girlfriend Emily was seen nearby wearing a red and white floral mini-dress.

Happy couple: The screen star's girlfriend Emily was seen nearby wearing a red and white floral mini-dress

Working it: The pair could be seen checking out Rege-Jean's work while surrounded by crew this weekend

She completed her look with a cropped white jacket and matching chunky souled sandals while wearing a black face mask in a bid to keep herself and others safe from coronavirus.

Rege-Jean has been named as the favourite to replace fellow actor Daniel Craig as James Bond after he left the 007 role in 2021 Bond film No Time To Die.

Screen star Rege-Jean was backed with odds of 2/1 by William Hill with the leading bookmaker seeing good support for him in recent days.

He finished 2021 with a 4/1 chance but now heads the market from Tom Hardy at 5/2.

007? The outing comes after Rege-Jean was named the hot favourite to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond after Daniel's 15-year run as 007 ended with the release of No Time to Die

Meanwhile, Tom Hopper is 5/1 to land the role, while James Norton (6/1), Idris Elba and Richard Madden (both 7/1) are all others who are seemingly in the picture.

WHO WILL BE THE NEXT JAMES BOND? Rege-Jean Page Tom Hardy Tom Hopper James Norton Idris Elba Richard Mad-den Henry Cavill Jamie Bell Luke Evans Tom Hiddleston Tom Holland Henry Golding 2/1 5/2 5/1 6/1 7/1 7/1 8/1 10/1 14/1 14/1 14/1 14/1 Odds by William Hill Advertisement

Rupert Adams, spokesperson for William Hill, said: 'It had been neck-and-neck between Rege-Jean Page and Tom Hardy in the betting for the new James Bond, but in the past couple of days the former has assumed favouritism.

'The Bridgerton actor has been well-backed since the start of 2022 and is now our 2/1 favourite to follow in Daniel Craigs footsteps, with Hardy next best at 5/2.'

Rege-Jean previously admitted that he's 'flattered' to be included among a host of British stars tipped for the iconic role.

He told The Mirror: 'Ah, the B word. I think that if you are British and you do anything of note, that other people take notice of, then people will start talking about that.'

The star added: 'I think that's fairly normal and I'm flattered to be in the category of Brits that people have noticed. Nothing more  or less  than that.'

However despite being the bookies favourite, Rege-Jean said he was bemused by the idea of making any plans at 'this moment in history' and has 'given up' doing so.

The star also admitted that he can be a bit of a 'racehorse', often signing onto a project and focusing completely on it with the 'blinders on'.

If he does appear as James Bond, he will take over the character from Daniel Craig who played the fictional spy from 2006 until last year, with his final film, No Time To Die, being released on September 30.

Daniel first starred as Bond in Casino Royale in 2006 before appearing in 2008's Quantum Of Solace, 2012's Skyfall and 2015's Spectre.
Nils Lofgren announced Saturday that he's removing his music from Spotify to protest vaccine misinformation propagated by Joe Rogan.

The 70-year-old Bruce Springsteen guitarist made the announcement in solidarity with Neil Young, who removed his music from Spotify days earlier, by making his announcement in Young's newsletter.

Joni Mitchell has also followed suit by taking her music off the service in protest.

He's out: Guitar Nils Lofgren, 70, announced Saturday on his friend Neil Young's newsletter that he had removed 'the last 27 years' of his music from Spotify over Joe Rogan's vaccine misinformation; seen in 2016 in Mountain View, Calif.

'A few days ago, my wife Amy and I became aware of Neil and Daryl [Hannah] standing with hundreds of health care professionals, scientists, doctors and nurses in calling out Spotify for promoting lies and misinformation that are hurting and killing people,' Lofgren wrote in his statement.

'When these heroic women and men, whove spent their lives healing and saving ours, cry out for help you dont turn your back on them for money and power. You listen and stand with them.'

The guitar virtuoso added that he had 'now gotten the last 27 years of my music taken off Spotify,' and he was contacting the record labels that owned his earlier music to request that they also remove his songs.

Lofgren, who has played on and off in Young's working group Crazy Horse, noted his long friendship with the Canadian rocker.

Going for all of it: Lofgren noted his long friendship with Neil Young and said he was contacting other record labels that own his older recordings to request they be taken off Spotify as well

Comedian Joe Rogan, who hosts the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, has been accused of spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in several episodes. He signed a $100M exclusive deal with Spotify in May 2020; seen in 2018 in Pasadena

'Neil and I go back 53 years. [Wife] Amy [Aiello] and I are honored and blessed to call Neil and Daryl friends, and knew standing with them was the right choice,' he continued.

'We encourage all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere, to stand with us all, and cut ties with Spotify. Music is our planets sacred weapon, uniting and healing billions of souls every day. Pick up your sword and start swinging,' he added, before mentioning that he was working in solidarity with Mitchell as well.

The exodus of rock legends from Spotify began after Young, 76, posted a since-deleted letter on Tuesday that took aim at Rogan, who signed an exclusive $100 million deal with Spotify in May 2020, which gave the streaming service exclusive rights to his popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.

Leading the way: The exodus of rock legends from Spotify began after Young, 76, posted a since-deleted letter on Tuesday that took aim at Rogan while announcing he was leaving Spotify; seen in 2014 in London

'With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE [Joe Rogan Experience], which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world's largest podcast and has tremendous influence,' Young wrote..

'Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.

'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,' he continued.

'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.'

Joni Mitchell, 78, announced on Saturday that she was standing 'in solidarity' with her friend Young by removing her music Spotify as well.

As of Sunday, only a handful of her albums remain, and her most popular and critically acclaimed albums are all missing.

In her announcement, she shared an open letter signed by a coalition of medical professionals requesting that Spotify to work to remove 'mass-misinformation events' from its service.

Solidarity: Young's friend Joni Mitchell followed suit on Saturday. As of Sunday, only a handful of her albums remain on the service; seen in 2019 in Beverly Hills

'I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify,' Mitchell said in a statement posted to her website.

'Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives.

'I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.'

Her post referenced a Joe Rogan Experience episode from December 31, 2021, which featured 'baseless conspiracy theories.'

'By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals,' the letter said.

'This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform.

'We, the undersigned doctors, nurses, scientists, and educators thus call on Spotify to immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.'
Former Saturday Night Live writer John Mulaney will make his triumphant return to 30 Rockefeller Plaza's Studio 8H next month to host the long-running NBC sketch show.

The 39-year-old new father  best known for co-creating the Stefon sketches with Bill Hader  just announced he's scheduled to host the February 26 episode of SNL.

Meanwhile, Grammy-winning electro-punk band LCD Soundsystem will serve as musical guest for the second time.

Back for more: Former SNL writer John Mulaney will make his triumphant return to 30 Rockefeller Plaza's Studio 8H next month to host the long-running NBC sketch show (pictured in 2020)

Based on Paul Rudd's recent entry into the five-timers club, fans should expect more SNL vets to return to help induct John into the distinguished club, such Tom Hanks, Candice Bergen, Justin Timberlake, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and Chevy Chase.

Last Friday, Mulaney reunited with SNL cast member Pete Davidson in Los Angeles, where he got to meet his two-month-old son Malcolm Hiep.

The two-time Emmy winner welcomed his first child with The Gateway actress Olivia Munn, whom he reconnected with 'at church in LA' in February 2021.

'And just like that!' The 39-year-old new father - best known for co-creating the Stefon sketches with Bill Hader - just announced he's scheduled to host the February 26 episode of Saturday Night Live

Losing my edge: Meanwhile, Grammy-winning electro-punk band LCD Soundsystem will serve as musical guest for the second time (pictured December 22)

Ready for his robe! Expect more SNL vets to return to help induct John into the distinguished 'five-timers club' like (from LR) Tom Hanks, Candice Bergen, Justin Timberlake, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and Chevy Chase

John was still romancing ex-wife Anna Marie Tendler when he first met the half-Vietnamese 41-year-old while attending Seth Meyer's 2013 wedding.

Mulaney's divorce from the 36-year-old multidisciplinary artist was finalized January 6 after six years of marriage, and she retained primary custody of their eight-year-old French Bulldog Petunia.

'Everything that has transpired has been totally shocking and I think surreal,' Anna told Harper's Bazaar earlier this month.

'Uncle Pete!' Last Friday, Mulaney reunited with SNL castmember Pete Davidson in Los Angeles where he got to meet his two-month-old son Malcolm Hiep

Family: The two-time Emmy winner welcomed his first child with The Gateway actress Olivia Munn (R, pictured last Thursday), whom he reconnected with 'at church in LA' in February 2021

'In a way, I feel like, well, it can only go up from here, because I reached the depth of where I could go.'

The Chicago-born comedian kicks off his 44-date From Scratch Tour on February 15 during the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver.

John will also voice chipmunk Chip in Akiva Schaffer's live-action/CGI film Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers - premiering April 8 on Disney+ - alongside Andy Samberg, Corey Burton, and Seth Rogen.

'Totally shocked': John was still romancing ex-wife Anna Marie Tendler (R, pictured in 2019) when he first met the half-Vietnamese 41-year-old while attending Seth Meyer's 2013 wedding

Happier times: Mulaney's divorce from the 36-year-old multidisciplinary artist (L, pictured in 2019) was finalized January 6 after six years of marriage, and she retained primary custody of their eight-year-old French Bulldog Petunia
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Ria Hebden was the second celebrity to be eliminated from Dancing On Ice on Sunday night, while fans were perplexed that Bez sailed through to the next round without difficulty.

The journalist, 39, and her skating partner ukasz Rozycki, 42, put on a defiant performance to ME! by Taylor Swift, but it was a clean sweep for their skate-off competitors Rachel Stevens and Brendyn Hatfield, who judges Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean all chose to send through to next week.

'We've absolutely loved it - we've had the time of our lives,' Ria said after her fate was sealed.

Dancing On Ice 2022: Ria Hebden was the second celebrity to be eliminated from Dancing On Ice on Sunday night, while fans were perplexed that Bez sailed through to the next round without difficulty

Twitter with awash with outcry that Happy Mondays star Bez got through, after he placed bottom of the leaderboard with 18 out of a possible 40.

One likened him to the 'Ann Widdicombe of Dancing On Ice' - referring to the politician's stint on Strictly Come Dancing where she was repeatedly saved.

Another fan penned: 'cant believe how into dancing on ice im getting. i dont understand how the british public thought Bez deserved to go through'.

Unhappy: Twitter with awash with outcry that Happy Mondays star Bez got through, after he placed bottom of the leaderboard with 18 out of a possible 40

Unimpressed: One likened him to the 'Ann Widdicombe of Dancing On Ice' - referring to the politician's stint on Strictly Come Dancing where she was repeatedly saved

Skate-off: it was a clean sweep for their skate-off competitors Rachel Stevens and Brendyn Hatfield, who judges Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse , Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean all chose to send through to next week

Bottom two: This was the second time Ria found herself in the skate-off, but the journalist, 39, and her skating partner ukasz Rozycki, 42, put on a defiant performance to ME! by Taylor Swift

Unanimous: While the panel all sent Rachel through to the next round, Oti remarked: 'It's such a tough tough competition'

A fourth wrote: 'Why is Bez still in', adding 'no more dancing on ice for me.'

Kimberly Wyatt bagged a Dancing On Ice series high-score on Sunday night after her Movies Week routine to The Greatest Show.

The Pussycat Doll, 39, and her professional partner Mark Hanretty, 36, impressed the panel, who each scored her 8.5 out of 10 - taking her to a total of 34 out of a possible 40.

Chris gushed: 'You were the greatest show-woman', while Ashley complimented, 'I just believed it. I wanted to see more.'

Dancing On Ice 2022: Ecstatic Kimberly Wyatt and pro partner Mark Hanretty bagged the series high-score of 34 after impressing with their Greatest Show skate during Movies Wee

Following the judges' feedback, the pop star said she was 'ecstatic.'

Next up was Love Islander Liberty Poole and Joe Johnson, who channelled Madagascar with their skate to I Like To Move It.

They earned a respectable 27, with Diversity choreographer Ashley commenting: 'You have so much potential but I felt like you were a little reserved.'

Impressive: The Pussycat Doll, 39, and her professional partner Mark Hanretty, 36, impressed judges Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who each scored her 8.5 out of 10

Coming up trumps: Chris gushed: 'You were the greatest show-woman', while Ashley complimented, 'I just believed it. I wanted to see more'

Having fun: Next up was Love Islander Liberty Poole and Joe Johnson, who channelled Madagascar with their skate to I Like To Move It

Sensational: Holly Willoughby, 40, channeled old Hollywood glamour in a plunging embellished Marchesa gown as Dancing On Ice went to the movies on Sunday

Stunning: Embellished with silver beads, Holly made sure to turn heads in her incredibly classy outfit

Vamps star Connor Ball and Alexandra Schauman skated to 80s anthemic classic Footloose and were ten points from perfection.

Oti remarked: 'That was absolutely amazing. Congratulations to you.'

(I've Had) The Time Of My Life was danced to by Paralympian Stef Reid and Andy Buchanan and they were awarded 26.5 for their efforts.

Good job: Vamps star Connor Ball and Alexandra Schauman skated to 80s anthemic classic Footloose and were ten points from perfection

Getting in role: (I've Had) The Time Of My Life was danced to by Paralympian Stef Reid and Andy Buchanan and they were awarded 26.5 for their efforts

Feedback: Ashley said that they were 'on the right tracks' but could consider incorporating 'more complexity'

Ashley said that they were 'on the right tracks' but could consider incorporating 'more complexity.'

Rachel made her debut on Sunday night after fracturing her wrist, getting glammed up for her performance to Lady Marmalade.

The S Club star said it was 'so good' to be out there and received heaps of praise from the panel.

Here she is! Rachel made her debut on Sunday night after fracturing her wrist, getting glammed up for her performance to Lady Marmalade

First skate: The S Club star said it was 'so good' to be out there and received heaps of praise from the panel

Jayne told her: 'You should be so proud of that performance. I would like to see you having more confidence and not relying on your partner so much.'

While Oti encouraged: 'Trust the process, you can do it!'

Soap star Sally Dynevor transformed into Judy Garland alongside partner Matt Evers, and said their skate to The Trolley Song was 'so much fun.'

All smiles: Soap star Sally Dynevor transformed into Judy Garland alongside partner Matt Evers, and said their skate to The Trolley Song was 'so much fun'

After the judges scored them 26, Jayne praised: 'I just love the performance. You put everything into that!'

Ria and ukasz pulled out all of the stops after being in the skate-off last week, dancing to Into The Unknown from Frozen II.

Despite encountering a slight wobble, she received 26, with Oti saying: 'Hopefully you get another chance and come back stronger!'

Back fighting: Ria and ukasz pulled out all of the stops after being in the skate-off last week, dancing to Into The Unknown from Frozen II

After topping the leaderboard in week one, Regan Gascoigne and Karina Manta fell short of Kimberly's top score of 34 by 0.5.

Their performance of Singin' In The Rain still garnered positive feedback, with the judges urging Regan not to dwell on one slight mistake.

Ashley said: 'You learn from it and grow from it!'

Performance: After topping the leaderboard in week one, Regan Gascoigne and Karina Manta fell short of Kimberly's top score of 34 with by 0.5

Taking to the ice: Their performance of Singin' In The Rain still garnered positive feedback, with the judges urging Regan not to dwell on one slight mistake.

Proud: Holly Willoughby spoke to Paul Gascoigne and Bianca Gascoigne following Regan's performance

Proud: Paul was every inch the proud father as he watched on from the audience

Indiana Jones: Bez was back with his crash helmet and the judges noted his improvement after he skated to Riders of The Lost Ark with Angela Eagan

Take a bow: After being awarded 18, Ashley chimed: 'The skating is genuinely getting better. You haven't fallen over!'

Post-skate: Closing the show was Brendan Cole and Vanessa Bauer, who glided around the rink to A Star Is Born's Shallow.

Bez was back with his crash helmet and the judges noted his improvement after he skated to Riders of The Lost Ark with Angela Eagan.

After being awarded 18, Ashley chimed: 'The skating is genuinely getting better. You haven't fallen over!'

Closing the show was Brendan Cole and Vanessa Bauer, who glided around the rink to A Star Is Born's Shallow.

The skate earned a nine from Ashley but Chris wanted more choreography and content.
Emma Roberts was all smiles as she rode a horse at the Hacienda AltaGracia wellness resort in Costa Rica.

The 30-year-old actress shared photos from her vacation in the Central American country with her 17.5 million Instagram followers on Sunday.

'Loved getting to ride again @altagraciaauberge,' Emma wrote in the caption, adding emojis of a horse and a blue heart.

In good spirits: Emma Roberts was all smiles as she rode a horse at the Hacienda AltaGracia wellness resort in Costa Rica

The American Horror Story star sported a black and white gingham button-up shirt and high-waisted black leggings.

She rocked a bright red manicure and shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of black Ray-Ban Wayfarer shades.

The blonde beauty's long tresses fell down her back as she beamed while sitting astride the saddle on the brown horse.

Getaway: The 30-year-old actress shared two photos from her vacation in the Central American country with her 17.5 million Instagram followers on Sunday

On Thursday, Emma shared with fans that she's been having 'the most beautiful reset possible' in Costa Rica, just days after it was revealed that she had split with embattled actor Garrett Hedlund.

In the images that she posted on Instagram, the niece of Julia Roberts was seen luxuriating in her casita's herbal bath.

Last Saturday, Garrett, 37, was arrested for public intoxication in Franklin County, Tennessee.

Having a ball: On Thursday, Emma posted Instagram photos that showed her basking in the sun as she enjoyed 'the most beautiful reset possible' in Costa Rica

Living it up: In the pictures, the niece of Julia Roberts luxuriated in her hotel's herbal bath

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.

He's in the rearview: Her Instagram update came days after news broke of her split from Garrett Hedlund, who has since been arrested for public intoxication

Meanwhile, Roberts' post 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

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

'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 one-year-old son 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.

Wow: Roberts, who shares one-year-old son Rhodes with Hedlund and was with him for about three years, wrote over the clip: 'NOTHING BETTER!'

Hedlund was arrested on the evening of January 22 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.

The Friday Night Lights actor appeared intoxicated, reeked of alcohol, had slurred speech and did not follow commands made by officers, according to cops.

Mug shot: A few days prior, more information about what allegedly transpired prior to Hedlund's arrest for public intoxication came to light

The performer allegedly told police he was trying to retrieve items he left inside the building.

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.

Matters of the heart: The arrest came just days after it was revealed that he had split with Emma, pictured 2019

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.

On January 21, it was reported that the Minnesota native is being sued for a car crash that took place on the night of his 2020 DUI arrest.

He 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.'

Lawsuit: On January 21, it was reported that the Minnesota native is being sued for a car crash that took place on the night of his 2020 DUI arrest. Pictured in 2019

'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.

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

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.

Legal troubles: Hedlund was arrested on two DUI offenses in February 2020. Seen in 2021

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.

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 Emma. The pair welcomed Rhodes in December 2020, which they happily shared to Instagram weeks after his arrival.

Baby in the mix: The pair welcomed their first child together 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.
BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's real estate loan growth eased at the end of 2021 compared with a year before, according to data from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Sunday.

At the end of 2021, outstanding yuan-denominated real estate loans nationwide stood at 52.17 trillion yuan (8.18 trillion U.S. dollars), up 7.9 percent year on year, 3.7 percentage points lower than at the end of 2020, the PBOC data shows.

New real estate loans in 2021 stood at 3.81 trillion yuan, accounting for 19.1 percent of total new loans during the same period, 7.2 percentage points lower than in the previous year.

Real-estate development loans at the end of 2021 were 12.01 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.9 percent, 5.2 percentage points lower than at the end of 2020.

Chinese authorities said the country would support the property market to better cater to the reasonable demand of home buyers and adopt city-specific policies to boost the virtuous cycle and healthy sector developments. China will simultaneously reiterate the principle that "housing is for living in, not for speculation," in a tone-setting economic meeting in December last year.

By the end of 2021, China's outstanding personal housing loans totaled 38.32 trillion yuan, up 11.3 percent year on year, 3.3 percentage points lower than in the previous year. 
Love Island bosses are on the lookout for a new villa, according to reports.

The popular ITV2 show has been filming at the same sprawling property for five years, however show bosses have started hunting for a new space in a bid to 'enhance the show'.

The property will remain on the Spanish island of Majorca and is likely to be 'moving to the foothills of mountains, by a lake or to the coast'.

Moving home: Love Island bosses are on the lookout for a new villa in Spain, according to reports

Season one and two of Love Island was filmed at a property in southern Majorca's Santanyi region before being moved to the current location of Sant Llorenc des Cardassar in the north-east.

A source told The Sun: 'ITV bosses think this is the right moment to refresh this element of the show, just as they did in series three back in 2017.

'Bosses are conscious of the fact that this is also an opportunity to consider all the new elements they could introduce to enhance the show even further.'

They added: 'For fans of Love Island this is huge news and they'll be eager to see what the new villa looks like and how much it could change the show.'

Long-term home: The popular ITV2 show has been filming at the same sprawling property for five years (contestants Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae pictured by the villa's pool in 2019)

Moving mountains: The property will remain on the Spanish island of Majorca and is likely to be 'moving to the foothills of mountains, by a lake or to the coast'

A source told The Sun : 'ITV bosses think this is the right moment to refresh this element of the show, just as they did in series three back in 2017'

The new property will still have a firepit and swimming pool and will be revealed this summer when the eighth series of the show returns to TV.

An ITV representative confirmed to MailOnline that a new villa is being searched for.

In other Love Island news, TV star Davina McCall revealed this week that she would let her children take part in the show.

The television presenter, 54, is mother to daughters Holly, 20, and Tilly, 18, and son Chester, 15, with her ex-husband Matthew Robertson, 53, who she divorced in 2017.

First seasons: Season one and two of Love Island was filmed at a property in southern Majorca's Santanyi region (pictured)

Staples: The new property will still have a firepit and swimming pool and will be revealed this summer when the eighth series of the show returns to TV

And, while she says she'd instruct her offspring to 'have a think about it', she says she 'must of done something right' if they felt they could talk to her about their plans.

She told The Sun: 'I'd say, 'Fill your boots, but have a think about it  let's talk about the pros and the cons.'

'They can decide, because they'd be over 18 and after that you can only really guide them. If they ask my advice, I feel lucky, because I must have done something right if they still value my opinion.

'I give my kids quite a lot of freedom, but they tend not to use it.'
Maori actor Pete Smith, known for his roles in notable New Zealand films such as Once Were Warriors and The Piano, has died at the age of 63.

He passed away at his home on Saturday following a long battle with kidney disease, according to local reports.

Smith, a father of six, is survived by his children and wife Mona Papali'i.

Rest in peace: New Zealand actor Pete Smith, known for his roles In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Piano and Once Were Warriors, has died at the age of 63. (Pictured here in Auckland on August 1, 2006)

His son Poumau Papali'i-Smith told Stuff his father had been 'sick for a long time'.

'For the last seven years he'd been on dialysis which took its toll on him over the years. Within the last two years he was also diagnosed with dementia,' he said.

'We started doing dialysis at home but over the last few weeks he suffered an infection which he fought for the last four weeks.'

Notable roles: Smith made his film debut in 1985 in the New Zealand movie The Quiet Earth, in which he portrayed a character named Api

He said his father's death was a great loss for the community.

Smith made his film debut in the 1985 New Zealand movie The Quiet Earth, in which he portrayed a character named Api.

He also starred in The Piano, Once Were Warriors and What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, as well as soap opera Shortland Street.

Films: He also starred in The Piano, Once Were Warriors (pictured), and What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, as well as soap opera Shortland Street

Smith played an orc in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.

He won Best Performance by a Supporting Actor at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards for his role in The Market in 2006.

He was also awarded for his performance in the drama Flight of the Albatross.
Chelsee Healey wowed onlookers as she made her way to a Hairchoice event at Manchester's Menagerie Restaurant & Bar on Sunday night.

The actress, 33, flashed her underboob in an eye-popping pink bra top which she teamed up with a matching pair of skinny trousers.

She sent temperatures soaring as she exhibited her toned midriff while wrapping up in a coordinating coat amid the spine-chilling temperatures.

Pretty in pink: Chelsee Healey wowed onlookers as she flashed her underboob while making her way to a Hairchoice event at Manchester's Menagerie Restaurant & Bar on Sunday night

Hot stuff: The actress, 33, flashed the flesh in an eye-popping pink bra top which she teamed up with a matching pair of skinny trousers

Covering her sleek caramel tresses with a chic beret, the Waterloo Road star accessorised her look with a dazzling silver 'Chelsee' necklace.

She kept her essentials in a miniature orange handbag and commanded attention as she put on her very own street-side fashion show.

It follows the news that her former co-stars Adam Thomas, Angela Griffin and Katie Griffiths will return to the Waterloo Road reboot, almost seven years after it was axed by the BBC.

Despite the exciting announcement, it is unknown whether Chelsee will be joining them on the new series, which will air on BBC One later this year.

Striking: She sent temperatures soaring as she exhibited her toned midriff while wrapping up in a coordinating coat amid the spine-chilling temperatures

Dressed to impress: She kept her essentials in a miniature orange handbag and commanded attention as she put on her very own street-side fashion show

Work it: Covering her sleek caramel tresses with a chic beret, the Waterloo Road star accessorised her look with a dazzling silver 'Chelsee' necklace

The ex Emmerdale star, 33, will get back into character as ex pupil Donte Charles, with Katie, 32, playing his wife Chlo Grainger.

Once the head of pastoral, Kim Campbell has now moved up the workplace ladder to become the namesake school's headteacher, played by Angela, 45.

Taking to Instagram to share the exciting news, Adam shared a warm embrace with Katie in an adorable reunion snap.

Centre of attention: Tanya Bardsley put her best fashion foot forward in a green leather coat

Looking good: She added inches to her enviable framer with a pair of thigh-high cream boots and accessorised her look with a small cream handbag

Eye-popping: Tyne Lexy-Clarson showcased her ample assets in a chic white coat dress

Incredible: Holly Burns exhibited her bronzed pins in a very tiny brown mini dress and kept her gorgeous caramel locks out of the rain with her Louis Vuitton clutch

In his caption, he wrote: 'The news is finally out!!! Donte and Chloe are back!! @kaytgriff  @waterlooroad coming soon @bbc @bbciplayer #waterlooroad.'

The Leeds native also shared a photo of the three-piece reading from their scripts while beaming from ear-to-ear, adding that new faces are 'to be revealed'.

The final episode of the show aired on March 9 2015.
RuPaul Drag Race winner The Vivienne and Too Hot To Handle's Chloe Veitch teamed up on Sunday's Celebrity Hunted to escape the show's intelligence agencies.

The couple, 29 and 22 respectively, used prosthetics to transform themselves into two old ladies, however their ploy was quickly unearthed by agents.

Meanwhile, many viewers were left disgruntled by the fact that the show's celebrities were followed around on the ground by cameras, meaning they could be easily spotted by agents.

Hilarious: RuPaul Drag Race winner The Vivienne and Too Hot To Handle's Chloe Veitch teamed up on Sunday's Celebrity Hunted to escape the show's intelligence agencies

Despite The Vivienne and Chloe's efforts, agents were quick to identify them while they waited for a train into central London at Leytonstone tube station.

They were able to track down their exact location - a flat in Soho - after The Vivienne called her husband from a phone at Heaven nightclub.

Putting two and two together, agents discovered that the owner of Heaven was also The Vivienne's agent and that the famous drag queen and Chloe had been staying at his flat.

Throughout the show, viewers took to Twitter to express their frustration over the fact that competing celebrities were followed around by large cameras.

Whoops: Despite The Vivienne and Chloe's efforts, agents were quick to identify them while they waited for a train into central London at Leytonstone tube station

Disguise: The couple, 29 and 22 respectively, used prosthetics to transform themselves into two old ladies, however their ploy was quickly unearthed by agents

One person wrote: '#CelebrityHunted Its easy to find them on CCTV when the celebs are with someone carrying a camera.' [sic]

Another said: 'Just watching CelebrityHunted. When you dress up as 2 old women thinking you won't get seen by security cameras the man following you about with the video camera is usually the giveaway.'

A third echoed: 'Why don't you ever see the camera man following them on CCTV. Kinda makes them stand out anyway.'

Not happy: Many viewers were left disgruntled by the fact that the show's celebrities were followed around on the ground by cameras, meaning they could be easily spotted by agents

'Yeah that's them there, the couple with a camera pointing at them - eek - should have reshot that!' tweeted a fourth, with a fifth noting: 'But the cameraman ruins it all.'

A sixth social media user exclaimed: 'I WONDER HOW THEY RECOGNISED IT WAS THEM? OH WAIT, BECAUSE THERE'S A MAN RIGHT BEHIND THEM WITH A GIANT CAMERA!'

'Did they also do the camera person? They might be disguised but the camera crew will give them away,' said a seventh.

The show follows a slew of stars attempting to evade a team of 'hunters' and act out life as a fugitive - trying to stay off the radar in a series of challenges.

Oh dear: Agents discovered that the owner of Heaven was also The Vivienne's agent and that the famous drag queen and Chloe had been staying at his flat

The premise of the 'thriller' show is described as: 'Contestants are given a chance to do their best at evading some of the most skilled intelligence agencies in the world to see how difficult it is to stay off the radar as a fugitive.'

Chloe recently revealed the very personal reason she signed up for Celebrity Hunted in aid of Stand Up To Cancer when speaking to MailOnline.

Chloe exclusively told MailOnline: 'I did it for my Auntie and I did it for the amazing cause in the fight against the horrible and evil C word  Cancer.

'It's been great to join the fight against cancer, and I hope my auntie is proud of me. We were like best friends.

Candid: Chloe recently revealed the very personal reason she signed up for Celebrity Hunted in aid of Stand Up To Cancer when speaking to MailOnline

'She died of cancer, she had bowel cancer, liver cancer and breast cancer. She was only in her forties.

'She is the reason why I chose to do Celebrity Hunted  although I am waiting for Channel 4 to realise I am not a celebrity!'

Chloe revealed that she had a difficult childhood growing up, and went on a school trip to a prison when she was younger.

She said: 'I bet my teachers from school thought I'd be on the run for different reasons though! I reckon they thought they'd see my mug shot on TV or some police programme rather than me on the run for a TV programme!

'To be honest with you, when I was a lot younger I got taken out of my high school and put into a separated sector of the school, which was for children who were underprivileged, children who were bullied, or who had learning disabilities.

'There were about 15 of us that were taken out of 'normal school' and we were isolated away from the rest of the kids.

'My first school trip was a trip to a prison. They took us into the prison and told us, 'If you don't sort yourself out, then you will end up being in prison'. So, it wasn't exactly like a trip to Thorpe Park like other kids got at that age.

'They were trying to shock us into changing our behaviour. So, it will be shock to those teachers who thought I was 'difficult'  I hope they are proud of me that I've managed to turn my life around.

'I still feel like it's all a dream and I am waiting to wake up! It's been amazing to raise awareness for Stand Up To Cancer and stick two fingers up to this horrid and relentless disease that affects so many of us.'
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BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu, on Sunday exchanged congratulatory messages to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their countries' diplomatic relations.

In his message, Xi pointed out that China and Moldova are traditional partners of friendly cooperation.

Over the past 30 years, he noted, bilateral relations have witnessed healthy and steady development, with the two countries enjoying increasingly deep political mutual trust, achieving substantial progress in various areas of cooperation, and conducting close collaboration in global and regional affairs.

In the face of COVID-19, the people in the two countries have stood together and helped each other, leaving a touching story of fighting the pandemic with solidarity, he added.

Xi stressed that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Moldova relations, and stands ready to work with Sandu to take the 30th anniversary as an opportunity to push for further development of bilateral ties and cooperation in various areas for the benefit of both nations.

For her part, Sandu said Moldova-China relations now enjoy rapid development, with continuously enhanced political dialogue, deepening win-win cooperation and increasingly smooth coordination in multilateral affairs.

Moldova, she added, thanks China for providing assistance in pandemic response supplies, and is willing to continuously tap the potential of bilateral cooperation in various fields and strive for new development of bilateral relations. 
It is alleged that under the guise of online gaming and investment, the RoC identified more than Rs 2,000 crore fraud. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Central Crime Station police booked a case over a large-scale cyber crime scam that came to light in the city after the Registrar of Companies (RoC) filed a complaint against 13 shell companies.

It is alleged that under the guise of online gaming and investment, the RoC identified more than Rs 2,000 crore fraud, which was reportedly operated through software applications called mall 008, mall 98, YS0123, rebate etc, sources said.

A whopping Rs 2,000 crore was reportedly transferred to Hong Kong and RoC has lodged a complaint with the Central Crime Station against 13 shell companies on Friday. There are allegedly Chinese links to the formation of shell companies and so far the police have made one arrest in the case for setting up the shell company.

RoC has filed a complaint against directors, chairmen and promoters of these companies.

These companies have forged the documents and have taken permits and the police suspect the money was moved around via hawala transaction, sources said.
New Delhi: Delhi University has warned to take disciplinary action against those students found posting vulgar messages or comments during online classes.

In an advisory issued by the proctor's office of the varsity, it said admissions of students may even be cancelled in such a scenario.

"These are very difficult times keeping in mind the pandemic, the classes are going online. All students are directed to maintain dignity and not indulge in any kind of activity (i.e. vulgar message, comment which is not permissible as per rules and regulations of University of Delhi. If any student is found in any type of such unlawful activity, appropriate disciplinary action will be initiated or their admission may be cancelled," read the advisory.
Mumbai: BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Sunday alleged that Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's family is having partnership in a wine company of a big industrialist. Because of this, Mr Raut is supporting the decision of 'sale of wine' in supermarkets, he said.

Speaking with the reporters on Sunday, Mr. Somaiya said that both daughters of Mr Raut have a partnership in Ashok Garg's Magpie group.

The BJP leader alleged that in order to serve the interests of Mr. Raut, the state cabinet has approved the sale of wine in supermarkets and grocery shops. "To benefit Mr. Raut, the state government has changed the policy and allowed wine to be sold in supermarkets," Mr. Somaiya said.

The Raut family had signed a partnership agreement on April 16, 2021 for the business with Mr Garg's Magpie Group, Mr Somaiya said.

"Post this, Mr Raut's daughter Vidhita and Purvshi became partners in the Magpie DFS PVT LTD. Thereafter Magpie Company wrote a letter to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of the Central government on January 12, 2022, stating that its main business is wine distribution. Subsequently, the state cabinet on 27 January 2022 decided to allow the sale of wine in supermarkets and grocery stores. Magpie Company distributes wine to five-star hotels in big cities including Mumbai and Pune," he added.

Rebutting the BJP leader's allegations, Mr.Raut said, "If my family has wineries, I am ready to give it to him (Mr.Somaiya)."

The Sena leader said that Ashok Garg is his friend and being a director in the company is not an offence.
Chennai: Parleys on seat-sharing between the AIADMK and BJP for the Urban Local Body elections, to be held on February 19, ended in a deadlock on Saturday with both the sides exuding confidence on continuing the negotiations and arriving at a solution soon.

A team of BJP honchos, led by State President K Annamalai, went to the AIADMK headquarters at Lloyds Road in Chennai and held talks for over three hours with top leaders of that party but could not arrive at an agreement on the number of total seats and also on the allocation of wards.

Emerging from the discussions, Annamalai told the media that the BJP had placed a demand for more seats and that the talks would continue. He said the AIADMK was performing its role as an opposition party well, thus ruling out any strain in the alliance.

Asked about the high demand for seats put forth by the BJP, AIADMK former Minister D Jayakumar said that they had every right to ask but the final numbers would be arrived at after further discussions on the issue.

Sources said the BJP had handed over to the AIADMK a list of regions where it would like to field more candidates and the Corporations that it would wish to contest in large numbers and capture the Mayor post. Coimbatore and Nagercoil Corporations are said to be in BJPs wish list.

Brushing aside the BJP demand for posts of Mayors and Chairpersons in Municipalities and Town Panchayats, the AIADMK had said that the agenda on the table was to finalize the seats for the wards and the other things could wait for the direct elections to be over.

Earlier, the BJP had set the ball rolling by quoting 25 per cent seats in the State, which was quickly declined by the AIADMK. Though the BJP came down and asked for 15 per cent, the AIADMK is said to have stuck to its not more than 10 per cent stand, which peeved the BJP team.

Those who participated in the talks included AIADMK top leaders like coordinator O Panneerselvam, co-coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami, Vaithilingam, Munusamy, Jayakumar and S P Velumani and BJPs Pon Radhakrishnan, C P Radhakrishnan, Sudhakar Reddy and Vanathi Sreenivasan.

Another ally of the AIADMK had also submitted a list of seats that it would like to field candidates in. A team of TMC leaders had handed over the list at the party office, it is learnt.

In the rival political camp, even as discussions were on at the district level, VCK general secretary Thol Thirumavalavan called on DMK President M K Stalin to demand for more seats for his party.

Thirumavalavan later told the media that the talks were smooth and that he hoped that his demand for an adequate number of seats for his party would be favorably considered by the alliance leader. He had even demanded top posts like Mayor and Chairperson in the urban local bodies, he said.

Other parties like the Congress, CPI and CPM are talking with the district leaders to finalize the seats at the local level. TNCC President K S Alagiri had reportedly instructed his district leaders to brief him about the final tally of seats before signing the agreement at their level.

Some functionaries of the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, which has announced that it would field candidates in the coming elections, met the State Election Commissioner with a demand to allot the auto rickshaw symbol to all its candidates across the State.

However, they were briefed about the election rules, under which such common symbols could be allotted only to the registered political parties and not to other groups. The Makkal Iyakkam is registered as a political party.

Among the political parties that are going it alone, Makkal Neethi Maiam released its fourth list of candidates and the PMK started interviewing aspirants for the elections.

Naam Tamilar Katchi Chief Coordinator, Seeman, however, did not say anything relating to the elections but releasing statements expressing support for the Sri Lankan Tamil cause.
Jerusalem: Israel and India have a "gehri dosti" (deep friendship), Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said and thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for his "deep commitment" to the "strong and robust friendship".

Describing the opportunities of collaboration between the two countries as "endless", Bennett, in a special video message released on Saturday evening, stressed that "the ties between Israel and India are strong and together they will only grow stronger", as the two nations celebrated 30 years of establishment of diplomatic relations.

"There is something I wanted to tell to all of the people of India. Israel and India have a "gehri dosti", Deep Friendship. Today we honour 30 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and India. Thirty years of a wonderful partnership, a deep cultural connection, and military and economic cooperation," he said.

Though India had recognised Israel on September 17, 1950, full-fledged diplomatic relations between the countries were established on January 29, 1992.

"I would like to thank my dear friend, Prime Minister Modi, for his leadership and deep commitment to this strong and robust friendship.

Our countries may be different in size but we share much in common - our rich history, the inherent warmth of our peoples, and our cutting edge innovation and technology", the Israeli prime minister said amidst a series of activities under way to mark the occasion.

The video was tagged to a tweet which said, "Today, we celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations between Israel & India. We celebrate a strong partnership, An incredibly deep friendship, & optimism for the future!".

He wrote in Hindi, "Together we will continue to achieve more remarkable achievements".

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi, in his special video message, said there cannot be a better time to set new goals for taking forward India-Israel relations and asserted that the importance of the relationship has increased amid significant changes in the world.

Modi said people of India and Israel have always shared a special relationship.

"This day holds importance in our relationship as full diplomatic ties were established between the two countries 30 years ago. A new chapter between the two countries had begun. It was a new chapter but history between us is age-old.

"For centuries, the Jew community has stayed in India in a harmonious environment without any discrimination and has grown. It has made an important contribution in our developmental journey," Modi said.

On Friday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Israel's foreign minister Yair Lapid penned op-eds in an Israeli and an Indian newspaper emphasising that "friendship and trust" are not only positive traits, but also "real assets" with which the two countries have worked together to "deepen their roots" for the last three decades, expressing hopes that their achievements together will continue to bear fruit.

The celebrations to commemorate 30 years of diplomatic ties are likely to continue through the year but anniversary celebrations have been marked by illumination of historic sites in both countries - the Gateway of India and Teen Murti Haifa Chowk in India and Masada in southern Israel's Judean desert which is a popular tourist site.
By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Debjit Chakraborty,

Billionaire Mukesh Ambanis ambitious effort to pivot his conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd toward green energy could transform India into a clean-hydrogen juggernaut.

Ambani, Asias richest man, announced plans earlier this month to invest Rs 5L crore ($75 billion) in renewables infrastructure including generation plants, solar panels and electrolyzers. There is growing speculation that the strategy entails transforming all of that clean power into hydrogen, one of the largest endorsements in the next-generation fuel.

Analysts say Reliance is likely to opt for hydrogen in a bid to avoid Indias wholesale electricity market, which is dominated by financially stressed utilities and plagued by delayed payments.

Reliance is preparing itself to capture the entire value chain of the green hydrogen economy, said Gagan Sidhu, director at the Centre for Energy Finance at New Delhi-based think tank CEEW. They clearly have seen the writing on the wall.

Green hydrogen -- made from water and clean electricity -- is seen as crucial for the worlds emissions reduction goals, helping consumers and key industries such as steel transition to lower-carbon fuels. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year announced a plan to make India, the worlds third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and a major energy importer, into a global hub for production and export of the fuel.

While Reliance hasnt broken out how much will be devoted to hydrogen, the Rs 5L crore ($75 billion) investment in clean energy is by far the biggest in the country. Other companies such as Adani Enterprises Ltd. and state-run energy firms NTPC Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. also have set plans for green hydrogen.

The number of countries with a hydrogen strategy doubled last year to 26 and expected plans from the US, Brazil, India and China could reshape the global market, according to BloombergNEF. But the sector is still experimental and far from commercially viable. India is relying on the countrys billionaires, including Ambani and his rival Gautam Adani, to lead the way.

A key challenge will be to produce it at affordable costs. Green hydrogen produced by renewables is far from competitive compared to other fuels, costing nearly double the price using coal, Indias main source of electricity generation.

Ambani has vowed to produce green hydrogen at Rs 75 ($1) per kilogram, a more than 60 per cent reduction from todays costs. Reliance will aggressively pursue this target and achieve it well before the turn of this decade, Ambani said last year.

Reaching a Rs 75 ($1) price point will require a dramatic drop in the cost of electrolyzers, the equipment needed to make green hydrogen, according to Debasish Mishra, a Mumbai-based partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

In addition, capacity utilisation of more than 80 per cent will be required, and that should be powered by constant energy supplies at less than three cents per kilowatt-hour, Mishra said. To achieve around-the-clock supplies, supplemental forms of energy such as storage or hydropower will be needed, and that can take the cost beyond the desired levels.

Ambani may also be hoping for government support.

No one knows if we can get there, said R Ramachandran, a former director for refineries at state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp. If Reliance succeeds, then there is a good opportunity. If it doesnt, then there may be a need for some government subsidies or other forms of official support.

India plans to unveil its first green hydrogen policy in about 10 days, laying out incentives to draw investment in the sector, Power minister Raj Kumar Singh said at a virtual seminar on Thursday.

The nation wants to offer free transmission of clean power from one province to another for making hydrogen, and make land available for building renewable energy projects as well as facilities to store green hydrogen and green ammonia, the minister said.

Reliance, which aims to turn net-zero by 2035, said it plans to produce 100 gigawatts of renewable energy, a fifth of the nations target for non-fossil capacity by the end of the decade.

The company said its looking at sites in Gujarat and has made a request to the state government for 450,000 acres in Kutch, a favoured destination for renewable energy in the country.

Reliance has correctly identified areas where they can be cost-competitive: green hydrogen and solar, said Julio Friedmann, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. They have identified their end game and are making investments to position themselves for market share and growth.

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BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's National Cultural Heritage Administration has issued a notice to ban the sale of rubbings from stone inscriptions listed as national cultural relics.

In order to further protect cultural relics, museums and cultural relics protection institutions were asked to stop selling rubbings in their collections and put them on record for preservation, and stop making more rubbings.

Rubbings should not be used as gifts by any institution or individual, the administration noted. 
The Budget Session of Parliament is set to commence from Monday, with the President's address, as per tradition.

Amid the Covid-19 threat, the session will see many restrictions and even except for the first two days, it has been decided to run both the Houses -- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha -- in two shifts. The session is beginning just a few days before the assembly polls in five states and is, therefore, most likely that issues related to the poll-bound states would be taken up in the Houses.

With the farmers' organisations gearing up to raise their demand for the MSP, this issue is also likely to be raised during the sessions by the Opposition.

Meanwhile, the impact of the disclosures related to the Pegasus made by a foreign news outlet just before the Parliament session is also expected to rock the Houses.

Also Read  Do the math for Budget and you have a job crisis

On the first day, at 11 am, President Ram Nath Kovind will address a joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament. The proceedings of the Lok Sabha will begin after half an hour of the President's address, while the Rajya Sabha proceedings will begin at 2.30 pm.

The Economic Survey for the year 2021-2022 will be presented in both the Houses of Parliament on Monday.

On the second day, on February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am. The proceedings of the Rajya Sabha will begin an hour after the Budget speech in the Lok Sabha. Sitharaman will also present the Budget in the Rajya Sabha.

From February 2, under the Covid-19 protocol, the proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will run in two shifts.

Proceedings of the Rajya Sabha will take place between 10 am and 3 pm, following which the Lok Sabha will start at 4 pm and continue till 9 pm. The two-shift proceeding arrangements have been made only for the first phase of the Budget Session, i.e., till February 11.

The session, this time, will take place in two phases. The first phase will start on January 31 and end on February 11, while the second phase will start from March 14 and continue till April 8.

Also Read  Wanted: A policy direction

The government as well as the Opposition have made their preparations for this crucial session. It is likely that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also make a speech in both Houses.

On the other hand, the Opposition has a plethora of issues, which they may raise to corner the government.

The Pegasus disclosures, alongside poll preparations for five states, are likely to cause an uproar in both the Houses. The government and the Opposition have been in a continuous confrontation over the past two sessions, with proceedings disrupted several times during the Winter Session.

The productivity of work in Lok Sabha during the last winter session was only 82 per cent. While the Rajya Sabha's record in terms of business was even worse, at 48 per cent.

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Validating the governments decision to lift night curfew from Monday and to reopen schools, a case study of Bengaluru Urban on the impact of daily night and weekend curfews concluded that the restrictions, at best, slow and delay the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The study, using mobility data published by Google, suggests that Omicron eventually spreads and affects nearly as much of the population as it would have without the restrictions.

Also, if Karnatakas case trajectory follows the South African Omicron wave trend and the hospitalisation is similar to that observed in well-vaccinated countries (2% of the confirmed cases), then the healthcare requirement is likely within the capacity of Bengaluru Urban when the caseload peaks, with or without mobility restrictions.

Authored by eight researchers from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Bengaluru Centre; Centre for Networked Intelligence, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Biocomplexity Institute, University of Virginia, the study was published on the pre-print server medRxiv on January 26.

Two of the authors, Prof Siva Athreya from ISI and Prof Rajesh Sundaresan from IISc who recently made Omicron projections for the third waves peak in Karnataka, were also part of the research team for this study.

The Karnataka government imposed weeknight and weekend curfews starting the night of January 7.

The corresponding author of the paper, Prof Athreya observes, Even if Karnataka case trajectory follows both the South African Omicron wave trend and the hospitalisation requirement observed there (6.9%), then the healthcare capacity may be exceeded at peak, with or without the mobility restrictions.

Since the start of the pandemic, Google has been publishing community mobility reports that indicate the level of activity in various interaction spaces like retail, recreation, grocery, pharmacy, parks, transit, workplace and residential areas.

The researchers extracted information from the report of January 15 and plotted the mobility factors for each day of the week. It summarises the mobility level in the two weeks of January 2022 with respect to the average level in December 2021.

In the two weeks of January starting January 1, 2022, the first week does not have mobility restrictions whereas the second week has mobility restrictions. The researchers assume a 20% reduction in mobility in this study on account of the restrictions. Duration of time spent in the residential areas was seen to have increased by 9-13% over the weekend.

The researchers consider the base case scenario as one with no mobility restrictions and the other scenario is when mobility is restricted until March 31, 2022. They specifically compare case projections at the end of January, February, and March 2022.

The pattern of weeknight and weekend curfew, followed by relaxations during the weekday, seems, at best, to slow and delay the Omicron spread. The simulation outcomes suggest that Omicron eventually spreads across the population, the

paper said.

When mobility restrictions are in force until March 2022, the reduction in the peak cases is 9,399 (if 30% population susceptibility is assumed) and 18,326 (with 60% susceptibility).

Since the peak is expected in the third week of January 2022, the usefulness of the restrictions beyond the peak is limited, the paper concludes.

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The tragic death of Dr Soundarya Neeraj, which police said may be linked to postpartum depression (PPD), has renewed focus on a condition that is said to affect as much as 22% of new mothers in the country.

Soundarya, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa's granddaughter, was found hanging in her house in Bengaluru on Friday.

According to practising obstetricians and gynaecologists, PPD is widely prevalent but not always detected because few women visit health facilities for post-pregnancy checkups.

Dr Sheela V Mane, past president, Bangalore Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said PPD is caused by the withdrawal of hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, after delivery. This, she said, causes psychiatric effects.

Every new mother experiences postpartum 'blues' which is a drop in the level of hormones within two weeks of delivery," Dr Sheela said.

"This causes changes in the brain and behaviour, leading to mood swings, anxiety, crying spells and insomnia. If the condition becomes aggravated or if there is a hidden problem such as a history of depression, it can lead to new mothers being unable to cope with the stress.

In some instances, the condition causes some mothers to harm their baby, she added.

A 2017 review of 38 India-based studies involving 20,043 women, which has been subsequently cited by the World Health Organization (WHO), noted that the estimated pooled prevalence of the condition was highest in south India (26%). This was followed by east (23%), south-western (23%) and western regions (21%). However, most of the studies (16) had been done in south India.

Dr Sheela said that a supportive family structure at home to provide psychological support is key in preventing the condition from getting aggravated. At the same time, there is no guarantee that a loving family atmosphere will safeguard a new mother from the effects of hormonal imbalance.

This was the case with 32-year-old Aisha (name changed), a new mother, who developed tendencies for self-harm despite having a supportive family and spouse.

Her treating obstetrician and laparoscopic gynaecologist Dr Beena Jeysingh of Manipal Hospital (Sarjapur Road) explained that Aisha had come in about 10 days following delivery, crying without reason and complaining of feeling useless.

She eventually revealed feelings of causing self-harm or harm to the baby," Dr Beena explained. "This case was remarkable in the sense that she had a loving family around her who were of great support to her. There was no way to predict that this particular case would develop such a postpartum reaction. It all depends on the individual bodys reaction to hormonal withdrawal."

In 2002, PPD had also prompted the daughter of a prominent Union minister living in Bengaluru to take her own life, 10 days after giving birth to a baby boy.

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Private unaided schools in the city may have to wait a week longer to resume physical classes since their teachers have developed fever, tested Covid positive, and are in home isolation.

Manila Carvalho, principal of Delhi Public School-East, said some of their teachers are unwell and are not able to handle offline classes. We will wait it out for a week, she said.

Teachers aside, even students are reporting sick. In some households, parents are unwell and in some cases, the students themselves are sick. So, even if we start offline classes, the attendance will remain low, said the principal of another CBSE-affiliated private school.

Though we have been conducting classes for grade 10 and above, the attendance has been low due to health issues, said another principal of a private unaided school.

As private school managements associations hailed the governments decision to reopen schools, the Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka directed its member schools to follow Covid-19 protocol on campus.

The Recognized Unaided Private Schools Association, Karnataka, also welcomed the decision and thanked the Chief Minister.

We are elated to receive permission to reopen our schools in Bengaluru. In the last couple of weeks, we have successfully organised vaccination camps for students above 15 years in all our branches. We are equipped to welcome back our students by following the Covid guidelines and strictly implementing the standard operating procedure issued by the government, said Nagaveni T, principal, Orchids-The International School, Mysuru Road branch.

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The Trinamool Congress and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party have released their common manifesto for the upcoming Goa Assembly polls, promising resumption of mining operations and reservation for women in jobs and local bodies in the coastal state if they come to power.

The mining operations, which used to be one of the main sources of revenue for Goa, came to a grinding halt in the state in March 2018 after the Supreme Court quashed 88 mining leases. The poll manifesto, released by alliance partners TMC and MGP on Saturday ahead of the state polls on February 14, mentioned that instituting environmentally sustainable mining practices with 80 per cent reservation for Goans in extraction contracts and mining jobs would be the priority" of their government.

Also read: Why Abhishek Banerjee is going against his party

All income generated through the Goa Mineral Corporation would be utilised to fund welfare schemes in the state, it said. The manifesto also promised 33 per cent reservation for Goan women in all jobs, including the private sector, and 50 per cent reservation for women in all the local bodies.

The TMC-MGP alliance has also assured two fast track courts to address crimes against women and children, and a mobile app for women's safety. According to the manifesto, the TMC-MGP government would boost Goa's gross domestic product to Rs 1.8 lakh crore from the existing Rs 0.71 lakh crore by creating 2,00,000 new jobs with 80 per cent reservation for Goans and 10,000 vacancies in the government sector to be filled in three years.

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, which is contesting the Goa poll for the first time, forged an alliance with the state's oldest regional party MGP last month. In the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, the MGP won three seats in the 40-member Assembly.

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Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday alleged that the nominations of six to seven candidates of his party for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections were rejected "illegally".

Talking to reporters here, Raut said he will meet the Election Commission over this and submit all required documents. Elections to the 403-member UP Assembly will be held in multiple phases over the next two months.

Raut alleged that in six to seven constituencies in Noida, Bijnor and Meerut, the respective district magistrates misused their powers and rejected the nominations of Shiv Sena candidates "under pressure" so as to not allow the party from setting foot in UP.

"The documents were perfect and the papers were filed on time. The reason for the rejection of our Bijnor candidate is the same as the objection raised by our (Goa) candidate over Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's nomination form (in the poll-bound coastal state). Sawant's side was heard by authorities and the issue was settled (in Sawant's favour), but in UP, our candidates were not allowed to respond to the objections," he said.

Some of the Sena's candidates have been threatened and asked to withdraw from the poll fray in UP, the Rajya Sabha member claimed. Some people fear the Sena candidates may win or ensure loss of their nominees, he said in a veiled reference to the BJP.

"This is not democracy. The election should be free and fair," the Shiv Sena's chief spokesperson said.

Asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's tweet on Mahatma Gandhi being assassinated by a Hindutvawadi, Raut said, "A Hindutvawadi would have killed Jinnah, who demanded (creation of a separate country) Pakistan and not an unarmed Mahatma Gandhi."

"A 'Hindutvawadi' had shot Gandhi Ji. All 'Hindutvawadis' feel that Gandhiji is no more. Where there is truth, Bapu is still alive there," the Congress leader tweeted in Hindi, using the hashtag 'Forever Gandhi', on the occasion of the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation on Sunday.

The Congress shares power with the Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra.

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Northern Ireland was torn apart by three decades of violence between nationalist and unionist communities that ended with the Good Friday Agreement signed nearly 24 years ago.

The province's majority Protestant unionists favoured continued British rule. Catholic republicans wanted equal rights and reunification with the rest of Ireland.

Here is an overview of the "Troubles" during which more than 3,500 people were killed.

Violence erupts in 1968 when police use force against a peaceful Catholic civil rights demonstration in Londonderry demanding an end to discrimination in voting, jobs and housing.

The situation degenerates as Catholic meetings and demonstrations end in clashes with the police and Protestants.

In August 1969 as sectarian violence grips the province, British troops are deployed.

In 1970 a Catholic guerrilla group, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), begins a campaign of bombings and shootings against the troops.

Unionist paramilitary groups respond, mostly by killing Catholics, further driving a wedge between the communities.

Violence explodes after January 1972 when 13 people are killed on "Bloody Sunday" after British soldiers open fire on a peaceful Catholic civil rights march in Londonderry.

London suspends the Northern Ireland provincial government two months later, leading to decades of direct rule from the British capital.

In 1974 the IRA extends the bombing campaign to Britain with attacks on pubs in Guildford, Woolwich and Birmingham that kill about 30 people in all.

It also assassinates key British establishment figures, including Queen Elizabeth II's cousin Lord Louis Mountbatten in rural northwest Ireland in 1979.

On the same day 18 British soldiers are killed in an IRA ambush at Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland.

A turning point comes in 1981 when IRA inmate Bobby Sands and nine comrades die on hunger strike at Maze Prison demanding political prisoner status.

Their deaths draw global sympathy for the republican cause.

The following year the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein wins its first seats in parliament. A year after, Gerry Adams is elected party chief.

The IRA continues to strike in England, with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher narrowly escaping death in a bomb attack on the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the 1984 Conservative party conference in which five people die.

Seven years later they attempt to assassinate her successor, John Major, in a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street.

In 1992 and 1993 two massive bombings kill four people and cause major damage in the City of London financial hub.

An attempt by Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath to establish a power-sharing executive founders in 1973 after a unionist general strike.

Thatcher signs an Anglo-Irish accord in 1985, acknowledging Dublin's say in Northern Ireland's affairs.

Behind-the-scenes talks lead to an IRA ceasefire in 1994, which breaks down as negotiations stall.

In July 1997, after Tony Blair becomes Britain's Labour prime minister, Sinn Fein gets a place at the negotiating table after the IRA declares a new ceasefire.

The Good Friday Agreement is signed on April 10, 1998 between London, Dublin and the main Northern Ireland political parties.

It leads to a new semi-autonomous Northern Ireland with a power-sharing government between Protestants and Catholics.

The deadliest single atrocity of the period comes four months after the accord when 29 people are killed in the town of Omagh in a bomb planted by a dissident group, the Real IRA.

The attack has the effect of bolstering, rather than undermining, the peace accord.

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The Australian founder and global head of Pentecostal megachurch Hillsong announced Sunday he will step down while he faces trial over charges he covered up his father's child sexual abuse.

Pastor Brian Houston said Hillsong's lawyers had advised him to hand over leadership of the church during his criminal trial. Houston was charged in August 2021 with concealing information from police about alleged child abuse by his father, Frank, who was also a pastor and died in 2004.

Frank Houston had been accused of sexually abusing a young boy while a preacher at the Assemblies of God Church in the 1970s. A royal commission in 2015 found the younger Houston was told about the allegations in 1999 but failed to report them to authorities, sparking the investigation by police.

Also Read  French Catholic Church raises 20 mn euros for sex abuse victims

"These allegations came as a shock to me, and it is my intention to vigorously defend them," Houston said in a statement issued by Hillsong.

Founded by Houston and his wife, Bobbie, in Sydney in the 1980s, Hillsong has grown into a global megachurch that claims an average weekly attendance of 150,000 people. The church is known for its concert-style services that feature pop music and high-profile special guests, including Justin Bieber and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Houston's criminal trial is expected to take up most of 2022 with pastors Phil and Lucinda Dooley stepping in to lead the church.

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Police had warned Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer, not to go to Shanghai to visit the mother of a dissident. He went to the airport anyway.

His phones health code app  a digital pass indicating possible exposure to the coronavirus  was green, which meant he could travel. His home city, Changsha, had no Covid-19 cases, and he had not left in weeks.

Then his app turned red, flagging him as high risk. Airport security tried to put him in quarantine, but he resisted. Xie accused authorities of meddling with his health code to bar him from travelling.

The Chinese Communist Party has found the best model for controlling people, he said in December. This month, police detained Xie, a government critic, accusing him of inciting subversion and provoking trouble.

The pandemic has given Xi Jinping, Chinas top leader, a powerful case for deepening the Communist Partys reach into the lives of 1.4 billion citizens, filling out his vision of the country as a model of secure order, in contrast to the chaos of the West. In the two years since officials isolated the city of Wuhan in the first lockdown of the pandemic, the Chinese government has honed its powers to track and corral people, backed by upgraded technology, armies of neighbourhood workers and broad public support.

Also read: Two years on, new variants mar India's battle against coronavirus

Emboldened by their successes in stamping out Covid-19, Chinese officials are turning their sharpened surveillance against other risks, including crime, pollution and hostile political forces. This amounts to a potent techno-authoritarian tool for Xi as he intensifies his campaigns against corruption and dissent.

The foundation of the controls is the health code. Local authorities, working with tech companies, generate a users profile based on location, travel history, test results and other health data. The codes colour  green, yellow or red  determines whether the holder is allowed into buildings or public spaces. Its use is enforced by legions of local officials with the power to quarantine residents or restrict their movements.

These controls are key to Chinas goal of stamping out the virus entirely within its borders  a strategy on which the party has staked its credibility despite the emergence of highly contagious variants. After Chinas initial missteps in letting the coronavirus spread, its zero Covid approach has helped keep infections low, while the death toll continues to grow in the United States and elsewhere. But Chinese officials have at times been severe, isolating young children from their parents or jailing people deemed to have broken containment rules.

City officials did not respond to questions about assertions by Xie. While it is hard to know what goes on in individual cases, the government itself has signalled it wants to use these technologies in other ways.

Officials have used pandemic health monitoring systems to flush out fugitives. Some fugitives have been tracked down by their health codes. Others who avoided the apps have found life so difficult that they have surrendered.

For all of its outward sophistication, though, Chinas surveillance system remains labour intensive. And while the public has generally supported Beijings intrusions during the pandemic, privacy concerns are growing.

Also read: Chinese authorities summon AstraZeneca China on suspected insurance fraud

Chinas pandemic controls have really produced great results, because they can monitor down to every individual, said Mei Haoyu, 24, an employee at a dental hospital in Hangzhou, a city in eastern China, who worked as a volunteer early in the pandemic.

But if after the pandemic ends these means are still there for the government, he added, thats a big risk for ordinary people.

'A vicious cycle arises'

A Covid-19 cluster that rippled across Zhejiang province in east China late last year began with a funeral. When one attendee, a health worker, tested positive in a routine test, 100 tracers sprang into action.

Within hours, officials alerted authorities in Hangzhou, 45 miles away, that a potential carrier of the coronavirus was at large there: a man who had driven to the funeral days earlier. Government workers found and tested him  also positive.

Using digital health code records, teams of tracers plotted out a network of people to test based on where the man had been: a restaurant, a mahjong parlor, card-playing rooms. Within a couple of weeks, they stopped the chain of infections in Hangzhou  in all, 29 people there were found to be infected.

Chinas capacity to trace such outbreaks has relied heavily on the health code. Residents sign up for the system by submitting their personal information in one of a range of apps. The health code is essentially required, because without it, people cannot enter buildings, restaurants or even parks. Before the pandemic, China already had a vast ability to track people using location data from cellphones; now, that monitoring is far more expansive.

In recent months, authorities in various cities have expanded their definition of close contact to include people whose cellphone signals were recorded within as much as half a mile of an infected person.

The partys experiment in using data to control the flow of people has helped keep Covid-19 at bay. Now these same tools potentially give officials greater power to manage other challenges.

Also read: What are the chances you are more prone to long Covid?

Xi has praised Hangzhous City Brain center  which pulls together data on traffic, economic activity, hospital use and public complaints  as a model for how China can use technology to address social problems.

Since 2020, Hangzhou has also used video cameras on streets to check whether residents are wearing masks. One district monitored home power consumption to check whether residents were sticking to quarantine orders. The city of Luoyang installed sensors on the doors of residents quarantining at home, in order to notify officials if they were opened.

With so much invested, financially and politically, in technological solutions, failures can have big repercussions.

During the recent lockdown in Xian, a city of 13 million in northwest China, the health code system crashed twice in two weeks, disrupting the lives of residents who had to update their apps each day with proof that they had taken Covid-19 tests.

By focusing on technology and surveillance, Chinese officials may be neglecting other ways of protecting lives, such as expanding participation in public health programs, wrote Chen Yun, a scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai, in a recent assessment of Chinas response to Covid-19.

The risk, she wrote, is that a vicious cycle arises: People become increasingly marginalised, while technology and power increasingly penetrate everywhere.

'On call at all times'

For more than a decade, the Communist Party has been shoring up its armies of grassroots officials who carry out door-to-door surveillance. The partys new digital apparatus has supercharged this older form of control.

China has mobilised 4.5 million so-called grid workers to fight the outbreak, according to state media  roughly 1 in every 250 adults. Under the grid management system, cities, villages and towns are divided into sections, sometimes of just a few blocks, which are then assigned to individual workers.

During normal times, their duties included pulling weeds, mediating disputes and keeping an eye on potential troublemakers.

Amid the pandemic, those duties mushroomed.

Workers were given the task of guarding residential complexes and recording the identities of all who entered. They called residents to make sure they had been tested and vaccinated, and helped those in lockdown take out their trash.

They also were given powerful new tools.

The central government has directed police, as well as internet and telephone companies, to share information about residents travel history with community workers so that the workers can decide whether residents are considered high-risk.

In a county in southwestern Sichuan province, the ranks of grid workers tripled to more than 300 over the course of the pandemic, said Pan Xiyu, 26, one of the new hires. Pan, who is responsible for about 2,000 residents, says she spends much of her time distributing leaflets and setting up loudspeakers to explain new rules and encourage vaccination.

It can be exhausting. I have to be on call at all times, she said.

And the pressure to stifle outbreaks can make officials overzealous, prioritising adherence to the rules no matter the cost.

During the lockdown of Xian, hospital workers refused medical care to a woman who was eight months pregnant because her Covid-19 test result had expired hours earlier. She lost the baby, an episode that inspired widespread public fury. But some blamed the heavy burden placed upon low-level workers to stamp out infections.

In their view, its always preferable to go too far than be too soft-handed, but thats the pressure created by the environment nowadays, Li Naitang, a retired worker in Xian, said of local officials.

Still, for defenders of Chinas stringent measures, the results are undeniable. The country has recorded only 3.3 coronavirus deaths per 1 million residents, compared with about 2,600 per 1 million in the US In mid-January, Xian officials announced zero new infections; this past week, the lockdown was lifted entirely.

The governments success in limiting infections means its strategy has earned something that has proved elusive in many other countries: widespread support.

Pan said her job was easier now than at the start of the pandemic. Then, residents often argued when told to scan their health codes or wear masks. Now, she said, people have come to accept the health measures.

'Youll never be lost'

Indeed, many Chinese fear that loosening controls could leave room for a resurgence of Covid-19, said Shen Maohua, a blogger in Shanghai who has written about the pandemic and privacy concerns under his pen name, Wei Zhou.

For many people, I think, its actually a kind of mental trade-off, he said. Theyre giving up some rights in return for absolute security.

The question is how long people will continue to find that exchange worthwhile. Already, social media users have complained about the apparent arbitrariness with which they can find themselves blocked from travelling because of software glitches or policies that vary by city.

Even officials have acknowledged the problems. A state-run news outlet this month published an analysis of each provinces criteria for a health code to turn from green to yellow. It concluded that, for most provinces, the answer was unclear.

You never know if your planned itinerary will be cancelled, or if your travel plans can be realised, the article said.

Some government critics warn that the costs will go far beyond inconvenience.

Wang Yu, a well-known human rights lawyer, says she believes authorities have weaponised the health code to try to stop her from working. In November, as she was returning to Beijing after a work trip, she tried to log her travel on her health code app, as required. But when she selected Jiangsu province, the drop-down menu listed only one city, Changzhou, where she had not been and which had just recorded several infections. If she chose that, she would most likely be refused entry to Beijing.

In the past, security officers had to physically follow her to interfere with her work. Now, she worries, they can restrict her movements from afar.

Wherever you go, youll never be lost, said Wang, who stayed with relatives in Tianjin until her app abruptly returned to normal a month later.

Less high-profile critics are vulnerable, too. Several local governments have pledged to keep a close eye on petitioners  people who travel to Beijing or other cities to lodge complaints about officials  because of their supposed potential to violate travel rules.

The health code can also easily be used as a dirty trick for stability maintenance, said Lin Yingqiang, a longtime petitioner from Fuzhou, in southeastern China. He said that he was taken off a train by police before a party leaders meeting in November. His health code app turned yellow, requiring that he return to Fuzhou for quarantine, although he had not been anywhere near a confirmed case.

Officials have openly promoted using virus control measures in ways unlinked to the pandemic. In the Guangxi region of southern China, a judge noticed that the grid workers accounting of local residents was more thorough than the census. That gave him an idea.

Why not use this opportunity to have epidemic grid workers find people we couldnt find before, or send summonses to places that were hard to reach before? he said, according to a local news report. As a result, 18 summonses were successfully delivered.

Local governments across China have sought to assure people that their health code data will not be abused. The central government has also issued regulations promising data privacy. But many Chinese people assume that authorities can acquire whatever information they want, no matter the rules.

Zan Aizong, a former journalist in Hangzhou, says the expansion of surveillance could make it even easier for authorities to break up dissenters activities. He has refused to use the health code, but he finds it hard to explain his reasoning to workers at checkpoints.

I cant tell them the truth  that Im resisting the health code over surveillance, he said, because if I mentioned resistance, theyd think that was ridiculous.

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Bhutan's success in avoiding coronavirus is almost unrivalled but a rare patient death -- just the kingdom's fourth -- shows more work was needed to fight the pandemic there, its leader says.

The remote Himalayan nation of around 800,000 people, sandwiched between China and India, has recorded fewer Covid fatalities than almost anywhere else in the world.

The only places with lower official tolls are a small handful of remote Pacific islands and countries that do not publish coronavirus data, such as North Korea and Turkmenistan.

But Bhutan's Prime Minister Lotay Tshering -- a physician who still conducts surgeries on the weekend as a "de-stresser" from the pressures of office -- said this week's death was "a bitter reminder that we need to do more".

Tshering said in a Facebook post late Saturday that "it felt like a bullet-hit to learn that one more precious life died with Covid-19."

"I grieved with the nation and continue to offer my prayers for our dear friend," he added.

The prime minister said Bhutan remained committed to completely eliminating the disease and said the nation could not afford "to lose our people to something that is preventable".

Bhutan, like much of the world, has seen a surge in infections linked to the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Friday's death came on the same day health authorities reported 205 new coronavirus cases -- a national record since the pandemic began.

The kingdom has still seen fewer than 5,000 cases overall since the disease emerged two years ago, and Bhutan had already vaccinated nearly all of its adult population by the middle of 2021.

Neighbour and main trading partner India, by contrast, passed 41 million confirmed infections on Sunday.

India has also recorded nearly 500,000 deaths, the world's highest confirmed fatality count after the United States and Brazil -- though studies have suggested the country's true toll could be up to 10 times higher.

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BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's non-manufacturing sector continued its expansion in January but at a slower pace, official data showed Sunday.

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 51.1 in January, down from 52.7 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below it reflects contraction.

Due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in several regions, the sub-index for business activities in the services sector declined 1.7 percentage points from December 2021 to a five-month low of 50.3 in January, said NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe.

Zhao also pointed out significant performance differences between sectors. In January, monetary and financial service providers benefited from the implementation of a series of supportive policies for the real economy. They saw a relatively fast business growth, with its business activity sub-index reaching over 60.

Boosted by brisk holiday spending, the sub-index for business activities in retailing increased by 5.5 percentage points and returned to the expansionary territory.

However, sectors such as transportation, accommodation and resident services, greatly affected by the epidemic resurgence, saw business activities decline this month.

The overall business climate in the construction sector weakened seasonally as construction activities slowed due to the unfavorable weather conditions and workers returning to their hometowns ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The sub-index for business activities in the construction sector stood at 55.4 in January, 0.9 percentage points lower than the previous month. But the business expectation index recorded a marked rebound to 64.4, reflecting optimism among construction companies over the post-holiday operation.

Sunday's data also showed that the PMI for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.1 in January, down from 50.3 in December 2021. 
Dozens of pet stores that sold hamsters in Hong Kong may resume business from Sunday, Hong Kong's government said, after being shuttered last week and thousands culled over coronavirus fears.

Authorities enraged pet lovers with an order to cull more than 2,200 hamsters after tracing an outbreak to a worker in a shop where 11 hamsters tested positive. Imported hamsters from Holland into the Chinese territory had been cited as the source. All hamster imports remain banned.

The city's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said in a statement late on Saturday that it collected 1,134 samples from animals other than hamsters including rabbits and chinchillas, which were all negative.

Five stores, including the "Little Boss" pet shop, which started the outbreak, remained shuttered as they had not yet "passed the virus test," the government said.

"All the other concerned pet shops on the other hand have been thoroughly disinfected and cleaned and the environmental swabs collected from these shops have all passed the Covid-19 virus test," it said.

The government said on Friday it would compensate pet shops trading in hamsters, offering a one-off payment of up to HK$30,000 (US$3,850).

People who had in recent weeks bought hamsters - popular apartment pets in the congested city - were ordered to surrender them for testing and what the government described as "humane dispatch".

Thousands of people offered to adopt unwanted hamsters amid a public outcry against the government and its pandemic advisers, which authorities called irrational.

A study published in The Lancet medical journal, which has not yet been peer reviewed, said Hong Kong researchers have found evidence that pet hamsters can spread Covid-19 and linked the animals to human infections in the city.

However, the economic and psychological tolls from Hong Kong's hardline approach to curbing the virus are rapidly rising, residents say, with measures becoming more draconian than those first enforced in 2020.

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By David Roger Marples for The Conversation,

The international crisis created by Russia over NATOs eastern expansion has brought Europe to its most critical moment since the dissolution of the state of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

On the surface, the crisis appears to be artificial in that there is no obvious NATO threat to the Russians. But why have Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chosen this moment to send an ultimatum to NATO and its most powerful member, the United States?

There are several, inter-related reasons.

First, the Ukrainian presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky, elected in the spring of 2019, has been a big disappointment to the Russians.

Moscow was happy about the departure of Petro Poroshenko, the president installed after civilian uprisings in 2013-14.

Poroshenko had campaigned in the election on a platform of nation, church and the army, a patriotic stance that was overtly hostile to Russia.

Also Read | Ukraine crisis: What to know amid the fears of war

Poroshenko, in Putins view, had ignored Ukraines commitment to the 2015 Minsk Accords that ended heavy fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

In particular, he had failed to offer autonomy to the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, currently divided between Ukrainian control in the west and separatist regimes in the east.

A new era?

His defeat by Zelensky, a young Russian-speaking Jewish comedian with no previous political experience, appeared to herald a new era, moving away from what the Russians perceived as a headlong drive to the West.

From the outset, however, Zelensky made it plain that he would continue the policies mapped out by his predecessor. Furthermore, Zelensky clamped down on Russian supporters inside his country, shut down a popular pro-Russian website and placed the leading pro-Russian political figure, Viktor Medvedchuk, under house arrest.

Second, the United States, with a relatively new President Joe Biden, appears at its weakest in some time.

The Americans and their allies pulled out of Afghanistan in a chaotic fashion shortly after Biden took office, leaving behind a population they had supported for the previous 20 years.

Bidens predecessor, Donald J Trump, removed American troops from Syria, leaving the territory for the Russians and Syrians to control under the brutal dictatorship of Bashar Al-Assad.

Also Read | Russian invasion of Ukraine would be 'horrific': Pentagon

Putin is a proponent of the spheres of interest world view that places Ukraine clearly in his region. In this mindset, the United States adheres to the Monroe Doctrine that provides geopolitical and economic control over the Americas, so why then would the US defend Ukraine, a country outside the NATO alliance and a former member of the Soviet Union?

Inexplicably, from the Russian perspective, the U.S. supplied Ukraine with offensive weapons in 2017. Along with NATO allies, it also sent several battleships into the Black Sea in 2021, which sailed close to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.

Third, this conflict is about Putins obsession with Ukraine, a nation whose independence he has never accepted. If Ukraine joins NATO, it will leave the Russian world, just as Poland joined the defensive alliance in 1999 and the Baltic states followed in 2004. Putin maintains that Ukraine represents his red line that the West must not cross.

Pro-democracy uprisings

In the past two years, Putins world started to unravel. In Belarus, another Slavic neighbour, mass protests against pro-Russian president Alexander Lukashenko took place for several months after the August 2020 presidential elections.

Lukashenkos main rival, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, likely won the election, but she fled to Lithuania after the vote. She has toured European capitals soliciting support from European Union states and the UK to support democracy in Belarus.

Also Read | Biden to send troops to eastern Europe amid Ukraine diplomacy push

In late 2021, mass protests also occurred against the government of Kazakhstan, implicitly directed against former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, a once-powerful leader and reliable ally of Russia.

In both Belarus and Kazakhstan, the uprisings were unsuccessful, but there remains a festering discontent in both states, and theyre reliant on Russian support. Russia attributes the instability once again to western interference.

Reversing the trend?

In Ukraine, Russia intends to reverse the trend. It has amassed thousands of troops on Ukraines eastern and northern borders and moved troops into Belarus.

The so-called Allied Resolve military exercises are scheduled to take place soon in southwestern Belarus, very close to the Ukraine border  an alleged response to about 10,000 U.S. servicemen currently based in the Baltic states and Poland.

In addition to the troop movements, Russia has brought forward its latest advanced weaponry.

Whether Russia intends a full-scale attack on Ukraine, including its capital Kyiv, or a partial incursion that could see advances in the Donbas is a moot point.

What is clear is that it will not be satisfied by talks and there will be another attack on Ukraine in the next few weeks. Indeed, to withdraw troops would be humiliating for a president who relies on machismo to bolster his popular support.

The Russian leadership has reached a point of no return.

(The author is a distinguished University Professor of Russian and East European History, University of Alberta.)

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At least three people died and several were injured as violent winds uprooted trees and caused travel chaos in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic on Sunday.

A 58-year-old man was killed in the town of Beelitz near the German capital Berlin on Saturday evening when an election poster fell on him as he walked with his partner, local media reported citing the police.

In the neighbouring Czech Republic, a 70-year-old man was killed when the wind toppled the wall of a warehouse under construction in Velke Pritocno west of Prague, while another man was injured in the accident.

Poland's fire brigade reported one dead and five injured in the windstorm.

A falling tree injured a pedestrian in the northern German city of Bremen, while in the northeastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region a motorcyclist was seriously injured after colliding with an uprooted tree.

Fallen branches and trees disrupted long-distance train services on Saturday evening and Sunday in northern and eastern Germany, particularly between Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg.

Transport in the neighbouring Czech Republic and Poland was affected too.

Seventy passengers were left stranded in a motionless train from Budapest to Prague in southeastern Czech Republic without power and heating for over four hours as the wind had damaged the overhead line.

Hundreds of thousands of households in the region were hit by power outages.

Berlin's firefighters requested residents to stay at home as strong winds lashed the city from Saturday evening.

The port city of Hamburg's famous fish market was flooded and debris damaged several road vehicles.

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Kyiv on Saturday urged the West to remain "vigilant and firm" in its talks with Russia, as US President Joe Biden announced a small troop deployment to eastern Europe amid fears Moscow could order the invasion of Ukraine.

Britain is set to double the NATO force with troops, weapons, warships and jets, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday, as Washington warned the Kremlin had massed enough troops and hardware at the border to threaten the whole of Ukraine.

As top US defence officials have called for further diplomatic efforts to avert a "horrific" conflict, Western leaders have scrambled to defuse the crisis by reaching out to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while also trying to keep the pressure up by vowing unprecedented sanctions should he send in his forces.

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged his Western partners to avoid stirring "panic" over the massive Russian troop buildup, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on the need for de-escalation.

According to a Macron aide, Putin told the French leader in a call lasting more than an hour that he had "no offensive plans".

Read | Is 'fortress Russia' ready for new Ukraine sanctions?

In Washington, Biden nevertheless said he would soon send a small number of US troops to bolster the NATO presence in eastern Europe as tensions remain heightened.

The United States already has tens of thousands of troops stationed across mostly Western Europe.

France said Saturday that it was planning to send hundreds of troops to eastern NATO ally Romania as part of a deployment first touted by Macron earlier this month.

Meanwhile Britain's offer -- set to be made to NATO next week -- could see London double the approximately 1,150 UK troops currently in eastern European countries and "defensive weapons" sent to Estonia, Johnson's office said late Saturday.

"This package would send a clear message to the Kremlin -- we will not tolerate their destabilising activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility," he said.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday issued a call for the West to remain "vigilant and firm in contacts with the Russian side" in a conversation with French counterpart Yves Le Drian.

The talks underlined the need to "refrain from steps that could fuel anxiety" in Ukrainian society and "undermine the financial stability" of the post-Soviet country, a Ukrainian statement said.

Le Drian is expected to visit Ukraine together with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on February 7-8 as part of a flurry of diplomacy.

Britain's Johnson is expected to speak with Putin before heading to the region next week, adding to the chorus of Western leaders urging him to back down.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is due in Kyiv on Tuesday to meet the president and prime minister.

Since October, Russia has amassed more than 100,000 combat troops and equipment, as well as support forces, along its frontier with Ukraine and more recently in Belarus, which borders Ukraine on the north.

Western officials say Russia has also mustered more air and sea assets in the region, creating a complex threat like none seen since the Cold War.

Moscow has demanded wide-ranging security guarantees, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.

The West has rejected Russia's key demands such as stopping new members from joining the alliance, but has laid down a raft of areas where it sees room to negotiate with the Kremlin.

To Macron, Putin made clear that the written responses from the West to his demands had fallen short of expectations.

"The US and NATO responses did not take into account Russia's fundamental concerns including preventing NATO's expansion," Putin said, according to the Kremlin's readout of the call.

He added that the West had ignored the "key question", that no country should strengthen its security at the expense of others, adding Russia would "carefully study" the responses, "after which it will decide on further actions".

Russia has also demanded a pullback of NATO forces deployed to eastern European and ex-Soviet countries that joined the alliance after the Cold War.

Ukraine has turned increasingly to the West since Moscow seized the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and began fuelling a separatist conflict in the east of the country that has cost over 13,000 lives.

In the face of Russia's latest buildup, some Western allies -- led by the US -- have stepped up deliveries of arms to Kyiv that could be used to ward off an attack.

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The BJP had come into power promising 'acche din' but reports indicate that seven to nine crore people are unemployed in the country, rights activist and Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani said on Sunday.

Speaking during an online press briefing on unemployment in the country, he along with other activists urged the Centre to take steps to tackle the issue, more so as there is a pandemic.

Those at the briefing also alleged that unemployment has risen under the BJP government.

Statistics speak about the status of unemployment in the country, Mevani said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised 'acche din' (good days) and came into power. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, four to five crore had lost employment, but during the pandemic, 12 crore people lost jobs and nearly three to four crore people haven't got any jobs, while the remaining have managed to get something. The numbers indicate that seven to nine crore people are unemployed," he said.

Also read: Congress releases third list of candidates for Punjab polls, fields CM Channi from 2 seats

Other speakers on the panel spoke about how marginalised sections are the worst sufferers.

Rudrani Chhetri, an LGBTI activist, said that transwomen face a lot of issues in getting employment as society has a certain perception towards them.

"A transwoman, who is qualified, had gone for a job interview but the security guard asked her for sexual favours for allowing her to enter the office. She came back in tears," she said.

There are many women, who despite being qualified are not getting the dignity they deserve. There are transwomen I know who have burned their degrees after facing dejection in job interviews and being forced to return to being a sex worker," she said.

Chhetri said that even though the third gender has been recognised in the country, the awareness about such people is ''almost at the level of prep in school''. Student activist Aftab Alam condemned the recent police action against job aspirants protesting the alleged irregularities in a recruitment exam by Railways.

"Is youth only used as vote bank? When students study in DU (Delhi University), everyone knows that he is studying in a big university. It is shameful when he returns to village because the government is not even able to ensure jobs for them, he said.

Alam said that the governments and the system are responsible for it.

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Parliaments Budget Session is beginning on Monday in the shadow of Assembly elections in five states, dubbed as semi-finals to the 2024 polls, with the ruling BJP and the Opposition sharpening their tools to corner each other.

The new revelations on Pegasus will be one of the main weapons the Opposition will use along with price rise, India-China border tension, Covid-19 third wave, farmers distress, Chinese border issues, relief package for Covid victims and sale of Air India.

The session held in two legs  January 31 to February 11 and March 14 to April 8  in the midst of the third wave of Covid-19 will start with the customary address of President Ram Nath Kovind to a joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs on the first day followed by the much-anticipated Budget on February 1.

While in 2012, the UPA government had deferred the presentation of the Budget to March 16 owing to Assembly elections but in 2017 and this time, the Modi government decided to present the Budget during the election season.

Also read: Eyes on GDP forecast by Economic Survey despite recent misses

For both the ruling and Opposition sides, the session is crucial as the deliberations during the first leg would have an impact on the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. Both sides are likely to use the Parliament floor to make their political points.

Both the Houses are likely to see most of the MPs from poll-bound states remaining absent in the first leg of the Budget Session.

The session will also test the resolve of non-BJP parties on Opposition unity or electoral compulsions will keep them divided in Parliament, as a number of friends have turned foes in poll-bound states. During the last Winter Session, Trinamool Congress did not attend meetings called by Congress on floor coordination.

NCP and Shiv Sena have come together against Congress in Goa where Trinamool Congress and AAP are also fighting separately. In Punjab, it is Congress versus AAP. Samajwadi Party is the main challenger against BJP in Uttar Pradesh while Congress is fighting alone.

The government has called an all-party meeting through digital mode on Monday at 3 pm, which would set the tone for the Session, at least for the first leg. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not attended such a meeting before the Winter Session.

Also read: Do the math for Budget and you have a job crisis

The Opposition has said that it will raise the Pegasus issue prominently among other issues.

The report in The New York Times claiming that the Modi government bought Pegasus  which were alleged to be used against Opposition leaders, Constitutional post holders, journalists and activists among others  have given new ammunition to the anti-BJP parties.

The Opposition will target the government alleging that the latter misled and lied in Parliament and Supreme Court on questions on whether it bought the Israeli spyware. It would also question the government on the assertions in the NYT report about India changing its stand on Palestine following the buying of Pegasus.

Parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), CPI, RJD, DMK, NCP and Shiv Sena have already targeted the government over the issue.

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West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary, and launched another attack on the Mamata Banerjee government, stating that he cannot see "trampling of human rights" and the state "getting drenched" in violence.

Asserting that no amount of "insults" will deter him from performing his duties, Dhankhar said violence and democracy do not go together, and urged all to become messengers of peace and non-violence as a tribute to the father of the nation.

"I cannot see the hallowed land of Bengal getting blood-drenched (in violence) and becoming a laboratory for the trampling of human rights. People are saying that the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy," Dhankhar said at Gandhi Ghat on the bank of Hooghly river at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district.

He also said the situation had become such that the Calcutta High Court had to order the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission to form a fact-finding committee to probe into allegations of human rights violations in post-poll violence in West Bengal last year.

"No amount of insults will deter me from my path. It has not been appropriate for the chief minister of the state (Mamata Banerjee) to make derogatory remarks within and even outside the state," he said.

Dhankhar said it has to be everyone's effort to ensure that there is "peace in the society in terms of the Constitution of the country".

The governor, who has crossed swords with the Mamata Banerjee government over several issues since assuming charge in the state, recently accused the chief minister and the speaker of the assembly of transgressing constitutional norms by not providing him with the information he had sought on multiple matters.

He has had run-ins over appointments of vice-chancellors of universities, calling bureaucrats to his office for explanations.

On January 25, the governor, after paying floral tributes at the statue of B R Ambedkar on the assembly premises, had described the political condition in Bengal as horrible and frightening.

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BJP on Sunday called for deferring election in 108 civic bodies in West Bengal, scheduled to be held in February end by four weeks due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the state.

The party also demanded that results of the civic election in four municipal corporations in the state, going to the poll on February 12 and the 108 municipalities, slated on February 27, be declared on the same day.

Party spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told reporters that BJP will move the State Election Commission with the two demands on Monday.

"The daily Covid death figures are still alarming. The number of fresh cases are also quite high in districts. In the present situation we are of the view that the municipal poll in 108 civic bodies, slated for February 27, be put off by at least four weeks," Bhattacharya said.

Reacting to BJP's demands, TMC senior leader and state minister Firhad Hakim said, "Aware that the result of the municipal poll everywhere will go against them, BJP leaders are now asking for deferment of the municipal poll in 108 civic boards. They only want to buy more time."

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Tripura Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Sunday said all educational institutions in the state including schools, colleges and universities would open from Monday.

He said this decision was taken by the state government in consultation with the directors of the state health and education departments to compensate for the learning losses and mental wellness of the students.

The educational institutions, which would open on Monday includes schools from pre-primary to higher secondary schools, colleges and universities.

As the schools were closed most of the time of the last two years, the students could not meet their friends and they also suffered learning losses, he said.

"The UNICEF recently observed that keeping schools closed is way higher than dangers of keeping them open. The World Bank has also cautioned that the students had suffered a lot and mental health of students had broken down", Nath told reporters, adding that examinations would be held as per schedule.

The minister said many educationists and guardians also asked the state government to open educational institutions.

However, he said that appropriate Covid-19 behaviour would be maintained in all educational institutions.

The state government had closed schools from January 15 till January 30 following the spike in Covid-19 cases.

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The BJP seems to have strategically fielded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban in the assembly elections to maintain its sway over 62 seats in the region following desertion by some ministers hailing from the area.

Party insiders say Adityanath had campaigned vigorously in the 2017 polls in the region which had helped the saffron party win 44 of the 62 seats in Gorakhpur and nine other neighbouring districts.

The party has also got a prized catch in influential Congress leader R P N Singh to check the erosion in its support base among OBCs in the wake of recent exit of backward caste leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan as well as Om Prakash Rajbhar, who had quit earlier.

Also read: The melody vs the gutter speech of UP's Kairana

Maurya and Chauhan have joined the Samajwadi Party along with some OBC legislators. Rajbhar had contested the last polls in alliance with the BJP and was made a minister, but bid adieu to the saffron camp ahead of the 2019 general election.

Adityanath, who is popularly known in the region as "Maharaj ji" because of him heading the famous Gorakhnath temple, has served as the Lok Sabha member for five times from Gorakhpur since 1998.

The Hindu Yuva Vahini -- founded by him in 2002 -- also has a considerable presence in the area.

Reports suggest that Adityanath's footprint is visible in the selection of BJP candidates in the Gorakhpur region in particular.

Adityanath is a member of the state election committee which sorts out candidates and party sources say that he wields considerable influence in the process.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has divided its organizational structure into six parts in Uttar Pradesh - West Zone, Braj Region, Kanpur-Bundelkhand, Awadh, Kashi and Gorakhpur.

Gorakhpur region consists of 10 districts namely Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Deoria, Kushinagar, Basti, Sant Kabirnagar, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Ballia and Mau.

Voting will be held on these seats in the sixth and seventh phases scheduled on March 3 and March 7.

Also read: In Muzaffarnagar, Amit Shah rakes up communal riots to woo Jats

BJP Gorakhpur region vice-president Satyendra Sinha told PTI, "Yogi ji was the party's star campaigner in 2017 while being an MP and because of him, BJP got a lot of benefit in the Gorakhpur region and this time he is the chief minister.

"And since he is a candidate from Gorakhpur (urban) assembly constituency, BJP will definitely get an advantage under his leadership," he added.

Party's regional coordinator of the Panchayat Cell, Ajay Tiwari said, "The BJP will not suffer any loss due to Swami Prasad joining the SP. The party will get the benefit of the development done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi in the area."

In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP had won 44 of the 62 assembly seats in the Gorakhpur region, while the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party had secured seven seats each, and Congress and an independent had emerged victorious on one seat each.

In addition, the then BJP partner Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and Apna Dal (Sonelal) had also won a seat each in the region.

However, the SBSP is an ally of the SP this time around.

Backward castes constitute 52 per cent of the votes while the share of scheduled castes voters is 20 per cent. Upper castes like brahmins, kshatriyas and kayasthas also have significant presence in the region.

Muslim voters also have a considerable presence in about 15 assembly constituencies, including Mau, Azamgarh and Padrauna.

Also, there are many key rival party leaders from different assembly constituencies in this region.

UP elections: Why BJP is so 'desperate' to woo Jats in western UP

Maurya (Padrauna-Kushinagar), Chauhan (Madhuban-Mau), Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ram Govind Chaudhary (Bansdih-Ballia), State Congress President Ajay Kumar Lallu (Tamkuhiraj-Kushinagar), BSP's party leader Umashankar Singh (Rasra-Ballia) and Mafia turned politician Mukhtar Ansari from Mau are in this region.

Even Azamgarh, the parliamentary constituency of SP president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, comes under this region. However, Yadav has decided to fight from Karhal seat in Mainpuri district.

As Gorakhpur has a good number of voters from the backward Maurya, Kushwaha and Nonia-Chauhan communities, the SP has challenged the BJP through Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Chauhan.

SP state secretary Ziaul Islam told PTI that the BJP would lose badly in the region as it made false promises and neglected the interests of farmers, youth, Dalits, backwards and minorities.

Islam argued that SPs development-oriented image and joining of leaders like Maurya and Chauhan would result in the party getting a thumping majority.

With the BJP roping in R P N Singh of the Padrauna (Kushinagar) royal family, who belongs to the backward Kurmi-Sainthwar fraternity, it is believed that he could help the saffron party retain its support among the OBCs.

Singh was a minister in the Congress government at centre and has also been an MP from Kushinagar Lok Sabha constituency and an MLA from Padrauna. He is also a veteran leader of Purvanchal region.

However, Uttar Pradesh Congress vice-president, Vishwavijay Singh, who is a resident of Gorakhpur, rejected the possibility of Adityanath and Singh influencing the polls.

"Yogi ignored youth and the issue of unemployment for five years. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are fighting to safeguard the constitutional values of the country," he said.
Chinese, Moldovan presidents exchange congratulations on 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties

Xinhua) 13:20, January 30, 2022

BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu, on Sunday exchanged congratulatory messages to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their countries' diplomatic relations.

In his message, Xi pointed out that China and Moldova are traditional partners of friendly cooperation.

Over the past 30 years, he noted, bilateral relations have witnessed healthy and steady development, with the two countries enjoying increasingly deep political mutual trust, achieving substantial progress in various areas of cooperation, and conducting close collaboration in global and regional affairs.

In the face of COVID-19, the people in the two countries have stood together and helped each other, leaving a touching story of fighting the pandemic with solidarity, he added.

Xi stressed that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Moldova relations, and stands ready to work with Sandu to take the 30th anniversary as an opportunity to push for further development of bilateral ties and cooperation in various areas for the benefit of both nations.

For her part, Sandu said Moldova-China relations now enjoy rapid development, with continuously enhanced political dialogue, deepening win-win cooperation and increasingly smooth coordination in multilateral affairs.

Moldova, she added, thanks China for providing assistance in pandemic response supplies, and is willing to continuously tap the potential of bilateral cooperation in various fields and strive for new development of bilateral relations.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China on Sunday urged the United States to abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations in the three China-U.S. joint communiques, and immediately stop the erroneous acts of having official exchanges with Taiwan.

"We urge the United States to avoid sending any wrong signal to the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces, and refrain from further undermining China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.

Zhao made the remarks when asked to comment on the reported online meeting between Lai Ching-te and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

China rejects all forms of official interactions between the United States and Taiwan and has lodged solemn representation with the U.S. side over Lai Ching-te's virtual meetings with U.S. lawmakers and others during Lai's "transit" through the United States, he said. 
A tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 74th death anniversary, the merging of the Amar Jawan Jyoti with the National War Memorial, and vaccination numbers are some of the topics that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up in the first Mann Ki Baat episode of 2022 on Sunday.

In remembrance of Mahatma Gandhi, PM Modi deferred the radio address programme by 30 minutes. The day is celebrated as Martyrs Day.

This is the 84th episode of the programme.

Today is the death anniversary of our revered Bapu Mahatma Gandhi ji. The 30th of January reminds us of the teachings of Bapu, Modi said. He added that the Republic day celebrations this year was a matter of pride for all of us.

He mentioned the merging of the Amar Jawan Jyoti with the National War Memorial and said that former soldiers had written to him about it.

Some former soldiers of the army have written to me saying that, The Amar Jawan Jyoti lit at the memorial is a symbol of the immortality of the martyrs, Modi said. He encouraged people to visit the National War Memorial.

In his address, Modi also said that covid vaccination among the young people is significant. It is a matter of pride that so far almost 4.5 crore children have taken the Covid-19 vaccine. This means that about 60% of youth in the age group of 15 to 18 years have got their vaccines within three to four weeks. Another good thing is that within 20 days, one crore people have taken the precautionary dose as well, Modi said.

Modi also spoke about the rhino conservation efforts in Assam. Rhino poaching affects Kaziranga and 37 rhinos were killed in 2013 and 32 in 2014 by poachers. To tackle this challenge, a huge campaign against the poaching of rhinoceros was launched in the last seven years by the Assam government. The number of rhino killings dropped sharply to 2 in 2020 and just 1 in 2021, he said.

He added that on World Rhino Day, the government of Assam burnt 2400 rhino horns that were caught.

He also remembered the tigress T-5 who passed away recently at Madhya Pradeshs Pench Tiger Reserve, who was given a burial as per Hindu rites. Modi said that it was a fine display of Indian culture.

People used to call this tigress Collar Wali Tigress. People duly performed her last rites, bid farewell to her with full respect. The love of Indians for nature and animals has been highly appreciated the world over, Modi said.

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The Congress on Sunday paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 74th death anniversary with former party chief Rahul Gandhi saying "Hindutvawadis" feel the Father of the Nation is no more but he is alive, where there is truth.

Gandhi was shot dead on this day in 1948 by Nathuram Godse. The Father of the Nation's death anniversary is observed as Martyrs' Day.

"A 'Hindutvawadi' had shot Gandhi ji. All 'Hindutvawadis' feel that Gandhiji is no more. Where there is truth, Bapu is still alive there," the Congress leader tweeted in Hindi, using the hashtag 'Forever Gandhi'.

Rahul Gandhi also paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat here.

On his Twitter handle, Rahul Gandhi also shared a quote of Mahatma Gandhi: "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible but in the end, they always fall. Think of it always.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary, posting a quote by him on ahimsa (non-violence).

The Congress, on its official Twitter handle, said, "We pay our tribute to the Father of the Nation on his death anniversary. On this day, also observed as Martyrs' day, we salute all the brave men and women who laid their lives for the country."

"Our beloved Bapu may not be amongst us today to lead us through these tough times but his ways of fighting fearlessly & relentlessly against tyranny, apathy, injustice & falsehood continue to guide us in our quest for a prosperous & progressive India," the Congress said.

Several senior Congress leaders paid homage to the Father of the Nation.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India is fighting the new wave of Covid with "great success" and asserted that the people's trust on indigenous vaccines was "our strength".

In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' radio broadcast, Modi said, "Now the cases of corona infection have also started decreasing, this is a very positive sign."

It is a matter of pride that till now about four-and-a-half crore children have been administered the first dose of coronavirus vaccine, he said.

Read more: 60% youths in 15-18 year age group are vaccinated: Modi in 'Mann Ki Baat'

"This means that about 60 per cent of youth in the age group of 15 to 18 years have got their vaccines within three to four weeks. This will not only protect our youth but will also help them to continue with their studies," he said.

Another good thing is that within 20 days, one crore people have taken the precaution dose as well, Modi said.

"This trust of our people on the indigenous vaccines is our great strength," the prime minister said.

He asserted that India is fighting the new wave of coronavirus with "great success".

"People should be safe, the pace of economic activities of the country should be maintained -- this is the wish of every person in the country," Modi said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi congratulated fellow citizens for this "momentous feat" of full vaccination of 75 per cent of all adults and said he is proud of all those who are making the inoculation drive a success.

Tagging a tweet by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in which he stated that India has achieved its goal of vaccinating 75 per cent adult population against Covid, the prime minister said, "75% of all adults are fully vaccinated. Congratulations to our fellow citizens for this momentous feat."

"Proud of all those who are making our vaccination drive a success," he tweeted.

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With 2,34,281 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of cases increased to over 4.10 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry's data on Sunday.

The death toll climbed to 4,94,091, with 893 deaths reported in the 24-hour period, the data updated at 8 am showed. The active cases decreased by 1,19,396 to reach 18,84,937  4.59 per cent of the total infections  while the country's recovery rate was at 93.89 per cent, the ministry said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 14.50 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 16.40 per cent, according to the health ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,87,13,494, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent, it said.

Also Read  Gujarat sees sharp rise in daily Covid-19 deaths; cases fall below 12,000 for first time in two weeks

After the Sunday update, the total number of infections stands at 4,10,92,522, it said.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of anti-Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has crossed 165.70 crore. India surpassed the one-crore mark in the number of cases on December 19, 2020. It crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 of 2021.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday virtually interacted with the health ministers and other senior officials of five states, namely Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, urging them to monitor the case positivity rate on a daily basis and increase RT-PCR testing as most of the states exhibited lower number of tests.

The states were also advised to keep a close watch on the number of hospitalisations and deaths.

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'Rome Pope Ka, Madhepura Gope Ka' (Rome belongs to the Pope and Madhepura to Yadavs), so goes the saying in Bihar, a cradle of caste politics in India. Known as the 'Vatican of Yadavs', Madhepura has elected a Yadav MP for 14 consecutive polls. There are several such parliamentary seats across the country, where deep-rooted caste divisions still play a decisive role in electoral politics.

Caste is key in the five states going to polls in less than a month  Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand. Yet, getting the math right is no easy task even for seasoned experts.

A web of sub-castes, each competing against the other for the limited political space that is already dominated by the privileged in the hierarchy, makes the situation more complex.

For instance, the Other Backward Classes (OBC) have now branched into Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) or Most Backward Classes (MBC). A section of Dalits identify themselves as Mahadalits in UP and Bihar.

Read | Ideology, anybody?

Decentralisation of political power has also meant that there are multiple claimants for the same community space after the fall of pan-state leaders.

"Sub-castes provide more potent leadership of smaller groups and bargaining power. Helping in the evolution of chhuthbhaiya netas (small-time leaders) capable of providing 500 to 5,000 votes, which is crucial. These leaders switch sides every five years or so. The outcome of the Uttar Pradesh polls, particularly in eastern UP, may be a result of a political group that is able to win over or retain sub-caste support," says Rasheed Kidwai, a political analyst.

While the Congress experimented with Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit Chief Minister of Punjab  a state with 31.9% of Dalit votes, the Samajwadi Party in UP saw a number of backward class leaders from the BJP joining the party, particularly those belonging to the politically ambitious Kushwaha community.

This chain reaction ensured that 44 seats went to the OBCs in the BJP's first list of candidates, a trend that continued in later lists as well.

Cast your vote or vote for your caste? In the uncertain world of politics in Uttar Pradesh, caste provides a comfort zone for an electorate that is tired of experimenting or looking for elusive vikas. When ideological lines are blurred, caste acts as a catalyst, Kidwai argues.

If Bihar and UP have made the maximum headlines for the inseparable concoction of caste and politics, the reality elsewhere in the country is not different, though the scale of the dominance of caste may differ.

Identity politics surrounding caste loyalties in Vokkaligas and Lingayats has remained an integral part of Karnataka while the Maratha quota has kept the political cauldron boiling in Maharashtra.

In Andhra Pradesh, the previous TDP administration headed by Chandrababu Naidu was more often referred to as the Kamma government while the present regime is known as the Reddy rule. These two forward caste communities have been wielding power in the state for years and most CMs belong to these castes.

The slogans of 90s

Polarisation on caste lines was perhaps most evident in Bihar in the 1990s  the most controversial slogan being Bhura baal saaf karo (wipe out Bhumihars, Rajputs, Brahmins). It was attributed to and denied repeatedly by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Even Muslim politics in the state saw division along the lines of Ashraf and Pasmanda castes. In the end, JD(U)s Nitish Kumar walked away with a chunk of the latters votes.

In the adjoining state of Uttar Pradesh, a laboratory of Mandal politics (reservation for OBCs) and Kamandal politics (the Ram Mandir campaign by the BJP which also managed to woo a number of backward classes into the Hindutva fold) was brewing.

Eventually, what socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia predicted in his book Wheel of History came true in both UP and Bihar. Lohia predicted that power would shift from the privileged castes to the OBCs, but if the dominant among the OBCs behave in the same manner with the deprived communities, the suppressed would ally with the privileged castes again.

In UP, Dalits and privileged castes joined hands with Jatavs under Mayawati against Mulayam Singh Yadavs SP. It saw further changes with a number of EBCs and non-Jatav Dalits breaking away from both SP and BSP and powering the BJP, which was earlier called a Brahmin-Baniya party.

Karnatakas caste calculus

Caste has remained an integral part of Karnataka politics from the early 19th century due to the impact of Leslie Miller report  which ensured representation for non-Brahmins in the government  and census reports till 1931 that listed populations along caste lines, says political analyst Muzaffar Assadi.

Post-Independence, Lingayats and Vokkaligas controlled power. The hegemony ended in the 1970s after former CM Devaraj Urs came with an Ahinda prototype involving Muslims, OBCs and Dalits (MOD), Assadi says.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah later perfected the Ahinda politics to keep the party in power while the Lingayats near-final shift to the BJP saw the first saffron party government in the state in 2008.

Further down in Kerala, the Congress is not alien to divisions along the lines of faith. Caste factors have played a prominent role in candidate selection and policymaking, with Hindu-Nair, Hindu-Ezhava, Christian and Muslim communities being wooed by parties.

In Maharashtra, caste politics matters in issues like reservation for the politically-strong Maratha community, the change in quota category for the Dhangar community and the restoration of OBC reservation in local bodies. With the creation of a special category through the Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018, the government breached the Supreme Court cap of 50%, which was later struck down.

In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK-BJP coalition in the 2021 Assembly polls tried to combine half a dozen SC sub-castes into one group and divide the MBC quota into sub-quotas. It is because of the Vellalar Gounders that J Jayalalithaa retained power in 2016. The DMK could not counter her in the western region, where the community stood like a rock behind Jaya, political analyst Raveenthran Duraisamy says.

DMK leader M Karunanidhi hailed from the Isai Vellalar community while Jayalalithaa was a Brahmin  both numerically not very prominent. The two leaders factored in caste equations while handing out poll tickets.

Caste bonds are, of course, hard to break. Ye Jaati hai jo Jaati Nahin (It is this caste which does not go away), says socialist Sharad Yadav after a 50-year political career.

(With inputs from Akram Mohammed, E T B Sivapriyan, Prasad Nichenametla, Mrityunjay Bose and Arjun Raghunath)

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Five militants, including Zahid Wani a top commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), were killed in two separate gunfights in south Kashmirs Pulwama and Central Budgam district on Sunday.

05 #terrorists of #Pakistan sponsored proscribed #terror outfits LeT & JeM killed in dual #encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani & a Pakistani terrorist among the killed. Big #success for us: IGP Kashmir (sic), Kashmir Police Zone tweeted.

According to police, JeM commander Zahid Wani was among four terrorists killed in an overnight encounter in Naira village of Pulwama.

Wani became the top Jaish commander in south Kashmir after security forces killed Pulwama attack mastermind, Sameer Dar, last year. His killing is expected to disorient the remaining JeM terrorists operating in the valley as he used to provide the planning and leadership, a senior police officer told DH.

05 #terrorists of #Pakistan sponsored proscribed #terror outfits LeT & JeM killed in dual #encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani & a Pakistani terrorist among the killed. Big #success for us: IGP Kashmir@JmuKmrPolice  Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) January 30, 2022

The other three slain militants were identified as Waheed Reshi, Inayaitullah Mir, both locals and Kafil aka Chotu, a Pakistani.

One more militant affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed in a separate encounter in the Charar-i-Sharief area of central Kashmirs Budgam district.

Both the encounters had started on Saturday evening and ended early Monday morning with the killing of five militants.

21 militants, including eight from Pakistan, have been killed in Kashmir this year in 11 encounters while last year 171 ultras were neutralized. According to police figures, 156 ultras, including 73 foreigners, were active in Kashmir on December 31.

This is for the first time that the number of active militants in the Valley has come down to less than 200 since the insurgency erupted in Kashmir in 1990.

Earlier on Saturday, a 53-year-old policeman was shot dead by militants in Hassanpora village of Bijbehera in south Kashmirs Anantnag district. Unidentified militants fired at head constable Ali Mohammad Ganie near his residence and he was rushed to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.

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The recent debate between veteran Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Bandyopadhyay and the relatively younger state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh over the leadership of Abhishek Banerjee was indicative enough of a sharp division within the party. The situation became so embarrassing that senior party leader and General Secretary Partha Chatterjee had to step in to put an end to the controversy.

The controversy started when Abhishek, going against Mamata Banerjee's decision to allow the Gangasagar Mela, said that all religious and political programmes should be put on hold. Bandyopadhyaya who is considered to be close to the chief minister countered Abhishek saying that 'Mamata Banerjee wants to do the fair and one of the leaders of the same party is saying just the opposite. Being the All-India General Secretary of the Party (Abhishek Banerjee), one cannot have any personal opinion".

Ghosh who made a comeback to the party after six years of imprisonment in the Saradha chit fund scam because of Abhishek Banerjee immediately retorted. "Abhishek Banerjee is the second in command in the party after Mamata Banerjee. When he is saying something the common soldiers like us should keep quiet and listen. We need to speak considering everything."

Also read: Why Abhishek Banerjee is going against his party

Bandyopadhyay in reply said, "I don't consider anyone in the party but Mamata Banerjee to be the leader. I respect the position but don't consider him to be a leader. If Abhishek Banerjee can bring victory for the party in Goa and Tripura then I shall consider him to be a leader."

The controversy escalated to such an extent that Partha Chatterjee had to speak to both the leaders and ask them not to give statements in public. The party warned everyone not to speak in public. "Everyone has been asked not to give any public statement. If anyone has any grievance, he should speak to the senior party leaders or to the chief minister," a senior party leader said.

Though the controversy was apparently doused but that it had a deeper impact on the authority of Mamata Banerjee was manifested when in a recent meeting with the party MPs at her Kalighat residence she said that she would look after the organisation of the party in West Bengal. The chief minister's statement just before the party's first organisational polls early next month is an obvious indication that she wanted to send a strong message to the party workers that she still has the last word in the party.

Political experts are of the opinion that it has a wider range of political and organisational ramifications. "Abhishek Banerjee is still not wholly accepted in the party particularly among the senior leaders. The rift between the younger generation and older leaders is widening and Mamata Banerjee wanted to put a cap on that," a senior political analyst said.

Not only that, the chief minister's strong message to the junior rung of the workers and leaders has a wide range of political implications too. "Mamata is still the most accepted and adored political leader in the state and there is no other political leader in the party who is capable of matching her charisma. In this situation the shift of the centre of gravity towards Abhishek Banerjee in the party might erode the support base having a long-term effect on the vote bank. So, this will not only restore confidence among the confused party workers but also help to restore the faith of the voters," he added.

Sources in the party also indicated that the chief minister has directed to send the names of the possible candidates for the municipal elections to Rajya Sabha MP and Trinamool Congress General Secretary Subrata Bakshi, making it clear that she will have the final word about selecting the candidates for the forthcoming municipal polls.

"Previously the nomination of the candidates was done by I-Pack -- the professional group of election strategist Prashant Kishore -- and it was sent to Mamata Banerjee for final approval. The change in the strategy is an obvious signal that she wants to plug the influence of the outside elements in the party," a senior cabinet minister considered close to Mamata Banerjee told IANS on condition of anonymity.

The change was first felt when she nominated Firhad Hakim as the mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation ignoring the party policy of 'One Person - One Post'. It is widely believed that Hakim was never the first choice of Abhishek Banerjee; rather he suggested another name but Mamata Banerjee by nominating Hakim as the mayor made it very clear that like before she will decide the final policies of the party. Now how much can she keep the influence of Abhishek Banerjee in the party at bay will be the thing to watch.

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Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday lauded Thayammal, a woman from Tirupur in Tamil Nadu who won appreciation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for donating Rs 1 lakh to improve the infrastructure of a school.

Modi had during his Mann Ki Baat radio programme earlier in the day praised the woman for donating the amount out of her savings made by selling tender coconuts.

The Lt Governor, who had heard the programme, later called up the woman and extended her greetings. "You have done very good humanitarian and charitable work. I appreciate this inclination," she told the woman over phone.

Thayammal told the Lt Governor that she had drawn inspiration from her (Tamilisai Soundararajan) and thanked her for the greetings. Transcript of the telephonic conversation between them was made available by the Lt Governor's office to the media.

Soundararajan extended an invitation to Thayammal to visit the Raj Bhavan for a felicitation function. "I will send an invitation to you to visit the Raj Bhavan`, the Lt Governor told Tayammal.

Meanwhile, the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit said its party leaders from Tiruppur felicitated Thayammal after the PM had made a mention of her in 'Mann Ki Baat' programme. State BJP chief K Annamalai thanked Modi for identifying and highlighting such personalities from the state.

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Russia has legitimate interests in Ukraine, Shivshankar Menon, the National Security Advisor to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said in New Delhi on March 7, 2014  just days after President Vladimir Putins Little Green Men  soldiers with no insignia on uniforms  seized the government buildings and the airports in Crimea.

The Crimeans later that month voted overwhelmingly in favour of merging the Black Sea peninsula with Russia. Notwithstanding protest from Washington and other western capitals, Putin signed legislations in a brief ceremony at Kremlin on March 21, completing annexation of Crimea into Russian Federation.

But eight years later, as tension between Russia and the western nations led by the United States escalated once again, India chose to tread cautiously. It didnt speak up for weeks and when it broke its silence on January 28, it carefully avoided endorsing Russias military build-up around Ukraine and rather called for a peaceful resolution of the situation through sustained diplomatic efforts for long term peace and stability in the region and beyond. The spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi said that India was closely following the developments relating to Ukraine, including ongoing high-level discussions between Russia and the United States.

Read | Russia's risky options beyond full Ukraine attack

New Delhi has reasons to be worried over escalation of tension between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine, as it is likely to make it all the more difficult for India to maintain the delicate balance between its strategic partnerships with Russia and the United States. Moscow is likely to expand its security partnership with Beijing if a conflict between Russia and the US-led West cannot be avoided. Notwithstanding Indias growing strategic synergy with the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, Russia remains the origin of over almost 86% (according to a study of the Stimson Centre) of weapons and other military hardware being used by the Indian Army, the Navy and the Air Force.

Russia has been the source of about 55% of defence equipment imported by India since 2014. Even after the stand-off between the Indian Army and the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army started along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020, India relied on Russia for emergency supply of arms and ammunition to bolster its defence capabilities. So, a closer defence cooperation between Russia and China, which could eventually also turn into Russia-Pakistan-China axis, is no way in the interest of India.

India has already been walking on a tightrope to manage its ties with Russia and the US.

Read | Is 'fortress Russia' ready for new Ukraine sanctions?

The spectre of the US CAATSA (Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) sanctions still looms large over India for its October 2018 deal to procure five S-400 air defence systems from Russia at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 39,000 crore. Though several US lawmakers and strategic affairs analysts argued in favour of granting India a waiver from the CAATSA sanctions, President Joe Bidens administration remained non-committal and informally signalled that even if New Delhi gets an exemption for the S-400 contract, it should not expect the same for future big-ticket deals to procure defence equipment from Russia. Ned Price, the spokesperson of the US State Department, said as recently as on January 27 that Russias destabilising role in the region was reflected in its move to sell the S-400 missile systems to India.

India has been pointing it out to the US that while it has been diversifying its defence procurement, it cannot abruptly lessen its dependence on military hardware from Russia, given the decades-old defence ties between the two nations. It also pointed out that it needed the S-400 missile defence systems from Russia, in view of escalating tension along the India-China disputed boundary. The value of India's weapons procurement from the US too jumped from $6.2 million in 2019 to a whopping $3.4 billion in 2020. India is also discussing several big-ticket defence deals with the US, including one for buying 30 MQ-9 Reaper (a.k.a. Predator B) drones at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 21,000 crore.

Russia has also been conveying to India its serious concern over the US role in Asia-Pacific in the name of so-called Indo-Pacific strategies and (through) creation of closed bloc-type structures. It had earlier called the Quad a divisive and exclusivist tool being used by the US to implement its devious policy of engaging India against China as well as to undermine Russias close partnership with India. Though India argues that its own vision for the Indo-Pacific is inclusive and not against China or any other nation, it obviously could not yet convince Russia.

India is not only deepening its engagements with the US, Australia and Japan within the framework of the Quad, but also working with Germany, France and the United Kingdom to counter Chinas belligerence in the Indo-Pacific region. A conflict between Russia and the western nations over Ukraine, however, is likely to distract the attention of the US and other nations from the region  an opportunity, which Xi Jinpings Middle Kingdom will utilise to expand its geopolitical influence, including in the Indian Ocean.

So, New Delhi clearly has a stake in the success of the negotiations to avoid a conflict between Russia and the US-led West over Ukraine. That is why it kept in touch with both Moscow and Washington over the past few weeks. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had phone-calls with his Russian and American counterparts early this month. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla received a call from US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and they discussed Russias troop build-up around Ukraine. New Delhis envoy to Moscow, Pawan Kapoor, too recently had a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, when the progress of the negotiations to avert a conflict was discussed. The Embassy of India in Kyiv meanwhile asked Indians living in Ukraine to register with it  obviously preparing for emergency evacuation in case the escalating tension leads to a conflict.

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They stand on the opposite banks of the river. One, shrinking into itself, separate, fearful, mistrustful, unable to see beyond its own needs and instincts for survival. The other, waiting for the crossover. Not now or later, but eternally.

In Gandhi, the two, loss and love, met. Not just your loss or mine. His too. He was, after all, a man, even if a Mahatma. But the river that connected the two banks flowed through him. The river of love. You could submerge your loss in him. And be submerged by him.

He never ran dry. Not even in the months leading up to Independence when losss furious, unstoppable reprisals, its blind, numb loathing, held sway in India.

Calcutta was a gutted city. Communal killings had broken out on Direct Action Day, August 16, 1946, and they carried on, renewing themselves in fresh spasms of hate. The violence blazed through Noakhali in East Bengal, torched Bihar, engulfed Punjab and Delhi, threatened to consume the whole country. India had become a wracking, unconsolable fireball that would not be put out until Gandhis own blood had been shed. No, not even then did he run dry.

Here he is in Noakhali, in a famous photo from 1946. Alone, head down, walking with staff in hand, trying to restore sanity in an area where Hindus had been killed in hundreds, houses burnt, women raped, in vengeance for attacks on Muslims in Calcutta.

Many villagers he met were hostile to his arrival but he took it in his stride, went to live in their homes. He sought out those who had suffered to provide courage. To the community, his message was clear: He wanted repentance. Rajmohan Gandhi writes in The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi that he spoke to the large gatherings in an idiom they understood: Hindus and Muslims were nourished by food grown from the same soil, quenched their thirst from the waters of the same river, and finally laid themselves to rest in the same earth. If they feared God, they would fear no one else.

In Bihar, which saw a terrible retribution against Muslims for Noakhali, he told a crowd of 100,000 on March 5, 1947, that he wanted honest reparations greater in magnitude than their crimes. And that everyone of us is equally guilty of what any one of us has done. A Hindu beggar came to give him four annas for the Muslim relief fund he had set up. Gandhi saw true charity in this act and found the real face of Bihar in him.

Calcutta saw him go on a fast, his second-last, where he would have nothing save water. It would be his one last attempt to return sense to a city that continued to smoulder despite a spell of amity around Independence. The fast began on September 1, 1947. By the time he broke it three days later, the impossible had happened. The nerve of feeling had been restored, the pain began to be felt; the pain of the whole society, because of the pain of its members, whether Hindu, Muslim, or othersit was fundamentally the joy of union, and the acceptance of new responsibility which such glad assurance of united strength makes possible, wrote Amiya Chakravarty, who was an eye-witness to the fast. C Rajagopalachari, then the new Governor of West Bengal, said nothing that Gandhiji had achieved, not even independence was so truly wonderful as his victory over evil in Calcutta.

Love, you must meet loss. Loss, inscribed by the memory of more than a million dead, homes and relationships abandoned, friendships extinguished. The loss of a promised wholeness. No, we havent acknowledged or understood, we are still capable of a return to madness. What to even speak of forgiveness?

But loss, meet you must love. Love, inscribed by the fact of three bullets fired at point-blank range into the open heart of a 78-year-old man, his hands folded in the gesture of greeting, forgiveness and love. He embraced his death willingly. He had prayed earlier to forgive his assassin. His surrender to Rama was finally complete.

The river connected the two banks because they werent really apart, werent really separate. The river knew, it trusted. It still does. We have to let go. Let ourselves be swept by love. We have nowhere else to go.
THE Government has availed through Kuvimba Mining House, US$400 000 to the Deposit Protection Commission (DPC) to start the process of compensating small and vulnerable depositors who saw the value of money in their accounts depreciate when the rate moved from US$1: $1 to US$1: $2,5 in February 2019.

In November 2020, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the Government will compensate small and vulnerable depositors who had balances of US$1 000 and below as at 20 February 2019.

The initial tranche of US$400 000 has been allocated to eligible depositors who had funds in the Deposit Taking Microfinance Institutions (DTMFIs), and they are to receive compensation to the full extent of their respective loss of value.

For example, a depositor who had US$1 000 in his or her account will get US$600.

In a statement, DPC chief executive officer Mr Vusi Vuma confirmed receipt of the initial batch of funds meant for distribution to depositors.

Government has now availed through Kuvimba Mining House the sum of US$400 000 to the Deposit Protection Corporation as agent, for distribution to vulnerable depositors. Given the available resources, several scenarios were iteratively evaluated to identify a method that offers the best compensation to depositors.

The Deposit Protection Corporation wishes to advise the banking public that in the meantime, the initial tranche of US$400 000 will be allocated to eligible depositors who had balances of US$1 000 and below in the Deposit-Taking Microfinance Institutions, to pay for the loss of deposit value occasioned by exchange rate movement from USD1: 2,5, as at 20 February 2019, he said.

Mr Vuma said those eligible are to submit their claims to DTMFIs, with their window period to do so set to expire on 7 November 2022.

Accordingly, qualifying depositors are advised to submit their claims as at 20 February 2019 within a period of 12 months running from 8 November 2021 to 7 November 2022 to their respective registered Deposit-Taking Microfinance Institutions namely: African Century Limited; Getbucks Microfinance Bank; EmpowerBank Limited; Zimbabwe Womens Microfinance Bank; Success Microfinance Bank Limited; and Lion Microfinance Limited.

The Deposit-Taking Microfinance Institutions will periodically submit the schedule of claims to the Deposit Protection Corporation for verification, validation, and subsequent remittance of the requisite payment to the Deposit-Taking Microfinance Institutions for onward settlement to eligible depositors in USD without incurring transaction costs.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Deposit Protection Corporation, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and the banking sector have reached an agreement in that regard, he said.

Mr Vuma said the programme will also move to depositors in banks, building societies and other financial institutions.

After compensating depositors of Deposit-Taking Microfinance Institutions, subsequent tranches for disbursement would be allocated to remaining deposit-taking institutions namely commercial banks, building societies, savings banks, and infrastructure banks, as and when additional funds are availed, he said. Sunday News
There has been heightened gunfighting in the Chin region of Myanmar between its military and rebels. Nearly 20,000 Myanmar people are already in Mizoram. But the state government cannot recognise the hapless intruders as refugees since states are not authorised to do so under the law. Only the Centre can.

But the Union government faces a diplomatic quagmire. Entertaining the Myanmar intruders could upset that country's military junta. India needs its cooperation to deal with insurgent groups who take shelter and operate from the jungles of western Myanmar.

India's security apparatus is concerned over growing incidents of violence in Myanmar between the military and resistance groups. Several ethnic Naga, Mizo, Manipuri and even Assamese rebels from northeastern India have maintained bases in Myanmar's Sagaing region for years. The modus operandi used to be simple - launch attacks on Indian forces and then return to their camps and hideouts across the border.

Manipur witnessed one gruesome incident in November last year when Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his wife and their nine-year-old boy were killed. Forces wanted to hit back. So in Nagaland's Mon district, not far from the India-Myanmar border, innocent Naga civilians were attacked on December 4.

The fallout of 'mistaken identity' in a botched operation triggered anti-India and anti-Indian forces sentiment. Nagas and the Nagaland state government, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as an alliance partner, have demanded the "draconian" Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) be repealed.

Boycotts marked the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 in Nagaland. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, a senior leader with good contacts in national politics, hoisted the national flag in Kohima, the state capital. Ministers and administrative officials did so in district headquarters but in front of empty stadiums, which had nothing to do with the Covid-19 protocols. The state administration was at pains answering frantic calls from the Union Home Ministry mandarins and others why such a situation prevailed.

The Naga Students Federation, an influential students' body, which can be compared with such outfits as the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and Khasi Students Union (KSU) in Meghalaya, also called for a boycott. These student bodies in the northeast are often the stepping stones for student leaders to state-level politics. In other words, developments in Nagaland should not be brushed aside.

The intense fighting between the Myanmar military and the 'joint forces' of the Chin National Army (CNA) militants and Chinland Defence Force (CDF) is somewhat a new security dimension. The Lai tribe among Mizos shares an ethnic affinity with Chins and hence their bond and hospitality accorded to them.

Last year, the Mizoram government, run by the Mizo National Front (MNF), a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, made elaborate arrangements for the school education of the Myanmar children who have sneaked into Mizoram with their parents and guardians in the aftermath of the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021.

The dissident National Unity Government (NUG) had declared a "Spring Revolution" from September 7, 2021, marking the launch of a "civil war" to oust the military junta in Myanmar.

Recently one Chin rebel was arrested in Mizoram border smuggling arms from India. Four "injured cadres from Chin forces" earlier sneaked into Mizoram state. One of them died. Three are reportedly undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Aizawl.

Indian forces, primarily because of the ensuing elections in Manipur, another border state adjoining Myanmar, have intensified border security along the Indo-Myanmar border in Mizoram and the poll-bound state.

The anti-insurgency team of Assam Rifles seized contraband also included a thousand aluminium instant detonators, one Tata 912 truck, Rs 73,500 Indian currency and 9,35,000 Myanmar currency (Kyats). The Assam Rifles personnel also seized a huge cache of explosives, 2,500 kilograms of gelatin (dynamite) sticks, and 4,500 meters of detonating fuse at the Zawngling village in Siaha district on the border. Another twist in the tale is that the explosives reportedly originated from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and were allegedly being 'transported' to a fixed destination in Myanmar to arm the CNA militants.

In December, Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla visited Myanmar and tried to build a needed diplomatic bridge. Before that, in October 2020, India delivered a kilo class submarine, INS Sindhuvir, to the Myanmar Navy, its first submarine.

Amid this, Indian political parties, particularly the ruling BJP and its top leadership, are busy with election campaigns in the poll-bound states, including Manipur. The BJP hopes to retain power in Manipur, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state on January 4.

Manipur is home to a sizable Naga population. Therefore, New Delhi is treading the path cautiously. However, officials had claimed last year that the Naga peace talks are in the final stages. The leading Naga group, the NSCN (IM), influential in the hilly region of Manipur, was still giving mixed signals. This group wants a separate flag and constitution for Nagas. The Centre has rejected the demand.

The Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), a coalition of seven groups operating in Nagaland, are keen on an early peace pact. Its convener, N Kitovi Zhimomi, says all issues, including army deployment and AFSPA provisions, would end once a final peace pact is inked. This group signed a preamble agreement with the Centre in 2017.

A matter of concern is the question of 'indigenous' Nagas has returned to the debate. The NNPGs working committee now says that all "Naga national workers" after signing the peace pact must "return" to their ancestral Naga inhabited areas.

The phrase "Naga national workers" refers to Naga militants operating with bases in Nagaland state and outside, such as Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Assam and even Myanmar. Similarly, "ancestral Naga inhabited areas" refer to respective Naga tribes' home districts.

The NNPG working committee has said, "The political negotiations are over and to ensure that provisions of the agreement in respective Naga areas are meticulously and effectively implemented in letter and spirit, all Naga National workers, upon signing the political agreement, must return to their respective ancestral Naga inhabited areas to restrengthen and forge greater Naga historical and political identity".

Suffice it is to say that the region is sitting on a ticking time bomb.

(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi based journalist)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
A board in Layadagundi hosts a declaration: "Our village bans the sale of alcohol. The aim is to make it alcohol-free. The declaration is made by the villagers and the Gram Panchayat."

It has been nearly a year since the board was put up outside this village in Bagalkot district. The way Basavaraju, an activist from the village describes it, the board was a white flag, offered up after a three-day long intense protest by local women against the sale of alcohol by unlicensed shops in the village.

"They were almost ready to set fire to these shops," Basavaraju says.

There was a reason why the women were exasperated. Most of them faced the brunt of the alcohol-fueled domestic violence, with their husbands squandering their money on drink. Now, they were seeing the children, as young as 14 to 15 years old, getting hooked onto alcohol, which was easily available in the village  from grocery shops to houses.

And in a village of 500 households dominated by backward communities like Kurubas and Madigas, indebtedness was rapidly rising.

"Some families even lost their land due to their alcohol addiction. The situation was bad," says 29-year-old Hema Murmatti, who took part in the protests.

The women, armed with government rules regarding alcohol sales, called a Gram Sabha meeting and got illegal alcohol shops shut down. Those caught selling alcohol within the Gram Panchayat limits are now fined Rs 5,000 on the spot.

"Now, people have to travel nearly nine km to purchase alcohol. This has led to drastic drop in alcohol consumption," Hema says.

Some or the other version of Layadagundi's struggle against liquor before its 'prohibition' continues to play out in countless villages in Karnataka. But few of them have achieved success.

During the winter session of the Assembly in December last year, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri lashed out at the government for hiking excise revenue targets, which he said led to a rise in liquor consumption in many parts of the state.

Increasing excise targets is affecting lives, he said and requested Chief Minister Bommai to intervene in the matter.

Earlier, Congress MLA E Tukaram from Sandur had complained about the illegal sale of liquor, saying, "Even degree students have started drinking."

Karnataka receives some of the highest revenues from alcohol among Indian states.

In 2020 - 2021, during the height of the pandemic, the excise department collected Rs 23,332 crore, overshooting its target by Rs 600 crore. By December 2021, the department had collected 19,306 crore, achieving 78% of its target.

Excise duties also account for 21% of the states own tax revenue, and 12% of its overall income (including its share in central taxes.)

And economists say that at a time when the GST compensation has been repeatedly delayed and the states finances are precarious, the guaranteed, dependable income from excise duty comes as a relief.

This dependence was reflected in the state governments swift move to reopen alcohol shops after the first lockdown in May 2020, while simultaneously hiking excise duty by 17-25% to shore up its finances.

One fallout of this single-minded focus on revenue has been the rapid proliferation of illegal alcohol outlets at the villages or gram panchayats that have opened up over the past decade.







Many of the outlets operate out of dhabas, grocery shops or even peoples houses, and have connections with licensed liquor outlets in the vicinity.

This ubiquitous availability of alcohol, however, comes at a high cost. According to a study by Nimhans, alcohol has been linked to more than 60 different health conditions.

A High Court of Karnataka order in December 2020, based on a public interest litigation, emphasised the governments statutory obligations to curb the illegal sale of alcohol.

Roopakala M, another Congress MLA, said that despite the governments assurances, there was no direction to curb the illegal sale of alcohol.

Grassroots activists allege that most of these outlets function with the active collusion of excise inspectors on the ground. They say excise officials, in turn, are pressured by higher ups or the government to meet their monthly and yearly targets.

When asked about this, S L Rajendra Prasad, the Joint Commissioner of Excise, categorically denied the allegations. Let me be clear. There is no setting of targets by the department at all.

They would always deny that they set targets, but if the revenue dropped, we were pulled up in the monthly meetings, says L H Lingegowda, an ex-excise officer who is now a member of the Karnataka Rashtra Samiti, a political party.

When working as an excise officer, Lingegowda says he was dismayed by the conditions in the villages. Licensed liquor shop owners faced enormous pressures to increase sales or faced the threat of having their license canceled, he says.

A licensed liquor shop owner has a margin of 10%. But he has to move a certain volume or sell over and above the MRP if he is to survive  which is against the law.

Toxic link

In a bid to bolster their sales, these licensed shops sell the alcohol to unlicensed vendors and shops in villages.

Since the state government collects its excise duty directly from the distilleries through the Karnataka State Beverages Corporation Limited, it has little incentive to crack down on these shops.

Selling alcohol without a license is a non-bailable offense under the Excise Act, with a punishment of up to a year.

And despite the regular raids by the department (20,965 people were arrested in 2020 -21) the conviction rate remains low  between five to 10%.

Abhay Kumar, who is associated with the Madhya Nisheda Andolan, says that in his experience, even when the offenders are booked for violating the law, they are booked under sections where they get bail in the lowest courts.

The other problem is that police and excise departments are reluctant to act against this issue, because they know the government is keen on revenue from alcohol sales. So they keep passing the buck.

Just 20% of people do this [selling alcohol illegally], says Govindaraj Hegde, General Secretary, Federation of Wine Merchants Association, Karnataka.

The association doesnt approve of the illegal liquor shops because it becomes hard for them to track or control the sale of spurious liquor. Who is to say where a shop owner or village local sources their alcohol from. It is a problem, he says.

Hegde says there hasnt been much pressure from the excise officials over the past couple of years, especially after tariffs were revised.

Looking for alternatives

Under the current federal setup, there is no substitute for alcohol revenues in the state, says Sanjib Pohit, a senior fellow at the National Council for Applied Academic Research, who has studied the alcohol taxation rates and prices across different states in India. It might be possible where there is high industrialisation or other sources of income but in many cases, liquor is the only source of revenue.

Money has to be taken where it is available, says R S Deshpande, a visiting professor at the Institute for Social & Economic Change. He says the better way to deal with the situation is to deal strictly with illegal outlets and sources of liquor, which he hasnt seen happen.

Every year, thousands of trademark alcohol bottles are seized, but there hasnt been a single instance where these manufacturers are held accountable. Why doesnt this happen? he asks.

At the grassroots, social activists and villagers have been trying to get alcohol shops out of their villages, with varying effects.

The licensed alcohol shop was first set up outside Anche Chomamahalli village in Chikkamagalurus Kadur taluk in July 2020. The shop is right in the middle of a Scheduled Caste settlement called Bapuji colony.

Manjunath, who hails from the Sudugadu Sidda community, says most of the people in the village are daily wage labourers, with some families only recently getting the title deed to their lands. Several houses only have first-generation learners now.

Most of the 97-odd households in the village have taken to drink. Everyone, from 25 - 30 year old men and old women are drinking. There have been instances of people pawning off valuables to fuel the habit, he says.

He says young girls and women are the ones suffering the most. Several of them have made pleas with the government offices to shift the shop, but to no avail.

And there are several offers to entice people  selling non-veg to meat with alcohol, or providing discounts on festival days and holidays. The youngsters say they feel like having a drink when they pass by these shops.

Panditaradhya Swamiji, the head of the Sanehalli Math, has been supporting the movement to ban alcohol. Right now health, work and families are affected. Curtailing alcohol will help the state but everyone, including the government, is just running after money, he says.

De-addiction

Attempts to ban alcohol in the state have not succeeded either. In 1994, a community movement led by Veerendra Heggade resulted in the ban of alcohol in Belthangady taluk from 1996 to 1998. H L Manjunath, the president of the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Programme, says the move created its own set of problems  including the rise of country liquor and alcohol smuggling.

Now, the Jana Jagruti Vedike run by the SKDRDP works on a community-approach to tackling alcohol addiction. Manjunath, who calls alcohol the enemy of the working class says the programme is anchored in the local community, with alcohol addicts treatment being sponsored by others in the village.

The state government also has a Temperance Board that is supposed to tackle these issues but is hobbled by lack of funds and leadership.

A total ban on alcohol might not be feasible in Karnataka. But the governments indifference to the proliferation of unlicensed alcohol shops in villages means vulnerable communities and future generations end up bearing the heavy social cost.

(With inputs from Akram Mohammed in Bengaluru)

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For a month now, Aliya Assadi and seven other girls have been protesting for their right to attend classes wearing headscarves. Students of the first and second pre-university courses in Udupis Government Womens PU College, these girls are demanding the right to practise their religion, while they attend college.

The headscarf issue is a decade-old, with the first case being reported in SVS College in Bantwal in 2009. This time in Udupi, the college is citing the rule of not allowing religious practices inside the campus, mentioned in the college prospectus. The prospectus and the available circular do not mention the term hijab anywhere.

The issue started brewing last year but remained hidden due to the pandemic. The college had offline classes only for two months. Aliya Assadi says they started wearing headscarves last year itself. They were restricted, harassed and sent out of the classrooms but remained silent. They were restricted from using Beary, Urdu and Arabic languages, while Tulu and Konkani languages were used by other girls.

Read | The headscarf in focus  once again!

The girls say they are wearing headscarves willingly with no force from parents or the mosque. They wrap the shawl given along with the school uniform around their heads and shoulders and do not use any extra piece of cloth.

There are 970 girls studying in the college. Of these, 82 are Muslims. For other Muslim girls keen to follow religious beliefs, focusing on studies without any controversy is a priority. Many of them remove the hijab or burqa before entering the campus.

Culture and religion

In the state, dress codes are implemented only up to SSLC, and there is no dress code for the government colleges. Individual College Development Committees prescribe rules and regulations. It is the same with the Udupi case.

While the principal steers clear of the media, Yashpal Suvarna, the College Development Committee vice-president, calls the shots. A BJP activist and a political aspirant, he is against allowing hijab, as it is a religious attire.

The uniform is introduced to avoid discrimination and to bring in discipline among students. They should abide by the rules and regulations put forth by the committee, he told DH.

When asked about allowing one type of religion while curbing the other, he was unapologetic. When Muslim institutions can practice their religion, why shouldnt we? he asked, hinting at the unspoken religious practices that always existed, which speaks loads about the majoritarianism prevalent in the society at large.

Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat, the president of the development committee, was diplomatic. The only fact here is the dress code and the matter surrounding the decorum of the cloth and not other accessories, he said.

B C Nagesh, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, ruled out the existence of a controversy. The government will constitute a committee and decide on the dress code in colleges for the next academic year, he informed.

Someone will want to wear shorts, and someone else will want to wear shawls. Can we allow everything? he asked.

Let people follow their religion inside homes, Why bring it to colleges? he added. Blaming a certain community for being regressive and not educating its women, he called the entire incident a conspiracy to derail the education of the girls in question.

The road to reconciliation

Meanwhile, the girls have rejected the offer of online classes. Udupi wing of Girls Islamic Organisation (GIO), Karnataka has given a representation to the district administration supporting the girls stand.

Amid a notice by the National Human Rights Commission to the state government for impinging on the girls right to medication, the situation has reached a stalemate. The state government has decided to maintain the status quo; the girls will not be allowed in the college.

Phaniraj K, a social activist from Udupi, has been observing the issue from the beginning. Practice of religious rituals like Pujas goes on in government organisations, even today. As long as it doesnt harm anyone, it need not be objected to. The controversy is only due to increased right-wing communalisation. Even then, there is no law and order problem right now, he said.

Everyones priority now should be the education of the girls. Dont curb womens education because of an issue that does not trouble anyone else, he said.

(With inputs from Manjushree G N in Udupi)
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the government would review the existing towing system in place in the city. The chief minister would hold a meeting with DG&IGP, Bengaluru Commissioner of police and traffic officials on Monday following several untoward incidents reported during towing.

The government will not tolerate any high-handed behaviour by officials, Bommai said. This was in response to queries of a viral video where a woman was seen being kicked by a traffic personnel over a towing dispute.

Earlier, police department used to tow vehicles parked in no-parking zones. It was subsequently handed over to private agencies on a contract basis, which has caused several incidents in the past, the CM said.

Commenting on the incident where a women was kicked by a traffic official after she pelted stones at the latter, Bommai said that people and police should abide by the law. Those protecting the law should behave in an amicable manner. Any extreme behaviour will not be tolerated, he said.

Cabinet expansion

Bommai said that he was ready for Cabinet expansion, though he did not want to discuss the issue in public. I will travel to Delhi as soon as the party leadership wants me to (to finalise expansion). I am ready for expansion, he said.

Ahead of the Union budget, there is a tradition of meeting state MPs in Delhi, he said, adding that he would convene a meeting soon. On appointments of chairpersons to boards and corporations, the CM said that the appointments would be finalised by the party.

Congress criticism

On criticism by Congress leader Siddaramaiah that BJP had failed to fulfill the promises made in the manifesto, he said that nothing more could be expected of Siddaramaiah. We are aware of our responsibility, he said, asking Congress to comment on measures that benefited the public than resorting to criticism all the time.

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Jeremy Corbyn said it is an outrage that no-one has been convicted for the Bloody Sunday murders, and condemned the British Government for its controversial plans to ban prosecutions for Troubles killings.

The former Labour Party leader said there are many people, including some in Westminster, who want to put justice beyond the reach of the Northern Ireland population.

He made the comments as he delivered the 2022 Bloody Sunday Memorial Lecture at Derrys Guildhall on Saturday.

A series of events are taking 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.

Fifty years ago 14 unarmed citizens were murdered in broad daylight by the British Army. It was planned, then covered up at the highest levels of the UK government. That cover up persists. Why is anyone surprised that the police are covering up for Johnson today? #BloodySunday50 pic.twitter.com/aKUiNrigm5  Bloody Sunday 50th Anniversary (@BloodySunday50) January 29, 2022

Another man shot by paratroopers on the day died four months later.

Mr Corbyn, a long time supporter of the Bloody Sunday families, criticised the contentious proposals put forward by the British Government.

While we are here today to remember lives lost, there are still some, including many in Westminster, who want to put justice out of reach and secure immunity for those who committed crimes in the service of the British State with a deployment in Northern Ireland, Mr Corbyn said.

Those people stand in defiance of our common humanity.

We must never shrink from holding account apologists for brutality and murder.

There are still others who rally to the side of the killers, who even fly the flag of the Parachute Regiment on the outskirts of Derry.

It is an outrage that nobody has been prosecuted for the deaths of 14 innocent protesters.

It is a double outrage that the British Government is now planning legislation to make it even hard for such an effort to succeed at any time in the future.

That would be the effect of the forthcoming Amnesty Bill, which would stop any prosecution and investigation, judicial review, inquest or civil case connected with killings that occurred before 1998.

Introducing a statue of limitations for the atrocities that took place in Ireland amounts to nothing short of complicity in covering up the truth and ensures that lessons are not fully learned.

The MP for Islington North in London gave 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.

Lord 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.

Among those attending the event on Saturday was SDLP leader Colum Eastwood and former leader Mark Durkan.

Mr Corbyn added: Half a century ago, in an era when people around the world were rising up to demand civil rights, protesters came onto the streets of this city.

Peaceful protesters to march against the most flagrant denials of those rights.

The protest of January 30, 1972 was against internment without trial. A grotesque example of the discrimination faced by the community at that time.

But one introduced precisely because of their resistance to second class status when it came to jobs, houses, and representation.

Those protesters were gunned down on the streets.

Shot as they fled soldiers intent on killing. Shot as they tried to crawl to safety. Shot as they lay wounded on the cold ground.

Mr Corbyn read out the names of the 14 people killed.

Their names rings out across the years and their young ages still have the power to shock, Mr Corbyn added.

He also criticised the verdict of the Widgery Tribunal which had largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame.

He said this compounded the injustice.

Every single obstacle was put in the way of those seeking justice, trying to find their way to the truth, Mr Corbyn added.

The victims were blamed. The media got hold of the story, the army press releases and briefings that went on.

They were blamed for being victims, as if it was their fault they were there and shot dead by soldiers.

Records and guns were destroyed. De-notices to prevent the discussion in the media were issued and the dead vilified.

These insults to the bereaved were allowed to continue for decades.

Remember it was 50 years ago tomorrow since Bloody Sunday but its only been 12 years since that unambiguous exoneration of all of those victims.

All of those years, there was a question mark that the victims were the guilty ones.

Tony Doherty, whose father Paddy was killed during Bloody Sunday, presented Mr Corbyn with a plaque of the Free Derry Wall emblazoned with the Palestinian flag.
The weather did not stop the people of Derry as thousands took part in the March for Justice on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

British Army Paratroopers shot dead 13 and wounded 14 civilians during a civil rights march on Sunday, January 30, 1972. A 14th person died later from his injuries.

People from all over the island and beyond took to the streets of Derry, leaving Creggan at 2:15 this afternoon and marching peacefully through the streets of Derry finishing at Free Derry Corner.

The route retraces the original route of the civil rights march 50 years ago in 1972. Many held signs demanding justice from the British Government for those who lost their lives.

When the crowds returned to the Bogside, there was a rally at Free Derry corner with Bernadette McAliskey, nee Devlin, and well-known civil rights campaigner Eamonn McCann among the speakers.

Irish civil rights leader, Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, gave a powerful speech to the crowd, "People walk this road every year, there has to be another generation of people, like the young people here," she said.

"I'm so glad to see so many young faces here. One thing that is certain, Bloody Sunday will never be forgotten.

"Again, as we have done every year, reminding people that Bloody Sunday was not just about the people who were killed, not just about the city and it was not just the first of many killings that broke our hearts for thirty years, this was different.

"This was a day when the British Government policy which had started weeks and months before, came to fruition on the street.

"Internment was introduced to try and break the people. They have responded with more marches and strikes. People tend to forget history, but nowhere in the six counties has forgotten.

"It was that kind of mass action that the British Government was afraid of. They were afraid of the marches as a result.

"It is the same today, what they are afraid of is this here. They are not afraid of the lone gunman, they are not afraid of the sniper, they are not afraid of the secret army. They can infiltrate, they recruit agents out of them.

"What they are afraid of is this here. Masses of people who won't quit. People who will tell their children and their grandchildren.

"If I don't see the British Government in the Hague, my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren will see them in it some day."
Several thousand people are taking part in the 'Families Walk of Remembrance,' the first of a number of events taking place today to mark ithe 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

British Army Paratroopers shot dead 13 and wounded another 14 during a civil rights march on Sunday, January 30, 1972. A 14th person died later from his injuries.

Following the walk, which is retracing the original march, a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the Bloody Sunday memorial on Rossville Street at 11.00am at which Taoiseach Micheal Martin will be among those laying floral tributes.

At 2.15pm, the March for Justice will leave Creggan, again retracing the route of the original march.

It will end with a rally at Free Derry Corner in the Bogside where Bernadette McAliskey (Devlin) and well-known civil rights campaigner Eamonn McCann will be among the speakers.

Meanwhile, adverse weather predictions have forced the Bloody Sunday Trust to switch this afternoon's Beyond the Silence event from Guildhall Square to the Millennium Forum Theatre and Conference Centre as a precaution.

The director of the Bloody Sunday Trust, Maeve McLaughlin, said: Weve been advised that the forecast for strong wind and prolonged rainfall on Sunday poses a potential risk to those taking part in Beyond the Silence, as well as to the public, and we felt we had no option but to seek an alternative indoor venue.

Safety is paramount, from the Trusts point of view, and throughout the planning stage we have been ensuring that risk assessments have been carried out for all events and at all venues. Up to now, the main focus had been on protecting people from Covid-19, but it would have been irresponsible to ignore the weather warnings and the potential implications for peoples safety.

The good news is that Beyond the Silence is still going ahead, albeit indoors, and we are confident that we will provide a dignified, high quality event befitting such a significant occasion for the city.

Obviously, some will be disappointed, but I would ask them to understand that the Trust had no alternative given the forecast conditions.

We apologise for any inconvenience  which is for reasons beyond our control  and apologise for any disappointment.

The Trust has asked those attending Beyond the Silence, to begin at 4.00pm, to be at the venues by 3.15pm.

The event will include video message from President Michael D Higgins.
The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister has indicated that he believes there are landing zones for a deal on the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Simon Coveney spoke with with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss yesterday (Friday January 29), as negotiations between the UK and the EU continue over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Late yesterday evening, Mr Coveney tweeted that it was good to talk with Ms Truss.

Work to do, but there are landing zones that allow the protocol to be implemented in a way that responds positively to concerns raised in Northern Ireland.

Good to talk again with @trussliz . Work to do, but there are landing zones that allow the protocol to be implemented in a way that responds positively to concerns raised in Northern Ireland. Progress on key issues in February is possible if & work in partnership. #Brexit https://t.co/q0hD0fiYto  Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) January 28, 2022

Progress on key issues in February is possible if United Kingdom and European Union work in partnership.

Ms Truss also tweeted following the meeting.

She said it was important that all sides work constructively together to find solutions that address the problems in NI and protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

The Foreign Secretary this week expressed her determination to secure a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol that can command universal support in Northern Ireland.

Ms Truss made the comments after meeting with business and political leaders in Northern Ireland on Thursday.

Good to speak to @simoncoveney about the Northern Ireland Protocol today. Important that work constructively together to find solutions that address the problems in NI and protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. pic.twitter.com/MdPE11gEdn  Liz Truss (@trussliz) January 28, 2022

She said: What I want is a deal that works for everyone. We are making progress. Were having constructive talks.

I want to make significant progress by February. Thats important but its important that we secure the support of all of the communities in Northern Ireland, including the unionist community.

Recent days have seen renewed warnings from the main unionist party, the DUP, that it will walk away from the devolved institutions at Stormont if major changes to the Irish Sea border trading arrangements are not secured.
NOBEKEZELO Maseko finds herself in a unique situation that no other parent envies.

The sweet news delivered by the Department of Social Welfare that she would finally reunite with her son Awakhiwe Ncube  who was kidnapped on December 4, 2016 in Majoyi Village, Nkayi, when he was just four years old  has left her feeling ambivalent.

She has not been able to readily process the news, as grief, anxiety, frustration and joy are equally battling for space in her mind.

While she feels her long agonising wait is finally over, a part of her is guarded.

She has waited for what seems to be an eternity to see her son again, either dead or alive.

Six years is a long time. I do not have the perfect words to describe what I have been going through. I yearn to see my son and find closure, she said while fighting back tears.

Government officials came last week saying they are finalising the paperwork for me to reunite with him. To be honest, I have since then, been having sleepless nights. I dont know how to react.

Maseko last saw Awakhiwe on December 1, 2016 when she paid the minor and her elder brother a visit where they stayed with their paternal grandparents  the Ncube family  in Majoyi.

On that day, he was wearing a brown pair of shorts and a red T-shirt. She vividly remembers her son waving her goodbye as she returned to Inyathi, Matabeleland North, where she resides.

Little did she know that was going to be their last meeting in a very long time. Three days later, he was abducted.

At that time, the minors father was serving time at Khami Prison for stock theft while the mother was working as a storekeeper.

On the fateful day, the Ncube family left the two minors at home in the company of their 76-year-old grandfather while they went to the fields. Upon their return, around mid-morning, the minor was missing. At first, they all assumed he had gone to play with his friends.

But, later on, they realised he was not with his friends. In fact, the friends had not seen him that day. A subsequent spirited search for the minor was fruitless.

When I got the message that my son had disappeared, I felt a chill down my spine. I panicked and was equally confused, sweating profusely as my heart throbbed. I immediately rushed there, said Maseko.

When the search was conducted, a fellow villager told them he had spotted him at a nearby stream.

However, they only managed to identify his footprints along the path.

Curiously, the pattern suggested Awakhiwe could have been running.

After the search party failed to locate him, the family made a report at Nkayi Police Station. And as hours turned into days, hope that they could ever find him began to fade.

But, after a fortnight, pictures of the minor began circulating on social media.

Apparently he had been located at Namanga Border Post, which links Kenya and Tanzania, and is more than 3 000 kilometres from Nkayi.

It is believed that a fretful Awakhiwe, who was trafficked alongside three other minors, cried and asked for his mother in Ndebele, which automatically raised the suspicion of border authorities.

During the journey, the three other minors were drugged.

Investigations led to the arrest of Margaret Magero and David Omentho on child trafficking charges. The four minors were taken to an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya.

Assurances that the minor would be immediately reunited with his family did not materialise.

I received the social media post from a neighbour who had identified him. The picture broke my heart, although part of me was grateful that he was alive, recounts Maseko.

I never thought I would have to wait for this long to reunite with him. Days have turned to weeks, months and years now. I have made several follow-ups with the police, but nothing was materialising.

We all know the child is in Nairobi, but each time I have been getting all sorts of excuses with regards to efforts to bring him back home. This is frustrating. I just hope that news of my sons return is a reality this time around.

In 2017, the investigating officer facilitated a call between Maseko and the minor through the woman who was in charge of the orphanage.

I felt heartbroken and helpless, she said.

I called him Aki, the name he used back at home, and he responded mama. That is the only other time I have talked to him since he was abducted.

The bizarre kidnapping case has ripped the womans family apart. She was forced to take back her eldest son by her in-laws.

I remarried in 2018 and now I stay with my eldest son here. I am also expecting another child, she said.

My relationship with the Ncubes is now sour, they kept forcing me to return my eldest son. When the father was released from jail, he also came here demanding to have him back. This prompted me to approach the courts for legal recourse.

Julius Ncube, the minors grandfather, is a troubled man. He is still traumatised by the incident that led to his grandsons disappearance. He is also looking forward to Awakhiwes return, as he feels it will help mend the broken relationship with his former daughter-in-law.

This has been eating me over the years. I am distressed! At times I spend the whole day staring at the gate, hoping to see him walk in one day, said the grandfather in a cracked voice.

I do not want to die without mending relations with my former daughter-in-law; I owe her . . . I also long to see my elder grandson . . .

Takeson Ncube, Akis father, is equally disturbed.

When I left for prison my son was still very young. Returning home to such news broke my heart, but now that there is hope, I look forward to seeing him again, he said.

It is going to be difficult establishing a relationship, but he is my son, I will have to do whatever it takes.

Masekos fear is that her son may not be able to recognise and bond with her due to years spent apart.

Similarly, the mother lost her childs pictures after she misplaced her cellphone.

It will be a gradual process to create a bond with him again. As a mother, I will have to be patient and careful of how I handle the situation. But, if there are organisations that can assist me, I will be happy, she said.

. . . We are going to slaughter a goat as part of celebrations when he finally arrives back home.

Her prayer is that her son returns in good physical and mental health.

Psychologists agree that a child who goes through traumatic experiences like child abuse and trafficking, among others, later exhibit high levels of aggressive behaviour.

Dr Nisbert Mangoro, who works with various rehabilitation centres, said the minor will need to undergo evaluation and counselling sessions.

Obviously, he went through a lot of trauma and that comes with negative effects that need to be dealt with. It can take time, but he will heal, he said.

The family also needs therapy because the way they interact with him will also determine his healing too.

Masekos new husband, Sifiso Mlalazi, is willing to assist.

I know what this means to her. I have seen her down moments and would not want her to go through that again. I will stand by her and the children, said Mlalazi.

Child trafficking is a problem globally, with statistics revealing that in December 2019, authorities intercepted at least 200 undocumented children who were on their way to South Africa.

Between January and March 2020, 26 cases of kidnapping and unlawful detention were recorded in Zimbabwe.

At least 1,2 million children are trafficked every year across the globe. Sunday Mail
Netflix has announced the latest batch of additions to their streaming catalogue for the month ahead with a whole host of content to keep you entertained.

Check out the full list of titles coming to Netflix this February below:

NETFLIX TV SERIES

Raising Dion: Season 2 01/02/22

Raising Dion follows the story of Nicole (Alisha Wainwright) and her son Dion (Ja'Siah Young) after Dion starts to manifest several mysterious, superhero-like abilities. Two years after defeating the Crooked Man (Jason Ritter), Season Two follows Dion as he continues honing his powers with the support of his mom and Tevin (Rome Flynn), his Biona trainer who catches Nicoles eye. After befriending new student Brayden (Griffin Robert Faulkner) - a fellow powered kid - a series of alarming events unfold, and Dion learns that danger is still looming. Navigating twists, turns, and surprise visitors, Dion and Nicole must prevail again -- not just to save themselves, but the entire city of Atlanta

Dark Desire: Season 2 02/02/22

As Alma tries to rebuild her life, a reunion with Dario rekindles their doomed affair and brings his more sinister side to the surface.

Murderville 03/02/22

Meet Senior Detective Terry Seattle (Will Arnett), Homicide Division. For Terry, every day means a new murder case and a new celebrity guest star as his partner. But heres the catch: each episode's guest star isnt being given the script. They have no idea whats about to happen to them. Together, the guest star and Terry Seattle will have to improvise their way through the case... but it will be up to each celebrity guest alone to name the killer.

Join them as they punch a one-way ticket to Murderville. The six-episode procedural crime comedy premieres globally on Netflix on February 3.

Young Wallander: Killer's Shadow 17/02/22

Set in contemporary Sweden, Kurt Wallander is found adrift and uncertain of the future following his exit from the police force. An opportunity to re-join the Major Crimes Unit arises when a new Superintendent, Samuel Osei, takes on the leadership. Wallander accepts the offer and is tasked with what seems to be a straightforward case: a hit-and-run outside a nightclub.

However, when the victim is found to be connected to an infamous murder case handled by Frida Rask eight years ago, Wallander quickly suspects that there is more to this incident than meets the eye. Determined to uncover the truth, he refuses to back off - even when the investigation leads him to the door of those who could end his career in a heartbeat.

Sweet Magnolias: Season 2 04/02/22

Sweet Magnolias centers around three best friends (Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue) born and raised in Serenity, SC, a small southern town where everybody knows everybody and everybody knows everybodys business. As Season 2 opens, Maddie, Helen, and Dana Sue learn who is in the car. But that's just the first of many surprises that come out of Prom Night -- surprises that reshape relationships all over town.

Friendships flounder. Old loves end and new loves begin. Long-hidden secrets disrupt jobs, change lives, and shift the balance of power in Serenity. Everyone is affected. But in laughter and in loss, the Sweet Magnolias continue to fight for what is right for themselves and the people they love -- even when those efforts come with a high price tag. Will they find there are some problems not even Margarita Night can solve? Come pour it out and find out.

Disenchantment: Part 4 09/02/22

The misadventures of hard-hitting, hard-drinking Queen Bean, her feisty elf companion Elfo and her personal demon Luci return and deepen in Part IV of Matt Groenings comedy fantasy series Disenchantment. The mystery of Dreamlands origins - and the stakes for its future - become ever clearer as our trio - and King Zg - find themselves on personal journeys that will ultimately tie in to the kingdoms fate.

Separated at the end of Part III, our heroes race to reunite in this sweeping series of ten episodes. Theyll find themselves everywhere from the depths of Hell to the clouds of Heaven and everywhere in between, including Ogreland, Steamland, underwater, monasteries, insane asylums, the Enchanted Forest, the Dreamscape and more. All the while, puzzle pieces both canonical and personal will reveal themselves to eager fans.

Until Life Do Us Part 10/02/22

Three generations of a family living together in an idyllic villa juggle the demands of their wedding planning business and their own personal crises.

Inventing Anna 11/02/22

In Inventing Anna, a journalist with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New Yorks social scene  and stole their money as well. But is Anna New Yorks biggest con woman or is she simply the new portrait of the American dream?

Anna and the reporter form a dark, funny love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey? The series is inspired by the New York Magazine article How Anna Delvey Tricked New Yorks Party People by Jessica Pressler.

Love Is Blind: Season 2

A new journey begins for singles seeking transformative love  sight unseen. Who will find romance and who will come face to face with heartbreak?

Forecasting Love and Weather 12/02/22

Inside a national weather service, love proves just as difficult to predict as rain or shine for a diligent forecaster and her free-spirited co-worker.

Twenty Five Twenty One 12/02/22

In a time when dreams seem out of reach, a teen fencer pursues big ambitions and meets a hardworking young man who seeks to rebuild his life.

Business Proposal (Coming Soon)

A blind date leads to misunderstandings and mishaps in this workplace rom-com.

Love, Life & Everything in Between (Coming Soon)

An ode to Valentine's Day in various Arab cities, this anthology series tinged with dark humour explores love at large  and relationships up close.

Devotion, a Story of Love and Desire 14/02/22

A seemingly happy marriage begins to dissolve when the husband's faithfulness is called into question, and both spouses become tempted by other people.

Fishbowl Wives 14/02/22

In a luxury apartment tower, six different women in unhappy marriages end up crossing the line into infidelity. Based on the manga series by Kurosawa R.

Thirty-Nine 16/02/22

Leaning on each other through thick and thin, a trio of best friends stand together as they experience life, love and loss on the brink of turning 40.

Swap Shop: Season 2 16/02/22

One person's junk is another person's profit. Seasoned collectors venture out across Tennessee in search of bargains they can sell for big money.

One of Us Is Lying 18/02/22

Detention brings together five disparate high schoolers, but a killing  and secrets  keep them together as a cat-and-mouse murder mystery unfolds.

Toy Boy: Season 2 11/02/22

As Hugo investigates the bombing, he and his friends deal with a new pair of adversaries and a fresh set of challenges at work.

Space Force: Season 2 18/02/22

Season 2 of Space Force picks up with General Naird and his underdog team having to prove their worth to a new administration while dealing with interpersonal challenges. Will the group come together or fall apart under the pressure...? Space Force is only human after all.

Cat Burglar 22/02/22

Classic cartoon craziness meets an interactive quiz in a new series from the creators of "Black Mirror."

Juvenile Justice

A tough judge balances her aversion to minor offenders with firm beliefs on justice and punishment as she tackles complex cases inside a juvenile court.

Back to 15 25/02/22

Thirty-year-old Anita travels back to age 15 and starts meddling with everybody's lives  until she realizes the only life that needs fixing is her own.

Vikings: Valhalla 25/02/22

Set over a thousand years ago in the early 11th century, VIKINGS: VALHALLA chronicles the heroic adventures of some of the most famous Vikings who ever lived  the legendary explorer Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett), his fiery and headstrong sister Freydis Eriksdotter (Frida Gustavsson), and the ambitious Nordic prince Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter).

As tensions between the Vikings and the English royals reach a bloody breaking point and as the Vikings themselves clash over their conflicting Christian and pagan beliefs, these three Vikings begin an epic journey that will take them across oceans and through battlefields, from Kattegat to England and beyond, as they fight for survival and glory.

NETFLIX FILM

Erax 17/02/22

During a sleepover, Auntie Opal and her niece Nina accidentally release the mythical and dangerous Erax creatures that must be returned to the storybook from which they escaped.

Heart Shot 17/02/22

High school seniors Nikki and Samantha are in love and planning their future  until Nikki's violent past comes back to threaten everything she holds dear.

My Best Friend Anne Frank (Mijn beste vriendin Anne Frank) 01/02/22

Based on the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to their harrowing reunion in a concentration camp.

Through My Window 04/02/22

Raquel's longtime crush on her next-door neighbour turns into something more when he starts developing feelings for her, despite his family's objections.

Looop Lapeta 04/02/22

When her boyfriend loses a mobster's cash, Savi races against the clock to save the day  if only she can break out of a curious cycle of dead ends.

The Privilege 09/02/22

A wealthy teen and his friends attending an elite private school uncover a dark conspiracy while looking into a series of strange supernatural events.

Into the Wind 10/02/22

While vacationing at a seaside resort, a hopeful medical student experiences first love with a local kitesurfer, but their friends and family disapprove.

Love Tactics (Ask Taktikleri) 11/02/22

An ad executive and a fashion designer-blogger don't believe in love, so they place a bet to make the other fall head over heels  with unusual tactics.

Love and Leashes 11/02/22

An ad executive and a fashion designer-blogger don't believe in love, so they place a bet to make the other fall head over heels  with unusual tactics.

Anne+: The Film 11/02/22

Under pressure to finish her novel and move to Montreal for her relationship, a queer 20-something in Amsterdam searches for what she wants in life.

Tall Girl 2 11/02/22

After her inspiring speech at the homecoming dance, Jodi (Ava Michelle) is no longer just the "tall girl" - she's popular, confident, has a boyfriend, and just booked the lead role in this year's school musical.

But as the pressure of her newfound popularity intensifies, so do her insecurities, and new relationships are formed while old ones are tested. As the world she built starts to crumble around her, Jodi realizes that standing tall was only just the beginning.

Bigbug 11/02/22

Android chefs. Drone security. Robot overlords. The future looks bright until the cracks show and the AI uprising begins in this sci-fi comedy.

Fistful of Vengeance 17/02/22

A revenge mission becomes a fight to save the world from an ancient threat when superpowered assassin Kai tracks a killer to Bangkok.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses 17/02/22

In 1939 Germany, a disabled farm boy is pursued by Nazi soldiers after Hitler enacts Aktion T4; a program to euthanize people with disabilities.

Rabbids Invasion Special: Mission to Mars 18/02/22

An unlikely team of Rabbids are on the mission of a lifetime to Mars. It's up to them to come together and stop the galaxy's newest threat.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 18/02/22

After nearly 50 years of hiding, Leatherface returns to terrorize a group of idealistic young friends who accidentally disrupt his carefully shielded world in a remote Texas town. Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her teenage sister Lila (Elsie Fisher), and their friends Dante (Jacob Latimore) and Ruth (Nell Hudson), head to the remote town of Harlow, Texas to start an idealistic new business venture.

But their dream soon turns into a waking nightmare when they accidentally disrupt the home of Leatherface, the deranged serial killer whose blood-soaked legacy continues to haunt the areas residents  including Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouere), the sole survivor of his infamous 1973 massacre whos hell-bent on seeking revenge. Also stars Moe Dunford

Don't Kill Me 20/02/22

After Mirta dies of a drug overdose with her lover, she resuscitates alone and discovers she's part of a violent world she never knew existed.

UFO 23/02/22

When aspiring musician and student Deniz falls for a rough-hewn motorbike racer, tragedy and family opposition obstruct their path to love.

Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming 25/02/22

Madea's back  hallelujer! Tyler Perry returns with everyone's favorite character in Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming, the newest film in the Madea franchise set to debut on Netflix. Writer-director-producer Perry stars in the film that centers around Madea's great-grandson's college graduation, though the celebratory moment hits a halt as hidden secrets and family drama threaten to destroy the happy homecoming.

Restless 25/02/22

After going to extremes to cover up an accident, a corrupt cop's life spirals out of control when he starts receiving threats from a mysterious witness.

My Wonderful Life 28/02/22

A blackmail note threatening to reveal a womans affair sparks a chain of events that serves as large-scale group therapy for her entire family.

NETFLIX COMEDY

Only Jokes Allowed 09/02/22

Six of South Africa's top comedians take center stage and showcase their talent in this collection of short stand-up sets.

Ms. Pat: Y'all Wanna Hear Something Crazy? 08/02/22

Y'all wanna hear something crazy? Then tune into Comedian Ms. Pat's first hour-long Netflix special, directed by the legendary Robert Townsend. Ms. Pat recalls growing up poor in Atlanta during the Reagan era, what she learned spending five days in juvenile detention, how her mom made her get baptized at local churches to get money, and much much more. Ms Pat: Y'All Wanna Hear Something Crazy?

Mo Gilligan: There's Mo to Life 17/02/22

Mo Gilligan breaks down his days as a broke teenager, working in retail, relationship dynamics, annoying talk show producers and more in this special.

NETFLIX DOCUMENTARIES

The Tinder Swindler 02/02/22

The Tinder Swindler tells the jaw-dropping story of a prolific conman who posed as a billionaire playboy on Tinder, and the women who set out to bring him down. Swipe, swipe, swipe Its not easy to find love online, so when Cecilie matches with a handsome billionaire playboy, she cant quite believe it when he turns out to be the man of her dreams.

But dreams aren't reality and by the time she discovers this international businessman isnt who he says he is, its too late. Hes taken her for everything. Where this fairytale ends, a revenge thriller begins. Cecilie discovers his other targets and once they band together, they're victims no more: The Tinder Swindler meets his match. From the producers of The Imposter and Dont F**k with Cats, this riveting feature documentary follows as they uncover his true identity and fight to bring him to justice.

MeatEater Season 10 Part 2 02/02/22

Steven's travels take him to New Mexico for big game and an exotic import, as well as Hawaii, where he hunts feral goats and takes up spearfishing.

Catching Killers: Season 2 09/02/22

The detectives who captured the BTK Killer and other notoriously brutal murderers recount the brave actions and burdens behind their investigations.

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing 18/02/22

Investigators reveal how Boeings alleged priority of profit over safety could have contributed to two catastrophic crashes within months of each other.

jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy 16/02/22

A landmark documentary event presented in three acts from Clarence Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy is an intimate and revealing portrait of Kanye Wests experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break through and his life today as a global brand and artist.

Race: Bubba Wallace 22/02/22

Both the personal and professional tracks of race car driver Bubba Wallace's life are chronicled in this new docuseries. With exclusive access to Wallace during the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, his first with Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlins 23XI Racing, the six-episode series traces his rise to the elite ranks of NASCAR as the only full-time Black driver and the turbulent aftermath that followed his decision to speak out about racial injustice.

NETFLIX KIDS & FAMILY

Gabby's Dollhouse: Season 4 01/02/22

New lessons, new surprises, same adorable kitties  including Floyd! Gabby leads the way with Pandy, CatRat, Cakey, Baby Box and other beloved pals.

Ridley Jones: Season 3 15/02/22

Outer space adventures, treasure hunting and new friends keep Ridley and crew busy as they protect the museum from magical mishaps  and Mr. Peabody.

Secrets of Summer 16/02/22

A remote Argentine resort revives its wakeboarding competition, drawing in Mexican athlete Steffi, who is determined to uncover a family secret.

Kid Cosmic: Season 3 03/02/22

Kid's superhero dreams come true as the Local Heroes become Earth's greatest champions. But is something amiss with this ridiculously awesome adventure?

The Cuphead Show! 18/02/22

Follow the misadventures of the impulsive Cuphead and his easily swayed brother Mugman in this animated series based on the hit video game.

Karma's World Music Videos 24/02/22

Step into Karma's musical world as she rocks the mic  and her curls  for this fun and funky playlist packed with rhymes and the power of positivity!
ADA [ndash] Memorials services for Clifford Brent Hall, 63, of Ada are 10:00 A.M. Thursday, May 5, 2022 at Trinity Baptist Church, Doug Brewer will officiate. Mr. Hall passed away Monday, April 25, 2022 at a local nursing home surrounded by family. He was born August 8, 1958 in Shawnee, OK t
Transition Year students in Louth are being encouraged to "engineer their future" and apply for the STEPS Engineering Your Future programme at Dundalk Institute of Technology.

Taking place from 10  13 May 2022, the immersive work experience placement has been designed to give Transition Year students a meaningful, practical insight into engineering at third level and as a career.

Established in 2012 by Engineers Irelands STEPS programme  supported by the Department of Education and industry leaders Arup, EPA, ESB, Intel and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII)  the STEPS Engineering Your Future programme has provided over 2,500 students with the opportunity to explore the engineering profession and the limitless opportunities that exist in the sector.

This year, DKIT will join 17 third level institutions and engineering organisations to host over 550 Transition Year students for the 10th annual work experience placement programme. At DKIT, students will get the opportunity to explore mechanical, civil and electronic engineering and will get the opportunity to build and programme a robot arm and take part in bridge building and surveying activities.

Caroline Spillane, Director General of Engineers Ireland, commented: As a knowledge-based economy and an island nation, we have a reliance on the quality and quantity of our STEM graduates. Ireland needs a steady supply of engineers, with the necessary skillset, to boost local economies, create new jobs, facilitate sustainable development, and meet Government ambitions.

Through the STEPS Engineering Your Future programme, and thanks to DKIT and our partners in industry and academia, Transition Year students will be afforded the opportunity to gain rewarding work experience and an insight into the limitless opportunities afforded by a career in engineering.

This immersive experience encourages students to explore a variety of engineering disciplines and also experience, first-hand, the vital role of engineers in society, Ms Spillane added.

Longitudinal studies have shown linkages between those who participate in the programme and their course choice preference at third level, with many positively opting for a career in STEM.

Ms Spillane continued: With placements still available at DKIT and across the Republic of Ireland, I would encourage Transition Year students who would like to play a role in transforming society to apply for a work experience placement today.

For more information on the STEPS Engineering Your Future programme and to apply, visit the website here.
When you first enter Pat Kellys Shed just off the Armagh Road, its hard to know where to look first.

Youre first greeted by four mannequins: two wearing the uniforms of the Irish army, one wearing a full RUC uniform and another wearing what could only be described as the unofficial uniform of the provisional IRA.

Your attention is next drawn to a selection of decommissioned rifles, one from 1895 and an old WWI British army Lee-Enfield among them.

I dug that one up when I was doing some work down at Dundalk Rugby club, he says, pointing to the 1895.  I saw this bit of metal sticking out of the ground and pulled it up.

This is the first of many snippets of information that make hearing how he came to own various pieces just as interesting as the pieces themselves.

On a shelf below the gun sits an old sword found, he says, after the dredging of Dundalk harbour many moons ago.

He shows me some sort of leather holster dropped by an RUC man getting into his patrol car in Crossmaglen and picked up by a local.

Pat cant exactly remember when he started collecting these pieces; he says it just sort of accumulated in the house until his wife told him to take it all out to the shed. And so, the Museum of the Border was born.

The building itself has its own history. It used to be an old workshop. Some of the beams were taken from the old Kilkerley church when it was refurbished sixty or more years ago.

Hes had many visitors over the years, including Gerry Adams and Dromiskins own Mary Wallopers have recorded sessions in the shed.

There are boards upon boards of cut and pasted newspaper articles detailing various events that happened around the border during the troubles.

Pat beckons to one with a have a read of that.

The browned newspaper clipping details the questioning of one Pat Kelly by the Gardai in relation to the kidnapping of Shergar, they took me in for questioning after my horsebox was stolen and used,  he laughs.

And that is the thing about Pats shed. It is a personal history as much as a regional one.

Another clipping from the late 70s shows a younger Pat operating a JCB busy removing barricades put up by the British army on one of the many concession roads that wind through the border area.

Wed dig them up and the Brits would come back and put them up again, he tells me.

The cycle continued until one day while in the cab of the JCB he looked up and noticed the lads around him had scattered leaving him face to face with a member of the paratroopers who kindly asked him to leave if he enjoyed having his head on his shoulders.

The tour can go from the comical to the solemn with a turn of the head. Outside on the sheds wall is a road sign taken from around the location of the Miami Showband massacre with a crude stenciled UVF carved into it.

One book on Pats shelves shows the injuries caused by an IRA bomb. On one of the walls hangs a copy of a letter sent by a 23-year-old anti treaty fighter to his mother before he was due to be executed in 1923.

A mahogany spinning wheel remarkable in its craftsmanship sits in a corner, the efforts of a prisoner held in Portlaoise prison.

Pat plays a recording made by a man in Crossmaglen during a gun battle between the British army and IRA. Turned up to full volume the rattle of machine gun fire and distant explosions give a sense of what many lived through for decades in the border town.

Although it may be obvious what side of the Nationalist/Unionist divide he comes down on, Pat is adamant that both sides are represented, he shows me an Orange mans sash, its all part of history he says, history isnt just one side.

Its clear that he has a genuine affinity for his artefacts, not willing to part with them even when offered sizable amounts by some visitors.

Pick up a piece and ask him about its history and where he got it and hes away, expanding and expounding.

It is this passion that makes the museum a worthwhile visit.

In the great tradition of Irish oral history, his stories are more alive than any musty plaque.

He is more engaging than any tour guide detailing events they are far removed from.

And it is this that Pat says is his purpose.

Hes eager to pass on this information and these stories to a younger generation and wants them to visit his museum.

As long as they give me a call ahead of time its open to everyone free of charge, he says.

Those wishing to contact Pat to arrange a visit can do so by calling: 087 2534760.
Nearly half of the inmates at a jail in Georgia have been quarantined for possible COVID-19 exposure  and nearly 50 positive cases have been confirmed.

On Friday, the Muscogee County Sheriffs Office said in a news release that out of its 953 inmates, at least 420 have been placed in quarantine, while 47 of them tested positive for the deadly coronavirus.

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Among the jails employees, Sheriff Greg Countryman said that eight also tested positive for COVID-19.

Several months ago, the Muscogee County Jail was COVID-free. Through mutation, this virus continues to show us that we are not out of the woods yet, Countryman said.

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The Muscogee County Sheriffs Office said in a news release that out of its 953 inmates, at least 420 are in quarantine. (GoogleMaps)

As we continue to fight this virus, I want everyone to know that the Muscogee County Sheriffs Office is doing all that is necessary to ensure the safety of everyone within the Muscogee County Jail, he added.

Countryman said that county officials are dealing with these issues head-on.

Several safeguards were put in place, including a temporary suspension of inmate visitation  visits from families, churches or other outreach volunteers services  and the purchase of a decontamination fogger device to be deployed within the jail.

The jail continues to offer masks, vaccinations and sanitization supplies to inmates, and all staff and vendors are required to submit to temperature checks upon entering the jail and must wear a mask at all times while inside the facility.

We are ensuring that our contracted medical services provided within the jail are in compliance with the contract. This ensures that there is no unnecessary transporting of prisoners to local hospitals that are already strained because of COVID-19. In addition, we are in touch with local hospitals to stay abreast of the facilities that are no longer accepting patients, Countryman added.

Nonviolent offenders who pose no danger or threat to the community continue to receive a principal summons and are released.

Muscogee County, which shares a border with Alabama, is located on the central-western border of Georgia, about 110 miles south of Atlanta.
A 39-year-old man who spat through the opening of a Perspex shield at a Circle K employee after being told the off-licence area was closed due to Covid, was last week given the opportunity to pay compensation to the victim in order to avoid a conviction.

Milos Jurko with an address at Langfield, Dublin Road, Dundalk was prosecuted for assault and using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour arising out of the incident on September 4th 2020.

The court heard last Wednesday that a man and a woman had entered the Niall Clarke Oils Circle K on the Dublin Road, Dundalk around 10pm.

The defendant entered the off-licence which was closed due to Covid-19.

After being challenged he spat at a male member of staff under the Perspex shield with his spit landing on the man's arm and told him to Go f*** yourself.

The defence solicitor said his client who is originally from Slovakia has been in Ireland 15 years.

He added he drinks alcohol twice a year and, on this occasion, had been drinking with his partner.

He explained that a different member of staff had been dealing with them when the complainant interjected and took a harsher tone.

The solicitor said it was fully accepted his clients behaviour was totally inappropriate and he had written a letter of apology.

He added the defendants career as a barber had ended after he sustained significant injuries in a motorbike accident and he now has a part time job in a health food store.

Judge Eirinn McKiernan adjourned the case to March 16th for payment of 500 compensation saying if its paid she would strike out the matter, and if not she would record a conviction.

The judge added: People who are working should not have to put up with that carry on.
North Andover, MA (01845)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The books listed below are now available for checkout at the Clovis-Carver Public Library. The library is open to the public, but patrons can still visit the online catalog at cloviscarverpl.booksys.net/opac/ccpl or call 575-769-7840 to request a...
Four Long Island residents died, including two men who collapsed shoveling snow in the same small town, as a noreaster blanketed New York and much of the Northeast on Saturday.

The men were digging out during Winter Storm Kenan, which dumped a foot of snow onto New York City and between 18 to 24 inches across Long Island.

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About 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, a 75-year-old man collapsed while shoveling snow on Barbara Drive in Syosset, a hamlet in Nassau County, police said. Despite efforts by Syosset Fire Department personnel to perform CPR, he died at Syosset Hospital, cops said.

The snow blows along the Long Island sound during a blizzard that hit the North Eastern United States Saturday. (Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images)

Roughly eight hours later, a 53-year-old man was found on his back next to a shovel on Belmont Circle, just a mile and a half away.

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He was pronounced dead at the same hospital about 11:20 p.m., Nassau County police said.

Another man was found dead in a swimming pool in Cutchogue in Suffolk County about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, the Southold Town Police Department told NBC 4 New York. Officers believe he fell into the pool while shoveling snow.

And in Uniondale, a snowplow driver found a woman dead inside her vehicle early Saturday, Nassau police said. Her car was parked in the Long Island Marriott lot, with the lights on and the windows open, police said.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told NBC News 4 her cause of death has not been determined, but that she likely had a heart attack or suffered some other sudden health emergency and died trying to reach help.

There were no suspected storm-related deaths in New York City over the weekend.
By the Staff of The News

Last updated 1/29/2022 at 10:20am

A Portales man died Wednesday morning when his pickup collided with a jackknifed truck on State Road 206 near Milnesand.

A news release from New Mexico State Police stated road and weather conditions appeared to be contributing factors in the acci...
Just after his first week of official practice, new transfer Jesse Miritello persuaded sever
A six-month jail term was added to a sentence of five months being served by a young man for aggressive incidents in Cork city.

Judge Marie Keane imposed a total sentence of six months consecutive to the five months being served by Keith Newman Elm Park, Wilton, Cork.

Judge Helen Boyle recently refused an appeal by Newman at Cork Circuit Appears Court and affirmed the total term of five months for carrying a scissors and obstructing a drugs search.

Now at Cork District Court he has pleaded guilty to engaging in threatening behaviour at Grand Parade on December 17 last, and a similar offence at Frenchs Quay on October 15 2021.

On both occasions he had his fists clenched and he was shouting aggressively.

He also admitted travelling in a stolen car driven by another young man at Sarsfield Road.

Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said the accused had nothing to do with stealing the car but was reckless as to the issue of ownership when he sat into it.

Mr Buttimer said Newman was in throes of a heroin addiction at the time of the offences.

However, he said the young man had been doing well over the past five weeks in prison in addressing his difficulties.
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
Enid, OK (73701)

Today

Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 53F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 53F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
ENID, Okla.  After making a quick trip back to his pickup, David Hunter hoisted the cast-steel pick end of a 2-foot-long sledgehammer to pop off the metal lid of a rusted manhole outside the citys water booster station off Imo Road.

Sitting next to a ladder about 12 feet into the ground was a 30-inch-wide transmission line, busy moving thousands of gallons of raw water a day from nearby Ames to Enid.

Makes you feel like youre Thor or something, he said before closing the lid back on, prompting the citys water foreman, Jay Graves, to remind him hes not supposed to do the physical labor.

Oh, thats right, Im not supposed to do stuff. Mostly because I break things, Hunter said, laughing again.

This specific transmission line had a major break in late-2020, not long after the city of Enids public utilities director started his job.

Such transmission lines from the citys well fields in Ames and Drummond to the southwest pass through the booster station, which sits at a fork in the waterlines going to either of the citys two water treatment plants.

The station, reactivated in 2006 after a 30-year dormancy, acts as a giant railroad switch for the citys water supply, diverting water from one plant to another as needed.

But its four pumps are rarely used today, the two men explained. If something goes wrong at the booster station, then that creates a potential liability for the citys water supply, Hunter said.

A new water plant being constructed for the Kaw Lake pipeline will change how water is pumped to the city, he explained, so the booster station would probably go obsolete.

My memory fails me to whats gonna happen when its all said and done, he said about the station. I dont think well have the need for this, is the answer, but Im not totally sure.

Less of a balancing act





Once the switch is flipped on Enids massive Kaw Lake water supply program, possibly taking the Imo booster station offline wouldnt be the only major change to the citys so-called invisible infrastructure.

Along with supplying Enid with a consistent source of potable water, the project, which recently began construction, is also expected to alleviate the city utilities staffs burden of constantly balancing and maintaining the citys water sources located throughout Northwest Oklahoma.

The citys third water treatment plant, already being built on West Chestnut next door to one of the citys other centers, would receive nearly twice as much water as its sibling plants already do  more than doubling Enids daily average water supply.

This plant, which would need its own staffing, would specifically treat the average 10.5 million gallons of water expected to come every day from Kaw Lake 70 miles away.

Enids main treatment plant, also located off West Chestnut, processes an average 5 million gallons of water a day; a fifth as much water is treated at the secondary treatment plant.

Construction began on the plant last fall, while the city has yet to commence building the actual pipeline connecting it to the lake.

Hunter said Enids definition of raw water would change practically overnight when the project is done in the next several years.

The city currently uses only water from the ground. Kaws surface water, though, necessitated building an entirely new treatment plant, as surface water is regulated differently under the EPAs Safe Drinking Water Act.

Unlike Enids current groundwater sources, surface water algae, bacteria and other wildlife are found in the reservoir water. Rain and storms also can churn up a lakes dirt and sediment, which could change the water quality and require additional treatment, Hunter said.

Enids wells are relatively shallow compared with the rest of the country, but weather forecasts dont affect them as quickly as a surface water source, he said.

Stuff that happens under the surface has a level of protection and separation from any type of contamination versus the surfacing (water), Hunter said. If it happens, it happens tomorrow.

Well fields are prioritized with low nitrate counts, and the run order of each plants pumps is based on the nitrates in the order, Graves said.

The longer a well is pumped, the more nitrate builds up in the supply, he said, so city water workers have to seesaw which wells are turned in order to to meet drinking water standards.

Partly because of this balancing act, not all of Enids water wells run at the same time, Graves said.

Nitrates are monitored through daily measurements as per state water quality requirements. High levels can result from improper well construction, well location, overuse of chemical fertilizers or improper disposal of human and animal waste, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Doing it all ourselves

Enid is already one of (if not the) largest groundwater users in the state, according to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. The city obtains its water from a total 166 wells  five well fields are developed in eight locations, from three groundwater aquifers in Northwest Oklahoma.

Pumps of varying horsepower and size at well field plants in Cleo Springs, Ames and Ringwood push the water through several transmission systems to Enids two treatment plants, whose pumps then push the then-treated water to the citys 50,000 residents through nearly 400 miles of main lines.

With the western treatment plant serving that half of the city, the central plant at the Enid Service Center complex also serves customers north and east of Enid, including outside consumers such as Koch Fertilizers plant near Enid and the Oxbow Calcining plant near Kremlin.

Hunter said other cities of Enids size tend to contract to a larger entity to handle that work and may have an additional pump, too.

Enids well fields throughout Northwest Oklahoma each have between 25 to 30 wells each, which cycle in and out of operation throughout the year.

A similarly sized city, though, would have around 30 wells for the entire water supply.

Were doing it all ourselves, Hunter said. So Enid is unique because not that many cities are doing it all.

Hunter said the size of Enids operations can be a weakness with limited city staffing to cover such a wide range of water well fields.

On the other hand, he said, if a specific well field goes down  like when the transmission line coming from Ames was damaged in late-2020  the city wont have to bear the full brunt of suddenly being without water, and staff can easily turn on another group of wells elsewhere.

To ease the citys burden, staff use the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to electronically monitor the ongoing status of the two treatment plants, out-of-town well plants and well pumps, surge towers and elevated storage tanks.

City staff also use SCADA to remotely operate the wells in the fields largely in Cleo Springs, Ames, Ringwood and Drummond. Because the city also serves Vance Air Force Base, it has restricted access into the system as well.

None of Enids 41 wells drawing water from the Enid Isolated Terrace Aquifer  located underneath the city itself  are connected to the system, Hunter said, because they were built so long ago and are in close proximity to the main treatment plant.

The city also barely uses the supply from the aquifer anymore, according to OWRB .

SCADA tracks the gallons per minute, pressure per square inch and chlorine levels, and its interface shows a switch similar to the ones at the actual plants and other buildings. It also tracks long-term well data, like whether a well has been running too much over the last week, six months or four years.

If the interface shows an error at one of the wells or plants  for example, if a part is broken or something is overflowing  SCADA will automatically page a utilities manager, sometimes as early as 2 a.m.

Errors can be one or a combination of communications failures; an electrical issue called three-phase; or an overload, when a plant or well house panel receives too much power.

Hunter said before SCADA, a man with a clipboard would go out to each well house, take a measurement, write it down and go to the next site.

An operations specialist still goes out every morning to all of the plants to check the electronics, though.

Any time our guys have to go out manually or physically to a site, thats lost time, Hunter said. So anything we can do with a click of a switch or a click of a mouse, thats what we want.

Hunter quote Were doing it all ourselves. So Enid is unique because not that many cities are doing it all. ~ David Hunter, city public utilities director

Not supposed to worry about it





As daily demand for water increases, so does the supply, Hunter said  water use reflects natural, diurnal human habits and behavior.

Water usage begins to spike when people wake up and start flushing their toilets and making coffee, falling when they go to school and to work. An increase begins again when everyone comes home, makes dinner, washes dishes and again goes to the bathroom.

Summertime sees demand spike even more when additional city water is used to water lawns.

By design, certain plant pumps run while others sit on stand-by, as Graves explained. City staff will turn on more of the citys wells to compensate for the need.

People dont realize how hard it is to keep invisible infrastructure invisible, Hunter added. Youre only supposed to get up in the morning, flush your toilet, take your shower, make your coffee.  Youre not supposed to worry about it.

In February 2021, city staff responded to a large number of water line breaks as a result of the states major winter ice storm. Hunter said a lot of Enids water wells also froze up, and severals cast-iron casings had cracked open. The entire Ringwood water plant also froze and cracked.

+2 Water usage levels return to average levels since wintry weather spike City total usage fell back to about 8 million gallons Thursday, following a sharp daily decline since Monday from unusually high levels stemming from the snowstorms.

By Feb. 18, citywide water usage had spiked to more than 12.4 million gallons a day, as more Enid residents were dripping their faucets en masse to prevent pipe breaks. The Cleo Springs well field was pumping at full capacity but was unable to keep up with demand as the Ringwood plant stayed down.

It was similar to a summer in August, Hunter said. It was probably some ways more than wed see in August, because it was just continual big breaks and then a continual big demand that just never shut off.

In December 2021, the city averaged between 7.5 million to 8 million gallons of water, he said. According to a report commissioned by the city in 2009, a daily average of 18.45 MGD is expected to be used by 2050.

City staff have repaired five wells this past year, according to the mayors annual state of the city address Friday.

Over the last year and a half, the city has more regularly used the Ringwood plant, Graves said. However, many of the wells in Ringwoods well field  already long considered a drought-sensitive field, thus operating only for a few months of the year  remain offline, as they still await repairs from the winter storm and a fire several years ago.

More stories in the News & Eagle will continue to look at the future ripple effects of the citys Kaw Lake project on its nearby well fields.
The Iran nuclear negotiations in Vienna, aimed at resurrecting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after President Trumps 2018 withdrawal, have entered their eighth round. After a number of delays and disagreements, the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China (known as the P5+1) and Iran, led by the new Raisi administration, finally appear to be making progress at the technical level. This is partly due to Russia and China helping to steer Iran back to what had already been agreed and partly because the so-called Plan B scenarios remain so unappealing to all parties.

The JCPOA is a hugely complex, 154-page technical agreement. Narrowing the gaps on the issues of compliance, sanctions relief, sequencing and addressing deficiencies would require time, space and creativity under normal circumstances but is now made even harder because the Tehran delegation has refused to meet with the Biden team. While appetite for a deal remains high among all parties and would signal an important step forward in addressing the challenges posed by Iran, extreme levels of mistrust, a narrowing window of time, the danger of a miscalculation and escalatory risks continue to loom over the process and could make or break the deal once and for all.

WHAT ARE THE STICKING POINTS? - For a solid deal to be achieved, important political decisions are needed on sanctions relief, sequencing, Iranian compliance and demand for assurances. When the Trump administration introduced sanctions against Iran, they designated over 1,500 Iranian individuals and entities while also constraining Irans energy sales and prohibiting its access to financial markets. However, a number of these sanctions are not listed as nuclear sanctions but instead have terror or human rights designations. While Iran has demanded that all Trump era sanctions are lifted, the Biden administration is unlikely to lift non-nuclear sanctions.

The sequencing of compliance and verification is also critical. Despite maintaining its commitment to the deal, Tehran was burned by the US withdrawal and is reluctant to return to nuclear compliance without guarantees that US sanctions have been lifted. On the other hand, as Iran rolls back its nuclear program, a framework is needed to monitor its stockpile of uranium enrichment, advanced centrifuges and enhanced knowledge. Ensuring that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring and verification of Irans nuclear facilities is restored will be key.

But the clock is ticking and progress is too slow for Washington and Europe who fear that Iran is playing for time. US negotiators are beginning to suggest that the runway is very, very short  weeks not months for progress to be made. With US Congressional elections set for November 2022, Biden has limited time to dedicate to this issue, while the expiration of certain JCPOA restrictions from 2023, the so-called sunset clauses, remains a key issue for the P5+1 as well as Israel.

Irans demand for assurances that the deal and its economic rewards will be guaranteed should the US withdraw from the deal for a second time remains the biggest sticking point. Iran cannot risk falling into the same trap without safeguarding its economy from further rounds of US sanctions. For Irans newly elected conservative president, Ebrahim Raisi, the issue of a sustainable JCPOA is essential to protecting Irans economy and one-upping former president Rouhani, while also increasing his domestic legitimacy following his win in an election marked by low turnout and calls for boycott.

While the Iranian demand for assurances is understandable, President Biden  with only a razor-thin margin in Congress  is unlikely to expend political capital on a limited treaty with Iran that is also not seen as iron clad. This leaves the issue of assurances and protection of the deal in the hands of the remaining signatories who will have to go out on a limb and protect the economics of the deal from the potential actions of future US administrations.

THE DANGERS OF PLAN B - Should no significant political progress be achieved in the coming weeks, Washington, London and Europe will move on to Plan B scenarios. They will begin by floating the possibility of an interim agreement that would aim to freeze Irans nuclear program. Thus far, Iran has balked at this prospect suggesting it would not forgo its leverage without benefits. Europe and the UK are also weighing up how snapback sanctions and European sanctions might increase pressure on Tehran, while Washington intends to build leverage through sanctions enforcement alongside additional designations.

With Plan B, the risk of regional and nuclear escalation looms large. Having finally acknowledged that a nuclear deal is better than an unchecked alternative, Israel has for the time being tempered its threat of attack. But without a deal, the war of words will no doubt resume, raising tensions around the region. Iran, for its part, will see escalation as the only way out of any deadlock. With its nuclear breakout time already reduced to a few months, nuclear acceleration is dangerously close. Iran can threaten to increase enrichment levels even higher than its current level of 60%, or worse, withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Both moves risk a response from Israel, if not the wider international community.

In the region, despite moves towards de-escalation such as its dialogue with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Iran-backed groups continue to sponsor destabilizing attacks across the Middle East. The recent drone attack in Abu Dhabi by Yemeni Houthi forces is a case in point. Without a deal, further escalation will undoubtedly be part of Tehrans playbook, which would threaten the semblance of peace pursued by the GCC states and could also potentially force the Biden administration to invest further in a region it seeks to disengage from. With popular expectation for a deal and already under strain from years of sanctions, Iran would face a dangerous combination of external pressure and internal demands from a frustrated and isolated population.

A restored JCPOA may not be as strong and comprehensive as originally hoped but given what is at stake, a deal with Iran is still better than no deal.

JCPOA Talks: Deal or No Deal?  Expert Comment by Sanam Vakil  Chatham House / The Royal Institute of International Affairs.

The Expert Comment can be downloaded here
The year is 2030.

The long-awaited expansion of the Second Ave. subway into East Harlem is complete, filling in Manhattans largest transit desert.

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Residents of Co-op City in the Bronx can get to Penn Station via a Metro-North train in 30 minutes.

And Gov. Hochuls proposed Interborough Express hums along from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Jackson Heights, Queens, slashing travel times for tens of thousands.

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Concept artwork showing a street-level view of a possible Wilson Avenue LRT Station in one option for Gov. Hochuls proposed Interborough Express, from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Jackson Heights, Queens. (MTA)

Thats the vision Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say will be a reality in eight years. It would mark the largest expansion of mass transit in New York City since the first half of the 20th century, improving commutes for tens of thousands of residents.

These are all worthy projects, they would all benefit hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, said Ben Fried, a spokesman for the research and advocacy group TransitCenter.

But the MTA in its 53-year history has built a record of not delivering biggest promises on time. Think of the decades it took to build the first phase of the Second Ave. subway before it finally opened Jan. 1, 2017.

And the East Side Access project to bring the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal slated to open late this year is 13 years off its original schedule and $6 billion over its initial budget.

I think theres substantial cause for concern, said Fried. The MTA still hasnt proven to the public that it can do the simple things well.

But the MTAs current leaders believe that they have the engineering know-how to get these projects done on time  and they have a boost from the agencys new chairman, Janno Lieber, a construction executive who previously served as the MTAs chief development officer, overseeing projects like the rehabilitation of the L train tunnel and expansion of the LIRRs main line.

MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber (Shawn Inglima/for New York Daily News)

Have no doubt the MTA can pull it off, said agency spokesman Tim Minton. We are hugely ambitious and megaprojects are just part of the plan, he said.

But the construction projects Lieber and other agency chiefs have completed in recent years dont compare in size with the MTAs current grand plans.

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The Federal Transit Administration is at least a year from approving $3.4 billion to fund the $6.8 billion Second Ave. subway extension from 96th St. to 125th St. and Park Ave.

The work is estimated to take at least seven years, and requires the construction of three new stations and a new curved tunnel north of 110th St. Any delays from the feds or the MTA would push the time line beyond 2030.

Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks about Phase Two of the Second Ave. Subway near E.112th St. in Manhattan. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

The plan to bring Metro-North trains to Penn Station  called Penn Access  includes four new stations in the Bronx and is estimated to cost about $2.9 billion.

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The new route would run between the Bronx and Queens along the Hell Gate Bridge that is currently used by Amtrak and freight railroads. The new service is scheduled to launch in 2027  but thats at risk of being pushed back. The new service relies on Amtraks East River tunnels that were damaged by Superstorm Sandy and still require repairs.

The proposed Penn Access project, which would allow Bronx residents to ride Metro-North trains to Penn Station. (Julianne Yee/MTA)

The Interborough Express presents a slew of challenges, despite its plans to operate along an existing freight railway.

MTA officials this month said an environmental study would take two years, and construction of the line  which may include 15 stations  will take three to five years. Lieber said the cost of the work will be in the single-digit billions.

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The right side of this rendering shows three possible track layouts for one option of Gov. Hochuls proposed Interborough Express, which would run from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Jackson Heights, Queens. The Interborough Express would run near freight train tracks. (MTA)

The cost of the three megaprojects exceeds $10 billion  and could be as high as $20 billion. Those big budgets come as the MTA projects an operating deficit come 2025 that may force the agency to reallocate money previously dedicated to construction work.

We dont want to be in a situation where spending on Interborough Express reaches $10 billion and crowds out spending on all of the kinds of things advocates fought hard to get, Fried said.

Even as the MTA works on the big projects, it plans to continue upgrading subway signals and expanding accessibility at 70 subway stations, and the transition to an all-electric bus fleet, Minton said.

He added that the Manhattan congestion pricing plan, imposing tolls below 60th St., will help fund the MTAs current $51 billion capital program meant to make service faster, more reliable and more accessible at a time when mass transit is vital  both for the regions economy and in order to fight climate change.
Millions of Americans could soon have to scan their faces to access their Internal Revenue Service tax accounts, one of the government's biggest expansions yet of facial recognition software into people's everyday lives.

For now, taxpayers can still file their returns the old-fashioned way; the IRS began accepting returns for 2021 earnings on Monday, encouraging electronic filing.

But by this summer, anyone wanting to access their records - including details about child tax credits, payment plans or tax transcripts - on the IRS website could be required to record a video of their face with their computer or smartphone, and send it to the private contractor ID.me to confirm their identity.

Many taxpayers already have encountered the system as they prepare to file their tax returns, attempt to make estimated tax payments or try to peruse other records that can be accessed online. The company says that last month more than 60,000 face photos were submitted in a single day, though it was unclear how many of those came from taxpayers. But complaints of confusing instructions and long wait times to complete the sign-up have caused an unknown number to abandon the process in frustration.

The $86 million ID.me contract with the IRS also has alarmed researchers and privacy advocates who say they worry about how Americans' facial images and personal data will be safeguarded in the years to come. There is no federal law regulating how the data can be used or shared. While the IRS couldn't say what percentage of taxpayers use the agency's website, internal data show it is one of the federal government's most-viewed websites, with more than 1.9 billion visits last year.

The partnership with ID.me has drawn anger from some members of Congress, including Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who tweeted that he was "very disturbed" by the plan and would push the IRS for "greater transparency." Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., called it "a very, very bad idea by the IRS" that would "further weaken Americans' privacy." The Senate Finance Committee is working to schedule briefings with the IRS and ID.me on the issue, a committee aide said.

"No one should be forced to submit to facial recognition as a condition of accessing essential government services," Wyden said in a separate statement. "I'm continuing to seek more information about ID.me and other identity verification systems being used by federal agencies."

A Treasury official said Friday that the department was "looking into" alternatives to ID.me, saying Treasury and the IRS always are interested in improving "taxpayers experience."

The official offered no further detail, however, and referred reporters to ID.me for "details of their technology and safety controls." Spokespeople for ID.me declined to comment. Bloomberg News first reported the possibility that Treasury might consider an alternative to the facial recognition technology.

"Given the many problems in the filing season just underway, it is a stretch to launch an initiative of this sensitivity in the present circumstances," said Mark Everson, the vice chairman of the tax services firm Alliantgroup and a former IRS commissioner.

About 70 million Americans who have filed for unemployment insurance, pandemic assistance grants, child tax credit payments or other services already have been scanned by the McLean, Va.-based company, which says its client list includes 540 companies; 30 states, including California, Florida, New York and Texas; and 10 federal agencies, including Social Security, Labor and Veterans Affairs.

Jeramie Scott, senior counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a research group in Washington, said the IRS's outsourcing of identity checks to a private company could weaken the public's ability to know how information is being used, especially because no federal laws govern how facial recognition should work nationwide.

"You go from a government agency, that at least has some obligation under the Privacy Act and other laws, to a third party, where [there's a] lack of transparency and understanding, and the potential risks go up," Scott said.

"We haven't even gone the step of putting regulations in place and deciding if facial recognition should even be used like this," he added. "We're just skipping right to the use of a technology that has clearly been shown to be dangerous and has issues with accuracy, disproportionate impact, privacy and civil liberties."

The IRS had said in a previous statement that ID.me's services would "create a better user experience" and that it "takes any reports of inequities in service seriously." Federal records show the Treasury entered into the two-year contract covering ID.me software and maintenance last summer.

To verify one's identity, ID.me requires scans of a person's face as well as copies of identifying paperwork, such as a driver's license, government-issued ID or utility bill. The company then uses facial recognition software to assess whether a person's "video selfie" and official photo match.

If the system flags an issue, the person will have to join a live video call with one of the company's "trusted referees," who then asks them to hold up physical copies of personal documents such as a passport, birth certificate or health insurance card.

The company's privacy policy says it can use people's sensitive or personally identifiable information to "cooperate with law enforcement activities," and Blake Hall, ID.me's co-founder and chief executive, said the company alerts its government clients when it detects "clear cases" of fraud.

The company said it has stored tens of millions of face scans in a database to look for identity theft. Though people can ask ID.me to delete their biometric data, the company is required to store the data for at least seven years in keeping with federal auditing rules, an IRS filing shows.

Hall said in an interview that the company's system has met tough security and accuracy standards. He compared the identity checks to someone being asked to present an ID when opening a bank account, saying, "We're digitizing a process Americans are already quite used to."

Hall dismissed most of the early criticism of the company's work as either misinformed or fueled by "propaganda" from the credit bureaus and data brokers the government once relied on to verify identities.

Equifax, the credit-reporting company that previously confirmed taxpayers' data for the IRS, had its $7 million contract suspended in 2017 after hackers exposed the personal information of 148 million people.

As to why the country is paying a private firm to validate its own citizens, Hall said the government's previous attempts had underperformed ID.me's product - proof, he said, that "the government is not fast enough to innovate on the access and security side."

"Folks want to throw stones because we were able to get there first . . . before the government was ready," Hall said, but the company's growth should be regarded as "a sign of the best of our country at work."

ID.me's work with the IRS will start in full this summer, when the agency stops accepting previously created online accounts and forces everyone to use newer accounts verified through ID.me. The shift will come at a time when Treasury officials are warning of "enormous challenges" for the IRS, which is overwhelmed by a backlog of returns and years of budget cuts.

The company says 9 of 10 applicants can verify their identity through a self-service face scan in five minutes or less. Anyone who hits a snag is funneled into the backup video-chat verification process; in a chart the company shared with The Washington Post, the average wait time in the second half of 2021 was less than eight minutes. (The company said it does not track the demographic information of the people not immediately verified.)

But some who have tried to verify their identities through ID.me for other purposes have reported agonizing delays: cryptic glitches in Colorado, website errors in Arizona, five-hour waits in North Carolina, days-long waits in California and weeks-long benefit delays in New York. The security blogger Brian Krebs wrote last week that he faced a three-hour wait trying to confirm his IRS account, three months before the tax-filing deadline.

Higher wait times in the past few weeks, Hall said, were linked to workers being out sick because of the coronavirus and the snowstorms that pummeled Northern Virginia, where much of the company's support staff is based. (In late 2020, Hall said call delays in California were partly related to Nigerian cyberattacks.)

The company said it intends to expand its workforce beyond the 966 agents who now handle video-chat verification for the entire country. It has also opened hundreds of in-person identity-verification centers - replicating, in essence, what government offices have done for decades.

Face-scanning software has become an increasingly prominent way for people to access secure corporate and government systems, from work-from-home shifts to air travel to schools and college exams. Ten federal agencies said they are planning to expand their facial recognition capabilities in the next year.

Proponents say the systems are quicker, simpler and more reliable than old verification systems, and they have likened the checks to the increasingly mainstream uses of facial recognition in software such as Face ID, which people can use to unlock their iPhones.

Critics say there's a big difference between a person deciding to use software, which locks their face data on their phone, and being required to send it to a company that retains control of the data for years. Advocates also have warned that the technical demands of an Internet-connected video camera can unfairly burden the millions of Americans with spotty online access or old phones.

Face-scanning software used to verify whether two images are of the same person, known as "one-to-one matching," is built to address a simpler challenge than the "one-to-many" systems used by federal agents, immigration officers and the police to pick out suspects or witnesses from databases with millions of faces.

But the technology isn't perfect, and researchers say identity-verification errors can block a person from accessing vital services or allow an impostor to get through. Even the best systems, they add, can make mistakes when shown blurry, dim or low-quality images. Police facial recognition systems have also been blamed for the wrongful arrests of at least three Black men.

ID.me has attempted to address concerns by publishing technical reports such as a 25-page white paper defending the technology's use in promoting "access, equity and inclusion," claiming that "combining algorithms with multiple layers of human review mitigates any potential bias that might arise."

But Joy Buolamwini, an artificial intelligence researcher whose work in 2018 helped reveal the stark racial and gender biases of major tech companies' face-analyzing systems, said the company's reports have misconstrued or failed to cite earlier research into the technology's failures.

Buolamwini pointed to research in 2019 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a federal testing laboratory, that found higher rates of false positives on one-to-one algorithms for Asian and African American faces than Caucasian faces. Depending on the algorithm, those rates could be "10 to 100 times" higher, the researchers said.

ID.me, Hall said, licenses its software from two companies that are "best of breed": Paravision, for one-to-one matching, and iProov, for detecting whether the face on a video is real or a mask. Paravision's algorithm has ranked among the better performers in the NIST tests, institute data show.

"To compare a general result across the field with the specific algorithms we use is simply not appropriate," Hall said. "If someone is going to bring a false assertion, they need to bring proof that the specific algorithms we're using do in fact discriminate, because there is zero evidence of that."

Hall said the company has run internal tests on its software and found no signs of racial or gender discrimination. Those tests, however, have not been published or reviewed by external researchers. Hall said the company has also invited other agencies to corroborate their findings, and that officials with an unnamed state government agency had showed similarly positive results in a recent audit of ID.me's system. That study is also not yet public.

That lack of transparency has raised its own questions. In a statement Monday, Hall said the company did not use one-to-many matching, calling it "more complex and problematic." But on Wednesday, he reversed his stance, writing on LinkedIn - in a post first reported by the news site CyberScoop - that the company did, in fact, use it to make sure no one registered multiple identities.

Hall, who served as an Army Ranger, co-founded the company in 2010 as TroopSwap, a military-focused deals site that began verifying veterans' service for store discounts. In the years since, ID.me has exploded with help from tens of millions of dollars in private investments and public government contracts, largely from states seeking to verify unemployment claims.

In 2017, Hall told The Post that the company wanted to "create a ubiquitous ID network" and thought it was a "fundamental problem that digital identity is in the hands of two advertising companies, Facebook and Google."

But advertising is a key part of ID.me's operation, too. People who sign up on ID.me's website are asked if they want to subscribe to "offers and discounts" from the company's online storefront, which links to special deals for veterans, students and first responders. Consumer marketing accounts for 10% of the company's revenue.

People must opt in to the marketing deals and provide consent before any data is shared with an outside organization, a company official said. If a person is using ID.me to confirm their identity with a government agency, the company will not use that verification information for "marketing or promotional purposes," the company's privacy policy says.

Buolamwini, now the founder and executive director of the research advocacy group Algorithmic Justice League, said the company should open its system to outside scrutiny and allow its internal tests to be peer reviewed. Improvements to the systems' precision, she added, should not obscure broader concerns about the risks of any technology that could deny people access to basic government services en masse.

Federal agencies have run facial recognition searches on some official databases created for other purposes, including for driver's license and passport photos. Private contractors that collect data on Americans can also find themselves targeted by cyberattacks. Thousands of Americans' face photos were exposed after a surveillance company working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection was hacked in 2019.

"The potential for weaponization and abuse of facial recognition technologies cannot be ignored, nor the threats to privacy or breaches of civil liberties diminished, even as accuracy disparities decrease," Buolamwini said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jeff Stein contributed reporting.
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Pressing the palms of his hands together, Riaz Sardar Khil closed his eyes as Said Atif, imam at the Muslim Childrens Education and Civic Center, began to pray for his daughters safe return.

We pray to you, our mighty Allah, to bring Lina back to her family safe and sound, and we ask you, beg you, to protect her from any harm from any evil man, Atif said during a prayer service Saturday afternoon at the center. We ask you, Almighty, to lighten the burden on her family, to ease their suffering, and to bring them the good news, to bring joy and happiness back to their heart.

Several men sitting near Khil wiped away tears as Atif spoke.

Lina Sardar Khil, who turns 4 next month, has been missing since Dec. 20, when she disappeared from a playground at the Northwest Side apartment complex where her family lives.

On ExpressNews.com: A piece of my heart  Hopes for a better life for Lina Sardar Khil dashed by her disappearance in San Antonio

About 60 people attended Saturdays service to show their support for the Khil family. Some were family friends, others elected officials and law enforcement officers. Still others were San Antonio residents who have been following the case.

Asif and Ghazal Ansari, who recently moved to San Antonio from Miami, said they didnt know the Khils personally. But we have little kids, so we sympathize with them, Asif Ansari said.

We just want them to find their daughter, he said.

Josie Norris /Staff photographer

Search parties have combed the apartment complex where the family, fields, rivers, wooded areas and vacant lots for Lina or clues to her location. Last week, local law enforcement and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers searched a Fredericksburg neighborhood and questioned people nearby after receiving a tip that Linas body was buried in a vacant lot in the outskirts of town, said Pamela Allen, a member of local advocacy group Eagles Flight. Allen, Linas father and others also searched the area.

Allen said they came up empty handed.

On ExpressNews.com: Police search Fredericksburg lot for missing Lina Khil after tip about burial site

The Muslim center organized Saturdays prayer service to keep this case alive, said Sarah Samreen, interim chair of the centers board of directors.

The reason for holding these prayers is to spread the word that  the need and necessity of continuing to look for her has not diminished, said Nazli Siddiqui, the centers media coordinator. The members of the entire community in San Antonio and the entire state should keep an eye out  keep looking for her and protect our children.

Josie Norris /Staff photographer

Police officers and FBI agents have been hesitant to classify Linas disappearance as an abduction, although an Amber Alert was issued after she disappeared, but Mayor Ron Nirenberg referred to it as such in remarks he made at the service.

On ExpressNews.com: As time goes on, Lina Khil's case seems more like an abduction

He made it clear that finding Lina remained a San Antonio Police Department priority.

I want you to know that Lina Sardar Khil is a daughter of San Antonio, Nirenberg said. So long as she is not here with us, the search will continue and it will extend to the farthest reach that we need it to go.

The SAPD issued a statement on social media Thursday saying the search for Lina has not stopped. The department assured the public that it is working tirelessly and will continue to comb through leads in hopes of locating Lina.

Anyone with information on Linas case is asked to contact the SAPD Missing Persons Unit at 210-207-7660 or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867.

caroline.tien@hearst.com
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Michael Adamek stopped relying on water from Medina Lake for irrigation a while ago. At Constanzo Farm, a family acreage he co-owns southwest of San Antonio, the farmer has had enough of drought and general water insecurity.

These days, hes also plugged into the Edwards Aquifer, withdrawing exactly what he needs when he needs it from his own well.

He said he hasnt abandoned the lake water. He appreciates every bit he gets. But each year, he watches the weather, listens to the Medina Lake management company and makes the best decision for his crops.

Drought is drought, Adamek said. And Medina Lake is always at the center of it.

This year is a familiar story.

The century-old lake  a reservoir on the Medina River that stretches 18 miles between Medina and Bandera counties just northwest of San Antonio  is going dry again. Its water level has dropped significantly over the past two years, steadily dwindling for months until barely above the lakes floor.

It is at 25 percent of its capacity, a level not seen since 2015, when the lake was at 3 percent. And its on track to decline further, having fallen 14 feet since January 2021. Without rain, the water level is projected to fall about three-tenths of an inch per day.

To conserve the resource, the Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, known as the BMA, which owns and operates Medina Lake, will distribute only 6,000 acre-feet of water to farmers for irrigation this year. One acre-foot, or enough to cover an acre with a foot of water, contains 325,851 gallons.

On ExpressNews.com: Medina Lake is now one of 27 in Texas 'fully infested' by zebra mussels, officials say

This years allocation, much less than in high-level years, is to be paid for in advance. And there wont be any more water after that.

Medina Lakes low level has affected the ecosystem and the community.

Historically, who gets the water and how much has led to contention among stakeholders. Water users and sellers have struggled to find a solution that works for everyone who wants a piece of the lake, including farmers who use it for irrigation and locals and tourists who recreate on its surface. Some have complained that conservation measures have been ineffective. But one thing that people accustomed to Medinas instability agree on is that there is not enough water to go around during a drought.

While Adamek, who bought some of the BMAs water this year to augment what he draws from the Edwards Aquifer, feels comfortable that his crops will be OK, farmers who depend solely on the lake may struggle.

The BMA is a tremendous partner for our farm, but theyve been seeing more challenges, and we have, too, Adamek said. The water is not as steady as I would like it to be, which is really just the nature of the beast.

Whats keeping lake down

William Luther /San Antonio Express-News

The Medina Valley Irrigation Company  now the BMA  created Medina Lake in the early 1900s to supply water to local farms. The project includes the Medina Dam, meant to hold the water, and the Medina Diversion Dam, which diverts the water to an irrigation canal system for agriculture. The main lake holds 254,823 acre-feet of water.

The lake depends on the Medina River watershed, which is part of the larger San Antonio River Basin. The Medina River fills from springs northwest of Bandera County and flows into the lake before continuing to southern San Antonio and merging with the San Antonio River. The Medina River dries up during droughts.

The area just above Bandera County received 21.9 inches of rain in 2019, 24.5 inches in 2020 and just over 28 inches in 2021; in 2018, that area saw over 50 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

The biggest problem with the lake right now is were in the worst drought weve been in in probably the last 10 years, Bandera County Commissioner Bobby Harris said. Ive been here since 1983, seen my fair share of floods and droughts, and the only way you can come back from this is rainfall, which can be hard.

On ExpressNews.com: The birds and the bond: SAWS, Texas Audubon seek 2022 bond money for South Side lake

And even when it rains a lot, Medina Lake may not reap the full benefits.

Harris said the watershed is configured in a way that enables water to flow to other bodies, such as the Sabinal or Guadalupe Rivers, at the expense of Medina Lake.

Meanwhile, excessively dry soil in the Medina River watershed impairs the lakes ability to be filled when it rains, said David Mauk, general manager of the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District. Last year, the Medina River Basin received 8 inches of rain during one storm, but because the ground was dry and soaked up much of the rain, the lakes level didnt rise.

The lake also intersects with the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, depositing some of its water to the aquifer. A 2004 analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that about 3,083 acre-feet of water from the lake, depending on its level, enters the recharge zone each month.

The fluctuation in water levels, Mauk said, makes it difficult for aquatic plant life to survive, resulting in reduced plant and animal life in and around the lake. Without the plants for insects and fish to eat, the entire ecosystem will be impaired. Also, when the levels are low, harmful algae blooms can occur.

But while the ramifications are known, a human-made solution is not. Mauk said the watershed needs several consecutive rains in the spring to refill it. Otherwise, there isnt much that can be done.

People dont always understand why the water doesnt come up, but its just not raining here, Mauk said. Its a whole different lake when its not raining.

Farming with less water

William Luther /San Antonio Express-News

More than 2,000 landowners and farmers have rights to order Medina Lake water for irrigation from the BMA. The water, moved through Diversion Lake 4 miles downstream from Medina, is transported in an irrigation canal system that stretches south past Castroville and into Devine.

During most years, the BMA  which has a state-issued permit to draw up to 66,000 acre-feet per year  will make 6,000 to 8,000 acre-feet for irrigation available to buy in advance in January, while continuing to sell water throughout the year. In a good year, the BMA can sell up to 25,000 acre-feet.

This year, however, farmers must collectively make due on 6,000 acre-feet, unless a significant change in the reservoirs level prompts the BMAs board to increase its 2022 allocation.

Thats not much, Adamek said. Produce that needs a lot of water, such as collard greens, mustard greens, cilantro and spinach, could struggle to survive. Corn and beans are among the thirstiest crops, making grain farmers who use BMA water particularly vulnerable during drought.

Grain farmers need to pre-irrigate their land for their upcoming corn crop, which can take a lot of water, and most lack the option to draw water from the Edwards Aquifer.

For Adamek, getting water from the aquifer has provided stability, but its more costly. Water from the aquifer is only $2 per acre-foot, compared with $35 per acre-foot for BMA water. But the extra expenses involved  such as drilling a well, buying land and the cost of electricity to pump the water  add up, Adamek said.

Nevertheless, some farmers who can afford transitioning to the Edwards Aquifer are doing so. Chris Heyen, owner of Red Cove Cafe and Marina at Medina Lake, knows several farmers in the last 10 years who have switched from BMA water to the Edwards Aquifer because their crops couldnt handle the unstable supply.

Id say a lot of farmers have shifted over, in part at least, to make up for the drought instability in Medina Lake, Heyen said. That water isnt always there for them, and they know it.

Today, landowners use more than 46,000 acre-feet on 33,000 acres of land west of San Antonio. Over the last 15 years, because some of that land has been subdivided, the number of farmers using the water has increased by 250, according to the BMA.

Farmers who dont or cant tap the Edwards Aquifer but need more than the water they buy from the BMA are hoping for enough rain this spring to raise Medina Lake to a healthy level.

Conservation consternation

William Luther /San Antonio Express-News

Shirlee Crandall, who co-owns Wallys Watersports at Lake Medina, is facing a potentially rough year, as the lakes low level threatens to deter the shops clientele.

Other shops and restaurants around the lake face similar economic effects.

But Crandall said pointing fingers at other water users isnt productive.

I would never say that the farmers are taking too much water or were taking too much water. We all need the water, Crandall said. Theres just this misconception that were in a feud when were not.

Besides the need for rain, she said, conservation is critical.

William Luther /San Antonio Express-News

The San Antonio Water System essentially funds much of the BMAs conservation efforts, thanks to a contract for SAWS to buy BMA water that stems from a deal in 2008 between the BMA and the Bexar Metropolitan Water District.

When BexarMet was dissolved soon after, its assets and liabilities were conveyed to SAWS, including its contractual right to buy 20,000 acre-feet of water from the BMA annually until 2049. Today, SAWS pays the BMA a $225,000 maintenance fee, which has been waived for the past five years, and $3 million for BMA operations, which is about 81 percent of the BMAs budget.

The BMA said those payments go toward conservation of the lake and canal system. In the past, some farmers and residents around the lake expressed concerns about how the BMA managed the water supply and the need for conservation during dry spells, such as monitoring the lake levels and main dam gates, and how to manage Diversion Lakes level to boost the main lakes level.

Commissioner Harris  president of Save Medina Lake, a group led by lakeside residents  said he would like to see meters installed on the main dam to monitor how much water is leaving the lake.

Itll be hard to conserve if we dont know how much were losing every day, Harris said.

The BMA said meters on the main gate wouldnt necessarily be accurate because unquantifiable amounts of water from the lake are known to recharge the Edwards Aquifer and to flow into the Medina River.

William Luther /San Antonio Express-News

For the past few years, the BMA has also been installing pipelines in the irrigation canal system rather than transporting irrigation water in an open ditch, in which water is lost to evaporation and seepage. The BMA said it has piped over 47 miles of canal and will install more this year.

The latest piece of BMA conservation was reducing the amount of water it will sell for irrigation this year. The last time it did so was 2015. Harris said hes glad for that, though he understands the stress it puts on farmers.

Our lake is like a checking account, Harris said. If you dont put money in the checking account, you better quit writing checks.

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
Domestic workers, such as cleaners, nannies and caretakers of adults, have systematically and historically been excluded from federal, state and local labor laws. Yet the one thing we are reminded of by this pandemic is that child care and domestic work are crucial to our modern economy.

Providing a legal safety net for these workers can be rectified in San Antonio. The city can adopt protections and standards for local domestic workers that include a living wage and extend to this group the labor rights and protections afforded to all other workers.

We can look to other states and cities as role models. Nevada limits deductions for food and lodging, and provides work-related supplies and equipment, rest breaks and mandatory wages in certain instances. New Mexico includes domestic workers in minimum wage laws. In Philadelphia, city ordinances were changed to include mandatory food and rest breaks, and provisions for sick leave, depending on the nature of the employment.

As we know, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio have encouraged businesses to offer paid sick leave, with no success in the courts, but this does not preclude our community from advocating for rights for domestic workers as a matter of social equity and justice. As an issue of fundamental economic rights, we should all be in favor of treating this mostly female workforce fairly and equitably.

We have seen San Antonio property values jump at rates beyond those in Dallas, Houston and Austin  creating the illusion of wealth. We have also seen our gap in pay between the highest- and lowest-paid employees widen. According to 2019 American Community Survey data, San Antonios poverty rate was nearly 18 percent.

In the meantime, the San Antonio Express-News reported in December that the number of jobs paying more than $100,000 has increased in the area.

The unseen pillars of stability in this city are the thousands of domestic laborers who work in our homes as cleaners, child minders and adult caregivers. According to research by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, there are some 2.2 million nannies, housecleaners and others in home careers in the U.S.

Groups such as Domesticas Unidas, Domestic Workers in Action and the Southwest Workers Union are advocating for minimum pay guarantees, job safety and security rights for this mostly female and Hispanic labor force in San Antonio.

The late Shirley Chisholm, a U.S. representative who represented New York, championed the cause of domestic workers in the 1970s, emphasizing the economic and social insecurity they experience. Chisholm pointed out that these workers were mainly female heads of households with precarious earnings, half of whom earn incomes below the federal poverty line, supporting families with outside work in the commercial market.

Her genius helped bolster domestic workers demands for cleaning products, vacuum cleaners and public transport to get their jobs done. She pointed out that all these actions are part of the broader sphere of local and interstate commerce.

She understood that domestic workers demands were part of the economics of local and interstate commerce. They deserve to be included in our continuing wage equity and benefits discussions.

Belinda Roman is an assistant professor of economics and lead investigator on the Women in the Economy project of the SABER Research Institute at St. Marys University.
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Attorney General Ken Paxton is zeroing in on U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, with weeks left until the March primary in which Gohmert and two other fellow Republicans are trying to force the embattled incumbent into a runoff.

The attack ads suggest that Paxton sees Gohmert as a bigger threat than the other two Republicans in the race  Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman.

Earlier this month, Paxtons campaign launched TV ads exclusively in East Texas, which is Gohmerts home base. Then an anti-Gohmert mail piece surfaced from the Paxton campaign. And on Wednesday, Paxton launched Facebook ads targeting Gohmert.

Paxton has criticized individual challengers before this election cycle, but the anti-Gohmert effort marks the first time he is spending real campaign money against one of them. And it comes as Paxton is looking to capture a majority of the vote on March 1 and avoid the protracted fight that comes with a runoff.

As a hardcore conservative who has aligned closely with former President Donald Trump, Gohmert is the most politically alike Paxton  and perhaps the most likely to siphon off the support that Paxton needs to win outright.

Paxton has theorized as much, saying in December that Gohmert was talked into running by people who know that Bush cant win the primary, and they need votes taken from me to make this a race for Bush. On the campaign trail, Gohmert regularly laughs off the suggestion that Bush allies recruited him.

Gohmerts campaign is taking encouragement from being the focus of Paxtons ire.

The fact that our compromised AG is only attacking me also tells you that he recognizes the real conservative in the race, Gohmert said in a recent statement.

Stacy McMahan, the president of the conservative group East Texans for Liberty, said Gohmert has always enjoyed a strong home-field advantage, saying folks out here love Louie Gohmert. She agreed that Gohmert has emerged as Paxtons biggest threat in the primary.

He is, I do believe, and I dont believe its just in East Texas, said McMahan, whose organization has not yet endorsed in the primary. Theres people in San Antonio that Im aware of that are working really hard and a lot of folks in West Texas.

Paxtons anti-Gohmert campaign began on Jan. 11, when the attorney general launched the first TV ad of his re-election campaign. While the spot was positive, touting Paxtons confrontations with the Biden administration over immigration policy and his endorsement from former President Donald Trump, the markets the ad aired in were revealing: Tyler and Shreveport, La. Those are the two markets that cover Gohmerts 1st Congressional District in East Texas.

Then it came out that Paxton was going after Gohmert with at least one mail piece that directly attacked him. Complete with darkened, unflattering images of Gohmert, the mailer hit him for voting to raise his congressional salary over the years despite missing hundreds of votes that impacted tax paying Texan families.

The Facebook ad, meanwhile, gets at a hotly debated subject in the primary: Trumps endorsement of Paxton. While the attorney general captured the coveted endorsement months ago, Gohmert regularly casts doubt on it on the campaign trail, suggesting Trump endorsed Paxton after wrongly assuming Gohmert would not run.

Who is Trumps pick for Texas Attorney General? Not Louie Gohmert, the Facebook ad reads.

Gohmert has also gone tough on Paxton, joining the the other Republican primary candidates in attacking Paxtons integrity as he battles ongoing criminal accusations. Gohmert, however, has been perhaps the most vocal, filling his stump speeches with speculation about the amount of legal jeopardy that could be still to come for Paxton.

Ken Paxton is under indictment for securities fraud and facing a federal investigation for bribery and corruption, so Louie Gohmert is running to save Texas and restore honesty and integrity to the office of Attorney General, Gohmert says in his own online ads.

Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges shortly after he took office in 2015, and he more recently came under FBI investigation over allegations by former top staffers that he abused his office to help a wealthy donor. He has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

Both men have been at the center of controversies related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Paxton spoke at the pro-Trump rally that preceded it, and he has been fighting efforts to get him to release his communications from that day under open-records laws. Meanwhile, it has been reported that Capitol Police were concerned that Gohmert was possibly encouraging political violence in the lead-up to Jan. 6.

There has not been any recent public polling of the primary. In early December, shortly after Gohmert began his challenge, Paxton said he did not think he was on track for a runoff.

Paxton has more than enough money to take on Gohmert. As of the end of December, Paxton had over $7 million saved up, while Gohmert, who launched his campaign in November, had $882,000.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton each took a turn on stage at Trumps Texas MAGA rally Saturday night, declaring in the strongest possible terms their support for the former president and his no-holds-barred brand of politics.

Abbott said some variation of Trumps name 27 times in a less than six-minute speech, touting his governorship as an extension of the values and policies championed by the 45th president.

When chants to build the wall broke out and interrupted Abbotts speech, he said: So you want the wall built? I am the only governor in the history of the United States to build a wall on our border, adding that as the state takes over wall construction, its using the same contractors proposed by the Trump administration.

Still, there were scattered boos in the audience amid the general applause as Abbott took the stage.

IN-DEPTH: Trump diehards turn out in force for first Texas MAGA rally since he lost White House

Trump has endorsed Abbott for reelection in his primary race against former GOP party chair Allen West and former state Sen. Dan Huffines, although the two challengers have been sharply critical of Abbott, especially the governors decisions to enact mask mandates and lockdown nonessential businesses early in the pandemic.

With two weeks to go before voting starts in the March 1 primary, the extreme rhetoric at Saturdays rally is yet another illustration of the political polarization in Texas, and the country, that research has shown to already be at historic levels.

Members of the Legislature throughout the year bemoaned the lack of collegiality in the statehouse, saying the shape of the state's new laws was frequently dictated by the majority Republicans, rather than collaboration between parties. This contributed to a six-week long walkout of Democrats who attempted to block a voting bill that added restrictions on early and absentee voting, among other provisions.

TEXAS PRIMARIES: Trump wades deeper into Texas politics with 20 endorsements in state and local races

Texas GOP party chair Matt Rinaldi also spoke at the rally, trumpeting the partys policy victories last year, saying uncompromising conservatism will be the way of the party going forward.

The Republican Party of Texas now is no longer that weak and compromising party, Rinaldi said. Were not just going to be a speed bump on the way to communism.

As the pre-Trump speeches wrapped up, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto ORourke was shaming the Texas politicians for embracing Trumps hate, divisiveness and lies.

We need to forcefully reject their ugly vision for our state, he wrote, in a fundraising plea.

Patrick denies 2020 election results

Patrick, who runs the Texas Senate, touted his position as Trumps Texas campaign chair in 2016 and 2020. He said that Trump was the true victor of the 2020 presidential election. This is false; no evidence exists of widespread voter fraud that could have swung the election.

Patrick said Democrats are engaging in a conspiracy to steal Americas freedom, and the only thing standing in their way is Trump and the state of Texas.

The world looks to one state as its last chance for freedom, and its Texas, Patrick said.

And Paxton asked the crowd to imagine how much better America was a year ago.

Paxton, the state attorney general, alluded to an announcement last year that the FBI was investigating threats against school board members, saying the news felt like Im living in Germany in the 30s or Communist China.

Ag Commissioner Miller fires up crowd with 2024 chant

In his appearance onstage, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told the crowd the 2022 midterms will not be between Republicans and Democrats or between conservatives or socialists, but will rather be a race between patriots and traitors. Its that simple.

Miller also endorsed Trump for re-election as president in 2024, claiming hes the first statewide elected official in the country to do so. He called on Republican voters to ask their candidates whether they had also endorse Trump for re-election, saying their answers should be used as a litmus test.

The crowd of Trump diehards clearly appreciated Miller, as he drew some of the loudest laughs, cheers and applause so far of the Texas Republicans given turns at the mic before Trumps speech.

Miller was also among the earliest statewide elected officials to endorse Trump in his unsuccessful 2016 bid for the presidency, and Trump has in turn endorsed Miller for re-election. Two Republicans, Carey Counsil and Rep. James White, are running in the primary against Miller.

Public polling has shown Miller with a significant lead, although there are a large number of voters who remain undecided.

Closing his speech, Miller started a 2024 chant in the crowd. As he doffed his white cowboy hat and left the stage, the chants continued for nearly a minute with the stage empty.

Jeremy Wallace contributed reporting.

edward.mckinley@chron.com


Two airports in the former Yugoslavia have placed among the top 100 busiest on the continent, according to Airports Council International Europe (ACI). With a total of 3.285.295 passengers, Belgrade Airport ranked 71st ahead of the likes of Edinburgh, Krakow, Malta, Minsk and Riga, but just behind Venice and Sofia. On the other hand, Pristina Airport entered the top 100 for the first time, positioning itself as the 88th busiest with 2.176.036 travellers handled. It was ahead of of Glasgow, Keflavik (Reykjavik) and Vilnius but just behind Rome Ciampino, and Yerevan. This year, Belgrade Airport is expected to reach pre-pandemic capacity levels, while Pristina Airport is highly likely to register its busiest on record and overtake its pre-Covid results. Two airports in the former Yugoslavia have placed among the top 100 busiest on the continent, according to Airports Council International Europe (ACI). With a total of 3.285.295 passengers, Belgrade Airport ranked 71st ahead of the likes of Edinburgh, Krakow, Malta, Minsk and Riga, but just behind Venice and Sofia. On the other hand, Pristina Airport entered the top 100 for the first time, positioning itself as the 88th busiest with 2.176.036 travellers handled. It was ahead of of Glasgow, Keflavik (Reykjavik) and Vilnius but just behind Rome Ciampino, and Yerevan. This year, Belgrade Airport is expected to reach pre-pandemic capacity levels, while Pristina Airport is highly likely to register its busiest on record and overtake its pre-Covid results.





Elsewhere, Split Airport, as the third busiest in the former Yugoslavia, ranked just outside of the top 100 on 103rd place. It was followed by Zagreb, which positioned itself on 112th, while Skopje was on its heels, placing 113th. Dubrovnik was Europes 129th busiest airport, while Sarajevo 132nd. Ljubljana Airport, which fell out of the top ten busiest in the former Yugoslavia in 2021 was Europes 154th busiest, just behind Sinop Airport in Turkey and ahead of Rennes Airport in France. As previously reported, airports in the former Yugoslavia handled a combined total of just over 14.8 million passengers in 2021, up 97.3% on the year before but still down 49.7% on the pre-pandemic 2019.





Istanbul became Europes busiest airport in 2021, followed by Moscow Sheremetyevo, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam and Moscow Domodedovo. With a 34.6% decrease in traveller numbers compared to 2019, airports outside of the European Union significantly outperformed the continents average which stood at a 64.6% passenger decline on pre-Covid levels. Olivier Jankovec, the Director General of ACI Europe, said, After losing 1.72 billion passengers in 2020, we all had high hopes for a strong recovery in 2021. But last year proved another difficult one, as Europes airports ended up losing another 1.4 billion passengers compared to 2019. This means they remain under considerable stress, with systemic financial weakness across our industry. He added, The knee-jerk reaction of many governments who ignored the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control guidance and rushed to reimpose travel bans and other restrictions in late 2021, including for intra-European travel, has stalled our recovery. Yet, these travel restrictions did nothing to stop the spread of Omicron, as recognised just last week by the World Health Organisation. The most affected European market in 2021 was Finland, followed by the United Kingdom, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Ireland.




Unruly crowds and fights are a frequent occurrence outside the Brooklyn restaurant where a man was stabbed to death in a brawl early Saturday, according to police and community complaints.

Anthony Donofrio, 22, was knifed to death as about 10 people duked it out in the middle of a snowstorm outside Catrinas Mexican Grill on Third Ave. in Bay Ridge. A second man, also 22, suffered a deep gash to his head in the 3:45 a.m. brawl.

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Antonio Donofrio, 22, was knifed to death as about 10 people duked it out in the middle of a snowstorm outside Catrinas Mexican Grill on Third Ave. in Bay Ridge. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

Councilman Justin Brannan on Saturday decried a well-documented and dangerous pattern of illegal and reckless behavior for years in the restaurant.

Police have responded to several calls at the bar since September  a report of a disorderly premises on Sept. 3, another call about an unruly group of patrons on Oct. 24 and a reported assault during a bar fight on Christmas Eve.

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In one incident, a 20-year-old woman reported she was a victim of sexual abuse on Halloween 2020, cops said.

A man who identified himself as the manager of the restaurant declined to comment Sunday.

Brannans office and officials with Community Board 10 have reached out to both the NYPD and the State Liquor Authority in recent months with complaints about Catrinas.

Catrinas Mexican Restaurant on Third Ave. in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

Correspondences obtained by the Daily News show complaints about raucous crowds on Thursdays and weekends and college night parties dating back to April.

It is clear that the owners of Catrinas have no intention of following the law, no regard for the neighborhood in which they operate, and even less regard for keeping their own customers safe, Brannan said in a Saturday Facebook post. To that end, I will be working with my colleagues in government to have Catrinas liquor license revoked.

Late Sunday, police said they had arrested Kevin Cuatlacuatl, 19, of Brooklyn, and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in Donofrios slaying, His arraignment was pending.
Despite a noreaster passing through Connecticut on Saturday, dumping upwards of 22 inches in some areas, the state has still seen below average snowfall for the year.

Gary Lessor, the chief meteorologist at Western Connecticut State University said Sunday that Connecticut is about halfway through the snow season.

So far this year, Bridgeport has seen 21 inches of snow, with the normal amount at 14.3 inches, Lessor said. Last year, Bridgeport had seen 13.9 inches of snow by this time.

Hartford has seen less snow than the shoreline, according to Lessor, who said the city has seen 18.4 inches. Normally Hartford has seen 25.4 inches by now and last year, the city saw 20.3 inches.

Danbury normally sees 19.2 inches by this time in the year and has seen 17.7 inches, Lessor said.

Lessor went on to say a storm is possible this week, from Thursday into Friday. There is a chance this could be another snow storm, but it is too early to tell, especially when a storm could transition from rain to snow, Lessor said.

Despite the noreaster being passing, the cold weather will continue for the next few days. Temperatures were expected to fall into the teens overnight on Sunday and Monday, but warm into the 30s throughout the day.

Weve got a major warm up coming this week, Lessor said. Its going to be in the forties on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Gov. Ned Lamont called the noreaster a wicked New England storm, with parts of the state experiencing winds up to 48 mph on Saturday morning.

While western Connecticut saw the least snow, the blizzard dropped almost two feet of snow in southeastern Connecticut, with the weather service reporting 22 inches in Norwich, 21.5 inches in Groton and 20.5 inches in New London.

In New London County, some towns such as North Stonington, Ledyard and Montville left their parking bans in effect until Sunday morning or early afternoon to facilitate plowing and snow removal.

Significant snowfalls were also reported in New Haven and Middlesex Counties with 13 inches in Branford and 16 inches in Chester, according to the weather service.

Fairfield County saw the least snow, ranging from 5.3 inches in New Fairfield to 10.5 inches in Bridgeport, according to the weather service.

On Saturday, Connecticut State Police responded to approximately 1,212 calls for service, according to a press release.

Out of those calls, 90 were for motor vehicle accidents, 84 of which were classified as no injury and six were reported with injury. Zero accidents were reported with serious or fatal injuries. Another 208 calls were for traffic services, such as disabled or abandoned vehicles or debris in the roadway, according to state police.

There were few reports of issues through the morning on Sunday. Both the states major electricity providers, Eversource and United Illuminating, had resolved all but a handful of outages from the storm.

christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com
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On January 6, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Raychelle Awuor Omamo in Mombasa.

Omamo showed pictures of ancient Chinese coins unearthed in Kenya, saying that the friendship between Kenya and China boasts a long history. The exchanges between the two countries can be traced back to more than 600 years ago when the great Chinese navigator Zheng He led a fleet to visit Mombasa. The two countries have always respected and trusted each other and our mutually beneficial cooperation has continuously deepened and brought benefits to people of the two countries. Omamo thanked China for its long-term support and assistance to Kenya's economic and social development. Both the realization of rapid economic growth and a brand new look in infrastructure in Kenya benefit from the strong impetus of Kenya-China cooperation and the deepening cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative. China has become an indispensable development partner of Kenya, and Kenya expects the traditional friendship between the two countries to be further revitalized. Kenya highly appreciates the important initiative of "nine programs" proposed by President Xi Jinping at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). This once again demonstrates the strong partnership between Africa and China and China's sincerity and actions in helping Africa's development. Kenya is ready to work with China to implement the initiative and the consensus reached at the forum, and push for more outcomes in Africa-China cooperation.

Wang Yi said that China and Kenya have time-honored historical ties. More than 600 years ago, Chinese navigator Zheng He's friendly exchanges with Kenya and other African countries fully prove that China is traditionally a peace-loving, trustworthy and harmonious country. Today, 600 years later, Chinese engineers and technicians are working hard for Kenya's economic development and national construction. This is a strong example of China-Kenya friendship in the new era. China-Kenya cooperation has yielded fruitful results. China has become Kenya's largest trading partner, the largest source of foreign investment and the largest project contractor. China is ready to implement the FOCAC consensus, deepen bilateral practical cooperation, and add new connotations and inject new impetus to the China-Kenya comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership.

Wang Yi said, the pandemic is still raging around the world. President Xi Jinping has announced that China will provide another 1 billion doses of vaccines to Africa. China regards Kenya as a priority. China is also willing to help Kenya improve its vaccine cold chain system and explore cooperation in the production of vaccines and virus detection reagents. The two sides should deepen cooperation in economy, trade, investment and infrastructure, advance the construction of key projects, and support Kenya in building economic belts and industrial parks along the railway lines to create an interconnected development effect. Kenya is welcome to make full use of the "green channel" and trade financing quota for African agricultural products to enter China, take an active part in the China International Import Expo and China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, and export more quality Kenyan products to the Chinese market. China will continue to support Chinese enterprises in investing and doing business in Kenya.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern, and agreed to enhance mutual trust, consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations, strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation and jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the two countries and international equity and justice. Omamo said, Kenya firmly adheres to the one-China policy, highly appreciates China's important influence and role in international affairs, and is willing to take an active part in the Global Development Initiative.

Following the talks, the two sides witnessed the signing of cooperation documents on digital economy, investment, agriculture and export of Kenyan agricultural products to China, and jointly met the press.

Kenyan Cabinet Secretaries of Ministry of National Treasury and Planning, Ministry of Trade and Industrialization, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Information and Communications and others attended the talks and exchanged views on strengthening cooperation in relevant fields.
On January 9, 2022 local time, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi who was paying an official visit to Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Gotabaya asked Wang Yi to convey his cordial greetings and best wishes to President Xi Jinping. Gotabaya thanked China for its timely assistance when Sri Lanka faces difficulties, and expressed his gratitude to China for its strong support for Sri Lanka's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and its effective control of the pandemic. He appreciated the important contributions made by Chinese enterprises to Sri Lanka's economic revitalization and infrastructure construction. Sri Lanka is willing to work with China to hold a series of events marking the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and China and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact, and strengthen cooperation with China in the fields of economy, trade, finance, tourism and infrastructure, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples.





Wang Yi first conveyed President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings. Wang Yi said, this year is an important year for both China and Sri Lanka to commemorate. The most important historical experience of the long-standing friendly exchanges between the two countries is that both sides have always adhered to the principle of mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual support. 70 years ago, China and Sri Lanka, two newly born countries, overcame difficulties and obstacles and signed the Rubber-Rice Pact, opening the door for friendly exchanges, demonstrating our national spirit in the fight against hegemony and power politics, and breaking the Cold War isolation imposed by the West based on ideology. The spirit of the pact characterized by independence, self-reliance, unity and mutual support is deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples and reflected in the entire process of the development of bilateral relations. It is still of great practical significance and worth our further inheritance and promotion.

Wang Yi said, China has been playing a constructive role in the global fight against the pandemic. One out of every two doses of vaccines injected around the world is the Chinese vaccine. China will continue to offer vaccines and medical supplies to Sri Lanka according to its needs, and is willing to work together with Sri Lanka to explore cooperation on specific medicines for COVID-19. The two sides should make good use of the two engines, Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port flagship projects, tap the opportunities of the enforcement of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and China's vast market, and discuss the restart of talks on a free trade agreement between China and Sri Lanka to send more positive signals to the world and contribute to Sri Lanka's economic recovery and development. China encourages competent Chinese enterprises to invest and develop in Sri Lanka.

Before the meeting, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa met with Wang Yi and jointly attended the signing ceremony of the bilateral cooperation document. After the meeting, Gotabaya, Mahinda and Wang Yi attended the launching ceremony of the celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Sri Lanka and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact.

On the same day, Wang Yi also met with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris.
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A man repeatedly stabbed his 61-year-old mother to death in their Brooklyn home Saturday, police and sources said.

The woman was knifed at least 15 times in the home on Wyona St. near Livonia Ave. in East New York about 2:10 p.m., cops said.

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Police responding to the scene discovered the woman with numerous knife wounds throughout her body  including to her neck, ear and hands.

(File) A man repeatedly stabbed his 61-year-old mother to death in their Brooklyn home Saturday, police, and sources said. (Gardiner Anderson)

Medics rushed the woman to Brookdale Hospital, but she couldnt be saved.

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Cops took the victims 40-year-old son into custody at the scene. Charges against him were pending Saturday night.

Police recovered the knife in a bedroom in the home, sources said.

The victims name was withheld pending family notification.
An ambulance arrives at the emergency department entrance at Frederick Health in early January. With 58 deaths due to COVID-19, the month has seen the disease claim the most lives in a 30-day period since the start of the pandemic.
Albany caught the eye of state regulators in December when its wastewater operations exceeded the allowable limits for E. coli.

Albany Wastewater Superintendent Kristin Preston gave the news Thursday, Jan. 27, at the Albany/Millersburg Joint Water and Wastewater Management Committee meeting.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality put the Albany-Millersburg Water Treatment Plant on notice for the violations. Preston said the release was caused by heavy rainfall in December. Past warning letters concerning E. coli have been sent to the facility over the years, according to Preston.

Wastewater management is working with legal counsel to respond to a recent enforcement letter laying out next steps to remain in compliance, Preston said.

"We just get really high flows to the plant, and we have to treat everything," Preston said. "This happens during wet weather every year. This happens sometimes."

E. coli bacteria normally live in the intestines of people and animals, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. It's spread through human and animal feces and can sometimes cause illness, often in the form of diarrhea.

Preston speculated that potential fines could be small for the violations laid out in DEQ's letter.

The state environmental protection agency does go after other public entities. In December, it fined The Dalles, a city in Wasco County, $13,200, for wastewater violations and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers $30,814 for solid waste violations in Jackson County's Eagle Point.

The Albany/Millersburg Joint Water and Wastewater Management Committee's next virtual meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, March 3.

Tim Gruver covers the city of Albany and Linn County. He can be contacted at 541-812-6114 or Tim.Gruver@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @T_TimeForce.

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The area under consideration for revitalization is located in northwest Gilbert.
An off-duty correction officer shot a pair of armed robbers in the Bronx after he was lured into meeting up by a woman promising him a date, police sources said.

The correction officer thought he was meeting 21-year-old Diamond Sanchez for a date about 6 p.m. Saturday  but she had other plans for him, the sources said.

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Police did not release the name of the correction officer, whos in his 20s. A law enforcement said the victim works for the New York State Corrections Department.

The victim and Sanchez were sitting in a car at E. 183rd St. and Tiebout St. in Fordham Heights, when two men, Christopher Santana, 22, and Leonel Cuevas, 26, walked up to them, the sources said.

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An off-duty correction officer lured into a robbery by a woman turned the tables on his robbers, shooting them when they pulled a gun on him in the Bronx Saturday night, cop sources said. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)

One of the duo pulled out a gun and demanded the correction officers belongings, but the victim was armed as well, opening fire from inside the vehicle, the sources said.

The correction officer shot Cuevas multiple times in the chest and blasted Santana in the stomach, back and hip.

Medics took both men to St. Barnabas Hospital, where Cuevas is in critical condition. Santana is in stable condition, police said.

One of the duo dropped their gun, and Sanchez tried to hide it, police sources said.

The correction officer and Sanchez were sitting in a car at E. 183rd St. and Tiebout St. in Fordham Heights, when two men, Christopher Santana, 22, and Leonel Cuevas, 26, walked up to them, sources said. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)

All three are charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon while Sanchez is also charged with tampering with evidence.

The correction officer is not expected to face any charges, police sources said.
'What the hell did I get myself into?' A crisis of Jackson snowplow drivers
Mary Jane Goggles, Rose Wadda, Katherine Shakespeare and Florence McLeod gather in Fort Washakie to participate in the Eastern Shoshone Rapid Word Collection Event.
More than 100 guests at the San Diego Zoo were trapped in the air Saturday aboard the tram ride.

Four people, all between 20 and 24 years old, rocked their gondola in the air, causing an automatic shutdown of the Skyfari Aerial Tram system, a spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department told Fox 5.

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The San Diego Fire Department responded to the scene about an hour later and successfully rescued all passengers and brought them back to the ground.

No injuries were reported.

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The San Diego Zoo's Skyfari Aerial Tram was stuck for more than an hour. (Shutterstock)

Annual zoo ticket holder Hussein Alhamadami told Fox 5 that he and his girlfriend could feel their gondola rocking on the track every few seconds, then stabilize again.

When functioning properly, the Aerial Tram transports 28 gondolas, each holding up to four people, around the zoo on an eight-minute trip from about 40 feet in the air.

The four people, who have not been publicly identified, have been charged with felony vandalism.
PERTH, Western Australia, Jan. 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perseus Mining Limited (Perseus or the Company) (ASX/TSX:PRU) is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire a 15% interest in Orca Gold Inc (Orca) from Resolute Mining Limited (RSG). Orca is a gold developer, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V). Its key assets include a 70% interest in the Block 14 Gold Project (Block 14) in northern Sudan and a 31.5% interest in Montage Gold Corp (Montage), which owns the Kone Gold Project in northern Cote dIvoire.



Perseus has agreed to acquire 39,092,233 million common shares in Orca from RSG representing 15% of Orcas common shares on issue (the RSG Share Acquisition). The RSG Share Acquisition was executed at a price of approximately 44.8 Canadian cents per Orca share representing the 10-day VWAP of Orca on the TSX-V to January 28, 2022. Total consideration for the RSG Share Acquisition is approximately C$17.5 million. Prior to the RSG Share Acquisition, Perseus held no common shares or other securities of Orca.

Simultaneous with the RSG Share Acquisition, Perseus has agreed to provide Orca with a US$5.0 million short term loan facility (the Orca Loan Facility). Orca plans to use the loan for working capital and for further exploration and development activities at Block 14. The Orca Loan Facility matures on June 30, 2022 with interest charged at a rate of 7.5% per annum.

Prior to the RSG Share Acquisition Perseus has engaged in exclusive discussions with Orca with respect to a possible change of control transaction whereby Perseus would acquire all the outstanding securities of Orca. Orca potentially provides Perseus with exposure to two highly prospective assets with significant resource bases and is consistent with Perseus strategy of building a platform of long life, highly profitable African gold assets.

While the discussions regarding a possible transaction with Orca are continuing, any change of control transaction would be subject to, among other matters, the completion of outstanding due diligence including an assessment of the geopolitical situation in Sudan by Perseus and reaching agreement with Orca on definitive terms. As a result, there can be no assurance that any such transaction will be completed. Depending on market conditions and other factors, Perseus may, from time to time in the future, increase or decrease its direct or indirect ownership, control or direction over securities of Orca through market transactions, private agreements, subscriptions from treasury or otherwise.

The RSG Share Acquisition and Orca Loan Facility together demonstrate the Companys intent on working collaboratively with Orca and the Government of Sudan to potentially progress an exciting development opportunity.

Perseuss Managing Director and CEO Jeff Quartermaine said:

The acquisition of the 15% interest in Orca provides Perseus with a pivotal position in Orca that gives us a platform from which to further evaluate what appears to be a very exciting potential growth opportunity.

Perseus has recently achieved an annualised gold production rate of 500,000 ounces of gold per year from its three existing operating mines, and while it expects to be able to maintain this level of production based on exploration success around its existing gold mines, we are always seeking to identify value accretive inorganic growth opportunities. We believe that Orca could represent such an opportunity.

OVERVIEW OF ORCA

Orca is a TSX-V listed gold developer focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Africa. Orcas main asset is a 70% interest in the Block 14 Project that is located in northern Sudan near the border with Egypt. Please refer to Orcas website for information in relation to the Mineral Resource and Reserve estimates prepared by Orca for Block 14. Orca also announced completion of a feasibility study on the Block 14 Project in September 2020.

Orca also owns a 31.5% interest in TSX-V listed Montage who is nearing completion of a definitive feasibility study at its cornerstone Kone Gold Project located in Cote dIvoire. Please refer to Montages website for information relating to the Mineral Resource estimates completed by Montage on the Kone Gold Project.

A copy of the early warning report required to be filed with the applicable securities commissions in connection with this transaction will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and can be obtained by contacting Perseuss Company Secretary Martijn Bosboom at +61 8 6144 1700. Orcas head office is at 2000  885 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 3E8, Canada.

Perseus is being advised by Sternship Advisers.

This announcement was approved for release by the Board.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION:

This report contains forward-looking information which is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made by the Company regarding, among other things: the price of gold, continuing commercial production at the Yaoure Gold Mine, the Edikan Gold Mine and the Sissingue Gold Mine without any major disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise, the receipt of required governmental approvals, the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used by the Company. Although management believes that the assumptions made by the Company and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Companys ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Gloucester, MA (01930)

Today

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 46F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 46F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Mercedes protested and even wanted to appeal, but in the end an investigation by the FIA was sufficient. According to Peter Bayer, the new head of single-seaters at the FIA, Max Verstappen would have remained World Champion anyway.

Lewis Hamilton hoped to win his eighth title last season, but Verstappen managed to cross the finish line as winner and World Champion. Meanwhile, Hamilton is still driven to win his eighth title, as it would put him at the top of the list of the most word titles.

The decisions made by the race committee at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix partly helped Verstappen. Because of that, Mercedes protested immediately after the race, but the stewards rejected it. They then wanted to appeal, but after three days decided not to. They did make an appointment with the FIA, because they wanted an investigation to be started.

Result would have remained the same

If Mercedes had gone ahead with their appeal, the outcome would probably have remained the same. "But even then - if it were canceled - Max Verstappen would have been world champion (because he was ahead going into the race)," he told the BBC.

The FIA is now busy with the investigation and will not present the results until March. For now, Bayer mainly wants to look to the future and see how they can improve things. "The situation was far from perfect and that's why we're working on it. It's also about having respect for the race director."
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Police officer fatalities in US hit 20-year record: Fox News

Xinhua) 17:29, January 30, 2022

Police officers gather as the body of NYPD officer Wilbert Mora is transferred in an ambulance from NYU Langone Hospital to the Riverdale Funeral Home on January 26, 2022 in New York City. Officer Mora was critically injured, and died yesterday, after responding to a domestic violence call on January 21, where his partner, 22-year-old Officer Jason Rivera was shot and killed. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - The number of officers who were killed in 2021 in the United States is the highest on record in the past 20 years, US media outlet Fox News has reported.

This figure includes unprovoked confrontations and premeditated ambushes, said Fox News on Friday, citing data published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The trend shows no signs of letting up this year, with six police officers the victims of gun violence over the past two days alone, said the report.

Two police officers were shot Wednesday afternoon in St. Louis. A Milwaukee sheriff's deputy was shot several times during a traffic stop Wednesday evening, and three more police officers were shot in Houston on Thursday, said the report.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Bianji)
The wicked noreaster that dumped feet of snow across New York and much of the northeast has blown out of town.

Winter Storm Kenan has given way to brutal cold around New York and New England, with temperatures in single digits as residents woke up Sunday morning to mountains of snow.

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About 32,000 homes in Massachusetts without power as of 4 p.m.

The Old Massachusetts State House saw white-out conditions Saturday. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Almost 5,000 domestic and international flights were canceled around the U.S. Saturday and more than 2,000 delayed. LaGuardia Airport canceled 97% of scheduled flights, while Kennedy Airport canceled 79%, Newark canceled 89% and Logan in Boston canceled 90%.

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More than 2,750 flights had already been canceled as of 4 p.m. Sunday.

Near Truro, Mass., a gust of 99 mph was recorded, equivalent to the force of a Category 2 hurricane wind speed.

Sharon, Mass., was coated with more than 30 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Islip, L.I., saw almost 25 inches and Bayville, N.J., recorded 21 inches. Central Park reported about 7.5 inches of snow and Atlantic City was blanketed with 16 inches.

Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. >

Bostons 23.6 inches tied the city record for the biggest one-day total, matching the winter of 2003.

New Yorkers trudge through the Upper East Side. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Areas as far south as Myrtle Beach, S.C., also saw flurries, while Floridians woke up Sunday to temperatures below freezing. Light snow fell in Nashville, Atlanta and Raleigh Friday night as the storm moved north along the coast.

Baltimore and Washington, D.C., mostly avoided the worst of the storm.

Blustery winds and the swirling snow caused whiteout conditions for much of the tristate area and the northeast as residents were warned to stay off the streets and stay at home as much as possible. Rhode Island banned all nonemergency road travel through midnight Saturday.

Ten states  Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia  were under blizzard warnings at some point over the weekend.

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Kenan is now barreling toward southeast Canada as the last tailwinds gust through Maine.

Temperatures are supposed to rise rapidly into the middle of the week, touching the 40s, which should help clear the last remnants of snow missed by the plows.
Elroy Air, a company developing the first end-to-end autonomous vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial cargo system, unveiled its pre-production Chaparral aircraft. The Chaparral can autonomously pick up 300-500 lbs of cargo and deliver it by air up to 300 miles, a capability that pushes beyond the limited payload capabilities of delivery drones and the airport infrastructure required of piloted air cargo options available today.





The company has secured agreements for more than 500 aircraft from commercial, defense and humanitarian customers amounting to more than $1 billion in aircraft demand.

Mesa Airlines, an American regional airline operating large fleets on behalf of partners including American Airlines, United Airlines, and DHL, has intent to order 150 aircraft to serve the express parcel and healthcare sectors.

Elroy Air was awarded a Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) Award from the United States Air Force in Q4 2021 amounting to an additional $1.7M in contract value alongside its existing Phase 3 SBIR contract. The funding will be used to further develop deployment details and CONOPS in collaboration with its Air Force and Agility Prime partners. It reflects sustained enthusiasm by the Air Force and AFWERX to help accelerate the Chaparral to readiness for usage by the organization.

AYR Logistics, an aircraft owner and operator with more than 20 years of experience providing logistics support to the humanitarian community in more than 45 countries, including the United Nations, World Food Programme (WFP), Governments and NGOs, signed an agreement with Elroy Air to purchase up to 100 Chaparral aircraft to augment and expand its humanitarian logistics business.

What aid agencies spend on transportation is money that theyre not spending on food, medicine and other emergency supplies, but transportation is obviously very important to get the aid to where it needs to be. Moving to unmanned, aerial cargo vehicles will make a huge difference to our cost structure and the risk profile of our operations. We fly in difficult terrain and difficult conditions. We dont always have the luxury of a runway or even personnel at some locations. There simply hasnt been a UAV with the type of capabilities that the Chaparral has in the commercial markets. The Chaparral is a quantum leap in terms of load carrying and range as well as being able to operate with minimal infrastructure. Stephen Lyons, Chief Development Officer of AYR Logistics

An early prototype of the Chaparral was flown in 2019, demonstrating several key systems of the aircraft design. The unveiled Chaparral system features eight vertical lift fans, four distributed electric propulsors for forward flight, a high-wing airframe configuration, as well as improved ground autonomy and cargo-handling systems.

The Chaparral is a transitioning lift + cruise VTOL aircraft with a full carbon composite airframe, and a turbine-based hybrid-electric powertrain for long-range mission capabilities. It was also designed to fit in a 40' shipping container or C-130 cargo aircraft, enabling it to be quickly shipped and deployed anywhere in the world.

Elroy Air has developed lightweight, aerodynamic modular cargo pods that can be pre-loaded by ground personnel and picked up by the aircraft before takeoff. At the delivery location, the cargo pod is lowered to the ground and released after the system has landed. The Chaparral system can retrieve another pre-packed pod and transport the pod to its next destination, creating a bi-directional conveyor belt through the sky.
Skeleton Technologies, a producer of supercapacitor and energy storage systems, closed its Round D3 with 37.6 million of equity investments. Total D round funding is now at 108 million; round D3 brings total investments into Skeleton to more than 200 million.

Round D3 investments will be used to scale-up the supercapacitor production in Saxony, Germany to meet customer demand and to continue the development of new battery technologies based on curved graphene.

This new funding is one of the milestones allowing us to execute our long-term strategy and not to lose any speed in scaling up our manufacturing to service the rapidly growing customer demand. Although our focus is on scaling up, we continue to invest strongly into R&D. We firmly believe that, to meet the Paris climate targets, additional fundamental innovation in energy storage is needed and this will be executed by deep tech companies. Taavi Madiberk, CEO and co-founder of Skeleton Technologies

The oversubscribed round included top European entrepreneurs who have built some of the most successful tech companies in Europe, coupled with industry specialists. The latest funding was led by Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus from Taavet+Sten, joined by a group that included members of the founding team of Adyen, the Dutch fintech company, Benqt Wahlqvist, co-founder of battery charging specialist CTEK, Nidoco AB and EIT InnoEnergy.

In September 2021, Skeleton added new graphene supercapacitors offering a 72% increase in energy density to its portfolio. As an example, the SCX5000 3.0V cell offers 16 Wh/l, a 72% increase in energy compared to the SkelCap SCA3200 cell with the same form factor.

The low resistance of the cell results in less voltage drop and power loss, leading to a more efficient system, outperforming competing supercapacitors. The price-performance ratio allows targeting applications covered by the high-power segment of the battery market, such as the cross-sectoral field of hybridization with lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells.

Skeleton Technologies Group has four main locations: its manufacturing in Grorohrsdorf, Saxony, sales in Berlin, materials development in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and electrical engineering in Tallinn, Estonia. From its foundation in 2009, the company has grown from 4 to more than 260 people.
GREENWICH  A sailing program could be headed back to Greenwich Point this summer, but it would need public support to continue.

The newly formed Greenwich Sailing School Inc. won the bid to provide sailing services to residents. It plans to do business as the Tods Point Sailing School and operate out of the Chimes Building at Greenwich Point.

Bill King, a nearly 40-year Greenwich resident and one of the leaders of the new program, said it was important to keep sailing at Greenwich Point after the sudden end of Greenwich Community Sailing last year.

The program has been a mainstay of the available summer programs for Greenwich juniors and adults, King said. On average, 800 residents participate in the instructional program each year. Many more take advantage of kayak and small sailboat rentals. The program also employs 25 to 30 Greenwich high school and returning college students each season.

Its not just important to us, it is important to the community, he said.

Blaize Levitan, the towns assistant director of Parks and Recreation, said the five-year contract was not yet finalized with Greenwich Sailing School Inc. so could not comment. Levitan said the town would make a formal announcement once a partnership was official.

The selected program would satisfy the towns stated goals and was evaluated by a team that included town staff and representatives from the Board of Parks and Recreation and the Old Greenwich Yacht Club, Levitan said.

King said the startup budget is $75,000  and he said he hoped the public would be willing to help pay part of it. There are some funding commitments in place, but there is still ... a way to go.

There are startup costs associated with a program of this type and size and much of that cost is on the front end, King said. Donations and spreading the word are a great way to help at the moment.

Among the costs are website development, insurance, deposits for the purchase and delivery of safety boats, safety equipment and  most critically  a fleet of boats, he said.

This is not Kings first time organizing a sailing club. In 1998, he was among those  along with the Town of Greenwich and the Old Greenwich Yacht Club  who formed the original Greenwich Community Sailing program.

In 1999, Greenwich Community Sailing earned national recognition from U.S. Sailing as Best New Community Sailing program, he said. When we learned that the current operators of the program did not plan to return for the 2022 season, we wanted to make sure this tremendous program continued to serve the Greenwich Community.

King said the newly formed company is applying for nonprofit status and plans to go live with a website soon. Once it is up, residents can get details of the program and register for courses.

Currently, interested residents can email GreenwichSailingSchool@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list, get information about how to donate, send in questions and find out about summer jobs.

First Selectman Fred Camillo celebrated the proposed partnership in his weekly email blast, calling it an important community service.

Greenwich Sailing School Inc. was selected through the towns bidding process, which is run through the Purchasing Department.

A community sailing program has been an important service based at Greenwich Point Park for over two decades, the town said in its bid proposal request. The school should provide instructional opportunities from beginner to advanced levels and should have programs targeted for both young and adults.

For the past 24 years, Greenwich Community Sailing had operated out of the Chimes Building. But last November, the town and GCS could not come to an agreement on a new lease. The Chimes Building is scheduled to undergo renovation and restoration with construction slated to begin this fall.

GCS general manager Jane Pimentel said she was unable to keep operating because of the uncertainty over the lease agreement.

Our relationship with the town has reached a point where we are no longer able to run a sustainable business, Pimentel wrote on the programs website in November. GCSs main priority has always been providing accessible boating experiences to our community and we would have kept the doors open if it was at all feasible.

The town said it was taken by surprise by Pimentels decision. The Parks and Recreation Department vowed to have a sailing program this summer. Bids were accepted through December, with Kings bid accepted.

It is the full intent of the town and our partner to have a sailing school this summer at Greenwich Point, Levitan said. To make this happen, we expedited the RFP process, including fast-tracking document development and interview scheduling. We have an active partnership and are in constant communication so the program doesnt miss a summer. The first selectman also issued a call to action on how the community can help get the program up and running.

Levitan said they would keep the program running even as the work on the Chimes Building begins later this year.

The town has made a clear commitment to find a temporary location for the sailing program to operate while the Chimes Building is closed, which is estimated to impact one full season, Levitan said. Through our active partnership, this is something that will work well for all parties involved.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
Flashback: the Moto G was one of the best $200 smartphones you could buy in 2013

The sub-$200 smartphone market in 2013 was pretty barren, buyers on a budget had only a few good options to choose from. Thankfully, good is underselling them  there were some excellent cheap phones from that period.



Motorola Moto G

The Motorola Moto G comes to mind. It launched at $180 and reviewers and users alike sang its praises. It made for a good second in command to the highly customizable Moto X and we still remember it fondly today. But how much of that was true excellence and how much is it rose-tinted glasses?



Moto G next to its flagship sibling, the Moto X

We need some historical context to answer that question. The Nokia Lumia 520 may have outperformed any equally-priced Android, though there were few $100 Androids to begin with (and pretty soon the Lumia fell to $50 or so off contract). At the same time the likes of Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 were a whopping $300.

So, the Moto G sits right in the middle of them price-wise  especially if you opt for the $200 version with 16GB of storage instead of the usual 8 GB (which was recommended, more on that in a bit). Lets compare the phones to see what each had to offer.



Motorola Moto G  Nokia Lumia 520  Samsung Galaxy Ace 3

The Motorola impressed with its 4.5 IPS LCD with 720p resolution. 2012 flagships had 720p displays, so such a resolution was out of reach for most 2013 mid-rangers. Not only was the Moto display sharper, it was larger too (4.5 vs. 4.0 for the other two) and had Gorilla Glass 3 protection (as did the expensive Galaxy S4, for example).

The 4.5" IPS LCD with 720p resolution was a marvel for its day and price

The phone ran Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and was supported up to 5.1 Lollipop. This was two years after Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. Fans were optimistic that with hardware and software finally under the same roof, Android could rival the iPhone. That optimism was cut short a year later when Google sold Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for $3 billion.

Back to the Moto G. It was no iPhone killer, but it was at a price point that was hard to hit even on the second hand market if you wanted an iPhone. Motorola had to cut some corners to get there, though.

For starters, the G used the decently powerful Snapdragon 400 chipset with four Cortex-A7 cores (1.2 GHz) and an Adreno 305. This chip was also used in some variations of the pricier Galaxy Ace 3. However, the Moto lacked 4G LTE connectivity and (unlike today) sticking with the older networks was more of a pain with slower speeds and higher latency.

Connectivity wasnt the only issue either. The base 8GB model reserved quite a big chunk of memory for the system and Motorola skimped on a microSD slot. This meant that the $20 upgrade to 16GB storage was highly recommended.

Back then Google was giving Moto G buyers 50GB of Google Drive storage (on top of the usual 15GB) for free, so the microSD situation was a less than subtle nudge to use its cloud storage.



The removable cover only gave you access to the SIM slot - no microSD slot, no removable battery

The camera wasnt great either  the 5MP module with autofocus, LED flash and 720p video recording did quite well, actually, and was comparable to what the Lumia 520 and Galaxy Ace 3 had to offer (not high praise, in case you were wondering). But it certainly didnt punch above its weight like the screen.



Moto G camera samples: 5 MP sensor, f/2.4 aperture, autofocus



Moto G camera samples with HDR enabled

Measuring 11.6 mm thick and weighing 143g, the Moto G wasnt exactly petite, but it had a clean, minimalist design and Motorola had some fun with it. A Moto Maker customization service like the one for the Moto X would have been too expensive to run for such a cheap phone, but the design was customizable.

The back cover could pop off easily and there were plenty of cheap, colorful covers to choose from. You could order one online for 10 and have a new panel to freshen up your phone  its wasnt just the new color, any old scratches would be a thing of the past too.

Okay, this wasnt a cover, really, it was a panel  removing it did not give you access to the 2,070 mAh battery. As for the battery itself, it wasnt small though it might seem that way given the thickness. The efficient hardware was the more important factor and the phone offered solid battery life.

As part of the cost-cutting measures, the Moto G shipped in the tiniest box we have ever seen. It contained only the phone and a USB cable  you might say that Motorola was ahead of the curve.

A minimalist retail package - just the phone and a USB cable

Its interesting to compare the Moto G with the Nexus 4, a value for money champ the likes of which are rarely seen. It launched in 2012 for $300 and had fallen to $200 by 2013, this is for an 8 GB phone. It had a larger 4.7 display that edged out the Moto with 768 x 1,280 px resolution.

The Nexus also lacked LTE, but it did have a beefier Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset that had double the RAM (2 GB) and could record 1080p video (with its 8 MP camera). And dont forget that the Nexus 4 was the first Android to offer Qi wireless charging.

The falling price of the already affordable Nexus 4 made it an appealing alternative

This comparison flatters both the Moto G and the Nexus 4. The Nexus was the better phone, while the Motorola stood up to what was essentially a year old flagship. Both had their peculiarities that could make you pick one over the other. And both were some of the best smartphones that $200 could buy in 2013.

The Moto G series continued with several well-liked launches, though after the sale to Lenovo dreams of vertical integration were dead. There was a lull in the intervening years, but now the G-series is staging a comeback with powerful and reasonably priced devices like the Moto G200.
As New York City reels from a series of shocking crimes, Mayor Adams says he may hire more NYPD officers.

If we need to hire more, darn it, were going to hire more, and nothing is going to get in the way of that, he told WABC in an interview that aired Sunday.

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The mayor said before taking that step, hell analyze how we are deploying what we have and assign cops sitting behind the desk to patrol duty.

Since Adams took office at the start of the month, the city has seen five police officers shot  two of them fatally  and horrifying acts of violence like the Jan. 15 killing of Michelle Go, who was pushed to her death at the Times Square subway station.

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President Biden is set to visit Manhattan on Thursday to discuss gun-violence policy with Adams.

He gets it, the mayor said of the president. I believe with his help, were going to stop the flow of guns.

Mayor Adams said the city will hire more cops if it has to. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Last week, Adams unveiled his strategy to end gun violence. Measures include bringing back a controversial plainclothes unit of the NYPD, a step he promised on the campaign trail last year.

He also said state lawmakers should scale back reforms removing bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. Democrats in Albany have rejected the call.

Adams is also voicing criticism of the states raise the age law that bars 16- and 17-year-olds from being charged as adults. Hes argued the legislation allows gangs to effectively pin crimes on minors.

Dangerous adults are exploiting children, having kids carry guns, he said. The goal is to stop the flow of guns and stop the flow of people who carry guns. Weve made it too easy and too comfortable for guns to be carried in the city and be used in the city.

Thursdays meeting will focus on the Biden administrations comprehensive strategy to combat gun crime, according to the White House.

Last week, Gov. Hochul hosted an interstate task force on illegal guns. It involves the New York State Police, the NYPD, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and agencies from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New Hampshire.

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The ATF, which tracks guns and shares data, among other activity, must be fully funded, says Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

New York, New Jersey cant do anything about [guns in] South Carolina, but the federal government can, the ATF can, he told the Daily News.

With budget negotiations coming up in Washington, he called for Congress to meet the ATFs request of $1.5 billion in funding. After years of small budget increases under President Donald Trump, Democrats oversaw a $150 million boost in the bureaus funding last year. A $1.5 billion budget would mark a roughly 1% increase over the ATF budget for 2021.

New York leaders recent focus on strengthening law enforcement comes after allegations of police brutality dominated the headlines following the 2020 death of Black Minnesota man George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.

A police-reform bill named after Floyd has stagnated in Congress. But Schumer insisted its not dead yet. Were fighting to get the justice-in-policing bill done, he said.
Mental health support for island teens will be getting a boost with the launch of free online sessions that will start in February.

The topics for the sessions will be based on the responses from 2,267 students who responded to a survey conducted by the Island-wide Board Of Governing Students.

Many people have never had any guidance with how to handle their mental health, so (Im) happy that there is finally a program that is willing to help and teach people that, said Maria Charlize Fontanos, a senior at Simon Sanchez High School.

The program is being hailed by Lead District School Psychologist Nadine Cepeda, who will be leading the sessions. She will be assisted by her team and a few moderators.

Students matter, and your mental health matters, said Cepeda, who said she had been working for years to launch a program of this kind. Participating in these events will provide the support students need to be healthy and focus on learning with a positive school climate and culture.

How it started

As board vice chair, I had been working with board member Isabella Paco to push the Guam Department of Education to address students mental health.

I was chosen to lead this project, with Paco as my vice chair, because I am also part of the Governors Youth Advisory Councils Youth Mental Health Committee.

We want to educate the youth on how to take care of themselves and to let them know that its okay to feel the way they do. We also want to give them resources that can encourage them to ask for and receive the help that they need.

Since something like this has never been offered by Guam DOE, Cepeda feels some students may be reluctant to participate. Nonetheless, she encourages all students to take part in this opportunity.

Taking these trainings might not change your life to be the best and happiest all the time, but it will help you change your life so you could help yourself in the moments of sadness.

Student anticipation

John Paul Pineda, a 17-year-old George Washington High School student, would like the upcoming sessions to address depression, anxiety and stress.

This mental health training can help spread the word and importance of mental health within my age group, he said.

A graduating senior, Fontanos at Simon Sanchez believes that this training will benefit her fellow classmates.

Everyone is focused on college applications, transitioning to adult life, and work, she said.

This mental health training will have a positive and huge impact on my age group because it will help us learn how to handle the stress and the bottled-up emotions that we are feeling.

Fontanos believes the lack of mental health resources has pushed students to use contraband such as vape.

They say the reason they do it is to cope with their emotions. I think the public should stop turning a blind eye to the growing percentage of youth with major mental health problems.

The public needs to see that the youth having severe mental health problems is a real thing, and they should educate the youth on how to properly deal with it instead of criticizing them.
A North Korea missile launch Sunday morning posed no danger to Guam or the Northern Marianas, according to a statement from Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defense.

The launch, which involved firing at least one suspected ballistic missile into the sea, was the seventh conducted by North Korea in January, the Associated Press reported.

With the open lines of communication between (Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defense) and our military and federal partners, the agency was able to receive notice that there was no immediate threat assessed from the launch out of North Korea, Homeland Security Advisor Samantha Brennan said in a news release.

Japans Defense Ministry and Prime Ministers office said the weapon was possibly a ballistic missile but didnt immediately provide further details.

'Ware deterrent'

The launch came three days after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday. The North also flight-tested a pair of purported long-range cruise missiles on Tuesday while vowing to strengthen its nuclear war deterrent and build more powerful weapons, the Associated Press reported.

North Korea has been ramping up its testing activity in recent months, including seven rounds of weapons launches so far in 2022, demonstrating its military might amid pandemic-related difficulties and a prolonged freeze in nuclear diplomacy with the United States.

Halt

Experts say the North could halt its testing spree after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics next week out of respect for China, its major ally and economic lifeline. But theres also an expectation that the North could significantly up the ante in weapons demonstrations once the Olympics end in February to grab the attention of the Biden administration.
More than 20 people have shown interest in bringing awareness to climate change with the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance and the University of Guams Guam Green Growth.

The organizations collaborated on this digital storytelling project, Kulo: Navigating the Narrative to raise awareness on the climate crisis and innovate indigenous storytelling for the modern era.

Micronesia Climate Change Alliance Executive Director Michelle Voacolo said shes grateful for the response, but selections need to be made before the project begins.

We want to take on all 21, but we only have the funding to support 15, Voacolo said.

Due of the great application turnout, Voacolo said that the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance is working to bring the project back and prioritize those who were cut into the next batch.

I cant tell you when the next project would be, but I know that were looking into a couple of different funding sources now, she said. During the time that project (Kulo) is going on, were going to be actively looking for funding sources to see what we can land, but hopefully  not promising anything  after this project is done, we can take a month or two off, regroup and then launch it again. But it all just depends on funding.

Process

The project will take place over a five-month period, January to June, and will address intersectional climate justice issues through the islands youth narrative. Issues covered would be food insecurity, gender identity, colonization, poverty and militarism.

The orientation, according to Voacolo, includes the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance grounding the participants in the climate crisis and the climate justice movement. They will be educated on sustainable development goals of the Guam Green Growth Initiative, which is to cultivate an ecosystem for transformative action to achieve a more sustainable, prosperous, and equitable future for Guam.

Those selected will also participate in workshops covering elements of photography, graphic design, journalism and social media strategy.

They will work with seasoned videographers, photographers, graphic design artists and journalists, as well as have access to audio/visual applications worth over $500. They will also engage in a wellness program developed by Ina Wellness Collective.

Participants will have the opportunity to showcase their work in a public event and on digital platforms and will have a $600 stipend in addition to other rewards upon completion of the program.

Overall

Voacolo hopes that the work that comes out of this project will meet the organizations goal to bringing awareness to environmental and social issues not only happening on Guam but globally.

A lot of people in developed countries like Europe and Canada, and even the mainland, are being affected by climate change. But Guam and other Micronesian islands are on the front line of the climate crisis and really not recognized or heard by the United States. Voacolo said. I think collectively, arming this group of young storytellers with the tools and skills they need to make their work more visible, will hopefully get more people to recognize the urgency of the climate crisis and really bring our region to light.

Project Kulo is supported in part by funding from Humanities Guahan, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Manuel Taitano Garrido said his mother died during the Japanese occupation of Guam during World War II, but his claim for war reparations under a federal program enacted in 2016 was denied.

Manuel Garrido said the Department of Justice told him he doesnt have any proof his mother, Maria Taitano Garrido, died during the war.

They want a death certificate, he said, but the Guam Office of Vital Statistics didnt have one on file. I wish that the Department of Justice believed me on that. Im not trying to cheat them. Im just telling the truth.

Born in 1937, Manuel Garrido said he has little memory of his mother. Hes not sure when she died, but is certain it was between 1940 and 1943.

All I have is a pictures of her. I think she passed away when I was 3, he said.

He doesnt recall his family talking about it.

If they did, I dont remember, he said.

Census

On the Asan Bay Overlook Memorial Wall, shes listed as neither survivor nor deceased. Census documents from 1940 show a Maria Taitano Garrido living in Anigua along with her husband, Jesus Torres Garrido, father to Manuel Garrido and his siblings.

Manuel Garrido, 84, lives in Lincoln, California. He hasnt returned to the island since he left in 1946. His father remarried after the U.S. retook the island from the Japanese. Maria Torres Garrido, his fathers sister, brought Manuel Garrido and his sister, Pilar, to live in Southern California, while their brother, Joe, remained on Guam.

She took care of me and my sister and my brother. But we had to go march to that camp, which was surrounded by Japanese soldiers. That I remember, Manuel Garrido said.

His memories of where he marched as a young boy were vague, past attending school at a prison camp with his siblings.

He received war reparations for himself under the federal program.

I already got my reparation for being a prisoner. Now its just on my mothers side, he said.

Under the federal war claims program, a sum of $25,000 is to be awarded to the descendants of anyone who died because of the Japanese occupation or the retaking of the island. Manuel Garrido believes hes still entitled to that sum, and wants it for himself and his sister, who is two years younger than him and lives in Washington.

Im going to be 85-years-old in July. Im not going to have time to enjoy it, he said.

Appeal

Manuel Garrido attempted to appeal the denial of his claim, but recently received a letter stating that he had just 21 days left to submit any supporting documents. When he spoke to the PDN on Jan. 28, Guam time, he said he had just 10 days left.

But I have no proof anyway. Thats the only thing, I dont have proof, he said.

Manuel Garrido wasnt aware of the push for a local war claims program that began last year.

I would be very happy, he said when asked whether he would be satisfied with a claim from the local program.

But its unclear if Manuel Garrido can seek a claim for his mothers death under the local program without a death certificate.

The program states the committee responsible for adjudicating claims shall treat a claim that is accompanied by an affidavit  as establishing a prima facie case of the eligibility of the individual for such payment without the need for further documentation, except as the adjudication committee may otherwise require.

The bill also states anyone who filed or received payment under the federal claims program isnt eligible to receive payment under the local program.

When asked whether Manuel Garrido might still be able to qualify, Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governors spokesperson, said, Applicants should submit the documents identified as requirements. The ultimate decision lies with adjudication committee.

As of Jan. 28, the Guam Department of Administration was on standby to set a meeting date for the local war claims adjudication committee before publishing a notice that filing was open.

The Office of Vital Statistics said on Jan. 28 that a search for the death certificate of Maria Taitano Garrido would take until at least until early next week.
Guam residents in support of self-determination march toward the District Court of Guam building on Marine Corps Drive in Hagatna Sept. 2, 2019.
Our View: Job fairs show that Guam economy is on road to recovery
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Lawrenceville Police Chief Tim Wallis suspended in wake of sexual harassment investigation into police department

Entire city police department must undergo training

Tim Wallis Special Photo Lawrenceville leaders announced Police Chief Tim Wallis has been suspended for 10 days without pay, an assistant chief must undergo documented verbal counseling and a captain has resigned in the wake of an investigation into sexual harassment, hostile work environment and improper use of city property complaints within the Lawrenceville Police Department.

Lawrenceville Police Chief Tim Wallis has been suspended for more than a week, an assistant chief must receive counseling and a captain in the department has left the department in the wake of a sexual harassment and hostile work environment investigation conducted by city leaders.

The city announced the results of the investigation on Thursday. The report details several incidents involving various members of the department, such as an allegation that Wallis told a female captain that she looked like a Hooters girl when the air conditioners not working among other allegations.

I was disturbed by the findings of the investigation and issued penalties to the appropriate employees, including a requirement for individual training, Lawrenceville City Manager Chuck Warbington said. The City of Lawrenceville prides itself as an inclusive and safe work place for all employees. The workplace culture revealed through this investigation did not meet the standards of excellence expected of all departments in the City. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

City officials said Lawrencevilles administration received a complaint about internal sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and improper use of city property complaints within the police department in October 2021.

An outside investigator was brought in to look at the matter and that investigator presented final findings to the city attorney and actions against police department officials were finalized on Jan. 21.

Wallis, who has been out of the office on medical leave since mid-December, is suspended without pay for 10 days. Meanwhile, the assistant chief, Maj. Myron Walker, has to receive documented verbal counseling.

A captain has also left the department  without solicitation by the city  after refusing to be interviewed by the investigator brought in to look at the sexual harassment allegations. In addition to leaving the department, the captain also retired from POST, according to the city.

In addition to those actions, all police department employees must take part in mandatory in-person training. All other city staff will have to participate in the training as well.

Allegations of sexual harassment

The early part of the 33-page report, which was released by the city Thursday afternoon, highlights ongoing issues between Capt. Ryan Morgan and a female captain.

Among them was an incident where the female captain said she did not want to get her job because of her gender. Morgan allegedly responded, if your vagina gets you the job then use it, I would.

Morgan allegedly also said say my name to her in a text message and asked if she shaved, which the female captain interpreted as him asking her if she shaved her genitals. He also allegedly commented on a photo of her by saying it would look better if she was naked in it.

He was accused of asking her to send him pictures of her breasts as well.

Morgan, who retired at the end of December, was also accused of calling the female captain a hooker in a text message on at least one occasion.

The investigator determined Morgan had violated the Lawrencevilles sexual harassment policy. The investigator also determined Wallis had violated the same policy by telling the same female captain that she looked like a Hooters girl.

The investigator also raised concerns about the culture within the Lawrenceville Police Department. The report indicates that, while it predated Wallis appointment as police chief and he has taken steps to change it, a culture described as a good ol boy network and a grab ass culture still lingers in the department.

A captain allegedly used a training trailer as a place to sleep

The report also contains allegations that Morgan had been using a FEMA trailer, which the police department uses for training purposes, as a place to naps in the afternoon before heading to a second job.

There is one alleged incident outlined in the report in which he was accused of coming out of the trailer wrapped in a blanket and told other people to be quiet because he was taking a nap.

The report notes that employees in the police department believe Morgan is being protected in some way. The investigator indicated they believed this was true, and cited the fact that Wallis and Walker accepted Morgans denial that it occurred without further investigating the allegation.

As the chief described during his interview, the location where the trailer is located is under video surveillance and requires a prox card to enter after hours, yet no steps were taken to secure or review the surveillance videos, review the prox card entries, or speak with any potential witnesses, the report states.

Even more troubling is that the chief, who admitted he knew Morgan was sleeping in the trailer between his part-time job and work, warned him that theres stuff coming up about this camper (and) you need to distance yourself from it when he suspected it was becoming an issue.

Specifically, Wallis allegedly told Morgan that he had to stay away from that camper, give up your key, take everything you got out of it, do not to (sic) be associated with that camper anymore, after Warbington told the chief the trailer was going to be part of the investigation into the police department.

The investigator did decide that the specifics about the incident, such as Morgan being wrapped in a blanket and the exact language he was accused of using, were unsubstantiated. The investigator did raise concerns that Morgan may have actually been using the trailer as a place to sleep, however.

Hostile work environment allegations and charges of the chiefs wife being too involved

There are also allegations that Wallis wife was getting too involved in the department, and that it may have been driving a wedge between the chief and some of his employees.

The report says Walker and his wife used to hang out with Wallis and his wife outside of work, for example. A dispute over Walkers wife being involved in a department-wide survey, however, allegedly drove a wedge between the couples.

It seems (Wallis wife) has inserted herself in relationships with the chiefs staff and/or their spouses, none of which have ended well, the report states.

Police chiefs relationship with command staff questioned

The report also takes aim at how engaged Wallis is with the department, and with his command staff in particular.

There seems to be a sense that Chief Wallis is not present and does not communicate effectively with his staff, the report states. It was reported that he held his first command staff meeting in a long time shortly after this investigation began.

The Chief confirmed that he does not have the same connection with others in the LPD as he did when he was a captain, and he has a different role than the prior chief, including being a part of the city managers executive leadership team.

Wallis directed questions to Warbington, but the city said it would not comment further on the matter, beyond what it said in its statement on Thursday.

Wallis did submit a 13-page letter to the city in which he disputed the assertion that he acted improperly and said his wife has kept her distance from the department since 2019, however.

As the Chief of the Lawrenceville Police Department, I know the buck stops with me, Wallis said in the letter. But false allegations, unsubstantiated allegations, wltnesses(s) that were unable give their account, and exculpatory evidence that would support my position have all been left out of the (investigators) report.

Further changes being made by the city

In addition to Wallis suspension, the assistant chief having to get counseling and the mandatory training for police department employees, officials said a clear city-wide communication process will be put in place to outline how confidential employee complaints will be submitted.

Lawrenceville officials said there will also be a city-wide emphasis put on redirecting staff to the citys personnel policy that addresses work place behavior and what is expected of employees.
A New Zealand journalist desperate to get home said that when her home country rejected her attempts, the Taliban offered her safe haven in Afghanistan.

Charlotte Bellis has been on an international odyssey since she learned she was pregnant in September 2021.

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When the Taliban offers you  a pregnant, unmarried woman  safe haven, you know your situation is messed up, she wrote Saturday in a column for the New Zealand Herald.

New Zealand has tightly controlled its borders since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, and even Kiwi citizens can only return home through a tightly regulated and near-impossible to win lottery system.

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Charlotte Bellis has been on an international odyssey since she learned she was pregnant in September 2021. (Luiz ribeiro/Charlotte Bellis Handout)

Bellis worked in Qatar as a journalist and even questioned the Taliban at their inaugural press conference after they swept through Kabul. But its illegal to be pregnant and unmarried in Qatar, so her life changed quite a bit in September.

For years I had been told by doctors I would never have children, Bellis wrote. I threw myself into my career and made my peace with it. Now, during the fall of Kabul, a miracle.

Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. >

She temporarily moved to Belgium with her boyfriend, New York Times photographer Jim Huylebroek, but couldnt stay for more than a few months. That left two legal options: New Zealand or Afghanistan, where they both have visas.

So Bellis called some old Taliban contacts.

I am pregnant and I cant get back into New Zealand. If I come to Kabul, will we have a problem? she asked.

No were happy for you, you can come and you wont have a problem, the Taliban leaders answered, according to Bellis column. Just tell people youre married and if it escalates, call us. Dont worry. Everything will be fine.

Because giving birth in Afghanistan is very dangerous  maternity care is so bad that the United Nations predicts 70,000 expectant mothers will die in the next four years  Bellis continued trying to return home to New Zealand. But she kept hitting roadblocks in the lottery system.

Eventually, she saw progress in the case after contacting a lawyer, but she still hasnt been approved to come home. Shes due to give birth in May.

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The decision of who should get an emergencyspot is not made on a level playing field, lacks ethical reasoning and pits our most vulnerable against each other, Bellis wrote. As a journalist I have asked people in much more vulnerable positions to tell their story because  maybe  it will make a difference. Now it is my turn.




Haiti - Politic : Famni Lavalas withdraws from the National Transition Committee of the Montana agreement





The Famni Lavalas Executive Committee, in a letter dated January 28, 2022, addressed to the Montana Agreement Monitoring Office (BSA), bearing the signatures of Maryse Narcisse, Joel Edouard Vorbe, Jean Myrto Julien and Anthony Dessources, announces the withdrawal of its two members from the National Transition Committee (CNT) (Joel-Edouard Vorbe and Jodson Dirogene) because of its disagreement on the choice of political party leaders to lead the transition. Reducing to 42 the number of members voting out of 44 for the election of the President and his Prime Minister scheduled for this Sunday, January 30, 2022.



Letter from Famni Lavalas :



"[...] The political organization Fanmi Lavalas salutes the members of the Montana Accord Monitoring Office and takes this opportunity to remind them of the concerns raised by the organization in its letter dated December 6 2021 remained unanswered, concerns which were again the subject of a clarification meeting with the BSA on January 23, 2022.



At this meeting we reiterated the position of Fanmi Lavalas for "a transition of rupture with a government of public safety composed of honest, competent and non-partisan personalities, coming from different sectors of the country and the diaspora, which will work for the welfare of the people".



We also expressed our disagreements on "the choice of leaders of political parties to lead the transition and, in particular, to organize the elections in which their own political structures will participate, thus creating a situation of conflict of interest, the goal being an impartially and non-partisan led transition."



We note that despite everything, the National Transitional Council is continuing with the election schedule without waiting to reach a broader and more solid consensus of civil society to engage in the transition of rupture to which Fanmi Lavalas adhered by signing the Agreement of August 30, even if that would imply the revision of the procedure. Nothing is more important than ensuring compliance with the August 30 Accord for the success of the disruptive transition.



Under these conditions, Fanmi Lavalas, in order to remain consistent with its line in accordance with the desiderata of the population, is obliged to withdraw its members Joel-Edouard Vorbe and Jodson Dirogene from the National Transitional Council upon receipt of this [...] while hoping to be able to harmonize the differences in the search for a consensus."



Download the names of CNT members : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/Conseil-National-de-Transition.pdf



Download the text of the agreement of August 30, 2021 : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/accord-30-08-2021.pdf



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Monatna Agreement : Elections Today

This Sunday, January 30, 2022 the 42 voters out of 44 [Famni Lavalas retired https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35838-haiti-politic-famni-lavalas-withdraws-from-the-national-transition-committee-of-the-montana-agreement.html ] of the Montana Accord will vote to elect a President from among two candidates : economist Fritz Alphonse Jean and former senator Edgar Leblanc Fils; and a Prime Minister among four candidates: Iswick Theophin, Philippe Jean Henold Buteau, Bonivert Claude and Steven Irvenson Benoit. For many observers, this demagogic election is only a charade.



Acute food insecurity will worsen between February and May

the World Food Program (WFP), in a report published on January 28, 2022, reveals that Colombia including the strong migration from neighboring Venezuela, Haiti and Honduras are the three countries of America region where the acute food insecurity situation will worsen between February and May 2022.



Last book by Dany Laferriere

Dany Laferriere's latest book "Is this grenade in the hand of the young Negro a weapon or a fruit ?" will be released on February 3 by Editions Zulma.



Haiti under the magnifying glass of the HRC

As part of the 40th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), which is being held from January 24 to February 3, the human rights situation in Haiti, one of the 12 States to be examined by the UPR mechanism, will be examined for the third time, Monday, January 31, 2022 from 2:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Geneva time) during a meeting which will be broadcast live via webcast on https://webtv.un.org/ . To find out more about the UPR visit: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx



February 7 without importance for France

France expresses its concerns about the crisis in Haiti, however, it does not attach any particular importance to the date of February 7, 2022, underlined the French Ambassador, Fabrice Mauries, who called on all stakeholders to work for an agreement. inclusive.



Internship in France for 40 students:

Fabrice Mauries, Ambassador of France to Haiti, participated in a meeting with 40 students from Quisqueya University (UniQ) who are leaving for a 4-week internship at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis. The Embassy is delighted with the partnership between the two universities and salutes their valuable contributions in strengthening Franco-Haitian university collaboration.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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MERRILLVILLE  If Hoosier Democrats succeed this year in making the party more relevant in national, state and local politics, history books will note the spark that led to an explosion of popular support, and perhaps election victories, was struck in Northwest Indiana.

State and local Democratic Party leaders, including U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, are hosting the first in a statewide series of voter outreach initiatives at 11 a.m. Monday in the Carpenters Union Local 1005 building, 7100 Mississippi St., Merrillville.

The free event is open to the public and designed to show Northwest Indiana voters that Democrats are, in the words of Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl, "a party that's on offense, a party that will consistently talk with folks about the issues that matter to them, and how the Democratic Party is delivering for them."

"There's so much distortion and disinformation," Schmuhl said. "We want to go directly to folks, in communities across the state, and talk about the economy, talk about how Democrats are delivering job opportunities for people, and talk about the record at the national level and here in Indiana."

Schmuhl said voters have a lot of reasons to trust Democrats. He said the American Rescue Plan and the American Jobs Act, both enacted by a Democratic-controlled Congress and Democratic President Joe Biden, have produced the fastest job growth in history, higher wages for Hoosiers, and overdue investment in essential infrastructure and other needs.

"I think it's important to see that over the last year tremendous progress has been made, and we're resetting our economy and investing in people and places so the next year can be even stronger than the last one," Schmuhl said.

He noted Indiana's 2.7% unemployment rate for December is effectively "full employment," and a sharp contrast to the nearly 17% of Hoosiers who were out of work just 20 months ago.

Moreover, Schmuhl said many of the recent "state" investments in quality of place programs, rural broadband expansion, water infrastructure improvements, and public health initiatives only were possible thanks to federal funding delivered by Mrvan and U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Indianapolis, and opposed by every Republican representing Indiana in Congress.

"They call this stuff socialism and government giveaways and runaway spending," Schmuhl said. "When they're in charge it's for corporations and for wealthy people. When we're in charge we invest in people and families and communities across the state."

Democrats also are hoping to attract additional backing from Hoosiers by touting their support for marijuana legalization, as both an economic development tool and an idea whose time has come.

"I really think that Indiana is losing out. I really think that Indiana is about to be an island in the Midwest when it comes to this issue," Schmuhl said.

He said if the Republican-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb only would follow the lead of Illinois and Michigan by permitting recreational marijuana use in Indiana, it would create jobs in a growing industry, give farmers a new cash crop, help veterans coping with post-traumatic stress disorder, reduce the demand for opioid drugs, and generate new tax revenue.

"It's a win-win for Hoosiers and it's hugely popular," Schmuhl said. "I'd like to see Indiana make progress on this issue and not be the caboose."
Texas workforce commissioner Bryan Daniel, left, spoke on video with Ingram Tom Moore High School Student Maggie Rector last week after presenting the school with a $188,147 grant to purchase equipment and tools for the high schools vocational welding program.
Get the guns, but dont ignore why people shoot

Long Island City: Re Hizzoner declares a war on gun violence (Jan. 25): The Fortune Society stands ready to collaborate with Mayor Adams on smart, effective and holistic ways to reduce gun violence. As a community-based organization that works closely with formerly incarcerated and justice-involved individuals, we bear witness every day to the damage that punitive approaches have on communities and mostly people of color. These punitive policing approaches are exacerbated by inhumane conditions on Rikers Island. Unstaffed posts create dangerous conditions where incarcerated people do what they must to survive instead of focusing on self-improvement  and they bring this trauma home into our communities.

Mayor Eric Adams delivers remarks on keeping New York City safe from gun violence at City Hall on Monday, January 24, 2022. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

As part of a comprehensive approach to addressing gun violence, we urge Mayor Adams to address unstaffed posts on Rikers and remember a key constituency of which Fortune is a part: nonprofit organizations that play a critical and irreplaceable role in providing services on Rikers Island, and in keeping our city safe, by reducing mass incarceration and supporting reentry and community reintegration. The Fortune Society and its sister provider agencies offer so many of the resources and services that the mayor cites as critical to preventing gun violence: behavioral health services, youth employment programs (many serve as sites for the Summer Youth Employment Program, hosting thousands of young people annually), and a range of comprehensive supports.

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Our work, and that of other nonprofits in this space, enhances individual and community stability and reduces the likelihood that people will resort to gun violence. We look forward to the opportunity to engage with the mayor on effective community-based prevention strategies. Stanley Richards, deputy CEO, the Fortune Society

Paying respects

Brooklyn: New York City has bled enough. New Yorkers, its time to do the right thing and support the great, selfless, courageous police officers. To Police Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora: Thank you for becoming police officers at a time when there is no love or support from NYC. Yet you chose to do it. Rest in peace. To the families: Our hearts are bleeding with you. Mariann Tepedino

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Use of force

Williamsburg, Va.: I am a 74-year-old former Marine who has seen life through many lenses while traveling the globe. When I was very young, a bully beat me up every time we met and I was terrified. Then one day, I had a choice to make: Either submit to another beating or stand up to that bully with overwhelming force. I chose the latter, removed my Hopalong Cassidy toy rifle out of my bicycle sling and, with all my might, slammed the rifles butt into that bullys head. The sight of so much blood terrified me so much that I left my bicycle and ran home to my mother. Safe to say that bully never threatened me again. The moral of this story is that sometimes you may need to draw a line in the stand and, if necessary, use overwhelming force. Failure to do so can exacerbate the problem. John Lemandri

Double up

Brooklyn: People do not obey laws unless there is a hefty penalty to pay. Double parking is illegal and the penalty is $115. My suggestion is to keep the penalty at $115 on the odd side of the avenue and raise the penalty to $500 on the even side of the avenue. This will ensure that people who have to double park will all park on the same side of the avenue and you will always have two moving lanes of traffic. If $500 doesnt work, raise it to $1,000. If it still doesnt work, the city will earn a lot of extra money in fines. Beryl Jachimowitz

Empathy achieved

Millburn, N.J.: My family was obsessed with watching Amy Schneiders incredible run on Jeopardy!: We gathered, we called my DoorDashing son home, we called out answers. Amys surge brought us great comfort during omicrons while normalizing being transgender to a broad primetime audience, including my son. While a lefty mom and middle-of-the-road son watched Jeopardy! together and discussed whether a wife would typically stay with a husband that changes genders, my son said, Why would anyone ever leave their transgender spouse? Its the same person. For the win: Who is the happiest mom in the world? I am. Wendy Missan

Off the wire

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

Kearny, N.J.: Havent heard much about comedian Larry the Cable Guy in a few years. I hear that he fell on some hard times  had to sell his car and home and move into a very small condo that has no cable! He is now going by the name Larry the Streaming Guy. Kevin Dale

Party PM

Edinburgh: Am I alone in not waiting for one of Boris Johnsons appointees to report on his latest crass, irresponsible, infantile behavior? The fact is that a prime minister who can be ambushed by cake is not fit to be in charge when Russian forces are massing on the Ukrainian border. Amanda Baker

Allies, anyone?

Manhattan: Re The tough truth about NYCs Medicare Advantage plan (op-ed, Jan. 26): I am a United Federation of Teachers retiree and we are fighting to get this unfair and harmful proposed switcheroo eliminated. Presumably, it applies to all municipal retirees, yet I never hear of the police, firefighters, sanitation, EMT or other affected groups saying or doing anything. Are they just going along quietly? It would be more effective if we banded together against this flawed and discriminatory change and stood up to the agencies that are deceiving us for financial gain. I have tried to reach anyone in the police or firefighter communities (I dont know anyone personally) who could address this or provide more information, without success. Are you privy to avenues that could reveal what they are doing? Beatrice Segev

Check was in the mail

Keyport, N.J.: I filed my 2020 tax return last February. I attached the check to the return (yes, I know they say not to). I received a letter stating they had a credit but no return was received. Again, the check was attached to it. I am not the only one  I know of three others who did the same thing. The IRS wants me to send another copy. Are they in cahoots with the postal service to get another $7.25? Yes, I know e-filing is better, but no return was filed? Unbelievable. Joe Napolitano

They paid a price

Brooklyn: In 2022, a totally disabled veteran with no dependents is compensated at the ridiculous rate of $39,984.72 annually. The National Average Wage Index (NAWI) for 2020 was $55,628.60 per annum and the median income for 2020 was $67,521. The per capita GDP in 2020 was $63,416, among the highest in the world. They are only compensated for projected lost wages and not including a loss-of-quality-of-life payment. That is an antiquated approach to injury compensation. Jack Stavros

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Minor transgression

Manhattan: To Voicer Earl Beal: I suppose you never muttered something under your breath while angry that you later regretted? You say November 2024 cant come fast enough. Why, so you can vote again for your hero, Trump, who spent four years brazenly trashing reporters at press conferences, rallies and other public outings? Who belittled them for asking serious questions about his putrid, dishonest way of managing COVID? Who called immigrants rapists and gang members? Who calls anyone who disagrees with him about anything losers? A man whose pathetic inability to accept his electoral loss has set in motion the passing of new laws and boorish, unlawful behaviors from sycophants and lawmakers that will end democracy as weve known it for more than 200 years? At least Biden personally called Mr. Doocy to apologize for his unfortunate comment  something your hero would never have the class or dignity to do. Michael Udolf

Sophomoric status

Staten Island: Republicans are beside themselves with anger because Biden made inappropriate remarks about a reporter. Democrats are apoplectic over the sheer hypocrisy of this. The fact is that neither side should be resorting to such infantile behavior. Stick to the issues and leave the playground language where it belongs. Its too bad that neither Republicans nor Democrats can find decent adults to run for office. Victor R. Stanwick
Cops are hurting, but being bullies wont help

Manhattan: As a former assistant commissioner with the NYPD, I always take an interest in local police matters. This is particularly true of the 32nd Precinct, where the two officers shot recently were assigned. Last weekend, I observed candlelight vigils, speeches and news crews interviewing distraught residents. It was heartening to see the outpouring of community support.

Unfortunately, based on my observations, the department almost immediately started to undermine the communitys goodwill. In front of the precinct on Sunday, I saw a well-built young white man in jeans and a sweatshirt walking towards me with a serious, if not angry, expression on his face. As he got closer, I noticed the handle of a gun protruding from his front-center waistline. He apparently got the attention of a Black woman who walked by him  he abruptly spun around and shouted, Excuse me! Can I help you?! He was clearly not asking out of care or concern, but with anger and contempt. I could not make out her response to him, but I could tell she was stuttering and obviously uncomfortable with the encounter. The man turned to continue walking towards the precinct entrance, exclaiming loudly, What the f--k are you looking at, then?! Jesus Christ!

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As a former member of the service, I was disgusted and angry. He would have to be a complete imbecile not to understand why the woman and I were looking at him funny. And why didnt he mouth off to me? I suspect because I am white. I wonder if he is a member of the just-reinstated, controversial Anti-Crime Unit. While the NYPD deserves the support of their community after such a devastating weekend of violence, the community deserves at least the same in return. Andrew D. Lewis

A memorial for NYPD officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera is pictured outside the 32nd Precinct station house on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Thin blue line

Forest Hills: In the wake of the murder of the two hero police officers shot down in cold blood, Id like to remind any anti-cop New Yorkers out there of a quote known by many of the NYPD: And maybe remind a few, if ill of us they speak, we are all that stands between the monsters and the weak. RIP Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora. Jan Culley

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Wisdom of experience

Las Vegas: All three of the young police officers who responded to the call for assistance from Lashawn McNeils mother were fairly new to the NYPD. Now that two of them have died in the line of duty, NYCs collective heart is broken and we are all very sad for their families. I dont know if this suggestion could have changed the tragic outcome but I believe a sergeant or other ranking, older police officer should always be assigned to domestic violence calls, which are some of the most dangerous that police officers get. I thought the NYPD already did this, but in this case, they did not. John Penley

Play your position

Manhattan: Voicer and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg attempted to answer Devorah Halberstams op-ed (How Alvin Bragg insults crime victims, Jan. 23). Braggs defense was a feckless attempt to justify his lame prosecutorial policy memo. I am an attorney and a former assistant district attorney in the Bronx. New York States sentencing laws, promulgated by the Legislature, address virtually every conceivable criminal scenario. Judges are given wide latitude to impose a sentence that is fair and just under the totality of circumstances. Specific mandatory sentences are more exception than rule. DAs are afforded latitude when recommending an appropriate sentence. It is naive and self-defeating for a DA to broadcast in advance a lenient sentencing policy that falls below the sentencing laws and guidelines already on the books. It is also antithetical to the DAs function: to enforce the laws as written. Bragg completely misses Halberstams point. Every crime committed against our citizenry is exceptional for the victim. Peter Janoff

Goes too far

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

East Setauket, L.I.: Re Alvin Bragg is not a radical; hes a responsive politician (op-ed, Jan. 28): I was willing to keep an open mind while reading this essay, but it kept drifting farther left with every paragraph, eventually becoming everything it said it wasnt with its chilling ending: We fight for a day when there are no more prisons. Human nature being what it is, how do these writers hope to accomplish this? Based on the policies of district attorneys in Manhattan, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the country knows the answer. To simply look the other way. J.B. McGeever

This is untenable

Maspeth: Talk is cheap as two police officers were shot and killed and another person was shoved off a subway platform. Mayor Adams says all the right things but nothing gets solved. This once great city is now known to people as unsafe and people are moving away in droves. We need to see results  and criminals locked up for more than a few hours after walking into a Walgreens, robbing it and then telling the employees he would kill them if they touched him. We need to be protected, not scared to go to work not knowing if we will return home to see our family because someone with a laundry list of crimes was let out because of very dangerous Democrat logic. Lance Lovejoy

Open invitation

Manhattan: The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine will resume its 10:30 a.m. in-person services on Feb. 6 after a short return to online services as a result of the omicron surge. Each week, sermons at the cathedral are heartfelt and thought-provoking, challenging the status quo. You may hear from spiritual leaders of varying communities, all promoting the power of love through action. From protests against apartheid to LGBTQ rights to Black Lives Matter marches, the cathedrals message of hope, love, justice and unity has been inspiring the UWS community and the world for decades. The cathedrals newly formed partnership with AME Zion Church acknowledges past and present institutional racism so that healing can continue. Its continual outreach to other spiritual communities promotes interfaith unity. If you are in need of hope and looking to engage with the community, all are welcome at St. John the Divine! Nancy Ellman

All-white is alright?

Jacksonville, Fla.: To Voicer Margaret Dabraccio of Bayside, my childhood home: I have to ask, is whitebread your favorite? Youre complaining that President Bidens commitment to select the first Black woman as a Supreme Court justice is a violation of Title VII of the Equal Employment Law! Really? Was it also a violation when your King T appointed three whiter-than-whitebread people to the Supreme Court? Did King T ever consider one Black or Latino person? Carl Hafner

No friends of mine

Sarasota, Fla.: Re Oath Keeper leader plotted elaborate series of escape tunnels in yard, kept unregistered cars in the woods: wife (Jan. 27): Major media, government bureaucrats and Democrat politicians would have you believe that these are the kinds of people Republicans and Trump supporters would be glad to follow and are such a threat to democracy. Please  youve got to be kidding me. This idiot and his followers are the type of people you dont even want to stand behind at the grocery store. Tom Lightcap

Literally

Bronx: In 2020, ruling in favor of Tucker Carlson in a slander case brought against him, U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Donald Trump appointee, assured the public that viewers of Carlsons Fox News show know that what Carlson states are not facts but exaggeration and non-literal commentary. If that were true, how does Judge Vyskocil explain the many phone calls that members of Congress, among them Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, have been getting every day from Carlsons audience insisting that they support Russia, not Ukraine, during the current fraught situation between those neighboring countries, thus parroting Carlsons position that we should be supporting Russia, not Ukraine? Miriam Levine Helbok

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Risible rally

Central Islip, L.I.: More than 200 people rallied outside of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakemans office in Mineola on Sunday to show support for his opposition to mask mandates. So here are 200 people that can be classified as morons! Thomas Sarc
Greenville, TX (75401)

Today

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Tonight

Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Cast members for Our Town Players childrens production, The Rise of Robin Hood, are shown prior to a dress rehearsal this past week in Listiak Auditorium. The play will open at 7:30 p.m., Friday, and will be shown again at 7:30 p.m., Saturday and 2:30 p.m., Sunday. The play will then be performed again, Feb. 10-12. Tickets are available at the door.
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The thing Mayor Adams seems to get, in his bones, is that theres simply no way to do the long-term work of reforming the justice system without also doing the short-term work of maintaining public safety.

There simply arent enough voters, even in liberal bastions, to maintain support for expensive efforts to address the root causes of poverty, criminality and mental illness if those efforts mean years of violent and disordered streets.

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Thats why the new mayor, whose watchword has been balance, has avoided playing into the idea of a clash between himself and the new Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who stepped into it with a day one memo instructing his staff to no longer prosecute an awful lot of crimes, including some gun crimes.

Mayor Eric Adams delivers remarks on keeping New York City safe from gun violence at City Hall on Monday, January 24, 2022. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Bragg, who was elected at the same time as Adams by an overlapping electorate, was actually one of the moderates in his race. Both men talked about the need to keep the public safe and reform the justice system at the same time, even if their thumbs were on opposing scales.

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But Bragg made a big rookie mistake by trying to in effect make law by diktat with his memo, rather than quietly building up buy-in while using the enormous discretion vested in prosecutors. (And he made a second big mistake by not publicly introducing the policies in his memo, and letting opponents of those reforms define them.)

Prosecutors discretion is even more significant given how the Legislature has taken some of it away from judges, through a bail reform bill originally passed in 2019 and righteously intended to ensure defendants arent locked up before theyve been convicted of anything simply because they cant afford their freedom  but that also means every time someone who could have been behind bars awaiting trial commits a serious crime, its a front-page story.

And there have been many more of those stories because violent crime is up sharply here, as it is nationally, compared to its 2019 levels. That may be largely a result of the pandemic, but saying so is cold comfort to victims and everyone who fears they may become one, and its been a political gift to the opponents of such reforms  who often seem to be getting unwitting assistance from the people who back them and stubbornly refuse to admit to any relationship between policing and punishment on one hand and crime on the other.

Its unfortunate that people have found that this is a very easy way to sort of demonize one side and not do much work, said state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, adding that giving judges discretion to consider a defendants dangerousness (which every other state does) when deciding on bail would hit Black and Brown and poor defendants hardest.

Its very easy for us to say, Claw back this, dont do that,  she said about the mayors call to change laws to keep more violent defendants locked up and to have more violent teens tried as adults (although in fact the Raise the Age law, which Adams supported as borough president, already allows for that.) But we cant incarcerate ourselves out of these problems.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

That position  also backed by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and, apparently, Gov. Hochul  leaves Adams, who cant write the laws and cant dictate what prosecutors do with their nearly unlimited discretion, with few immediate options except for trying to arrest his way out of these problems.

Thats the short-term solution the mayor has the power to implement himself and, as loath as reformers are to admit it, keeping violent crime down, not just using COVID to explain it away, is the only hope of maintaining support for the long-term solution of addressing its root causes.

Adams can and should jawbone, and try to squeeze some money for cops out of President Biden when they meet Thursday.

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But the tool the mayor controls is the NYPD and the tools the NYPD has, when it comes down to it, are stops and arrests. They can move from street stops to pretextual car stops or introduce a newly rebranded plainclothes gun unit, but theyre still going to be doing the same fundamental thing: trying to proactively keep the city safe by getting to guns before they get used, inevitably doing some damage of their own in the course of dozens of stops that wont yield a gun for every one that will.

With no sign that state or city lawmakers will do anything to help deal with violent crime right now, not to mention a looming Supreme Court decision that will likely undo New York Citys restrictive gun permitting system, its the old story where everyone agrees that the police cant solve all of societys problems, but theyre who gets the resources and the duty to try.

In denying judges discretion for fear of how they might misuse it, Albanys lawmakers are, in effect, giving that discretion to Eric Adams NYPD.

harrysiegel@gmail.com
The New York City mental health community is horrified by the tragic murder of Michelle Go. We abhor such violence, especially since people with mental illness are 11 times more likely than the general population to be the victims of violent crime.

In reaching for solutions, we must not make matters worse. Vilifying people with serious mental illnesses as violent individuals who should be swept off of the streets and forced to accept treatments that have failed them in the past will do more harm than good.

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Simon Martial, charged with murder, is escorted by detectives from the Midtown South Precinct, Saturday, Jan.15, 2022. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)

Flawed studies purport to show that Kendras Law, court-mandated outpatient commitment orders, is responsible for improvements in the lives of people living with serious mental illness. But they fail to make a scientific comparison between involuntary and alternative voluntary models. Further, as the primary author of one such study has noted, people who understand what outpatient commitment is would never say this is a violence prevention strategy.

It is particularly outrageous how Kendras Law has been levied against people of color  a reactive approach in lieu of more engaging preventative and culturally competent care. Since the programs start in 1999, 77% of Kendras Law-authorized court orders have involved Black and Hispanic people in New York City, further criminalizing mental illness and disincentivizing people from seeking out community-based supports that could have made a difference before a crisis ever occurs.

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We should adamantly reject forced treatment and involuntary confinement in favor of proven strategies of outreach and engagement that promote long-term recovery and respect peoples rights and dignity.

A number of real answers can be found in the smart and strong initiatives that Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul are swiftly rolling out over the next few months. These initiatives include:

a team of 20 clinicians and case managers that will provide immediate and expanded assistance to connect New Yorkers experiencing homelessness to critical services;

the establishment of 20 Safe Options Support teams to engage and speed referrals to area treatment and support services, as developed in collaboration with city government;

a replacement of 911 with a new 988 specialized mental health emergency hotline that will be able to refer people to follow-up mental health and addiction recovery services, including new peer-led crisis stabilization and respite centers that will provide urgent care mental health, substance use and medical services.

Further, the state is hoping to implement a policy to restart Medicaid 30 days before jail or prison discharge to ensure that individuals return to the community with health insurance and services already in place. We must also work to end the egregious practice of discharging people from prison directly to shelters.

Voluntary alternatives to court orders work. We need many more of them, including teams of peer counselors and EMTs in place of police first responders, as proposed by Correct Crisis Intervention Today. We have evidence of other successful models right here in New York. The Project INSET voluntary peer-led model that is currently funded by the state Assembly in Westchester County has successfully engaged 80% of a cohort of individuals who qualify for and would otherwise get a Kendras Law court order. Lets expand this model throughout the state.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

New York City has recently implemented a number of successful, voluntary alternatives. We need more of them. One such program is Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division teams of EMTs/paramedics and mental health professionals who are providing an effective alternative to police first responders. Another is Intensive Mobile Treatment teams that provide continuous support to clients who have had frequent contact with the mental health, criminal legal, and homeless services systems and havent been able to get their needs met by these traditional treatment models.

We also badly need more Clubhouse capacity to permit members from Fountain House and related programs to conduct outreach and enrollment at soup kitchens, pantries, shelters, justice-related settings and hospitals, Times Square, parks, train and subway stations.

We are very encouraged by Adams appointment of former Fountain House CEO Dr. Ashwin Vasan to serve as commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He understands these issues  and the right way to help people in psychological distress  better than most.

Any effort to seriously address homelessness and promote stability must also include housing and clinical supports. New York State allocated $125 million in housing and case management services back in 1999 to address the needs of this population. The state must direct newly proposed funding to expand Housing First and other harm reduction initiatives that have successfully engaged untreated and addicted New Yorkers into stable housing and services.

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But lets be clear: Expanding involuntary approaches will not address this crisis. We know how to voluntarily engage people with serious mental illness, especially approaches that feature pivotal roles for peer staff. We must recognize their right to receive the best care available without the use of coercion, which infringes on their rights.

Going forward, we must favor a planning process that engages the people who are closest to the issue, establishes clear measurable goals, and uses data to track the effectiveness of the chosen interventions. A truly inclusive process would engage service users, family members, providers, elected officials and subject matter experts to define the core problems to be solved and use their feedback on a continuous basis as policy ideas are developed and refined.

Rosenthal is CEO of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.
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Students in Texas public schools are experiencing another year upturned by COVID-19 as the delta and omicron variants spread.

Most schools are resuming in-person classes after winter break with a greater emphasis on testing, vaccinations and masking even as the highly contagious omicron variant surges. For now, schools are prohibited from requiring masks, though some continue to ignore the governors order banning mask mandates. Children ages 5-11 are now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Several districts have temporarily closed or altered operations to compensate for staff shortages due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

Every Friday, the Texas Education Agency and Texas Department of State Health Services release COVID-19 case counts for students and staff, as reported by the states school districts. Here is the latest situation for the week ending Sunday, Jan. 23:

State data on school cases is incomplete and likely an undercount. TEA suppresses some districts case counts to protect student privacy, and not all districts report student and staff cases to the state, despite agency guidance requiring otherwise. The agency also retroactively updates its data from previous weeks as more districts report cases.

Some large districts, such as Houston and Dallas, have not consistently reported new cases to the state since TEA started tracking COVID-19 data on Aug. 2 for this school year. Many districts publish COVID-19 dashboards that show cases, and TEA recommends families check for the latest data there.

Entire districts, including Clarksville ISD in northeast Texas and Hutto ISD in central Texas, closed temporarily in January without reporting cases to the state. These districts dont necessarily report their closures, either, since they are not required to do so. TEA informally tracks closures based on media and district reports, said Frank Ward, an agency spokesperson.

Here are the 10 districts reporting the most cases for the week ending Jan. 23:

At the beginning of this school year, districts had fewer options to slow the spread of the virus and keep students and staff safe.

Last year, school districts were permitted to require masks. Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott prohibited mask mandates in schools, prompting a federal investigation for possibly violating the rights of students with disabilities. A federal judge overruled the governors order, separately finding that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. But Abbotts prohibition on mask mandates is back in effect after a federal appellate court temporarily restored the order.

Before the school year began, the state did not fund online options. Instead, school districts either used federal relief dollars or dug deep into their budgets to provide remote programming for families.

But now, some families and districts may find relief, as Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 15, which expands and funds virtual learning through 2023. While advocates for the law say it is a step in the right direction, it excludes students who failed the STAAR test.

In the last school year, almost 40% of students did not pass their math assessment, and nearly a third didnt pass reading. Those who failed were disproportionately Black and Hispanic.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
The man accused of wounding three Houston police officers in a shootout Thursday has been hit with federal gun charges, in addition to the attempted murder and robbery charges he faces in Harris County.

Roland Caballero, 31, was charged Friday in federal court with possession of a machine gun and being a felon in possession of a firearm, court records show.

The complaint filed to the the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas details how Caballero allegedly pointed a gun at someone outside a womans house in Fifth Ward, then led police on a chase into Third Ward, where he crashed in the 2100 block of McGowen Street and opened fire at police with a modified handgun capable of shooting at automatic rates.

Three officers  Nate Gadson, Daniel Hayden and Anthony Alvarez  were wounded in the attack.

Afterward, Caballero allegedly carjacked a person in a white Mercedes-Benz and drove to his home back in Fifth Ward, where he exchanged gunfire with police over the course of an hourslong standoff. He eventually surrendered, and was charged in Harris County with three counts of attempted murder of a police officer and one count of aggravated robbery.

A subsequent search of Caballeros home turned up over five guns, including shotguns and assault rifles, and weapons parts, along with a 3D printer, the federal complaint shows.

The new gun charges in federal court are part of a concerted effort by the Department of Justice to up the ante on allegedly violent criminals.

The incident was the latest in a series of attacks on police over the last week which saw a Precinct Five constable deputy shot to death, a Harris County sheriffs deputy killed by a possibly drunk driver and a police K-9 stabbed.

Caballero has a lengthy criminal history in Harris County dating back to 2008, when he was convicted of misdemeanor deadly conduct, court records show.

Just earlier this month, warrants were issued for his arrest on charges of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and being a felon with an unlicensed weapon.

Staff writer Gabrielle Banks contributed to this report.
Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

An Uber Eats driver was wounded Saturday in northwest Harris County when a man allegedly fired multiple shots before being apprehended and charged with aggravated assault, authorities said.

The delivery-person was driving on the 7900 block of Yellow Pine Drive, near Jersey Village, when someone opened fire, said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The driver, who called for help a few blocks away, was in fair condition and expected to survive.
Regarding Another Biden blunder, (Jan. 28), the reader seems upset that the President declared in advance his intent on naming a fully qualified female Black jurist to the Supreme Court. Apparently, they have a bit of selective memory in this area. Former President Trump openly promised to name only anti-abortion judges to the court. He followed through on that promise three times. Former President Ronald Reagan said this to reporters: I am announcing today that one of the first Supreme Court vacancies in my administration will be filled by the most qualified woman I can possibly find... Sandra Day OConnor was shortly named to the Court in 1981. So what is the readers problem with Biden doing the same thing?

Art Howell, Humble

Flaring

Regarding Tomlinson: Lawsuit accuses Exxon of reneging on environmental promises in Guyana, (Jan. 26): After reading Chris Tomlinsons article on Exxon and its poor record on capturing natural gas from the wells off Guyanas coast, I read the accompanying article by Paul Takahashi about methane leaked in West Texas by super emitters. Many, many years ago, I was responsible for what we called compliance at a large well-known oil company headquartered here in Houston. One of my initial endeavors involved the designing and building of containment dikes around all of our tank storage facilities. This was a result of new regulations and involved a sense of urgency. One day, at one of the sites being brought into compliance, one of the site managers came out to view the activities. He asked what these dikes were for. He was told that they were designed to contain spills. His response was classic. He said, We dont spill. I cant tell you how many times that I have heard and observed the same response over and over again.

Norman Bunch, Houston

The problem is that oil is more valuable than methane. The methane can be vented through various pieces of equipment or converted to CO2 by burning it in a flare. It is often more economical to vent or flare the hydrocarbon gasses that are produced along with the oil rather than inject the gasses into wells or bring them to market. If there was a high enough fee on vented gas, operators would figure out how to recover the gas rather than vent the gas or flare it. There are bills before the U.S. Congress (such as HR 5376) that would do this. A regulatory approach would be to not allow a well to begin producing oil until there is working equipment to deal with the hydrocarbon gasses as well as the water and the oil.

Larry Kremer, The Woodlands
Difficult times call for difficult measures.

Almost a year after Myanmars military toppled the countrys democratically elected government, international gas giants TotalEnergies and Chevron announced that theyre exiting the country and the key gas field theyve managed for decades to protest human rights abuses against civilians.

These include genocide against the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority in Rakhine state, as well as deaths, detentions and threats against anyone who opposes the junta.

This decision is the private sector equivalent of economic sanctions, and it was the right thing to do. By taking a principled stand  albeit after pressure from shareholders and human rights groups  these companies sent the world, their employees and stakeholders the message that ethical behavior matters. While the move isnt in their short-term economic interest, it will provide long-term benefits.

Compassionate, principled leadership is everyones responsibility  individual, business, government. Business cannot operate in a vacuum, agnostic to the conditions on the ground, whether local market conditions or geopolitical developments halfway around the world. In fact, businesses are often freer to act than governments subject to political and other forces. They are able to send powerful and clear messages about right and wrong.

Big oil companies operate in foreign jurisdictions at the pleasure of the host governments. Those governments are their partners. They lay out the rules of the original exploration concessions and stipulate the cost sharing and revenue sharing regimes that will govern the ultimate discoveries. If your partner turns out to be a bad actor, its perfectly justifiable to change your opinion of the business as a whole. That happens all the time. In the developed world, that is what contract renegotiations or the courts are for. In the developing world, the choices may be more binary  tolerate the regime or pull the plug.

TotalEnergies has been the lead operator for two blocks of the offshore Yadana gas field in the Andaman Sea, about 35 miles off the coast of Myanmar, since 1992. About 70 percent of the 6 billion cubic meters a year it produces is exported to Thailand via the 400-kilometer Moattama Gas Transportation Co. pipeline. The remaining 30 percent goes to Myanmar for domestic use, including to generate about half the electricity used by Yangon, the countrys largest city.

TotalEnergies and Chevron subsidiaries together have a 59.5 percent stake in both the Yadana venture and the pipeline operator, with 25.5 percent held by a unit of Thai national energy company PTT and the rest by Myanmars state-owned oil company MOGE.

Normally, the decision to impose sanctions is a tough one, since they are blunt instruments that hurt innocent local workers as well as the host government. And in most circumstances, I would be more hesitant to advocate pulling out and causing collateral damage to hardworking communities.

But what TotalEnergies and Chevron have done is different because the oil and gas industry is more capital intensive than labor intensive. Their in-country workforce is relatively small: TotalEnergies says it has just 241 employees in Myanmar. But the revenue the regime could lose in the long run is significant because there will be fewer companies interested in exploring or doing business in their country. If someone else less competent or efficient operates the field, they will lose that royalty money as well. In many ways, this is a targeted strike.

The case of Myanmar is particularly heartbreaking because the country was on the cusp of freedom a short time ago.

Democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy won the countrys first elections in half a century by a landslide in 2015  and again in 2020  beginning a transition to civilian government and ending a half-century of military rule. But it didnt last: A military coup detat overthrew the government on Feb. 1, 2021, and Aung San Suu Kyi was imprisoned.

Deeply troubling human rights issues plague Myanmar, including the Rohingya genocide, which even persisted under Aung San Suu Kyi, calling into question even her abilities as a leader. But things have gotten worse since then.

One dissident group estimates that the military has killed almost 1,500 people since the coup and detained thousands. Fourteen of Myanmars 15 states and regions are within the critical threshold for acute malnutrition , according to the United Nations, and the turmoil has driven almost half the population into poverty. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh where they remain crowded into the largest refugee camps in the world.

We at the George W. Bush Institute are receiving disturbing first-person accounts of whats happening because we have worked since 2014 to promote democracy there through our Liberty and Leadership program. We have helped teach 79 young scholars the principles of leadership, democracy and free markets to equip them with the practical skills to succeed. The scholars include former political prisoners, members of parliament, journalists, doctors, educators, womens rights advocates and other emerging leaders.

The junta will try to maintain power at any cost and is turning Myanmar into a failed state, Aung Kyaw Moe, one of our scholars and the founder and executive director at the Center for Social Integrity in Burma, told us. It is vital that the international community act with sanctions targeted at businesses and individuals so that they dont directly or indirectly provide the financing that helps them reload the bullets to kill civilians.

Of course, China or another less scrupulous actor could step into TotalEnergies and Chevrons shoes, or the Thais or the Myanmar state-owned oil company can divide up their interests and keep the fields flowing. However, thats not a reason to stay. Its critical for the business leaders to sleep at night knowing that they took a stand against atrocities.

Given the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing and the rapidly deteriorating situation with Russia and Ukraine, this decision about when to take a stand will continue to face businesses that operate globally.

Principled leadership is needed across the board. We need to celebrate it when we see it. Sometimes, these decisions are hard. This one was not.

Hersh is the chief executive officer of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and co-founder of NGP Energy Capital Management.
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Former President Donald Trump reaffirmed his full-throated support for Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton during a raucous rally Saturday night in Conroe, boosting the two Republican leaders as they try to fend off high-profile opponents in the fast-approaching Texas primaries.

Abbott, whose GOP primary foes have cast themselves in Trumps image and accused the governor of being insufficiently conservative, is hoping to win the March 1 primary outright, avoiding a runoff that would raise questions about his leadership in the party.

Speaking to a massive crowd at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Trump called Abbott a great governor who has my complete and total endorsement. The moment was followed by a noticeably louder cheer than the one Abbott had received when he took the stage earlier in the evening, when he was met with a scattered mix of boos and cheering.

Trump also voiced his support for Paxton, who faces Land Commissioner George P. Bush, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman in the primary. With early voting a little more than two weeks away, Trump called Paxton an attorney general who has really led the way, somebody who has been brave and strong and popular, alluding to Paxtons lawsuit challenging the results of the 2020 election in states carried by President Joe Biden.

Minutes later, though, Trump offered similar praise to Gohmert, whom he appeared to notice unexpectedly in the crowd.

Louie Gohmert, what a wonderful guy.  This is a man whos been a friend of mine from Day One, Trump said, gifting Gohmert a phrase that will likely find its way into the Tyler Republicans campaign material.

THE SCENE: Trump diehards turn out in force for first Texas MAGA rally since he lost White House

In their speeches at the rally, Abbott and other top Republican state officials declared unconditional support for the former president and his no-holds-barred brand of politics.

Texas GOP party chair Matt Rinaldi trumpeted the partys partisan victories on abortion, gun rights and election security measures last year, saying uncompromising conservatism will be the way of the party going forward.

The Republican Party of Texas now is no longer that weak and compromising party, Rinaldi said. Were not just going to be a speed bump on the way to communism.

As the pre-Trump speeches wrapped up, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto ORourke was shaming the Texas politicians for embracing Trumps hate, divisiveness and lies.

We need to forcefully reject their ugly vision for our state, he wrote in a fundraising plea.

Election lies

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a close ally of Trump and longtime resident of Montgomery County, falsely touted Trump as the true victor of the 2020 election during his speech.

Trump praised Patrick, who chaired both Trumps presidential campaigns in Texas and received Trumps endorsement for re-election.

Trump suggested the lieutenant governor was the driving force behind the 20 endorsements Trump has announced in Texas primary races, the most in any state. Many of the candidates backed by Trump also were preferred by Patrick, including Republican candidates in the state Senate.

He calls me, Sir, I think this one is great, could you give them an endorsement? Trump said, recalling conversations with Patrick. I said, Absolutely, Dan, whatever you want, Dan.

Abbott, meanwhile, said some variation of Trumps name 27 times in a less than six-minute speech, touting his governorship as an extension of the values and policies championed by the 45th president.

When chants to build the wall broke out and interrupted Abbotts speech, he said: So you want the wall built? I am the only governor in the history of the United States to build a wall on our border, adding that as the state takes over wall construction, its using the same contractors proposed by the Trump administration.

Miller fires up the crowd

In his appearance onstage, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told the crowd the 2022 midterms will not be between Republicans and Democrats or between conservatives or socialists, but will rather be a race between patriots and traitors. Its that simple.

Miller also endorsed Trump for president in 2024, claiming hes the first statewide elected official in the country to do so.

The crowd of Trump diehards clearly appreciated Miller, as he drew some of the loudest laughs, cheers and applause of the Texas Republicans given turns at the mic before Trumps speech.

Closing his speech, Miller started a 2024 chant in the crowd. As he doffed his white cowboy hat and left the stage, the chants continued for nearly a minute with the stage empty.

Jeremy Wallace contributed to this report.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

edward.mckinley@chron.com
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COVID-19 has brought an unprecedented crisis to CUNY. Unfortunately, its response to the disaster has exacerbated an already bad situation.

For each of the 11 years I have taught at CUNY, the proportion of students in my classes unprepared for college level courses has inched up. To be clear, my students are bright. However, some lack the educational foundation necessary to succeed in college. Several years ago, I had an unprecedented 100% retention rate for a freshmen composition class. But since the pandemic began, my drop out/withdrawal/failure rate has spiked. While without a doubt, this is in part due to the pandemic, my students unpreparedness compounds this trend.

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With 25 or more students per class and only one paid hour per course outside of teaching contact hours for adjuncts like me, teaching the citys underserved students can feel impossible.

In line with the now largely discredited business model for higher education, at CUNY, students represent an entry in the revenue column of a financial statement. This revenue is devised from tuition, grants (such as Pell) and government budget allocations. From a spreadsheet perspective, it doesnt matter whether students succeed, even if those who drop out are then burdened with student loan debt.

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Instructors, the overwhelming majority of whom are underpaid and exploited, appear in the cost column.

The administrations prime concern seems to be to squeeze as many students as possible into each class while paying instructors as little as possible.

Traditionally, public education existed to capture those passed over by private educational institutions. The working class, minorities, migrants, women and other underserved communities got a chance to rise to the middle class.

Back in the 1960s and early 70s, when 75% of faculty at CUNY were full-time, this goal was achievable. Now, aside from small elite programs such as Macaulay Honors, teaching and learning seem incidental.

With 25 or more students in each class, teaching those who suffered from compounded disadvantages before the pandemic is challenging. CUNYs own statistics show, for example, that in 2015 (the last year for which such figures were available), after four years at CUNY, only 38% of full-time, first-time students who enrolled in 2011 were still enrolled and only 34% had earned a degree.

While showcase programs, such as Thomas Hunter Honors Program, are backed by institutional infrastructure designed to ensure student success, regular students, like the one from York College who applied for a Rhodes Scholarship last semester, are on their own.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

CUNY must do better. Due to the pandemic, the high school system that has sent unprepared college students my way for many years is in now in disarray, with truancy at record highs and learning at unprecedented lows.

A financial document circulating at York identifies the number 10.1 as the break-even number for class sizes in regard to adjunct pay. CUNY received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief, and yet departments are under pressure to cut classes. Instead of taking this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of coronavirus funding to give students and instructors the chance to succeed, CUNY refuses to confirm that classes with low enrollment can go forward.

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Capping all classes at 10 to 15 students would give adjuncts a shot at doing what they long to do: teach effectively.

If CUNY did cut class sizes despite low enrollment, maintained adjunct employment, and tracked the results, it could be a model for the whole country, not to mention actually living up to its social justice mandate and helping the city get back on its feet.

While it is true that the skills needed for success in college should be taught in high school, the pandemic has devastated public schools. We can throw up our hands in despair or let CUNY instructors roll up their sleeves and get to work with small enough groups of struggling students to get them back on track for a successful future.

If CUNY doesnt rise to this challenge, we face the prospect of a lost generation of New Yorkers who will never make up for the failure of learning during the pandemic. CUNY is their last hope.

Abbott teaches creative writing at York College and serves as an elected senator on the CUNY University Faculty Senate. She is also on York Colleges PSC_CUNY Executive Council.
Shelly Silvers death last week signaled the end of a storied and tarnished career. But its not the end of an era. Corruption has been endemic to Albany for a very long time, and as long as our state capital remains a place where legislators, lobbyists and bureaucrats can operate effectively in the shadows, that level of corruption will only continue. Its time to move our state government into the sunshine. Its time to move the state capital to New York City.

Lets start with a recent history review. Every governor since George Pataki has left office in shame. Eliot Spitzer had to resign over a prostitution scandal. David Paterson was so battered by investigations and missteps that running for re-election wasnt even an option. We all know what Andrew Cuomo did. And its not any better in the Legislature. Even for those who operated heavily in the city, Albanys culture loomed large. Other than Andrea Stewart-Cousins today, no Senate majority leader in this century has avoided scandal. While Joe Bruno was acquitted, Dean Skelos, Malcolm Smith, Pedro Espada and John Sampson all went to jail. John Flanagan did better but still had challenges. On the Assembly side, aside from Carl Heastie today, whos been clean thus far, Silver is all we have as a guide to recent history, and he was as corrupt as they come.

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Move it down the Hudson. (Hans Pennink/AP)

Theres nothing unique about politicians in Albany. Theyre like elected officials everywhere else: They look out for their own and some of them then cross the line into outright abuse. The difference between our state government and others is simply location. Albany is a company town. The state is the only employer that matters. Its the dominant culture. Theres not a ton of media presence, but there is a ton of money floating around. What else do you expect to happen?

But thats not the case in all state capitals. A study from the Kennedy School at Harvard and the Singapore Management School found a clear correlation between population density and corruption in state capitals. Because the state government is the only game in town, politicians in low-density capitals feel empowered to break the rules. No ones really watching, so why not? Theres obviously corruption everywhere but at the state level, its just not as bad in places like Boston, Austin, Denver and Atlanta.

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Ive never worked in Albany, but I spent good chunks of four years in Springfield, Ill., as the states deputy governor from 2003-2006. In my first month there, I realized that I had to go straight home from the Capitol every night because going to a restaurant or a bar meant being endlessly lobbied. In Chicago, that was never a problem. The pressure was off.

If New Yorks capital were in New York City, the governor, speaker or Senate majority leader would not be nearly as big of a deal. Individual members would matter even less. As a result, the sense of power and entitlement that breeds corruption and harassment of all types would also be far less. And while news outlets have limited resources to station reporters in Albany, keeping a close eye on things from the city many of them are already in would be a lot easier.

To be clear, moving the state capital would be devastating for the City of Albany. I have no solutions on how to fix that. At the same time, moving the state capital to New York City could help solve the glut of office space now available because of the pandemic.

Given that the majority of state taxes are paid by New York City and its suburbs, maybe investing in the one area that produces most of the revenue is exactly what we should do. It would also be easier to attract talent to a state government based in New York City for both elected officials (more enticing to run) and staffers (more enticing place to live), which would then raise the overall quality of state-based services.

I know that the capital wont be moved out of Albany anytime soon (or ever). But I also know that Lord Actons observation that absolute power corrupts absolutely is absolutely true and will continue to be so long as state officials can operate in the shadows with total authority.

Shelly Silver is not an anomaly. He was the product of a culture that made abusing his power not only easy, but even logical. Its going to happen again and again. Term limits would help. Stronger ethics laws would too. But if prosecutions alone deterred bad behavior, Albany would be filled with angels. And thats not the case. So for as long as were decrying the culture of corruption in our Capitol, we should realize that weve created a capital that only enables it. And for as long as that remains the case, endemic corruption will too.

Tusk, a political consultant, is founder and CEO of Tusk Holdings.
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Faced with massive criticism from multiple quarters, including a notice from the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), the State Bank of India (SBI) on January 29 withdrew its controversial circular stipulating new conditions on recruitment of pregnant women.

In view of the public sentiments, SBI has decided to keep the revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates in abeyance and continue with the existing instructions in the matter, the bank said. Earlier in the day, the DCW issued a notice to the lender seeking withdrawal of its new rules and details of the scheme.

"Women over 3 months pregnant unfit to work"

An SBI circular dated December 31 said if pregnancy is of more than 3 months, the candidate will be considered temporarily unfit and she may be allowed to join within 4 months after delivery of the child. In case of pregnancy which is less than three months, the candidate will be considered fit, the circular had said.

In its statement Saturday, the bank said, it has recently reviewed the various Fitness Standards for Recruitment in the bank, including norms for pregnant women candidates.

Representational Image

According to SBI, the revised guidelines were intended to provide clarity on various health parameters where instructions were not clear or were very old. In some sections of the media, the revision in norms in this regard has been interpreted as discriminatory against women.

DCW slaps notice

In its notice to SBI, DCW said, This is a serious matter. This action of the bank appears to be discriminatory and illegal as its contrary to the maternity benefits provided under the The Code of Social Security 2020. Further, it discriminates on the basis of sex which is against the fundamental rights under the Constitution.

State Bank of India seems to have issued guidelines preventing women who are over 3 months pregnant from joining service & have termed them as temporarily unfit. This is both discriminatory and illegal. We have issued a notice to them seeking withdrawal of this anti women rule, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal tweeted.

Women MPs react

Several MPs too protested against the SBIs controversial letter. Insulting pregnancy is a crime towards motherhood. It is discrimination against women. SBI guidelines in this regard are anti-constitutional. Finance Minister should intervene and withdraw the discriminatory circular with immediate effect, CPI MP Binoy Viswam said.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, The guideline is extremely discriminatory in nature and debilitates the progress made to empower the women of the country.

DMK MP Kanimozhi said, SBIs new set of rules that prevent women, pregnant over 3 months from joining the workforce is highly condemnable. Apart from being inconsiderate and discriminatory.

Representational Image

What do current SBI rules say about pregnancy?

As per existing rules of SBI, pregnant women candidates are eligible to be appointed in the bank up to six months of pregnancy, provided they furnish a certificate from a specialist gynaecologist that their taking up the banks employment at that stage is in no way likely to interfere with their pregnancy or the normal development of the foetus, or is not likely to cause her miscarriage or otherwise to adversely affect their health.

The bank said it has always been proactive towards the care and empowerment of its women employees who now constitute around 25 per cent of our workforce. During the COVID period, as per Government instructions, pregnant women employees were exempted from attending office and allowed to work from home.

As per the SBI Sustainability Report, women make up over 25.28 per cent of SBIs total workforce, and women head over 3,500 of its branches. Its total staff strength is estimated to be over 2.40 lakh.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.
Earth's closest planetary neighbour Mars may be active, Indian scientists say. Known for its desolate deserts, Mars may have harboured life at one point - sharing characteristics that we now have on Earth. Fighting all assumptions about Mars being a dormant planet with no activity on it, Indian scientists have found evidence of activity.

Thousands of tracks created by falling boulders point to the existence of some amount of activity on the Red Planet. The research, led by S. Vijayan, assistant professor at the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad studied high-resolution images of the Red Planet from 2006-2020 to track patterns that point to boulder movement.

Physical Research Laboratory / iStock

Boulders on Mars leave patterns

"We searched all the images and found BFE (boulder fall ejecta) present in large numbers suggesting recent falls are common and widespread," the researchers wrote in the paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, a peer-reviewed journal.

Uncredited

Boulder tracks on Mars take 2-4 Martian years (4-8 years on Earth) to disappear. On Earth, such tracks rarely survive for long.

Also read: Elon Musk Believes SpaceX Flight To Mars Possible Within 10 Years

About 30% of these tracks are located in the Cerberus Fossae region on Mars, close to where NASA's InSight mission landed in November 2018. This suggests that it is "a currently active region on Mars."

NASA

How does this research help anybody? Seismic activity on Mars could be understood better by researchers before travelling to the Red Planet in the near-future as space exploration takes shape.

Also read: NASA's Perseverance Rover Finds Organic Chemicals On Mars: Proof Of Life?



When boulders fall from heights, they bounce off the surface and spew out material. Initial bounces produced more material (ejecta) and eventually slowed down on a downward slope. This is insightful for future Mars exploration missions.

Did you know that Mars had active regions, as claimed by Indian scientists? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Gadgets 360. (2022, January 27). Indian Scientists Say Mars Is Active, Find Unique Patterns Created by Falling Boulders on Its Surface. NDTV Gadgets 360. h
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Hope and Serenity Farm Sanctuary: Giving a new lease on life to animals whove had it tough
Howard Hesseman, the Emmy-nominated actor who played DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati, has died at age 81.

His wife, actress and acting teacher Caroline Ducrocq, confirmed his death due to complications from colon surgery he had last summer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Hesseman died Saturday in Los Angeles, his manager Robbie Kass told The Associated Press.

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Howard Hesseman attends The International Myeloma Foundation's 12th Annual Comedy Celebration at The Wilshire Ebell Theatre on November 3, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (JC Olivera/Getty Images)

Hesseman started out as a DJ in real life in the 1960s before joining an improv group The Committee in San Francisco and then starting a TV career that included his role as an out-of-work actor who taught history in the ABC sitcom Head of the Class.

Hesseman also portrayed a shock rocker in This Is Spinal Tap, the 1984 classic rockumentary.

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On WKRP, Hessemans hippie-ish character quickly earned counterculture fame, continuing a type hed already played on Dragnet, in 1967, as well as in the 1968 film Petulia.

He just stepped in and killed it, TV director Jay Sandrich, who put Hessemans name in the hat for WKRP, said in 2001, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Impossible to overstate Howard Hessemans influence on his and subsequent generations of improvisors, the actor and comedian Michael McKean said on Twitter, recalling his first gander at Hesseman, in The Committee in 1971. I saw that he was the real deal.

American actor Howard Hesseman (as 'Dr. Johnny Fever' Caravella) talks into a microphone in a broadcast booth in a scene from an unidentified episode of the television comedy 'WKRP in Cincinnati,' 1980. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

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After leaving WKRP, which ran from 1978-1982, the prolific character actor appeared in numerous series, including The Andy Griffith Show, One Day at a Time, The Rockford Files, Laverne and Shirley and The Bob Newhart Show.

He also showed up on That 70s Show, Fresh Off the Boat, House and Boston Legal, in addition to a few movie roles.

His brief appearance with McKean in This Is Spinal Tap, in which he played Terry Ladd, manager to rock superstar Duke Fame, was a character born less than 24 hours before the shoot, McKean said.

Wed discovered that the musician wed hired to play Duke Fame couldnt improvise, so Rob said lets give him a manager, McKean said, referring to director Rob Reiner. Ill call Howard. He blitzed it, of course.

In Head of the Class which debuted in 1986, Hessemans Moore taught a class of diverse students, in a series notable for its progressive language. He left after four seasons.

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In a moving tribute, Kass told USA Today Hesseman was a groundbreaking talent and lifelong friendwhose kindness and generosity was equaled by his influence and admiration to generations of actors and improvisational comedy throughout the world.

With News Wire Services
Walgreens Boots Alliance in the US has kicked off the sales process for its Boots international retail chemists as fresh buyout firms, including Sycamore Partners, consider bids, according to sources.

The US company is sending out preliminary information on the business to potential suitors ahead of first-round bids due in the coming weeks, the sources said. Boots, which mostly operates pharmacies in Ireland and Britain, could be valued at as much as 7bn (8.4bn) in a sale, Bloomberg News has reported.

Sycamore, a private equity retail specialist, has joined a small group of other buyout firms exploring bids, the sources said. The business could also attract interest from TDR Capital and the Issa brothers, who bought UK supermarket Asda last year.

They would be competing with Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners. Advent International and KKR are also studying potential bids, people said at the time. Walgreens is also considering a potential initial public offering of Boots if buyout interest is muted, the sources said.

Boots runs a chain of roughly 2,100 stores in Britain that includes brands such as No7 Beauty Company. It also has smaller operations in Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Thailand, as well as an optician business.

A new owner would be significant news for the pharmacy and beauty retailers across Ireland. In the Republic, Boots operates 89 stores and has about the same number of outlets in the North.

During the first year of the pandemic in 2020, Boots posted a net profit of 20.8m in the Republic, down by 9% from 2019, on revenues of almost 377.6m. Around 13.5% of revenues are generated from selling prescription medicines, and it said in the accounts that although most stores remained open that trading from its beauty counters was curtailed in 2020.

It employs over 1,655 people in the Republic and around the same number of staff in the North. The 2020 accounts show it received 3.4m from the Government's Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.

Bloomberg and Irish Examiner
Government departments have spent over 30m hiring external legal teams, HR specialists, accountancy firms, and consultants in the past year.

The most sizeable portion of this was spent by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, which racked up a 14.3m bill, including over 10m of external legal and consultancy advice on the National Broadband Plan (NDP).

Well-known consultant and advisory companies Mazars, Ernst & Young, and KPMG feature regularly on the list of outsourced work as well as third-level institutions.

Although the Chief State Solicitor's Office (CSSO) provides litigation, advisory, and conveyancing services to Government departments, over 1.49m was spent hiring some of the country's top legal firms including William Fry, Matheson, and Arthur Cox.

The figures, which reveal the extent to which Government departments rely on private consultants, do not include the Departments of Education and Higher Education as spending for 2021 is still being calculated.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has only has published details of expenditure up to the end of September.

Labour TD Sean Sherlock questioned what he called the increasing level of dependency Departments now have on private firms and called on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to investigate the spending.

"It's important that all monies spent by government departments are published and that transparency exists," said Mr Sherlock, who received details of the spending through a series of parliamentary questions.

"In latter years we're witnessing an increased dependency on outside expertise.

Some matters will need external assistance but the pandemic has highlighted how much money the big consulting houses have made and that does warrant closer scrutiny through the PAC.

"Such a large spend on legal fees needs to be examined also."

The Department of Agriculture forked out over 4.4m on external consultants, the Department of Children spent 5.3m on private firms, while the outside consulting provided to the Department of Housing came to 1.8m.

The Department of the Taoiseach and the Department Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said there had been no spending from the administrative budget on external consultancy.

National Broadband Plan

Eamon Ryan's department has paid out over 10m to private consultants who provided advice on the NDP in the last year alone.

In total, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications spent over 14m recruiting outside legal, accounting, communications, and advisory firms in 2021.

However, the largest portion of this went to Ernst & Young, which charged 5.335m for "financial and commercial advisory services" relating to the NDP.

Legal firm William Fry also got 846,000 for its work on the plan, while Analysis Mason, a telecoms, media, and technology consultancy firm, received 3.952m for advisory services.

The spending also included 87,000 which was paid to Moveplan Ireland Ltd for "relocation management" and a further 2,000 was spent on a social media review carried out by Fuzion Communications.

Management consulting firm McKinsey received 924,000 for the provision of economic analysis and a report to support the development and implementation of the Climate Action Plan 2021.

This was part of a 2.45m total spend on private firms that were recruited to work on climate action.

Responding to the parliamentary question from Mr Sherlock, Mr Ryan said: "The department is responsible for a diverse range of functions covering the communications, climate action, environment, energy, and natural resources sectors and the procurement of specialist services is necessary to support the delivery of policies and programmes in these areas.

"In 2021 expenditure by my department on such services amounted to just over 14.3m."

In total, over 30m was spent by government departments on private consulting, legal, communications, and advisory services, with Mr Ryan's department accounting for the largest segment of any department by a considerable margin.

A number of departments defended the spending by stating that providers are only engaged where specific expertise is required which is not available in the organisation at the relevant time.

The Department of Children spent 5.3m on external consultants, while the Department of Agriculture bill came to 4.42m. This was followed by the Department of Housing which made 1.85m in payments to outside companies.

The Department of the Taoiseach and the Department Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media said there had been no spending from the administrative budget on external consultancy.

Arts Minister Catherine Martin said: "As has been previously advised to the house, my department commissions experts from time to time to provide technical reports or advice on specific issues. This work is not classified as consultancy services and is not funded from my department's administrative budget."
The announcement that the Government is to look at international surrogacy is welcome for hundreds of Irish parents.

A fresh examination of the issue could give legal status to children born through foreign surrogacy arrangements that the currently proposed legislation doesnt give.

With many surrogacy arrangements for Irish couples and individuals currently done abroad, the lack of surrogacy legislation in Ireland presents a huge problem for hundreds of Irish children and their parents.

Genetic fathers of children born through surrogacy currently have more rights than the childs intended mother or  in the case of same-sex couples  intended second parent.

As a result, intended parents of children born through surrogacy spend years fighting through the courts for the same basic parenting rights that other parents in Ireland take for granted.

Guardianship rights

The current situation means, for example, that until the intended mother or intended second parent is given guardianship rights, they cant give consent for their child to go on a school trip, open a bank account for them, or even apply for their first passport.

In a more contemporary scenario, they cant give their consent for their children to be vaccinated.

And they also cannot stay with their children overnight if they have to be treated in hospital.

But even with legal guardianship of a child, this expires when a child reaches 18 and the child would then have no legal standing when it comes to making important health decisions for their parents.

And if their mother or second parent dies, they would have the same legal status to their parents estate as  in effect  a complete stranger.

It is little wonder, then, that the announcement earlier this month that a Special Joint Oireachtas Committee is being set up to examine international surrogacy has been welcomed.

Irish Families Through Surrogacy said they not only welcomed it but they were encouraged that international surrogacy will be examined in this open forum.

The Oireachtas committee will give the opportunity for clarity to be given on the complex issue of international surrogacy and will outline legislation proposals for surrogacy that will protect the child, the surrogate and the intended parents, said spokesperson Sara Byrne.

She welcomed the opportunity for her group to share its members experiences and to secure our children's future, one which is free of discrimination, legal uncertainty, and inequality.

Irish Families Through Surrogacy spokesperson Sara Byrne.

Sara's story

Sara, who has cystic fibrosis and underwent a lung transplant, was advised not to carry a child.

Instead, she and her husband Padraig went down the surrogacy route and are now parents to their daughter Alice, who was born in 2019 to a surrogate mother in Ukraine.

"The moment our daughter was born, I became a mother and it has been the greatest joy of my life, Sara said.

"To land in Dublin Airport and immediately become a legal stranger to my daughter was a hugely distressing moment.

Now that Alice is two years of age, Sara is in the process of becoming her guardian, which will relieve everyday stresses around medical treatment and being able to attend appointments. However, she says, thats not enough.

"I am her mother, not her guardian. Our relationship will not end when she turns 18 but, as it stands, our legal relationship will end.

"She will return to having just one legal parent in the eyes of Irish law.

Sara believes this is not right.

"She deserves to be treated equally to every other Irish citizen and have a legal relationship with both of her parents throughout her life.

While domestic surrogacy arrangements happen occasionally, they are not an option for everybody, so many who want to become parents must opt for a foreign surrogacy arrangement, costing on average around 50,000.

Money payment

In general, the majority of the money is paid to the surrogate, and some of that money covers the cost of their independent legal advice.

Then costs that also need to be covered include the clinic that does the IVF procedure, the doctors and other staff involved along the way, as well as admin and the intended parents or parents own legal fees.

In some extreme cases, costs can rocket.

An American agency, which is currently advertising for Irish couples, charges up to 176,000 for its services.

In one agency in eastern Europe, for example, the Irish Examiner saw prices quoted of up to 150,000. For this price, the baby would be born in America and be entitled to a US passport.

Irish Families Through Surrogacy say they are not aware of this clinic but advise that if a clinic is based in one country and the surrogate gives birth in another country this is something Irish solicitors would advise to avoid.

The clinic also offers a process open to anybody  not just couples or individuals who go for surrogacy  who goes down the IVF path that prevents all clinically significant single gene disorders including cancer disposition and cystic fibrosis.

After you find an agency, or find your own would-be surrogate, and you find a reputable clinic, then begins the In vitro fertilization (IVF) process in which fertilised eggs, either from the intended mother, or a donor, are transferred to the gestational mother.

It is estimated that 70% of children born through surrogacy are conceived with donor eggs through IVF, meaning the intended mother is not the genetic mother.

Couples or individuals who embark on surrogacy are known as intended or commissioning parents, while the surrogate mother is referred to as the gestational carrier.

Sara Byrne said: Our children are Irish citizens and deserve to be afforded the same provisions as every child in Ireland and have a legal relationship with both parents.

At the moment, Irish children are being left in legal limbo as they can often wait years to be granted parental rights to one parent before guardianship proceedings can even take place for their second parent.

This is unacceptable.

We call on the Government to urgently enact legislation to protect our children.

We call on the committee to remedy the legal limbo that hundreds of Irish children live in everyday  and to secure our children's future, one which is free of discrimination, legal uncertainty, and inequality.

'I made a promise to my sister that if I was ever lucky enough to have children, myself, whoever I would marry, and if I could carry a baby for her, it's one thing I would be doing' John and Marie McPhilemy and their daughter Lucy, 8, with Maries sisters Sharon OShea and Catherine ODonnell (right). Picture: Joe Dunne Sharon O'Shea is, among other things, very matter of fact. Confident in what she says and how she says it, she is also straight down the line. And she just doesnt come across as the sort to share emotions in public. But get the 49-year-old mother-of-two talking about her younger sister Marie and you can tell she is hovering on an emotional cliff edge. There are times when it sounds as if she is either wrestling with a lump in her throat and fighting back tears, or in the silence, she has stopped talking, she has been crying. And yet, when she first suggested she would carry sister Maries child for her, she never once imagined she would feel so sorry for her. Dont get me wrong, she says. I am so happy for her that she now has a daughter and I am so happy that I was able to play a role in making that happen. But it just breaks my heart to know that, in the eyes of the State, she is not recognised as her daughters mother. When she suggested carrying a child for Marie, her sister was just 16 and had just found out she would never be able to carry children. And when, years later, Sharon met the man she would marry, she told him about the promise she made all those years earlier. It was her answer when he got down on bended knee and proposed to her. So, not your conventional answer then. When my husband asked me to marry him, the first words that came out of my mouth was, Well, God, yeah, I'd love to marry you, Sharon, who lives in Ardara, Co Donegal, recalled laughing. But I said to him that I made a promise to my sister that if I was ever lucky enough to have children, myself, whoever I would marry, and if I could carry a baby for her, it's one thing I would be doing. Patrick said, Oh, Sharon, what are you not like? You're always wanting to do something for somebody else?' And he said, Sure, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. And that's exactly what was said. Her husband was fine about it at the time, and he remained the same when the time actually came. But it was a different thing entirely explaining the situation to her two children, Amie, 8, and Thomas, 9, at the time. To be very honest, I didn't go into using the mainstream words of saying things and this is very truthful, maybe heartfelt, she said. So then what we would have said was that Marie was sick as a baby and she could not have a wee baby herself. And I asked: Is it okay, if I offer to carry her baby, you know, in my tummy?' Amie was like Sure, you would have to help out. Because Thomas and Amie were not old enough to know the proper information, I would have also said to them afterward it was like putting a wee chicken into an oven dish. And I said I put it into the oven and then I cooked it for nine months and I just said I babysat that wee baby. And that is how I had to explain them at the time. They were so young, they didn't understand IVF. So I had to keep it very simple and they understood. Something that screams out for an answer is: how do you carry a child and not be affected emotionally during pregnancy enough to form a deep, deep connection with them over those nine months and then not to want to keep that child when you give birth to them. Sharon is not phased at all by the question. Before she embarked on the surrogacy journey for her sister, she was advised to seek some form of counselling  to just make sure she was aware of what she was doing and what could happen. Although it is very, very rare that surrogate mothers change their minds, it does happen. Changed their minds Research in the US by Los Angeles-based assisted reproductive technology (ART) law specialist Andrew Vorzimer, for example, showed that of over 148,000 surrogate deliveries since 1979, 38 surrogates changed their minds. In addition, 89 intended parents changed their minds about wanting a surrogate child. The stats expose the potential legal landmines couples and individuals who go down the surrogacy route can face, albeit very rarely. But while Marie was hardly ever likely to end up being hit by such emotional and legal shrapnel, someone was prudent enough to suggest an independent voice be brought in to make sure Sharon had examined everything from a variety of angles. They needn't have worried, though. I did go to speak to a lady one day about it, Sharon recalled. And she said You seem to know more in your head about the whole situation than I can even speak to you about. In my eyes, it was very straightforward. And for the process to work medically, my system was  in effect  shut down and little embryos created by Marie and John were implanted into me via a treatment that was done in a clinical setting in a hospital in the Czech Republic. Marie McPhilemy (left) holding Lucy on the day she was discharged from hospital, with her sister Sharon. The most emotional thing I did at the time was hold hands with Marie and pray to God that it would work. And that's literally my journey with Lucy. And the miracle that she is today is the journey that actually worked. As far as her own feelings towards Lucy, she says straight away: She's my niece like my other nieces. And she has never been counted as a family member other than as a niece. I've carried my own children, two of them, and we are very lucky to have had them. But when Lucy was being carried by me, that was a different feeling. I would tell myself, she is not my little baby, this is my sister's child. All I wanted was to love and care and nourish and look after that wee baby while I was babysitting her and that's how I dealt with it. I don't know, was it my mindset? To me, there was something separating me from the feelings you would normally have. feeling. She adds: I was very neat when I was pregnant with Lucy. To look at me, you would never know that I was expecting. And at nighttime, however, I would explode to be twice the size of the person that I was. I used to be convinced she was snuggling away during the day, and there were times that would ask myself oh my God, is this baby okay because she was the quietest baby ever. Where my own kids were concerned, you would be gently caressing your tummy. And it was a different feeling. I never felt the need to do that other than to protect. To be fair in all of this, people would say to me God, that's an amazing thing that you have done and all the rest. But to me, Marie was the amazing person in all of this. I did this for my sister. Like if that wee baby nearly moved, I would have loved my sister to feel that feeling. She was never going to feel that feeling, so I'm nearly convinced Lucy nearly didn't move deliberately. I think there was maybe one time in the whole pregnancy I may have said to Marie God, she's moving a wee bit now, do you want to rub my tummy?. It just never seemed to happen. She was the most peaceful and restful wee baby. I can't explain it myself now that I think about it. I never really knew Lucy was there until the time she was coming to be born, to be honest. And while she can appear to be very matter-of-fact about it all, it is what she sees her sister Marie having to go through since Lucy that gets to Sharon. What I find hard is I see Thomas and Amie call me mammy and I see Lucy come in and call Marie mammy like any other child would. But then I am watching my sister, who fought so hard to get her little girl today, if Marie goes to the school gate, and there's forms to be signed, she's not recognised as Lucys mammy. It's just very hard. If she had to go to hospital, think about it, the first thing a wee girl will do is ask: Where's my Mammy? Not legally allowed And yet Marie is not legally allowed to sort anything to do with paperwork for Lucy and neither will Lucy be able to the same after she is 18 to help Marie if she ever needed  God forbid  help if she was sick in hospital or in a home as she got older. It's a very hard situation to be in. Sharon falls silent, and gets very emotional when she is asked about what it was like at her local Office of the Registrar of Births. I was signing it, she says of the moment she was signing Lucy's birth cert. And then I looked up. One minute you think you're doing what's so right. And then the next minute you look at her (Marie) and you realise this is her name that should be on this piece of paper. Not me. I'm not Lucy's mammy. I don't belong to Lucy. I literally babysat Lucy. More silence. Was it emotional? Did she cry? Oh, can I tell you?, she says. We were all crying. It wasn't an easy journey back to her house afterward. We went out to her utility area and we hugged like we never hugged before and we cried like we never cried. Sharon falls quiet again. Seconds at the end of the line turn to minutes. Eventually, she returns to the call. But it was another day on a journey that was going to be different anyway, she says. A piece of paper doesn't determine mammy. But in the eyes of the law and for the legality side of things, that's where the problem is. Yeah. Someone else in the family who has also gone through an emotional journey with Marie is her 37-year-old younger sister Catherine O'Donnell, a former hairdresser who is embarking on a career as a carer. Five years after Sharon gave birth to Lucy, mother-of-two at the time Catherine contacted Marie out of the blue and offered to carry a sister or brother for Lucy. She had discussed it with her 36-year-old husband Pauric, a secondary school teacher, and he thought it was a great idea and fully supported her decision to go ahead and do it. A shocked and grateful Marie broke down in tears instantly and said yes. It was after I had Katie, my second daughter, said Catherine. John and Marie McPhilemy with their daughter Lucy, 8. Picture: Joe Dunne It would not have been straight away after Lucy was born because to me Lucy is their pride and joy and always will be naturally, when there's not a second coming along. But to me, it didn't really arise in my head the possibility of even me suggesting such a thing until I probably had my own second child. And I just saw, you know, they're sisters and I saw the closeness between them like we have been as sisters ourselves. Marie never in her wildest dreams ever would have ever asked me because never would she ever have even asked Sharon, its just that it was suggested. So it only really struck me when I was with Marie in Lucys bedroom one day. She was emotional that day and she was just talking about putting away playpens and cots and wondering, could she find a good home even though she was kind of sentimental and obviously she'd like to keep some of the bits and pieces for Lucy. "I wouldn't have said anything that particular day. Although I didnt say anything, something just kicked in with me that day and I just felt I actually needed to offer to carry a child for Marie. I was saying to myself that I'd had the choice and thankfully fell pregnant very easy to have two children without any problems and without anybody having to offer to assist me. She was shell shocked because she definitely didn't see that coming when I offered, casually. I told her I had discussed it with Pauric and she just gave me a big hug and burst into tears." Same path Very soon after she offered to carry for Marie, Catherine then followed in her older sister Sharons footsteps on the surrogacy path, going back and forth to the clinic in Dublin and then over to Prague. Sadly, both attempts did not work out. The first time, it was literally within two weeks, she said. In my eyes, I wasn't really pregnant but when we did a test, it was then we realised that that wasn't actually working out. And then the second time around, we were eight weeks and there was such a good possibility of things working. But again, it didnt. She coped with both situations by having already prepared herself psychologically beforehand. She said: I was very much like Sharon because I had seen her go through it. I made sure that I was equally detached. I know a gut feeling the second time around, that it wasn't going to be good. She rang Marie, told her how she felt, and that there was a chance that this wasn't going to work out either. Marie drove to their home in Ardara and took Catherine to the hospital. It was a day of mixed emotions for the two of them. On one hand, while she was so happy to have at least tried to help her sister, Catherine was gutted that she had not been able to give Marie a second child. Sharon Watters (left), holding Lucy just after she was born in October 2013, with her delighted sister Marie. And Marie, while so overwhelmed by the generosity of both her sisters towards her, she knew this had been her last chance to have another child. I just can't imagine having to go through all that she's gone through herself, Catherine says. I knew I had nothing to worry about myself because Im a very strong-willed kind of person, maybe not as emotional as either Sharon or Marie. I'm just a wee bit different that way. Dont get me wrong, I can cry for Ireland, and yet there are times when I just hold myself together and detach myself from my emotions. Maybe that is a coping mechanism, I don't know but it works for me, and helps me get through certain things in life. As to Maries battle not just to be a mother, but to now have to fight for her legal rights, Catherine is as unequivocal as Sharon. I think in this day and age, it is a disgrace, she says. And I probably don't even know the extent of all that Marie is going through. It's hard, you know? And what she and John are going through is just something parents shouldn't have to go through. She says the whole process really opened her eyes to what some women have to go through to become a mother. You go through IVF and scans and checkups and everything is so intrusive on your personal life, she said. Unfortunately Marie was the one watching us potentially embarking on carrying a child for her. And I'm sure her heart was breaking for the fact that she wasn't able to do this herself. Surrogacy is not a choice, it is a must for some woman to have their own child. Do you know what I mean?

Why is surrogacy an issue now?

It is being talked about now because planned surrogacy legislation does not include a reference to foreign surrogacy arrangements.

As an issue, however, the call for surrogacy legislation started to be made in the late 1980s, so it is astonishing that it has taken over 30 years to get this far.

In recent times, however, a key move towards legislating for surrogacy was

the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction.

It was established in March 2000 by Micheal Martin during his tenure as the health minister.

He advised them that they would be expected to consult widely among members of the public, service providers, consumers as well as philosophical and theological experts and relevant people in Northern Ireland and in the UK.

I am of the view that given the difficult nature of the issues to be examined, the Commission would need at least a year to report, he told the Commission Chair, Professor Dervilla Donnelly, in a March 2000 letter.

The establishment of the Commission is an essential first step before any policy proposals are brought forward.

It will serve two purposes: provide the medical, scientific and legal expertise necessary for a detailed examination of the possible approaches.

(And) the publication of its report will provide the basis for informed public debate before the finalisation of any policy proposals.

The Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction was established in March 2000 by Micheal Martin during his tenure as the health minister. He is seen here with then chair Dervilla Donnelly.

The Commission  after five years, in April 2005  concluded in its 187-page report that surrogacy should be permitted subject to regulation by a regulatory authority.

And, importantly, the majority of the 25 members of the commission also considered the child born through surrogacy should be presumed to be the child of the commissioning couple.

Out of their 40 recommendations on the whole area of assisted human reproduction, these were the first and fourth of the four recommendations they made that applied solely to surrogacy.

There other two were that women who decide to participate as surrogate mothers should be entitled to receive reimbursement of expenses directly related to such participation.

They also recommended that the child born through surrogacy, on reaching maturity, should be entitled to access the identity of the surrogate mother and, where relevant, the genetic parents.

In their report, the commission  which was made up of eminent academics, renowned medical consultants, and senior Department of Health civil servants  also recruited a market research company to survey 1,003 people on attitudes to assisted human reproduction (AHR).

Some 45% of respondents believed surrogacy should be allowed in Ireland, with 34% of respondents opposed to the suggestion.

This was almost identical to the proportion of support for the involvement of donors in AHR. Again, 45% were in favour of donor involvement in AHR, but slightly more were opposed to it, with 35% saying they were opposed to Donor Assisted Human Reproduction (DAHR).

Nearly a decade later  on February 17, 2015, the Government approved the drafting of a General Scheme of a Bill for AHR and associated research.

High Court case

Before that report was published, the issue of surrogacy very nearly became established in law in a celebrated case.

In 2013, there was the R Case in the High Court, which is almost identical to the McPhilemy family case.

The R Family case involved a married couple, CR and OR.

The gestational or birth mother was CRs sister, as CR had been unable to give birth in the normal way, the court heard.

The court noted there was no dispute between the genetic parents CR and OR and CRs sister as to how they wanted the twins to be treated in fact and in law.

However, in his summing up on March 5, 2013, Mr. Justice Henry Abbott said: The difficulty arises because the State authorities take the view that as a matter of law the person who must be treated as the mother of the twins is the gestational mother.

And he said the input of a gestational mother to an embryo and foetus not containing genetic material from her is to be respected and treated with the care and prudence which the best medical practice dictates.

But he added: The predominant determinism of the genetic material in the cells of the foetus permits a fair comparison with the law and standards for the determination of paternity.

It would be invidious, irrational, and unfair to do otherwise.

He also said: The surrogacy contract and arrangements leading to the birth of a child do not lead to any wrong, whether of a criminal or civil nature in this jurisdiction.

The only weakness of the surrogacy contract in the Irish legislative context (is) that its performance would not be enforceable by any court.

There is nothing in the Irish legislative context that makes illegal any surrogacy contract.

However, the State appealed against his decision to allow  among other things  CR to be declared as the twins MR and DRs mother.

Regulation of practices

A few years later, in October 2017, the General Scheme of the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2017 was approved by the Government.

The purpose of the Bill is to provide for the regulation of a range of practices, including surrogacy.

Provisions it proposes include a requirement for all surrogacy agreements should have to be pre-authorised by a new regulatory authority.

The General Scheme also sees a role for a court-based mechanism through which the parentage of a child born through surrogacy may be transferred from the surrogate to the intended parents or parent.

And for the purposes of the proposed bill, it defines a "surrogate" mother as being a woman who carries a pregnancy in pursuance of a surrogacy agreement and who is the legal mother of any child born under a surrogacy agreement.

In addition, a surrogacy agreement will  at the moment  only be permitted and legislated for if it is a domestic surrogacy, gestational, non-commercial and the surrogacy agreement has been approved in advance of treatment by a proposed new regulatory authority.

A woman will be able to act as a surrogate as part of a surrogacy agreement only if she is habitually resident in Ireland, has previously given birth to a child, is between 25 and 47 years old, and has been assessed and approved as a suitable surrogate by a registered medical practitioner and also by a counsellor.

Each intending parent will have to be aged between 21 and 47 and each surrogacy agreement must involve an intending parent habitually resident in Ireland.

It must also involve an embryo created using either eggs or sperm from an intending parent, and the regulatory authority has to approve their surrogacy arrangement.

Prohibited

Commercial surrogacy agreements are prohibited under the currently proposed legislation.

And a surrogacy agreement will not be an enforceable contract, except in relation to the payment of the surrogates reasonable expenses, and then only if the agreement was made before the surrogate became pregnant.

The contents of the general scheme have dismayed people, especially after so much discussion about the issues.

A key piece of work was the Review of Childrens Rights and Best Interests in the Context of Donor- Assisted Human Reproduction and Surrogacy in Irish Law.

Carried out by Special Rapporteur Professor Conor OMahony and published in December 2020, it made a number of recommendations.

These included one that the Oireachtas should enact comprehensive legislation regulating surrogacy at the earliest opportunity.

The Oireachtas should also, he recommended, amend the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 to address a number of anomalies arising in respect of the recognition of family relationships in cases where children were born following Donor Assisted Human Reproduction (DAHR) procedures.

The Oireachtas should enact comprehensive legislation regulating surrogacy at the earliest opportunity.

Surrogacy legislation should, he said, make provision for the recognition of both domestic and international surrogacy arrangements.

It should also incentivise reliance on domestic arrangements by adopting a more streamlined and less burdensome framework than for international arrangements.

And he said that provision should be made for a pathway to parentage in respect of surrogacy arrangements which occurred before the commencement of the new legislation.

Under Irish law, the woman who gives birth to a child is the legal mother of the child.

What does the law say about surrogacy?

Under Irish law, the woman who gives birth to a child is the legal mother of the child.

Guidance from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice says, family relationships  and the rights and responsibilities that flow from them  cannot be subjected to the ordinary law of contract and cannot, in particular, be transferred to another person, bought, or sold.

The guidance is contained in both departments guidance to couples and individuals on citizenship, parentage, guardianship and travel document issues in relation to children born as a result of foreign surrogacies.

Tellingly, the same guidance stresses: In this document, expressions such as surrogate mother or commissioning adults have been used for the sake of clarity and simplicity.

But this does not mean that the Irish authorities consider that these expressions have any legal standing.

If the surrogate mother is married, then under section 46 of the Status of Children Act 1987, the surrogate mother's husband is presumed by law to be the father of the child, unless the contrary is proved on DNA evidence.

Paternity

If the DNA evidence proves the intended or commissioning father is the genetic father of the child, it is possible to overcome the presumption of paternity in favour of the surrogate mother's husband, That DNA evidence can then be relied upon by the intended father in applying to a court for a Declaration of Parentage under the Status of Children Act 1987.

The commissioning father will need to provide evidence of paternity by means of a DNA test and a sworn affidavit from the DNA tester/doctor in support of this application as well as a sampler statement.

Regardless of whether or not the surrogate mother is married, the intended father must provide evidence of his DNA by means of a DNA test.

The intended or commissioning mother, however, regardless of whether she is the genetic mother, cannot currently get a declaration of parentage in her favour.

She can, however, apply for guardianship, but only with the genetic fathers permission after two years, and that expires when the child is 18.
ITS never too late to get at the truth. That justice is sometimes a long game should be recognised on a weekend in which the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday is being marked.

The official record of what occurred on a day in which 13 people were gunned down by the parachute regiment of the British Army in Derry came about as a result of a historical inquiry.

The Saville Report in 2010 belatedly and completely exonerated those who had died, and prompted a state apology from the British government. The campaign for an inquiry was initiated and driven by the families, but they did receive some

assistance along the way.

In 1997, five years after the campaign was started, the Irish government submitted a detailed report on the matter to Tony Blairs incoming administration, seeking a public inquiry.

Blair set up Saville the following year.

The Bloody Sunday campaign is not the only one in which an Irish government got involved on behalf of those who were victims of state violence north of the border. The current administration is backing a campaign to stop Boris Johnsons government introducing an amnesty for historical killings. This week, Taoiseach Micheal Martin stated that there can be no unilateral action by the British government on the legacy of the Troubles.

Successive Dublin governments have also sought justice for the hooded men, the 14 individuals who were detained and tortured viciously in the North in 1971. Last December, the UK Supreme Court ruled that a 2014 decision to stop an investigation into the matter was wrong. The Taoiseach welcomed the ruling.

There should have been an investigation much, much earlier on, in what was clear use of torture and an abuse of the basic human rights of these people, said Mr Martin.

So there is a clear pattern of Irish governments supporting campaigns for historical inquiries into the use of state violence in the North. But for some reason, the same enthusiasm is completely absent when it comes to campaigns for historical inquiries into the use of State violence in the Governments own jurisdiction.

Retired detective inspector Gerry OCarroll was involved in two of the three cases that featured on RTE's 'Crimes And Confessions'.

Over the last three weeks, RTE Television has broadcast Crimes and Confessions, a series that looked at different cases in the 1970s and 1980s which featured multiple allegations of State violence and the abuse of human rights.

The first was the killing of Una Lynskey in 1971, and its aftermath. The Sallins train robbery in 1976 followed, and last Monday dealt with the Kerry Babies case in 1984. In each of these, the State has paid out compensation to victims whose rights had been abused. Each case featured the eliciting of confessions in custody that were subsequently shown to be terribly flawed.

Those who provided the confessions all said that they had been intimidated or assaulted and that pressure led to them admitting to crimes they did not commit. The gardai who secured the confessions were all from the murder squad. Some within that unit were known as The Heavy Gang, although former members of the unit claim there was no Heavy Gang. Mick Peelo, the reporter on the programme, stated that he had come across 20 cases in which convictions were secured by the same group of detectives.

What emerges from Crimes And Confessions is a pattern in which the State has recognised similar wrongs done to a succession of innocent victims, yet there is no conclusion on how exactly they were wronged. None of the gardai involved in any of these cases has ever been charged or even disciplined for assaulting anybody in custody.

Retired detective inspector Gerry OCarroll was involved in two of the three cases that featured.

The murder squad that I joined was a very, I have to say, exclusive and select unit that were picked out of all the countryside, he told the programme.

He was present at the interrogations in the Sallins case.

We did not fabricate anything, OCarroll said. I did not see in the Bridewell [station] that night anybody being ill-treated by any garda.

Joanne Hayes at the hearing at the Kerry Babies Tribunal in1985 Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

He personally interrogated Joanne Hayes in the Kerry Babies case.

Joanne and I got on like a house on fire, he said. I was nice to that girl.

His recollections are in complete contrast to those of the victims who feature on the programme.

There are glaring parallels between the allegations of State violence in the Republic in the 1970s and 80s and what occurred north of the border. Both governments saw themselves as having to take on the Provisional IRA, which was attempting to kill its way to a united Ireland. The Provos had no regard for human life, killing anybody  including children  whose deaths they believed might further their agenda.

The murder squad, according to OCarroll, was briefed with taking on what he described as the fucking Provos.

Undoubtedly, that was a tough task, in which the enemy could manipulate or ignore the law, but the agents of the State were supposed to observe the law at all times. Such is the price of democracy.

And in both jurisdictions, there is copious evidence that the respective states succumbed to the base standards of their enemies, and destroyed innocent lives as a result. The worst example in the North was Bloody Sunday, which could have been lifted from the playbook of a dictatorship in a totalitarian state.

In the Republic, democratic norms and rights were abused to an appalling degree during Garda investigations, but we still dont know the official detail of what happened.

What we do know is that the culture that infected An Garda Siochana during the early 1970s persisted long after any perceived threat to the State had receded.

For instance, two of the items in Crimes and Confessions, the Lynskey killing and the Kerry Babies case, did not involve anything to do with politics, the North, or the supposed security of the State. And there were multiple other examples down through the decades where the gardai continued to believe they could act with impunity because they had done so since the days when the body politic believed the State to be under siege.

Martin Conmey with wife Anne after his conviction for the manslaughter of Una Lynskey was ruled to be a miscarriage of justice.

A proper inquiry into where democratic norms broke down is required. Osgur Breatnach, who says he was tortured and beaten while in custody in the Sallins robbery investigation, has been campaigning for 40 years for such an inquiry.

Last September, I asked the Department of Justice if the Government would consider the merits of his campaign.

The department is not aware of any matter of public interest which would warrant reopening the matter, given that the courts have adjudicated on the cases in 1980, a spokesperson said.

So the Taoiseach believes there is a public interest in pursuing justice for the hooded men in the North, but none for those who claim they were tortured in custody in the Republic?

Rather than continuing to point a finger at the Brits, perhaps Mr Martin might look in the mirror.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses a Chinese Lunar New Year reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2022. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council held the reception on Sunday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, on behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, extended Spring Festival greetings to all Chinese Sunday at a reception in Beijing.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at the gathering at the Great Hall of the People, greeting Chinese people of all ethnic groups, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese.

This year's Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Feb. 1.

Xi said all the achievements made by the Party and the people in the past 100 years are attributed to unity and hard work, which is the most remarkable spiritual symbol of the CPC and the Chinese people.

"As long as the 1.4 billion Chinese people always stay united and the 95 million CPC members always stay close to the people for a shared future, we will surely be able to continue creating impressive miracles on the new journey ahead," Xi noted.

Party and state leaders Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan were present at the reception. Li Keqiang presided over the event.

Xi said that the year 2021 witnessed remarkable progress for the Party and the country, listing major events including the celebration of the CPC centenary, the adoption of the third historical resolution in the Party's 100 years of history, the victory in the fight against poverty, the attainment of the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and the start of a new journey to fully build a modern socialist China.

Last year, China maintained its leading position in the world in terms of both economic development and COVID-19 control, Xi said. He cited China's progress in its high-quality development, capabilities in strategic science and technology, reform and opening-up, and people's well-being.

Xi said comprehensive plans had been made for China to reach its carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

Xi also noted that order in Hong Kong had been restored, and more efforts were made to combat separatist forces and facilitate reunification.

China's major-country diplomacy had also been advanced, Xi added.

The country's overall social stability had been well maintained, and the 14th Five-Year Plan period got off to a good start, Xi said.

"No matter what twists and turns or challenges we may face, we must carry forward the CPC's great founding spirit, and keep in mind that one thrives in adversity and perishes in laxity," Xi said.

"We ought to have a long-term perspective, be prepared for potential dangers even in times of calm, and maintain strong unity and work hard, so as to keep driving forward the great cause of national rejuvenation," he emphasized.

Xi said the CPC will convene its 20th national congress in the second half of 2022 to review the last five years of work and draw the development blueprint for the period to come.

Stressing concrete actions for the congress, Xi urged efforts to advance reform and opening-up across the board, promote high-quality development, and ensure and improve the people's well-being.

The focus should be on maintaining a stable and healthy economy, a safe and peaceful society, and a political ecosystem featuring honesty and integrity, Xi added.

Noting that the new year is the Year of the Tiger, Xi said traditional Chinese culture sees the tiger as the king of animals and a symbol of strength, bravery and fearlessness, urging people to write a new chapter of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

With the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics just around the corner, the Chinese people are fully prepared to present a streamlined, safe and splendid gathering for the world, Xi said, offering his best wishes to athletes from home and abroad.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses a Chinese Lunar New Year reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2022. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council held the reception on Sunday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, waves as he attends a Chinese Lunar New Year reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2022. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council held the reception on Sunday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan attend a Chinese Lunar New Year reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2022. The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council held the reception on Sunday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)
Saturday Night Lives illustrious Five-Timers Club is about to get a new member.

Former SNL writer and new dad John Mulaney will host the show when it returns on Feb. 26, NBC announced Sunday.

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The gig puts Mulaney in the ranks of those who have hosted at least five times, including Steve Martin, Drew Barrymore, Tina Fey, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Scarlett Johansson and Melissa McCarthy.

John Mulaney will host "SNL" on Feb. 26. (NBC /NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Paul Rudd is the newest member, hosting on Dec. 29, but even he acknowledged that the gig should only count for half after omicron sent the audience and most of the cast home.

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After four years in the writers room, Mulaney first hosted the show in May 2017, then in March 2019, February 2020 and October 2020.

The hosting job comes during a busy few years for Mulaney, including a divorce, a stint in rehab and welcoming his first child, son Malcolm Hiep Mulaney, with Olivia Munn.

LCD Soundsystem will be the musical guest on Feb. 26.
It's back! We cannot wait to have a sneak peek inside 21 fabulous spaces as Home of the Year returns on February 15  and viewers can look forward to meeting its new judge, Sara Cosgrove.

Award-winning interior designer Sara joins returning judges, architect and founding partner of Douglas Wallace Consultants Hugh Wallace and award-winning architect Amanda Bone.

On joining the judging panel on the RTE One ratings winner, Sara said: "Having the opportunity to join the team for this season's Home of the Year is wonderful. Travelling the length and breadth of the country with my fellow judges to visit the eye-opening and diverse range of 21 homes was so inspiring."

A longtime fan of the series, Sara added: "I have always loved the show and have watched every episode over the last few years, so I'm thrilled to have been involved."

Sara is the founder of two design businesses, Sara Cosgrove Studio and Grove & Co.

Prior to setting up her own business in 2014 she worked at a number of top design houses including Helen Green Design and Candy & Candy and was appointed the Head of Design at Harrods London.

During these years she specialised in high-end residential, retail and development projects.

On her first outing as a judge on Home of the Year she said: It was great to see the sheer diversity of design approach, and yet see the common elements of dedication and creativity throughout these special homes."

Every Tuesday for eight weeks from February 15, 2022, well get to join Sara, Hugh and Amanda and Sara as they explore properties in Cork, Kerry, Galway, Wicklow, Down, Longford, Sligo, Kilkenny, Antrim and Tipperary.

The eighth series of Home of the Year will champion creativity, showcase clever design and will feature a diverse mix of residences including restored period homes, re-imagined cottages and bungalows, DIY homes and architectural new builds.

Looking for individuality, functionality and clever design, the three judges will each score the homes out of 10 and the home with the highest combined score in each programme will go through to the final in April, where the winner will be crowned.

Home of the Year is produced by ShinAwiL for RTE One. The new series of Home of the Year airs on RTE One at 8.30pm on Tuesday, February 15, and runs for eight weeks.

Home of the Year 2022 will be available on-demand on RTE Player each week after broadcast. Boxsets of the previous seven series are available to watch on RTE Player.

Hugh Wallace, Sara Cosgrove and Amanda Bone.

MEET THE JUDGES

Hugh Wallace MRIAI, MIDI

Hugh Wallace is an award-winning architect and founding partner of Douglas Wallace Consultants.

Hugh has a passion for creative design that engages with its audience to create conversation. This is Hugh's eighth year as a judge on Home of the Year and he says loves to get a sense of a homeowners personality as soon as he steps through the door believing that your home is your opportunity to express your creativity.

www.douglaswallace.com

Sara Cosgrove

Sara Cosgrove is an award-winning interior designer and the founder of two design businesses, Sara Cosgrove Studio and Grove & Co.

Prior to setting up her own business in 2014 she worked at a number of top design houses including Helen Green Design and Candy & Candy and was appointed the Head of Design at Harrods London. During these years she specialised in high-end residential, retail and development projects.

Within her own companies, Sara and her teams work on a wide range of projects globally, including residential private commissions, multi-unit developments and hospitality.

Sara is an industry commentator and lecturer with regular contributions to the Gloss, The Irish Times and had a regular "ask the expert" column in The Sunday Times Ireland.

Sara has found it a privilege to get to visit the 21 homes as a judge on Home of the Year and has found herself surprised and inspired along the way.

This is Saras first series as a judge on the series.

www.saracosgrove.com

Amanda Bone MRIAI

Award-winning architect Amanda Bone worked in Paris, New York and Dublin prior to establishing Amanda Bone Architects, a multi-award-winning architectural practice located in South Co Dublin.

Amanda specialises in one-off individual homes ranging from contemporary new builds to refurbishments of protected structures. Amanda is also a Design Studio and Professional Practice Tutor at the Dublin School of Architecture, Technological University Dublin.

Amanda believes our homes provide us with a sanctuary and a place to express ourselves and our interests. This is Amanda's second year as a judge on the series and she says she loves the element of surprise on Home of the Year.

www.amandabonearchitects.ie
For nearly 200 years, the railroads have transported passengers to various sites across the United States, transforming from a practical form of transportation to the epitome of luxury for wealthy Americans by the turn of the 20th century.

But when jetliners hit the scene, rail travel languished. However, these days, slow travel is making a comeback.

Travelers long to bask in the ambiance of elegant train cars, gaze at breathtaking views, and devour delicious meals while they embark on their destination. While the U.S. has been rather slow to reclaim luxury train travel compared to the rest of the world, there are a growing number of elegant rail experiences to be found across the country.

Here, are the five of the best luxury train travel experiences in the U.S.

1. Rocky Mountaineer

In August 2021, Canadian railway company Rocky Mountaineer debuted its first-ever U.S. route, Rockies to Red Rocks, a long-in-the-making two-day journey between Denver and Moab, Utah, which includes an overnight stay in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

The glass-domed cars offer passengers exceptional views of the mountains, canyons, rivers, and hoodoos along the journey. Passengers enjoy multi-course meals, either in their seats or in a designated dining room, depending on ticket class.

2. The Grand Canyon Railway

The train departs from the Williams Depot in Williams, Arizona, some 60 miles south of the canyon itself, then travels for two-and-a-half hours through the desert to reach Grand Canyon Village, right next to the South Rim.

For the most luxurious experience, be sure to book the Luxury Parlor or Luxury Dome class of service  the adults-only cars have private bars and open-air platforms.

3. Napa Valley Wine Train

The train makes a three-hour, round-trip journey between downtown Napa and St. Helena. Though there are different itineraries, most include a multi-course gourmet meal served in the sophisticated historic railway cars, and some rides include stops and tastings at various wineries.

The most popular car on the train is the Vista Dome, a Pullman from 1952, where you'll dine in a glass-domed car with nearly uninterrupted vineyard views.

4. Alaska Railroad

Connecting Seward and Fairbanks via 470 miles of track, the Alaska Railroad provides scenic excursions through the state. Book the GoldStar Service for a more upscale experience  it's offered onboard the Denali Star train, a 12-hour itinerary connecting Anchorage and Fairbanks, and the Coastal Classic Train, which connects Anchorage and Seward.

The service provides guests with spacious seats in a domed car, access to an outdoor viewing platform, meals in the dining car, and access to a private bar.

5. Strasburg Railroad

A ride on Pennsylvania's Strasburg Railroad lasts only 45 minutes, but it's the oldest continuously operating railroad in the country, founded in 1832. For a luxurious little joy ride, book one of the historic first-class cars, which include the private-hire President's Car; the Parlor Car, which has tables and sofas; or one of the two Lounge Cars, which are outfitted with velvet-upholstered captain's chairs.

Snacks and beverages are available during each ride, but there's also a special wine-and-cheese experience for adults on Friday and Saturday evenings.

For more from Travel and Leisure, click here.
Two detectives were shot dead in the line of duty in front of a police station. Their killer, despite a long history of crime, had been granted parole two months earlier.

It may seem like something out of todays headlines. But it happened 100 years ago, on the night of Jan. 5, 1922, less than 100 feet from the police station on W. 135th St. in Harlem.

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Sgts. William A. Miller and Francis J. Buckley were bringing Luther Boddy in for questioning. Just 20, Boddy already had a four-year record of arrests, convictions, imprisonment and parole.

On the street, his fierce reputation was well established. A deep scar that ran along his right cheek and ended under his chin enhanced his image as a desperado. He got the scar in prison when another inmate whacked him with a shovel.

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In the brief time since Boddys parole, he was implicated in the gunshot wounding of another police officer and a robbery attempt during which a building janitor was slain and a rent collector wounded.

Miller and Buckley were sent out to nab Boddy as he reported to a parole officer at a school on W. 135th St.

Somehow, Boddy managed to conceal a .38 pistol as he was searched.

About 100 feet from the police station, Boddy pulled out the gun and started shooting wildly. Miller, 46, got a fatal bullet to his head. Buckley, 35, shot in the abdomen, lingered in the hospital for less than a day, long enough for him to give the details of the shooting. Blood donations from six fellow officers could not save him.

They left behind two widows and 11 children. Miller and his wife had eight kids. Buckley and his wife had three.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle visited Marguerite Theresa Miller the day after her husbands death. He did not know what fear was, she told a reporter between fits of weeping. It would not have happened if the fellow who did the shooting had not been let out on parole.

This was a common sentiment. The Daily News noted that the murders marked the climax of a criminal career extending over four years, a career that would not have been possible except for extreme leniency shown by half a dozen judges in city courts. At the time, the city was in the grips of a crime wave.

Although the shooting happened steps from a police station, Boddy evaded capture and slipped away into the night.

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Thousands of officers fanned out to the fugitives usual haunts in Harlem and New Jersey, where his mother lived.

Boddys brother John, a World War I veteran, came to the W. 135th St. station, told police that Luther was a disgrace to his family, and joined in the hunt.

Two days later, a cab driver gave police the tip they needed. The cabbie, Adam Adubato, said he picked up a fare  a woman wearing a fur coat, a long black wig, a skirt and a green hat with a veil  in Newark.

He quickly realized this was no lady.

In the car, the passenger drew a revolver and announced in a distinctly masculine voice, Im Boddy, the man who bumped off those two cops in New York.  If you cross me, Ill knock you off.

Detective Sergeant Francis J. Buckley, slain by Luther Boddy, is shown with his wife and three children. (New York Daily News Archive)

He demanded a ride to Philadelphia, but just before dawn, the car ran out of gas near Glenlake, Pa., about 25 miles from their destination.

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Boddy ordered Adubato to flag down another car and said hed take care of the rest. The terrified cabbie, whose police officer brother had been gunned down a few years earlier, got a driver to stop.

Instead of following Boddys orders, Adubato leaped onto the running board and screamed, For Gods sake, keep on going. I have a murderer in my car, and hes going to stick you up!

The driver roared off.

With the cabbies information, police were able to track Boddy to Philadelphia. They found him in a roominghouse, sleeping with the murder weapon under his pillow.

He confessed to police. I guess my temper suddenly flared up.  I dont know how many shots I fired. And then I ran away, he said.

At his trial, Boddys lawyers attempted an audacious strategy. They blamed his victims.

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The Daily News on Friday, Jan. 27, 1922.

BODDY SWEARS HORROR OF POLICE TORTURES CAUSED HIM TO KILL, was The News headline on Jan. 27, 1922.

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He told the court of incidents where he was picked up for no reason and beaten for hours by groups of cops. When Miller and Buckley grabbed him, he said, fear of more violence drove him temporarily insane.

He remembered reaching for the hidden gun, but could recall nothing else until he found himself bolting down Seventh Ave. with a smoking revolver in his hand.

The jury took two hours to find him guilty of murder in the first degree, a verdict that meant death in the electric chair. Boddy, The News noted, smiled a moment after the foreman gave the jurys decision. He smiled again when he heard the sentence.

Goodbye, Doc, he said to the physician attending him at his Aug. 31 execution.

The Daily News on Friday, Sept. 1, 1922.

No one tried to deny that Boddy was a dangerous criminal with a bleak future. But his defense  that police brutality had driven him to murder  struck a chord. More than 30,000 Harlem residents filed past his coffin in the undertaker shop on W. 136st St.

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At the time, the third degree, which relied on beatings, was routinely used to wring out a confession. Boddys case is cited as one of the sparks of a movement to bring an end to the practice.

JUSTICE STORY has been the Daily News exclusive take on true crime tales of murder, mystery and mayhem for more than 100 years. Click here to read more.
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.
A little more than a dozen people roamed North Terry Avenue in Parramore on Saturday, much fewer than normal as people experiencing homelessness and shelters prepare for freezing temperatures.

The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning for 1-9 a.m. Sunday, with sub-freezing temperatures as low as 26 expected in 10 counties, including Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake and Volusia.

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Outside the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida facility on North Terry Avenue, people in two pickup trucks belonging to the Wake Up Missionary Church were handing out lunch to those hanging out there.

Others also stopped to distribute goods to the people waiting outside the facility, including a group of about 15 people from Teens United Florida who passed out food and warm clothes that had been collected from donation drives ahead of what was expected to be a bitterly cold night.

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People from Wake Up Missionary Church were handing out food to people outside the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida facility ahead of Sunday's near-freezing temperatures. (Cristobal Reyes)

People here need it the most, and so we come as a group to come help out, said Justin Le, the groups chapter president. I grew up in not the best conditions, and so I understand why they need the help and how hard it is to get the materials they need. There arent a lot of organizations out here helping out this underrepresented community.

Homeless shelters and churches in the area have opened to help those living in homelessness escape from the cold, with some organizations expanding their capacities to meet community demand.

Last weekends cold snap reportedly saw more than 200 people stay in shelters in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, numbers which are likely to repeat themselves this weekend, Martha Are, CEO of Homeless Services Network of Central Florida told the Orlando Sentinel earlier this week. More than 5,500 people are reportedly homeless in those three counties in 2021, according to HSN data.

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Im just trying to stay warm and out of the hospital, said Charles Glaspy, who unlike others waiting for supplies on North Terry Avenue, plans on staying with his mom on Rio Grande Avenue, where he has stayed while looking for work. I thank God I can live to see another day. He will make a way for me.

In Orange County, the Coalition for the Homeless and the Salvation Army are open to people in need, while the First United Methodist Church of St. Cloud and the Solid Rock Community Church in Kissimmee are open in Osceola along with the Ramada Kissimmee Gateway Inn.

The Rescue Outreach Mission in Seminole, as well as the Lifepointe Church in Eustis and the Solid Rock Worship Center in Lake, are also welcoming those who need a warm place to stay.

As shelters overflow, the organizations that run them have arranged hotel stays for people in need. Lynx and LakeXpress are offering free transportation to help people get to those shelters safely.

Randolph Powell, a homeless Valencia College student, said hes escaping the cold at a hotel on International Drive. Though he stood outside the North Terry Avenue shelter, he said he would soon hop on a bus to weather the night.

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No mumble and no grumble from me, he said. Everyone out heres got a good heart, and theyre supporting a lot of people like me.

creyes-rios@orlandosentinel.com
Jacksonville, TX (75766)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Joplin, MO (64801)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms likely - heavy rainfall is possible, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 3 to 5 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Showers and thunderstorms likely - heavy rainfall is possible, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 3 to 5 inches of rain expected.
For nearly 100 years, OUC has evolved to meet customer needs. Weve pioneered new products, processes and technologies  transitioning from oil to coal to natural gas, and now to solar and innovative energy storage  to provide reliable, affordable electricity and water, while creating a more sustainable environment.

Today, were driven by that same premise: powering Central Floridas next generation affordably and reliably, while supporting the environment. This commitment hasnt wavered, despite what a recent Orlando Sentinel editorial (Orlando Utilities Commission should guard against pollution from coal plant, Jan. 23) might have readers think.

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At OUC, we take environmental responsibility seriously by meeting all local, state and federal regulations. I assure readers OUC has always managed coal ash responsibly and transparently. A Jan. 12 Sentinel article In Orlando, a mountain of coal ash evades EPA rules. Its not the only one, implies otherwise.

Coal ash at the Stanton Energy Center (SEC) is disposed of using the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) sanctioned process to prevent it from becoming airborne. OUC mixes it with other substances, creating a fixated material resembling cement. In accordance with EPA regulations and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, its covered with topsoil and seeded, or sold for beneficial reuse in concrete building material. We have never used wet storage as a method for the disposal of coal ash.

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Clint Bullock is general manager and CEO of OUC, the second-largest municipal utility in Florida. An Orlando native, Bullock is a second-generation OUC employee, he began his OUC career more than 30 years ago. Under his guidance, OUC has set a goal of achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 through a commitment to renewable energy and sustainability.

The editorial mentions the 2018 lawsuit that contained serious allegations about SECs environmental record and its impact on our communitys well-being. But it neglects to include that it was dismissed at the plaintiffs voluntary request and fails to cite the Florida Department of Healths July 2019 report that found no traces of a cancer cluster in the area. In fact, the Sentinel reported in December 2019 that bungled data was part of the lawsuits basis.

In early 2020, we committed to achieve Net Zero CO2 Emissions by 2050 with a 50% reduction by 2030 including $420 million to increase solar generation and $90 million to expand utility-scale energy storage. Later that year, we announced the elimination of coal use no later than 2027. Soon after, the Sentinel published an Oct. 2020 editorial: OUCs 2050 plan is a viable bridge to a clean energy future. It recognized challenges with solar production and acknowledged OUCs timeline for an evolution of this magnitude was fair, stating given the industrys addiction to coal, seven years is a reasonable time.

Since introducing our clean energy plan, OUC continues making notable improvements. We recently announced retirement of SEC Coal Unit 1 no later than 2025, made possible by our purchase of the inactive Osceola Generating Station (OGS). And were investing in a 40 MW large-scale energy storage battery at the future Storey Bend solar site, further demonstrating OUCs commitment to overcoming the challenges of solar production intermittency.

Solar panels dont generate power at night and are limited on cloudy days. The technology alone isnt capable of handling peak electric demand (the moment when customers are collectively using the most energy). Daily rolling cloud cover experienced in Florida drastically diminishes solar energy output in seconds. Thats why peaking units and energy storage that can quickly ramp up to power homes and businesses when solar is not producing are critical to meeting our commitment to end the use of coal as soon as 2027 and achieve our net-zero goals.

Additionally, for two consecutive years, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) recognized OUC as a leading solar-energy provider in the Southeast. In SACEs 2021 annual report, OUC was the only Florida municipal utility to be recognized for increasing solar watts per customer.

As a municipal utility, OUC is responsible for more than simply keeping the lights on. Were firmly committed to serving our customers responsibly and affordably, being accountable for our actions, and working vigorously to generate a cleaner, safer and more sustainable environment. After all, Central Florida is our home, too.

Clint Bullock is the general manager and CEO of the Orlando Utilities Commission.
With its humble but vital role in the global financial system, international payments network Swift figures prominently in discussions of possible sanctions against Russia Invasion of Ukraine.

The Belgian nonprofit cooperative provides secure messaging for trillions of dollars worth of payments between banks. It has repeatedly been in the spotlight during international crises  notably tensions over Irans nuclear program, and in 2012 and 2018 it was forced to block sanctioned Iranian banks from providing its services.

Western allies are now debating whether the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication should be forced to cut off Russian banks access to its networks if Russian President Vladimir Putin orders an attack on Ukraine. But many officials and experts believe such a move would not be the most effective way to pressure Moscow.

Why is Swift so important?

Swift operates a messaging system for banks around the world, transmitting payment requests and recording them on servers in Europe and the United States. It is owned by more than 2,000 banks and financial institutions and processes 42 million such messages per day.

Although other cross-border payment services exist, fast play an important role. The shutdown of some Iranian banks and Swift in 2012 was one of the factors that contributed to the sharp drop in Iranian oil exports, which fell from more than 3 million barrels per day in 2011 to about 1 million barrels per day a few years later.

After Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, U.S. politicians called for severing Russias ties with Swift, but the idea never materialized. Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin warned at the time that the move could shrink its gross domestic product by as much as 5 percent.

Russia, which accounted for 1.5% of Swifts total transaction volume in 2020, has developed its own alternative messaging system called SPFS, which can handle about one-fifth of domestic payments, but has more power and scope than Swift. limited.

Pedestrians on Red Square in Moscow. The EU, UK and US have agreed on financial sanctions that could be escalated or downgraded depending on the scale of any Russian attack on Ukraine  Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg



How likely is it that Russia will be cut off from Swift?

Swift has always been discuss Sanctions between Western allies over Russias buildup of troops on the Ukrainian border.

EU, UK and US have agree Regarding the use of financial sanctions, as part of the benchmark scenario, it could be escalated or de-escalated depending on the scale of any Russian attack on Ukraine. European officials stress that everything is on the table, but Swifts exclusion isnt seen as the most likely sanction in the baseline scenario.

Swift said it was neutral and that any decision to impose sanctions on a country or an individual entity rests entirely with the competent government agency and applicable lawmakers.

While the system is technically independent, more than 40 percent of its payment flows are in dollars, former Swift chief executive Gottfried Leybrand told a Financial Times forum last year. Therefore, Washington has effective sanctions on it.

A more likely route would be targeted sanctions on Russian banks and their ability to convert rubles into hard currency. The EU is also coordinating with third countries such as Switzerland to ensure sanctions do not simply lead to Russian financial transactions being diverted elsewhere.

Some experts believe Swift is getting more attention than it deserves when it comes to sanctions. Nicolas Veron of the Bruegel think tank said removing Russian banks from Swift would create significant operational problems for them, but would not by itself prevent them from dealing with their American or European counterparts.

What are the alternatives for Western allies?

Targeting significant Russian lenders directly could have a greater impact on Russia than isolating them from Swift. If big banks like Sberbank or VTB were blacklisted by the US, they would effectively be cut off from the global financial system. Banks elsewhere will be forced to avoid them or risk running afoul of U.S. authorities.

Edward Fishman, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank, said any targeted banks would experience serious liquidity problems and serious loss of confidence, meaning they may need to go through the Kremlin palace. By contrast, simply cutting banks out of Swift would be a headache rather than an existential threat, he said.

Sanctions targeting Russian banks and reducing exports from Russias oil sector would be the most effective tools, he said.

Dmitry Dolgin, chief economist at ABN Amro ING Russia, said that isolation from Swift does not mean that cross-border transactions are prohibited. Instead, he believes that the possible imposition of tough U.S. sanctions on any of Russias three major state-owned banks  Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank  would be the most severe scenario because of their key role in handling foreign exchange flows.

He added that smaller banks could survive U.S. sanctions because Bank of Russia In 2014, with Moscows backing, it became the main lender to the annexed Crimea and Russias wholesale electricity market.

Can Europe pay for Russian gas without Swift?

will be harder. Russian politicians warn that gas flows without payment  Europe depends on 40% supply  oil will stop soon.This will come at a record time in Europe gasoline price And supply shortages, oil prices topped $90 a barrel for the first time since 2014.

If Russia disconnects from Swift, then we wont receive [foreign] currency, but buyers. . . will not receive our goods  oil, gas, metals, said Nikolai Zhulavlev, deputy speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament.

A senior European banker said a possible alternative would be for Europe to deposit euros in an escrow account at a European bank on behalf of Russian suppliers to access Russian gas after sanctions are lifted. However, this is unlikely given the amount involved and the risks faced by suppliers.

Concerns about disrupting gas exports, in particular, could force the U.S. and European Union Proceed with caution. Cutting off Bank of Russia from Swift is like using a bazooka, and a rifle could be almost as effective, he said.

Arguably, it might be better to designate a few specific Russian financial institutions in a way that essentially isolates them from the global economy, he added. You limit any potential collateral economic damage by allowing some of the smaller institutions to allow financing for commerce that is not yet prohibited, possibly including energy exports.

Additional reporting by Henry Foy in Brussels
The second half of Netflix's K-zombie series "All of Us Are Dead" proved that it's more than just a weekend binge! It boasts impressive visuals and characters, but what sets it apart from other zombie Kdramas is it introduces the new breed of the flesh-eating creature known as the "hambies."

Read on to know how it went down in "All of Us Are Dead" Episode 7 to 12.

'All of Us Are Dead' Episode 7: Not All Zombies Are Equally Created

In "All of Us Are Dead" Episode 7, class president Choi Nam Ra knew that something was off after being bitten by a zombie. However, instead of becoming one of them, she still feels like a human but has an urge to eat flesh, just like the monsters. She confessed this to Lee Soo Hyuk but was stunned to hear that he would still be her side.

Interestingly, Episode 7 introduces the new breed of zombies aside from Nam Ra, including Bae Eun Ji and the high school villain Yoon Gwi Nam. Unlike her, both Eun Ji and Yoon Gwi chose to cave into their desire to eat human flesh to survive. This is also their leverage to take revenge, especially towards Lee Cheong San.

On the other hand, during the height of martial law, they conducted a series of tests on the victims to find an antidote.

'All of Us Are Dead' Episode 8: Military Gets Additional Information Regarding The Cause of The Virus

Due to their frustration to survive, Choi Nam Ra has a eureka moment after getting the idea of using high-frequency sound to lure the zombies into a different direction.

In "All of Us Are Dead" episode 8, their goal is to reach the rooftop to seek help by building an SOS signal.

Unfortunately, doors were locked but little did they know that someone was at the other side of the fence and got rescued by the military. The annoying part is that the male student not only helped the group by opening the door but also mentioned that he is the only survivor in Hyosan.

Luckily, the doors got unlocked after the security system got disabled, but they were too late for the rescue.

On the other hand, police detective Song Jae Ik and the rest of his group were saved by the military but needed to undergo quarantine.

During their examination, Jae Ik revealed what Lee Byeong Chan told him about the virus' origin.

'All of Us Are Dead' Episode 9: Yoon Gwi Nam Experiences Choi Nam Ra's Wrath

Probably one of the significant parts of the series is the group's bonfire session at the rooftop.

Choi Nam Ra shared that this was her first time to experience bonfire with friends and expressed that she is lucky to have met them.

However, the vibe changed when Yoon Gwi Nam came into the picture and attacked Lee Cheong San.

Given his great strength, the group struggled to defeat the high school bully, but thanks to Choi Nam Ra's new ability, she single-handedly beat Gwi Nam.

In the latter part of the episode, Lee Cheong San was devastated to see his mother on campus but was heartbroken to see her turned into a zombie.

'All of Us Are Dead' Episode 10: A Father's Love

After escaping the military, Nam Ohn Jo's father and rescue team leader, Nam So Ju, heads to the Hyosan High School to save his daughter.

He crossed a river, a mountain and encountered all sorts of zombies just to get to his daughter's location.

Meanwhile, the group sought another location after the government failed to rescue them.

It came after the military found out that there are asymptomatic cases, just like Eun Ji, who killed four individuals at the facility.

With this, the martial law commander instructed them to abolish the rescue, leaving the students in great despair.

Instead of moping and doing nothing, they came up with a plan to leave the campus and traverse the mountain to go to the next town.

They sought temporary refuge in the auditorium and planned to escape using movable cages as their barricade.

In the nick of time and right before a wave of zombies attacks them, Nam So Ju opened the door and saw his daughter, Ohn Jo.

Their little reunion was cut off after So Ju sacrificed himself for her daughter and the others so they could survive, but before turning into a monster, he tells his daughter how much he loves her.

'All of Us Are Dead' Episode 11: Nam Ohn Jo Bids Goodbye To Lee Cheong San

Right before they reach the next town, the group gets trapped inside a construction building.

As they figure their way out, Nam Ra hears an announcement, telling the survivors to vacate the area near the virus' ground zero.

They were stunned to hear that the whole Hyosan would be wiped off.

Unfortunately, apart from the bombing, the group faced a setback after Gwi Nam traced their location, leaving Lee Cheong San with his bite mark.

'All of Us Are Dead' Episode 12: The Ending

After surviving a series of encounters with the zombies, the student made it to the quarantine facility but insisted that they would not cooperate with the government by giving information regarding the incident.

After four months, only Nam Ohn Jo, Lee Soo Hyuk, Seo Hyo Ryeong, and two others survived.

As for Ohn Jo, the tragic incident and the sacrifices of her friends still remain in her heart.

Interestingly, she saw the light at the Hyosan High School rooftop and thought that it might be Nam Ra.

She asked Soo Hyuk if he wanted to check the area and see if it was really here. To her surprise, the whole group joined.

Upon reaching the location, they saw Nam Ra, who seemed okay in her new environment.

She tells Oh Jo why she couldn't be with them, noting that it's hard to be with normal people when she is half-human and half-zombie.

She bid her goodbye but promised that they would still remain friends.

"All of Us Are Dead" showed not only the chaos caused by the zombies but also tackled social issues like bullying and how the government poorly handled the case.

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
The Pentagon is preparing to push the CEOs of America's largest defense companies to accelerate hypersonic weapons development by hosting a high-level meeting next week with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A masked worker walks behind a hiring sign on his way into the Dover Cliffs long term care home in Port Dover, Ont., Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. As widespread labour shortages force Canadian companies to re-evaluate their employee recruitment and retention practices, experts say pay transparency is increasingly in the spotlight. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Residents of Iqaluit collect river water through holes carved into the ice near Iqaluit, Nunavut, Friday, Jan 14, 2022. About 8,000 people in the territory's capital city couldn't drink the tap water for two months last fall when it was found to be contaminated with fuel. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar
Local law enforcement advised vehicle owners to practice additional caution after drivers in two vehicles known to be stolen fled across the border into Illinois during chases early Saturday.

Kenosha Police Department Sgt. Tadas Zukauskas said a Chevy Malibu with Illinois plates was stopped on Sheridan Road and 75th Street before speeding off. It headed southbound to Pleasant Prairie, at which point Zukauskas said the Pleasant Prairie Police Department took over.

Pleasant Prairie Sgt. Chad Brown said they attempted pursuit of the Malibu, occupied by two subjects, just after midnight. The pursuit quickly ended after the Malibu crossed the state border. Brown said the Malibu was a vehicle known to be stolen.

A black Jeep Cherokee with no plates, another known-stolen vehicle, was located around 6 a.m., also on Sheridan Road. Brown said a brief chase ensued when the driver spotted the police officer and fled. Brown said police lost sight of the vehicle during pursuit, but it likely took 47th Avenue into Illinois.

Brown warned that those two vehicles were likely related, part of a known group coming up from Illinois to steal vehicles and use them for criminal activity, such as robberies or shootings.

Its a pretty good likelihood these stolen vehicles are related to each other, Brown said. It would not be the least bit surprising to spot them with each other.

Brown said that the easiest way for Kenosha residents to safeguard against vehicle theft was to never leave the keys in the car, even if parked inside.

Almost all of them are stolen with the keys in the vehicle, Brown said. Thats rule number one.

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Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), has dispatched its top official to Khartoum to help with efforts aimed to find a solution for the current Sudanese political crisis
Early in-person voting for the Kenosha Spring Primary Election starts Tuesday and will continue until Feb. 11, with the election set for Feb. 15.

Early voting will be held in Room 104 of the Municipal Building, 625 52nd Street. The first round starts Tuesday through Friday, Feb. 4, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Early voting will return the following Monday, Feb. 7, and go until Thursday, Feb. 10, same times and location.

The final day for in-person early voting is Friday, Feb. 11, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Request a ballot

The deadline to request a ballot to vote by mail is 5 p.m. on Feb. 10. Those who are indefinitely confined or in the military have until 5 p.m. on Feb. 11.

Requests to vote by mail can be sent or dropped off to the city clerk with a copy of photo ID. Requests can be mailed to 625 52 St., room 105, Kenosha , WI 53140, emailed to elections@kenosha.org, faxed to 262-653-4023 or made online at myvote.wi.gov.

For those who have voted by absentee ballot previously, the City Clerks office may already have their photo ID on file.

People unable to travel to the polling place due to age, physical illness, infirmity, disability or living in a nursing home or care facility do not need to provide a copy of their photo ID to receive an absentee ballot. Members of the military or those living permanently overseas also do not need to provide a copy of photo ID.

Returning ballots

Do not return ballots at a polling place on primary election day. Either return the ballot to the City Clerks office, Room 105 of the Kenosha Municipal Building at 625 52 St., or mail it early enough to arrive by 8 p.m. on Feb. 15.

The post office recommends mailing at least seven days in advance. Ballots may also be shipped via other delivery methods, such as with FedEx.

All voted ballots must be in the City Clerks office by 8 p.m. on Feb. 15.

About photo IDs

There are several documents that are acceptable forms of photo ID for voting. A Wisconsin driver license or ID, an unexpired receipt for a Wisconsin driver license or ID, a US passport, a US uniformed service military ID and an unexpired US veterans photo ID may all be used.

More examples of acceptable photo ID can be found at bringit.wi.gov or myvote.wi.gov.

In the Hospital?

If a voter is in the hospital within seven days before the election, they can designate someone as their agent to bring the ballot to them. The agent then needs to bring the voted ballot back to the City Clerks office by 8 p.m. on Feb. 15.

The deadline to request this is by 5 p.m. on Feb. 15.

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As a surgical intern, my days started early, and I was tired as I entered Mr. Ms room that evening armed with a nasal feeding tube and lubricant.

Mr. M was an African-American gentleman in his early 50s. He looked worn and much older than his years. Mr. M had end-stage liver disease and was on the liver transplant list. With a distended abdomen full of fluid, improving his nutrition and optimizing his condition for the long road ahead was imperative. Mr. M glowered sullenly at me. Not to be outdone by his obvious resentment, I breezed in smiling brightly.

Oh, its you this evening? he asked in a disgruntled tone. Despite the almost palpable distaste, I continued cheerfully, Yes. Why? Dont you like me?

Without batting an eyelid, out came his surly response, No. Its not that I dont like you, but if I am given a choice, I would rather drive a Cadillac over a Toyota. 

I gasped. The cold remark almost felt like a physical assault. Obviously, Mr. M was referring to my white male colleague (unlike myself) who had left for the evening. I quietly placed the nasogastric tube and left the room.

That was almost two decades ago. Much water has flown under the bridge, but some mindsets have not changed at all. On the one hand, leadership and hospital administrators may be trying to address bigotry from patients, but they mirror them in their own administrative practices.

Prejudices between individuals, many racially centered and some centered on professional insecurities continue.

Talented individuals coming into the medical profession continue to face discrimination from patients and colleagues. Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable, observed Martin Luther King, Jr.

A systematic review published in 2014 showed that despite seeing an increase in the number (25 percent) of underrepresented minorities attending medical school, they comprise only 7.3 percent of all faculty members.

This review also provides evidence that racism, promotion disparities, funding disparities, lack of mentorship, and diversity pressures exist and affect minority faculty in academic medicine.

Furthermore, a recent Medscape survey revealed that less than 35 percent of medical professionals are non-white, with the orthopedic specialty (which incidentally also has the highest reimbursement) having the lowest diversity.

Hospital administrations seldom acknowledge or attempt to settle grievances. Rather, they thrive on these inequities and often turn a deaf ear so that their reputation and the financial bottom line are not affected.

In the name of standard of care or quality control, many minority physicians are quietly weeded out of the system. Many administrators in leadership positions have no emotional intelligence or empathy and are barely sensitive to issues affecting their colored/foreign staff.

Their self-esteem is often built on demeaning and undervaluing their less privileged colleagues. Their unofficial connections with the upper echelons of the administration allow them to carry out their atavistic agendas with no questions asked.

Diversity is now a part of many institutional values; however, discrimination continues at every level. An agenda of augmenting diversity alone has not resulted in any meaningful changes in the inequities that affect groups who are underrepresented in medicine.

Therefore, it is imperative that individuals and institutions be channeled towards a growth mindset and use adaptive expertise to realign efforts from a goal of diversity toward a deliberate stance of antiracism in medical education.

This paradigm shift can only take place in a culture that empowers us to unlearn entrenched assumptions and dogma, acknowledge and grow from our errors, tolerate risk, and cultivate shared purpose and inclusivity.

As recently as August 2021, surveys have revealed significant underrepresentation of minority and African-American physicians and disparity is across all specialties, which can be traced to structural racism and unconscious bias. Inclusive excellence can be achieved only by making a sustained effort to ensure that faculty from diverse backgrounds can progress to senior leadership roles.

Rather than evaluating a potential leader with their four-page resume detailing many relevant or irrelevant publications, true leaders should be selected by an unbiased evaluation from their subordinates.

And while hospital administrations are busy collecting different colors and models of Cadillacs to adorn their institutions, I will submit to you that the Toyota has more durable engineering, is longer lasting with less maintenance and fewer complaints, and does not need to run on premium fuel.

Meera Menon is a pediatric surgeon.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

The World Health Organization defines burnout in its International Classification of Diseases as chronic workplace stress that has not been adequately managed, resulting in depletion, mental distancing from ones job, and reduced efficacy. Physician burnout rates were already high prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then have reached alarming new highs. A Medscape report highlighted a study, conducted prior to the pandemic, from a Mayo Clinic journal, which showed that 46 percent of respondents in the U.S. had at least one symptom of burnout  that percentage has escalated to 60 to 80 percent today. Though burnout has made its mark across all specialties, it has deeply charred anesthesiologists and others on the intensive care team, who make life-and-death decisions every day, often in very difficult emergency situations and for long shifts at a time.

While the pandemic has increased stress in everyones lives, physicians by virtue of their work are exposed to a plethora of emotions, including the need to rescue the patient, a sense of failure and frustration when a patients illness progresses, feelings of powerlessness against illness and its associated losses and grief, and becoming emotionally involved in a patients struggle, all while juggling our own everyday stresses associated with family life, children and personal relationships. On top of that, serving on the front lines of the pandemic added several new challenges and unrelenting pressures. Being forced to triage dying patients, separate loved ones in their final moments, and deciding which patients get life-saving medications has taken a physical and emotional toll. Burnout rates are higher among women in health care, especially those who are married with children, but are less among those whose spouse can support them with child care.

The strategies physicians have used in the past to manage burnout and fortify ourselves, such as turning to family, friends, social and institutional support, were suddenly taken away by the pandemic. Moreover, as the pandemic continues, public adulation of health care workers has waned and been replaced by frustration with the health care system. Social and conventional media outlets spewing misinformation, often politically motivated, has led to public anger and attacks against physicians who were once hailed as health care heroes. Nurses in scrubs have been physically attacked in public places. Some medical centers have even started providing panic buttons to their physicians. Anti-vaccination propaganda has taken a firm foothold leading to a protracted pandemic. It is difficult enough for physicians to help people with life-threatening illnesses. Doing so while fighting misinformation, prejudice, and distrust has caused many to leave the workforce. A study found that 50 percent of physicians in the U.S. and across Europe have decided to reduce their working hours after the pandemic.

Not only does burnout decrease professional efficacy and in turn, patient satisfaction, but it is also deleterious to the physician. A study on burnout syndrome and wellbeing in anesthesiologists found that burnout causes many consequences, including sleep disorders, lack of sleep due to increased working hours, increased cardiovascular risk, diabetes, obesity, acceleration of the rate of biological aging, alcoholism, drug addiction, and suicide ideation. All too often we see signs of anxiety, depression, a personal sense of failure, and other mental health issues as a result of protracted burnout.

So, what can be done?

In general, four levels of change are recommended to reduce the risk of physician burnout:

1. Modify organizational structure and work processes. One study suggested that training medical assistants and physician assistants to do history taking, medication reconciliation, vaccination administration, and visit scheduling, while allowing physicians to do physical exams and medical decision-making, resulted in a drop in the burnout rate from 53 percent to 13 percent. Changes to policies and practices with the aim of improving teamwork, as opposed to practices with increased clinical burden on physicians, as well as new approaches to work evaluation and increased supervisory work are also useful techniques. This way, physicians may feel a reduction in job demand and gain more job control.

2. Mindfulness, physical and cognitive techniques to improve physician wellbeing. Professional development programs and continuing medical education can help physicians better adapt to the changing work environment. Hiring enough personnel so that no one is too burdened is crucial at the practice level, and providing wellness checks, mindfulness, and cognitive-behavioral techniques can be beneficial at an individual level.

3. Better workplace support and the two-edged sword called electronic medical records (EMR). Modifying call schedules and providing appropriate financial incentives tailored to physicians personal lives, such as increased pay for additional and holiday calls, subsidized childcare, and the ability to opt-out of calls for decreased pay, can decrease emotional exhaustion and improve personal satisfaction. Additionally, peer support in developing resilience techniques (such as workplace social interactions, team building activities, and celebrations) has been shown to increase workplace satisfaction, even with a challenging work schedule.

EMR records were developed to streamline health care services. But many physicians are finishing a long grueling day at work only to go home and finish working on patient letters and records for several additional hours. Dedicated time during work hours to manage records and EMR can contribute to improved physician satisfaction.

4. Streamline regulatory paperwork. Physicians spend quality time on paperwork for quality programs initiated by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies. Such programs cause burnout by preventing physicians from spending time with their patients. As per a Mayo Clinic study, U.S. physicians spend an average of 2.6 hours per week complying with external quality measures. This is enough time to see approximately nine additional patients in an outpatient setting. The duplication in paperwork leads to frustration and burnout.

Patients can contribute to the solution, too!

It seems almost superfluous to say, but patients must also be patient. If the physician does not get to a patient at a certain time, he or she might be dealing with another patient of greater complexity. Communicating effectively helps improve patient understanding, satisfaction, and the physician-patient relationship, which helps to reduce emotional exhaustion for the physician.

Patients can also prepare questions prior to a visit so that they dont have to spend as much time following up with the provider afterward. The fewer emails and phone calls a provider has coming in, the more quickly theyre able to respond, which creates less frustration and stress. Additionally, encouraging patients to arrive at their appointments on time creates a smoother workflow.

Advocating for physician wellbeing

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has developed a suite of resources to support physician wellbeing.

Ultimately, patients need doctors to help them be healthy, and need their doctors to be healthy to help them! Unless interventions are done now, our health care system risks a downward spiral. While the pandemic has brought increased levels of stress and burnout, it has prompted us to take action on mitigating this serious issue. Hospitals, practices, administrators, and physicians must realize that working together to combat burnout is essential for the health of our entire health care system.

Lalitha Sundararaman is an anesthesiologist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Kilgore, TX (75662)

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Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
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A legendary Kilkenny book from the time of Bishop Ledred has under gone ground-breaking new analysis by a University College Cork Team at the RCB Library.

The Red Book of Ossory, which has a strong association with Richard Ledred, Bishop of Ossory from 1317 to about 1361 is one of the most precious  if not the most precious  manuscripts in the RCB Librarys safe custody. The volume contains 79 vellum leaves, composed largely in the 14th Century during Ledreds time, with later entries added up to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

The Red Book derives its name from the colour of the leather binding, faded on the outside, but still visible inside the cover. Like other medieval episcopal registers, it contains a wide range of documents that defy classification, the choice of which depended on what was important to individual bishops, in this case by Ledred  regarded as 'one of the most extraordinary bishops ever to occupy the see of Ossory'.

The volume is internationally renowned for a number of reasons: it contains, for example, numerous documents of legal interest, such as the provisions of Magna Carta. More exceptionally, it contains a lengthy medical treatise on aqua vitae, or what we would call cognac, that occupies three and a half closely written pages in Latin shorthand.

Its inclusion in the register was for a significant medicinal reason  likely linked to the Black Death that had ravaged Kilkenny during Ledreds time, in 1348. It thus provides the earliest known recipe for distillation known to exist in any Irish manuscript and its content of is particular contemporary interest to Irelands whiskey industry. Another reason for the international fame of the Red Book is the collection of 60 Latin lyrics that make up the final folios, all but 13 of which were composed by Ledred.



PC screen with the image of the particular spot in a selected letter that is being analysed; above it is the spectrum of elements in the ink that the XRF analysis reveals

The Red Book, which was previously featured as an Archive of the Month, is available to view in a digitized format with an introduction by Dr Adrian Empey at this link: www.ireland.anglican.org/red-book-ossory.

More recently, a team from the Department of Modern Irish at University College Cork, led by Professor Padraig O Machain, as part of his Irish Research Council Advanced Laureate Award, has brought state-of-the art imagining equipment to the RCB Library to identify and analyse the content of the inks used in the manuscript. The technique is called 'XRF' which stands for X-Ray Fluorescence.

It is a means of exciting the atoms and molecules in the inks so that they reveal their identity and an elemental spectrum of the ink can be generated. A photo of the computer monitor shows such a spectrum, as well as the particular spot on the letter where the x-ray was targeted.

The results from this detailed analysis will feed vital data into an international research project on medieval inks in comparable manuscripts.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdelhamid Al-Dbaiba, has called on the Minister of Finance, Khaled Al-Mabrouk, in his capacity as head of the committee for the preparation of the budget for the year 2022, to complete the draft budget before submission to the the House of Representatives (Parliament)
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A food delivery driver on a bicycle rides in the snow on Friday in New York City.
The US Secret Service has charged a Kansas man with threatening to harm President Joe Biden, allegedly telling agents that "he had been told by God to travel to Washington, DC to 'lop off the head of the serpent in the heart of the nation.' "
Wolseong 1 nuclear reactor in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Korea Times file



Gov't eager to shut down nuclear plants, while seeking to build many abroad



By Lee Kyung-min



The Moon Jae-in administration has been under constant criticism for its double standards on nuclear energy, as it shows completely different attitudes toward nuclear power plants at home and abroad, according to economists and energy analysts, Monday.



While abroad, Moon has been touting Korea's nuclear plants as the world's safest and most efficiently run, urging foreign governments to adopt the country's nuclear reactors. But here at home, the Moon administration has been eager to shut down local plants, calling nuclear energy an environmentally harmful and outdated energy source, and instead stressed the use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.



This is a clear failure of the Moon administration's energy policies, they said, highlighted further by a rapid overall decline in industrial productivity brought on by higher energy import costs.



Further complicating the issue is the ongoing criminal trials of energy ministry officials who were indicted for destroying evidence showing that the ministry sought to delegitimize the economic feasibility of its existing nuclear policy, in an orchestrated move to toe the line of the Moon administration.



The experts urged the Moon administration to promptly renounce the previous drives and make a course correction to better outline the country's energy policies to limit economic fallout before it is too late.



"The government policy is exhibiting clear signs of faltering," Seoul National University economist Lee In-ho said.



Nuclear energy is a stable, effective and efficient energy source and the government knows it, in Lee's view. Yet, the only reason Moon and top policymakers are unable to reverse their policy is for fear of enormous political blowback, an unwanted development that could tank the legitimacy of a government grappling with an already considerably waning level of public support.



"Backpedaling at this late stage means essentially forgoing all power," he added.



Moon promoting the country's nuclear policies overseas is an indication of government incompetence and policy inconsistency, Lee said.



The scathing opinion is backed by comments made by Moon on his recent trip to Saudi Arabia, where he said Korea's nuclear policy is "unmatched by its global peers in economic feasibility and safety." Similar comments were made during summits with his Slovak, Polish and Czech counterparts last year.



Korea University professor of Resources and Energy Economics Park Ho-jeong said the government has failed to factor in how economical nuclear energy is compared to renewables.



"The current nuclear technology can supply energy in a stable manner at a price lower than what's needed for renewables, a major competitive edge over solar and wind energies prone to extreme volatility in production volume due to weather conditions or hours  let alone the lingering controversy over whether renewable energy is green at all," the Korean Resource Economics Association president said.



Korea is feared to miss the rare opportunity to take the upper hand in the future energy market, both Lee and Park added, since it will take years for renewables to fully replace the much-lambasted nuclear technology as a stable source of energy.



"Europe, a group of countries known to not mind taking years or decades to deliberate on a contentious issue, is seeking to embrace nuclear energy as part of its green investments. The move is not without opposition, but it speaks volumes as to how rash and unprepared Korea was to outright abandon nuclear energy without long-term, viable alternatives in place," Lee said.


Experts say that more than 30% of average labor costs goes to benefits like insurance and vacation.
Update, January 31, 2022:

SWEETGRASS, Mont. - According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, while the Port of Sweetgrass, MT remains open, Canadian Border Services Agency has closed the Coutts, Alberta Port of Entry to inbound traffic.

Traveling north into Canada via the Coutts, Alberta Port of Entry is currently unavailable.

CBP says even though the Port of Sweetgrass, MT remains open, your ability to enter the United States at the border crossing may be delayed because of the continued closure of Canadian Highway 4 north of the Port of Entry.

If you are currently traveling or planning international travel via the Sweetgrass, MT Port of Entry, CBP encourages travelers to seek to alternate routes utilizing a different Port of Entry.

A list of Ports of Entry in Montana may be found here.

SWEETGRASS, Mont. - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have Canadian Highway 4 closed north of the Sweetgrass, Montana/Coutts, Alberta border crossing.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta are reporting traffic is not moving in either direction and that the highway is closed south of Lethbridge to the Coutts border with Montana.

US Customs and Border Protection says the Port of Sweetgrass is open, but those driving in the area are being told to be aware that the closure may impact travel north into Canada.

Travelers are encouraged to seek alternative routes and use a different port of entry.

The CBC is reporting traffic is not moving on Highway 4 due to a protest convoy in the north and southbound lanes near the village of Coutts, Alberta.

According to the report, the convoy is protesting the trucker COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Participants in the protest are asked by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to prevent a full blockage of the highway so first responders can make their way through in the event of an emergency.
Beef packing plants have bounced back from the shutdowns at the early days of the pandemic, but a beef lobbyist says the meat processing industry still has room for upgrades in the form of expansion in modest-sized, regional packing plants.
Carol Hardbarger argues that getting rid of the over-order premium without an alternative in place is not the answer to our realities and what they create for the industry.
Chennai, Jan 30 (PTI) Two men were killed and two others sustained injuries in a mishap at a firecracker unit in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday ordered a solatium of Rs 3 lakh each to the families of the deceased workers.

Also Read | Ahmedabad Shocker: Man Murders Brother-in-Law After Fight With Wife, Throws Body in Canal.

The two workers were killed on Saturday night due to an accidental explosion and blaze at a fireworks manufacturing facility in Nattarmangalam village of Virudhunagar district.

Also Read | Google, Facebook May Be Forced to Pay British Newspapers For Their Stories.

Conveying his condolences to the bereaved families and expressing grief, Stalin ordered an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each to the families of the two workers, Arumugam and Kubendran, who were killed in the mishap, an official release here said.

The Chief Minister ordered 'best treatment' to the two injured workers at a government facility. Also, Stalin announced an assistance of Rs 1 lakh to one of the two workers, Deivendiran, who sustained severe injuries and is being treated at a government hospital in Madurai.

The financial assistance would be provided from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund to the beneficiaries.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 30 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly on Saturday welcomed CBI's decision to reward the informant, while keeping their identity secret, for providing information on nine more absconding accused in connection with the murder case of a BJP worker Abhijit Sarkar in cases related to post-poll violence in West Bengal.

"I believe that the people of West Bengal will come forward to give information to CBI related to the incident (post-poll violence) after CBI promised anonymity and reward to informers," said Ganguly.

Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir: Two Encounters Underway Between Militants and Security Forces in Pulwama and Budgam.

"As per rule state police needs to assist CBI in investigation across country, they are not doing it here. Since the police are not helping CBI, I believe the people of West Bengal will," she said.

Rajya Sabha members also slammed the state government for denying incidents of violence in the state.

Also Read | School Reopening: Here's A List Of States, Cities Reopening Schools, Colleges And Universities From Feb 1.

"State Government is not ready to accept that these (post-poll violence) incidents have taken place, this proves that they know it has been done by their own people. They celebrate their victory by thrashing opposition party leaders, this shows their politics and fear," Ganguly said.

The CBI, which is investigating the post-poll violence in West Bengal, has announced Rs 50,000 reward each on nine more absconding accused in connection with the murder case of a BJP worker Abhijit Sarkar.

This comes after CBI's earlier announcement of Friday of similar reward and anonymity for information on five other accused in the same case.

CBI took over the investigation of post-election violence on the orders of the West Bengal High Court, informed CBI.

Sarkar was killed in the post-poll violence in the Narkeldanga area of West Bengal shortly after the assembly election results were announced on May 2. (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, Jan 30 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday attacked the Centre over the issue of employment, saying its priority is "spying" on citizens when it ought to be jobs for the youth.

Her attack on the government came over a media report which claimed that there are 3.03 crore unemployed youth in the country.

Also Read | Ahmedabad Shocker: Man Murders Brother-in-Law After Fight With Wife, Throws Body in Canal.

"The priority of the government should be jobs for the youth, but the priority of the BJP government is spying on citizens," the Congress general secretary alleged in an apparent reference to the Pegasus snooping allegations against the government.

The country needs an agenda for the youth, it needs a roadmap for employment for the youth, Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

Also Read | Google, Facebook May Be Forced to Pay British Newspapers For Their Stories.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Hapur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 30 (ANI): Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary, who has stitched an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not aware of his loyalty and emotion and he will not change his mind.

Chaudhary's remarks came as Union Minister Amit Shah during a meeting with Jat leaders in New Delhi had said the BJP's doors are always open for the RLD.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Horror: Woman in Bareilly Hacked to Death After Son Elopes with Girl.

"The BJP is not aware of my loyalty and emotion. Amit Shah knows that I won't break down or change my mind. By saying that Azam Khan will replace Jayant Chaudhary he is trying to divert our supporters and end the brotherhood among the people," the RLD chief told ANI.

When asked about Amit Shah's election campaign in Muzaffarnagar, Chaudhary said, "Good that they are hitting the road. But what matters in an election is the last five years' track record which is very bad. The law and order have deteriorated in the state. There has been an increase in crimes against women and SCs in the state."

Also Read | Kerala: Fire at Poultry Farm in Vazhikadavu Kills Over 2,500 Chickens.

Jayant Chaudhary on Thursday denied the possibility of a post-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Chaudhary earlier said, "They (BJP) did nothing for farmers. The police force was used against students in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh two days back. In such an environment, how can they think that anyone would join hands with them?"

The RLD chief in a tweet earlier said that the invitation should not be given to him, but to all the families of farmers whose lives were destroyed during the farmers' protest.

Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary on Friday had reiterated his stance of not forging any post-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, hit out and said they would not gain anything by "appeasing him" and alleging that the latter is trying to polarise on caste lines.

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)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Thampanoor (Kerala) [India], January 30 (ANI): Kerala witnessed a total shutdown and streets wore a deserted look on Sunday as the state government imposed a Sunday curfew amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the state.

Only shops selling essential items are allowed to open from 7 am to 9 pm. Meanwhile, people working in the essential service sectors can travel. Travel to the hospital and for vaccination, purposes is also allowed. The police are conducting checks at different places in the state.

Also Read | Martyrs Day 2022: PM Narendra Modi Pays Homage to Mahatma Gandhi on His Death Anniversary, Says Its Our Collective Endeavour to Further Popularise His Noble Ideals.

The government has asked hotels and restaurants to host in house dining. However, parcel services will be allowed from 7 am to 9 pm. Train services are available but only Kerala state transport corporation will do long-distance service.

The state has relieved the tourists of the restrictions by allowing them to travel.

Also Read | Tamil Nadu Police on High Alert Over Possible Regrouping of LTTE.

Meanwhile, as 4,000 fresh COVID-19b cases were reported in Kottayam, all social gatherings have been banned in the district, shops and markets are closed, and even places of worship are closed. Churches are conducting Sunday masses virtually. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 30 (ANI): West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday took a dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying that democracy survives on rule of law and not the rule of an 'individual'.

"Democracy survives on rule of law, not the rule of an individual. I hope she (West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee) looks into it. She is mandated by the constitution to sit for a dialogue with Governor", stated West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Also Read | Union Budget 2022: From Infrastructure Expansion to More Trains to Boost Tourism, Here's A List of Expectations From The Railway Budget.

Dhankhar's remarks came after paying his tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 74th death anniversary.

According to the Governor, in Bengal, democracy needs to be saved from violence. He also claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee never performed her constitutional duty to furnish information about the state to him.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: JP Nadda Conducts Door-to-Door Campaign in Shikohabad.

"I have appealed to CM Mamata Banerjee that democracy survives on dialogue. We have to ensure to save democracy from violence...The constitutional duty of CM is to give information to the Governor, but it has not been performed ever since I became Governor", the Governor added.

The Governor had on Thursday sought information from the West Bengal CM on July 26 Pegasus notification, Pandemic Purchase Enquiry, Bengal Global Business Summit, Bengal Aerotropolis Project, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), MAA Canteen and State Finance Commission. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], January 30 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday informed that they have killed five terrorists including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Zahid Wani in dual encounters in the Kashmir valley in the last 12 hours.

The police informed that of the five terrorists, including Wani, four were killed in Pulwama and one was gunned down in Budgam.

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Speaking exclusively to ANI over the phone, Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir, Dilbag Singh told ANI, " In the last 12 hours, as many as five terrorists have been gunned down by security forces in Kashmir valley. Of these five terrorists, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Zahid Wani and a Pakistani terrorist have been killed."

"Police and security forces are trying to neutralize terrorists who are involved in the civilian killings. In South Kashmir, near the Pulwama area, Wani of JeM was active for a long time. Yesterday on specific inputs, an operation was launched in Pulwama in which three of its associates were also gunned down including a Pakistani terrorist Kafil Alias Chota Pakistani," he said.

Also Read | Kerala: Fire at Poultry Farm in Vazhikadavu Kills Over 2,500 Chickens.

"In South Kashmir, these terrorists were responsible for many terror-related incidents and after their death, we hope that people of the area will get relief from such incidents. Wani's brother was arrested from an encounter at Toll Plaza in Jammu in January 2020," he said.

"In Budgam, an encounter started in Charar-e-Sharif area in which one local terrorist has been neutralized. He had recently joined and was working for LeT and TRF," he said.

DGP also said that police and security forces are working to create peace here in the valley. (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 30 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that India's culture is very much liked in Argentina while addressing the first episode of this year's 'Mann Ki Baat.'

In his address, the Prime Minister mentioned the contributions of the Hastinapur Foundation in Argentina.

Also Read | Union Budget 2022: Expectations on Changes in Income Tax Slabs and Rates.

"Today I will tell you about the Indian culture making its mark in Argentina. Our culture is very much liked in Argentina. In 2018, during my visit to Argentina, I participated in a yoga program - 'Yoga for Peace'. There is an organization in Argentina - Hastinapur Foundation. You will be surprised to hear... whither Argentina... and Hastinapur Foundation there too! This foundation is involved in the propagation of Indian Vedic traditions in Argentina," PM Modi said.

"It was founded 40 years ago by a lady, Professor Aida Albrecht. Professor Aida Albrecht is going to turn 90 today. How her association with India happened is also very interesting. When she was 18 years old, she was first introduced to the power of Indian culture. She also spent a lot of time in India. She studied about Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads in depth. Today the Hastinapur Foundation has more than 40,000 members and about 30 branches in Argentina and other Latin American countries, the Prime Minister said.

Also Read | BS Yediyurappa Granddaughter Suicide Case: Don't Know What Pushed Her To End Life, Says Soundaryas Husband.

He said that the Hastinapur Foundation has also published more than 100 Vedic and philosophical texts in the Spanish language. "Her ashram is also very enchanting. Twelve temples have been built in the ashram, in which there are idols of many Gods and Goddesses. There is also a temple at the center of all this which has been built for Advaitwadi Dhyan," he added.

The Prime Minister, in his monthly address today, said that the diverse colours and spiritual strength of Indian culture have always attracted people from all over the world.

"If I tell you that Indian culture is very popular in America, Canada, Dubai, Singapore, Western Europe and Japan, you will find this very common; you will not be surprised. But, if I say that Indian culture has a big attraction in Latin America and South America too, you will definitely think once. Whether it is a matter of promoting Khadi in Mexico or an attempt to popularize Indian traditions in Brazil, we have discussed these topics earlier in 'Mann Ki Baat'," he said.

"Mann ki Baat" is the Prime Minister's monthly radio address, which is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month. The programme will be broadcast on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan and also on AIR News and mobile app. The first episode of the programme was broadcast on October 3, 2014. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jaipur, Jan 30 (PTI) On the occasion of the 74th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said the ideals of the Father of the Nation must reach all people to strengthen the spirit of brotherhood, love and harmony in the country.

He said the state government is working with dedication to carry the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, fondly known as Bapu, to the younger generation.

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Speaking on the topic 'Vishwa Ke Gandhi' through a video conference on Shaheed Diwas, Gehlot stressed that Mahatma Gandhi's principles can show the right direction in the current atmosphere of terrorism, violence, fanaticism and mutual distrust prevailing in the world.

The youth should read about the freedom struggle of the country and about leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Vallabhbhai Patel, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and B. R. Ambedkar among others, he said.

Also Read | Hindu Mahasabha Celebrates Gandhi's Death Anniversary as Godse-Apte Smriti Diwas; Confers 'Bharat Ratna' on Kalicharan Maharaj.

"Then only they will know the history and no one can mislead them."

The chief minister said the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi is the only effective solution to the problems arising from violence, hatred and terror.

Gehlot said that Mahatma Gandhi Sansthan and Gandhi Darshan Museum are being built in Jaipur to carry Mahatma Gandhi's teachings to the general public.

On the occasion, he also unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the premises of the Jhunjhunu district collectorate.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], January 30 (ANI): In a bid to spread awareness among voters on the importance of their votes ahead of Punjab Assembly Elections, the office of Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, on Sunday, through a Facebook live, unveiled its election mascot "Shera" depicting a lion.

On this occasion, five Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) were specially invited as guests of honour.

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Speaking on the launch, Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab, Dr S Karuna Raju, IAS, said that dressed in traditional Punjabi attire, the Election Mascot 'Shera' represents the rich cultural heritage of Punjab.

"Promoted under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) project, the mascot aims to increase voter awareness and participation in the elections to increase voter turnout and promote ethical voting," he said.

Also Read | Assam: Toddler Girl Drinks Milk From Elephant in Golaghat, Video Goes Viral.

As part of the SVEEP plan, posters, effigies and big sized cut-outs will be used of Election Mascot 'Shera' besides extensively disseminating voter awareness messages on social media. The aim is to particularly strike a chord with the youth of the state.

Raju further said that the voter awareness campaign has been conceived and executed keeping in mind the culture of Punjab and the preferences of voters.

Giving an instance, he said, "Nukkad Nataks and performances of theatre artistes enacting as 'Bhands' are widely shown across Punjab to establish strong connections with voters."

A special feedback drive headed by SVEEP Consultant Manpreet Aneja was undertaken to gauge the preferences of voters and as per the feedback received, the mascot was developed by Jasvinder Singh and Rahul Attreja, the designers engaged from C-DAC, Mohali for the SVEEP project.

Punjab will go to Assembly polls on February 20 and the counting of 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)
BBC World Service, January 28, 2022

By Yalda Hakim

Sheila Dost holds back tears as she tells me about the day she brought her two young children to demonstrate against Taliban restrictions on girls education.

I asked my children to put on burial shrouds and told them we may get killed today but we have to accept that because if it means itll bring some kind of change, then itll be worth it.

Before the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August, the mother of three was a teacher at a secondary school. But like millions of other female government workers, Sheila was ordered to stop going to work by the Talibans new Islamic Emirate.

She now sits at home, alongside her 12-year-old daughter, Mursal, who has been banned from attending school.

Sheila was 10 when the Taliban first came to power in the 1990s and says she doesnt want her daughter to be deprived of an education like she was.

I had so many hopes for my daughters future and for the future of my students. I cant look them in the eyes now because I feel Ive betrayed them. I always told them to have big dreams but that was a lie.

Sheila says she refuses to be erased from public life and will continue to fight for the rights of Afghan girls and women.

We cant just breathe, we have to live. We must now either live a dignified life or die for our country and for our basic human rights.

It is this steely determination that gives Sheila and a small band of women the courage to take to the streets protesting  risking beatings, arrest, or worse.

Some of the female protesters Ive spoken to tell me theyve had Taliban gunmen point weapons at them, pepper spray them and shout insults.

In the past week, there have been disturbing reports that two female activists, Tamana Paryani and Parwana Ibrahimkhel, have been abducted by the Taliban. The Taliban deny they were behind the detention of the women, whose whereabouts and well-being are unknown.

Their disappearance has sent a chill across Afghan civil society. One activist, Marzia, says she continues to receive threatening phone calls and now has no choice but to move from safe house to safe house.

Of course the Taliban wont admit theyve taken our friends. Theyve told us there will be consequences if we dont stop our protests.

The fearless young woman, who would only communicate with me via an encrypted phone app, says she wont stop demonstrating until Tamana and Parwana are released.

Female activists like Marzia remain defiant and are supported by the older generation of Afghan women who understand all too well the Talibans history of oppression.

Mahbooba Serajs name has become synonymous with the spirit of the Afghan people. On the day Kabul fell to the Taliban, she didnt head to the airport, she went straight to work.

The 73-year-old, who was forced to flee the country in 1978 following the Communist takeover  living in Manhattan for some time  returned to the country after the 2001 US-led invasion. This time, despite the risks, she wasnt going anywhere.

All of our achievements from the past 20 years, have been reversed, she told me.

Meeting the activist and seeing the spark in her eyes gave me hope and a realisation that the civil society that had blossomed in Afghanistan over the past 20 years was not dead.

Many have left the country and I dont blame them. The situation is not good but there are still many extraordinary women who are here and we will keep fighting, we wont give up, she said.

When the Taliban swept to power almost six months ago, they promised that they would protect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law. But many women tell me any hope they had that life would be different under Taliban 2.0 was quickly dashed.

Nothing symbolised the disappearance of womens rights in Afghanistan more than the shutting down of the Womens Ministry and the return of the dreaded Ministry for Vice and Virtue, tasked with enforcing the Talibans extreme interpretation of Islam.

From girls effectively being banned from secondary school to freedom of movement prevented for women without a male chaperone  womens lives are now being severely restricted as the Taliban moves to tighten their grip.

But despite the intimidation and dangers they face, many Afghan women, particularly the urban and educated, say they are unwilling to accept these new restrictions on their freedoms and will continue to fight.
New Delhi, January 30: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday slammed the Central Government for the increasing unemployment rate in the country and said that because of this, students are compelled to protest.

Taking to Twitter, the Wayanad MP shared a media report which states, "Unemployment reached a record level: 3.03 crore youth in the country do not have work. The unemployment rate is more than during the lockdown period."

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The report further said that the number of unemployed youths in the country has increased to 1.26 crore in just four years.

"These statistics show why students are compelled to take up Satyagraha. An arrogant person is still sitting with his eyes closed! #StudentsProtest #Unemployment," said the Congress leader in a tweet along with the media report.

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This comes amid the students protest over the alleged irregularities in Railway Recruitment Board's NTPC stage 1 exam results.

Students are protesting against the alleged irregularities in Railway Recruitment Board's exam in Bihar.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of the railway has also formed a high power committee to look into the concerns and doubts raised by job aspirants with regard to the results of the 1st Stage Computer Based Test (CBT) of Centralized Employment Notification (CEN) of Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) issued by Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) on January 14-15.

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.

Notably, the results of the RRB NTPC for the CBT-1 exam was released on January 15 for shortlisting the candidates for the CBT-2.

In view of the students' agitation 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.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Shahjahanpur (UP), Jan 30 (PTI) The nomination of Vaidyaraj Kishan, the Sanyukt Vikas Party candidate from Shahjahanpur Assembly constituency who hogged the limelight by wearing a PPE kit while filing his papers, was cancelled on Sunday.

As soon as he learned about the development, Kishan broke down at the collectorate and accused the officials of colluding with cabinet minister Suresh Khanna, who is also a candidate from the constituency.

Also Read | Punjab: 50-Year-Old Woman Found Dead Inside Her Home in Faridkot; Husband Missing.

The returning officer, however, said Kishan's nomination was rejected because of incomplete documents.

On January 25, Kishan had arrived at the returning officer's chamber to file his nomination papers wearing a PPE kit, holding sanitizer and thermal scanner.

Also Read | Rajasthan: 4 Including 3 Children Killed in Fire at Painting Material Packaging Unit in Jaipur.

On that day, he had alleged that the officials had stopped his proposer outside the chamber and hence could not complete the nomination procedure. He said he submitted the second set of papers the next day and completed the process.

Responding to Kishan's allegations against him, Parliamentary Affairs and Medical Education Minister Suresh Khanna told PTI, I am not even aware of the candidates from the seat and I don't know whose nomination has been rejected. Whatever allegations are levelled against me are completely baseless.

District Election Officer Devendra Pratap Singh said three notices were issued to Kishan asking him to furnish all documents. However, he failed to submit them.

He had filed incomplete documents, including the affidavit. So, his nomination has been cancelled, the officer said.

Kishan has had his deposits forfeited in all the 18 polls he has contested so far.

He had earlier said he would also file his nomination from Gorakhpur against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kasganj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 30 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that the state of Uttar Pradesh has seen rapid development in the tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which changed the VIP culture in the state to 'Every Person is Important' (EPI) culture.

"Uttar Pradesh has seen rapid development in last five years. Our government has changed the VIP culture into EPI- 'Every Person is Important' culture," said Singh while addressing the audience during a 'Prabhavi Matdaata Samvad' (effective voter dialogue) programme in Kasganj.

Also Read | Union Budget 2022: Expectations on Changes in Income Tax Slabs and Rates.

The minister said that the upcoming election is not only about forming a new government but also scripting the destiny of the state. He also lauded the work done by the Centre and the state government, both currently in hands of the BJP.

Singh claimed that there were no charges of corruption against BJP governments in the state and Centre while there were charges against the previous governments of Congress and Samajwadi Party at the Centre and state respectively.

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"There is no charge of corruption against our governments. It is not a small feat. Be it the previous Congress or Samajwadi Party government, they had allegations of corruption against them. I can proudly say that there are no such allegations against the Modi government at the Centre and Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh," he said.

Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls for its 403-member assembly in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. The counting of 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)
New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) The government may provide for targeted fiscal incentives and allocation of funds for promotion of green hydrogen in the country in Union Budget 2022-23, which is slated to be unveiled in Parliament on Tuesday.

The government launched National Hydrogen Mission in 2021. Earlier this month, Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh had indicated that a green hydrogen policy will be unveiled in February which would feature many incentives to boost green hydrogen in the country.

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"While 2021 saw the launch of National Hydrogen Mission, it is likely that the Budget may provide for targeted fiscal incentives for R&D in green hydrogen segment, creation of domestic supply chain for hydrogen and reduce customs duties on electrolysers to boost green hydrogen production," says Venkatesh Raman Prasad, Partner, J Sagar Associates (JSA).

Prasad is of the view that India's commitment at COP 26 of achieving net zero emissions by 2070 and meet 50 per cent of energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030 shows that the government intends to focus on cleaner sources of energy.

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Hemant Mallya, Senior Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) opines that green hydrogen has many industrial uses and can potentially decarbonise many hard-to-abate sectors, like the iron and steel industry.

He says that an outlay of Rs 1,200 crore by 2024 in the upcoming Budget could trigger pilots in various end-use applications such as testing green hydrogen readiness of natural gas pipelines, underground hydrogen storage, and pilots for equipment such as furnaces, boilers, and process heaters.

He suggests that another Rs 165 crore could support R&D, especially on catalysts and electrolyser membranes, finding substitutes for critical minerals, setting up testing labs and enforcing safety standards.

These investments would help indigenize green hydrogen production and use as an industrial fuel, he opines.

Davinder Sandhu, Co-founder & Chairman, Primus Partners says that electrolysers used to manufacture hydrogen at present are expensive and bringing down their cost will contribute to reducing the cost of green hydrogen.

This will enable the country to meet the target of establishing 10 gigawatt of domestic manufacturing capacity as well as making India a global leader in the sector, he opines.

In this regard, he suggests that the government should consider a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme which can support indigenization of electrolysers and scaling up of green hydrogen production at optimized cost.

Earlier this month, Union minister R K Singh had said a new green hydrogen policy will feature incentives like free power transmission for 25 years, dollar denominated bids, offer of land in renewable energy parks and land allocation near ports for creating bunkers for green hydrogen or ammonia.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
North Las Vegas, Jan 31 (AP) A six-vehicle crash killed nine people and left one person in critical condition in Nevada, and police are trying to determine if a driver was impaired before running a red light, causing the collision.

Las Vegas police said the driver and his passenger were among the dead after Saturday's crash and the ages of the other victims ranged from juveniles to middle-aged adults.

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They said the identities of the driver and the other eight people killed would be released by the Clark County coroner's office, but no timetable was given.

Two people were taken to a hospital where one died and the other was in critical condition, according to North Las Vegas police.

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In all, 15 people were involved in the crash.

We have not seen a mass casualty traffic collision like this before, police spokesman Alexander Cuevas said at a news conference. Cuevas said the crash was reported at 3 pm after the driver struck multiple vehicles, causing a chaotic event.

Some of the vehicles struck were pushed into a vacant lot on the intersection, which was reopened by Sunday afternoon.

Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families who are experiencing a tremendous and unnecessary loss due to a careless and senseless act, North Las Vegas Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown said.

Please make this a safer community by slowing down. Pay attention to speed limits, Cuevas said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it is coordinating an investigative team with North Las Vegas police.

On January 10, another six-vehicle crash just south of Las Vegas left four people dead.

According to authorities, 2021 was the deadliest on Nevada roads in 14 years. The state reported 382 traffic fatalities last year, an 18 per cent increase over 2020's total. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Pyongyang [North Korea], January 30 (ANI/Sputnik): North Korea launched an unidentified projectile in the direction of the Sea of Japan on Sunday, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reports.

Yonhap said citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) that the launch of the projectile toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) was announced in a text message sent to reporters. No further details were provided.

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Meanwhile, the Japanese coast guard warned of a possible missile launch by North Korea on Sunday morning, advising ships to exercise caution.

If the launch is officially confirmed, this will be the seventh test carried out by Pyongyang this year. (ANI/Sputnik)

Also Read | Queen Elizabeth II Wax Statue Left Bald Underneath Hat at Panoptikum Museum To Save Money.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 30 (ANI): The Peshawar High Court on Saturday has issued a written order to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ban "immoral content" shared on TikTok, a Chinese short-video app, local media reported.

According to the report presented by PTA, it has blocked 28.9 million videos from the app, while 1.4 million accounts are blocked for sharing immoral content, Geo News reported.

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The written order also stated that the young generation is "being inspired by immoral content shared on TikTok," adding that people who share immoral content are prosecuted but not punished which allows them to continue spreading such content, said the Pakistani media.

"PTA should make procedures to block the accounts of repeated violators," said the written order.

Also Read | Queen Elizabeth II Wax Statue Left Bald Underneath Hat at Panoptikum Museum To Save Money.

The PTA has blocked and restored the app several times during the last year on similar charges.

The first time TikTok was banned in Pakistan was in October 2020, However, the ban was lifted 10-day later after the company assured that it would block accounts "spreading obscenity". (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai, January 30: The Central agencies and the elite Q branch of the Tamil Nadu police are on high alert after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) used the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against three people in a fake passport case which was registered in the state in October 2021 by the Q branch.

The NIA registered the case after intelligence inputs regarding former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) trying to raise funds to support the activities of the now-defunct movement in Tamil Nadu.

A few former operatives of the banned terror outfit based out of Europe were trying to withdraw the unutilized funds of the LTTE from several accounts in India. The Q' branch had arrested a woman, Mary Francisco (51), who is a Sri Lankan national settled in Canada and who was used by the LTTE operatives from Denmark and Switzerland to withdraw the money from a Mumbai based bank using fake identities. The police had arrested her after a tip-off from central intelligence agencies with a fake Indian passport at Chennai airport.

The police also arrested a Sri Lankan national from Tiruchi airport and another person from Madurai airport and on questioning they tried to pass it off as just fake passport cases. However, acting on tip offs from the central agencies, the NIA took over the case in January 2022 and registered a case under the UAPA against the offenders as they were specifically deployed to withdraw unutilized funds of the LTTE and to try and revive the movement in Tamil Nadu. Jammu and Kashmir: JeM Commander Zahid Wani Among 5 Terrorists Killed in Twin Encounters Within 12 Hours.

Several organisations with a Tamil identity including NGOs were under the watch of the central agencies after they tried to conduct webinars and public programmes against the Chinese investments in Sri Lanka. Sources in the central agencies told IANS that these organisations could possibly provide a cover to get ground support for Tamil nationalism in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu at the expense of the Chinese expansion. The construction of a new port at Hambantotta in Sri Lanka with Chinese funding was becoming a matter of concern for Indian agencies.

Mary Francisco had told the intelligence agencies that she was staying at Anna Nagar since the past two years and had obtained a PAN card, Aadhar card, Voter Identity Card and Indian passport with the help of a few agents. She told the interrogators that crores of rupees in unutilized funds were lying in several banks. The modus operandi was to withdraw these funds using people like her with fake identities and to transfer this money to other accounts in India and abroad under the cover of some shell companies.

Sources in the intelligence agencies told IANS that the woman and two of her associates had tried to activate the mobile number linked to an account with a nationalized bank in Fort Branch, Mumbai. However the central intelligence agencies were tracking her movements and she was arrested.

Prior to this, a former intelligence operative of the LTTE, Satkunam alias Sabesan (47), was arrested by the NIA in October 2021 for alleged involvement in the smuggling of drugs and arms from Pakistan. The Tamil Nadu Q' branch police had said that Satkunam had a close relationship with the Sri Lankan don, Ankola Lokka who died in Coimbatore where he was staying undercover.

The NIA and the Q' branch had after interrogating Sabesan and his aides Chinnasuresh and Soundararajan found that the proceeds from the sale of drugs from Pakistan to Sri Lanka were routed to India through a hawala network operated by one Jayaprakash, a Tamil person based in Bengaluru. He was also arrested. The accused had informed the investigating agencies that the funds were used to finance LTTE activities in India.

With the LTTE setting up its network using hawala transactions and drug money, and with some NGOs and political organizations acting as a front, a revival of Tamil nationalism is being planned in Tamil Nadu with the LTTE as the key focal point. This is a worrying factor for the Indian intelligence agencies as the government does not want any banned organization working against a foreign government from its soil.

Sources in the Indian agencies told IANS that there would be a strict crackdown on the sympathizers and supporters of the defunct LTTE and other Tamil national movements if they try to create an atmosphere of support for the cause on Indian soil against the Sri Lankan government.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 30, 2022 09:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been deployed to deliver essential supplies to flood-stricken parts of South Australia (SA).@ComdtADFA



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Canada, January 30: Canada and US recently passed a Cross-Country COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The vaccine mandate requires truckers returning from the United States to show proof of vaccination. Following this, hundreds of truckers on Saturday drove their trucks into the Canadian capital Ottawa to protest against the mandate.

The so-called Freedom Convoy started out as a rally of truckers against a vaccine requirement for cross-border drivers, but turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic with a strong anti-vaccination streak, reported Reuters. Anti-Vaccine Protests Erupt In Australian Cities Of Perth, Melbourne.

Due to security concerns, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family have left the home in Ottawa, the CBC reported. The protestors were seen carrying the Canadian flag upside down, banners, and chanted slogans against PM Justin Trudeau and the COVID-19 Mandate. Later, the truckers were joined by those critical of Canada's pandemic restrictions in general. Protestors compared vaccine mandates to fascism. Vaccine Mandate: From Austria to Germany And More, Countries That Have Made COVID-19 Vaccines Mandatory.

The protest originated last week in western Canada, where dozens of truckers organized a convoy to drive from Vancouver to Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 related restrictions. The protest rapidly gained mass as the original convoy was joined by others en-route to the national capital.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 30, 2022 12:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Xi extends Spring Festival greetings to all Chinese, stressing unity, hard work for shared future

EditorHuang Panyue Time2022-01-30 23:39:29

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses a Chinese Lunar New Year reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2022. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council held the reception on Sunday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, on behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, extended Spring Festival greetings to all Chinese Sunday at a reception in Beijing.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at the gathering at the Great Hall of the People, greeting Chinese people of all ethnic groups, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese.

This year's Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Feb. 1.

Xi said all the achievements made by the Party and the people in the past 100 years are attributed to unity and hard work, which is the most remarkable spiritual symbol of the CPC and the Chinese people.

"As long as the 1.4 billion Chinese people always stay united and the 95 million CPC members always stay close to the people for a shared future, we will surely be able to continue creating impressive miracles on the new journey ahead," Xi noted.

Party and state leaders Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan were present at the reception. Li Keqiang presided over the event.

Xi said that the year 2021 witnessed remarkable progress for the Party and the country, listing major events including the celebration of the CPC centenary, the adoption of the third historical resolution in the Party's 100 years of history, the victory in the fight against poverty, the attainment of the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and the start of a new journey to fully build a modern socialist China.

Last year, China maintained its leading position in the world in terms of both economic development and COVID-19 control, Xi said. He cited China's progress in its high-quality development, capabilities in strategic science and technology, reform and opening-up, and people's well-being.

Xi said comprehensive plans had been made for China to reach its carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

Xi also noted that order in Hong Kong had been restored, and more efforts were made to combat separatist forces and facilitate reunification.

China's major-country diplomacy had also been advanced, Xi added.

The country's overall social stability had been well maintained, and the 14th Five-Year Plan period got off to a good start, Xi said.

"No matter what twists and turns or challenges we may face, we must carry forward the CPC's great founding spirit, and keep in mind that one thrives in adversity and perishes in laxity," Xi said.

"We ought to have a long-term perspective, be prepared for potential dangers even in times of calm, and maintain strong unity and work hard, so as to keep driving forward the great cause of national rejuvenation," he emphasized.

Xi said the CPC will convene its 20th national congress in the second half of 2022 to review the last five years of work and draw the development blueprint for the period to come.

Stressing concrete actions for the congress, Xi urged efforts to advance reform and opening-up across the board, promote high-quality development, and ensure and improve the people's well-being.

The focus should be on maintaining a stable and healthy economy, a safe and peaceful society, and a political ecosystem featuring honesty and integrity, Xi added.

Noting that the new year is the Year of the Tiger, Xi said traditional Chinese culture sees the tiger as the king of animals and a symbol of strength, bravery and fearlessness, urging people to write a new chapter of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

With the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics just around the corner, the Chinese people are fully prepared to present a streamlined, safe and splendid gathering for the world, Xi said, offering his best wishes to athletes from home and abroad.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses a Chinese Lunar New Year reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2022. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council held the reception on Sunday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, waves as he attends a Chinese Lunar New Year reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2022. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council held the reception on Sunday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan attend a Chinese Lunar New Year reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 30, 2022. The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council held the reception on Sunday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
An allocation of 175,161 is on its way to Laois to the implementation of Creative Ireland initiatives in Laois.

This funding is part of a 6.6 million investment in local authorities throughout the country that will support creative projects that will connect people, creativity and wellbeing in 2022. The Creative Ireland Programme is committed to the vision that every person in their community should have the opportunity to realise their full creative potential.

During 2021 in Laois, the Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity Team delivered 39 projects.

With support from the Laois Heritage Office the Know Your Locality Course for Laois was launched to enable the people of County Laois to find out more about the heritage of their county. This free online course was delivered in September 2021 by Irish Heritage School and provided participants with the resources to paint a picture of the geological, archaeological, and historical events that happened in their community. While the course did examine examples from throughout Ireland, it also focused on the geology, archaeology and history of Laois.

In 2021 Laois also celebrated the extraordinary life of Mountmellick native, Anne Jellicoe who was born in 1823 into a Quaker family. A video-mapped animation of her life was projected onto the front wall of Mountmellick Community School as part of Culture Night 2021. This animation work was created by artist Caroline Conway and illuminated the significance of Jellicoe's historical achievements and contemporary relevance to Laois.

Since the Creative Ireland Programme was launched in 2017, it has received investment of 21 million from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. This has enabled local authorities to deliver over 5,700 community-led creative projects to support their respective Culture and Creativity Strategies 2018-2022 along with the flagship Cruinniu na nOg  the national day of free creativity for children and young people that takes place in June.

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O Brien TD, announced the funding.

Minister Martin said: I am very pleased to continue to support the excellent work undertaken by local authorities on behalf of the Creative Ireland Programme. Every Creative Ireland project delivered by our local authority teams harnesses the creative potential of our people and their communities. Their work is the cornerstone of the Creative Ireland Programme and brings together local expertise in arts, heritage, libraries, enterprise and community engagement in a meaningful and inspired way.

"As we emerge from the last two years, I know that they will once again deliver creative programmes that can build resilience, foster personal confidence and sustain their communities, she said.

For an overview of projects in Laois please go to https://www.creativeireland.gov.ie/en/laois/
Some children are losing the ability to walk because of lengthy waiting lists for orthopaedic intervention for children with Spina Bifida and/or Hydracephalus according to Cllr Mary Bohan.

Addressing the January Council meeting, Cllr Bohan said that parents of children requiring intervention were seriously concerned about the length of waiting lists.

She brought forward a motion calling on the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, to put measures in place to deal with children who are on long waiting lists and are suffering from Spina Bifida and/or Hydracephalus.

These children are in urgent need of Orthopaedic intervention, she said adding this is a matter of urgency.

This is a very serious issue, she stressed. Some of these children are losing the ability to walk because of the lack of intervention.

The Fianna Fail councillor said this was especially concerning as Ireland has one of the highest rates of Spina Bifida in the world.

She added that while a lot of blame was being leveled on delays caused by the pandemic or the hacking of the HSE, Cllr Bohan pointed out that in 2014 a report found that only 46% of children requiring this intervention had access to Temple Street services and not all of these children with access were seen annually.

She acknowledged there has been some improvement since 2014 but said that this is not adequate.

She stressed that early intervention is needed to give children the best outcomes in terms of developing and retaining the ability to walk.

Noting the money she says has been wasted on the provision of a new children's hospital and with a 100 non-means tested rebate now being proposed on household electricity bills, this money could be better spent in trying to ensure we alleviate the waiting list for orthopaedic services for children.

Cllr Brendan Barry backed her call for investment in these services noting a lot of children with Spina Bifida and/or Hydracephalus can be operated on but if this is delayed then children can get to a point where they are no longer able to operate and those children have lost the chance to walk.

Cllr Des Guckian and Cllr Paddy O'Rourke also backed the call for greater investment in these services.
Irelands foreign affairs minister has said that Russia is to move its planned military drills outside the countrys exclusive economic zone.

Simon Coveney said today (January 29) he has received assurances from his Russian counterpart that the drills will not take place off the south-west coast of Ireland.

The artillery drills were to take place at the start of February in international waters, but within Irish-controlled airspace and the countrys exclusive economic zone.

The planned drills had caused considerable upset and controversy in Ireland.

Mr Coveney tweeted: This week I wrote to my counterpart, the Minister of Defence of Russia, to request a reconsideration of naval exercises off the Irish coast.

This evening I received a letter confirming the Russian exercises will be relocated outside of Irelands EEZ.

I welcome this response.

In a statement, the Russian ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov said: In response to the requests from the Irish government as well as from the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu has made a decision.

This week I wrote to my counterpart, the Minister of Defence of Russia, to request a reconsideration of naval exercises off the Irish coast. This evening I received a letter confirming the Russian exercises will be relocated outside of Irelands EEZ. I welcome this response.  Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) January 29, 2022

As a gesture of goodwill, to relocate the exercises by the Russian Navy, planned for February 3 to 8, outside the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ), with the aim not to hinder fishing activities by the Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas.

Irish fishermen had planned to travel to the area to disrupt the Russian naval plans in a bid to protect their fishing stock.

Representatives of the Irish fishing industry met the Russian ambassador to Ireland on Thursday, later claiming to have been a given a guarantee that their fishing grounds will not be affected by the navy exercises.

That claim was partially disputed by a spokesperson for the Russian embassy, who said it was not true that an agreement had been reached on buffer zones in the area for fishing boats.

The Department of Transport had also issued a marine notice that the Russian navy was set to carry out manoeuvres off the south-west coast of Ireland from next Thursday.

It is not known where the naval exercises will now take place.
Relatives of those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday have taken part in a remembrance walk to mark the 50th anniversary of the atrocity.

The event is one of a series taking place over the weekend in Derry.

Thirteen 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.



Families in the Creggan area of Derry before the remembrance walk (Brian Lawless/PA)

While many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday, his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour.

On Sunday, the crowd gathered at Creggan Shops before making their way to the Bloody Sunday Monument in Rossville Street The President of Ireland Michael D Higgins was due to 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 Millennium Forum Theatre.



A man with flowers at the Bloody Sunday memorial in Derry (Brian Lawless/PA)

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.

The forum will fall silent on Sunday at the precise time when 50 years earlier paratroopers opened fire on civil rights marchers in the Bogside.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said: Today we remember the 14 innocent people who were killed in Derry 50 years ago on Bloody Sunday.



Flowers at a memorial ahead of the Bloody Sunday 50th anniversary (Brian Lawless/PA)

The events of that day cast a long shadow over the city and the country that many are still dealing with today.

We salute the courage and perseverance of the victims and their families who have campaigned tirelessly for justice and who continue to do so today.

Their tenacity serves as an example to other Troubles-related victims to never give up the fight for justice.

We pledge to honour the memory of those who died on Bloody Sunday by standing with all victims of the Troubles and continuing to work for permanent peace on our shared island.
The death has occurred of Mary Quinlivan (nee Callinan), Iona Drive, North Circular Road, Limerick and formerly of Fortfergus, Ballynacally, Co. Clare.

Peacefully in the loving care of the Doctors and staff of St. John's Hospital. Deeply regretted by her loving husband Brian, brothers Tom and Paddy, sisters in law, brothers in law, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, extended family members, neighbours and a wide circle of friends.

May She Rest in Peace.

Arriving at The Holy Rosary Church, Ennis Road, Limerick, for Funeral Mass on Tuesday (1st February), at 11 o'clock. Burial afterwards in Drumcliffe Cemetery, Ennis. The Mass can be viewed on https://www.ourladyoftherosaryparishlimerick.ie/web-cam/ webcam.

No flowers please.

Messages of sympathy can be left in the Condolence section below.

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The death has occurred of Gerard (Gerry) Fitzsimons, Beechwood Drive, Greystones, Limerick; Ardfert, Kerry and late of Shannon Airport Police.

Gerry died peacefully at his home in Kerry. Beloved husband of Sheila for 55 years and dearest father of Rosaleen, Gearoid and the late Brid and Marisa. Deeply regretted by his loving wife & family, son-in-law Peter, grandchildren Brianna, Sean, Fionn, Aoibhe and Daire, nephews, nieces, neighbours, relatives and friends.

Rest in Peace.

Reposing at Griffins Funeral Home, Johns Gate, Limerick on Tuesday (Feb 1st ) from 4:30 to 6pm. Removal to Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Ennis Road on Wednesday (Feb. 2nd) to arrive for 11am Mass, which will be live streamed HERE

Funeral afterwards to Abbey (New) Cemetery, Ardfert, Co. Kerry (arr. 2pm approx.)

Family flowers only, donations if desired to Tralee Hospital, Palliative Care Team.

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The death has occurred of Maureen Cpwhey (nee O'Carrol), Mayorstone, Limerick City.

Maureen passed away peacefully at Milford Care Centre.

Predeceased by her loving husband Des and daughter Carol.

Loving mother to Meave, Noel, Brian & Desmond. Deeply regretted by her son-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sister Angela, extended family and friends.

Rest in Peace

Arriving at St. Lelias church on Tuesday 1st February for Requiem Mass at 2pm. Mass will be live streamed HERE

Funeral afterwards to Mount St. Lawrence Extension Cemetery.

Maureens funeral cortege will pass her home at 1.45 pm approx.

No flowers please; donations if desired to Alzheimers Society of Ireland

Click here to donate online.

Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the rip.ie condolences section (below), through the death notices section of our website: www.griffinfunerals.com or by post to Griffins Funeral Home.

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To leave a message of condolence, please click here
LIMERICK firefighters have rescued a third person from the River Shannon in the last number of weeks.

The most recent incident took place on Thursday morning in the city. It is understood the members of Limerick and Fire Rescue Service were carrying out training exercises on the Shannon when a male entered the water.

The man, aged in his 30s, was quickly taken onboard the rescue boat and brought to safety. They were supported by gardai and ambulance personnel who took the male to University Hospital Limerick.

Any injuries sustained are not thought to be life threatening. This is the third such incident that the Limerick Leader is aware of in a matter of weeks.

The first rescue by Limerick firefighters took place on December 29. The second was last Sunday, January 23.

If you have been affected by the preceding story contact any of the following organisations.

Samaritans: 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org

Aware: 1800 80 48 48

Pieta: 01 601 0000 or email mary@pieta.ie
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THE LIMERICK Lifelong Learning Festival is returning with its first in person events in two years.

The theme of this years festival is Learn Something New in 2022 and will be held from May 23 to 29.

Celebrating its 12th anniversary, this years festival marks a celebration of lifelong learning and promotes learning in Limerick through a wide variety of creative, enjoyable and informative events.

Learning Limerick is now accepting submissions from event organisers wishing to take part in the festival.

Learning Limerick is looking forward to returning to in-person events this year and having a hybrid festival, including both face-to-face and online events.

Speaking at the launch of this years festival theme, Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Daniel Butler said: I invite everyone to take on this learning challenge.

"What are you going to learn this year? Perhaps take up a new hobby or skill? And further your lifelong learning journey. Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival has something for everyone.

"The festival offers a range of activities that includes dance, art, health and science, business and developing career options.

He continued: Many festival events are held in local communities. In many cases, it is these learning events hosted in local neighbourhoods and familiar surroundings that can offer learners the opportunity to take that vital first step back into education and learning.

"Whether you are learning to develop skills or to grow your career, the festival celebrates lifelong learning and can have a real impact on both your professional and personal development.

Eimear Brophy, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, and Chair of Learning Limerick said: As proud members of UNESCOs Global Network of Learning Cities, we are delighted to be holding our 12th annual Lifelong Learning Festival in May this year.

"As a Learning City-Region we want to encourage and promote lifelong learning to all our citizens across all age groups and sectors throughout the region.

"The importance of learning throughout life for all individuals is vital if we are to meet the challenges of a workplace environment that is changing dramatically.
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Since New York states ban on most evictions ended this month the pace of evictions has been slow, as tenant attorneys work to delay cases in court and the governor requested more federal aid for rental assistance.

Tens of thousands of tenants are at risk of having to leave their homes because of unpaid rent since New Yorks 22-month ban expired two weeks ago. The federal eviction moratorium ended last year.

New York City landlords entered 231 eviction filings in the week after the state moratorium expired, according to court records analyzed by the Eviction Lab, a research group at Princeton University. That was about one-tenth the number of eviction filings during the week before the moratorium began in March of 2020.

Some pandemic safeguards and local laws have delayed evictions for many of the states delinquent tenants, as they have in a number of cities across the country. Tenant attorneys across the state are also filing a flurry of new court motions to try to fend off evictions or to buy tenants more time.

Those procedures and protections can only temporarily delay the eviction process. Many renters owe five-figure sums. Some New York lawmakers and housing advocates say that unless tenants get access to additional rental-assistance funds, a wave of evictions looks inevitable.

Statewide, there are nearly 230,000 active eviction cases that can begin to proceed, according to tracking by the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition, after being effectively blocked by eviction bans for nearly two years because of the pandemic.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday requested an additional $1.6 billion from the Treasury Department to pay rent for these tenants.

A Treasury spokeswoman said there was limited funding left in the federal program for states, and that Treasury is encouraging local governments to use other federal funds to shore up their assistance programs.

New York, which has one of the countrys largest renter populations, is one of the last states to end its local eviction moratorium. The last remaining state with a local eviction ban is in New Mexico, and state officials plan to start phasing it out next month.

New York received more than $2 billion of federal rental assistance to keep tenants from falling behind on rent payments. The state was slow to start the assistance program last year, after lawmakers took months to decide how it would operate. But by November, the state spent all this aid, leaving 174,000 tenants who applied without any funding, according to state figures.

State officials have said New York could use some of its $2 billion in pandemic recovery reserves for housing. But it would likely be months before that money would become available, since the funds are tied to the states annual budget process.

Tenants can still apply for assistance funds, and they can use the application as a defense in court against eviction. As of Thursday, 8,700 New Yorkers have applied for rental assistance since the end of the moratorium, according to New Yorks Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

Jay Martin, executive director for the Community Housing Improvement Program, a landlord trade group, said many New York City evictions were already a two-month process or longer before the pandemic and will now likely take even more time. He favors more federal or state assistance.

At least in New York City, we know theyre not going to be evicted in the immediate future. So lets work to solve the problem, which is the debt accumulation," he said.

Jooyeon Lee, director of the housing unit at Brooklyn Legal Services, is among the attorneys trying to keep tenants in their homes. To prevent the eviction of Michelle Bernard, a 52-year-old home health aide who said she is behind on her rent because of work lost during the pandemic, Ms. Lee is filing a new rental assistance application with the state on her clients behalf.

Once that application is in, Ms. Bernard will be protected from eviction, but obtaining money is a process that could take weeks or months. If her debts are eventually covered, she would then be in the clear, as long she doesnt fall behind payments again in the future.
A man claimed he had friends in the Sheriffs Office and Texas DPS when a woman tried calling 911 on him for sexually assaulting her, according to an arrest affidavit.

Francisco Lanzagorta-Perez, 50, was charged with two counts of sexual assault.

At about 6:03 a.m. Thursday, Webb County Sheriffs Office deputies responded to a report of a distressed woman hiding in a restroom due to a sexual assault attempt in the 100 block of Vaqueta Road, off of Las Tiendas Road.

Deputies said they encountered a crying woman who had her eyes swollen and had difficulty to speak. The woman, 23, stated that a friend, Lanzagorta-Perez, had attempted to sexually assault her. She stated that after consuming multiple alcoholic beverages at a party, Lanzagorta-Perez offered the mobile home to sleep it off.

She stated she awoke when she felt her blue jeans getting pulled down. She then saw Lanzagorta-Perez attempting to take off her jeans, according to court documents. When she told him she would call 911, Lanzagorta-Perez stated he had friends in the Sheriffs Office and Texas DPS, in (an) attempt to make her feel helpless by calling 911, states the affidavit.

She still called 911 while Lanzagorta-Perez simultaneously called a friend of his, according to court documents. The woman then went inside the restroom while Lanzagorta-Perez exited the mobile home and left in his vehicle.

Deputies located Lanzagorta-Perez in the 100 block of Appaloosa. He allegedly admitted to drinking beer with the woman. He claimed they drank about an 18-pack of beer. Lanzagorta-Perez further stated that the woman fell asleep on a chair. He then picked her up and put her in bed. He stated she called 911 when he took off her boots.

Lanzagorta-Perez advised deputies he fled the scene so she could sleep it off, states the affidavit.

Further investigation revealed that Lanzagorta-Perez had sexually assaulted the woman twice, the Sheriffs Office said.
One of Laredos leaders is now at the helm of the Texas Commission on Special Education.

Earlier this week, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick named District 21 State Sen. Judith Zaffirini and two others to lead the commission that supervises the special education commission in which opportunities for increased funding and the development of programs for schools can be developed.

I am delighted that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appointed me to the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding, especially because issues affecting persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been my passion since I was the 15-year-old president of Laredos All-City Student Council, Zaffirini said. Laredoan Fermin de la Garza invited me to a meeting of the parents of children who have these conditions and asked me to raise funds for them citywide. Our very successful fundraising piqued my interest in advocating for persons with disabilities, and I continue to champion their priorities in the Texas Senate.

Zaffirini was one of the three appointed to the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding along with Sen. Paul Bettencourt of Houston and Sen. Angela Paxton of McKinney.

Special education is instrumental to Texas future, and I am certain that Sens. Bettencourt, Paxton and Zaffirini will use their years of experience to make the best recommendations on how to fund public special education in our state, Patrick said.

According to Zaffirini, the position will enable her to help assess the state of special education funding in Texas by identifying areas for improvement and recommending funding. She points out she does have the intention to increase funding into this area of education.

By increasing funding, she says state assistance can ensure teachers and administrators have the training and support they need to run programs effectively for students.

Every student in Texas public schools deserves an excellent education, including those in special education, Zaffirini said. These students often require different accommodations which, unfortunately, are not always available because of lack of funding.

It is due to this that the state senator has very clear goals on what she wants to do in efforts to achieve what she wants for the special education sector of the state. Her main effort is to help increase the efforts of current law and induce funding allowing the programs to be available to all students as much as possible.

I will prioritize ensuring every Texas school is in full compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act, which ensures students with disabilities receive free and appropriate public education tailored to their individual needs and provide equal opportunities for disadvantaged students, including those in special education programs, Zaffirini said. This simply cannot be achieved without state assistance, and it's our job to set our public school teachers and students up for success.

Zaffirini says she would also work to see what programs or assistance can be provided to special education students who graduate and then leave state schooling and tend to not continue their educational goals.

Whether students with IDDs choose to pursue a higher education or to enter the workforce after being graduated from high school, they deserve help in building a secure and independent future, Zaffirini said. This requires funding higher education programs for students with disabilities and helping them find competitive, integrated employment.

Zaffirini says her Senate Bill 50, which the Texas Legislature passed last year, directs the Health and Human Services Commission to develop a process to evaluate the opportunities and services available to persons with disabilities who are enrolled in any Medicaid waiver program.

According to her office, the program is severely underutilized despite 80% of persons with disabilities in Texas being unemployed.

Creating these programs is not enough, we also must ensure they're accessible and available to anyone who may need them, she said.

Zaffirini says these changes are needed in special education in the state as special education has not improved in the past few years.

Unfortunately, Texas does not always provide necessary services for students with disabilities, Zaffirini said. In January 2018, the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs reported that the Texas Education Agency failed to identify and evaluate all children with disabilities and to ensure free and appropriate public education was made available to all persons between the ages of three and 21 who have disabilities.

Five years later, these problems persist. Fortunately, I'm confident this commission will encourage additional improvements to help the state comply with federal law and to give students the education they need.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
A man who sustained multiple stab wounds in a "brutal and stomach-churning" feud related attack in Longford town three years ago has told of how the incident has effectively left him a prisoner in his own home.

Daniel Lawrence was airlifted to Tallaght Hospital after being set upon outside Aldi, Longford Retail Park, Townspark, Athlone Road, Longford on April 1, 2019.

Siblings Kevin Stokes Jnr (29) and Chantelle Stokes (20), both of Lisnanagh, Edgeworthstown both pleaded guilty to Section 3 assault causing harm as a result of the incident.

The court heard gardai were called to the scene shortly after 2pm where they found Mr Lawrence with an open wound to the right side of his head along with lacerations to his ear, forearm, upper arm as well as a deep laceration to his torso.

State counsel Shane Geraghty BL, said the incident stemmed from a lingering sense of dissatisfaction the Stokes family harboured in relation to Mr Lawrence entering into a relationship with Kate Stokes, a sister of both of the accused.

The court was told Mr Lawrence had given change to his partner for a trolley when the defendants' mother, Margaret Stokes approached, shouting at her daughter: 'You've some cheek pulling your father on stories'.

It was at that stage, it was revealed Ms Stokes slapped her daughter across the face, leading Mr Lawrence to shout: 'Don't touch her'.

Seconds later, Mr Geraghty said Chantelle Stokes produced a can of deodorant, spraying Mr Lawrence in the face as Mr Stokes Jnr proceeded to assault Mr Lawrence.

The victim was airlifted to hospital and was later referred to St James' Hospital in Dublin for plastic surgery.

The court also heard Mr Stokes Jnr who it was revealed in court had been the "knife man" on the day, had been on bail at the time of the offence, having been sentenced to a two year prison term, suspended for five years in May 2016 for an unrelated Section 3 assault charge.

It also emerged the father of two who was charged in September 2019 later fled the jurisdiction before returning to Ireland and surrendering himself in August 2021 where he was placed into custody.

The court was further told Chantelle Stokes, aged 17 at the time of the incident was put forward as a patsy to take the bulk of the blame for any ensuing charges that may follow.

Judge Johnson said the revelation was one he found hard to fathom.

It's an extraordinary state of affairs where a mother would stand over a daughter to make admissions of knifing somebody which she clearly didn't do, he said.

In the witness box, Detective Sergeant Keelan Brennan disagreed with assertions put to him that the incident resulted out of a feud between two rivalling families which threatened to get out of control.

Instead, the long serving garda said the episode sparked a number of unsavoury incidents thereafter including three suspected arson attacks on vehicles parked outside members of the Lawrence family.

Asked if there was ill feeling between both families now, Detective Sgt Brennan agreed, suggesting an offer of mediation was all but futile at this stage.

There is obvious tensions, he said.

I think it's gone beyond that (mediation) and I think it would be very difficult for the two families to ever reconcile.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Lawrence said the incident had left him in constant fear.

"I have never been the same mentally since the attack," he said, revealing the episode had caused him untold stress and physiological trauma.

"I was a very confident person up until the attack. Now I look in the mirror and I don't want to go out.

"These scars will always remind me of that brutal, vicious attack."

Mr Lawrence said the repercussions from the attacks have had far reaching effects on his own immediate family.

I have the worry of my mother visiting me every day, checking on me to see if I am all right.

This has had a big impact on her, my family and my partner.

The 31-year-old Longford man also told of how the psychological effects of the incident have caused untold strain on his relationship with his future wife.

We were getting married and we had a date set, but I keep putting the wedding on hold as I cannot cope, he said.

It's hard on my girlfriend as I feel safer indoors.

The court heard how both defendants had written letters of apology to Mr Lawrence, both of which the victim and his family rejected as insincere.

In a letter read out by Chantelle Stokes, she said there was no calculated planning on her part for what unfolded.

I wrote this letter to say sorry, she said.

I never set out that day to do anything. I was annoyed at you for taking Kate away from us.

I want to say sorry to you and to Kate. I miss her.

Ms Stokes' defence counsel, John Shortt SC, asked the court to seek a probation and welfare report, saying the now 20-year-old was effectively a child at the time of the offence.

He said the saga was a sad reflection on Longford town given that it took place in broad daylight and in front of members of the public.

He said her desire to pursue a career in childcare was commendable and indicative of someone who wished to steer clear of trouble going forward.

She is trying to put this phase of her life behind her, he said.

I submit she can go on and be a contributing member to society.

Defence counsel for Mr Stokes, Niall Flynn BL, read out a letter written to Mr Lawrence on behalf of his client.

In it, Mr Stokes expressed desire to consign the events of April 1, 2019 to the past in the hope both families could, at some stage, put their differences behind them.

It should never have happened, he said.

At the end of the day, we are family.

You are with my sister and I now realise there are no winners in family feuds.

All I can do is apologise.

Mr Stokes said he was aware of the likely judicial sanction which his actions on the day would likely bring, adding: I have learnt the hard way from my mistakes.

Mr Flynn, in putting forward a lengthy submission of mitigation to the court, said there was little he could say to dilute the seriousness of what ultimately occurred.

He did, nonetheless, contend the incident was in no way premeditated but rather a spontaneous occurrence that quickly spilled out of control.

He said Mr Stokes' decision to go forward to the circuit court on a signed guilty plea had, in no small way, aided the State in following through with the case.

Mr Flynn said while his client's lengthy list of previous convictions made for horrendous reading he was a man and a father who had already spent considerable time in custody away from his partner and two young children.

He does accept he was the knife man and he should receive significant credit for coming forward on a signed guilty plea despite whether the court may find that self serving, he said.

Mr Flynn added that while Mr Stokes was acceptive of a likely custodial sentence, it was imperative the court afforded him light at the end of the tunnel

Like an earlier admission on behalf of Mr Lawrence, Judge Keenan Johnson said he too took a "very jaundiced" view of both defendants' apologies, describing the incident as "savage, brutal and stomach-churning".

He said: "I am absolutely satisfied it's (incident) ,at the zenith of a section 3 assault and would certainly qualify as a section 4 assault.

He remanded Mr Stokes Jnr in custody and Ms Stokes on continuing bail until a sitting of Longford Circuit Criminal Court on February 2 for sentencing.
Well known author Seamus McRory, a native of Lissan parish, south Derry, has taught in a number of Longford schools and has lived in the county for many years and he is deeply involved with Longford Slashers GAA club.

He was a founder member of the SDLP, leaving active politics in the mid 70s. His sixth book, Born to Lead was published in 2019.

Ballymurphy remembered with affection On May 11, 2021 the Honourable Mrs Justice Keegan presided as Coroner over the inquests into the deaths of ten persons arising from incidents that occurred between August 9 and August 11 at Ballymurphy in West Belfast, almost 50 years earlier in 1971.

In his book 'The Dove of Peace', published in 2013, Seamus wrote a trilogy of prose poems around his memories of Bloody Sunday, which he describes as an 'awful time in Irish and Derry history'.

The poems were entitled 'The March', 'The Funeral' and 'Vindicated'.

In 'The Funeral', Seamus recalls the train journey from Belfast to Derry and back again on the poignant occasion of the funeral of the Bloody Sunday victims which he attended in the company of three other young teaching colleagues from the school he was teaching in at the time.

Seamus started his teaching career in St Aidans Christian Brothers Primary School on the Whiterock Road in Belfast. He recalls, "From 1969 onwards owing to increasing civil unrest, sectarian killings and mass destruction of properties, the everyday quality of life for everyone gradually worsened, allowing for very little normal social interaction."

THE FUNERAL

by Seamus McRory

Sitting, silently, uneasily in an old battered railway carriage

From Belfast to Derry,

We journeyed to Irelands most discriminated city

On its saddest, most poignant occasion.



The previous evening thirteen coffined young men

Were brought from their devastated homes,

Along winding lamp lit pathways,

In solemn, separate processions to St Marys Church in Creggan.



All night large crowds from Derry, Donegal, Tyrone and beyond

Came to pay their prayerful respects,

To a truly courageous group of innocent men,

Cruelly cut down in the prime of life.



The panoramic view of the River Foyle

Nestled snugly beneath the church when we arrived at the hilltop.

Thousands of worried, tearful mourners thronged the nearby rain-laden streets

On that cold, dismal February morning.



All Nationalist Ireland, official and ordinary,

Were there in massive numbers.

Most others were then either unable or unwilling

To appreciate the intensity of the communal hurt felt by their fellow citizens.



Thirteen identical coffins, placed side by side,

Facing the altar in the churchs sanctuary

Was an overwhelming, disconcerting experience,

Too difficult to accept, too emotional to control.



Why, oh why, had anyone been asked

To bear such a huge personal burden?

Why, oh why, did a continuously downtrodden community

Have to suffer such humiliation, such tragedy?



Though entirely incidental,

The beautiful liturgical music of the Requiem Mass

Blended perfectly with the natural and incremental weeping of the bereaved

As the ceremony unfolded.



When the roll call of the deceased was read

We realised, for the first time, the vast significance of what had happened.

Suddenly, an eerie silence descended as priests and people

United in spiritual recollection.



The finality of death was never so stark, never so heartbreaking

As the haunting, lyrical strains of Nearer My God To Thee

Accompanied the mortal remains of the victims

On their last trip - to the cemetery.



We returned to the train station for our homeward journey.

Cold in body and colder in spirit.

Somewhere between Coleraine and Ballymoney

The future of our troubled land became crystal clear.



A catalytic moment had arrived.

No one who could have prevented all of this

Really understood the complexities,

The various challenges of the orange and the green, the differences between Britain and Ireland.



The course of the conflict was now altered, irretrievably

And not for the better.

Violence and counter violence, not consultation and consensus,

Would be the more likely future scenario.



Many more years of terrible tragedies, appalling atrocities surely awaited.

Before people of real vision could emerge

To mend broken hearts, change contrasting minds

In the process of uniting a divided people.
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.
Longford County Council held a public information session on a feasibility study with local stakeholders last week in response to Just Transition.

The session presented the study scope, its objectives, and its preliminary findings to date.

The online event, on Wednesday, January 26, was the first in a series of public information sessions taking place throughout 2022 on the project.

KPMG Sustainable Futures and technical partners, Ixora Energy and SLR Consulting conducted the study on behalf of Longford County Council to explore the potential opportunities to sustain the local economy in response to the Just Transition process.

It is funded through the Just Transition Fund and the Carbon Tax Fund by the Government of Ireland.

Longford County Council engaged KPMG in late 2021, to examine how communities, industries and enterprises can develop more sustainable methods and materials in the county, generating a circular economy, in the wake of the closure of peat industrial production and peat fuelled power stations.

The closures created significant challenges for impacted employees and communities across the Midlands.

The national Just Transition programme is investigating ways in which alternative enterprises, green energy and a circular economy may contribute to Irelands targets to cut emissions and waste while increasing resource efficiencies and local opportunities.

As part of Longfords response to Just Transition, this study is exploring how the local community, enterprises and farmers may interact with, and benefit from, opportunities arising from Irelands transition to a green economy.

Stakeholders were invited to offer feedback and help identify how the local circular economy may be shaped across Longford, particularly in those areas most impacted by peat closures.
Arts & Culture

By Ls Cohen Published: January 30 2022

Town of Smithtown received a NYS grant to help with the survey.

In the 1700s Caleb Smith, great grandson of Richard "Bull" Smith, built his house in what is now Commack on Jericho Turnpike on land he inherited from his ancestors. The house was moved to its current location at 5 North Country Road in Smithtown in 1955 when the Town of Smithtown took ownership of the home.

Related: Smithtown Bull Statue Turns 80

Recently, the Town of Smithtown received a New York State Technical Assistance Grant to help begin restoration of the historic home.

The $3,888 grant will go toward a buildings survey, which is the first step towards making repairs on the Caleb Smith House The survey will be conducted by Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, an architecture firm focused on the preservation of historic buildings. Upon completion of the survey, the Town of Smithtown hopes to take the next steps to make necessary repairs and restorations to the historic estate.

Smithtowns application was one of 17 selected by an independent panel of preservation professionals, out of 14 counties across New York State. The Technical Assistance Grant came from the Preservation League of New York State and their program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts.

We can ensure that Smithtown's future generations will be able to experience, learn and embrace the history of our community, which the Caleb Smith House represents thanks to this grant, said Town of Smithtown Supervisor Edward R. Wehrheim in a statement.

The Town said that an assessment of the present state of the home will permit it to undertake appropriate fiscal planning to address building deterioration issues and plan appropriate interventions. The work will be broken down by its various components such as masonry, roof, structure and mechanical systems, and include recommendations of how those systems could be improved and the relative costs and priorities of those improvements.
Kirby Smith Hall is set to be demolished in Fall 2022 and will eventually become a green space, according to Roger Husser, assistant vice president of LSU Planning, Design, and Construction.

Demolition will cost about $4 million and should begin in June, finishing sometime in the fall. A demolition crew will use explosives to bring the 13-story building down since it's too close to other buildings to be knocked over.

The last time students lived in the 57-year-old building was in 2019, when the universitys then-largest freshman class had to be temporarily housed.

Though demolition has been planned for some time now, the university has relied on Kirby Smith as backup housing while having overflow issues on campus, delaying the demolition process.

The opening of two new residence halls in 2021, Camellia Hall and Azalea Hall, allowed Kirby Smith to be officially retired. With 800 beds between the two new halls, its more than enough to offset the 550 that Kirby Smith offers.

The demolition will allow LSU to build a green space and improved sidewalks around surrounding dorms that lead to the core of campus.

This was all planned years ago before we built Cypress, Spruce and Cedar Halls, Husser said. This has always been the intent of the master plan for this area with the new residence halls, and the demolition of Kirby will allow that plan to come to fruition.

McVoy and Broussard halls are also planned to be eventually demolished, according to LSUs campus master plan.

Built in 1965 and named after a Confederate general, the building has long been considered an eyesore that doesnt blend in well with the buildings around it. The hall has collected a variety of different nicknames from students like The Hospital and Dirty Kirby."

Former LSU chancellor, Michael Martin, quipped that living in the building was a historic international experience.

Its a chance to live in the Soviet Union, he said.

The first time the building closed was 2006, but housing demand on campus grew and it underwent a $1.7-million renovation and reopened in 2011.

The building, located on the north end of campus off West Chimes Street, is named after Edmund Kirby Smith, a Confederate general, who after the war served as chancellor of the University of Nashville and later a mathematics and botany professor at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee.

LSU building renaming efforts have avoided Kirby Smith because of its impending demolition.

Students living in surrounding dorms have complained of the construction machines and fencing cluttering the area surrounding Kirby Smith.

Honestly [the dorm] being there bothers me less than the construction surrounding it, said Trinity Hunte-Angus, a freshman living in Cedar Hall. Walking around the fencing is annoying because it covers some of the pathways. Theres a sign that covers the fencing, and it constantly falls.

Walking to class when it rains can be especially difficult since many of the paved pathways are obstructed by fencing.

The gravel thats next to the door by Cedar and next to the construction by Kirby becomes very muddy, Whitfield said. Your shoes can get trapped in it and its very hard to get into Cedar Hall. Ive heard roommates complain about it. I think overall everyone is frustrated about it and can't wait for it to be done.
Lately it seems the only thing predictable with northern Michigan weather is that it is totally unpredictable.

Meteorologists seem to be as puzzled and confused as the rest of us trying to figure out what is going on this year. They forecast one thing and the next day the exact opposite takes place.

What was interesting was a story that I recently saw in the News Advocate; it quoted a meteorologist as saying Looking at the long term forecast later in February we have equal chances of the temperature being above or below average. Boy that really nails it down and makes me glad that guy is not a doctor  he would probably tell his patient, You have this medical problem, but then again maybe you dont.

The winter of 2021-22 has been anything but traditional, but it started that way right out of the blocks.

For years our weather pattern seemed to follow a similar course throughout winter. We would start getting the first look at snow in late November and when the holiday season arrived Manistee looked like a snowy painting the late Norman Rockwell had designed for a Christmas card.

However, this year we had super mild temperatures in November and our December Christmas card picture looked more like it was designed by Jimmy Buffet than Norman Rockwell. There was green grass everywhere, kind of giving it a cheeseburger in paradise experience with Santa instead of Rudolph and the gang pulling the sled.

But it was short lived and most of us had barely taken down the "Happy New Year" banner when Mother Nature took a turn that surprised us all. Suddenly we were deluged for a couple of days with so much snow that my snow blower was saying (or maybe it was me) "What the heck is going on?"

What is even stranger is everything this winter has been in extremes like those few blizzard days. It has been either warm and not snowing at all, or the temperature is in the low teens with blowing snow.

And will someone explain what in the heck is up with the wind speeds? We used to get a rare day or two where it was really gusting, but now it goes on for days at a time and blows so hard that I half expect to wake up some morning in Kansas with Toto lying next to me in bed.

The wind chill is especially brutal on some of those low teen temperature days where walking into the wind was actually painful at times. Despite that I still walk outside most days, but do so sporting more layers than a seven-tier wedding cake.

One single digit day I bundled up and took a nice long walk down to Fifth Avenue Beach and on my way with only my eyes showing from a facemask I encountered a guy getting in his mail from the box by the street. He looked and said, Boy you are one brave guy. I responded that he might have the wrong adjective as one stupid guy might be more appropriate.

That day Fifth Avenue Beach looked especially wild as the wind was blowing snow while waves were bouncing off the pier halfway up the lighthouse. It made me think how some people who visit our town in the summer have no clue what it is like up here in the winter months.

There was one couple I spoke with down there last July sipping a glass of wine by one of the fire pits on an 80-degree night as the sun went down. She told me that the view right there in Manistee was so beautiful she wanted to come back in January to build a fire to experience what that was like to watch a winter sunset.

Huh  funny, I looked high and low and didnt spot her lawn chair on the beach on that 8-degree day.

Her husband then asked me if I ever walked across the lake to Wisconsin on the ice in the winter. I smiled and said that is about a 36 mile hike and my name is Ken, not Jesus  I don't walk on water.

And speaking of those cold temperatures, we went a couple of weeks without the old mercury moving anywhere near the freezing mark. Those days kind of made me remember that forecast I read for this winter in the Old Farmers Almanac in August.

At that time it was saying this was going to be an above average temperature winter with an abundance of snow. Seeing the tips of grass poking out by my house while looking at my indoor/outdoor thermometer reading 8 degrees on a couple mornings I knew that that maybe the Old Farmer was sipping on the corn fixings he brewed up from a good crop last summer when he made that prediction.

Maybe the Old Farmer should stick to what he knows: growing his beets and green beans instead of trying to compete with the weather channel. I mean over the years there havent been too many occasions where meteorologists Tom OHare and Joe Charlevoix have been trying to sell tomatoes they grew at our farmers market.

The good news is we are moving into February meaning two of the three (December and January) are in the rear view mirror at this point. That and the fact that the winter solstice passed us by back in December meaning the days are getting a little longer with the passing of each one.

However, with the way things have gone this winter it is anyones guess when spring will arrive this year. Maybe the old ground hog might decide to just stay in his burrow this year on Feb. 2 and say Your guess is as good as mine on how many more weeks of winter we got coming.

So keep on preparing for the unpredictable for several weeks beyond when I see you again on Thursday.
MANISTEE  Another public hearing for the Hampton Inn project is scheduled to take place during Tuesdays Manistee City Council meeting.

The hearing is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Manistee City Hall, located at 70 Maple St.

According to the agenda, the public hearing will focus on an application for a commercial rehabilitation exemption certificate from Hotel Ventures Manistee, LLC.

Hotel Ventures Manistee, LLC is the development company that is planning to build the Hampton Inn, which will replace the Lakeshore Motel at 101 Lakeshore Drive.

On Jan. 12, the city clerk received the commercial rehabilitation exemption application from Hotel Ventures Manistee for the property.

City council adopted a resolution establishing the Lakeshore Commercial Rehabilitation District on Nov. 16, 2021. Once the district is established, property owners may file an application with the local clerk for a commercial rehabilitation exemption certificate, according to the agenda.

A public hearing for a brownfield financing plan for the Hampton Inn project was held during the Jan. 18 city council meeting.

Related content: Manistee City Council OKs brownfield plan for Hampton Inn

No action is anticipated at the conclusion of the public hearing, however the council could take action to adopt a resolution to approve the 10-year exemption certificate later in the meeting.

The council is also set to consider proposed changes to district boundaries in Manistee.

Election commissions divide precincts in the second year following each federal census, to ensure the population of each precinct is equitable.

The current population distribution between the city precincts is equitable and does not require a revision. However, upon review of the city council districts, there is a population deviation between districts 5 and 6 that make a revision necessary, reads part of the agenda document.

New district boundaries have been prepared by the city election commission to rectify this deviation in accordance with Michigan election law and the Manistee city charter.

The commission recommends that city council accept the proposed changes to the boundaries between districts 5 and 6 to reflect the 2020 Census population changes.

The 2020 Census declared the population of Manistee as 6,259, which is an increase of 33 from the 2010 Census.

The agenda can be found at manisteemi.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4642.

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Mankato, MN (56001)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 46F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 46F. Winds light and variable.
The Election Commission will hold a review meeting on Monday to discuss the existing ban on physical rallies in view of declining Covid cases.

The Union Health Secretary is likely to meet the poll body virtually at around 11 a.m. on Monday. The Health Secretaries of five poll-bound states - UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur - are also likely to join the virtual meeting.

The poll body will take the decision on existing restrictions on the political rallies after reviewing the curent Covid situation in the poll-bound states.

On January 22, the Election Commission had extended, till January 31, the ban on physical rallies and the roadshows amid the Covid cases. The poll body had allowed for physical meetings of political parties or contesting candidates in designated open spaces with some restrictions after the review meeting with the Health Ministry and poll-bound states in that meeting.

The assembly election in five poll-bound states are scheduled to begin from February 10. Polling in Uttar Pradesh will take place in seven phases, while Manipur will vote in two phases, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote for assembly election in a single phase.
Manchester United have issued an official statement in response to the allegations made against 20-year-old forward Mason Greenwood.

Allegations were made against the England international on social media by Harriet Robson, with a series of photographs posted to her Instagram story. An audio clip was also posted to social media.

"We are aware of images and allegations circulating on social media," read Manchester United's statement on Sunday morning.

"We will not make any further comment until the facts have been established. Manchester United does not condone violence of any kind."

Having come through Manchester United's academy, Greenwood has played 129 times for the club. He has made 24 appearances across all competitions this season.
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Hrithik Roshan, who is also called the 'Greek God' of Bollywood, has been in the news for his personal as well as professional life. While he is reportedly in talks to reunite with Kareena Kapoor Khan onscreen after a gap of 19 years, the actor was also snapped hand in hand with a mystery girl on Friday night.

Both were papped wearing masks while leaving a restaurant and several pictures as well as videos from their outing went viral on social media, which prompted fans to speculate about her identity. Well, actress-musician Saba Azad is Hrithik's mystery girl. According to a Bollywood Hungama report, Hrithik and Saba are dating each other. Yes, you read that right!

Revealing the same, a close friend of Hrithik informed the portal on the condition of anonymity, "Duggu prefers to keep his personal life under wraps. He has been silently seeing budding actress Saba Azad for a while now and is finally in the state of making public appearances with her. The two make for a great couple, however, are taking things slow by living in the moment".

It is a known fact that Hrithik was earlier married to Sussanne Khan and they are parents to two sons, Hrehaan and Hridaan. While Sussanne is rumoured to be dating actor Arslan Goni, Hrithik too seems to be in a happy space now. "That's what maturity is all about right? They respect each other, and will continue to co-parent, while moving on with their personal lives," the source further added.

However, both Hrithik and Saba are yet to confirm that they are together.

For the unversed, Saba made her Bollywood debut in 2011 opposite Saqib Saleem in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. While her Bollywood career failed to take off, she went on to feature in a few web shows including Ladies Room, Feels Like Ishq, and will next be seen in Rocket Boys. Featuring Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh in the lead roles, the upcoming web series is slated to premiere on SonyLive on February 4.

Coming back to Hrithik, he will next be seen in the Hindi remake of Vikram Vedha, which also stars Saif Ali Khan. On his birthday earlier this month, Vikram Vedha makers shared his first look from the highly anticipated film, which received a positive response from fans. He also has Siddharth Aanand's Fighter in his kitty. Co-starring Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor, it is said to be the countrys first-ever aerial action drama.
Rashmika Mandanna, who is currently one of the most popular actresses of South Indian cinema, is on cloud nine after the super success of Pushpa co-starring Allu Arjun. She made her acting debut with the hit Kannada film Kirik Party in 2016 and went on to appear in several commercially successful projects including Anjani Putra, Geetha Govindam, Sarileru Neekevvaru among others.

Along with the success, she also had her share of controversies as well. In 2017, Rashmika's name got embroiled in a controversy when she called KGF star Yash 'showoff'. Yes, you read that right! During an interview, Rashmika was asked, "Who, according to you, is the Mr. Showoff in the Kannada film industry?"

"Yash," she replied, and admirers of the KGF actor quickly rushed to social media to express their displeasure with the actress. After getting trolled, Rashmika shared a lengthy Facebook post regarding the situation. The actress had stated that she is "extremely unhappy and disturbed by this sudden turn of events." She also stated that the interview was shot even before her first film was released.

The statement read, "I have no disrespect towards Yash Sir or anyone. In fact, on many occasions, I have expressed my admiration towards Yash Sir, his talent and how he has inspired everyone, including myself. The media has sadly ignored that I mentioned Santhu Straight Forward as the movie that I enjoyed most at that time. When you edit and take just two lines from the most non-serious part of the show and give it a spin... the context is lost. That is really sad".

She further apologised to the people who got hurt and added, "I am sorry if I have hurt any of your feelings. I did not intend to. My upbringing will never let me do that".

Take a look at her Facebook post below:

Well, everything is in the past now. Rashika is currently on a professional high with several interesting projects in her kitty. On the South front, she will be seen in Pushpa 2 and Aadavaallu Meeku Johaarlu. Also, the actress is all set to conquer Bollywood as well with films like Mission Majnu with Sidharth Malhotra and Goodbye co-starring Amitabh Bachchan.
Charges: Nurses made $1.5 million off fake vaccination cards

AMITYVILLE, N.Y.  Two nurses on Long Island are accused of forging COVID-19 vaccination cards and pocketing more than $1.5 million from the scheme, prosecutors and police said.

Julie DeVuono, the owner of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and her employee, Marissa Urraro, are both charged with felony forgery, and DeVuono also is charged with offering a false instrument for filing. Both were arraigned Friday.

Urraros lawyer, Michael Alber, urged people not to rush to judgment about the allegations and said his client is a well-respected nurse.

We look forward to highlighting the legal impediments and defects of the investigation, he said Saturday. Its our hope that an accusation definitely doesnt overshadow the good work Miss Urraros done for children and adults in the medical field.

A messages seeking comment was left with DeVuonos attorney.

Jacksons son seeks to fill Rushs U.S. House seat

CHICAGO  A son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson is seeking the Democratic nomination for the Chicago-area congressional seat held by Bobby Rush, who is retiring.

Jonathan Jackson on Friday announced his intentions to replace Rush in Illinois 1st District, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Jackson, 56, owns a construction business and is a leader in his fathers Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. He said in a statement that he would focus on job creation and expanding access to health care and day care.

About a dozen people have filed as candidates for the redrawn congressional district which stretches from Chicagos South Side and southwest suburbs toward Kankakee. They include Chicago Alderman Pat Dowell, state Sen. Jacqueline Collins and Chicago and Cook County workforce development chief Karin Norington-Reaves, according to the newspaper.

Rush announced earlier this month that he would not seek a 16th term in the U.S. House. The former Black Panther first won election in 1992.

Texas police fatally shoot man threatening woman with knife

DENTON, Texas  A Texas police officer fatally shot a knife-wielding man who was holding a woman hostage early Saturday, the police chief said.

Officers responded to reports of a man threatening to kill himself at an apartment complex courtyard in Denton, about 40 miles northwest of Dallas. They found the man holding the woman by the neck shortly after 1:30 a.m., Denton Police Chief Frank Dixon.

The hostage-taker would raise the knife up to the female, almost in a stabbing motion, several times, as officers tried to talk with the man, Dixon said.

At one point, as the knife was being raised, we had one officer fire one round from his patrol rifle striking the subject in his upper torso, Dixon said.

The woman was rescued uninjured and the man fell into a crouch, still holding the knife, then was shot with a stun gun, Dixon said.

The man was taken to a hospital where he died, Dixon said. No names were released, and the police chief said investigators were trying to determine the relationship between the man and the woman.

Dixon said the officer is on paid leave pending an investigation into the shooting by Texas Rangers and an internal investigation into whether department policies were properly followed, Dixon said.
Shortened attention spans, a lack in communication and social skills and increased fear are just a few of the issues young students are facing as a result of the pandemic, local educators report.

Specifically, educators say that students enrolled in preschool, or who were in preschool or kindergarten in March 2020, are displaying emotional and academic shortfalls. They attribute the shortcomings to disruptions in the learning process and the large periods of time that kids werent able to communicate or interact with people outside of their home.

Ryan Williams, Estes Elementary School principal, said a lot of his students are dealing with behavioral issues. They lack focus and motivation and have taken a little bit to bounce back into the continued routine of regular school.

Estes second-grade students are especially behind, he said, and most of them are those that would have been about to complete their kindergarten year at the onset of the pandemic.

The stamina has definitely been lacking, and they arent able to sit through school, he said.

Holly Pfeifer, director of Cathedral Preschool, said she has noticed an uptick in student anxieties and a lack in self-confidence, which could be attributed to students not used to being around others their own age. She said there is a noticeable shyness and hesitancy.

Leslie Peveler, Daviess County Public Schools director of elementary education and multi-tiered system of support coordinator, said that all of those concerns are prevalent among county school students, as well. Additionally, students are lacking adaptive skills, like knowing how to do some things for themselves.

For example, she said, the skills some students would learn in a daycare or preschool setting, like putting on their jackets themselves or being able to zip a backpack zipper themselves, students are struggling with across the board.

Thats not to say that parents arent providing these enrichment opportunities for students to learn, but as a whole, students who experience early childcare typically would learn these foundational skills at 2-, 3-, and 4-years-old, she said. They havent had the opportunity to do those things.

While this all is concerning, early ed teachers are not wallowing in despair. They see a light at the end of the tunnel, are racing toward it and are focusing on meeting students where they are.

Kids are resilient, Peveler said, and while many students are behind where they typically would be during normal school times, they are already improving after having returned to full-time, in-person learning this school year.

Williams said the blessing in all of this is that school districts were given COVID-19 federal relief funds, which they used to hire additional educators, interventionists and instructional assistants.

COVID actually helped in that regard, he said, and what Estes has done this school year is food rooms with those extra supports.

It starts in the first grade for some of our students that need it the most, he said. Students are in the classroom with two-to-three teachers in there all day long trying to get caught up.

He said even with these additional supports in place, he thinks it will take at least three years to get kids academically where they need to be.

Pfeifer said Cathedral Preschool educators are working hard to provide students with as much safe interaction with each other as possible.

The first five years of a childs life are jam-packed with experiences that are integral to their growth, she said, so educators are working to make things as normal as possible.

She, Peveler and Williams all said students, parents, teachers and the community as a whole are navigating this trying time the best they can.

They said there are lots of things parents and guardians can do at home to help students.

Williams said one of the most important things that can happen in the home with younger kids is putting down technology devices and simply having one-on-one interactions with them.

Playing board games, going on walks, reading books together and just spending time together, he said. We need to get back to conversing and spending time together without phones and tablets. That goes for everyone as a whole.

Peveler said students are working hard in classrooms with their teachers, and that drilling them on assignments and lessons wont be as beneficial as them spending quality time with their caregivers right now. She said kindergarten readiness skills can come through with play and interaction, and games that can be educational, but fun.

She also said encouraging kids to self-regulate and self help will pay off dividends in the future.

We really need to think about how we build independence for children, she said, like encouraging them to zip their own zipper or put on their coat or shoes by themselves.

Pfeifer said everyone, especially students, could use some compassion and understanding right now. Everyone has had it rough the past few years, and providing support goes a long way.

We are just trying to love on these kids as much as we can, because they need extra right now, she said.

Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315
In summer 2020, The New York Times coordinated a nationwide project to document the lives of Americans out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved collaborating with 11 other local newsrooms around the U.S. The Messenger-Inquirer was the only newspaper from Kentucky in the collaboration. The resulting collection of stories was published Oct. 23, 2020, in the New York Times print edition and at nytimes.com/outofwork. The following list is the Messenger-Inquirer's local unemployment coverage from that time period; read more by clicking the "New York Times Project" header. Click on "Out Of Work In America" to go to the full
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 24, 2022

Contact: Elyse Walter, waltere@michigan.gov

Gov. Whitmer Awards $5M to Bolster Michigan's Growth in the Electric Vehicle and Mobility Industry

LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Whitmer joined the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) to award a $5 million Michigan Revolution for Electrification of Vehicles Academy (MiREV) grant to Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA) to further position the state at the center of the nation's electric vehicle and mobility industry growth by proactively preparing the talent needed.

"Michiganders will play a leading role in building the future of automotive mobility and electrification; preparing them for the jobs that will drive the industry is critical," said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. "This grant will support Michigan workers so they can secure not only the skills needed for these high-demand jobs, but also financial security for their families and communities."

SEMCA will use MiREV funds to sustain and expand employer-led collaboratives designed to develop and initiate academies focused on closing industry-based skills gaps. This will be accomplished through attracting, upskilling and reskilling a mobility workforce across Michigan and through serving historically underserved populations while creating a talent pipeline needed for the electrification of vehicles.

"These future academies will ensure employers are able to address their most critical workforce needs while job seekers have access to better employment outcomes and career pathway opportunities in the mobility and electrification industry," said Stephanie Beckhorn, Director of LEO's Office of Employment and Training. "Moving forward, SEMCA will work closely with employers to make sure Michigan has the right programs and resources to fill both current and future talent needs for in-demand and emerging jobs."

SEMCA will establish and expand employer-led collaboratives that support MiREV functions including developing a sustainability plan, coordinating and performing outreach events and supporting employer champions and industry experts in building, implementing and managing academies.

Employers interested in MiREV employer-led collaboratives or other components of future efforts to support Michigan's vehicle and mobility industry growth, can email the department at LEO-MiREV@michigan.gov.

Career seekers interested in pursuing opportunities in this industry, should reach out to their local Michigan Works! Agency to explore occupations in mobility and electrification. To find their local Michigan Works! Agency, visit Michiganworks.org.

###
PORTLAND  The road to recovery for Middletown teacher Holly Warner, who recently survived several medical emergencies over the course of seven weeks, will be a long one, but an outpouring of support from friends  and even some strangers  has helped her along the way.

Between Nov. 23 and Jan. 10, Warner suffered a stroke, two aneurysms, two seizures and seven brain surgeries.

Holly Warner and her husband Brian Warner have lived in Portland for 12 years and their two sons now attend Portland schools.

She teaches English at Middletown High School, where, when she was washing her hands at the end of the school day on Nov. 23, she suddenly collapsed.

Her husband credited her co-workers for their quick action. From the beginning, her colleagues at Middletown High School were great. They gave her a fighting chance.

She was brought to Middlesex Hospital, where doctors found she had a bleed in her brain. It came out of nowhere, Brian Warner said. His wife has no history of this type of medical issue, he added.

Holly Warner was immediately transported to Hartford Hospital, where doctors discovered she had an aneurysm that had ruptured. I have never seen someone in so much pain, Brian Warner said.

Series of surgeries

She then underwent emergency surgery to drain the blood from her brain, her husband said. Doctors told the family to expect a 10-day hospital stay for her to recover.

But things changed quickly, Brian Warner said. The very next day, doctors discovered a second aneurysm, which prompted another emergency surgery.

Within a week after that surgery, Holly Warner underwent another emergency surgery to treat a series of brain spasms. She was recovering well, enough so that she was able to return home, only to experience further brain spasms, Brian Warner said.

However, he said, this time it led to a stroke.

She then returned to Hartford Hospital for a fifth brain surgery. It feels like every single time shes on the mend, theres a setback, Warner said.

Doctors informed him that patients often experience brain spasms after an aneurysm. Holly Warner experienced these spasms for 28 days, tying the record at Hartford Hospital, Brian Warner said.

More setbacks and surgeries followed, but she is now recovering at home with her family, with the help of several visiting nurses and therapists. Shes fought so hard, her husband said.

Community support

.

While recuperating, Holly Warner and her husband began to experience financial issues.

Thats when friend and former school colleague Christine Salamone stepped in and launched a GoFundMe, Helping Holly Warner and family, please, for the family.

Ive had the pleasure of working with Holly and being a friend to their family, Salamone said. They truly do not deserve all of this.

The family was really uncomfortable with the idea at first, Brian Warner admitted, but that apprehension quickly turned to shock when the account raised more than $25,000 in the first six days.

We were blown away, he said.

The couple was amazed to see former students and their parents from more than a decade ago showing their support, Brian Warner said.

The outpouring of support has been amazing, he said, adding that his wife has earned it. Shes been through hell and back, Brian Warner said. Shes a miracle.

For information, visit Helping Holly Warner and family, please.
Portland Library / Contributed photo

PORTLAND  The Portland Public Library will be presenting a Zoom session on Befriending Our Afghan Neighbors next month.

The virtual program is slated for Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. Participants will hear about the Portland Refugee Resettlement Group and their preparations to place an Afghan refugee family with the assistance of the Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services.
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MIDDLETOWN  The month of February is upon us, and the chamber continues to be on the move.

This week, another busy one for the team, features a variety of important activities. Our Business & Education Partnership Advisory Council will meet Tuesday at 8 a.m. to discuss the 2022 high school career fair, which will be held through virtual means again this year.

Wednesday morning features a meeting of our environment and infrastructure committee at the chamber with an option for members to join virtually. Thursday morning includes the February meetings of the chambers Central Business Bureau and real estate council, along with a virtual workshop hosted by our Womens Leadership Collaborative Network titled, Envisioning Your 2022 Goals.

Wednesday morning also features a meeting of our Portland and East Hampton Division at Absolute Air Services in Portland at 8 a.m.

New business opening

Immediately following the division meeting, I look forward to joining First Selectman Ryan Curley and other local dignitaries for a grand opening and ribbon cutting in honor of Absolute Air Services on Portland-Cobalt Road.

Absolute Air provides heating and cooling services, furnace and air conditioning installation, and repair and maintenance support throughout Portland and beyond. We are happy to have this important local company as part of our regional business community, and wish Bonnie and Steve Graff all the best as they move their business forward.

Riverfront redevelopment

Later Wednesday morning, I look forward to participating in an important meeting regarding Middletowns riverfront redevelopment plan, a very important process for the city and our entire region. Feedback from recent community meetings and input provided by residents and businesses through other means will be reviewed and discussed.

The redevelopment of Middletowns riverfront will be a transformative process for all of us. It will complement a number of other ongoing efforts throughout the city, including some exciting developments downtown. I thank city leadership for their strong and steady efforts on this important initiative.

Business development forum

Vice President Jeff Pugliese will represent the chamber Thursday morning at a business development forum hosted by state Rep. Christine Goupil. This important event, hosted at Clinton Town Hall at 9 a.m., will connect state and local partners to business owners.

Additional guest speakers include representatives from the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Small Business Administration, Womens Business Development Council, ManufactureCT and ADVANCECT.

I thank Rep. Goupil for inviting our chamber to participate, and for connecting local business owners to these resources.

Legislative committee

On the legislative front, the chambers legislative committee continues to stay very active and engaged as the 2022 regular session of the Connecticut General Assembly rapidly approaches. Our Legislative Leadership Series will kick off Feb. 4 at 8 a.m., when we host an in-person meeting with Speaker of the House Matt Ritter.

Speaker Ritter will visit with chamber members to discuss the legislative session at the Inn at Middletown. They will have the opportunity to discuss some important issues on our 2022 public policy agenda, and ask questions about the upcoming session.

I would like to thank Updike, Kelly & Spellacy for sponsoring, especially our legislative committee Co-chairman Rich Carella, and Speaker Ritter for visiting with us at this critical time.

I also urge members and other interested parties to save Feb. 25 at 8 a.m. for our annual legislative breakfast at the Courtyard by Marriott, Cromwell.

I want to take a moment to once again thank our division and committee chairs and all members that support these important meetings on a monthly basis. Our grassroots divisions help us keep a close eye on the issues that directly, or have the potential to impact, our members in each of our towns.

Our committees allow us to support each of our key industry sectors in Middlesex County in a comprehensive way. We look forward to a productive week of meetings.

Highway interchange project

In closing, I wanted to thank U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro for inviting me to join her, Mayor Ben Florsheim, state Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner Mark Rolfe and state Sen. Matt Lesser for a press conference last week regarding the Route 9/Route 17 highway interchange project.

Its purpose is to improve safety by reducing crashes at the interchange. The existing setup has led to many accidents over the years, and the goal moving forward is to reduce crashes and improve safety. This important project is just one example of many upcoming infrastructure efforts throughout our region, our state and the entire nation.

The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce has always been, and will always be, very supportive of infrastructure investments. We consider those efforts to be critical to public safety, public health and economic development. Moving forward, we will look to strategically partner with our congressional delegation, the state, our member municipalities, electric, gas and water utilities, and all stakeholders, as we work together to create a more resilient, more efficient and stronger Middlesex County.

Have a great week!

Larry McHugh is president of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce in Middletown.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korea on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since President Joe Biden took office, as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and neighbors amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy.

The Japanese and South Korean militaries said the missile was launched on a lofted trajectory, apparently to avoid the territorial spaces of neighbors, and reached a maximum altitude of 1,242 miles and traveled 497 miles before landing in the sea.

The flight details suggest the North tested its longest-range ballistic missile since 2017, when it twice flew intermediate-range ballistic missiles over Japan and, separately, three intercontinental ballistic missiles that demonstrated the potential to reach deep into the American homeland.

Sunday's test was North Koreas seventh round of launches this month. The unusually fast pace of tests indicates its intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled nuclear negotiations as pandemic-related difficulties put further stress on an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called an emergency National Security Council meeting where he described the test as a possible mid-range ballistic missile launch that brought North Korea to the brink of breaking its 2018 self-imposed moratorium on the testing of nuclear devices and longer-range missiles.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi also told reporters that the missile was the longest-range the North has tested since its Hwasong-15 ICBM in November 2017.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chaired a ruling party meeting on Jan. 20, where senior party members made a veiled threat to lift the moratorium, citing what they perceived as U.S. hostility and threats.

The latest launch suggests Kim's moratorium is already broken, said Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert and honorary research fellow at South Koreas Science and Technology Policy Institute.

In his strongest comments toward the North in years, Moon said the situation around the Korean Peninsula is beginning to resemble 2017, when North Koreas provocative run in nuclear and long-range missile testing resulted in an exchange of war threats between Kim and Trump.

Moon said the Norths latest moves violated U.N. Security Council resolutions and were a challenge toward the international community's efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, stabilize peace and find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff.

The North should stop its actions that create tensions and pressure and respond to the dialogue offers by the international community including South Korea and the United States, Moon said, according to his office.

Moon had ambitiously pushed for inter-Korean engagement and held three summits with Kim in 2018 while also lobbying to set up Kims first summit with Trump in 2018, where they issued vague aspirations for a nuclear-free peninsula.

But the diplomacy derailed after the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Koreas demand for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Sundays missile flew for around 30 minutes and landed in waters outside Japans exclusive economic zone. There were no immediate reports of damage to boats or aircraft.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the United States condemned North Koreas testing activity and called on Pyongyang to refrain from further destabilizing acts. It said the latest launch did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or that of our allies.

Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs at Japans Foreign Ministry, discussed the launch in separate phone calls with Sung Kim, Bidens special envoy for North Korea, and Noh Kyu-duk, South Koreas nuclear envoy. The officials shared an understanding that Sundays missile was of enhanced destructive power and reaffirmed trilateral cooperation in the face of the North Korean threat, Japans Foreign Ministry said.

Experts say the North could halt its testing spree after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics next week out of respect for China, its major ally and economic lifeline. But theres also expectation that it could significantly up the ante in weapons demonstrations once the Olympics end in February to grab the attention of the Biden administration, which has been focusing more on confronting China and Russia over its conflict with Ukraine.

North Korea is launching a frenzy of missiles before the start of the Beijing Olympics, mostly as military modernization efforts. Pyongyang also wants to boost national pride as it gears up to celebrate political anniversaries in the context of economic struggles, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

It wants to remind Washington and Seoul that trying to topple it would be too costly. By threatening stability in Asia while global resources are stretched thin elsewhere, Pyongyang is demanding the world compensate it to act like a responsible nuclear power, Easley added.

North Korea has justified its testing activity as an exercise of its rights to self-defense and threatened stronger action after the Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions following two tests of a purported hypersonic missile earlier this month.

While desperate for outside relief, Kim has showed no willingness to surrender the nuclear weapons and missiles he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. Analysts say Kims pressure campaign is aimed at forcing Washington to accept the North as a nuclear power and convert their nuclear disarmament-for-aid diplomacy into negotiations for mutual arms-reduction.

Kim last year announced a new five-year plan for developing weapons and issued an ambitious wish list that included hypersonic weapons, spy satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched nuclear missiles.

State media said Friday that Kim visited an unspecified munitions factory producing a major weapons system, and that the workers pledged loyalty to their leader who smashes with his bold pluck the challenges of U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces.

___

Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.
How to use the mindat.org media viewer

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Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image)

Controls - all media types

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Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen.

< and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys.

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The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types.

The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control.

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For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D

To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them.

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If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu.

Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder.

Summary of all keyboard shortcuts
Government Spokesperson and a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Desmond Bempong has lambasted the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for rejecting the e-levy.

According to him, the NDC seems not to support any policy of the NPP but has been the actual beneficiaries of such policies in the long run.

Expressing his view on the e-levy on Bryt FM Ebesi Sen political show, Mr. Bempong stressed the introduction of the e-levy would go a long way to support the Akufo-Addo led government to initiate and complete many projects to benefit all Ghanaians.

He urged Ghanaians to understand government since it would help deal with the numerous developmental challenges and also provide jobs to the growing population.

"NDC is only good at criticising for nothing but they have forgotten that the NPP has been able to achieve all the policies it pledged prior to the party's victory in 2016 and 2020. The e-levy will definitely be of help to all of us so we need to all come together and support the government," Desmond Bempong added.

However, the NDC representative on the show, Bright Nyawudzi on the other hand was disappointed in the Akufo-Addo led government for trying to force the e-levy on Ghanaians despite the many loans it has acquired.
On Friday, it was the turn of Mohammed Amri to testify before the Paris court trying himself and 19 other individuals for their alleged complicity in the November 2015 massacres which cost 131 people their lives. Amri admits that he drove the sole surviving terrorist, Salah Abdeslam, back to Belgium on the morning after the attacks.

Mohammed Amri spoke late in the day. He was inarticulate, frequently truculent, argumentative, incoherent, aggressive. The contrast with the two witnesses who spoke on his behalf was striking. And unfortunate for the accused.

The prisoner's father, Bennasser Amri, was the first to speak by videolink from the federal police building in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

This 66-year-old Moroccan, long established in Belgium, described his son as kind and generous, "a really good person.

"He would take food from the house to give it to someone in need."

The father, an "ordinary, normal Muslim," spoke with contempt of those who supported the murderous ideology of Islamic State in the name of a religion clearly based on peace and generosity.

'A simple, normal form of Islam'

"I don't understand people who blow themselves up to kill the innocent," he told the court.

His son had never shown any signs of radicalisation. "Our attitude to religion was simple, normal, without any problems."

His son's mistake was to have become involved with the Abdeslam brothers, in whose Brussels cafe, Les Beguines, Mohamed Amri occasionally worked as a server.

"Salah Abdeslam is a killer, an assassin, a criminal," insurged the father at one stage, admitting that he had never met Abdeslam and had learned about him on television. But, he insisted, "my son is not like that".

Salah Abdeslam came to Paris with the nine perpetrators of the November 2015 attacks, but abandoned his explosive vest and took no active part in the killing. He is one of Amri's co-accused in this trial, and sits just inches from him in the prisoners' enclosure.

Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the terrace attackers and blew himself up in the Comptoir Voltaire cafe on 13 November 2015.

It is principally for his part in helping Salah Abdeslam return to Belgium, where he was eventually arrested, that Mohamed Amri is being tried. He is also suspected of having rented a vehicle used by the killers. Amri will go to jail for 20 years if found guilty.

A bright young woman reduced to tears

Then it was the turn of Mohammed Amri's Dutch wife to speak on his behalf. She continues to use her maiden name and asked not to be identified.

This bright, effervescent 31-year-old was rapidly reduced to tears as she spoke of the man she loved.

"If it had been a question of drugs, I wouldn't have been surprised," she said. "He was a serious smoker.

"But religion, this business with radical terrorists, never! That's just not him.

"I told him to avoid Les Beguines. The place had an appalling reputation. It was dark and dirty. Everyone knew it was associated with drugs.

"But he was never interested in jihad or Syria or anything like that."

And then it was the turn of the man himself.

"Before this case, I didn't even know the word radicaisation," he asserted.

"Brahim Abdeslam wasn't radical. He shook hands with women, dressed normally, liked a drink. I didn't know him that well."

'Like the victims, I'm ready to forgive'

On the question of Islamic State propaganda videos which others have confirmed were regularly watched in Les Beguines, the accused was less helpful.

"That was six years ago. I don't know what we watched. I don't remember.

"Is someone who watched IS videos a radical?"

As the evening wore on, Mohammed Amri was asked about his attitude to Salah Abdeslam, sitting just beside him in the box.

"It's because of him that I'm here," the accused replied. "I'm a bit angry about that. But I'm ready to forgive.

"I have heard victims in this court say they are ready to forgive. That touched me."

"So, is he still your friend?"

"It's a bit complicated."

The trial continues.
30.01.2022 LISTEN

A student of the University of Ghana has reportedly drowned following an unsuccessful attempt to swim in the schools swimming pool.

According to Radio Univers , the universitys radio station, the incident occurred on Saturday, January 29, 2022.

Radio Univers reported that the deceased was a male student at level 100 whose name is yet to be established.

The student, whose name is yet to be disclosed, drowned after he attempted to swim at a depth of 21 feet in the pool this afternoon, Radio Univers reported on its website.

An eyewitness who spoke to the campus radio said: the guy went to the 21ft and was asked to go back the first timenot knowing, he went there again and the next thing they heard was that he had drowned.

In a video making rounds on social media, some persons believed to be students of the university were seen dragging someone from the pool.

Meanwhile, management of the University of Ghana is yet to comment on the matter.

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Ask her, and Shari Tate Jenkins will tell you the truth  there are aspects of her job she is looking forward to leaving behind when she retires in March.

Tate, 59, the first woman to head the homicide unit of the Broward State Attorneys Office, announced her retirement in mid-January, stunning a legal community that had grown to admire, appreciate and, in some cases, fear her for her skills in the courtroom.

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But there is a cost to serving as an advocate for the people for decades, a cost to sending hundreds of defendants to prison for their crimes. For Tate, a Broward native who once aspired to a career in education, home became a map of crime scenes from which she could not escape.

Over there is where that man was murdered. Thats the field where a womans body was found. Thats the dumpster where her head was ... not. Theres the complex where a killer wrapped his victim in cellophane. The list goes on and on.

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Its time to put that all away, she said this week. Every corner is a reminder of the loss of life, of a tragedy, she said. Every one elicits the memory of a crime scene photograph.

[ Felonious Florida podcast: The disappearance of Lisa Spence ]

Tate will leave Broward County, and Florida, for a more bucolic location, where she can step out her front door into a community she compared to Coral Springs, but out her back door to something out of the Little House on the Prairie series of books.

You can see deer and other wildlife. Its peaceful, she said.

Tate grew up in Pembroke Pines and graduated from Florida International University in the mid-1980s after three years at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Unable to find steady work as a teacher, she became an in-court probation officer for the state Department of Corrections.

Shari Tate Jenkins, in her office at the Broward County Courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday, January 27, 2022. She was the first woman to head the homicide unit at the Broward State Attorney's Office. She plans to retire next month. (Mike Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

She was assigned to the courtroom of Broward Circuit Judge M. Daniel Futch Jr., a no-nonsense nemesis of convicted felons who earned the nickname Maximum Dan for his willingness to fill the state prison system. It was in Futchs courtroom that Tate watched the luminaries of the Broward prosecutors office. Men like Chuck Morton, Kelly Hancock, Brian Cavanagh and the head of the office, State Attorney Mike Satz.

Tate met with Satz and committed to becoming a lawyer if he would commit to hiring her when she got out of law school.

He did.

She did.

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[ RELATED: Prosecutor seeks death penalty in murder trial ]

Tate joined the team of prosecutors in 1991, rising from county court (handling misdemeanors) to the felony trial unit, the domestic violence unit, the career criminal unit and, finally, to the homicide unit, which she joined in 2005.

When homicide chief Cavanagh announced his retirement six years ago, Satz knew Tate would be his choice to replace him. She was extremely competent, Satz said. We saw it when she was coming up. She helped others. You could see that people came to her for advice.

In their courtroom styles, Cavanagh and Tate could not be more different. Cavanagh was known to give bombastic voice to the moral outrage he felt toward the worst offenders. Tates approach was to slowly turn up the heat until it became unbearable, then remind the jury about the uncomfortable temperature.

In the 2015 trial of Paul Edwards, accused of beheading his girlfriend and hiding her body in a barrel in northern Miami-Dade County, Tate made sure to introduce the barrel as evidence early. It sat there, in front of the judges bench, for the duration of the trial, a constant reminder of the intended coffin and final resting place of the victim, Lisa Spence.

That was her tomb, Tate said. It was horrific. Im not afraid of horrifying jurors. Murder is horrifying.

Her opponents respected Tate as much as her allies. She was always the consummate professional, even when we were at odds in cases involving the highest stakes, said defense lawyer Mitch Polay.

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You want a prosecutor whos open and candid about discovery, said H. Dohn Williams, another courtroom nemesis, referring to the prosecutors legal obligation to provide the defense with all the evidence likely to be used at trial. You dont want someone who hides the ball.

Tate is married to retired Fort Lauderdale Police Detective David Jenkins. He has two sons and daughters-in-law, all Fort Lauderdale police officers. Tate was a widow when she met Jenkins and has two daughters, both of whom followed her career goals. One is a prosecutor; the other is an English teacher.

Fellow prosecutor Carolyn McCann praised Tate as one who never lost sight of the victims in the cases she handled. She never forgets them and never forgets their families, McCann said. Youre not going to find a finer person, woman or man, than Shari Tate.

Current State Attorney Harold Pryor praised Tates leadership example. Like all women in the criminal justice system, she wears many hats  wife, mother, daughter, excellent attorney, mentor, Pryor said. She is a shining example not only for women attorneys but for all attorneys, including me ... We are going to miss her.

The connection to victims families is something that weighs heavily on Tate, especially considering the unfinished cases she inevitably must leave to the her successors.

Every case I tried, my goal was to present it to the jury through the eyes of the victim, she said. I got to know them intimately, through their families. Its the kind of knowledge no one should ever have about another person. But its required. For justice, the jury needs to know.

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Ask Shari Tate Jenkins, and she will tell you the truth: while she wont miss the inability to escape from the sheer volume of cases, she will miss the people who looked to her and the Broward State Attorneys Office in their quest for justice.
Clermont-Ferrand has become a buzzing hive of excitement and activity this weekend as the International Short Film Festival raised its curtains on Friday... the world's largest festival dedicated to the short format and the second largest film festival in France after Cannes.

After a 2021 online festival, organisers are keen to welcome back the public, students and professionals for the week-long face-to-face event, which kicked off on Friday evening and runs until 5 February.

The festival's objective is to reach the widest possible audience with a jam-packed programme bursting with things to see and do - both at the screenings and at the parallel festival activities.

It's not about the latest films, or flashy premieres, Tim Redford, one of the coordinators of the international competition told RFI.

It's about diversity, and shining a light on countries with smaller production levels to give them a boost, he explains.

The idea is for the audience to travel in a virtual manner of speaking, and enjoy themselves.

We put in films from different continents, and different genres, so they get a feel for what's happening all around the world, he says.

55 countries represented

The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival also prides itself on its professional market, which has gone from strength to strength over the last 40 years, providing a springboard for films to be picked-up by other international festivals and competitions.

Organisers receive up to 9,000 films on average a year, and they somehow manage to whittle it down to around 1 percent.

An entire year is spent building the festival's rich programme, which is divided into several categories, each with their own jury.

The selection team have put forward 77 films for the International competition this year; 15 live action films, 16 animation and 10 documentaries.

84 directors from 55 countries are represented.

Redford says the Covid pandemic has left its mark on short film production over the past couple of years.

Production dropped-off worldwide during the pandemice, but was particularly noticeable with regard to short films from the African continent, from which they only received around half the usual number of entries.

The African Perspectives section features 10 films, and four in competition, coming from 9 different countries with a notably strong participation from Egypt.

Poolside cinema?

The festival is just the tip of the iceberg Redford says, referring to the many activities and missions conducted all year long by the collective Sauve qui peut le court metrage. There are a number of art and photo exhibitions, performances and conferences and on some occasions screenings from the bouyant comfort of an inflatable seat at a municipal pool.

Much of the energy is certainly to be generated from the fact that the city of Clermont-Ferrand hosts some 35,000 students, a fifth of its population.

Ever since its creation by students in 1979, the festival has fostered a strong partnership with the University of Clermont-Auvergne and other art schools, developing a wide range of initiatives for young people interested in the film industry, including L'Atelier where students make a film in the space of a week.

Viva Espana!

This year's country of honour is Spain, and Redford has spent the last two years combing the archives. From some 400 films, the team got the best-of list down to 28 to be shown to the public over the next week.

On top of the screenings there are various activities to highlight Spanish culture, from food events, to meet and greet sessions with directors and crews.

What does he think is the Spanish touch? They are great filmmakers, he says enthusiastically. Most of the films the team chose for the retrospective are narrative fictions, one of the country's strengths.

The Spanish are very strong on films with a social aspect, with strong acting, they have fantastic film and directing schools. Comedy is well represented here, as are fantasy and horror genres.

So what will the Jury be looking out for as they feast their eyes on the talents of today in order to select one of this year's coveted trophies known as 'Vercingetorix'?

For me, a good short is based on the strength of its idea. Just as a feature film needs lots of ideas to keep the viewer's interest, a short film needs to be like a punch, filmmaker and jury member Borja Cobeaga, from Spain told festival organisers.

I like the challenge of telling a complicated story in a short amount of time, Joanna Quinn, British animation film director and jury member says, adding and if it's abstract, then it needs to be exceptionally beautiful!

In any case, both are looking forward to a sense of 'normality' after the two year rollercoaster ride that Covid has been for the industry and seeing cinema-goers' smiling faces - in person.
Western Region Director of the Ghana Health Services (GHS) Dr. Yaw Ofori Yeboah has said arrangements have been made for the reimbursement of monies spent by victims of the Appiatse explosion currently receiving treatment at health facilities in the Region.

The reimbursement is in compliance with a declaration by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawamia, when he visited the victims Friday, January 21, that government will bear the cost of their medical expenses.

As you can imagine, in the early stage of the emergency, the focus was rightly on ensuring that blood and other critical life-saving items were mobilised for the injured. We are now collating expenditures from the various health facilities for immediate reimbursement, he assured

At an emergency Press Conference, the regional director said some 346 victims are receiving free treatments at various hospitals across the Region.

Unfortunately, we ran out of some essential items such as orthopaedic plates and some drugs. Relatives of two out of the 348 cases we have attended to procured these items from private sources during the emergency.

But he said, the regional health directorate has already directed the facility in charge to fully refund the expenditure incurred to the families and rather include them in the bills being collated for reimbursement.

He reiterated government's decision to offer free care to the accident victims and stressed that all GHS facilities in the Region will continue to offer free care.

According to him, all but two out of the 348 cases seen have either been discharged or stable in hospitals.

A health post has been set up at the internally displaced persons site at Bogoso to provide essential primary care. Psycho-social support has been arranged for the survivors and relatives. A team of ENT specialists have been sent to conduct hearing assessment. Disease surveillance activities are ongoing.

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Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki L and Ethiopiaamp;39;s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at an event in Ethiopia in 2018. - Source: Eduardo SoterasAFP via Getty Images

30.01.2022 LISTEN

The Eritrean military has been involved in the war in Ethiopia's Tigray region since the conflict broke out in November 2020 . Eritrea shares a 1,000 km border with Ethiopia , including with Tigray. It sent thousands of soldiers in support of the Ethiopian federal forces in their operations against the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

These actions have both prolonged and worsened the hugely destructive conflict .

Eritrea's involvement also has wider implications. It represents an attempt by Asmara to reassert itself on the regional stage, following two decades of relative diplomatic isolation.

The large-scale commitment of soldiers  as well as logistical and political support for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed  is the result of a remarkable turnaround in relations between Asmara and Addis Ababa. After almost two decades of hostility, Abiy struck a peace deal with Eritrea's Isaias Afwerki in July 2018 . This appeared to usher in a new era of stability and cooperation.

But that's not what transpired. In the following months, Abiy intensified his programme of political reform in Ethiopia. He consolidated his power at the expense of the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The movement had dominated politics in Ethiopia since 1991 .

The front was also Eritrea's bitterest enemy. There had been a troubled history of relations between it and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front dating back to the 1970s. This antagonism culminated in a war between Ethiopia and Eritrea between 1998 and 2000 .

The outbreak of the war in Tigray served a number of purposes for Isaias. Firstly, it gave him the opportunity to end Eritrea's long-standing international isolation. It did this by enabling him to exercise influence in a conflict which threatened to completely destabilise the region. This was a deeply worrying prospect to a range of international actors.

Secondly, it reasserted his influence in Ethiopia's internal affairs.

And lastly it provided an opportunity to seek revenge on the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The front's leadership outwitted and outgunned Eritrea militarily in the 1998-2000 war. It also outmanoeuvred Eritrea diplomatically in the years following the conflict.

Eritrea's opportunistic policy

The government in Asmara has pursued an opportunistic foreign policy. Its aim has essentially been to gain regional superiority at Ethiopia's expense.

Eritrea has sought to exercise leverage by getting involved in others' conflicts. For much of the 2000s and 2010s, for instance, Asmara defied the international consensus on Somalia. This consensus was primarily orchestrated by the government in Ethiopia, at the time led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Reaching the consensus involved the creation of a Transitional Federal Government with broad international support.

Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers, supported in the air by the US, launched offensives against al-Shabaab, the Somali Islamist group which Eritrea was accused of supporting.

This led to the 2009 imposition of sanctions on Eritrea . There were also interventions in Darfur and eastern Sudan by the Eritrean government.

Eritrea's regional policy has largely been influenced by Ethiopia, its much more powerful southerly neighbour. But Ethiopia has represented both an obstacle and an opportunity in the pursuit of regional dominance.

In many respects, the single biggest obstacle facing the Eritrean People's Liberation Front regime in Asmara is a strong, united Ethiopia. A country capable of dominating the region in economic, military and diplomatic terms  and especially one covertly or overtly hostile to Eritrea itself. This was the case under the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front regime led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

A weakened and disunited Ethiopia  with at least some political actors who are easy to influence  therefore represents an opportunity for Eritrea's interests. This is because the Eritrean People's Liberation Front's vision for the country is as regional gatekeeper and pivot  secure in itself, cohesive and militarily potent.

In search of that status, the best scenario is to have Ethiopia unstable enough to allow opportunities for intervention and influence. Asmara would also want to be able to justify prolonged militarisation, which has become the hallmark of independent Eritrean nationhood. But, it wants to avoid Ethiopia's total collapse.

Asmara's best-case scenario is a prolonged, unresolved conflict in Ethiopia in which the presence of Eritrean forces and political support are still required by Addis Ababa.

Abiy's assent to power and the marginalisation of the Tigray People's Liberation Front  combined with widespread and growing political protest in the preceding years  presented just such an opportunity.

Risky strategy

But this is a risky strategy.

Isaias has essentially harnessed his cause to that of Abiy. When things were going well against the Tigrayan forces  as in late 2020 and early 2021  it looked like a justifiable policy, however catastrophic for the civilian population. But it could backfire.

There have been signs that negotiations between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leadership may be possible .

If there is to be serious dialogue between Addis Ababa and Mekele, the Tigrayan leadership will demand the withdrawal of Eritrean forces and Isaias' removal from discussions over Ethiopia's future. Abiy will need to concede this. In such a scenario, Isaias will quickly find himself isolated. This would take him back to the pariah status he has occupied for most of the last two decades .

Further, in the longer term, an Ethiopia where various parties are reconciled to one another's legitimacy could once again become a hostile entity on Eritrea's southern flank.

Involvement in other people's wars is inherently risky business. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front regime has frequently played with fire. It has done so domestically and regionally. Yet, to date, it has seemingly defied geopolitical gravity.

But the Eritrean army's disproportionately violent and inhumane intervention in Ethiopia in pursuit of payback against the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the regional stature Isaias has long craved could result in the most destructive blowback imaginable: a coalescence of Ethiopian antagonists and domestic opposition that presents an existential threat to the Eritrean government itself.

Richard Reid does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Richard Reid, Professor of African History, St Cross College, University of Oxford
With India in the grip of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, political parties have curtailed their hectic and boisterous campaigns and have so far relied on digital campaigns to reach out to voters with a ban on physical rallies and roadshows.

Restrictions on election campaigns across five poll-bound Indian states will stay in place till the end of this month as daily infections have been hitting the 300,000 mark, said the federal election commission.

Virtual campaign for political parties

The states heading to elections include Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state with half as many people as the entire European Union. The states of Manipur, Goa, Uttarakhand and Punjab will also be electing new legislatures in February and early March.

However, the election watchdog has decided to relax some of the guidelines for candidates who will be contesting after consultations with authorities in the poll-bound states.

The Commission has decided to allow physical public meetings of political parties or contesting candidates in designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 persons or 50% of the capacity of the hall, a senior official told RFI.

Last year, when a devastating second Covid wave swept the country in April, which saw cases cross 400,000 a day at its peak, it was preceded by elections in five states, and a massive Hindu religious gathering on the banks of the Ganges River.

There was a lot of public anger for allowing the elections to happen which proved to be a super spreader event. Even the courts came down heavily on the Election Commission to allow crowded campaigns in the middle of the ferocious wave, political analyst Sanjay Kumar told RFI.

Now, political parties have been forced to rethink strategies and campaigns.

From small towns to metro cities, digital campaign designers and digital media campaign companies are working round the clock with experts designing strategies for influential and effective campaigns for their clients.

The Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, a primary player in all five poll-bound states, has been extensively using social media to reach out to voters. The party has also decided to hold regular video conferences for voters and face uncomfortable questions from the public.

All other political parties plan to use vans and trucks with LED screens to beam campaign videos across the states, especially in rural areas.

Thinking out of the box

Door-to-door campaigning has been an important mode of electioneering from the very beginning and in the changed situation, parties and candidates have strengthened this mode of election campaigning.

Home minister Amit Shah took part in a doorstep campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

The campaigns are more focussed now and we are hitting constituencies where we foresee a tough battle and margins can be low, Aditya Singh, a candidate for the Uttar Pradesh elections told RFI.

Many independent candidates in the electoral fray are using animation and digital banner posters to reach out to voters across constituencies.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and messaging fora like WhatsApp, Messenger and Telegram, among others are being extensively used.

Elections for five states will be held in seven phases from February 10. The results will be declared on March 10, the commission announced last week.

The Omicron variant of Coronavirus is now the dominant variant in the country and though there are early indications of a plateau in the number of cases, the election watchdog is not taking any chances having learnt from past experience.

India's total tally of Covid-19 cases increased to over 40 million while the death toll has climbed to over 492,000, according to health ministry data.
30.01.2022 LISTEN

The Police in Kwabenya, on Friday January 28 shot a suspect by the name Hakimi, now deceased, at the Kwabenya Hills Valley Police Station, Accra, for stabbing the Station Officer in the head.

Preliminary investigation has established that the deceased had earlier attacked three victims and threatened to kill them.

The victims out of fear, rushed to the police station to seek refuge but the suspect pursued the victims to the police station with a knife.

At the police station, the deceased attacked the station officer and the investigator with a knife and stabbed them multiple times in the head for attempting to protect the victims from the violent attack.

Sensing that the lives of the station officer, the investigator and the three victims were in immediate danger, the police shot and killed the suspect.

The injured police officers are currently responding to treatment at the police hospital.

Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has been deposited at the police hospital morgue for preservation.

 Classfmonline.com
The Western Regional NDC Parliamentary Caucus is demanding a thorough investigation into the Appiate explosion for corrective measures as well as compensation for victims.

The Chairman of the Western Regional NDC Parliamentary Paucus, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, speaking after leading seven NDC parliamentarians to visit and donate relief items to the victims of the disaster, said this is a time to unite and support victims and also ensure thorough investigation into the disaster.

When things like this happen, it is important that as a country we get to the bottom of it and make sure we find out what happened and if there are corrective measures we take it. We all know that there are laws in place. Thus LI 2177 that states clearly how transportation of explosive materials must be handled.

This investigation must be thorough enough for us to get to the bottom for us to find out what happened. If there were lapses, we need to know people who should be held accountable and make sure that we put in measures that will not let this happen anywhere in this country anymore. Thats what we should all be united in going forward and doing.

And so we stand United with the honourable member in the community in making sure that the commitments that have been made by government and corporate Ghana must also come to the aid of this community, especially the mining communities. This is the time that the mining Community, especially those operating in the Western region must show that they care about the people of this region. So many years of gold extraction and look at the crisis. We expect to see them taking the lead in making sure we rebuild Appiate, he said.

Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, also representing the general NDC caucus in parliament while sympathizing with the Chief and people of Appiate also commended the MP for Prestea-Huni-Valley, Wisdom Cudjoe, for his leadership role since the disaster.

We thank the community, the chief, and the MCE, and the team. It is obvious that in crisis like this, the only way you win is working together. We have come to witness firsthand the unity that is in this community. I think I stand on behalf of the NDC Caucus in Parliament, led by honorable Haruna Idrissu, the Western Region Caucus to thank the chiefs and the people and to thank the honourable member for all the efforts he has made. We know he has been working tirelessly when this happened. He made a profound statement on the floor of Parliament and I think the point that was made has to be re echoed, he added.

The MP for Prestea-Huni-Valley, Wisdom Cudjoe, who purchased the assorted items that were donated by the NDC parliamentary caucus demanded for compensation for victims of the disaster.

Whatever the investigation will be, the problem was created by Maxam company. So my view is that they should take a leading role in the rebuilding of Appiate. Then others can also come and support them. its not the government that has to take the leading role. That is my expectation, and we will make sure that they take their leading role. Thus insurance among other things should be their responsibility. If this people were to be working in a mining company and this accident occurred, they were going to be given in the law what we call workman compensation, but because they are not workers there, they are not covered.

But since some of them are injured and throughout their life, they may live as disabled people the company has to provide insurance cover for them, he said.

citinewsroom
30.01.2022 LISTEN

Founding President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)of the African Graduate School of Management and Leadership, Professor David Abdulllai has called for drastic measures to fight corruption in the country.

In his view, corruption scares investors away from Ghana hence, must be tackled with all seriousness.

We need to educate our people for them to know that it affects the economy because if investors have that perception about ones country there will be no investment, he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday January 29 hosted by Dzifa Bampoh.

His comments come after Ghana failed to make progress in its fight against corruption as stated in the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by Transparency International (TI).

The report scored Ghana 43 out of a possible clean score of 100 and ranked the country 73 out of 180 countries/territories included in the 2021 index.

This CPI score indicates that, Ghana failed to make progress in the fight against corruption in the year 2021 as the score of 43

is the same as the country's 2020 score. Ghana's current performance is still below 50 which is the expected average and thus leaves much to be desired.

This CPI score indicates that, Ghana failed to make progress in the fight against corruption in the year 2021 as the score of 43 is the same as the country's 2020 score, said Ghana Integrity Initiative , the local chapter of Transparency International , in a statement.

A trend analysis of Ghana's CPI scores over the past decade, presented in the chart below shows that, the country declined by 2 points.

Equatorial Guinea, Somalia and South Sudan have the lowest scores in the region.

The 2021 index reveals that, Botswana (55), Lesotho (38), Eswatini (32), Niger (31), Nigeria (24), Comoros (20) and South Sudan (11) are all at historic lows. In the last decade, 43 countries in the region have either declined or made no significant progress, the statement added.

On the global level, Denmark (88), Finland (88) and New Zealand (88) top the chart as the least corrupt countries, while Somalia (13), Syria (13) and South Sudan (11) remain at the bottom of the corruption perception index .

3news.com
Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has said his outfit is engaging the University Teachers Association of Ghana, UTAG, as its strike enters a fourth week.

Unfortunately, university lecturers are on strike, but we continue to engage them as to how best we can get them back, he said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon.

The Minister assured further that he was committed to the plight of teachers.

As a Minister of Education, I have said I am a chief advocate for teachers and professors and when we find ourselves in this place. I do everything possible formally and informally, to make sure we come to some resolution, Dr. Adutwum 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 striking lecturers have so far ignored a directive by the National Labour Commission to return to work after their strike was declared illegal.

The Commission sued the association over its nationwide strike and urged the court to place an interlocutory injunction to compel the lecturers to return to work.

The strike has disrupted the academic calendar and left some students stranded on various campuses.

citinewsroom
A writer's struggle to get her book of Shona poetry published overseas saw her found a publishing house that's now helping Zimbabwean writers get their books published  including one who typed out his entire novel on WhatsApp.

Samantha Vazhure founded Carnelian Heart Publishing in the UK in 2020 after she discovered big online stores such as Amazon wouldn't list Shona-language books unless they came from a publishing house.

Her book of poems and its English translation, Uprooted, were published by her Carnelian and are now available on Amazon. But the hurdles Vazhure had to overcome to get there made her realise the struggles writers back home must be facing.

I thought, if I'm here in the UK with access to resources, and I'm finding it this hard, what about people in Zimbabwe? Vazhure told RFI from her home in Wales.

I wanted to help people who were trying, but were going nowhere with their efforts.

A novel via WhatsApp

One of those writers  Vice Nganga  found her on Twitter.

Nganga didn't have a computer and had typed out his entire 48,000-word novel  a tale set in pre-colonial Zimbabwe  on WhatsApp. Nganga's compelling story is steeped in the ancient Karanga culture of Vazhure's home province of Masvingo.

But extracting the novel from hundreds of WhatsApp messages and putting it into a format that she could edit proved a huge task. Once Upon a Time was published by Carnelian Heart early last year.

We got there in the end, said Vazhure. I can't begin to tell you how fulfilling that is: going through that process and having a novel in the end. If I wasn't there, it was never going to happen.

As a one-person operation though, Vazhure doesn't have the capacity to deal with a flood of submissions. This often means she has to scout for talent online.

For her first anthology of short stories, Turquoise Dreams, she went onto social media to find 10 previously unpublished Zimbabwe women writers.

That's also how she found poet Dzikamayi Chando, whose collection of poems, Cremation of the Scarecrow, has just been published by Vazhure. She had found samples of his work in online literary journals.

I approached him and asked if he was interested in publishing a collection and he said, 'Oh yeah, I'm sitting on over 400 poems, I can send you a manuscript next week'.

Struggles and celebrations

Zimbabwe's publishing industry has struggled for some years. Dominated by a handful of established houses, the industry was hit hard by the country's long-running economic crises.

In the last couple of years, self-publishing and print-on-demand has found new popularity, with authors like Tendai Garwe (Letter to my Son), Rutendo Gwatidzo (Born to Fight) and others bringing new stories to local audiences, often using social media to promote them.

Vazhure's publishing house has now published 10 books by Zimbabwean writers. Another six are already in the pipeline. And she's not just publishing writers based in the southern African country.

Brilliance of Hope, published last year, is an anthology of 41 short stories by Zimbabwean writers living abroad.

Vazhure reached out to at least 50 based in Australia, Dubai, South Africa, the UK and the US. She asked them to contribute work. Just 15 did, but it was enough.

She describes that book as possibly the most impactful one she's published yet.

I felt I was able to get such a diverse collection of voices into one place that were talking about their various experiences, good and bad, she said.

I myself am an immigrant, and I understand the struggles and the celebrations of the Zimbabweans who have left for greener pastures.

Labour of love

For Vazhure, doing the work of an editor and publisher, alongside her own demanding career as a lawyer and financial services consultant, is a labour of love.

The publishing is funded out of her own salary. She also has to maintain her own creative output, while being a mum and a wife and running a home. That's where, she says, she leans on her smartphone.

She uses it to jot down story ideas, or to take photographs on walks of scenes that inspire her to write haiku or short poems later when she has more time.

Born in the UK in 1981, and raised in Zimbabwe before she returned to the UK in 1999 for university and work, Vazhure studied English and Shona literature at boarding school in Masvingo but never considered writing to be a viable career option.

That changed in 2019. She suddenly felt compelled to write and began working on poems, short stories and her first novel.

From the time I started I haven't been able to stop. I regret not writing all those years when I was so focused on my academic and professional career, she said.

Vazhure wants to see many more Zimbabwean writers joining the ranks of the country's literary icons  authors like Tsitsi Dangarembga, Petina Gappah and the late Chenjerai Hove.

"That's the reason I'm doing this," she said. We need to do more to get more author names out of Zimbabwe.
Mr Joseph Whittal, the Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), is calling on the public to desist from treating the elderly in their families as though they are useless.

The Commissioner who made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, while speaking on the aged and loneliness years after their retirement, admonished families to give special attention and care to their aged, which had been an area of concern for the aged in many years.

At the family level, children these aged have given birth to, shouldn't think that once my parents or uncles are aged now, weak and sitting at home, the only support they can return to them is in terms of cash.

Throwing cash to them at that age is not enough. What they want is for you to be caring. Visit them, talk to them, let them feel that they are still useful. Chat with them, call them even if you are in the city and they are at the village, every weekend, find time and speak with them and they will feel very welcomed, find time and go home, sit with them and converse with them. They may say things that may not be of relevance to you but give them an ear, he advised.

For Civil Society Organisations, Mr Whittal urged them to show interest in issues of the aged and in policies and legislations that affected the vulnerable like the aged, women, children, and importantly women who were being accused of witchcraft.

Speaking of the Aging Bill, which was not yet passed, the Commissioner disclosed that some nongovernmental organisations were trying to sponsor the amendment of the Criminal Offences Act to make any assault and discrimination against the aged including the accused alleged witches, a criminal offence.

He admonished government to stipulate the AU Protocol on older persons which it had signed onto, into its Aging Bill before it was domesticated to make life easier for the citizenry.

GNA
In many ways the story of Theresa and Vinnie began as love at first sight. They were children living across the street from one another in a suburb just west of Boston. Vinnie, the story goes, would gaze out the window at his neighbor all the time. But when one family packed up and moved off the street, time and distance separated Theresa and Vinnie.

Then in 1949, Theresa Richard crashed a wedding when her best friend at the last moment begged her to join her at the ceremony and reception. Vincent Vinnie Cacace was there and when he saw his old neighbor, now a grown 18-year-old, the feelings he had for Theresa as young boy came flooding back.

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Vinnie asked Theresa to dance. A year later they married, with a simple gold band as an enduring symbol of their love.

Vinnie Cacace was smitten the first time he laid eyes on Theresa Richard. They were married for 71 years. (Provided)

The Cacaces traveled well. They raised three boys and a girl. Vinnie was a successful beer man for Schlitz Brewing and then later, a devout Catholic who attended church daily and sold papal memorabilia.

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In the mid 1970s when Vinnie was in his late 50s, he and Theresa retired in Boca Raton. Vinnie began a ministry aiming to help people released from prison to have a better chance on the outside.

He was a compassionate, forgiving and loving man. Vinnie talked endlessly about Theresa, pouring his heart out about how she was the light of his life, said the couples daughter Cindy MacDonald.

Theirs was a love story Vinnie Cacace was eager to share. (Provided)

The way MacDonald sees it, her parents love for one another and their partnership raised the bar on how marriages should work.

It was a really nice love story, MacDonald said. Im sure they must have fought, but if they did, it must have been behind closed doors because we never saw it.

In October, Vincents health was rapidly failing. He had already written his obituary and made arrangements for his funeral when at age 96 he left for the hospital. On his hand was his wedding band.

Days later on what would have been Vinnie and Theresas 71st wedding anniversary, a string of rosary beads encircled Vinnies hand. Missing from his hands fourth finger was his wedding band.

His ring was too tight to get off his finger, MacDonald said she was told by a nurse at Boca Regional Hospital where he died. And Babione Kreer Funeral Home told MacDonald her father wasnt wearing the wedding band when his body arrived there.

A heartbroken MacDonald desperately wants a bit of her parents love story back.

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Vinnie and Theresa Cacace were married for 71 years. (Provided)

Before Vincent died, MacDonalds mom was diagnosed with dementia. In October, Theresa was told about Vinnies passing. She was also told about the ring, something MacDonald said her father never took off.

MacDonald doesnt believe her mother understands both are now gone. I dont want to further upset her by telling her again, MacDonald said.

MacDonald said she planned to wear her fathers ring in the event her mother did not intend to.

The rings monetary value is unclear, said MacDonald. Its the sentimental value you cannot get back.

Reports of items missing from Boca Regional Hospital are rare. Records show there were 28 reports of missing items from that address. Jessica Desir, a spokeswoman for the Boca Raton Police Department, said many people dont follow up after making a report.

MacDonald did. She also called the hospital and started calling around to South Florida pawn shops. It all became overwhelming, she said.

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For the first few weeks after her fathers death, MacDonald said shed toss and turn at night, unable to sleep because she kept thinking about the missing ring. She said she prayed, calling on her dad to send her a sign about the rings whereabouts.

She is still waiting for the sign.

Eileen Kelley can be reached at 772-925-9193 or ekelley@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Twitter @reporterkell.
Dr Kofi Issah, Director of the Family Health Division, Ghana Health Service (GHS), says some of the victims of the Appiatse explosion will still experience effects of the explosion years to come.

The blast will definitely have a long-term effect. Today, somebody might tell you I am quite okay, then, five years down the line, he notices there is something very odd about him and he remembers there was some small shrapnel which came and lodged somewhere in him at that time.

We've always been hearing from our grandfathers saying: Somebody came back from the second world war and never realized there was a bullet lodged in him until one day he gets sick, and they find a strange object.

What is this object? They say it's a bullet. Can they remove it? Sometimes they just leave it in peace. So, the effects, it's unfortunate that we are still just counting and that shouldn't happen to any community within our country, he said.

Dr Issah said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency when the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) donated 1000 packs of dignity kits to be distributed to the victims of the explosion.

The kits contained underwear's, toothpastes and brushes, shaving sticks, bathing and washing soap, sanitary pads, and condoms among others.

The Director said COVID-19 gave the GHS an opportunity to develop a manual on how to deal with humanitarian emergencies and critically assess victim communities, their surroundings, district, region, and the nation at large to minimise the effects of such occurrences.

That was being done for Appiatse, he said, adding that on a case-by-case basis, the Service would join other teams to assess what the victims would need as the effects could even affect generations.

On Thursday, January 20, 2022, a large explosion occurred along the Tarkwa-Bogoso-Ayamfuri road after a truck transporting mining explosives was reported to have collided with a motorcycle.

The explosion levelled the nearby Appiatse village, where people were confirmed dead, and an additional 59 people were injured.

GNA
Chairperson of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) in the Builsa North Municipality, Ms Zenabu Zimi, has expressed disappointment about the attitudes of some nurses and midwives who easily disclose medical conditions of patients to members of the public.

She said such behaviour was highly unprofessional and unbefitting of nurses and midwives, stressing that, The way we handle patient confidentiality is very bad. How can we, as nurses be discussing patients' conditions with non-health professionals?

Ms Zimi was speaking at a meeting organized at the instance of the Emergency Department of the Sandema Hospital to strategize and strengthen the emergency preparedness of the Department to enable it urgently to always attend to emergency health conditions.

She recalled that when some nurses in the Municipality were infected with COVID-19 in their line of duty, some of their colleagues who should have adhered to the principle of confidentiality in the health care delivery system were rather the ones spreading the information in town.

She said even when the infected nurses had fully recovered and resumed duty at their various facilities, some of them were still stigmatized at public places by people who got wind of information of their infection.

Patient confidentiality is not new to us, as nurses and midwives, we all know about it, and the need to keep health conditions and issues of our patients and colleagues highly and strictly confidential.

In fact, under no circumstance should a nurse or midwife disclose to anyone outside the healthcare team the diagnosis or medical history or condition of any patient, Ms Zimi, who also doubles as Manager of the Male Surgical Unit of the Sandema Hospital said.

The Association's Chairperson also called on nurses and midwives in the Municipality who had left the Mother Association, GRNMA to other Associations within the profession to return home.

Mr Cletus Apaliyine Adongo, the Manager of the Emergency Department of the Hospital, reminded staff on the need to be emergency prepared, and ensure emergency drugs were readily available in the Department to attend to cases.

It is an emergency unit, we can never tell when an emergency case will be rushed in, and so we need to always make sure our equipment and drugs are available to attend to any case. Any drug used on a patient from our stock must be replaced, he advised the nurses.

He urged the staff to inculcate in themselves the habit of reading, especially health journals and materials on health conditions, to refresh their minds on various medical conditions, and keep them abreast with current trends of diseases.

As critical service providers in the Hospital, Mr Adongo insisted that staff in the Emergency Unit must not be knowledge deficient in the management of any health condition, to enable them to contribute to quality and efficient health service delivery in the facility and Municipality as a whole.

He emphasised the need for staff to also adhere to proper channels of communication within the Hospital's setup, to have their concerns and grievances properly addressed by leadership and management of the Hospital.

GNA
A Ghanaian doctor practising in the United States of America (USA), was the hero of the day when he delivered a baby on a flight en route to the US from Ghana.

The baby, which was expected in February 2022, surprised not only its mother, but the passengers on the United Airline Flight UA 977 on Sunday, January 30, 2022, 34,000 ft above Sea level.

A broadcaster with GHOne Television, Nancy Adobea, who was on board recounted the mix of anxiety and excitement to citinewsroom.com, when they realised the woman was about to deliver the baby.

She says the incident occurred two hours before landing.

Some cabin crew with the newborn baby. Photo Credit: Nancy Adobea

The apprehension for the women, the anxiety for the women on boardeverybody was concerned, but gratefully she had a safe delivery.

Nancy Adobea recalled that the new mother was full of gratitude and was elated, even though she was weak.

One of the cabin crew was a nurse, and assisted with the safe delivery of the baby.

Nancy with Dr. Ansah-Addo, who delivered the baby. Photo Credit: Nancy Adobea

The composure of the doctor, Dr. Ansah-Addo, a Ghanaian practising in the USA, also stood out for Nancy Adobea.

He was too calm. Everybody was super excited, but he was so calm, she said.

The flight was met on arrival by paramedics upon landing at the Washington Dulles International Airport, who provide more assured care for the mother and the baby.

By Citi Newsroom
January 30, 2022 British Government Laundered Fake U.S. 'Intelligence' On Ukraine Washington Post via MSN - January 23 2022 U.K. accuses Russia of scheming to install a pro-Kremlin government in Ukraine

by Paul Sonne, John Hudson, Shane Harris The British government on Saturday accused Russia of organizing a plot to install a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine, as the Kremlin masses troops and materiel near the Ukrainian border in what Western officials fear is an impending military assault on the neighboring nation. The U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office gave relatively little information about the intelligence unveiled Saturday other than to say that the Russian government was considering trying to make a Russia-leaning former member of Ukraines parliament, Yevhen Murayev, the countrys new leader. The information being released today shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking, U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement, calling on Russia to de-escalate and pursue a path of diplomacy. As the U.K. and our partners have said repeatedly, any Russian military incursion into Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake with severe costs, Truss said. British authorities also said they had information showing how Russias intelligence services maintain links with numerous former Ukrainian politicians. Some of those former Ukrainian politicians are in contact with Russian intelligence officers planning the attack on Ukraine, the British government said. Washington Post via MSN - January 29 2022 U.S. and allies debate the intelligence on how quickly Putin will order an invasion of Ukraine  or whether he will at all

by Shane Harris, John Hudson, Ellen Nakashima Last week, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss publicly accused Russia of organizing a plot to install a pro-Moscow government led by a former member of Ukraines parliament. The intelligence underlying that revelation, which also linked some former Ukrainian politicians to Russian intelligence officers involved in planning for an attack on Ukraine, was collected and declassified by the United States, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The Biden administration asked the British government, which vetted the intelligence and was confident in its accuracy, to publicly expose the Russian plotting, the people said. U.S. intelligence has assessed that Putin has underestimated how costly an invasion could be in Russian lives lost and in the devastating effects of sanctions on Russias economy, according to officials familiar with the information. Intelligence analysts also have concluded that Putin is being misinformed by his own circle of advisers, who appear unwilling to confront him with the full consequences of military action. Not only came the fake 'intelligence' from the U.S. instead of the UK, it was also totally sucked from a thumb. As is the alleged 'intelligence assessment' about a misinformed Putin. If you want to know how an 'invasion' of Ukraine by Russia would look like read Ukraine and Russian escalation dominance: A Fiction at the Saker's site. Yes, it is a fiction. The 'rules of targeting' by Russia would realistically be less harsh than NATO's. But the time frame of a some five days long war, mostly by stand-off missiles, seems quite realistic to me. Oh, by the way, for me as a German the best paragraph in the later WaPo piece is this one: For its part, Germany also remains skeptical of an imminent Russian invasion. At this stage, Berlin sees no indication that Russia will move into Ukraine immediately, a senior German official said. Evidence that Moscow plans to act quickly may exist, but if the United States possesses it, it hasnt shared it with the Germans, the official added. U.S. 'intelligence'. What a joke. Posted by b on January 30, 2022 at 8:19 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
The barred owl is the only large, brown-streaked, dark-eyed owl in Missouri.
BEIRUT, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday denied claims about a possible delay in parliamentary elections following former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's decision to step away from politics, a statement by Lebanon's Presidency said.

"We are carrying out all the necessary preparations for holding the elections on time, and I do not see any reason for delaying them," Aoun said after meeting with Lebanon's senior Sunni cleric Grand Mufti Abdul Latif Derian.

Hariri announced on Jan. 24 that he would suspend his involvement in the political scene, and would not run in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Over the past few days, several reports circulated about a possible boycott by the Sunni sect in Lebanon for the 2022 parliamentary elections, which would force a delay in voting.

Aoun, the Maronite Christian president, emphasized the role played by the Sunni community in preserving Lebanon's unity and political diversity, and called for the participation of all components of Lebanon in national and political life.

The international community has, on many occasions, called for timely parliamentary elections in hope to see change and reform taking place in Lebanon. 
A federal trial against three former Minneapolis police officers seeks to hold them responsible for not stopping George Floyds murder  and perhaps strike a blow against long-standing police culture that breeds reluctance to rein in fellow officers.

The circumstances of Floyds death  pinned under Officer Derek Chauvins knee for more than nine minutes, recorded from multiple camera angles  may help prosecutors clear the bar for conviction on a charge thats rarely brought, in part because it can be difficult to prove. Regardless, several former federal prosecutors and legal experts see a message in the Department of Justices pursuit of charges accusing J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao of violating Floyds civil rights.

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This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota on June 3, 2020, shows, from left, former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. The former policer officers are on trial in federal court accused of violating Floyd's civil rights as fellow Officer Derek Chauvin killed him. (AP)

This sends a real message to counterbalance that very strong cultural set of influences in policing that often prevent an officer from stepping forward and reporting or stopping misconduct, said Jonathan Smith, former chief of the department division that oversees police civil rights inquiries.

The federal charges require prosecutors to prove the ex-officers willfully deprived Floyd of his constitutional rights  meaning that they knew what they were doing was wrong and still went ahead.

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Chauvin was convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges last year and pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge. Kueng, Lane and Thao also face a separate state trial on charges they aided and abetted murder and manslaughter.

Police departments and local prosecutors have their own means to punish officers who dont intervene. But high-profile examples show how risky it is, both personally and professionally, for officers who do intervene or who cooperate with investigations of fellow officers.

In Chicago, a key police witness against three Chicago officers charged with trying to cover up the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald testified that she was taunted as a rat by fellow officers who said her calls for assistance while on duty should be ignored.

In Florida late last year, an officer with less than three years experience pulled a sergeant by his belt away from a handcuffed suspect, apparently afraid he was about to pepper spray the man. The sergeant, a 21-year veteran, grabbed the officer  at one point placing his hand against her throat.

And in Buffalo, New York, Officer Cariol Horne was fired in 2008 after an arbitration process ruled that she had put other officers at risk when she stopped a fellow officer whose arm was around a handcuffed suspects neck.

The Florida officer drew the support of her chief for stepping in, though his public comments came only after a Miami TV station published video of the conflict. Horne, the Buffalo officer, was ultimately granted a pension  but only after a lengthy court battle and a push to change state law.

Floyds May 2020 killing prompted many police leaders to boost their own training on officers duty to intervene when a fellow officer puts someone in danger.

Since mid-2020, 21 of the countrys 100 largest police departments adopted policies on officers duty to intervene and lawmakers in 12 states have approved similar laws, according to the Council on Criminal Justices Task Force on Policing.

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Minneapolis added a duty to intervene policy in 2016. Days after Floyds murder, city officials agreed to strengthen it. The state Human Rights Department now can take the Minneapolis Police Department to court for any violations.

Joseph Giacalone, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired New York police sergeant, said officers know the consequences of federal prosecution far outweigh those of internal sanctions.

Police know theres no limit to what the federal government can do, Giacalone said. I definitely think now the risk of a federal charge is in the back of the mind.

Federal civil rights violations that result in death are punishable by up to life in prison or even death, but those sentences are extremely rare. Federal sentencing guidelines rely on complicated formulas that indicate the officers in Floyds killing would get much less if convicted.

During opening statements to jurors in the Floyd case, Kuengs defense attorney noted that Chauvin was the most senior officer present and called all of the shots. Later in the week, the attorney sought to show the department instilled a sense of obedience in recruits and failed to show effective ways of intervening when force is misused.

For some experts, the cases spotlight on Kueng, Lane and Thao represents yet another opportunity to jolt individual police officers and department leaders into action and potentially prevent dangerous misconduct that erodes trust in the entire profession.

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We cant stop and think it was just Chauvin, said Kami Chavis, a professor at Wake Forest University School of Law. Typically, within a police department, its a small percentage of officers that are going to behave in that way. But when that small group is allowed to go unchecked, you are telegraphing to others what the culture is and that this is tolerated.

___

Associated Press writer Mohamed Ibrahim in Minneapolis contributed.
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Joe Biden was hardly the first president to call a reporter a stupid SOB. Though doing it on television (and in the East Room of the White House, no less) sets him apart from his predecessors.

The relationship between chief executive and the presidential press corps has been rocky since the republics founding. Think the Hatfield and McCoy spat was nasty? It was childs play compared to historys hottest feud, the perpetual squabble between the president and the press.

It started with Washington. We tend to think of George Washington as a man made of marble, a figure so glorified he almost walked on water. But you wouldnt have felt that way after reading news articles written during his presidency.

Though coverage was laudatory at first, attacks grew bolder as partisan political differences emerged. By his second term, they escalated to the point where his personal character and even his military reputation were questioned. It was among the reasons why George was ready to call it quits after two rounds on the job.

That was a day at the beach compared to what John Adams got. The assaults were savagely personal. The Philadelphia Aurora, an influential paper of its day, even went so far as to refer to old, querulous, bald, blind, crippled, toothless Adams. Little wonder that he supported the highly controversial Sedition Act of 1798, which led to The Auroras editor being tossed in prison.

Andrew Jackson and the press mixed it up with the ferocity of a Saturday night brawl in a biker bar. Though Old Hickory was savvy enough to use a member of the Fourth Estate in his war against it. One of his closest advisors was Amos Kendall, a journalist who had once supported Jacksons arch-rival Henry Clay.

Likewise, Abraham Lincoln had several journalists in his Brain Trust to assist him with the press. He also had an unusually powerful weapon at his disposal. With a Civil War raging, he suspended the writ of habeas corpus, meaning the government could bypass the usual legal channels to arrest and hold suspects. Consider what came next.

On May 18, 1864, The New York World and Journal of Commerce printed a story claiming Lincoln had proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer, was calling for 400,000 additional troops for the Union army, and was ready to launch a new draft to get them. It was all totally bogus. Talk about fake news.

Later that day, Lincoln issued Executive Order  Arrest and Imprisonment of Irresponsible Newspaper Reporters and Editors. Abe wasnt fooling around.

Teddy Roosevelt grew so livid over a Boston papers story alleging his young children had traumatized a live turkey by chasing it around the White House lawn he ordered federal agencies to stop communicating with that news outlet.

His cousin, Franklin Roosevelt, later was so outraged over John ODonnells reporting during World War II he mailed the journalist an Iron Cross, the symbol of German militarism, in the midst of fighting Nazi Germany. Ouch!

Richard Nixon even had an infamous enemies list (though the memo containing it actually had the more benign title of Opponents List) that included journalists and columnists Edwin Guthman, Daniel Schorr and Mary Magory.

Perhaps the granddaddy of them all was Donald Trump, who gleefully excoriated the news media every chance he got, and which the media responded to with the outrage of streetwalker whose virtue has been called into question.

It is ironic that these two institutions which are, for all practical purposes, joined at the hip are so mistrustful of one another. And yet a touch of adversarial skepticism is not a bad thing. It prevents the press from becoming the administrations propaganda ministry on the one hand while keeping the president personally accountable to we, the people, on the other.

The trick, however, is the same as in all areas of life: Finding the perfect balance between being adversarial without becoming antagonistic.

So, while Bidens bad-mouthing was far from unusual for a president, expressing it publicly was a break with precedent and a bad breach of presidential decorum.

Biden would do well to follow Fake Newsman Ron Burgandys paraphrased advice and Stay classy, Joe Biden.
Low pay is often cited as a main reason why turnover is so high at the Florida Highway Patrol. (Wayne K. Roustan)

Why does Florida pay its workers so poorly? From teachers to police to state employees, low pay contributes to an exodus of workers. Its no secret that the Republican Legislature doles out pay increases like Ebenezer Scrooge, but in a time of huge growth, whats the problem?

Florida teachers, until last year, were among the worst-paid in the U.S. Wheres all the tax money from those new residents going?

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State agencies cant find people willing to work for $14 an hour, because many public and private businesses pay more. Florida has the leanest workforce of any state with 85 full-time employees for every 10,000 residents. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) has vacancy rates of 20% to 46% in North Florida. Overworked and underpaid workers in state agencies are heading for the doors, but the Legislature is more worried about voter bogeymen.

If the taxes raised are not enough to funnel to state workers, then its time for a state income tax. If the tax were to be .005% and the money were earmarked for teachers, state workers and emergency services personnel, I dont think Floridians would be opposed. Florida cant be a low-wage state and continue to grow.

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P. J. Whelan, Orlando

Look in the mirror, Governor

Gov. DeSantis surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, said the federal government took monoclonal antibodies off the market for treatment of COVID without proof. That is blatantly false. Data shows that drugs that worked against the Delta variant do not work anywhere near as well against Omicron, which is the variant plaguing 99% of Florida today.

FILE - Florida Surgeon Gen. Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo looks on before a bill signing by Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Brandon, Fla. Ladapo moved closer to Senate confirmation Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, 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. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) (Chris O'Meara/AP)

Then, DeSantis had the chutzpah to say this decision will cost American lives. Look in the mirror, Governor. You may see the ghosts of those who have already died because you stopped cities, counties, school boards and businesses from enforcing mask and vaccine mandates.

Ray Belongie, Sunrise

The Rosenberg case

Events surrounding the resignation of FIU President Mark Rosenberg should not diminish FIUs status as an institution of higher learning. However, it exposes an example of anything but high ethical and moral standards.

This learned man, who offers his wifes medical condition as an excuse for his lack of judgement in dealing with a young woman employee, should not be allowed to return to campus and teach with tenure and a sizable salary and retirement package.

Mark B. Rosenberg, poses for a photo at the Florida International University campus, Miami, Dec. 14, 2021. Last week Rosenberg abruptly resigned as president of the university. At first he cited health problems. A follow-up statement Sunday blames his wife's advanced dementia in part for him getting emotionally entangled with a co-worker. The Miami Herald reports that a woman in her 20s said the 72-year-old academic had been harassing her for months and wouldn't stop. That prompted an investigation, and the Board of Trustees told him to resign or be fired. (Pedro Portal /Miami Herald via AP) (Pedro Portal/AP)

I can imagine all the men nervous about being exposed as sexual harassers jumping for joy as they discover a new legal defense of being a caregiver. It would exonerate them from acting offensively or criminally because a family member needed care. I guess its a blessing that his wife has dementia so she will not be able to reflect on his airing her medical condition to explain his actions.

While I understand the difficulty in being a caregiver, having led caregiver support groups in the past) and the importance of the caregiver taking care of him/herself, there is no rationale for this burden to be an excuse for acts of sexual harassment.

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Ellen Isaacs, Pompano Beach

Make him buy an ad

May I suggest that the next time you place an article in the newspaper with comments from our vaccine-denying governor that you bill him for a political ad for trying to reach out to the former presidents fans. Better yet, place it in the comics section, so that no reader confuses it with information based on scientific knowledge.

Robert Caruba Jr., Boynton Beach
MENTONE, Texas (AP)  A 41-year-old West Texas sheriff's deputy has died after a crash with a truck, officials said Sunday.

Loving County Deputy Lorin Readmond was driving to help another deputy with a call Saturday when she collided with a semi-tractor-trailer truck, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman said. Readmond was pronounced dead at the scene.

The truck driver was not injured and has not been charged with a crime, according to Sgt. Steven Blanco. He said the crash occurred around 4:30 p.m. and is being investigated by Texas Highway Patrol but that he could not release further details.

Readmond joined the sheriff's department in Loving County, which sits on the New Mexico state line about 200 miles (322 kilometers) east of El Paso, in 2019, Blanco said. She was previously a chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
By Bram Sable-Smith, who covers the Midwest for Kaiser Health News. Originally published at Kaiser Health News.

I got a hurried voicemail from my pharmacist in Wisconsin the day before Thanksgiving letting me know my insurance was refusing to cover my insulin.

I had enough of the hormone that keeps me alive to last 17 days.

In my 10 years living with Type 1 diabetes, Ive never really struggled to access insulin. But in my job reporting on the people left behind by our countrys absurdly complex health care system, Ive written about how insulins steep cost leads to deadly rationing and about patients protesting to bring those prices down.

For the most part, though, Ive been spared from the problems I cover. Maybe thats why I waited over a week to call my new pharmacy in St. Louis, where I recently moved for this job with KHN.

Id been waiting since September for an appointment with an endocrinologist in St. Louis; the doctors office couldnt get me in until Dec. 23 and wouldnt handle my prescriptions before then. When I finally called a pharmacy to sort this out, a pharmacist in St. Louis said my new employer-provided insurance wouldnt cover insulin without something called a prior authorization. Ive written about these, too. Theyre essentially requirements that a physician get approval from an insurance company before prescribing a treatment.

Doctors hate them. The American Medical Association has a website outlining proposed changes to the practice, while the insurance industry defends it as protecting patient safety and saving money. It feels like a lot of paperwork to confirm something we already know: Without insulin, I will die.

I knew right away the prior authorization would be a problem. Since it was a Saturday when I learned about the need for the authorization, my best option was to call my old endocrinologists practice that Monday morning and beg his staffers to fill out forms for their now former patient.

I had enough insulin to last seven days.

But late that afternoon, I got an automated message from the pharmacy about an insurance issue.

After spending 45 minutes on hold the next morning, I finally got through to the pharmacist, who said my insurer was still waiting for a completed prior authorization form from my physician. I called the doctors office to give a nudge.

Four days worth of insulin left.

The price of my prescription without insurance was $339 per vial of insulin, and I use about two vials per month. Normally, I pay a $25 copay. Without the prior authorization, though, Im exposed to the list price of insulin, as is anyone with diabetes who lacks insurance, even if they live in one of the states with copay caps intended to rein in costs.

I called the pharmacy again on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., figuring itd be less busy. I got right through to the pharmacist, who told me my insurer was still waiting on the prior authorization form. Friday morning, the diabetes nurse at my doctors office said shed check on it and call me back.

Id be out of insulin the next day.

By this time, I was live-tweeting my attempt to refill my prescription and started to get the kind of messages that are familiar to anyone in whats known as the diabetes online community. People in Missouri offered me their surplus insulin. Some suggested I go to Walmart for $25 insulin, an older type I have no idea how to safely use.

My new strategy was to use one of the programs that insulin manufacturers started recently to help people get cheaper insulin. The very same day, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reforms Democrats released a report deriding these types of assistance programs as tools to garner positive public relations, increase sales, and raise revenue.

But before I tried that option, I heard back from the nurse who had called the pharmacy (she had spent 25 minutes on hold) and learned that my new insurance wouldnt cover the brand of insulin I was using. The pharmacist was checking on a different brand.

Soon the pharmacist called: My insurance would cover the other brand. But the pharmacy might not have enough to fill my order. She said I should call a different branch of the chain. The first location I called was also out but pointed me to another one that had it.

With 12 hours worth of insulin left, I walked out of that third store with my medicine in hand.

It took 17 days and 20 phone calls. But I know Im lucky. My insurance really is exceptional, recent events aside. My boss insisted that being alive was part of my job as I spent hours on the phone during the workday. And my job is to be persistent as I puzzle through the labyrinth of U.S. health care.

The time wasted by me, the pharmacists, the nurses and probably some insurance functionaries is astounding and likely both a cause and a symptom of the high cost of medical care. The problem is also much bigger than that.

Insulin is the single most important resource in my life, and this is what I had to do to get it. But I know not everyone has my good fortune. Ive interviewed the loved ones of people with Type 1 diabetes who could not get insulin, and its not hard to imagine how my story could have ended just as tragically.

On Dec. 23, I finally saw my new doctor, who sent in a new prescription. That night, I got a message that my insurer was waiting on a prior authorization.

I had 17 days worth of insulin left.
(Natural News) The state of Alaska joined Texas in the latters lawsuit against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandate for National Guard members. The suit filed by the two Republican-led states argued that the federal government has no authority over guardsmen when they are serving their respective states.

Alaska Gov. Michael Dunleavy joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as a co-plaintiff in the latters suit. The Jan. 25 complaint was a revised version of a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton earlier that month. Defendants in the two states lawsuit included President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.

There has long been a clear and distinct line between when National Guardsmen are governed by state authority and when they are governed by federal authority. When National Guardsmen are serving the state, the federal government has no command authority, the lawsuit said.

Neither the president nor federal military officials can order state governors or state officials how to govern the guardsmen under their command. Under the Constitutions carefully crafted balance between federal and state sovereignty, only the states  through their governors  possess legal authority to govern state National Guard personnel who have not been lawfully federalized.

The complaint by the two GOP governors accused the defendants of unilaterally [severing] the division between state and federal authority  by attempting to impose a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy on guardsmen under state command. It added: Rather than exercise their own authority and lawfully activate the presidents chain of command, defendants have attempted to force state officers to do the work for them.

The suit nevertheless reiterated that the situation is not a case demanding a position of pro- or anti-vaccine. Instead, it seeks to have federal action cabined within federal authority and bar the federal governments attempt to force the two states to submit to federal orders. (Related: Texas Governor Greg Abbott to file suit to protect National Guard troops from Bidens vaccine mandate.)

Vaccine mandate for guardsmen undermines readiness and public safety

Dunleavys office said in a release that the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate usurps state sovereignty and undermines the authority of governors as state National Guard commanders.

Protecting the freedom and liberty of National Guard members has fallen on responsible governors. The federal government has no authority to make health decisions for National Guard members who are at work under state authority.

The release added: Our Alaska National Guard has recently responded to winter storm disasters in Yakutat, the Interior and the [Matanuska-Susitna Valley]. What happens in the next disaster if [guardsmen] cant be activated because they chose not to get a federally mandated COVID vaccine?

In a separate statement, Alaska AG Treg Taylor slammed the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate. He argued that the mandate for guardsmen puts public safety and emergency response in jeopardy, while ignoring the governors authority. Taylor represented Dunleavy in the Jan. 25 lawsuit.

We rely on our National Guard to deploy during natural disasters and perform search-and-rescue operations. They keep Alaska safe and they are integral to protecting our state, the Alaska AG said.

The Jan. 25 lawsuit filed by Texas and Alaska followed a December 2021 ruling that rejected the state of Oklahomas request to block the federal vaccine mandate. Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot ruled on Dec. 28 that the complaint filed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, AG John OConnor and 16 unnamed guardsmen was without merit.

More related stories:

Oklahoma sues Biden administration over vaccine mandate for National Guard.

Oklahoma National Guard says NO to Biden vaccine mandate, Pentagon promises retaliation.

Bidens Pentagon threatens Oklahoma National Guard after commander says his troops wont be subjected to COVID vaccine mandate.

Watch the video below of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott standing up to the Biden administrations vaccine mandate.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

Head over to Resist.news for more news about states pushing back against the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

Gov.Alaska.gov [PDF]

Oklahoman.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The administration of President Joe Biden is planning to create a database of every American who has sought an exemption to Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine requirements.

The Department of Commerce recently proposed the regulation, which would create a record of every single unvaccinated American who has gotten a medical exemption to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. This follows a similar proposal that would have tracked unvaccinated Americans who sought religious exemptions.

Requests for medical accommodation or medical exceptions will be treated as requests for a disability accommodation and evaluated and decided under applicable Rehabilitation Act standards for reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship to the agency, reads the Commerce Departments proposed new rule, which it submitted to the Federal Register.

The agency will be required to keep confidential any medical information provided, subject to the applicable Rehabilitation Act standards. This medical exemption form is necessary for Commerce to determine legal exemptions to the vaccine requirement under the Rehabilitation Act. (Related: Biden regime plans to continue pursuing COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses despite Supreme Court ban.)

A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the regulations placed on the Federal Register, claimed that the governments proposed database will have measures in place to protect the privacy of unvaccinated employees with exemptions.

To process an employees medical exception, agencies need to collect certain information, including, for example, the employees name, the request for an exception and, if they are provided one, that they have been granted an exception, said the spokesperson in a statement.

Proposal met with intense criticism from Republicans

The federal governments proposal was immediately met with criticism, especially from congressional Republicans.

President Biden must rescind his unconstitutional COVID-19 vaccine mandates, wrote House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona in a statement. Any effort to systematically track requested exemptions from the mandates should be opposed. The Biden administration must allow individual Americans to make their own healthcare decisions regarding COVID-19.

First it was tracking religious dissenters, now it is those who  for the best interest of their health  are advised not to get the COVID-19 vaccine, commented Rep. Chip Roy of Texas. This is just the latest addition to the ever-growing list of abuses from an administration hellbent on imposing medical tyranny on the American people.

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin pointed out that the Commerce Departments new rule would undermine the liberty of employees everywhere.

Treating COVID-19 medical exemptions as disability accommodations shows how little the Biden administration and the COVID gods value liberty and informed consent, he said.

Johnson is the most vocal opponent of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the Senate. No one should be coerced or pressured into receiving any medical treatment, and putting federal employees who seek medical exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine on a list and labeling their private medical decisions degrades the health autonomy of all federal employees.

More related stories:

Report: Federal agencies are making a list of Americans who claim religious exemptions on COVID vaccines.

Is the Biden regime gearing up to commit mass genocide against Christians?

80 Republicans just reportedly voted to fund a federal vaccine database designed to spy on Americans.

Listen to this Situation Update episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is creating a database of households that have unvaccinated children.

This video can be found on the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

Learn more about the attempts to track unvaccinated Americans by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

TheFederalist.com

DailySignal.com

Brighteon.com
Andra Public Relations, a Bahrain-based communications firm specialising in financial technology, has announced the launch of their 12th FinTech Series powered by Kuwait Finance House Bahrain (KFH Bahrain).

The virtual series is titled Key Financial Takeaways for 2021 & Outlook for 2022 Trends'', and will take place on Monday, January 31, at 1 pm via Zoom. The event is free to attend and open to all.

The event will welcome back previous speakers from KFH Bahrain as well as an additional speaker from Aion Digital to shed light on lessons and key takeaways of 2021, as well as expected trends and outlook in the year 2022.

The session will serve as a wrap up of the four previous FinTech Series powered by KFH Bahrain where topics such as financial inclusion, SME digitization, sustainable finance, and innovation in retail banking were discussed. To effectively conclude these sessions, Andra PR will welcome back all prior KFH Bahrain speakers who have participated in the bi-monthly event.

Panelists include Hamed Yousef Mashal, Head of Retail Banking at KFH Bahrain; Mahmood G Al Mahmood, Executive Manager - Head of Corporate & SME Banking at KFH Bahrain; and Shariq Nazim - Chief Technology Officer at Aion Digital.

The session will be moderated by Fatema Ebrahim, CEO of Andra Public Relations, and member of Bahrain Economic Development Board.

The FinTech Series has so far hosted 11 successful events, featuring 50+ local and international speakers, as well as 700+ attendees in partnership with well renowned corporations, startups, and financial institutions from the Bahraini and MENA FinTech space such as The Benefit Company, Bahrain FinTech Bay, Tamkeen, The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance, Aion Digital, RSquare, Microsoft, Innervate Technology Solutions UK, Al Baraka Banking Group, and more. - TradeArabia News Service
(Natural News) Mainstream media outlets are claiming heart complications caused by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines are actually being caused by a so-called stealth disease.

This attempted cover-up is happening most prominently in the United Kingdom, where public health authorities are warning that around 300,000 people living in the country are living with a stealth disease that could kill nearly two-thirds of them within the next five years.

The disease that can supposedly kill hundreds of thousands of people in the U.K. is known as aortic valve stenosis or aortic stenosis. This is a condition wherein the hearts left ventricle, where the aorta begins, has narrowed. This makes it difficult for blood to flow properly.

Aortic stenosis can cause chest pain, dizziness, fatigue or a rapid, fluttering heartbeat in more severe and life-threatening cases.

The researchers claim that the people most likely to have aortic stenosis are those who are older, with diabetes, high blood pressure or heart conditions that they have had since birth. No mention of the fact that being vaccinated significantly increases a persons risk of developing heart complications.

Nearly 200,000 people in the U.K. could die of this stealth disease within five years

According to the calculations of the researchers, the overall prevalence of severe aortic stenosis among people over the age of 55 in the United Kingdom could be almost 1.5 percent or 300,000 people.

Of those 300,000, just under 200,000 were symptomatic and are already eligible for heart surgery to get the problem fixed. The remainder have a stealth case of aortic stenosis and will probably not be diagnosed until they get an examination of their heart.

Without timely treatment, the researchers estimate that over 172,000 people could end up dead due to complications caused by aortic stenosis by 2024. This is equal to around 35,000 people dying every year, with nearly 10,000 of those yearly deaths coming from people between the ages of 55 and 64.

The researchers came to their conclusions using data coming from no later than 2019. According to Josh Sigurdson, political commentator and host of World Alternative Media, the data being used only comes up to 2019 because the scientists conducting the study do not want any research to pop up that might link the prevalence of heart conditions to the COVID-19 vaccines. (Related: Psychiatrists invent a totally fabricated stress disorder to try to explain away vaccine-induced HEART DAMAGE they claim its all in your head.)

We have countless examples of people having heart attacks and having myocarditis and pericarditis  and it happens to 100 percent of people who got the jab, said Sigurdson.

He also pointed out how records from the United States show that there were only a handful of cases of myocarditis in children in both 2019 and 2020, and then there were suddenly thousands of new cases in 2021. And people are going to pretend that theres no correlation?

Sigurdson pointed out that the media and public health authorities have tried to pin the blame on the sudden surge in cardiac-related deaths on a variety of things, from marijuana and video game use to a new condition known as post-pandemic stress disorder.

The reality is, its the [expletive] vaccine, he said.

More related articles:

COVID-19 vaccine spike proteins are SHEDDING, giving people heart attacks, strokes and more.

Pfizer buys pharmaceutical company that makes heart medication to solve the problem caused by mRNA vaccines.

Questions swirl about COVID-19 vaccine injuries after several high-profile soccer players experience heart problems.

Study: COVID-19 vaccines increase risk of heart attack by 127%.

Pfizer secretly added heart attack drug to childrens COVID vaccines  but why?

Watch this episode of World Alternative Media with host Josh Sigurdson as he talks about how the media is attempting to shift the blame for vaccine deaths on a mysterious disease.

This video can be found in the channel World Alternative Media on Brighteon.com.

Learn more about the deadliness of the COVID-19 vaccines by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheSun.co.uk
(Natural News) In the January 26 episode of The Prisoner, the channel shared a clip from the Stew Peters Show about Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who has been doing work to highlight all the unnecessary injuries and possible deaths inflicted on young people due to overreaching tyrannical communist mandates that are doing nothing to stop [Wuhan coronavirus] disease.

The panel hosted by Johnson focused on skepticism for the COVID-19 vaccine, where he brought together doctors and other medical experts who promoted the use of alternative medication for the early treatment of the COVID-19 virus.

Data showed that miscarriages increased by 300 percent over the five-year average, and its the same increase in cancer over the same period average.

Thanks to Teresa Long and other doctors like her, and citizens like Thomas Renz, people can continue to collect all kinds of stories regarding what is really happening during the pandemic. Some problems that mainstream media continue to ignore include healthy soldiers who are now battling heart problems, an increase in miscarriages up to 300 percent, and even neurological issues for pilots rising up to ten-fold. (Related: WATCH as mother whose daughter is now permanently injured from covid vaccination tells her heartbreaking story.)

With the virus a near-zero risk for soldiers, sailors, and pilots in their 20s and 30s and the peak of their physical health, the vaccines are just sinister shots that are forced into them. However, the Biden regime still continues pushing these dangerous drugs even as vaccines are proven to fail, with more and more vaccinated individuals showing up in hospitals.

According to Renz, the Department of Defense medical records is frequently cited as being the most complete and most accurate, with the health system for the DOD very controlled and completely managed. This is as good a data as possible, and DOD doctors came forward, talking about reprisals that theyre witnessing or experiencing.

People need to be held accountable for the dangers of the vaccine, and if executions or the death penalty are warranted, then these should be carried out: the government is responsible for killing unprecedented numbers of people, and others are targeting soldiers. (Related: Mississippi man suffers a STROKE four hours after getting Johnson & Johnson vaccine.)

Data has been manipulated, and courts should take them seriously, especially considering that they have been lied to by the CDC for two years.

And God bless a lot of these judges whove been manipulated on this, but were going to deal with this, Renz said.

Latest: Athletes dropping dead from vaccines

Other than the increase in miscarriages and deaths in the army, Johnson also noted that government health officials are keeping quiet that hordes of healthy athletes are dropping dead on the field after getting vaccinated.

The Faucis of the world are just blowing it all off, the Biden administration [says] nothing to see here. Of course, weve heard story after story, I mean, all these athletes dropping dead on the field. But we are supposed to ignore that, Johnson said.

Johnsons office offered no specifics to back up his claims, but a spokesperson said that the governor is pressing for transparency in the government, especially in the federal health agencies, to ensure that Americans have as much information as possible before they make health care decisions for themselves and their families.

According to the reports, it is not normal for young athletes to suffer from cardiac arrests, or to die while playing their sports, but it is now happening: heart attacks and deaths come shortly after these otherwise healthy athletes got their COVID shots.

With numbers climbing, any other real vaccine would have been pulled, but this time, theyre not because governments and mainstream media are still encouraging people to get their shots.

Other related stories:

ACT OF WAR: Thanks to covid vaccines, the militarys cancer rate has more than TRIPLED

WATCH as mother whose daughter is now permanently injured from covid vaccination tells her heartbreaking story

Government continues risky push for vaccines despite growing reports of adverse reactions, deaths

Covid jabs can cause the central nervous system to go absolutely HAYWIRE, possibly for life

Trump says Big Tech is 100% trying to control the information that people see

Watch the full January 26 episode of The Prisoner below:

You can catch The Prisoner on Brighteon.com.

Follow Pandemic.news for more updates.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

NBC26.com

HuffPost.com

Archive.md
(Natural News) Christine Elliott, the Deputy Premier of Ontario, Can., does not approve of doctors in her province having any free speech rights, or even the right to practice medicine, if they violate her governments Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) narrative.

In a speech, Elliott told her constituents that she is calling for increased censorship of physicians who say or do anything outside the bounds of the official story, which is that masks and vaccines are the only cure for the Fauci Flu.

I want to respond to some extremely concerning reports that some doctors are spreading misinformation about vaccines, Elliott read from her script.

At a time when its never been more important for Ontarians to have confidence in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, this is unacceptable.

The solution, Elliott went on to explain, is to silence all doctors who disobey her dictates, and even take away their medical licenses.

I will be sending a letter to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario urging them to do everything that is possible to put an end to this behavior, Elliott said.

They should consider all options in doing so, including reviewing the licenses of physicians found to be spreading misinformation.

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliot is accusing some doctors of spreading misinformation about vaccines. Elliot urged the College of Physicians to do everything possible to censor these doctors. HELP US: https://t.co/oIPU6az6hO pic.twitter.com/uCrRX8ghXk  Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) January 19, 2022

Christine Elliott is deranged and dangerous

Elliott previously expressed her deep fears about the omicron (moronic) variant of the Wuhan Flu, which is just the common cold.

In her mind, moronic is really scary and requires full obedience from the medical profession in getting more people vaccinated, even though the jabs are what is spreading moronic.

We are starting to see glimmers of hope, Elliott told a press pool in a dramatic speech. The sacrifices you are making now mean we are beginning to see signs of stabilization.

Stabilization from what, exactly, was not explained. Since time immemorial, people have been getting the sniffles, and Elliott is acting as though it is the end of the world.

This deranged Branch Covidian, if she was not a political leader, could simply be ignored or perhaps admitted to the nearest mental hospital for treatment of her delusions. Unfortunately, she holds power in Ontario and is not afraid to wield it.

As we reported, Ontario is already suffering immensely from Elliotts earlier dictates, one of which involved firing all unvaccinated doctors and nurses throughout the province.

This resulted in a major shortage of health care staff, which then prompted Elliott to cancel all non-urgent surgeries because there are not enough medical workers to go around anymore.

Now, Elliott wants to drive the final nail in the coffin for Ontario by removing the medical licenses of all doctors and health care practitioners who refuse to buy in to her grand delusions about the moronic variant and the injections.

Any doctor who obeys that witch doesnt have credibility, someone wrote in response to Elliotts announcement.

The same thing is happening here with the formerly respected American Board of Internal Medicine and American College of Physicians-ACP / the Internal Medicine Specialty Society, wrote another.

It is disgusting that these dues-supported institutions are siding with and abetting the destruction of the American healthcare system.

Others noted that Elliott is an unqualified politician who reads scripts while the doctors she wants to disbar all went through medical school and know far more than she does about medicine.

More related news can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

CBC.ca

NaturalNews.com

CitizenFreePress.com
(Natural News) One of Americas largest newspapers has deleted a social media discussion of pedophilia after stirring outrage by claiming growing scientific consensus that sexual attraction to children is determined in the womb.

(Article republished from RT.com)

USA Today posted a Twitter message on Tuesday to promote an article on pedophiles, titled What the public keeps getting wrong about pedophilia. The newspaper said in a series of posts that pedophiles are likely born with a predisposition to be attracted to children and dont have control over their sexual desires.

A pedophile is an adult who is sexually attracted to children, but not all pedophiles abuse kids, and some people who sexually abuse kids are not pedophiles, USA Today wrote. It added that evidence suggests pedophilia is inborn, and better access to therapy can help pedophiles control their impulses.

USA Today deleted this thread, in which the publication defended pedophilia. pic.twitter.com/ssfLjoDklt  Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) January 11, 2022

The original tweet was quickly ratioed on Twitter, and USA Today later said it decided to pull down the entire thread because it allegedly lacked context that was provided by the article, which was behind a paywall. However, the newspaper later removed the paywall, allowing non-subscribers to access the article.

Multiple Twitter users took screenshots of the original messages, and the article failed to blunt their criticism of USA Today. The newspaper quoted Canadian sexologist Michael Seto as saying, I think as a field, weve accepted the idea that this is not something that people choose.

The article also argued that theres growing scientific support for views like those of Old Dominion University professor Allyn Walker, who has called for destigmatizing pedophilia and referring to pedophiles as minor-attracted persons.

The Virginia university announced Walkers resignation last November, after the professors comments were inferred as defending pedophilia. Walkers book on pedophilia was subtitled, Minor-attracted people and their pursuit of dignity.

Read more at: RT.com
(Natural News) If youre into this sort of thing, maybe now wouldnt be a bad time to call your investment broker and ask him or her to put more of your money into Big Pharma COVID-19 vaccine makers because it sounds like theyre going to be around for a long time, according to one Mayo Clinic physician.

Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccine researcher and editor of the medical journal Vaccine, told a MarketWatch webinar this week he believes that COVID jabs will be around for more than 100 years, which actually means that theyre never going to go away given that vaccines are known to contribute to viral mutations in the virus attempt to stay alive.

So let me make a prediction, which will be hard for any of you to hold me to because we will all be dead by then, but your great-great-great-grandchildren will still be getting immunized against coronavirus, Poland said during the webinar, according to the Daily Mail.

Interestingly, Polands prediction comes as other experts see the omicron variant of the virus, which is far milder than previous mutations, as diminishing rapidly, leading them to conclude that the pandemic will soon become an endemic, which means simply that the viral pattern has become stable and predictable.

But Poland disagrees, telling the webinar: We are not yet at any stage where we could predict endemicity. Were not going to eradicate it.

The Daily Mail adds:

He noted that the virus has shown the ability to infect animals, meaning it can potentially circulate indefinitely as it transmits across species and continues to mutate.

Poland believes the virus will circulate for so long that people will still be receiving Covid shots for generations down the line.

Commenting on his prediction, Poland made a historical reference.

How can I even say such a thing? If you got your flu vaccine this fall you were immunized against a strain of influenza that showed up in 1918 and caused a pandemic, he said.

Poland has made dire predictions before and has been accurate.

Just last month he told DailyMail.com that he thought at least 32,000 people would die from the virus between early December through the end of the year, noting: 32,000 Americans who think theyre going to be alive to celebrate Christmas and New Years are, no pun intended, dead wrong. Not one of them believes [they will die].

That was Dec. 9; during the period he mentioned, there were actually around 31,000 COVID deaths, per official numbers, making him nearly spot-on.

Daily Mail noted further that Poland isnt the only viral expert who is predicting more chaos ahead regarding the COVID pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, someone who is jointly responsible for the creation of COVID in the first place, according to previous reports, has also predicted that successive new strains are coming after omicron dies down.

I would hope that [COVID becoming endemic is] the case. But that would only be the case if we dont get another variant that eludes the immune response of the prior variant, he said during a Davos Agenda virtual event recently.

He said in August that he believed a vaccine-resistant strain of COVID was due to emerge, and sure enough, a few months later, researchers in South Africa discovered omicron, which is continuing to blow past vaccines and infect tens of millions, some seriously.

These experts are accurate with their predictions because they know that COVID is a manufactured virus, a product of dangerous gain of function research that Fauci helped fund, and they know that it was manufactured with staying power, so to speak, as evidenced by the dozen or so variants that have emerged thus far.

So again, if you are into traditional long-term financial investments, its probably a good idea to buy some COVID vaccine maker stock because the fact is, Poland and Fauci are right: This virus very likely isnt going anywhere.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A Biden administration ranking official actually said that Americans should care about  and die for  the integrity of Ukraines borders while his boss literally has implemented policies that throw U.S. borders wide open to the world.

In an interview this week with far-left MSNBC, Jonathan Finer, Bidens deputy national security adviser, responded to a question from the host, Why should Americans care whats happening in Ukraine?

Because it goes to a very fundamental principle of, of, all nations, which is that our borders should be inviolate, that our sovereignty should be respected, Finer said, adding: If the international system is to mean anything, it should mean that no country can change another countrys borders.

Mind you, this obvious disconnect isnt by accident. This toadie is a national security adviser; he knows what his bosss border policies are doing  facilitating a full-on invasion by a third-world force into our country, and for some reason, our state governments are allowing it to happen.

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin has been all over this massive (ignored) story for months. Just this week he reported on the most recent outrages via Twitter.

NEW: We witnessed the federal gov mass releasing single adult migrants, almost all men, at a parking garage in Brownsville. Taxi cabs were then called for them. We followed the taxis to Harlingen airport, where the migrants were dropped off to get on flights around U.S., he wrote in a post containing video showing the process. At the end of the video, a pair of illegal migrants dropped off at the airport said they were going to Miami.

NEW: We witnessed the federal gov mass releasing single adult migrants, almost all men, at a parking garage in Brownsville. Taxi cabs were then called for them. We followed the taxis to Harlingen airport, where the migrants were dropped off to get on flights around U.S. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/HcSSwtjMnR  Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) January 25, 2022

There are black tarps set up around the parking garage to obstruct the publics view. In a statement, the city of Brownsville confirmed to me that they use this spot to work with the federal government to facilitate travel for the migrants released from federal custody, Melugins report continued.

There are black tarps set up around the parking garage to obstruct the publics view. In a statement, the city of Brownsville confirmed to me that they use this spot to work with the federal government to facilitate travel for the migrants released from federal custody. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/c7kgs4rgyL  Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) January 25, 2022

Single adult migrants are supposed to be expelled from the country via Title 42. CBP tells me they had no involvement with these releases. An ICE source tells me these were ICE releases. ICE tells me they are looking into it. I am awaiting further comment from them, he added.

Single adult migrants are supposed to be expelled from the country via Title 42. CBP tells me they had no involvement with these releases. An ICE source tells me these were ICE releases. ICE tells me they are looking into it. I am awaiting further comment from them. @FoxNews  Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) January 25, 2022

BREAKING: Another federally contracted bus just pulled up to the same parking garage in Brownsville and released dozens of predominantly single adult male migrants, who went into the same unmarked office. One of the bus drivers confirmed this was an ICE drop off, Melugin wrote in another tweet, documenting the blatant Biden regime lawlessness.

BREAKING: Another federally contracted bus just pulled up to the same parking garage in Brownsville and released dozens of predominantly single adult male migrants, who went into the same unmarked office. One of the bus drivers confirmed this was an ICE drop off. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/njz12HM13s  Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) January 25, 2022

This is utter madness. The regime wants Americans to die for Ukraines borders but refuses to secure our borders.

If this blatant lawlessness isnt enough for states to begin opting out of this corrupt corporation known as the U.S. government, then what is?

Sources include:

CitizenFreePress.com

OpenBorders.news
(Natural News) The Democratic Party is so full of hypocrisies and contradictions it is a wonder why anyone in America would support it or vote for its candidates.

On the one hand in this woke age, we are told that there are dozens of genders and that gender should not be a consideration for anything anyway. Ditto for skin color, race and ethnicity.

But then the party does an about-face almost immediately, focusing solely on race and one of the two actual genders when it comes time to make an important nomination, in this case, someone to replace retiring liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Like his perspective or not, at least when he was nominated by then-President Bill Clinton in 1994, he was chosen for his judicial experience as well as his ideology. But todays Democrat Party has been hijacked by woke lunatics who are to the left of Karl Marx and whose uber-liberalism can never be mollified or satisfied enough.

As such, our figurehead president, Joe Biden, has been told by his woke handlers that no matter what, he is to nominate a black woman to the nations highest court, period, because in fact, its the Democratic Party that is racist, bigoted and biased.

Im here today to express the nations gratitude to Justice Stephen Breyer for his remarkable career in public service and his clear-eyed commitment to making our countrys laws work for its people, Biden said during a press conference ahead of Breyers formal retirement announcement. Today, Justice Breyer announces his intention to step down from active service.

Ive made no decision except (the) person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity, Biden said in an address from the White House. Then, adding that, in reality, he has made somewhat of a decision: And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.

Legal and constitutional experts, including liberals like George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, were upset by his reliance on race and gender, which is especially hypocritical given that the high court has heard oral arguments in recent days against the use of race in admission standards and requirements by colleges and universities, and will be deciding that case by next June.

Bidens record on racial discrimination as president has not been good, Turley wrote last week. It is the same type of threshold use of race that resulted in federal programs in the Biden Administration being struck down as raw racial discrimination, including prioritizing black farmers for pandemic relief.

There is also a current controversy in the Biden Administrations use of race in distributing scarce Covid treatments. As with cities like New York, the Biden Administration has endorsed the use of race to give priority to African Americans in receiving such treatments. It was entirely unnecessary, Turley added (and entirely unconstitutional as well).

It is equally baffling why Biden needed to exclude other races and genders rather than include those issues as what the Court called a plus on admissions, he continued.

Nothing, of course, prevented Biden from, like Reagan, seeking and selecting a female black candidate, Turley went on. That is why Bidens decision to impose a racial and gender exclusionary rule was a political, not a practical, choice. Yet, it will now unnecessarily add a controversy to this nomination.

He also said that whomever Biden nominates, should she win confirmation she will forever have an asterisk by her name as having been selected as an affirmative action justice not one who is primarily known for her legal and judicial acumen.

Frankly, any black woman selected by Biden should be offended that he chose her first due to her skin color and her gender. But she wont  at least, not enough to turn down the nomination  because she will be a like-minded hypocrite leftist without a shred of moral turpitude or ethics.

Sources include:

JonathanTurley.org

ConservativeBrief.com
(Natural News) It didnt take long for one of the newest free speech social media platforms  GETTR  to go mainstream by censoring important information that people need to hear but which is judged to be outside what is acceptable.

GETTR CEO Jason Miller, a former top political adviser to President Donald Trump, was asked during an appearance on the Timcast IRL podcast why some content was already being moderated such as banning videos showing President John F. Kennedys assassination, banning political commentator Nick Fuentes, and the manner in which the platform decides what is harmful, hateful, and obscene  all while claiming to embrace free speech.

As reported by Reclaim the Net, host Tim Pool agreed that GETTR clearly is going to allow more speech than the left-wing Big Tech platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but he also had issues with a number of GETTRs content decisions.

The outlet noted further:

The topic of the JFK assassination video being banned came up after Miller revealed that GETTR prohibits showing the act of killing someone and that there are no newsworthiness exceptions to this policy.

Miller explained that the policy was introduced because after the Afghanistan airport bombing, Kabulthere were images that were posted of actual people blowing up but said users are allowed to show what the carnage is afterwards.

When Miller was pressed on whether one of historys most famous videos, the assassination of JFK, would be allowed on GETTR, he confirmed that if it contains the moment of the bullet entering him, it wouldnt be allowed.

This video, which was originally taken with an 8mm film camera by Abraham Zapruder as JFKs motorcade passed him in Dallas on the day of his assassination, has been widely seen for decades, so despite Millers explanation, it makes no sense to ban it at this point.

Also, as Reclaim the Net reported, GETTRs ban contrasts with that of YouTube and Twitter, both of which currently allow the video to be played on their platforms and also offer newsworthiness exceptions to other violent content.

As such, Pool pushed back on Miller, in particular over the ban of JFKs assassination video, arguing that in that and other instances, people need to see the newsworthiness of even violent acts and that if you restrict that, people wont believe it.

Pool also broached the issue of Fuentes being barred from the alternative platform for allegedly asking a question about whether there were any other groypers that are on the platform. The podcast host accused Miller and GETTR of banning Fuentes without fully understanding what groypers really are  that is, a reference to the Pepe the Frog meme but which also refers to Fuentes followers.

Critics say that Fuentes and his followers are all white nationalists, though Fuentes and supporters have denied those accusations.

Miller responded that Fuentes was kicked off GETTR because the platform interpreted his post as recruiting people who are in the white nationalist space.

After he was pressed on the issue, Miller first suggested that Fuentes had self-identified as a white nationalist, but Poll responded and said that the podcast chat was filled with people who denied that Fuentes ever made such a claim. That left Miller to admit that he had actually not spent a great deal of time researching the groyper community but that he has seen a number of writings and things where thats how the group has been defined.

Moving on, Pool asked whether GETTR banned Fuentes because the media has called them [groypers] white nationalists, with Miller replying that its not just the media that has made the alleged connection but there are many people who have self IDd as being part of that group or part of that ideology.

Bro, I dont think youve got an argument here man, this sounds like complete bulls**t, Pool said. I dont think you know anything about this groupI dont either.

Miller defended the platforms speech policies by arguing that for most countries, especially in the US, your free speech rightsextend up until the point where they infringe on someone elses rights and that there have to be some standards in place to make sure that people dont think its a threatening or potentially illegal environment.

For real free speech, check out Brighteon.Social.

Sources include:

ReclaimTheNet.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The other day, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) held a panel discussion called COVID-19: A Second Opinion that revealed the ugly truth about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines. And as you may have noticed, it was completely ignored by the establishment press.

If they even reported on it at all, corporate media outlets scoffed at the idea that Fauci Flu shots are anything other than safe and effective as claimed by their manufacturers, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and politicians.

On his website, Johnson explained the panel discussion like this:

A group of world-renowned doctors and medical experts will provide a different perspective on the global pandemic response, the current state of knowledge of early and hospital treatment, vaccine efficacy and safety, what went right, what went wrong, what should be done now, and what needs to be addressed long term.

This is apparently too much digging for the Ministry of Truth, which only parrots what Tony Fauci and Rochelle Walensky have to say about the injections. All other perspectives are routinely silenced.

WGBA-TV in Johnsons home state, for instance, criticized the discussion. Most mainstream media outlets avoided reporting on it entirely. (Related: Last summer, YouTube suspended Johnsons account because he uploaded videos about hydroxychloroquine.)

So proud of my Senator Ron Johnson.

Hes been a Warrior. ?

??Attorney Thomas Renz reveals what multiple DoD whistleblowers have provided on the safety of the vaccines. These numbers are MIND BLOWING.

Please share the hell out of this! ?? pic.twitter.com/ZG4UJsyL8m  Teresa AnnMarie (@TeresaFreeThink) January 24, 2022

Federal health agencies, Big Pharma all refused to participate in Johnsons panel discussion

At the panel discussion, attorney Thomas Renz, who represents numerous clients injured by covid injections, disclosed evidence he received from three military whistleblowers showing that Fauci Flu shots are causing a massive uptick in health problems.

Army Lt. Col. Dr. Theresa Long, Dr. Samuel Sigoloff and Lt. Col. Peter Chambers, all of the Texas National Guard, disclosed proof showing that rates of myocarditis, miscarriage and neurological disease are off the charts.

All three have given me this data. I have declarations from all three that stated  this is under penalty of perjury, Renz explained. We intend to submit this to the courts.

We have substantial data showing that we saw, for example, miscarriages increase by 300 percent over the five-year average, almost. We saw almost 300 percent increase in cancer over the five-year average.

Sadly, the link between covid injections and cancer is being almost completely ignored while the other health conditions are sometimes acknowledged, but usually in a dismissive way.

We saw  this ones amazing  neurological, so, neurological issues, which would affect our pilots, over a thousand percent increase, Renz added, noting that cases of neurological damage have skyrocketed from 82,000 per year to 863,000 per year.

Our soldiers are being experimented on, injured and sometimes possibly killed, he further explained.

On September 28 of last year, the Department of Defense (DoD) reported that 71 percent of all new cases of the Wuhan Flu, as well as 60 percent of all new hospitalizations, are occurring in people considered to be fully vaccinated.

This is in spite of the claim by the government and the establishment media that the unvaccinated are the only ones getting sick and dying, supposedly from covid.

This is corruption at the highest level, Renz warns. We need investigations. The Secretary of Defense needs [to be] investigated. The CDC needs [to be] investigated. And thank you so much, Senator, for having the courage to stand against these special interests.

According to Lt. Long, adverse effects from the injections are rather common in the military these days.

I believe the COVID vaccine is a greater threat to soldiers health and military readiness than the virus itself, she says.

Renz also disclosed that the other side of the debate, including federal health agencies and the CEOs and representatives of vaccine manufacturers, were all invited to the panel to speak, but none of them showed up.

More related news about media censorship can be found at Censorship.news.

Sources for this article include:

WesternJournal.com

NaturalNews.com
Omans Khimji Ramdas ICT, a leader in IT and telecom, and UAE-based Motori for Smart Services have announced a strategic alliance to digitally transform the automotive insurance claims industry in the Sultanate.



Motori pioneered the creation of intelligent platforms for the automotive insurance claims industry, connecting stakeholders such as insurance companies, policy holders, vehicle licensing authority, agencies/workshops, loss adjusters and others under a single one-stop shop digital umbrella. This digitization allows for a seamless and automated claims process resulting in a faster processing time, transparency, and cost enhancements for stakeholders.



Ahmed Eissa, Chief Executive Officer for Motori commented: Oman is an important market for Motoris regional expansion plans. We believe we can add tremendous value for the stakeholders in the automotive insurance claims industry in Oman by providing customized solutions for the Omani market and the success in managing such platforms given our experience. We look forward to introducing Motori to the Omani market with Khimji Ramdas ICT as one of the leading business groups in Oman.



Our strategic alliance with Motori allows us to offer innovative solutions to the Omani market and to be a lead partner to the stakeholders in the motor insurance industry in Oman. With decades of experience across a breadth of industries in Oman through its parent company Khimji Ramdas LLC, Khimji Ramdas ICT division is dedicated to offering technology solutions to the Omani market, commented Meenal Madavi, Division Head of ICT Infrastructure Cluster at Khimji Ramdas LLC.  TradeArabia News Service
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NEW CANAAN - While nearby wedding venues can garner as much as $18,000, nuptials at Waveny House are bringing in just $3,500, a trend that town officials want to see change.

Striving to make Waveny House more competitive, branding consultants presented a plan on Thursday to the Board of Selectmen.

The 36,000 square-foot mansion, built in 1912, historically hosts 60 weddings a year. The house has a reputation of being a good value, said First Selectmen Kevin Moynihan, with rates that have not been raised since 2017.

Town officials have been discussing for years how to really promote Waveny as a premier wedding event kind of space, while keeping it available to the community, Administrative Officer Tucker Murphy told the selectmen.

The proposal, presented by Sarah Allard of Case Study Brands, calls for hiring a dedicated part-time staffer, revamping branding to increase the venue's perceived value, creating a new website, designing a logo and possibly expanding capacity with the use of tents.

Allard, whose firm has worked on branding the Greenwich Town Party, said that her group works to uncover and articulate brand DNA and strategic guidelines to drive engagement to the community and ultimately produce a greater return on investment.

She showed a chart that compared ten wedding venues, mostly in Fairfield and Westchester counties, with capacities between 150 to 400 people and starting prices ranging from $3,200, for Waveny House, to $17,995 for Whitby Castle in Rye, NY.

Murphy, who helped collect the data for the chart, pointed out that the survey may not be comparing apples to apples, since some of the venues, such as Whitby Castle, include an entire package with food. However, a venue such as Lounsbury House, a private mansion on Main Street in Ridgefield with a capacity for 150 people, charges $4,500 to $7,000 without food. Waveny House is also considered an outlier as being one of the few wedding venues that does not have air conditioning.

Moynihan explained that he has put together a group to develop a business model for Waveny House as he wants the Board of Finance to understand why we spend millions of dollars.

The first selectman reasoned that in order to charge more to be competitive, the town needs to provide a first class product. In order to do that the house needs to be compliant with the American Disabilities Act, which is expensive in terms of the bathrooms and the elevator. In addition, we really could do further beautification of the interior of the house itself, Moynihan said.

Allard explained the changes she was recommending.

There are some significant challenges we're experiencing right now that, if not addressed, really limits our ability to be a premier wedding destination while maintaining this really valuable asset for the town, she said.

The plan recommends hiring someone who would be the first touch point for the bride or party planner, Allard explained. That staffer would know the history of the building, give tours of the house, share testimonials and photos, offer contacts for vendors and hand out floor plans.

She also suggested creating a dedicated website with elegant photos from the house and prior events instead of making potential clients navigate through the Parks and Recreation Department on the town website, which doesn't feel glamorous, Allard explained.

Another item on the to-do list would be creating a logo for the house that would be used on monogrammed napkins, champagne bottles, dishware and anything that really customizes the venue and make it feel special, Allard said.

Moynihan added that he wants to look into the possibility of using a tent for a larger wedding, which could accommodate 250 or 300 people in attendance.

We can invest time, money and resources to preserve and celebrate this landmark and preserve and celebrate the history of the house, Allard said.
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Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, has completed the sale of 10 UK industrial and logistics assets to three different purchasers, Kennedy Wilson, Realty Income and Investra Capital, for a combined total of 108.4 million ($145 million).

The first sale to Kennedy Wilson comprised a portfolio of eight mid-box industrial and logistics warehouses located in the established distribution markets of Doncaster, Leeds, Bilston, Glasgow and Motherwell, totalling 588,997 sq ft area.

The second sale to Realty Income involved a modern detached industrial unit located in Hull, totalling 270,388 sq ft area.

The third sale to Investra Capital was for a collection of manufacturing and distribution units located in Tamworth, totalling 201,309 sq ft area.

Investcorp acquired all ten assets during H2 2017 for a combined price of 69 million and successfully implemented its asset management strategy, involving significant lease extensions and improvements in revenue across the assets.

The firm launched a full marketing process in September last year, resulting in a successful sale to three separate buyers in December 2021.

Since launching its European real estate business in 2017, Investcorp has invested approximately 1 billion into 80 properties across the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.

Khulood Ebrahim, Real Estate Product Specialist at Investcorp, said: "We are pleased to have successfully exited these assets in the UK. The industrial and logistics real estate assets are essential for driving e-commerce and supporting supply chains, and we remain focused on investing in these sectors."

"We will continue to leverage our deep market expertise and history of successfully investing in real estate to identify attractive opportunities that align with our criteria and have the potential to create value for our clients," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
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Connecticut police officers joined thousands of other officers to honor and pay tribute to a New York City police officer Friday.

Officer Jason Rivera, 22, was shot and killed Jan. 21, while answering a call about an argument between a woman and her adult son, officials said.

Police departments across the state including, Connecticut State Police, Darien, Westport, Norwalk, New Canaan and Middletown attended the service. The departments showed support for the officers, their families and the New York City police department in person and on social media.

Connecticut State Police posted, "We joined thousands in honoring fallen New York Police Officer Jason Rivera."

New Canaan posted pictures of the sea of police officers that lined the road to the church.

"Today members of the New Canaan Police Department stood shoulder to shoulder with thousands of fellow brothers and sisters from across the globe to say goodbye to @nypd Detective Jason Rivera," New Canaan Police tweeted.

Rivera and Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, were fatally wounded Jan. 21 by a gunman who opened fire on them in a hallway as they responded to a family dispute between a woman and her adult son, officials said.

On Tuesday, Mora was taken off life support at a Manhattan hospital. He was in critical condition since the shooting four days earlier. He was then moved Sunday Jan. 23, from Harlem Hospital to NYU Langone Medical Center, where he died.

Law enforcement from across the country gathered to pay tribute to the officers.

Middletown Police also offered comfort and support with their police dogs.

Officer Bodell and K9 Bear from Middletown Police were able to spend time with Detective. Riveras wife, family, friends, and co-workers to provide comfort and "making people smile in times of tragedy and crisis is what these dogs to best," they posted on facebook.
Champaign, IL (61820)

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Work has begun on a major multi-speciality hospital in Jeddah, which is being developed by Kings College Hospital London in partnership with Ashmore Group, a specialist emerging markets investment manager, and Saudi Bugshan Group.

Scheduled to open in 2023, the state-of-the-art Kings College Hospital Jeddah (KCHJ), 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 world-class healthcare facility will be fully integrated with Kings College Hospitals facilities in London, said a statement from Ashmore Group.

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 said the Jeddah facility will be the countrys first truly integrated hospital bringing the full benefits of Kings College Hospital London to Saudi Arabia, and playing its role in achieving the Kingdoms 2030 vision in the healthcare sector.

This is expected to be the first of many similar projects providing Ashmore and Kings the platform for further growth in Saudi Arabia, it added.

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.

The hospital will be staffed with over 1,000 leading healthcare professionals, sourced from London, Saudi Arabia 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 the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ahsan Ali, Head of Healthcare Private Equity at Ashmore, said: "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 specialized centres, in other parts of the Kingdom," he added.

Chairman Hugh Taylor 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."

Ashmore CEO Mark Coombs said the group remained committed to supporting KSAs continued development across multiple areas.

"We have been active in the kingdom for over the last two decades and were the first international fund manager to establish local operations 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," he added.-
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Longview, TX (75601)

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Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Tea, scientifically known as an infusion of the leaves of the tea bush, Camellia sinensis, is better known as the cup that cheers and revives. Being the single most widely consumed non-water beverage, it comes in several varieties and textures, with their different tastes and strengths. These include green tea, oolong, black tea, and Pu-erh tea.

In the USA, black tea is the most widely consumed, at about 84%, while 15% of tea drinkers take green tea. While all these come from the tender leaves of the tea bush, they are produced by different processes.

Two chief varieties of the tea bush are cultivated, namely, Camellia sinensis var. sinensis and Camellia sinensis var. assamica. The former originated in China and yields both white and green tea.

The latter is from Assam, India, and some parts of southeast Asia. It is processed mainly to black tea. Pu-erh tea is made from this variety, in Yunnan, China.

There are five types of tea, based on the amount of oxidation that occurs during processing. In all of them, the leaves are allowed to dry, or wither, before enzyme activation. Within tea leaves, both the flavonoids of the category flavan-3-ol monomers, or catechins, and the polyphenol oxidase (PPO) are present, but in different compartments.

The rolling, crushing, and breaking that occurs with tea processing cause the cell compartments to break down. As a result, catechins form theaflavins and thearubigins by condensation into dimeric and polymeric forms, respectively.

This oxidative process is called fermentation by workers in the tea industry. It is brought to a stop by steaming, firing, or baking the tea leaves, which inactivates the PPO.

Image Credit: Victoria Kurylo/Shutterstock.com

White tea

White tea comes from the unopened buds and very young leaves of the bush. These are steamed or fired, inactivating PPO, before drying them. This means they have high catechin concentrations, similar to fresh tea leaves.

Green tea

Green tea, produced from more mature tea leaves than white tea, contains an abundance of catechins, though the cultivar and the manufacturing facility determine the final content and composition.

The tea leaves are withered first and then steamed or fired, before a final rolling and drying. Even with similar catechin amounts, antioxidant activity can be very different between green and white teas because other antioxidants have been found to be abundant in teas.

Matcha is a form of finely powdered green tea.

To read more about the health benefits of green tea, click here.

Oolong tea

Also called oolong or Wulong tea, these comprise slightly bruised leaves so that the flavor created by PPO is partly released. The leaves are oxidized more than white or green tea, and therefore their catechin, theaflavin, and thearubigin content is also greater than that of black tea but less than white or green teas, neither of which are fermented much.

Black tea

Black teas are completely rolled or broken to allow catechins to oxidize by ensuring full contact with PPO. This is followed by drying, or by heating and crushing. The complete pre-drying oxidation ensures a low content of flavan-3-ols such as (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

Conversely, it is rich in theaflavins (2%-6% of extracted solids) and thearubigins (>20% of extracted solids), with the former having higher antioxidant activity than EGCG.

Pu-erh tea

Also called puer, puerh, or Chinese black tea, this is produced in Yunnan province, using the larger (more mature) leaves of Camellia sinensis var. assamica.

One variety of puerh tea is raw or aged puerh tea, where the leaves are heated and dried before dampening. Finally, they are fired in a pan and compressed. The product is stored in a carefully adjusted environment where it can age over decades.

Apart from PPO oxidation, fungus-mediated fermentation (using Aspergillus niger) is also sometimes included. This speeds up the aging process, finally yielding ripened pu-erh tea.

Image Credit: HelloRF Zcool/Shutterstock.com

Bioactives in tea

There are a number of bioactive chemicals in tea, including flavonoids, fluoride, and theanine. Others include pigments like carotenoids and chlorophyll, alkaloids like caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine, lignans, and carbohydrates, as well as proteins, lipids, and vitamins.

A typical cup of green tea usually contains 250350 mg solids. Catechins make up 30% to 42% by weight of brewed green tea, while 36% is caffeine. Catechins include (-)-epicatechin (EC), (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG), and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

EGCG is the most potent catechin, and much of the anticarcinogenic effect of green tea is predominantly credited to it. Some catechins undergo oxidation or condensation to form dimers or polymers. These include theaflavins (theaflavin, theaflavin-3-gallate, theaflavin-3-gallate, and theaflavin-3-3-digallate) (36%) and thearubigins (1218%) during fermentation of fresh tea leaves and are responsible for the bitter taste and dark color of black tea.

Flavonoids are polyphenols, most abundant in fresh tea leaves. They comprise six classes, namely, flavan-3-ols (catechins), anthocyanidins, flavanones, flavonols, flavones, and isoflavones. They have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antioxidant properties. They also regulate detoxifying enzymes and have immunostimulatory attributes, besides reducing platelet aggregation.

Flavonols include glycosides such as kaempferol, quercetin, and myricetin, and these are not significantly affected by processing. These are poorly absorbed but are responsible for much of the health benefits of tea.

Caffeine is present in all teas but at varying concentrations. It stimulates the central nervous system, and opposes the action of adenosine A2A receptors, thus protecting dopamine-secreting neurons. Adenosine is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, and therefore the effect of caffeine is stimulatory.

Fluoride builds up within tea leaves, and thus the content is greatest in the oldest leaves. Only the bud or the top two to four leaves on the tea bush are taken to make a tea of the highest quality. Fluoride is responsible for the beneficial effect of daily tea consumption on dental caries.

Fluoride toxicity is unlikely to occur since green, oolong, and black teas contain the same amount on daily consumption as dentists recommend for dental health. White tea has a lower content. The lower the fluoride content, the higher the appearance, taste, and flavor of the tea.

Theanine is an amino acid that is not found in proteins, making up about 1-2% of the dry leaves. It has high bioavailability, almost 100%, and crosses the blood-brain barrier.

Theanine looks similar to glutamate in its chemical structure. Glutamate is an inhibitory neurotransmitter and is implicated in memory processing. It is competitively inhibited by theanine, which thus prevents nerve cell death following brain ischemia.

Cardiovascular benefits

As a result, tea consumption is linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease, a drop in cholesterol levels, as well as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-hypertensive attributes. Increasing daily intake by three cups (125 mL/cup) a day pushes down the stroke/brain hemorrhage risk by about a fifth, cardiovascular disease by 27%, and cardiac deaths/total deaths by over a quarter.

Green tea brought down cardiac deaths, strokes, and total deaths, while black tea reduced the cardiovascular risk. Green tea extract has been introduced into mouthwashes and toothpaste to reduce dental plaque and gingivitis, better than fluoride- or triclosan-containing toothpaste. Conversely, green tea extracts may cause disorders of the digestive tract and liver toxicity.

The risk of cardiovascular mortality is 33% less with the highest level of green tea consumption vs the lowest, along with a drop in total deaths by a fifth. Black tea, however, reduced total deaths by a tenth. Flavonoids are thought to underlie this effect, via their anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and vasodilatory activity.

Tea drinkers also have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, though the mechanisms are complex. Black and green tea also reduced blood pressure, perhaps because flavonoids inhibit the synthesis of the vasoactive compound angiotensin II.

Though animal studies seem to show a role in preventing carcinogenesis, current evidence is lacking for any anti-cancer effect in humans.

Metabolic benefits

It is possible that these compounds are implicated in regulating the energy balance, the metabolism of glucose and lipids, peripheral tissue sensitivity to the actions of insulin, the composition of the body, as well as body temperature.

Black tea infusions reduced fasting lipid profiles and fasting blood glucose concentrations. So did green tea consumption, associated with improved lipid levels and lower blood pressures. Black and green tea may also improve endothelial function, while green tea also has antioxidant activity, mostly via EGCG, theaflavins, and thearubigins.

Tea consumption may also be linked to a lower risk of dental caries, while the risk of renal calculi is lowered by 11% at the highest level of tea intake compared to the lowest. However, tea is high in oxalates, which requires further examination.

Mental health benefits

Tea consumption is also linked to higher cognitive performance in older people compared to non-tea drinkers, though the evidence is largely observational. Tea drinking may interact with some drugs such as anticoagulants, warfarin, and certain cardiovascular drugs.

Tea drinking improves mood for a short time and reduces the risk of depression. However, high tea consumption is not recommended in pregnancy because of the increased risk of miscarriage and low birth weight.

Conclusion

Tea drinking is mainly a lifestyle habit, consumed as a pick-me-up, but it also has important health benefits. More studies are underway to understand these effects and exploit them for the good of the community.

References:

Tea (2021). Retrieved from: https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/food-beverages/tea#cardiovascular-disease-prevention. Accessed on October 28, 2021.

Serafini, M. et al. Health Benefits of Tea. In: Benzie IFF, Wachtel-Galor S, editors. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2011. Chapter 12. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92768/

Khan, N. et al. (2021). Tea and Health: Studies in Humans. Current Pharmacological Design. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4055352/

Tea (2021). Retrieved from: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/tea/. Accessed on October 28, 2021.

Further Reading
A strong majority of American adults over 50including the 37% of older adults who own guns or live with someone who doessupports specific steps that could reduce the risk of firearm injury and death, according to a University of Michigan study.

The new national study shows support among older adults for everything from firearm safety counseling by health care providers and background checks for firearm purchasers to red flag policies that allow for temporary firearm removal from people at high risk of harming themselves or others.

The study also highlights opportunities to help older adults recognize and address the risks in their own homes, especially for those who live with children, have heightened suicide risk or are beginning to experience cognitive decline and/or dementia.

For instance, the study shows 24% of firearm owners over age 50 regularly store at least one of their firearms loaded and unlocked, which past research has shown increases the potential risk of accidental or intentional injury. Gun locks and locked storage containers such as gun safes can reduce that risk, as can smart guns that can only be fired by a specific individual.

Published this week in the journal Preventive Medicine, the study is based on a national survey of more than 2,000 adults aged 50 to 80 carried out by members of the U-M Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, Injury Prevention Center and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, along with a colleague from Michigan State University.

The researchers conducted the study because one-third of all firearm-related deaths in the United States occur among people in their 50s, 60s and 70s, with 84% of those deaths resulting from suicide.

Preventing injury and death among older adults, and the children and teens who live with them, has taken on new urgency because of the rise in such incidents in the past decade, the researchers say.

Just as health care providers and health policymakers have worked to address other preventable causes of injury and death, we hope these findings will inform the effort to reduce the toll of firearm injuries among older adults, while respecting firearm ownership rights, said study leader Patrick Carter, U-M emergency physician who co-directs the U-M Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention and directs the Injury Prevention Center.

This is especially true for older adults experiencing depression, cognitive decline and other conditions that may increase their risk for firearm injury, as well as those with children and teens living with or visiting them.

Firearm safety is about identifying and reducing risk, and creating policies, programs and education that can help achieve this. Every suicide, every accidental shooting, every homicide is a tragedy that affects far more people than just the person pulling the trigger or getting shot. These new data can help us move forward at the societal and personal level. Rebecca Cunningham, studys senior author and U-M vice president for research

Key findings:

The survey covered a wide range of topics, from firearm ownership and storage practices to attitudes toward specific policies and programs. Respondents were also asked about their own health and the presence of children in the home.

Ownership and storage

27% of older adults own at least one firearm, and most of these individuals own more than one. Another 10% say they live with someone who owns a firearm.

40% of firearm owners say they regularly store their firearms locked and unloaded, 35% say they store their firearms unlocked and unloaded, and 24% store their firearms loaded and unlocked.

Storage practices differed by firearm type, with a larger proportion of handgun owners reporting they stored at least one firearm loaded and unlocked, while only 3% of long-gun owners reported keeping their long guns stored, loaded and unlocked.

69% of those who own firearms cited protection as a reason, while 55% cited target shooting or hunting and 30% cited a constitutional right (respondents could choose more than one option).

Among those who cited protection as a reason for ownership, only 5% said it was to protect themselves against someone they specifically knew, while most endorsed a general sense they needed the weapon to protect themselves.

20% of firearm owners who have children living with them or visiting regularly said they store at least one firearm unlocked and loaded, compared with 35% of firearm owners who do not have children living with them or visiting. Other research has shown that 75% of adolescent suicides involve a gun from the teens own home or a relative.

Attitudes toward preventive programs and policies

Most older adults, both firearm owners and non-firearm owners, said they would be comfortable being asked or counseled about firearm safety by a doctor or other clinician. 69% of firearm owners would be comfortable with health care-based screening for firearm ownership, and 63% would be comfortable with receiving counseling about safe firearm storage from a health care provider. The percentages were higher among non-firearm owners, including those who live with a firearm owner.

Red flag laws and programs that allow family members or police to petition courts to restrict firearm access by people they believe to be a danger to themselves or others met with approval from 79% of firearm owners and 89% of non-firearm owners.

81% of firearm owners and 92% of non-firearm owners support efforts to remove firearms from the homes of older adults with dementia or confusion.

88% of firearm owners and 93% of non-firearm owners support restricting those who are under domestic violence restraining orders from owning or having access to firearms.

Background checks for all firearm sales, including private ones between individuals, met with support from 85% of firearm owners and 93% of non-firearm owners.

Individual and family characteristics and risk factors

Firearm owners were more likely to be white, male and veterans than non-firearm owners, and more likely to be in higher income brackets and to live in rural areas outside the Northeast.

77% of firearm owners had children living with them, or regularly visiting them, compared with 70% of non-firearm owners.

40% of non-firearm owners said that the presence of children in their home influenced their decisions about owning firearms, compared with 20% of those who owned firearms.

40% of firearm owners said they had experienced social isolation or lack of companionship in the last year; the survey was taken just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This percentage was much higher (89%) among older firearm owners who rated their physical or mental health as fair or poor.

9% of the older firearm owners in the survey met criteria for having depression, which is a risk factor for suicide, compared with 8% of non-firearm owners.
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.
(Newser)  An affable man living in the town of Lewiston, Maine, was shot dead on Halloween in Harlemwhere people came out in the street to drink a champagne toast to his demise. How do the two jibe? Writing for the New York Times, Ali Watkins explains that Abraham Rodriguez, as his neighbors in Maine knew him, was also Alberto (Alpo) Martinez, "one of New York Citys most notorious cocaine dealers of the 1980s." Martinez was known to be ruthless, a trait that reached an apex in 1990 when he arranged to have dealer Rich Porter, one of his best friends, murdered. Martinez then tried to grab a part of the Washington, DC, cocaine trade but was arrested in 1991.

That's when Abraham Rodriguez was born: He entered the federal witness protection program after spilling on his associates (he got a mitigated sentence for the seven hits he admitted orchestrating and was released in 2015). "His testimony would decimate the Washington, DC, metro areas cocaine infrastructure," notes Watkins. In Lewiston, a town of 36,000, he thrivedfor a time. By 2017 he had gotten his commercial driver's license, was running his own construction company, and was liked by his neighbors. But he also allegedly started going back to Harlem, something that almost certainly wasn't allowed under his witness protection arrangement. By 2020 he was a "fixture" in Harlem. But why he was gunned down, and by whom, remains a mystery. As one law enforcement official put it, "Part of the difficulty may be too many suspects with too many motives." (Read the full story.)
Breakbulk Middle East (BBME), the GCCs leading breakbulk and project cargo event, is set to take place on February 1 and 2 at Dubai World Trade Centre under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.



Over the years, BBME has become a sought-after platform among industry stakeholders to address pressing concerns and tackle the biggest challenges the sector is faced with. Day one will kick-off with opening remarks from Suhail Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure with the session moderated by Capt. Mohamed Al Ali, Senior Vice President, Ship Management for Adnoc Logistics and Services.



On the day one agenda are sessions on managing rates and capacity, closing the talent gap, regional outlook, project financing and investment, digital transformation, and a spotlight on opportunities available in Saudi Arabia. Second day sessions include Women in Breakbulk (breakfast, networking and panel), Middle East Project Review, Seafarer Welfare, along with West Africa ports project update. Education Day for students will also be held on Wednesday.



Ben Blamire, Event Director, Breakbulk Middle East, said: After our successful digital special during the pandemic period, we are pleased to come back as a physical event this year. It is wonderful to witness such a tremendous response with the kind of registrations we have had this year. The high interest reflects the industrys willingness to come together face-to-face and discuss areas of key importance and work towards taking collective action.



Both government and private sector entities have come forward to show their support for the event and we cannot be more grateful. For the 2022 edition we have identified themes that will enable the sector to make a post-Covid recovery and address concerns and challenges in this rapidly changing landscape. Topics have been carefully decided to enrich the attendees with all-round knowledge that will help them grow their businesses and take the industry to greater heights.



Leslie Meredith, Marketing Director, Breakbulk Events & Media said: Our primary goal is to facilitate a conducive landscape for the global breakbulk sector. To accomplish this, we have designed BBME 2022 in a manner where we are seeking to inspire companies participating with us to thrive and expand to the region and contribute to the overall growth of the industry. The format will enable stakeholders to benefit from the wide variety of panel discussions and networking opportunities.



Owing to its phenomenal reputation as a leader in the logistics and maritime industry, the event has garnered the support of the regions top transport and logistics leaders, the UAE government and its top educational institutions.  TradeArabia News Service
(Newser)  Guinea worm infections dropped to just over a dozen worldwide last year, getting closer to fulfilling former President Jimmy Carter's dream of completely eradicating the disease during his lifetime. The Carter Center reported this week that only 14 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in all of 2021, the result of years of public health campaigns to improve access to safe drinking water in Africa. People who drink unclean water can ingest parasites that can grow as long as 3 feet before painfully emerging from the skin, often through the feet or other sensitive parts of the body. The Atlanta-based center founded by Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, said the remaining infections occurred in just four countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Mali.

That's a decline of nearly half compared to the previous year, when 27 cases were reported in seven African countries. And it's a staggering drop from when The Carter Center began leading the global eradication effort in 1986, when the parasitic disease infected 3.5 million people. Carter, 97, has made eradicating the disease one of his many missions. "To say that we only have 14 human beings on a planet of almost 8 billion people is quite a phenomenal track record for the Guinea worm program," Adam Weiss, director of The Carter Centers Guinea Worm Eradication Program, told the AP.

Guinea worm infections in animals, such as dogs and cats, also declined 45% last year compared to 2020. That's important, Weiss said, because infected pets and domesticated animals can play a role in passing the disease to people. Guinea worm isn't fatal by itself. But according to the CDC, it's a painful and debilitating disease that can leave infected people unable to work until an emerging worm is removeda slow process that can take weeks. The World Health Organization warns that the remaining cases can be the most difficult to control as they usually occur in remote and often inaccessible areas. Only one human disease has ever been successfully eradicated: smallpox.

(Read more guinea worm stories.)
(Newser)  The US is in possession of what's described as the world's most powerful spy tool, a revelation that in and of itself is not too surprising. This part might be: The tool is sitting unused in a New Jersey building because the FBI doesn't have authorization to deploy itand that authorization might never come. The unusual situation is described in this weekend's New York Times Magazine by Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti, whose story is the culmination of a yearlong investigation into cyberwarfare. The piece focuses on Pegasus, surveillance software sold by the Israeli company NSO Group. But this isn't just any software: Pegasus can "consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone," meaning governments don't need the cooperation of Apple or other tech firms, per the story.

That kind of tool is a spymaster's dream and a privacy advocate's nightmare. Mexico, for instance, has used Pegasus to catch the drug lord El Chapo, but also to spy on political dissidents and journalists. Similar abuses have surfaced since Pegasus emerged in 2011, including when the Saudis allegedly used it to spy on dissident Jamal Khashoggi (later killed by Saudi operatives) and his fiancee. Plenty of nations already use Pegasus, and the FBI took steps to join the club in 2019. But the dozens of computer servers it purchased sit idle as the government debates whether they should be fired up. The Commerce Department, meanwhile, has added NSO to its list of foreign companies thought to jeopardize national security. (Read the full story, which digs into how "cyberweapons have changed international relations more profoundly than any advance since the advent of the atomic bomb.")
(Newser)  Russia has moved not just troops and weapons near its border with Ukraine, but blood supplies. An inventory of blood and other medical necessities for treating casualties are another indicator of Russia's readiness for an invasion, Reuters reports. The move also would be support US warnings that an attack could take place anytime. The US had already said medical support was included in the Russian buildup, but the inclusion of critical blood supplies had not been disclosed.

"It doesn't guarantee that there's going to be another attack, but you would not execute another attack unless you have that in hand," said Ben Hodges, a retired US lieutenant general who's with the Center for European Policy Analysis. A Ukrainian deputy defense minister said the report isn't accurate. It's "an element of information and psychological war," Hanna Malyar said. "The purpose of such information is to spread panic and fear in our society." Russian officials did not yet comment, per Reuters, though they have denied any intention of invading Ukraine. (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
(Newser)  Two new cookbooks may be literally lost at sea, and now fans will have to wait a few more months to dig into them, People reports. Containers collapsed on a cargo ship headed to New York, presumably sending new copies of Melissa Clark's Dinner in One: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals and Mason Hereford's Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin' in New Orleans to the bottom of the Atlantic. Both books are published by Penguin Random House, per NPR. Copies were stored on containers on the Madrid Bridge ship that originated from Taiwan, but the ship encountered a storm near the Azores of Europe on Jan. 15. Sixty containers tumbled overboard, and another 80 were damaged. It will take days to determine whether Clarks and Herefords cookbooks were actually lost at sea, so Penguin Random House has changed Clark's release date to Sept. 6 and Hereford's to June 21.

Both authors seemed to take the news in stride on Instagram. Hereford posted an edited image with the infamous naked baby Nirvana album cover, using captions along with a tiny image of his cookbook to cover the infants genitals. The restauranteur turned author used more humor in his post: "The good news is that there were no critical injuries, as can happen in these situations  the link in my bio sends you to articles about the collapse, which is perhaps the most hilariously 2022 thing to happen yet this year." Clark, also a food columnist for the New York Times, posted an image of a shark trying to eat her cookbook and made a few jokes as well. "I like to think that if the books are at the bottom of the ocean, theyre teaching whole schools of fish some very tasty recipes," she wrote. "Poseidon and his nereids are dining in style." (Read more strange stuff stories.)
(Newser)  North Korea on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since President Biden took office, as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and neighbors amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy. The Japanese and South Korean militaries said the missile was launched on a lofted trajectory, apparently to avoid the territorial spaces of neighbors, and reached a maximum altitude of about 1,250 miles and traveled about 500 miles before landing in the sea. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Sundays missile flew for around 30 minutes and landed in waters outside Japans exclusive economic zone.

The flight details suggest the North tested its longest-range ballistic missile since 2017, when it twice flew intermediate-range ballistic missiles over Japan and, separately, three intercontinental ballistic missiles that demonstrated the potential to reach deep into the American homeland. Sunday's test was North Koreas seventh round of launches this month. The unusually fast pace of tests indicates its intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled nuclear negotiations as pandemic-related difficulties put further stress on an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and crippling US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called an emergency National Security Council meeting where he described the test as a possible "mid-range ballistic missile launch" that brought North Korea to the brink of breaking its 2018 self-imposed moratorium on the testing of nuclear devices and longer-range missiles. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chaired a ruling party meeting on Jan. 20, where senior party members made a veiled threat to lift the moratorium, citing what they perceived as US hostility and threats, reports the AP.

The latest launch suggests Kim's moratorium is already broken, said Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert and honorary research fellow at South Koreas Science and Technology Policy Institute. In his strongest comments toward the North in years, Moon said the situation around the Korean Peninsula is beginning to resemble 2017 and that the Norths latest moves violated UN Security Council resolutions and were a "challenge toward the international community's efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, stabilize peace and find a diplomatic solution" to the nuclear standoff. (Read more North Korea stories.)
(Newser)  After George Floyds murder in 2020, a commission of citizens of Fort Bragg, Calif., examined whether they should change the name of the city named after a Confederate general. That won't be happening, for now at least, the Guardian reports. The city of 7,000 was named after Confederate army general and slave owner Braxton Bragg in 1857; he never visited the northern California coastal town that now shares his name, per the Press Democrat. The citizen commission, which originally had 18 members but ended up with 10, couldn't land on a unanimous decision. KSRO reports the closest it came was a 6-4 vote in support of the city being renamed "sometime in the not-too-distant future."

"Because the citizens are so divided, this commission cannot unanimously recommend a simple yes or no to the question of changing the name," commission member Cesar Yanez told the city council on Monday. What that division looks like: The commission distributed a survey to which 1,649 responded, with 56% saying no, 32.5% yes, and 11.5% unsure. One commissioner pointed out that the survey was limited to people who read Facebook posts, mailed water bills, city council emails, or local newspaper announcements and that it was possible people from outside the city had responded or city residents voted multiple times.

"We did our best, and thats what we got," commissioner Christie Olson Day said. The sole black member of the commission had a more unequivocal response: "I firmly believe it should be changed," Marshall Carr Jr. said. One commission member suggested that making it clear the town is not honoring Bragg himself is perhaps the best option. Nicki Caito-Urbani also pointed out the cost to the city and private businesses of rebranding their existing physical and digital assets if the name "Fort Bragg" must be removed. Stars & Stripes reports Fort Bragg in North Carolina is expected to be identified as needing a name change by a commission set up by Congress that is examining Confederate-related names across the military. (Read more Fort Bragg stories.)
(Newser)  A North Carolina man says more than 100 people have offered to donate a kidney to him. The number of local hospitals willing to carry out the surgery stands closer to zero. That's due to Chad Carswell's unvaccinated status. The double amputee says his kidney is 4% operational and dialysis is keeping him alive, but he is absolutely unwilling to change his mind regarding a COVID vaccination in order to comply with the policy of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. The Burke County man tells WSOC, "I was born free. I will die free. Im not changing my mind."

He says hospital staff spoke with him about getting vaccinated, and that he shut the conversation down. "He told me 'You know youll die if you dont get it,' and I told him I'm willing to die," says Carswell. He says he has spoken with friends and family "and everybody who is close to me and they know where I stand and there will not be a situation that occurs where Ill change my mind on this topic." The hospital stated that its policy "is to vaccinate all patients on waiting lists or being evaluated for transplant." Carswell says he is investigating options elsewhere in North Carolina and beyond. A piece at STAT News looks at the ethics of such denials; read it here. (A 31-year-old father in need of a heart transplant also refuses to be vaccinated.)
(Newser)  The owner of Long Island's Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare and one of her employees allegedly made more than $1.5 million selling forged COVID-19 vaccination cards, per the New York Times. Julie DeVuono, 49, and Marissa Urraro, 44, were charged Friday with second-degree forgery, court records show. DeVuono, the owner of the Amityville practice and a nurse practitioner, is also charged with offering a false instrument for filing, the Hill reports. Urraro is a licensed practical nurse. The Suffolk County district attorney's office accuses the women of charging adults $220 and children $85 for forged vaccination cards and entering false information into the states database to support a scheme that allegedly began in November 2021.

Prosecutors allege the women sold a false card to an undercover police officer, leading to their arrests. Officials say they found $900,000 in cash at DeVuono's residence along with paper evidence indicating they had made $1.5 million in illegal gains over the November-to-January period. (See images of the alleged ledger here and here.) "I hope this sends a message to others who are considering gaming the system that they will get caught," said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. Urraro's attorney responded by citing "defects of the investigation" and saying, "Its our hope that an accusation definitely doesnt overshadow the good work Miss Urraros done for children and adults in the medical field." (A South Carolina nurse was in December charged with filling out fake vaccine cards.)
(Newser)  Ohio officials suspect carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of a rash of illnesses at a motel pool that sent more than a dozen people to hospitals. The first case reported was that of a 2-year-old girl who was unconscious at the pool Saturday afternoon, the Columbus Dispatch reports. More reports about people in distress in the pool area at the Hampton Inn in Marysville began coming in, said Fire Chief Jay Riley. Some of them were unconscious, Police Chief Tony Brooks told CNN, while "others described symptoms such as dizziness and a burning in their throat."

The origin of the carbon monoxide wasn't clear and is being investigated, per Fox News. The hotel was evacuated, and possible sources of the leak were shut off. "We did have life-threatening levels of carbon monoxide in the pool area of the hotel," Riley said in an email. The odorless and colorless gas can be fatal quickly. The number of people affected wasn't clear, but Brooks counted nine people taken to hospitals and four others who went on their own. (Read more carbon monoxide stories.)
(Newser)  Italian President Sergio Mattarella was pulled away from his impending retirement and reelected Saturday to a second seven-year term as the country's head of state, ending days of political impasse by party leaders that risked eroding the nation's credibility. Earlier in the day, lawmakers entreated Mattarella, 80, who had said repeatedly he didn't want a second mandate, to change his mind after lawmakers in Parliament and regional delegates voted fruitlessly for days, trying to reach a consensus on other possible candidates, the AP reports.

Mattarella won in the eighth round of voting when he clinched the 505 votes needed from the eligible 1,009 Grand Electors. Applause broke out in Parliament, prompting the Chamber of Deputies president to interrupt his reading of the ballots. The count then resumed, with Mattarella going on to win 759 votes. In a brief, televised statement from the Quirinal presidential palace, Mattarella told the nation he couldn't let his personal desires prevail over a "sense of responsibility" during the grave health, economic and social emergency Italy is enduring in the COVID-19 pandemic. He added his commitment "to interpret the expectations and hopes of our fellow citizens."

Mattarella's first term ends on Thursday. Ahead of the presidential election this week, Mattarella had even rented an apartment in Rome to prepare for his move from the presidential palace. But after the stalemate, party whips and regional governors visited Mattarella at the presidential palace Saturday to reenlist him. Rai state TV said Premier Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief who is leading a pandemic unity government, encouraged the lobbying. He hailed Mattarella's reelection as "splendid news for Italians." The job is largely ceremonial, but the president can send legislation back to Parliament for changes and tap party leaders to try to form a government if a coalition fails.

(Read more Italy stories.)
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, today discussed aspects of cooperation under the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement, signed by the two nations in 2020, in addition to a number of regional and international issues of interest.

This came during a session of talks held by HH Sheikh Mohamed and Herzog at Qasr Al Watan Palace in Abu Dhabi, said a Wam news agency report.

At the beginning of the meeting, Sheikh Mohamed welcomed Herzog and expressed his hope that this visit would contribute to advancing the relations between the two countries to a higher level for the higher good of their peoples and those of the region.

The two sides also reviewed the prospects of increasing cooperation at all levels, especially in the economic, trade, investment, development, technology and health.

The meeting also dealt with a number of regional and international issues of mutual concern, especially the efforts made to achieve peace, stability and development in the Middle East region for the common good and prosperity of its peoples.

Earlier, Sheikh Mohamed received Herzog, who is on an official visit to UAE, accompanied by his wife, First lady of Israel Michal Herzog.

An official reception was held for Herzog on his arrival at the Qasr Al Watan, where Sheikh Mohamed escorted him to the podium, and the national anthems of the two countries were played, while 21 rounds of artillery were fired to welcome his visit.

The Israeli president is accompanied by a delegation including a number of senior officials and Ambassador of Israel to UAE, Amir Hayek.
(Newser)  Hundreds of people on Sunday walked the route of marchers who were killed by British paratroopers a half-century ago in Northern Ireland during a civil rights demonstration. Family members of those shot to death in Derry on what's now known as Bloody Sunday were among those at the remembrance, the Guardian reports. Along with other political leaders, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin laid a wreath and called for accountability even now in the killings. "I believe that the full process and justice of the courts should be deployed," he said after meeting with the families. The unionist parties were not represented, which Martin said "would have been helpful."

The 1972 march, in which 13 people were killed, launchedalong with another demonstration four years before on the same streetsthe three-decade-long Troubles, per the New York Times. By the time the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998 was signed, more than 3,500 people had died in the fight between those who wanted one Ireland and those who wanted Northern Ireland more closely tied to the UK government. Bloody Sunday hardened both sides, bolstering the Irish Republican Army most of all. "Many young people I have talked to in prison have told me they would have never joined the IRA had it not been for what they witnessed on Bloody Sunday," said the Rev. Edward Daly, who had helped carry a shooting victim, in 1998.

In 2019, one former British soldier was charged with killing two demonstrators and wounding four more. But prosecutors dropped the case last year, saying there was no chance of a conviction; a family is fighting that decision, per the AP. The UK issued an apology in 2010 after a government inquiry found the troops opened fire without justification on unarmed civilians who were fleeing, then lied about it for years, per Euronews. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that Bloody Sunday was "one of the darkest days in our history." Michael McKinney, whose brother William was killed in 1972, said Sunday the government is "trying to deny us justice," adding, "We will not go away and we will not be silenced." (Read more Bloody Sunday stories.)
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, today paid an inspection visit to the Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF).

The BDF chief was briefed about RBNFs latest developments, military preparedness and training programmes.

The commander-in-chief affirmed that the distinguished position reached the BDFs various branches is the outcome of the sound directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Supreme Commander, lauding the noble role played by the BDF brave personnel to undertake the tasks entrusted to them to serve the homeland and defend it with determination and strength.

He indicated that the Royal Bahrain Naval Force now includes advanced formations and systems, making it one of the basic pillars of the kingdoms military power, expressing deep pride in the dedicated role played by the officers, non-commissioned officers and servicemen of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force in carrying out their duties with all sincerity and dedication, as well as in facing challenges and dangers, under all circumstances and at all locations.
Qatar Airways has marked the Lunar New Year with a special curated selection of festive treats and decorations onboard and in lounges, and traditional hongbao red envelopes for passengers travelling between January 31 and February 1 on selected routes.



The Year of the Tiger, being a water tiger year, celebrations will extend to passengers at Al Safwa First and Al Mourjan Business Lounge at Hamad International Airport (HIA) where they can enjoy a reunion dinner and sample traditional celebratory dishes from the bespoke Lunar New Year menu.



Marking the long-awaited end of winter and the start of spring, the Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays in East Asia. All passengers travelling on Qatar Airways to and from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore can enjoy a range of celebratory dishes and treats. Passengers on the selected routes will be welcomed with a hongbao red envelope containing a complimentary Super Wi-Fi code.



Passengers transiting through Doha will receive an exclusive 22 per cent Qatar Duty Free (QDF) discount when shopping from an extensive selection of perfumes, cosmetics and skincare at the QDF Perfumes and Cosmetics Stores.



Premium Cabin passengers can start their reunion celebrations onboard with a Golden Mandarin Mule mocktail drink as they begin their celebratory journey. They can then enjoy special dishes from a bespoke a la carte menu that includes Peking Duck Roll for appetisers, Stir Fried Noodles with Tiger Prawns as the main course and Beef Cheek with vegetable fried rice as a light option.



For dessert, passengers can indulge in a traditional Mandarin Mousse  the mandarin orange is traditionally a symbol of prosperity. To enhance the festive ambience, the dishes will be presented with red lanterns on the dining table and complemented with a Chinese knot tassel and a red band.



Passengers travelling in the Economy Class cabin during this period can select a meal from the Lunar New Year digital menu that includes Green Tea Soba Salad for appetisers, Sweet & Sour Chicken with Vegetable Fried Rice as the main course and Tofu Cheese Mousse with Red Sesame Crumble for dessert, presented on a themed tray mat along with chopsticks and a red cutlery band that symbolises prosperity and good fortune.



Passengers Al Safwa First Class Lounge and Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge at HIA will enjoy dining on Hot and Sour Chicken Soup, Sichuan Style Beef Short Ribs with Vegetable Fried Rice, finishing off perfectly with a Black Sesame Baked Cheesecake. Tables will be dressed with specially designed red lanterns, chopsticks and Chinese knot tassel.  TradeArabia News Service
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Many more have lost hundreds of Bahraini dinars to scammers after ordering burgers online, it is learnt.

This follows The Daily Tribune published a report on Bahrain resident Manesh who clicked a link to buy a burger from a top global brand only to realise that BD600 had been deducted from his bank account.

The Daily Tribune yesterday received a phone call from a Bahrain resident, who lost BD799 to scammers.

I have been regularly ordering burgers online.

And I never thought I would be losing BD799 this way.

I have complained with the bank and they have frozen my account.

I am unsure as to whether I will get the money back or not.

Those jumping at the mind-boggling offers are landing in shock after clicking away all their savings.

People who lost money say they got trapped by advertisements posted on social media.

Such sites are so original that one could hardly notice any difference.

Products also display the prices and pictures as in the original websites.

The website, however, has a slightly different address, which even regular customers had failed to notice.

Manesh came to know about the depth of the scam when he shared his ordeal with his friends, who also told the same tale.

Tribune had earlier reported about the rise of online fraud in Bahrain.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ambassador of Israel to Bahrain, Etan Naeh, hailed the advanced position enjoyed by Bahrain when it comes to artistic and creative works.

Expressing admiration of the paintings and other works at the Rashid Bin Khalifa Art Foundation, the Israeli envoy said this reflects the interest shown by the Kingdom in the arts sector.

The comments came as Naeh took a tour of the Foundation with Chairman of the National Council for Arts, Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

The National Council for Arts Chairman emphasised the importance of art in promoting inter-cultural dialogue and positive values among people.

He said the Council is acting as an incubator for artistic activities by adopting qualitative initiatives and programmes.

Bahrain, Shaikh Rashid said, is witnessing an artistic movement, thanks to the support of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Starting today, the Government schools in Bahrain began receiving students for in-person classes. Sundays classes also kick-started the second semester of government school students. In-person or virtual attendance for students is as per their parents choice.

In-person classes are set in a way that the total capacity of a school does not exceed 50% in compliance with the yellow level of the COVID-19 system modelled on the traffic light system.

The Ministry of Education has called on schools to take necessary precautions and communicate with parents to receive students adhering strictly to COVID-19 measures.

The ministry has also stressed the need to implement the work from-home system at a rate not exceeding 30% of the total employees of schools.

Health teams to visit schools Education Ministry also announced that health teams in the School Affairs would start visiting schools to ensure compliance with COVID-19 measures.

The teams would check compliance with sterilisation and hygiene instructions, measuring temperatures before allowing entry, social distancing in buses, classrooms and offices, presence of isolation rooms, commitment to wearing masks and presence of works teams and committees specialised in implementing preventive measures.

The teams will also gauge the extent to which school administrations are committed to implementing COVID-19 measures.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa praised the efforts of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, in serving Bahrain, promoting its growth, and developing the governments work in various fields.

This came as HM the King received HRH Prince Salman as they discussed local issues that aim at advancing development in the country for the benefit of the citizens, as well as reviewed developments in the region.

During the meeting, His Majesty stressed that Bahrain has chosen peace as an approach and dialogue as a strategic option.

HM King Hamad affirmed that Bahrain is committed to mutual respect and joint relations by adhering to the principles of the United Nations Charter, which stipulate on non-interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, adherence to human values, tolerance, fraternity and coexistence, and a peaceful settlement of crises within the framework of strengthening international cooperation.
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DANBURY - The developers of a proposed cancer treatment center that would use proton beams to kill tumors with less tissue damage than traditional radiation have grown weary of waiting for the state to approve its use, which would be the first in Connecticut.

So the team behind Danbury Proton took its frustration to supporters.

Are we discouraged? Yes. the developers said in a newsletter earlier this month. Are we defeated? No!

The developers are referring to plans that received local approvals last summer for an $80 million proton therapy center on the citys booming west side.

Since that unanimous approval by Danburys Planning Commission in July, the only thing stopping construction of a 16,000-square-foot building on 3-acre hill overlooking Danbury Airport is the state Office of Health Strategy, which must first issue a Certificate of Need.

It has been a test of resolve to go through this exceptionally long and expensive CON process, which for us began in April of 2020, nearly two years ago, the developers said.

On Friday, the health strategy office told Hearst Connecticut Media that Danbury Proton would have its answer in as soon as one month.

The Office of Health Strategy anticipates acting on this application within the next 20-to-35 business days, said Tina Kumar Hyde, OHS manager of external affairs. Due to a number of factors including navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, limited resources and the complexity of review, OHS has not yet been able to publish anything on this matter. However, we are working as quickly as possible to do so.

Danbury Proton is one of two proton therapy cancer treatment centers under review by the state. The other proposal is a partnership between two of the states major health systems, and would use the same technology being touted in Danbury as a more precise way to target cancer tumors than traditional X-ray beams.

Because the streams of tiny proton particles create less damage to healthy tissue, they are an ideal way to treat cancers of the head, neck and brain, the National Cancer Institute says.

Just like Danbury Proton, the proton therapy proposal by Hartford HealthCare and Yale New Haven Health in Wallingford is waiting on a bureaucratic determination from the state OHS.

It has taken (the state) a long time on a health treatment that is a very much needed option for people suffering from cancer, said Wallingford Mayor William Dickinson on Friday.

Connecticut does not have proton therapy treatment. The nearest locations are in Boston and New York City.

Danbury Proton is among several recent major medical-related commercial developments on Danburys west side.

In April, Danbury gave the green light for a $36 million rehabilitation hospital on 13 acres in The Reserve residential development.

And at the end of 2020, the health network that runs Danbury and Norwalk hospitals signed a long-term lease for 220,000-square-feet at the Summit office complex.

Drew Crandall, Danbury Protons community outreach director, said the developers were encouraged by the projects widespread support.

The city of Danbury, the Danbury delegation in the state legislature, the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and the Danbury community at large have been extremely and consistently supportive of this project, Crandall said on Friday. Danbury Proton looks forward to OHS decision soon.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
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DANBURY  Almost a fifth of the new teachers the school district hired this academic year identify as Hispanic or Latino, but the vast majority of Danbury educators are still white.

Its illustrative of the challenge Danbury and other school districts have in offering a diverse staff that represents their communities.

Its a very slight incremental change, which is frustrating because as we bring in these classes of 180 or 200 teachers were seeing some really good trends, but its really hard to make a difference in the large aggregate, said Kimberly Mango Thompson, chief talent officer and legal counsel to the Board of Education.

She presented plans last week to the school board showing how the school district aims to hire more teachers of color. This includes building upon pipeline programs that encourage students of color to become teachers and communicating better to attract candidates, Thompson said.

Danburys student population was 60 percent Hispanic or Latino, but 85 percent of teachers were white and 8 percent were Hispanic or Latino, according to 2020-21 data she presented. She said itd be a slow slog toward equitable representation.

If our goal is to try to provide for our kids mentors and role models who look like them, administrators and teachers, were making slow progress, Thompson said. It's going to take us quite a long time and I think it may be an aspirational goal to ever get to the point where the demographics of our teachers mirror exactly our students.

Who is teaching in Danbury?

The percentage of newly hired non-white teachers is approaching 25 percent this year and has trended upward each year since 2014, Thompson said. The district typically has 980 to 1,000 teachers annually, so overall change is very slow, she said.

Of the about 180 new teachers hired this academic year, 19 percent are Hispanic or Latino. Thats largely due to hiring for bilingual or English learner teachers, Thompson said.

We do tend to see native language speakers coming in and try to get those positions, she said.

White teachers make up 72 percent of the new hire pool, with 3 percent of new teachers identifying as Black or African American, 1 percent as Asian, 1 percent as two or more races, and 5 percent declined to respond, according to the district.

The latest data from 2017-18 shows 79 percent of teachers nationwide are white. Statewide, the percentage of white teachers is slowly trending down, hitting 89.9 percent in 2020-21. In Connecticut, 4.3 percent of teachers are Hispanic or Latino.

With the large numbers of Hispanic, Latino teachers that were hiring, were really well ahead of trend when you put us up against the state, Thompson said.

She credited the English learner teams that do a really good job of recruiting, but also training and providing opportunities for learning.

That is whats continuing to attract people into our district in particular, Thompson said.

Recruitment and retention

Danbury aims to develop two new strategies each year to hire a diverse staff, Thompson said. This could mean participating in a new college, state or teacher preparation program, she said.

One initiative thats been a success is a pipeline program with Western Connecticut State University that encourages Danbury students of color to go into education by providing them teaching experience in high school.

Three teachers  the most ever  were hired through this program this school year, Thompson said.

Danbury has developed a similar, new program with New York University. The district is working on another initiative to encourage Danbury paraeducators, particularly those who speak a foreign language, to become teachers through an alternative route to certification, Thompson said.

Were looking at whether we can create some incentives, partnering with the paraeducator union and also with the state to identify who those folks may be among us who might be good candidates for teaching ultimately, she said.

The district typically works with colleges like Western Connecticut State University to identify students, Thompson said. Staff have visited historically black colleges and universities, as well. In recent years, the district has had more traction on digital hiring sites like Indeed.

Thompson said shed love to have a recruiter focused on this work.

For right now, what I think we need is a stronger bridge from some of the materials that weve done in my office, the brochures and the ad spots, and really work to get the communication out into the district through some other forms of social media to see if we cant expand the pool, she said.

Through exit interviews, she aims to understand why  other than pay or commutes  some teachers may leave for other districts.

We do tend to lose some of our bilingual and ESL teachers to other districts once we complete their training, Thompson said. We go through all their training and give them a really, really good foundation and they get plucked by other districts.
Uber, a global taxi-hailing app, said that over 31 million riders took trips using the app since it launched in Mena in a new report.



According to the report titled Uber Mena: 2021 in Numbers, 703,000 drivers in Egypt, 530,000 drivers in Saudi Arabia and 18,000 drivers in the UAE made a trip since launch using the Uber app.



The roll out of vaccines and relaxing of some restrictions over the course of the year, meant that international travel became an option again for many. Uber also saw an increase in the number of people commuting into offices and places of work again  in fact, 6:00pm in the UAE was when drivers received the most trip requests, as the workday ends and offices clear out, it said.



Some of Ubers key travel trends from 2021:



 The years #1 rider: A rider in Saudi Arabia topped the charts with an impressive 1,706 trips this year - taking on average 4 trips a day!

 The years #1 driver: Drivers have been busy too, with the top drivers making thousands of trips through the app, such as 7,613 in the Eastern Province in KSA, 6,978 in Cairo, and 4,244 in Dubai.

 Uber Bus: Reaching another milestone, Uber Bus witnessed growth of 2.4x compared to 2020 as it continued to facilitate affordable trips for commuters across Cairo.

 Vaccination-bound: supporting the community through the pandemic, riders have taken more than 126,355 free or discounted trips through the app to and from Covid-19 vaccination centers.

 International jet-setters: 2021 saw the rebirth of travelling and, from Los Angeles to Sydney, people around the world love to use Uber when abroad. People from 80 countries used the Uber app while visiting Egypt and from 84 countries while visiting the UAE.

 Tourist traps: The tourist hot spots in the Middle East were popular trip destinations, with 14,747 trips to the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, was also popular, racking up 319,596 trips. The Boulevard in Riyadh is also one of the top destinations in KSA.

 Evening festivities: As restrictions eased, riders enjoyed the revival to their social lives, with Zamalek ranking as the #1 nightlife destination in Egypt with 669,222 trips.

 Drivers across Mena received 109,541,802 5-star rated trips, which translated into tipping, with an 80% increase on tipping in Mecca, compared to 2020.



One of Ubers key priorities in 2022 will be to support the mobility technology industry to recover and grow as we work to achieve our overarching vision of a convenient, smart and sustainable mobility ecosystem.



We will continue to be bold, using Ubers technology merged with our hyperlocal approach to innovate faster. We are more focused than ever on making Uber the best platform for earners while also championing women empowerment across the region, through initiatives such as Wusool, Ubers largest subsidized program globally, Uber said in the report.



Riders remain a key focus, as we look to facilitate more ridesharing options, features and even more advanced safety. We will continue to innovate with new products and initiatives that help move us, together with strategic partners, governments, drivers and, of course, riders as we work to make the Uber app an essential part of everyday life.  TradeArabia News Service
The very famous YouTube couple, Juli and Arjun joined NewsX for an exclusive interview as part of NewsX Influencer A-List. In the fun chat, the intercultural duo opened up about their relationship and the kind of content they make. The couple also gave an authentic suggestion to the other intercultural couples out there.

Our first question to the YouTubers was about the type of content they create for their viewers. Ajun replied, We are daily bloggers. We record whatever happens in our daily life and make a vlog on it. We record how our day started and how it is ending. Its basically the highlights of our lives.

When asked if there is a lack of representation of intercultural couples on big screens or streaming platforms, Juli said, Well, yes definitely. I watch a lot of Bollywood movies and I havent seen any inter-cultural couples there. On the internet as well, it is very rare. With time it is surely increasing but it is not very general yet.

We then asked how do they address sensitive issues related to each others cultures and traditions in their daily vlogging routine. Juli stated, We both are adults and we try to talk about every point which we are not clear about. We try to compromise as well. I tend to realize a lot that due to Indias history with the Britishers, there is a mindset that all white people are Britishers. I tell him all that I feel and he understands me well.  As content creators when we show our daily lives, we receive various comments from our viewers. Some say that I should have married an Indian girl who would make tea for me., Arjun added. Juli went on to say that a foreigner wife is as capable as an Indian wife.  It isnt that I care any less about my husband than an Indian wife would.

Speaking about the positive reactions that the duo gets from their audience, Arjun expressed, About 99% of the reactions are positive. We ignore the 1% and also, one needs to grow a thick skin when they are on social media. Juli added, We are also happy to inspire people. We have people coming towards us and sending us messages saying that they have a foreign girlfriend and asking for tips to convince their parents. Now, a lot of families see that it works and there is nothing weird in being an intercultural couple.

The couple then revealed their journey of meeting each other. Juli said, We met in Dubai. I was floating in the sea and Arjun came up to me. We had a conversation and then he asked for my number, which I did not give. By the end, I ended up taking up his number and thats how our story began. We lived in Dubai for 2 years and then we shifted to India.

We ended the conversation by asking the duo to say a few words to all the intercultural couples out there who want representation too. Arjun said, If you are in love, nothing can stop you. Do not listen to others, they will always try to confuse you and give you different lectures. One thing you should ask yourself is, do you see yourself getting old with this woman? Can you spend the rest 50-60 years of your life with this human? Just follow your heart.
Kishan Boliya was brutally murdered in Dhandhuka on January 25 while riding his two-wheeler with his cousin through the Modhwada neighborhood.

Three people, including a Muslim cleric, have been detained in connection with the murder of a 27-year-old man over a Facebook post in Dhandhuka city in Gujarats Ahmedabad district. Kishan Boliya was brutally murdered in Dhandhuka on January 25 while riding his two-wheeler with his cousin through the Modhwada neighborhood. He allegedly published a social media message that infuriated certain Muslims.

Mohammad Ayub Javarawala, a cleric, and two other Dhandhuka locals namely Sabbir Chopda and Imtiyaz Pathan have been detained in the case. They have been lodged in the custody of the police. According to Ahmedabad Superintendent of Police Virendra Singh Yadav, early investigations into the death revealed that Chopda fired at Boliya while riding pillion on Pathans motorbike. According to sources, Boliya died on the spot. The police added that Maulana Javarawala handed a weapon and cartridges to Chopda and Pathan, who shot and killed Kishan. According to the official, Javrawala allegedly stated that Muslims should not spare anyone who offend Islam during a spiritual meeting in Ahmedabad a few months ago, which Shabbir had attended.

Following the murder, the Hindutva organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad called for a shutdown in Dhandhuka on Thursday. The following day, Harsh Sanghavi and Kiritsinh Rana, state Cabinet ministers, met with members of Boliyas family. Sanghvi stated that the Ahmedabad Police Department has organized squads to apprehend the culprits within 24 hours and that the case has been turned over to the anti-terrorism unit.

The issue came to light after the victims cousin, Bhaumik, filed a police report in the case, claiming that the murder was linked to Bharwads social media post from about 15 days ago. Kishan is said to have shared a message on a social networking platform that Muslims deemed insulting.

Kishans video included a picture of Prophet Muhammad. As per reports, authorities had initiated action against Kishan due to public indignation over the tweet. Both parties had reconciled following the police intervention; nevertheless, Kishan Bharwad was assassinated a few days later.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced on Saturday that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will lay the foundation stone of an Amar Jawan Jyoti in Chhattisgarhs Raipur on Thursday. According to an official statement, Amar Jawan Jyoti will be constructed in the premises of 4th Battalion, Chhattisgarh Armed Forces Mana, Raipur. The flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will continue to be lit in honour of the martyrs. He will perform `bhoomi poojan (ground-breaking ceremony) for the memorial on February 3.

Congress party has a history of sacrifices and had many great leaders who sacrificed their everything for the service of the nation. The party knows how to honour sacrifices. Our history has been a witness that any society which does not honour its martyrs, does not preserve the memories of their sacrifices, insults their signs, that society is destroyed said Baghel. In the year 1972, the first female Prime Minister of India Smt. Indira Gandhi lit the Amar Jawan Jyoti in New Delhi in honour of the martyred brave soldiers of the country. However, the central government has merged the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame with the one at the National War Memorial, he said.

The eternal flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate was visible to the visitors and instilled in them a sense of pride and gratitude towards the martyrs of the country, he added. Expressing his dissatisfaction over the centres move of shifting Amar Jawan Jyoti, Baghel said that it has hurt his sentiments, but now the flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be lit in the honor of the martyrs in Raipur as well.

We will honor the martyrdom of the sons of Chhattisgarh who sacrificed their lives for the country by joining uniformed services, as well as the bravehearts of the country who sacrificed their lives in Chhattisgarh through Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti, the Chief Minister said. A wall with names of Martyrs, memorial tower and VVIP platform will also be set up at Amar Jawan Jyoti in Chhattisgarh. The wall will be constructed with brown marble with the names of Martyrs engraved on the same. This crescent-shaped wall will be about 25 feet high having a length of about 100 feet, and the thickness of this wall will be 3 feet.

The memorial tower will be set up of sandstone, brown white marble granite in front of a crescent-shaped wall. A memento will be made on its top. Rifle and helmet will be in the form of insignia on the base in front of the memorial tower. The flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be lit in front of this symbol which will be ignited 24 hours by fuel supply through underground pipelines. A fort-like two-storey building will be constructed just in front of the memorial tower, the length of the base of which will be 150 feet and the width will be 90 feet. The height of this building will be 40 feet. The Chief Minister expressed hope that soon Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be established as a place of pride for the country.
The prime minister's mansion was evacuated after the Seargent-at-Arms of the Canadian Parliament warned that protestors would turn up at official residences.

After a large-scale demonstration protesting COVID vaccination mandates converged on Parliament Hill on Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family left their house in the countrys capital and relocated to a secret location, according to media sources. The prime ministers mansion was evacuated after the Seargent-at-Arms of the Canadian Parliament warned that protestors would turn up at official residence. The Prime Ministers office has declined to comment on Trudeaus move, citing security concerns.

The Freedom Convoy, which began as a protest against a vaccination mandate for cross-border truckers, has expanded into a major protest against the Trudeau governments coronavirus restrictions. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, tens of thousands of truckers and other demonstrators gathered in Ottawa on Saturday to demand an end to COVID-19 vaccination requirements and other public health restrictions.

Meanwhile, there were several children as well as elderly and disabled adults among the crowd. According to the Globe and Mail newspaper, some even carried posters with hostile and obscenity-laced comments aimed primarily at Canadas prime minister. Some of the demonstrators were spotted dancing on the iconic war memorial to denounce Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand and Canadas top soldier, Gen. Wayne Eyre.

Its worth noting that Canadians protested the vaccination mandate when the government announced a new requirement that truck drivers entering Canada be completely immunized as of January 15, 2022. This happened after the United States adopted a similar requirement for trucks entering the nation. Subsequently, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, around 15% of truckers in Canada, are not completely vaccinated against COVID-19. Conservative legislators in Canada have backed the convoy, claiming that the vaccination requirement has caused a supply-chain bottleneck, leaving shop shelves dry across the country.
A controversy over coronavirus misinformation on Spotify is heating up, with a handful of musicians this weekend joining Neil Young in saying they want their music off the streaming platform as it continues to host provocative podcaster Joe Rogan.

Rock musician Nils Lofgren, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band as well as Crazy Horse, on Saturday became the latest artist to join a protest kicked off by his bandmate Young, saying in a statement that he, too, would "cut ties with Spotify" and urged "all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere" to do the same. Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell also said she plans to remove her music from Spotify in solidarity with Young "and the global scientific and medical communities."

Separately, Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston who hosts the popular podcasts "Unlocking Us" and "Dare to Lead" on Spotify, tweeted Saturday that she "will not be releasing any podcasts until further notice" but did not list a specific reason or whether the announcement was linked to the broader protest. The Washington Post could not immediately reach Brown for comment.

Britain's Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who have signed a deal to produce and host podcasts for Spotify, say they've urged the company to combat misinformation. They have not, however, announced any plans to part ways with the service. "Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day. Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform," a spokesperson for the couple told Reuters on Sunday. "We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does."

The latest developments are escalating pressure on Spotify to clarify how it will weigh promoting the free speech of its content creators against the impact that some can have on public health during the pandemic. The company is seeking to dominate the podcast space and faces growing scrutiny as the medium attracts more anti-vaccine activists who run afoul of misinformation policies on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

And competitors appear to be seeking an advantage amid the controversy: Apple Music on Friday called itself the "the home of Neil Young" in a tweet promoting his catalogue.

Lofgren and Mitchell in their statements said they stood in solidarity with Young, who collaborated with Crazy Horse to produce many well-known albums. Young had demanded that his music be taken off the streaming platform in response to the presence of "fake information about vaccines" in some of the content it hosts.

The letter, which was posted to his website and has since been removed, cited Joe Rogan, who hosts "The Joe Rogan Experience," as part of Young's issue with Spotify. "They can have Rogan or Young," the legendary musician reportedly wrote. "Not both."

Spotify soon began removing Young's music from its catalogue, including his best-known hits such as "Heart of Gold," "Harvest Moon" and "Rockin' in the Free World."

Mitchell, whose renowned album "Blue" just turned 50, wrote in a statement on her website on Friday that she "decided to remove all of" her music from Spotify because "irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives."

Spotify, in a statement previously provided to The Washington Post, acknowledged the balancing act. "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," a Spotify spokesperson said.

"We have detailed content policies in place and we've removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to covid-19 since the start of the pandemic," the statement continued. "We regret Neil's decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon."

Rogan, whose immensely popular podcast Spotify exclusively acquired in 2020, has questioned the need for young, healthy people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, and hosted guests who have promoted conspiracy theories about the pandemic.

Earlier this month, 270 experts called on Spotify in an open letter to "immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform."

The experts particularly criticized an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" in which Rogan interviewed Robert Malone, a doctor and prominent skeptic of the coronavirus vaccines, as an example of the podcast's "concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding" the pandemic.

The episode "is not the only transgression to occur on the Spotify platform, but a relevant example of the platform's failure to mitigate the damage it is causing," the experts wrote.

Young in a statement posted to his website on Wednesday said he "first learned" of the prevalence of misinformation around the pandemic on Spotify "by reading that 200 plus doctors had joined forces, taking on the dangerous life-threatening COVID falsehoods found in SPOTIFY programming."

"I am happy and proud to stand in solidarity with the front line health care workers who risk their lives every day to help others," he wrote on Friday.

- - -

The Washington Post's Travis M. Andrews contributed to this report.
NEW HAVEN  Its your money, and the state will give it you. But could the process be easier?

The state has collected hundreds of millions of dollars in unclaimed property  money owed to people and municipalities in the form of things such as uncashed checks, life insurance proceeds or inactive stocks  that can be returned to its rightful owners. The state treasurers office created the CT Big List, an online database of uncollected property, which displays itemized amounts above $50 of unclaimed property.

Local municipalities have said they are working on recovering money, but the process is taking time.

Its an incredible drain on staff time. Were fortunate to have a go-getter intern who took it on as a project, said West Haven grants manager Doug Colter, who said he began searching for the amounts when the CT Mirror first reported on Lizzis advocacy in December.

Colter said the city so far has filed 12 claims and intends to follow up on smaller claims.

We are aware of approximately $3,800 in total, however, it could be substantially more when interest and capital market value are adjusted, he said. It would be helpful if the state would let us apply en-masse for the under- $100.00 amounts they don't even disclose. It is time consuming to track the little ones down, especially when they are on a hidden list.

Colter said that a city like West Haven, which repeatedly has struggled with financial distress and operates with an austere City Hall staff to make ends meet, does not have a lot of time to chase down $3,800 when it has millions of dollars in grants that it applies for and legal services cost the city $250 per hour.

West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi said the city cannot afford to leave any money on the table  especially money that is rightfully its own.

Every dollar that belongs to West Haven needs to come back to West Haven, she said.

To receive the money, there are hurdles: individuals and municipalities must provide documentation proving they are the rightful owner of the unclaimed property. The information must then be verified by state staff.

Its not as simple as calling up and saying, Send me the check, Rossi said.

The process is not as straightforward as it may seem.

Bethany resident Ron Lizzi has become a passionate advocate for the issue of reuniting people and municipalities with the money that is rightfully theirs.

Several years ago I made the mistake of asking myself how is it possible the state has hundreds of millions of dollars in unclaimed money? Since when do people not want their money? Lizzi said. I started looking into it and asking questions.

In many cases this money could easily be returned, he said. One of the easiest cases is money belonging to municipalities. It can find the city of West Haven or New Haven or any of the other 167.

The state treasurers office says State Treasurer Shawn Wooden has been gradually upgrading the states program  including the launch of CT Big List.

Since Treasurer Shawn Wooden came into office in 2019, he has made it a priority to improve the effectiveness of the unclaimed property program to ensure money is put back in the hands of its rightful owners at the highest rate possible, said a spokesperson for the Office of the Treasurer. A year ago, the Office of the Treasurer successfully completed upgrades to our technology, allowing Connecticut residents to go online to www.CTBigList.com, look up their name and claim their property free of charge from anywhere, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The office transfers a portion of what it supervises in unclaimed property to the general fund and the citizens election program fund.

Assistant Treasurer Maria Greenslade in an op-ed said it does not interfere with the offices mission of returning money.

Legal requirements to transfer some of these assets annually for the public good, including the states General Fund and Citizens Election Fund, do not inhibit in any way the ability of rightful owners to claim their property, she wrote.

However, Lizzi believes it should be even simpler. In Rhode Island, the state has a program that automatically returns unclaimed property. California also launched a statewide initiative to return unclaimed property to local governments in 2020.

In Connecticut, unclaimed property above $50 is listed in a database and reported how it was received by the Office of the Treasurer. That means West Haven officials are eligible to claim hundreds of dollars listed as owned by West Haven City but also City West Haven and West Haven Municipal as well as some city departments or entities like West Haven Police, West Haven Board Of and West Haven HS. The city owns the old Stiles School building, but it would have to submit a claim for the misspelled Styles School West Haven CT to receive its unclaimed property.

Lizzi requested the full list of unclaimed property through the Freedom of Information Act in 2019.

The list, I should say, is a nightmare to process because it is one gigantic pdf file thats 320,000 pages, with over 5 million records and its unsorted, he said. Theres no way to easily look up something.

Once Lizzi did make his way through the list, he concluded that West Haven had $17,176.90 in unclaimed property at that time.

He said calculating the total of unclaimed property in New Haven is more difficult because of regional services, but he estimated the figure was roughly $567,921.19.

The city is aware of the unclaimed property and is working with the citys attorney to vet and advise on its recovery, said New Haven spokesman Kyle Buda in a statement.

Buda said the city does not have a specific accounting of its unclaimed property.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Treasurer said state statute requires a claim to unclaimed property; in order for the office to consider a program akin to Rhode Islands, there would need to be a change to the statute.

Its something were working with Rhode Island and researching with Rhode Island and the legislature of Connecticut to make sure its successful, they said.

State Rep. Sean Scanlon, who represents Guilford and Branford, is co-chairmn of the states Finance Committee.

I have spoken to the Treasurer and I do understand he plans to come to us with a proposal to make some modifications to the unclaimed property system, Scanlon said. I fully expect there will be something before the committee this year.

Scanlon said his committee has not yet received a formal presentation on any plans for the legislative session.

The Office of the Treasurer said the office plans to make an announcement about proposed changes.

There is always room for improvement and with National Unclaimed Property Day coming up ... we are excited to announce further enhancements that will make our program even more effective and user-friendly, a spokesperson said. Our office is continuously seeking ways to enhance our processes and procedures. This includes evaluating unclaimed property programs in other states to determine if and how other structures, processes, and legal frameworks could add value to how Connecticut is reuniting residents with their unclaimed property. To achieve automatic payments in certain circumstances, like in other states, Connecticut would require legislative action and that is one goal we continue to explore.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
MOSCOW, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would seriously undermine relations between Russia and the alliance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday.

"Everyone understands that Ukraine is not ready (to join NATO) and will not make any contribution to strengthening NATO's security," Lavrov told a Russian TV program.

Commenting on statements that NATO is defensive, the top diplomat recalled how the U.S.-led military bloc "bombed Yugoslavia for almost three months, invaded Libya in violation of a UN Security Council resolution, and behaved in Afghanistan."

Lavrov reiterated "the indivisibility of security," the principle that no state should strengthen its own security at the expense of others.

He said that Russia is sending official requests to the member countries of NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, urging them to explain what they intend to do under this principle. 
In this March 30, 2004, file photo, Tarawa atoll, Kiribati, is seen in an aerial view. Kiribati and several other small Pacific nations were among the last on the planet to have avoided any virus outbreaks, thanks to their remote locations and strict border controls. But their defenses appear no match against the highly contagious omicron variant.
Members of Families are Essential, a group of binational families who have been fighting for open borders for nearly a year, hosted a rally at the Rainbow Bridge Saturday afternoon in support of the Freedom Convoy 2022 in Canada.

The convoy featured a large group of truckers from across Canada who descended on Ottawa in a bid to end all mandates. American truckers also joined the convoy.

Thousands in Ottawa protest COVID mandates, many rebuked OTTAWA, Ontario  Thousands of protesters gathered in Canadas capital on Saturday to protes

The Rolling Patriots, the Constitutional Coalition of WNY and separated families staged their own convoy to Niagara Falls from Tonawanda.

Once in the Falls, the group met at 454 Main St. for a rally with guest speakers include James Ostrowski, a Buffalo constitutional attorney.

Although the borders have been technically open for months, Canadian rules mandating PCR tests are causing families to still be separated almost two years. A vaccine mandate for truckers has also been implemented, adding to the severe shortage of long-haul truck drivers. The mandate is already causing empty shelves in Canada.
The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi on Saturday tasked the former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar and the opposition, Peop...

The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi on Saturday tasked the former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar and the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to stop linking him with their woes, especially as the 2023 general election approaches.

Umahi was reacting to a statement that was credited to the former Vice President Atiku, where he accused the APC Governor of being heartless to have unjustly sealed the Ebonyi PDP secretariat and masterminded the detention of the partys spokesperson in police custody.

It was gathered that the former Vice President Atiku who was on a consultation visit to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ebonyi State, had through the Chairman of the Technical Committee for the actualization of Atiku Abubakar Presidential ambition, Raymond Dokpesi, tasked Umahi to unseal the party secretariat.

He said, I remember vividly when I came here on two, three occasions, the first one was when I was contesting for chairman of the party, this governor met me at Abuja after I have visited here to plead with me to step down for the chairmanship race for the overall interest of the party and in the overall interested of the federal government.

This same man did not have sufficient patience when it came to his own personal ambition of becoming the president, he brutally shut down the PDP secretariat, thats a heinous act, that is the height of brutality and wickedness Atiku stressed.

But, Umahi who spoke to journalists through the special assistant on Media and Publicity Mr Francis Nwaze, debunked the allegations.

According to him: Our attention has been drawn to a publication credited to the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar in which he urged Governor David Umahi, to unseal the PDP Secretariat and release detained Spokesman of the Party in the State.

The Peoples Democratic Party in Ebonyi State should make efforts to first, find the location of its Secretariat without involving the focused administration of Governor David Umahi, that is if it has a Secretariat as we are not aware of where they have a permanent Secretariat in their name.

Governor David Umahi left the party in November 2020, he did not leave with even a pin belonging to the Party. And so long as we understand the continued reference to Governor Umahi by the PDP long after his exit, is a sign that the Party misses his astute leadership acumen, we appeal to the Party to please find a soft landing as Governor Umahi has since moved on in his Progressive march to eldorado.

We are constrained to make further comments on the case of its spokesperson, Nwoba Chika who is now in detention, his case is now pending in a court of competent jurisdiction. His political party have the leeway to prove themselves innocent through the court process instead of tempting the State Government to meddle in contempt of court, he stated.
The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Sunday released fresh warnings concerning the 2023 Presidentia...





The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Sunday released fresh warnings concerning the 2023 Presidential race in Nigeria.

Primate Ayodele warned that the Presidential ambition of Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will jeopardize the chances of the Southwest.

In a statement signed by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, Primate Ayodele said the ambition of the two political bigwigs will lead to a fallout between them.

He explained that both APC stalwarts will fight each other.

Although Tinubu is the only one who has declared his intention, there are indications that Osinbajo is nursing a similar ambition as the APC National leader but has not officially declared it.

However, the cleric called on the party leaders to immediately resolve the crisis between both chieftains as far as their political ambition is concerned.

I foresee a fallout between the national leader of the All Progressive Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

This will happen due to the presidential ambition of both of them. It will lead to a fight between them if not well handled.

Also, unless the party leaders make moves to settle the rift, their ambition will cost the South-West zone its chances in the 2023 presidential race. There will be confusion which will make South West lose what they dont expect.
Aloy Ejimakor, the Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said the Abuja Federal High Court ...

Aloy Ejimakor, the Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said the Abuja Federal High Court may reinstate the agitators initial bail.

Ejimakor said the judgment by the Abia State High Court may pave the way for the Federal High Court, Abuja to reinstate Kanus bail.

Recall that Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja had in 2017 granted the IPOB leader bail.

Shortly after he was granted bail, soldiers invaded his Afaraukwu residence in Abia State.

Amid the invasion, the IPOB leader had fled the country to Europe, where he continued his agitation for Biafra.

But, in June 2021, Kanu was rearrested in an African country believed to be Kenya, and was repatriated.

In October 2021, Kanu through Ejimakor initiated a fundamental rights violation suit against the Nigerian government.

Ruling on the suit, Justice Anya described Kanus arrest in Kenya as illegal, and ordered the Federal Government to pay him one billion naira as compensation.

The judge also ordered the government to apologize to Kanu.

However, Ejimakor said the judgement was significant and has a direct impact on Kanus case at the Federal High Court.

In a statement he signed, Ejimakor said: This press release is necessitated by the flurry of public commentaries on the 19th January 2022 judgment of the High Court of Abia State in favor of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Most of the commentaries have bordered on examining the latent impacts the judgment may have beyond the monetary award and the apology. Of particular note is whether the judgment should directly or indirectly impact the persisting notion that Kanu had jumped bail in 2017, which was what grounded the bench warrant that was used to justify his rendition.

In summary, the answer is in the affirmative that this landmark judgment has created new legal opportunities for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, especially as regards impeaching the bench warrant that grandfathered his extraordinary rendition.

You will recall that from late 2017, I had maintained a well-publicized stance that Nnamdi Kanu never jumped bail and that he will, in due course of time, prove that it was the Nigerian government that compelled him to flee and seek refuge outside Nigeria. This was the material issue before the Court and it prevailed.

In particular, the Court held that: It is the view of this Court that the Army set out as pythons to terminate the life of Nnamdi Kanu. The military invasion of his home at Afaraukwu Ibeku is so notorious that this Court cannot turn a blind eye to it. He deserves an apology and compensation.

Additionally, the Court held that: Kanu has by credible evidence proved to the Honourable Court that his fundamental rights to dignity of human person and personal liberty were wantonly or brazenly violated and his fundamental right to life threatened brazenly by Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In other words, the Court impliedly held that Kanu never made a voluntary decision to flee Nigeria or to be absent from his trial. To this extent, this judgment has finally obliterated the vested and false notion that Kanu had jumped bail back in 2017.

Accordingly, the bench warrant upon which his rendition from Kenya was grounded has now become impeachable and liable to be vacated, thus paving the way for his previous bail to be reinstated.
The presidency says the comment by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the cancellation of President Muhammadu Buharis trip to Zamfara ...

The presidency says the comment by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the cancellation of President Muhammadu Buharis trip to Zamfara indicates mischief.

President Muhammadu Buhari was scheduled to visit Zamfara on January 27 to discuss insecurity in the state and also commiserate with the people over the recent attacks in Anka and Bukkuyum LGAs.

However, while arrangements were in place to welcome him, Bello Matawalle, Zamfara governor, announced that the president would have to reschedule the visit over poor visibility for flying.

Speaking in a televised broadcast to Zamfara residents on the same day, Buhari expressed sadness over being unable to make it to the state, saying he was pained.

Reacting to the development, the PDP said Buhari cancelled the trip over the fear of being attacked, adding that the president could have travelled by road.

Responding in a statement issued on Sunday by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, the presidency said the criticism of Buhari by the PDP shows the party doesnt understand presidential movements despite being in power for 16 years.

As briefly explained by the president in a special broadcast to the people of the state, the sudden deterioration of the weather was the sole and only reason for the cancellation of the visit, the statement reads.

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It is not unusual for flights to get cancelled when there is bad weather, whether this is arising from wind or rainstorm, fog or haze as we had it on Thursday over much of the northern towns including Gusau, capital of Zamfara State.

Many of these cities are known to suffer from low visibility during the harmattan season as we are now in.

A kilometre of visibility is usually a standard landing minimum requirement but in the case of Gusau on the day in question, this minimum requirement of 1,000 meter was down, fluctuating between 300-400 meters.

Clearly, this was unsafe in the absence of precise instrument approaches that provide guidance for the pilots. The flights into Gusau were, in view of this, cancelled.

Criticism of the President, in particular the one by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for not proceeding with the journey, Sokoto-Gusau by road, a distance of about 200 kilometres shows, either a lack of understanding of presidential movements especially for a party that held that office for sixteen years, or an act that smacks of mischief. Whatever be the case, there must be a limit to trivialisation.

All over the world, Commanders-in-Chief, serving or even those that have left office cannot hop into a car and go anywhere they want, at any time of the day. In the United States for instance, a law going as far back as 1958 prevents past Presidents from traveling on public roads without assured security (how much more of serving Presidents).

When roads are closed for presidential movements here and elsewhere, consideration is also given to the safety of other road users, not just that of the President or even Governor.

The statement on the issue by the PDP attacking the President for not making it to Gusau without this being planned ahead of the journey is shameful and disgraceful for a party that held the presidency of the country in the past. What is their own record?

It is sad for the country that the bankruptcy of issues has forced the PDP, so-called leading opposition party, to hang on to life by only telling lies. And their caravan of falsehood has moved even more speedily following the inauguration of their not-so-new national executive at the end of last year.

It is equally important that local political actors who have seized upon the cancellation of the visit to describe it as a victory for this or that faction of the party, accompanied by songs, lyrics and videos to know that their joy is a short lived one. As he promised in that broadcast, the visit to Gusau by the President is only a matter of time.

Given the right conditions of the weather and all other things, he will return, and in time to accomplish his mission.
Osita Okechukwu, director-general of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), has been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Okechukwu reportedly arrived at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja around 1:30 pm on Saturday, following an invitation regarding a case of alleged conspiracy, abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds.

He is said to be undergoing questions for allegedly embezzling N1.3 billion.

As of the time of this report, he was still in the custody of the EFCC.

When contacted, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesperson, confirmed that the VON DG was invited by the commission.



Uwujaren, however, declined further comment on why Okechukwu was invited.

Meanwhile, the VON DG has been relatively outspoken about national issues in recent months.

Issues he has spoken on include asking the federal government to release Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who is currently in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), as well as contributing to the discourse on the electoral bill.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has donated a piece of land to Faithway Gospel Ministries in Makurdi, headquartered in Jos, the Plate...

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has donated a piece of land to Faithway Gospel Ministries in Makurdi, headquartered in Jos, the Plateau State capital, for the construction of a church and pastors residence.

Governor Ortom announced the donation on Sunday, 30th January, 2022, during a thanksgiving service held at the churchs temporary worship center located in the premises of Staff Development Center, Makurdi.

He explained that the land, measuring slightly above 100ft by 100ft is located at Hudco Quarters Makurdi, stressing that arrangements are being made to acquire a nearby portion of land to add to the existing one so the church could have enough space for development.

Governor Ortom said he was led by the spirit to make the donation without request from the church, pointing out that it pays to give and encouraged Christians to live a life of giving in order to attract Gods blessings.

The Governor, who was Guest Speaker at the thanksgiving and spoke on the topic: Practical Life of a Christian, said he came into politics as a Christian who bears the mark of Christ.

He stated that the dedication of Benue to God in 2016 is being manifested with the selection of born again Christians as paramount rulers, stressing that the grace of God is upon the state.

Governor Ortom, who urged Christians to combine faith with works to get the desired result, said God gave him the message for Christians in the state to demonstrate the fact that faith without work is dead.

Earlier, President of Faithway Gospel Ministries, Reverend Samuel Alaha disclosed that he is thanking God because of His favour upon his life and church which has made the ministry to grow from strength to strength.

He disclosed that the church is in 10 states currently and has a mandate to plant 100 churches across the country in the year 2022.

Reverend Alaha expressed appreciation to the Governor for his support to the church which has enabled it to win more souls for the kingdom of God and thanked the pastors for their resilience, adding that the Governor has stood with the church since 1980 till date.

The thanksgiving was attended by the President, Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Cosmas Idye; members of the State Executive and Security Council, heads of parastatals and other senior aides to the governor.
Manchester United player, Mason Greenwood, has been accused of s3exual assault and domestic violence by his ex-girlfriend, Harriet Robson. ...





Manchester United player, Mason Greenwood, has been accused of s3exual assault and domestic violence by his ex-girlfriend, Harriet Robson.

In a series of post on social media, Robson showed injuries she sustained when Greenwood allegedly forced himself on her.

Some of the photos she shared showed bruises on her thighs while one showed blood flowing from her mouth down to her chest.

Robson also shared an audio to prove Greenwood did what she accused him of doing.

She captioned the images: To everyone who wants to know what Mason Greenwood actually does to me.

The player is, however, yet to react to the allegations.

Meanwhile, Manchester United have issued a statement saying they do not condone violence of any kind.

It read, We are aware of images and allegations circulating on social media.

We will not make any further comment until the facts have been established. Manchester United does not condone violence of any kind.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says 22 international passports were found inside a bag of garri at the Lagos airport. ...

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says 22 international passports were found inside a bag of garri at the Lagos airport.

In a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesman, the agency said the passports were for six countries.

Babafemi also said the passports were found during a routine search at the airport.

The agency, however, didnt provide further information on investigation into why the passports were hidden.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the airport, during their routine cargo search, intercepted a consignment of 22 international passports of six different countries concealed in a bag of garri, among other food items, the statement reads.

Nine of the passports were three each of UK, France and Portugal, while the rest were: Nigeria  8; Ghana  4 and Cameroon  1.

Also at the airport, operatives equally recovered 12 parcels of cannabis weighing 4.95kg concealed in a carton of Golden Morn packaged for export through the SAHCO export shed.

According to the statement, three suspected trans-border traffickers were also arrested with 48,000 tablets of Tramadol at Adamawa state.

The suspects: Mohammed Hussaini, 32; Adamu Bella, 18, and Mohammed Umar, 18, were arrested at Tsamiya Junction, Madanya Road, Mubi, Mubi North LGA, Adamawa State on Friday, January 28, with the exhibits concealed in the packets of another drug, the statement reads.

When interviewed, they claimed the drugs were being taken to Bagira town along Nigeria-Cameroon border to be delivered to some Cameroonians for onward delivery to Maroa in Cameroon.

The NDLEA also said other illicit drugs were intercepted in operations carried out in Lagos, Jigawa, Plateau and Edo.

Over 1,500 kilograms of imported Loud and other illicit substances have been intercepted in raids across Lagos and Edo states, Babafemi said.

This comes on the heels of a similar operation at Alaba Rago area of Lagos where operatives of the state command of the Agency intercepted 1,200 parcels of imported Loud, a strong variant of cannabis, suspected to have been smuggled into the state from a neighbouring country with a total weight of 1,229 kilograms.

In another raid on Wednesday, 26th Jan., at Suru Alaba, Ajeromi-Ifelodun LGA, Lagos, operatives arrested one Ibrahim Musa, 25, with 18,530 tablets of Tramadol, Rohypnol Diazepam, Exol-5, and 138 bottles of Codeine.

In Plateau state, a team of NDLEA officers on Friday, 28th Jan., arrested two suspects; Emeka Ezenwa, 37, and Julius Akingbe, 45, for being in possession of 126.5grams of methamphetamine concealed inside a DVD player coming from Lagos, while a raid in Kampani Zera-Wase LGA of the state on Friday led to the arrest of Fatima Sadiq, 20, who was caught with 21.3kg cannabis.

A similar raid on Friday of a notorious drug joint, Bakin Kogi Ringim, Jigawa state, led to the recovery of different quantities of Cannabis, Diazepam, Exol-5 and some new psychoactive substances with a total weight of 8.680kg as well as weapons such as knives, cutlasses, Gora sticks, catapults and charms.

In Edo state, operatives recovered 19 bags of cannabis weighing 144.10kg stored in the bush along Uromi Road, Esan North East LGA, ready to be transported to other parts of the country, while eight bags of the same substance weighing 111kg were recovered from a bush at Iruekpen, Esan West LGA.

Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, commended the efforts of the officers.
BATON ROUGE, La., Jan. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Disaster Resource Group (DRG), the leading provider of damage assessment and custom, turnkey basecamp solutions to give utilities and industrial customers the safest, most efficient path to rapid recovery and restorations, is pleased to announce the promotion of Rod Alsop to the role of President, and the hiring of Michael Willems as Vice President of Operations.

Rod Alsop has been elevated to the President role to continue DRG's growth trajectory and enhance its service offering to the Utility and Power Industry, as well as broaden DRG's reach into new markets. Over the last seven years, Rod has successfully led nearly 50 client initiatives and has cultivated a balanced team of experts at DRG to take on complex client challenges. Asked what he feels is one of his best accomplishments, Rod credited his team, saying "the key has been to recruit and retain an experienced group of restoration site leaders and provide them with best-in-class equipment and appropriate support personnel. We are prepared to address any emergency incident we are tasked with, and we expect to produce the most efficient and effective results in the business."

Michael Willems joined DRG as the Vice President of Operations on January 1, 2022. Michael brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and overall understanding of Emergency Preparedness Logistics. During his 30 years of service at one of the largest utilities in the Country, Michael managed over 75 restoration incidents including tropical storms, hurricanes, ice storms, fires, oil spills and tornados from California to the Northeast and Puerto Rico while supporting over 30 utility companies. He served as the Logistics Section Chief for the Hurricane Maria restoration in 2017-18 which involved directing and coordinating the efforts of various utilities, FEMA, PREPA, and Army Corp of Engineers.

Wayne Stabiler, CEO of DRG, says "Rod has been instrumental to the success of our Company, and there is no one else I would trust more to lead us forward. Additionally, adding Mike Willems and his deep experience has continued to position us as the best-in-class team in the country."

DRG continues to invest in resources and assets to keep pace with the increasing demand of disaster restoration and logistics while staying true to its strong core values of integrity, teamwork, reliability and loyalty.

Please contact www.disasterresourcegroup.com or rod@disasterresourcegroup.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/disaster-resource-group-promotes-executive-and-hires-a-leading-industry-veteran-301467785.html

SOURCE DRG
A group known as the Coalition of Arewa Civil Society Organisations has asked Usman Alkali, inspector-general of police (IGP), to identify...

A group known as the Coalition of Arewa Civil Society Organisations has asked Usman Alkali, inspector-general of police (IGP), to identify those who killed Ahmed Gulak, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In May, the former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was shot dead by gunmen while returning to Abuja from Owerri, Imo state capital.

The police in Imo blamed Gulak for his death, saying he did not tell them about his movements.

In a statement on Sunday, Haruna Jagindi and Danjuma Shettima, convener and general secretary of the coalition, said Nigerians are still reeling from the pain of losing such an illustrious son.

Nigerians, especially those from the northern part of the country are still reeling from the pain of losing such an illustrious son, whose participation in nation building cannot be overemphasized, especially at this critical time that Nigeria needs all the uniting forces it can garner to our nation overcome its myriad of challenges, they said.

The situation in Imo State was further compounded by the Gestapo style of some police officers that invaded an Anglican Church during a service in an acclaimed bid to arrest Chief Uche Nwosu, former governorship aspirant in the state.

These elements did not just invade the Church, but they did while fully masked up just like the popular unknown gunmen that we have in the state.

We are calling on the inspector-general of police to look into the two devastating scenarios that happened in Imo State as we have mentioned.

Our prayers, that the true identity of those that assassinated Honourable Ahmed Gulak should be revealed including their sponsors and their motives, because the report confirms that Gulak was not the only occupant of the vehicle when he was assassinated.

That the identity of those behind unknown gunmen should be revealed to Nigerians to help take precautions.

They also asked the IGP to disclose why Nwosu, son-in-law to Rochas Okorocha, former Imo governor, was abducted in a church.
Bello Bodejo, national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, says the association will not support a southern candidate for the presiden...

Bello Bodejo, national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, says the association will not support a southern candidate for the presidency in 2023.

In an interview with The Sun , Bodejo said northerners manage the country better than their counterparts in the south.

Even though Nigeria is one, we are not going to support a southerner as president. A president from the north is better because northerners are better managers of the nation than southerners, he said.

The north has demonstrated that there is no difference among them in the region. They dont show this is Fulani, this is Hausa, and this is this and that, unlike in the south. Northern people have managed the country better than southerners.

If your enemy asks you to join him to scatter your fathers house, can you support him to break your fathers house? You shouldnt do that. But if he overshadows you and you help him to accomplish that, you would cry later.

It will be very difficult for a southerner to manage Nigeria the way a northerner would. The northerners that are ruling or governing were trained by our leaders that ruled the country before.

Bodejo also spoke on the grazing routes, adding that states should return areas earlier marked for reserves to herders.

RUGA is politicians language of politicians, while cattle colony is the language of people who want to eat government money. We have grazing reserves, he said.

All these governors, before they were born, we had these grazing reserves. Some were gazetted, while others were not.

Why they dont want to give us back the grazing reserves is what I dont know. Last two weeks, the governor of Jigawa invited me to come and see the kind of grazing reserves they have and I spent five days visiting them.

He also accused Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, of playing politics with the Fulani.

Ortom wants to be a hero by force. After the end of his tenure, even to be a councillor in his village, he cant get it. He is doing politics with the Fulani, Bodejo said.

He was the first person that called for the stoppage of Fulani from grazing their cattle, but we went to court to stop his evil plot and that is why he is running here and there, asking Buhari to declare Fulani organisations as terrorist groups.

Which name has he not called Fulani? Nigerians should ignore him. He is a joker.
Chukwuma Soludo, governor-elect of Anambra, says there is a need for a new liberation movement in Nigeria and, by extension, Africa. ...

Chukwuma Soludo, governor-elect of Anambra, says there is a need for a new liberation movement in Nigeria and, by extension, Africa.

Soludo spoke on Saturday at the 2021 pioneer class graduation ceremony of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) in Abuja.

The event had as its theme, Emergence of the Unconventionals.

In his address, Soludo said the new movement would promote selfless service of political leaders, adding that for Nigerians to effect a change for the better, more people need to participate actively in the political process.

Dear friends, fixing politics requires talent and skills. But these wont be enough. It wont happen by lone wolves working in silos. It requires new developmental organisations  organisations/teams of believers, driven by defined ideology, purpose and character, he said.

Lets be clear about one point: Nigeria does not lack well educated/skilled and widely travelled stock of human capital to drive her development. In the US alone, Nigeria ranks highest on education among ethnic minorities and as a percentage of its population, it has the most educated population of all ethnic groups. At home, we have over 100 universities churning out hundreds of graduates every year.

All over the world, Nigerians excel as champions in their various fields. A key missing link is purpose-driven cohesion and organisation for transformation of the homeland. There are many disparate groups and organisations, including political parties which claim (at least on their statutes) to champion national development.

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Only a few, if any, can be identified by any soul in terms of a nationalist ideology, professed and practiced by its members. The liberation struggle for independent Africa was driven by a nationalist ideology to be anchored by a developmental state. There is a huge void today, and I am not sure how we can fix our politics without the requisite organisations for change.

So, my first charge to my new friends and graduates is to profess their purpose in the political farmland and actively participate to actualise it. If you have not yet done so, when you go home today, write down your purpose (what do you want to achieve) in the public arena and paste same beside your reading table or anywhere for everyday reference.

Then, join a political party, a civil society organisation, or organise alternative better platforms of leverage. You may better disrupt from inside than outside. Organisation is power. The key is to participate in the process or stop complaining.

For Nigeria, most people focus on politics in Abuja and we have for too long tried in vain to fix Nigeria from the obtuse centre. It is time to try fixing it and its politics from below  from the subnational units.

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If you have something to offer, go and run for office. Win or lose, your participation will add something to the process. Then persevere, endure, and remain focused on delivering your purpose.

He also said the liberation struggle for independent Africa was driven by a nationalist ideology anchored by a developmental state, but that the elite created new institutions to suit their personal interests.

He further claimed that politics has become a haven for criminals seeking escape from drug trafficking and internet fraud, adding that people with good intentions need to be more active in politics.

There is almost a sense of nostalgia, recalling the mission and accomplishments of our founding fathers, especially as we contemplate the world without oil, he said.

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Much of the existing social order is founded on competition for, and distribution of rents, oil and the easy money that came with it destroyed the social fabric and the elite created new institutions and political structures to maximise their gains.

As the noose tightened globally on other rentier/criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking or internet scamming, many of the barons flocked into politics as the next easy alternative.

Politics has become big business. Appointment or election into public office is seen largely as an opportunity to eat rather than a call to selfless service.

Soludo added that a classic feature of the political environment is that corruption has become part of the culture, with little incentive for honesty.

He, therefore, urged the graduands to be ready to show honesty and knowledge in their quest for a new Nigeria.
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TRIPOLI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush on Saturday called for international cooperation against illegal migration in the country.

Mangoush made her remarks during a visit to an illegal migrants' reception center in the capital Tripoli, as part of the government's efforts to provide assistance for illegal migrants.

"The Minister said that the illegal migration issue costs Libya great economic and security resources, adding that this issue requires serious international cooperation by the international humanitarian organizations and the neighboring countries in order to control illegal migration and protect the humanitarian and health rights of the migrants," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, becoming a preferred point of departure for illegal migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 32,000 illegal migrants have been rescued and returned to Libya in 2021. 
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

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Gov. Kathy Hochul visits the Exposition Center at the New York State Fairgrounds near Syracuse on Tuesday. Katrina Tulloch/syracuse.com
The Louisiana Pharmacists Association recently held its annual convention and recognized two Baton Rouge-area pharmacists.

Angela Ross, of Walmart Pharmacy, was named chain pharmacist of the year.

TJ Woodard, of Prescriptions to Geaux, received the Bowl of Hygeia award for community service and was named independent pharmacist of the year.

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The Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge presented the following honors at its recent year end celebration:

Industry Advocate: Diane Baum , Baum Environmental Group

, Baum Environmental Group Industry Champion: Chris Van Pelt , M&M Glass Co.

, M&M Glass Co. Industry Game Changer: Matthew Holmes , Holmes Building Materials

, Holmes Building Materials HBA Ambassador: Bridget Tate , Capital City Lighting

, Capital City Lighting Industry Innovator: Angela Simoneaux Porrier , Acadian House Design + Renovation

, Acadian House Design + Renovation Willie Martin, Martin Construction, was inducted into the HBA Hall of Fame in recognition of a career of proven leadership and service.

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New Orleans East Hospital was designated as Hospital of the Year (60 Beds or Fewer) by the Louisiana State Nurses Association at its 2021 Nightingale Awards and Gala.

The hospital was honored for demonstrating concern for nursing values and recognition of registered nursing achievements.

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Stirling Properties was recently named among GlobeSt's 2021 Healthcare Influencers, which spotlights people and firms who are shaping the health care real estate market.

In 2017, Stirling Properties developed its first mixed-use medical facility on a 3-acre site in LaPlace. The property was leased to Ochsner Clinic Foundation for a 20,000-square-foot freestanding emergency department and imaging services clinic. Stirling later renovated the shuttered Louisiana Heart Hospital in Lacombe, converting it to Ochsner's Northshore Medical Complex. Other notable health care projects include the development of four Ochsner Kidney Care Clinics in the Greater New Orleans Area, the development of St. Tammany Cancer Center in Covington and the development of Ochsner Medical Complex-The Grove in Baton Rouge.

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Girard Melancon, Baton Rouge Community College vice chancellor for workforce solutions, has been elected by the National Skills Coalition to serve as the boards vice chair.

The coalition fights for policies that invest in the skills training of Americas workers.

Melancon has more than 20 years of experience working with workforce training programs that serve the needs of communities throughout Louisiana. In 2019, he received the coalition's Skills Champion Award for his work with policymakers and developing partnerships to fill gaps in the workforce needs.

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Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University will recognize four alumni and one community member at its annual Fete des Fideles fundraiser at The Estuary at The Water Campus on Feb. 10.

Alicia Vick received the Rising Star Alumni Award. She is a physician assistant working at Baton Rouge Urology Group. She is a dual FranU graduate with a bachelor's degree in biology, human medicine and a master's degree of medical science, physician assistant.

received the Rising Star Alumni Award. She is a physician assistant working at Baton Rouge Urology Group. She is a dual FranU graduate with a bachelor's degree in biology, human medicine and a master's degree of medical science, physician assistant. Sarah Goncalves received the Shining Star Alumni Award. She earned an Associate of Science degree in radiology from Our Lady of the Lake College, now FranU. Goncalves has been a faculty member at the university since 2012.

received the Shining Star Alumni Award. She earned an Associate of Science degree in radiology from Our Lady of the Lake College, now FranU. Goncalves has been a faculty member at the university since 2012. Sisters Marlene Robichaux Colter and Margaret Robichaux Rome received the Distinguished Alumni Award. They have been involved in the Our Lady of the Lake School of Nursing Alumni Association since the 1970s, helping the organization raise funds to support generations of student nurses.

and received the Distinguished Alumni Award. They have been involved in the Our Lady of the Lake School of Nursing Alumni Association since the 1970s, helping the organization raise funds to support generations of student nurses. Dr. Redfield E. Bryan received the Franciscan Impact Award. Bryan has practiced urology for 30 years, and worked tirelessly to support the mission of both the health care and educational ministries of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady.

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Patrick McCoy was named Safety Management Systems paramedic of the year by Acadian Ambulance.

McCoy, a native of New Iberia, joined Acadian in 2004 and has been with Safety Management Systems since 2014. Safety Management Systems provides services to all areas of the energy and industrial construction markets.

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Postlethwaite & Netterville, a Baton Rouge CPA and consulting firm, has been selected as a member of the Bob Scotts VAR Stars for the third consecutive year.

Bob Scotts VAR Stars is a group of 100 organizations honored for their accomplishments in the field of midmarket financial software. The chosen firms represent growth, innovation and industry leadership.
by Marwa Yahya

CAIRO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's visit to Egypt, the first by an Algerian president in 14 years, has helped set the agenda for the upcoming Arab League Summit hosted by Algeria, according to analysts.

During the meeting between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his Algerian counterpart on Tuesday, they discussed ways to strengthen bilateral political, economic, and commercial relations, regional issues such as the situations in Libya, Syria and Palestine, and terrorism in Africa and the Arab world, according to a statement released by Egypt's presidency.

"Both sides agreed on activating the mechanism of unified Arab action and maintaining Arab national security in view of common regional challenges," the statement read.

Tebboune's visit, according to Tariq Fahmy, a political science professor at Cairo University, will help coordinate efforts to resolve Arab issues ahead of the Arab League summit, which is scheduled for March 22 in Algiers but has been reportedly delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Egyptian expert sees Egypt and Algeria as regional and Arab heavyweights and believes that their active cooperation will help their fight against a number of regional threats.

"Algeria wants the summit to be a success and consultations with Arab powers are important," Fahmy said.

"During his visit to Cairo, President Tebboune aimed to seek Egypt's support for increasing the level of participation in the summit, particularly from Arab Gulf states whose presence might have an impact on the summit's success," he added.

"The Algerian president seeks top-level Gulf representation," said Mohamed Sadiq, chairman of the Arab Center for Political Studies in Cairo.

However, given Algeria's objection to normalizing ties with Israel, the country may have issues with Arab Gulf states and other Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel, Sadiq noted.

Algeria, possibly along with Egypt, also supports the restoration of Syria's membership in the Arab League despite reservations from several Arab countries, which will be a contentious issue at the upcoming Arab summit, he added.

According to Sadiq, the region is facing threats that require a clear and quick response, and therefore joint efforts between Egypt, Algeria and other concerned countries will be important.

Meanwhile, Egypt and Algeria share similar concerns about Libya's security, and both countries continue to provide support for Libya's political path, which will be completed by holding parliamentary and presidential elections, Sadiq told Xinhua.

Egypt and Algeria support peaceful and political solutions to many Arab concerns, as well as the rejection of any threat to Arab national security, he said. 
New Orleans

Stone Pigman has promoted Edward Bukaty IV to member, after serving as an associate since he joined the firm in 2014.

Bukaty is a corporate and transactional lawyer who has represented an array of companies in sales and acquisitions. He has served as chair of the Business Transactions Committee of the New Orleans Bar Association since 2020.

Bukaty also provides pro bono legal consulting services through the Legal Help for the Homeless Program.

He graduated cum laude from Tulane University Law School and summa cum laude from LSU, where he earned his undergraduate degree. Prior to his tenure with Stone Pigman, he served as a judicial intern and extern in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

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New Orleans Career Center has added the following staff members.

Yvette Christianson joined the organization as office manager. Christianson has worked in high school, university, and career and technical education settings. Prior to joining NOCC, she held similar managerial roles in three different departments at Loyola University New Orleans

LaPorshia Hadnot and Tammelle Wells-Derbigny will teach high school trainees in the medical assistant and prenursing programs.

Hadnot, a certified medical assistant, brings more than 10 years of experience in multiphysician family medical practices, in both hospital-based and private practice clinical settings.

Wells-Derbigny had been teaching in the adult rapid reskill program since 2020. She has been a health careers instructor at both high school and adult levels.

Lovetta Jones has been hired as high school transition coordinator. She previously worked at Xavier University of Louisiana as an admissions counselor and recruiter.

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Denise Thevenot has been hired by dLivery as senior account manager.

Thevenot retired in August 2020 from Louisiana Tax Free Shopping after 30 years of service. She earned a bachelor's and master's degrees from Tulane University.

d'Livery is a logistics start-up based in New Orleans that offers same-day delivery services for retailers and merchants from Baton Rouge to Raceland.

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Kyle Lawson is now an owner of Garver, an employee-owned engineering, planning, architecture and environmental services firm with offices in New Orleans.

Lawson is chief financial officer of Garver. He has experience in business development, human resources, IT strategy execution, facility management, construction and culture development.

He earned a bachelor's degree from LSU and a master's degree in business administration from the University of New Orleans.

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Michael Canty has joined The Ehrhardt Group as account executive.

Canty executes public outreach and awareness campaigns for a variety of clients in various industries, including energy, retail, economic development and government. Prior to joining The Ehrhardt Group, he served as senior communications specialist with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and in corporate communications for CenturyLink (now Lumen).

He earned a bachelors degree in political science from LSU and a master's degree in communication from the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Baton Rouge

Six new providers have joined Ochsner Baton Rouge.

Dr. Issam Eid is an ear, nose and throat specialist at Ochsner Medical Complex-The Grove and Ochsner Health Center-ONeal. After earning a medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine, Eid completed a residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center and a fellowship at the University of Kansas.

Dr. Christophe Marques is a radiation oncologist at Ochsner Cancer Center-Baton Rouge. Marques earned a medical degree from the Tulane University School of Medicine, where he also completed an internship in internal medicine. He completed a residency in radiation oncology at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Prior to pursuing his medical education, Marques earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from LSU.

Bern Lee specializes in neuropsychology at Ochsner Health Center-ONeal. After earning a doctorate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Lee completed an internship at Henry Ford Hospital. He completed a fellowship at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

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Dr. Bethany Mensink is a general surgeon at Ochsner Medical Complex-The Grove and Ochsner Health Center-ONeal. After earning a medical degree from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Mensink completed a residency in general surgery at Beaumont Health Trenton-Dearborn.

Dr. Scott Robertson specializes in neurosurgery and sees patients at Ochsner Health Center-ONeal. He has more than 23 years of experience in general neurosurgery with an emphasis on spine surgery. After earning a medical degree from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, he completed a residency at the University of Iowa Hospital. He also served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve.

Dr. Bindu Betapudi specializes in transplant hepatology and treats patients at Ochsner Medical Complex-The Grove. After earning a medical degree from Kurnool Medical College in India, Betapudi completed an internship at Methodist Healthcare. She completed both a residency and fellowship at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

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Phelps has named Madison DeWitt as an equity partner.

DeWitt is an adviser to public and private companies on commercial contracts, financing, franchising, mergers and acquisitions and exit strategies.

She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from LSU, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a law degree from the LSU Law Center, where she graduated cum laude.

Phelps also has added Brad Boudreaux as a partner in Baton Rouge.

Boudreaux will help construction clients with supply chain, workforce and sustainability issues.

He earned a bachelor's degree in general business administration and his law degree from LSU.

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Charles Lawson has joined Postlethwaite & Netterville as director of governmental consulting services.

Lawson has management and leadership skills as a senior executive in the federal government and private sector.

He earned a bachelor's from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and a master's in business administration from Vanderbilt University's Owen School of Management.

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Lane Regional Medical Center has named its 2022 medical executive officers.

Dr. Frank Sanfiel, a general surgeon with Lane Surgery Group, has been named chief of staff.

Dr. Krunal Patel, a gastroenterologist with Lane Gastroenterology, has been named vice chief of staff.

Dr. Jamie Bohanon, a general surgeon with Lane Surgery Group, has been named secretary/treasurer.

Dr. Charles Thompson, interventional cardiologist at Cardiovascular Institute of the South, has been named representative to the board.

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The Better Business Bureau of South Central Louisiana announced its 2022 officers and board of directors.

Michael Hooper, of La Capitol Federal Credit Union, will serve as chair of the board, and Eric Landry, of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, is vice chair. David Tucker, of LUBA Workers Comp, is treasurer, and Tommy Santora, of LAuberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge, is secretary. Anthony OConnor, of BXS Insurance, is the past chair.

The BBB Board of Directors is made up of Ann Booth, of Blue Cross/Blue Shield; Caprice Cline, of Cypress Roofing; Jack Coote, of Lee Michaels Fine Jewelers; Wendy Gaudet, of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center; Aaron Keating, of Lipseys; Leeann Ragusa, of Postlewaite & Netterville; Matthew Roussel, of Currency Bank; and Craig Stevens, of Genesis 360.

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The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has named the members of its Leadership Baton Rouge class of 2022. The selected participants represent a cross section of the capital regions business, civic and nonprofit communities.

Members of the 2022 class are:

Kelsey Amato, Performance Contractors; Bukky Awoyemi, BASF Corp.; Steven Ceulemans, Baton Rouge Health District; Christopher Csonka, Criminal Justice Coordinating Council; Patrick Derbes, CMA Technology Solutions; Jannean Dixon, Cornerstone Educational Consulting; Dianne Nodier Eysink, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana; Erin Fulbright, Sickle Cell Association of South Louisiana; Tyler Gamble, Community Coffee Co.; George Gillam, The Steadfast Foundation; Erin Harnsongkram, Baton Rouge General Foundation; Kendra G. Hendricks, Capital Region Planning Commission; Landon Hester, Center for Planning Excellence; RaHarold D. Lawson, BREC; Connor LeBlanc, General Informatics; Tyler Litt, New Schools for Baton Rouge; Meagan Molter Loupe, Office of U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves; Michelle Mahaffey LeJeune, Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Justin Marocco, Jones Walker; Molly Mayeux, Cristo Rey Baton Rouge Franciscan High School; Weslee Meador, Louisiana Workers Compensation Corp.; Chelsea Morgan, American Heart Association; Tre Nelson, Ochsner Health; Bryan OConner, Lemoine; Melissa OBanion, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center; Jessica OConnor, LSU Foundation; Jonathan Percle, Emergent Method; Ryan Sinitiere, Feigley Communications; Brandon Smith, Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance; Erin K. Smith, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana; Tinicia C. Turner, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University; Shea Vela-Vick, LSU; Grace Weber, Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services; Laura Wilkinson, Woman's Hospital; Sgt. 1st Class Larry Williams, Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs; Dwana Williams, Capital Area Transit System; and Lt. Kimberly Williams, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriffs Office.

Leadership Baton Rouge was founded in 1985 to prepare a diverse group of professionals for leadership positions in the community.
The findings from an internal investigator were troubling: Month after month, a high-ranking LSU Health Sciences Center doctor reported hours for work he didnt perform.

Instead, Alan Kaye, who earned a six-figure salary as the New Orleans centers chief anesthesiologist, took paid gigs for work unrelated to LSU on the university's time, the investigation found. He also reported showing up for work when he was actually crisscrossing the country, accepting free trips to conferences hosted by outside groups.

The investigation flagged more than 320 hours, or 40 workdays, in 2017; between 2015-16, he was gone for nearly 160 hours for which he was paid. Kaye also used LSU conference rooms for depositions when he was hired as an expert in legal cases.

The moves were a violation of LSUs policies, and apparently, of state law, an investigator wrote in August 2018.

Yet LSU never contacted law enforcement, despite a university policy that requires the administration to do so when auditors discover potential financial crimes.

A university spokesperson said LSU Health in New Orleans intended to remove Kaye as the anesthesiology department chair, but never did. Instead, they accepted the few hundred hours in leave time Kaye said he gave back to the school.

+3 Audit dings leadership of LSU Health Sciences Center over nepotism, favoritism Top officials at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans skirted university hiring policies when they moved an in-house lawyer to the jo

Kaye left New Orleans in 2019 and has since landed an even more prestigious position at LSU  provost of its Shreveport medical campus. In that role, he earns more than $776,000 a year, making him one of the highest-paid employees across the system, records show.

Kaye said his timesheet errors were nothing more than honest mistakes. He stressed that he was a salaried, not hourly, employee, so he didnt stand to make extra pay by reporting bogus hours.

I didnt get a dollar more from what I put or didnt put, Kaye said.

When you are head of a clinical department, you are responsible for your workers, residents, and departmental issues 24 hours per day, seven days a week, and you are not an hourly worker, he added.

Still, the matter is serious  potentially criminal  if Kaye falsely represented his time and was away so much he didnt fulfill his job responsibilities, said Pat Fanning, a Gretna attorney and former state and federal prosecutor.

If he was supposed to be a full-time employee and on the other hand, he was only there one day a week, then you might have a fraud case, Fanning said.

In 2018, Kaye  a 2007 inductee into LSU Health in New Orleans Anesthesia Hall of Fame  was in his 13th year as department chair. He straddled his time between administrative duties at LSU and his work at University Medical Center, where he was anesthesia director. LSU paid for his time at UMC.

He and other LSU doctors filled out timesheets to track their time across hospitals for invoicing and other reporting purposes.

+3 LSU Health chancellor reshuffles top hires after controversy, ouster of his predecessor In a major shakeup at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, interim Chancellor Steve Nelson reversed his predecessors decisions on t

Through his multiple roles, he earned more than $400,000 a year, he said. He said he never missed an operation, and that he didnt make overtime as a salaried employee, despite often working seven days a week.

An anonymous complaint painted a different picture: Kaye was being paid for his time at UMC, even though he was rarely there.

The ensuing investigation flagged nearly 40 instances when Kaye was out of the state on workdays, even though he reported otherwise on his timesheets and didnt take leave.

Some trips appeared related to his job, like meetings on anesthetics hosted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Maryland. Others had a less clear purpose.

Investigators obtained phone records suggesting Kaye crisscrossed the country in 2017, when he was out of state during work hours at least once a month from April to November. Among his stops: Charleston, South Carolina; Boulder, Colorado; Houston; Los Angeles.

He never had to detail explanations for these trips to investigators. Asked about them by a reporter, Kaye said, They were professional and personal. He declined to elaborate.

+3 Ousted LSU Health official bought drinks at Harrah's, bars in pattern of 'excessive' spending Former LSU Health Sciences Center executive Keith Schroth in the late 2000s racked up thousands in expenses on an LSU foundation credit card f

In another matter, a business manager told investigators that Kaye used university conference rooms for his side gig as a legal expert, a job that required him to give depositions.

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On one Wednesday afternoon in 2017, Kaye used a conference room for a deposition in a case where was retained at a rate of $1,000 an hour, investigators wrote. He also charged the law firm for the use of the room, an additional $200 fee to be made payable to him.

On his timesheet, he logged eight hours at UMC.

Kaye said he paid the room fee back to LSU after the investigation. The law firm stiffed him, and he didnt make any money in that instance, he added.

In November 2017, Kaye reported normal hours at UMC while he was in Baltimore for a paid consulting gig with the Society of Research Administrators International, the universitys investigation found. Kaye made $1,250, plus airfare, lodging, transportation and meals.

In a three-page response to investigators, Kaye acknowledged those and other discrepancies.

The errors in my timesheets should be corrected immediately to be consistent with our rules and policies, he wrote. He added that he works without a secretary and that his departments business manager had been away from the office.

LSU Shreveport medical school chancellor under probe over allegations of sex discrimination As LSUs flagship campus continues to convulse in anger over how top officials have handled allegations of sexual harassment and dating violen

Not an excuse, but some of my timesheet mistakes could have been picked up if our Business Manager had not been on intermittent medical leave over the past few years, he said.

Investigators attached Kayes response to their August 2018 report, along with more than 180 pages of backup documentation. The Times-Picayune | The Advocate obtained the report through a public records request.

The first page summarized the findings: At a minimum, Kaye broke a state law against falsifying public records. The report also cited state prohibitions against loaning public property for private use, and receiving payments for services that werent provided. He also violated LSUs attendance and leave policies.

A university policy also requires LSUs Office of Internal Audit to flag the Legislative Auditor and local law enforcement when it discovers evidence of misappropriation of funds.

LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard said that requirement didnt apply in this case, because the investigation only led to an interim notice of issues; a final report was never completed.

+2 Controversial LSU program scholarships were awarded to chancellor's out-of-state grandkids Samuel Hollier Cole of Dallas graduated from LSU in 2017 with a bachelors degree in finance and nearly $70,000 in costly out-of-state fees pa

Kayes issues were included in a batch of reports LSU submitted to the Legislative Auditor for the 2017-18 fiscal year, Ballard said, adding that the university acted appropriately.

Ballard also said notice was given in August 2018 that Kaye would be removed as department chair, though Kaye kept his post for more than a year.

Steven Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, said the allegations against Kaye are concerning and that LSU should explain why further action wasnt taken.

If LSU thought they were serious enough to consider removing Dr. Kaye, what changed their mind? Procopio said. At the least, a publicly released follow-up to the interim report seems warranted.

When Kaye fixed his timesheets, he said that satisfied his superiors, including Steve Nelson, then the Dean of the School of Medicine.

They told me you need to make these corrections. And I did, Kaye said. That kind of was the end of it.

Nelson said the question of whether to take other action against Kaye wasnt up to him because he wasnt the organizations top official.

+2 LSU Health chancellor suspends dean under investigation, in latest reshuffling The chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans suspended the dean of the dental school while officials investigate more than 20 c

Nelson is now the interim chancellor of LSU Health in New Orleans. The organizations former longtime chancellor, Larry Hollier, resigned in October after separate financial irregularities under his watch came to light. Hollier didnt return a message seeking comment.

Kaye left New Orleans for Shreveport in November 2019. The administration was eyeing him to take over as provost, Kaye said, which he eventually did in June 2020.

Kaye said he disclosed his investigation before he was hired. I told their senior leadership that I had timesheet issues and that I didnt feel comfortable, and it was a good time for me to leave (New Orleans), Kaye said.

Shreveports then-chancellor Ghali Ghali could not be reached for comment, and the organizations sitting chancellor, David Lewis, declined to comment.
Gov. John Bel Edwards reminded us often during his first term that he inherited a $2 billion budget hole, but he didnt really need to keep saying it. The fight to raise more tax revenue dominated legislative news, even as the shortfalls repercussions  teacher pay raises that didnt happen, corners cut at state colleges and universities  hit home for constituents.

With Christmas of 2016 looming, Edwards tough talk included the sad announcement to a room full of people that there was no Santa Claus. Luckily those people were adults attending the Council for a Better Louisiana luncheon, not small children, but the message was still brutal.

"We just have to live in the real world. We have to decide that we are going to pay for the government that we want," he said, as part of his pitch for a newly empowered Republican-majority Legislature to work with the Democratic administration to raise taxes.

It eventually did, settling on a temporary sales tax increase of .45 cents to roll off the books in 2025. The process took way too long and required too many unnecessary special sessions, and the final plan relied too much on the sort of taxes that hit lower-income people hardest. But by the end of Edwards first term, things were looking better.

Still, who knew that theyd ever look as good as they do now?

Some might say that Edwards was wrong, that Santa Claus has indeed arrived in the form of the federal government, which is in the process of lavishing the state with coronavirus rescue money and infrastructure funding. Fair enough.

But it shouldnt be lost on anyone that todays picture would be brighter even without Uncle Sams  or Uncle Joes  largesse. Recurring revenue, the kind that doesnt get handed down from Washington on a case-by-case basis, is now strong enough for the state to look at tackling some of the things on Edwards first-term wish list, including significant teacher pay raises and funding increases for state colleges and universities.

The challenge now is for Edwards and everyone else involved to remember the lessons from not so long ago.

The inevitable comparison here, of course, is with Edwards predecessor Bobby Jindal, who faced a surge in state income from post-Katrina and Rita spending and high oil prices  and reacted in the worst possible way.

Collecting what felt at the time like untold riches, lawmakers in 2008 pushed for a big tax cut. Jindal resisted at first, sensibly understanding that the tide could well turn. But, whether to head off even deeper reductions or because he couldnt resist the siren call of a massive tax cut to tout on the presidential campaign trail  likely both  he agreed to repeal the Stelly income tax increase that had been adopted years before in exchange for sales tax reductions, which stayed.

Then came the end of the hurricane-fueled bump, and the national financial collapse. And rather than pursue the path that Edwards eventually did, Jindal opted to raid trust funds and redirect onetime money to avert some but not nearly all potential cuts, boasted about keeping his no-new-taxes pledge and started commuting to Iowa and New Hampshire.

A lot of good that did him. Jindal ended his term with his state approval ratings in the tank, with so little national support that he ended his presidential campaign before primary season, and replaced by a Democrat who promised to do things differently.

Edwards has studied this history, perhaps even fixated on it, and to his credit has taken a hard line against the sort of budgetary games that the former guy played. The new investments he outlined in his proposed budget last week are designed to be sustainable without a federal bailout (whether lawmakers agree remains to be seen).

He may also harbor some residual guilt, for it wasnt just Republicans who rushed to cut taxes back in 2008. As a newly elected Democratic state representative, Edwards voted for it, too.

And the idea has already surfaced again. During the formal budget presentation, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, who is thought to have her own higher political ambitions, asked about constituents whod like to see some of the excess returned to them.

Before they go down that path, perhaps todays lawmakers should take a deep breath, and brush up on their history, too.
Perry Young. Place: First Baptist Church of Norman 211 W. Comanche. May 26th, 2022. 1:30 pm. Lunch will be served 12:00pm at FBC before the service. If wanting to attend lunch, please let us know so there is enough food.
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.
Ismail Daurov (L), a Kazakh student who has a Chinese name Ma Wenxuan, talks with his classmate about their theses at Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

-- Ismail Daurov, a Kazakh student who became a volunteer helping with the local anti-pandemic response in the city of Xi'an in China's Shaanxi Province, were quoted by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his speech on Tuesday as saying that "I am a foreigner, but I am not an outsider."

-- During his speech at a virtual summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and five Central Asian countries, Xi noted that the two sides have enhanced mutual understanding and affinity through mutual exchanges.

-- "I know President Xi cares much about the communication among youths between China and the five countries in Central Asia," Daurov said, echoing Xi's remarks in the speech that "youth represents the future of a country."

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- "I am a foreigner, but I am not an outsider."

These words of Ismail Daurov, a Kazakh student who became a volunteer helping with the local anti-pandemic response in the city of Xi'an in China's Shaanxi Province, were quoted by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his speech on Tuesday at a virtual summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and five Central Asian countries.

The young Kazakh's words "have touched the hearts of many in China," Xi said, adding, "It is heartwarming episodes like this one that have formed a stirring symphony of China and Central Asian people supporting each other through thick and thin."

Learning that Xi mentioned his name in the monumental event where the heads of state of the six countries met altogether for the first time in 30 years, Daurov said he felt "very honored and very happy."

"I'm deeply moved by the solidarity and friendship of the Chinese people," the young man having been living in China for almost a decade told Xinhua in Chinese.

Daurov's father runs a small acupuncture clinic with some friends in his hometown in Kazakhstan. Witnessing more and more patients being cured with traditional Chinese medicine, Daurov made up his mind as a little child that he would go to China to study and acquire this expertise.

But things were quite tough for the young student in his early days in a foreign country. Daurov, who has a Chinese name Ma Wenxuan, speaks fluent Chinese, and is now studying for his master's degree in acupuncture and massage at Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, once had a difficult time reading ancient Chinese medical texts.

"Those texts, such as Huangdi Neijing, are full of traditional Chinese characters which I am not at all familiar with," Daurov said. "But my Chinese classmates have offered me great help. They turned those traditional Chinese characters into simplified Chinese, and walked me through the text."

Ismail Daurov (1st R), a Kazakh student who has a Chinese name Ma Wenxuan, learns cupping therapy from Jia Chengwen (C), a professor of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Nov. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

Within years, Daurov has not only grown up to be a student who is "studious, patient and meticulous" in the eyes of his tutor Professor Li Yongfeng, but also an enthusiastic young man who has spent much time on local charitable work.

When Xi'an faced a COVID-19 resurgence in December last year, Daurov became one of the first responders, signing up to be a volunteer in a local community to help with nucleic acid tests, maintain public order, and move daily necessities around.

"I was taking a nucleic acid test in my neighborhood and found that there were not many healthcare workers on the scene. Then I thought: I'm a medical student. Why not offer help?" Daurov said.

"Shaanxi is my second hometown. And just as I said, I'm a foreigner, but not an outsider," he said.

Daurov has returned to campus as the latest epidemic wave basically died down in Shaanxi. He has been living a fulfilling life during this winter break, doing clinic with his tutor, having video calls with his parents, reading books in classrooms, and sharing his learning experience with other international students who stayed.

So far, there have been around 80 international students studying in Daurov's university, around 30 percent of them from such Central Asian countries as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

"Both my Chinese friends and my international schoolmates have provided me with much help and more opportunities to experience different cultures and get to know the wider world," he said.

During his speech on Tuesday, Xi noted that China and the five Central Asian countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have enhanced mutual understanding and affinity through mutual exchanges.

"The 58 pairs of sister cities and the hundreds of thousands of mutual visits every year help carry forward a friendship of over 2,000 years between the people of our countries," Xi said.

"I know President Xi cares much about the communication among youths between China and the five countries in Central Asia," Daurov said, echoing Xi's remarks in the speech that "youth represents the future of a country."

The young Kazakh said he believes many other students from Central Asian countries also see China as their second home, just like him.

"We all love traditional Chinese medicine and are willing to contribute to the friendly exchanges between China and Central Asian countries," he added. 
Native-New Yorker Theo Pina found his inspiration for hand-made home decor from his mother.

It began in the backyard of his parents Long Island home and grew into Aura King Designs, named in honor of his mother, whose maiden name was King.

She was always doing DIY projects and constantly building new things for our home in New York, Pina told On the PULSE. She was able to use her talents and take them into the field of interior design in Long Island, helping local families and friends better organize their homes while also creating a beautiful clean aesthetic for them. She is a huge inspiration of mine and one of the main reasons I started this business.

Pina specializes in tables, shelves, cutting boards, bowls and other in-home items fashioned out of vintage barn-wood recovered from aging farms around the eastern United States.

While he was still building items in his parents backyard, Pinas girlfriend, Jersey Shore native Rikki Feerar, suggested he consider a workshop in Central PA. He soon became familiar with the Williamsport Community Woodshop, starting his own local shop at the Pajama Factory in 2019.

As of Jan. 13, Pinas website is up and running with a variety of hand-made items for sale. At first, a few of Pinas products will be for pick-up only, as shipping is not initially available on larger pieces. Folks wishing to discuss custom-made orders can contact Pina at the website, on Instagram or by email at theo@aurakingdesigns.com.

The home decor industry is booming, Pina said. People are really understanding the value of having quality custom pieces of furniture in their home. Its neat to have something that is one of a kind with its own story to be displayed in the home. Right now, most of my clients are from out of town.

All of my furniture is handmade in our shop, Pina continued. The wood I use is all sourced from old barns throughout the East Coast. I purchase it here in PA from a crew of guys who travel the East Coast ripping down old barns for clients. Most of the wood I use is white oak and is well over 150 years old.

Pina is currently AKDs sole employee, handling design, construction, sales and content in his well-equipped workshop at the Pajama Factory, where he also plans to open a showroom and storefront on March 4.

As he continues crafting custom-built items for individual clients...

Continue reading On the PULSE

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University Park, Pa. - A ground-nesting bee family  commonly known as miner bees  could play a heightened role in rebuilding black cherry populations in Pennsylvania and beyond, according to Penn State entomologists who investigated pollinators contributions to the valuable hardwood species.

Pennsylvanias black cherry trees are among the finest in the country, noted former graduate student Rachel McLaughlin, who led the study under the direction of Kelli Hoover and Christina Grozinger, professors of entomology in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

Black cherry historically has been one of the more premier commercial hardwoods, said McLaughlin, who earned her masters degree in entomology in 2021. It is used to make high-quality furniture, cabinets, paneling, flooring, musical instruments and more. And nearly 30% of the nations black cherry volume is in Pennsylvania.

Yet, fewer seedlings and saplings have been reported growing in the last 20 years. McLaughlin pointed to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service that show a 60% decline in established black cherry seedling densities across the entire Allegheny Plateau, stretching from western and central New York, down through Pennsylvania, into West Virginia and over into Ohio.

Changing weather, soilborne pathogens and insect pests are likely contributing to the decline. Given that black cherry is insect-pollinated and unable to produce viable seed from self-pollination, a reduction in seed crops could be due to a pollination deficit, McLaughlin explained.

Identifying the pollinators and factors that influence pollinator abundance and fidelity is critical for supporting and enhancing seed production for this valuable timber species, she said.

Additionally, because most black cherry seeds germinate near the parent tree, their success depends on the number and distribution of seed-producing trees in the overstory and insect pollination.

Since the key pollinators are unknown, it is difficult to develop management or conservation strategies to support and enhance viable black cherry seed production, Hoover said.

To identify the pollinators most responsible for transferring pollen needed for seed production, the team conducted a two-year study in developed, semi-developed and forested areas in Centre County and in the Allegheny National Forest near Kane. Methods involved visual observations, collecting insects that visited open flowers, testing seed viability, and examining the ecosystems biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) factors.

This design allowed us to evaluate whether the pollinator community visiting black cherry was consistent across land-use types, evaluate different sampling approaches and conduct observations to assess floral fidelity of insect visitors, said McLaughlin.

While flies, beetles and halictid bees  also called sweat bees  were frequent visitors to black cherry flowers during the study, the team discovered that the most important pollinator across the various landscapes was the andrenid  or miner bee  a solitary, ground-nesting bee.

The researchers, who recently reported their results in Environmental Entomology, found that miner bees represented 24% of all interactions with black cherry flowers and carried an average of 347 times more black cherry pollen than flies and 18 times more than halictid bees, thereby improving cross-pollination of other black cherry trees. Another key finding was that the proportion of andrenids was significantly related to the proportion of viable collected seeds at both the Centre County and Allegheny Plateau sites. In other words, the more miner bees there were, the greater the chance for those seeds to grow. Pennsylvania is home to more than 400 species of bees, but most people are familiar with only a small number of them, said Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro professor of entomology and director of the Center for Pollinator Research at Penn State. Andrenid bees are very important for springtime pollination of flowering trees, including apples. However, we do not know very much about how to manage our landscapes to support andrenid bee species. Grozinger anticipates this lack of understanding will lead to future studies and action. Most people understand that pollinators are essential for the production of food crops, she said. However, nearly 90% of flowering plant species use pollinators to set seed and produce fruit, so they are very important for nonagricultural systems as well. We hope our results will motivate interest in conserving pollinator populations in forest ecosystems and other landscapes. Hoover encouraged land managers to take steps to attract and support miner bees through practices such as thinning or clearing trees at high density from sunny, well-drained areas. Though there is much to learn about the complex problem of black cherry regeneration, we now know we have a powerful ally in andrenids, she said. We need to take measures to safeguard their habitats. Others from Penn State contributing to the study were Joseph Keller, postdoctoral scholar, Elizabeth Wagner, laboratory/field technician, David Biddinger, tree-fruit research entomologist, David Long, research technologist, Laura Leites, associate research professor of quantitative forest ecology, Harland Patch, assistant research professor of entomology, and Michael Skvarla, assistant research professor of arthropod identification. Also on the research team were Robert Long, supervisory research plant pathologist, Andrea Hille, forest silviculturist, and Susan Stout, research silviculturist, all from the U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Hardwoods Development Council, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry, the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Penn State's Graduate Training Program in Integrative Pollinator Ecology, and Wymans of Maine supported this work. This article has been reprinted from Penn State news.

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Shamokin, Pa.  Shamokin Police said they completed two transactions for methamphetamine with a man who was ultimately taken into custody.

Wayne Scott Kratzer, 58, was charged after police said he delivered more than 11 grams of the substance to a confidential informant between the dates of Jan. 15 and 20. According to a news release, the same informant was used for both transactions.

Kratzer was charged with felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and third-degree felony criminal use of a communication facility. Kratzer was given $2,500 monetary bail and held at the Northumberland County Jail.

Kratzer will meet with Judge John Gembic on Feb. 1 for a preliminary hearing.

Docket sheet

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A visitor views paintings at the Ratchadamdoen Contemporary Art Center in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 29, 2022. A painting exhibition displaying award-winning works of the Thai teenage painting competition dedicated to the upcoming Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games was held in Bangkok. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

BANGKOK, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Phichada Klinsukhon, a 17-year-old student from Thailand's Nakhon Pathom province, was very glad to see her painting put on display at the Ratchadamdoen Contemporary Art Center in downtown Bangkok.

Her painting is one of those award-winning works of the Thai teenage painting competition dedicated to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, being displayed at an exhibition jointly organized by the Thai Ministry of Culture and the China National Tourist Office in Bangkok.

"The topic of my painting is 'Beijing Winter Olympics -- Together for a Shared Future'," Phichada told Xinhua at the exhibition.

"And I would like to wish the Beijing Winter Olympics a great success, which could herald the year of 2022 that could bring us together for a shared future," she said, reflecting the official motto of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics -- "Together for a Shared Future".

Featuring the Great Wall and major competitions venues such as the National Stadium, or the "Bird's Nest", Phichada's painting has gathered a number of Olympic elements including the Olympic Rings, the Beijing 2022 torch and the Emblems, as well as Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, the official mascots.

"In the painting, I imagine myself being a figure skater, competing with fellow Olympians from around the world. We were all very excited to be at the Olympics with big smiles on our faces. Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon stand behind us and encourage us to achieve new heights," she said.

Phichada also hopes her painting could convey the idea that the Winter Olympic Games could unite the world, especially in a challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The ice and snow are cold, just like the pandemic. Despite the fact that we come from different countries, speak different languages, we live on the same Planet Earth and belong to the same community of shared future," she said.

"We should stand shoulder to shoulder like the Olympic Rings to overcome the challenges," she added.

The painting exhibition, which is being held from Jan. 20 to Feb. 20, also has a photo section on the Beijing Winter Olympics, aiming to provide an opportunity for the Thai public to better understand the upcoming grand events. The exhibition also showcases the lunar new year festival such as Chinese knots and red lanterns to celebrate the Year of Tiger. 

A visitor views paintings at the Ratchadamdoen Contemporary Art Center in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 29, 2022. A painting exhibition displaying award-winning works of the Thai teenage painting competition dedicated to the upcoming Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games was held in Bangkok. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

A visitor views paintings at the Ratchadamdoen Contemporary Art Center in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 29, 2022. A painting exhibition displaying award-winning works of the Thai teenage painting competition dedicated to the upcoming Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games was held in Bangkok. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)
Both natural gas and West Texas crude oil prices exploded to new contract highs Friday on the news a federal judge would void the largest offshore U.S. sale of oil and gas acreage in history. A U.S. District Court judge declared the Gulf of Mexico deal invalid due to faulty environmental analysis used in a regulatory decision.

Energy markets have been racing sharply higher for two months on fears Russia would invade Ukraine. Many analysts forecast $100 per barrel crude if demand continues to rise at the current pace and an invasion takes place.

Natural gas for March delivery approached $5 per mm BTUs on Friday, up nearly $1.20 on the week. March crude brought $87.20 per barrel, an increase of about $3.75 this week.

Soy soars

Soybeans were the high fliers in the grain complex this week as supplies from South America continued to decline, planted acreage in Argentina continued to shrink and Chinese bean demand continued to buoy our exports.

Demand for soybean oil drove it to historical highs compared to other vegetable oils as it leaped over the highs made in September. Corn, too, made a new six-month high, hitting $6.37 per bushel on Friday.

The strength in grain prices was impressive in light of the strong U.S. dollar, which typically hurts our exports. March beans traded at $14.77.

Commodity crimes accelerate

Gasoline gets siphoned, cattle get rustled, and now thieves are rewarded by stealing increasing numbers of catalytic converters from the underside of recent model cars, trucks, and buses.

As a result, platinum prices have been running faster than the police chasing the suspects who remove the devices.

Catalytic converters remove pollutants from gasoline or diesel fuel-powered vehicles. Would-be thieves can remove the devices in as little as two minutes. The Toyota Tacoma and Prius are often cited as two models targeted as an easy mark for removing the auto part.

Platinum for April delivery was worth $995 per ounce on Friday, gold fetched $1,786, and silver $22.36.

Opinions are solely the writers. Walt Breitinger is a commodity futures broker in Valparaiso. He can be reached at 800-411-3888 or www.indianafutures.com. This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell any market.

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A total of 100 more people died from coronavirus in Northwest Indiana in a one-week period, according to data from the Indiana Department of Health.

Statistics updated Friday showed that there have been a total of 1,580 deaths in Lake County, 493 in Porter County, 319 in LaPorte County, 62 in Newton County and 120 in Jasper County.

Last Friday, Lake County reported 1,517 deaths, meaning an additional 63 people have died of the virus in the county in a seven-day period, statistics show. In a one-week period, Porter County reported 17 new deaths, LaPorte County had 13 more, Newton County had three more and Jasper County had four more.

In total, COVID-19 has killed a total of 20,508 Hoosiers since the start of the pandemic, indicating an additional 516 deaths statewide in the last seven days, Friday data showed.

State health records show a total of 2,892 Hoosiers were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday, according to the Indiana Department of Health. Currently 31.3% of ICU beds are in use by coronavirus patients with only 11.6% of ICU beds in the state available.

The color-coded classifications for Indiana's 92 counties has all of counties still in the worst-possible red rating for the second week, showing a continuing increase of infections.

The red rating indicates an uncontrolled spread of coronavirus, which is classified as 200 or more positive cases per every 100,000 residents.

Across state lines, a total of 7,627 residents in Calumet City and 6,566 residents in Lansing have tested positive for the virus.

State health officials are urging Hoosiers age 5 and up to reduce their chances of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death by getting vaccinated against COVID-19, or by getting a COVID-19 booster shot for those previously vaccinated, as soon as possible.

The free COVID-19 vaccine is available, in most cases without an appointment, at 1,488 locations across the state, including retail pharmacies, health clinics and hospitals.

Records show that 55.9% of Hoosiers age 5 and up, the state's eligible population, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including 54.9% of eligible Lake County residents, 60.5% in Porter County, 55.4% in LaPorte County, 40.7% in Newton County and 45.7% in Jasper County.

So far, a total of 1,657,284 people have received a booster shot statewide.

A complete list of COVID-19 vaccine sites is available online at ourshot.in.gov.

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Most Republicans tend to believe the government should interfere in the free market as little as possible, and generally only to preserve life, safety or public order  never to pick winners and losers.

Republicans in the Indiana House, however, are poised to turn those principles upside-down out of sympathy for fossil fuel enterprises whose product cost and pollution output have left them disfavored by the marketplace.

House Bill 1224, set for a chamber vote Monday, would prohibit the state of Indiana from contracting with any business that chooses to limit commercial relations with a business engaged in the exploration, production, use, transportation, sale or manufacturing of fossil fuel based energy, or any business doing business with fossil fuel energy companies.

That means, for example, if the measure is enacted into law, Indiana likely no longer could maintain its contract for Microsoft software on the tens of thousands of computers used by state employees because Microsoft is among the business signatories to The Climate Pledge of zero net carbon emissions by 2040.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, fossil fuel consumption for energy use accounted for 92% of total human-generated carbon dioxide emissions in 2019.

As such, the only way Climate Pledge signers possibly can meet their goal is by intentionally reducing their use of fossil fuels  which the legislation defines as a "boycott"  in favor of wind, solar and other renewable energy resources that don't produce the same level of carbon emissions.

The legislation specifies the state may not enter into a contract for the purchase of supplies or services unless the contract contains a written verification from the business that it does not boycott energy companies, and will not boycott energy companies for the term of the contract.

Just among Climate Pledge signatories that would mean Indiana probably no longer could do business with Visa, Amazon, Verizon, Pepsi, IBM, Johnson Controls, Salesforce, Indianapolis-based Infosys, Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, HP, Accenture, CBRE real estate, Uber, Best Buy, and more than 200 additional national and global brands.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb has not taken a public position on the legislation or addressed how Indiana government will be able to function without products from these companies.

All businesses in Northwest Indiana also potentially could be barred from receiving state contracts because the businesses likely purchase their electricity from NIPSCO, whose goal of moving from 80% coal-generated power to 18% coal by 2025 could be classified as a boycott under the legislation.

In addition, the measure requires the state and the Indiana Public Retirement System to largely withdraw from the global financial marketplace, and divest from most financial companies, since many national and international banks have committed to reducing their fossil fuel use and are limiting their investments in fossil fuel companies.

The sponsor of the measure, state Rep. Ethan Manning, R-Logansport, said his goal is to send a message to big businesses and big banks that the General Assembly sets energy policy for Indiana  "not corporate boards in far-off places."

"It is my view that we cannot sit idly by and allow these companies to get away with harming Indiana energy companies, and Hoosiers themselves, by making poor decisions not based on financial returns, but on some political philosophy and pressure from activists who don't care about the reliability or affordability of energy for Hoosiers," Manning said.

A who's who of fossil fuel company lobbyists applauded Manning's proposal during a hearing Tuesday before the House Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance, including former state Rep. Matt Bell, R-Avila, speaking on behalf of Indiana coal companies.

"Today, the fossil fuel industry is under attack. Financing is less available, it is more expensive, and it is making your constituents' energy more expensive and less reliable," Bell said.

"If this strategy of boycotting against industries based on political whims is allowed to continue what happens when financial institutions decide we don't like auto manufacturers who make cars that run on gas, or we don't like farmers who grow sugar products because, you know, obesity is a public health crisis. Are we going to allow corporate America to make those choices? Or will we make them here (at the Statehouse)? I suggest that this is the place that they should be made."

Indeed, other state lawmakers already are eager to similarly use the state's buying power as a tool to punish businesses that fail to support gun-related enterprises as proposed in House Bill 1409, which did not advance out of committee this year.

On the other hand, Shannon Anderson, director of advocacy for Earth Charter Indiana, opposed the fossil fuel measure due to its since-removed application to local governments, as well as the state.

But she noted the legislation also will impair efforts to improve Indiana's environmental sustainability, public health and equity.

"It is virtually impossible to distinguish between a boycott and a company that has a 100% clean-energy goal," Anderson said. "Why would we prohibit communities investing in local businesses that take their community care so seriously? And how will this impact Indiana creating green opportunity zones and recruiting green technology companies?

"Legislators often talk about not picking winners and losers in business. But this bill is exactly siding with a short list of specific companies over the financial interests and freedom of choice of (local) governments, the will of the local voters and the health of communities."

A similar law first was enacted last year by Texas. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization funded in part by fossil fuel companies that supplies proposed legislation to state lawmakers, in December endorsed a "model bill" on this topic that largely mirrors the contents of Indiana's pending measure.

Both are based on a law Indiana adopted in 2016 that requires companies doing business with the state to certify they do not support any enterprise that chooses to boycott, divest or sanction the Middle Eastern country of Israel.

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CN has named a new CEO and reached a deal with activist shareholders who sought to overhaul the company's leadership after a failed takeover bid of Kansas City Southern last year.

Montreal-based CN, which operates Kirk Yard in Gary and rail across the Region, named Tracy Robinson to serve as president and CEO after JJ Ruest agreed to retire after 25 years.

This is a transformational period at CN, and I couldnt be more excited about the opportunities ahead," Robinson said. "Our focus is on building the railway of the future  one that creates shareholder value by meeting the needs of our customers, employees, communities, and the economies that depend on us, safely, reliably, and efficiently. I look forward to working closely with CNs extremely talented railroaders, board and management team as we take CN to the next level of performance and industry leadership. I also want to say that I respect and value CNs rich history in Montreal and in Quebec, where the common and official language is French. I am excited to be returning to the wonderful city of Montreal, and I have already begun French lessons to ensure I am able to fully embrace the experience of living in Quebec and communicate with CNs valued employees and customers across the continent.

Robinson comes most recently from TC Energy and spent nearly three decades at Canadian Pacific. She has 35 years of experience in management and company leadership.

I have no doubt that Tracy will be an extraordinary leader for the next phase of CNs journey and I am very much looking forward to working closely with her," CEO Search Committee Chairwoman Shauneen Bruder said. "I want to express my gratitude to my fellow members of the board and search committee for their work in this very rigorous and thorough process and JJ Ruest for the leadership he has provided as CEO since 2018. We wish JJ all the best in his upcoming retirement.

CN reached a deal with CIFF Capital and TCI to appoint two mutually agreed upon directors to its board.

In exchange, TCI will withdraw its request for a special meeting of shareholders on March 22.

We are pleased to reach an arrangement that will strengthen CNs board with the addition of two new highly qualified directors. TCI looks forward to constructive future engagement with CN, TCI Founder and Portfolio Manager Chris Hohn said.

Bruder and Jean Charest were added to the railroad board.

"We are pleased to have appointed a world-class CEO to lead CN during our next phase of growth and announced that we are continuing to add more highly qualified independent directors to our board," CN Chairman Robert Page said. "We have appreciated the input we have received from our shareholders throughout this process and are very excited about all that CN can achieve as we build the railway of the future."

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LAPORTE  Scammers are pretending to be members of the LaPorte County Sheriff's Office on the phone, police said.

On Saturday authorities made an announcement warning of some recent reports from residents regarding fraudulent phone calls.

The scammers spoof, or disguise, their phone numbers to appear as if it is a local phone number.

They tell the resident they are from LaPorte County Sheriff's Office and that they know the victim has stolen property. The scammers then tell the victims that the stolen property must be returned or an arrest warrant will be issued.

"This is a real dimwitted low-budget operation thats completely a scam," police told the public in an announcement. "Hang up and do not entertain this hogwash."

Police urged residents to report all frauds, scams and bad business practices. Individuals can make reports to the U. S. Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

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LAPORTE  The LaPorte County Council wants feedback from all 11 municipalities in the county before deciding on whether to raise the local income tax to bolster public safety.

The council voted recently to ask those governing bodies, at their next meetings, to support or reject a resolution in support of a higher tax.

The motion was made by Councilman Mark Yagelski, who believes a vote in those communities will reveal if lack of public safety money for things like higher salaries is an issue across the county.

Yagelski said he expects the input to be helpful when its time for the council to decide the issue.

Well have some data to go with, he said.

The decision came after a presentation by LaPorte Mayor Tom Dermody, whos calling for a 50 cent increase in the 0.95% tax.

Dermody said the higher tax would provide a new source of incoming revenue for solving long term what he described as a public safety crisis.

Without more funding, Dermody predicted shortages in manpower and quality of work will suffer when experienced personnel leave for much higher pay and are replaced by people with little or no prior service.

He said the already difficult task of filling job openings would become worse if salaries don't draw enough applicants.

Right now, theres a paramedic position available thats been open for four months at the county. Not one application, Dermody said.

Dermody said he would like to use the citys share of additional tax money to hire more police officers and keep salaries competitive.

Dermody also said the income tax rate in LaPorte County is very close to the bottom of whats assessed in other Indiana counties and would still be 20% below the state average even with an increase.

He also said a higher income tax would help replace millions of dollars municipalities lost when property taxes were lowered from state tax caps imposed several years ago.

LaPorte County Commissioner Sheila Matias said a better option is the state creating a public safety trust fund to share with local governments and contributing money annually into the account.

Matias said a projected $5 billion state surplus at the end June should be used to create the fund.

No county tax increase. Just a smarter way to use the money thats already collected from the hard-working taxpayers of our county, she said.

State Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie, said he doesnt believe such a fund would gain majority support at the statehouse.

He said the legislature gave counties the option of imposing an income tax to better meet their financial needs.

Pressel said that all but four Indiana counties assess a higher income tax rate and that LaPorte County not wanting to use the income tax as more of a revenue generating tool like most counties would probably be frowned upon by a majority of his fellow lawmakers.

Thats a tough question for me to be able explain, Pressel said.

Last month, the council gave police and ambulance workers a 6% raise for this year along with a $4,000 bonus to be reflected on paychecks over the next 24 months.

Many people complained it wasnt nearly enough to compete with salaries up to $10,000 higher in surrounding areas.

Dermody, citing increased gun violence in Michigan City and drug overdoses countywide, said greater demands placed on emergency responders also need to be reflected in their compensation.

No specific timetable has been set for making a decision, but the desire is to have more dollars to further elevate first responder salaries as soon as next year, officials said.

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There's no such thing as a free lunch, at least not at the Indiana Dunes National Park, not anymore.

Visitors soon will be expected to pay if they plan to picnic at the 15,000-acre National Park, sun on one of its Lake Michigan beaches or hike its more than 50 miles of trails.

After becoming a National Park in 2019, the Indiana Dunes have seen a surge in visitors and are now looking to impose entrance fees of $15 daily per person or $25 per family.

The funds raised will be used on maintenance, visitor services and improvements. The National Park Service, for instance, would like to restore the historic Bailly Cemetery and replace the boardwalk and trail surface on the Little Calumet River Trail. It still needs funds to replace many of the old Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore signs with new National Park ones at the sprawling park's more than two dozen sites in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.

But critics have raised concerns about whether the new fees, including $45 for an annual membership that would be sold at visitors centers and later local businesses, would reduce accessibility to the national park, especially among low-income people and locals. Many residents in Gary's Miller neighborhood, for instance, hike along Paul H. Douglas Trail through Miller Woods as though it's a neighborhood park, even though it's part of the larger national park.

"We pay taxes to the federal government for things like the National Park Service. So this is an additional tax burden for local poor and working-class people who  heaven forbid  want to recreate in nature in their own communities," Miller activist and educator Samuel Love said. "And it's opening the door for further privatization of public lands and further commodification of nature."

He fears new entrance fees, such as of $25 for a seven-day vehicle pass, could serve to gentrify the park and keep away lower-income residents who live nearby. Love also fears it would be detrimental to volunteering at the park, such as with the regular beach cleanups that take place.

"If I go out to volunteer with a private organization like NWIPA to clear logjams from the river am I now expected to pay for this 'privilege?' If I'm doing a youth poetry or photography workshop at the Douglas Center and I have to drive because of bad weather or because I have bulky materials, I'm expected to pay now?" he said. "If I'm on a long hike and I dare sit for five minutes on a publicly-owned bench will I have a park ranger demanding to see my pass? We already pay taxes for these things."

Visitors have previously paid $6 per vehicle during the summer months to visit West Beach, one of the most popular national park beaches with the most available parking. The Indiana Dunes State Park charges $7 for Indiana residents and $12 for out-of-staters, which will not change.

Though people were able to visit national park beaches for free, the Indiana Dunes State Park was still often Indiana's most visited park, with 1.3 million visitors a year.

The new $15 daily pass will make the Indiana Dunes National Park the most expensive park to enter in the state of Indiana, though an annual pass will cost $5 less than the $50 annual Indiana State Parks pass. At $9, the Falls of the Ohio State Park Interpretative Center just outside Louisville is currently the most expensive park in Indiana to visit with a daily pass.

"We do not know if the new fee will impact attendance," Indiana Dunes Tourism Executive Director Lorelei Weimer said.

Indiana Dunes Tourism, Porter County's tourism agency, plans to work to raise public awareness about the new entrance fees.

"Indiana Dunes Tourism markets the Indiana Dunes and will be creating messaging to explain the new fee structure at the national park, as well as the existing fee structure of the state park," she said. "Indiana Dunes Tourism recognizes the importance of maintaining quality attractions for residents and visitors in Porter County and Northwest Indiana. Currently, the Indiana Dunes National Park does not have the financial resources to maintain its valuable asset properly. The new entry fees will help with the overall maintenance of the park and supplement operations and fund improvements, which will enhance the overall experience for the users of the park."

Other National Parks in the Midwest  Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota  are free to enter. The Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis costs $3 a day and the Isle Royal National Park in Michigan costs $7 for entry.

LaPorte resident Jonathan W. Thomas expressed concerns that visiting the Indiana Dunes National Park would become too costly for some locals and that it would be confusing for many, since it's spread out and not one large park that people enter or exit like Yellowstone.

"I'm furious. The park should be free for all, or at least residents of the area. It's one thing if the whole thing is gated off, but there's so many parking areas, and trails, that relying on the honor system to do this is going to turn everyone who happens on a trail into a 'fare dodger,'" he said. "Enforcement will be a nightmare. What happens if you didn't know and can't pay? In the summer, we usually go to the beach every week down at the park. It will make the park less accessible. Sure, I can afford the yearly fee, but many others probably can't. Fifteen dollars per person is extortionate. Not to mention how confusing this will be for visitors who don't know the difference between the State Park and the National Park."

Thomas also quested the need for an entrance fee for the public to access the beaches, sand dunes, forests, prairies, bogs, moraines, historical sites and other places in the Indiana Dunes National Park.

"The National Lakeshore got along fine for its entire existence without entry fees, suddenly it's a National Park and needs the money?" he said.

Supervisory Park Ranger Bruce Rowe said the money would go to deferred maintenance projects.

"This ranges from expanding our custodial, maintenance and resource protection activities major projects like a new water line to the Kemil Beach restroom facility, stabilization of the historic Bailly Homestead, and the replacement of the boardwalk at Tolleston Dune Trail," he said.

Entrance fees, for instance, would extend the water main to the Kemil Beach restroom, rehab the West Beach bathhouse and contact station, build an indigenous cultural trail and shelter at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center in Chesterton, and upgrade fire and security alarms across the park.

The National Park Service also would like to repair the boardwalks and grade the parking lot at the Heron Rookery, replace the fence and pave the Porter Beach south parking lot, replace the flooring in the Paul H. Douglas Visitors Center in Miller and replace the decking on the Little Calumet River Trail Bridge. Other projects include constructing a new trail on the east end, paving walkways at the West Beach picnic area, rehabilitating the Mount Baldy Restroom, replacing the fence at the Douglas Center and installing solar lights at Lakeview Beach, the Porter Beach north parking lot and Glenwood Dunes.

At least 55% of the fees will go to maintenance at the park. Most of the revenue generated will stay local and be funneled back into the Indiana Dunes, Rowe said.

"This will be a major boost to the park's budget. If a park brings in more than $750,000 then 80% of it remains in the park and the other 20% goes to the central office for use at smaller parks with little or no fee income," he said. "If a park brings in less than $750,000 then all of the fee revenue remains in that park. Based on our number of visitors, we expect that we will bring in more than $750,000."

Jessica Renslow, a Gary community activist who organized Miller's ecotourism festival and helped bring a wheelchair-accessible kayak launch to Miller Lagoon, said fee revenue should be used to boost accessibility, especially since it could price some people out.

"It could impact patrons who cant afford it, which could include people on disability," she said. "If they have to charge a fee, the new fees should be used to implement universally designed amenities and to hire employees of all abilities."

Rowe said the fee of $25 per family compared to small national parks, national lakeshores like Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan and national seashores like Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

"Larger national parks charge $30 or $35," he said.

Daily passes to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado cost $25, Acadia National Park in Maine $30 and Yosemite National Park in California $35. The Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina, the most popular National Park east of the Mississippi River, is free.

People can save money by buying an annual pass and will still have opportunities to visit the Indiana Dunes National Park for free, Rowe said.

"The fee structure does encourage locals who visit more than two times a year to purchase an annual pass for $45," he said. "We are concerned about accessibility for lower-income residents. Entrance into our Paul H. Douglas Center and the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center will remain free and there are five national fee-free days to the national parks. In addition, the superintendent has the authority to designate a limited number of days as fee-free for Indiana Dunes National Park. We are also working with partners to explore other methods to provide access to people of all income levels."

People can visit National Parks for free on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 17, the first day of National Park Week on April 16, the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act on Aug. 4 and National Public Lands Day on Sept. 24.

Love said the entrance fees would be difficult to enforce given the sprawling layout of the park, the lack of gates or booths at many sites and locals' familiarity with the land.

"The day this takes effect (or thereabouts) I plan to enter the park, on foot by way of one of the many informal social trails throughout our duneland, freely enjoying my freedoms in this beautiful land and leaving no trace of my presence behind," he said.

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States like Indiana are looking to stop judges from reducing bail for violent criminals to next to nothing. It's also looking to stop a charitable bail organization from stepping in to pay for the release of criminals back onto Indianapolis' streets.

It's part of a national pushback against bail reforms sparked by high-profile cases like Darrell E. Brooks, who had been out of jail for just five days when he killed six people by plowing his car into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin in November.

A bill introduced this month by Indiana state Sen. Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) would prohibit judges from reducing bail for a violent offense, requiring they stick to the bail schedule in place in their county. For a second violent offense, bail would double.

The proposal, Senate Bill 6, would also require bail to be paid in cash for a violent offense, and paid by the person charged or by his immediate family. That would stop nonprofit groups like The Bail Project from posting bail to spring violent offenders.

"The Indiana Constitution is pretty clear that bail, except for murder, is available to our citizens, but it doesn't say it has to be easy to obtain," said Young at a hearing on his bill on Jan. 11. "And we're going to make sure it's not easy to obtain, because Indianapolis and Marion County (and) our citizens are safer when (criminals are) in jail awaiting their trial than out on our streets."

Indiana isn't alone. In neighboring Kentucky, state representatives have introduced a bill seeking to make charitable or crowdfunded bail organizations illegal.

And in Wisconsin, Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation to keep more violent offenders behind bars until their trials. And Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, facing a competitive election later this year, has also signaled he's open to tightening bail requirements.

"Wisconsin lives are in danger because of the low bail that soft-on-crime judges and DAs are currently setting," state Sen. Julian Bradley, R-Franklin, said in a statement this month. "This revolving door for criminals must end."

Indianapolis has been reeling from a spate of recent horrific crimes committed by violent criminals who had been released on pretrial bond, with their bail paid for by The Bail Project. It is a national organization that employs "bail disruptors" in cities across the country, including Indianapolis.

One was Marcus Garvin, who stabbed another man at a Circle K gas station because he was angry the man was taking too long in the bathroom. His bond was reduced from $30,000 to $1,500 by Marion County Superior Court Judge Shatrese Flowers, and The Bail Project paid it, allowing Garvin to walk free wearing an ankle monitor.

A few months later, on July 30, 2021, Garvin killed his longtime girlfriend, Christie Holt, in a seedy hotel room and was caught on surveillance camera dragging her body into the woods, wrapped in a sheet.

At a Senate hearing earlier this month, a woman in a black dress stood up to give public testimony.

"I'm here to represent my son," she said. "He was the 200th homicide in Indianapolis."

The woman, Nikki Sterling, is the mother of Dylan McGinnis, who was gunned down at age 24 while he accompanied a friend who was buying drugs from a drug dealer.

"Dylan loved his family, his friends, the broken, the outcast, and the perfect stranger, and there are no words that can express the amount of our heartbreak and pain," Sterling told the members of the Indiana Senate's Corrections and Criminal Law Committee. "Added to my pain was the shock of learning that his alleged shooter and known violent offender, Travis Lang, had been bailed out of jail on a $5,000 bond with pending felonies by a charitable bail organization called The Bail Project."

The Bail Project began operating in Indiana in 2018, and at first, focused on bailing out only nonviolent offenders. But that changed more than a year ago when the organization started helping spring people accused of burglary, assault, and even attempted murder.

But The Bail Project always had a political agenda. On its website, it makes clear that it has a problem with the criminal justice system, and with keeping people who have committed crimes behind bars.

"The Bail Project combats mass incarceration by disrupting the money bail system  one person at a time," its mission statement says. "We restore the presumption of innocence, reunite families, and challenge a system that criminalizes race and poverty. We're on a mission to end cash bail and create a more just, equitable, and humane pretrial system."

Rick Snyder, head of the Indianapolis chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, has been railing against the "revolving door of criminal justice" in his city for at least two years.

"Here's what I've come to realize," he told the Senate committee. "And I've said this publicly: It's coming to a neighborhood near you."

Margaret Menge is a freelance journalist who's written for the Columbia Journalism Review, New York Observer, Miami Herald, The American Conservative, among other publications. The opinions are the writer's.

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The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing are just days away, but the Biden administrations campaign to orchestrate a diplomatic boycott, so far joined by only seven allies, is already failing to meet certain expectations. It seems as if the criterion for success was to get a sizable group of countries on board to shame China into improving its human rights conditions.

Theres no question that Beijings horrendous acts against the Uyghurs and other minorities in China are atrocious. But policymakers would be deeply misguided to think that such a symbolic gesture, even if perfectly executed, can trigger any meaningful change in Beijing. There are better ways to counter the Chinese Communist Partys forced labor violations than merely checking symbolic boxes.

Consider some successful boycotts in Olympics history. In 1980, America led a boycott, joined by more than 60 countries, of the Moscow Games in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union didnt withdraw from Afghanistan because of the boycott, but generous critics would say that the gesture nevertheless eroded the Kremlins prestige and might have even contributed to the regimes demise about a decade later. But maybe the administration should ask the Ukrainians how they feel about Russian aggression.

Others might claim that the tactic was a success when more than 20 African countries sat out the Montreal Games in 1976, protesting New Zealands continued sporting relationship with apartheid South Africa, particularly on the rugby field. One might argue that the boycott made a difference because, a year later, New Zealand joined the Gleneagles Agreement, a pledge among Commonwealth states to discourage any sporting contacts with South Africa. But New Zealand and South Africa still held several more rugby tours throughout the remaining years of the apartheid regime.

Even this limited success required conditions that are not applicable to China today. In 1969, anti-apartheid activists in New Zealand formed the group Halt All Racist Tours to protest the countrys rugby engagement with South Africa. Their efforts continued until the end of the atrocious regime and successfully stopped several rugby tours between the two countries. But in todays China, not only are there no anti-genocide demonstrations but, thanks to Beijings effective propaganda and information control, the typical Chinese person likely doesnt know that the current boycott is because of forced labor in their country  if they know about the forced labor at all.

Some people in power may want you to believe that symbolic gestures go a long way and, hence, they have done something. But what really makes a difference is the power of the people. There are more effective ways for the American people to counter the Chinese Communist Partys forced labor practice in Xinjiang, should they choose to exercise their power.

I previously wrote about the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act that became law late last year. Intended to block such goods from entering the U.S. market, the legislation has some potential to put meaningful pressures on Beijing. But some important details are yet to be finalized. The Department of Homeland Security is now seeking public comments on how to best do this, and Americans can choose to speak up.

But the most powerful weapon the people have lies in how they make their daily choices. Some international corporations may not want to clean up their forced labor-tainted supply chains because that would cross Beijing and hurt their bottom line, but some may. And if any company does, it would likely be because the vast number of consumers care enough about the issue to change their buying practices. In recent years, ethical consumerism has made significant strides in phasing out conflict diamonds, elephant ivory and child labor-made chocolates in the marketplace. It, too, can make a difference in combating Chinas human rights abuses.

Some might say that boycotting the Beijing Games is nevertheless a worthwhile moral gesture. Perhaps. But the gravity of Chinas human rights violations demands much more from our morality than any feel-good measures.

Weifeng Zhong is a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a core developer of the open-sourced Policy Change Index project. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. The opinions are the writer's.

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As much as 30 inches of snow had fallen in some parts of Massachusetts by early Saturday evening, Gov. Charlie Baker said at a news conference, while Boston had seen about two feet  nearly a record  with another two to four inches expected before the snow tapers off tonight.

The storm may have played out exactly as predicted, but Sunday is still going to be a long day for snowplow drivers and cleanup crews, according to the governor.

The storm for the most part is delivering what we and the experts expected, Mr. Baker told reporters. It pretty much landed the way everyone thought it would, and I think thats made a big difference.

Still, the governor predicted some difficult hours and perhaps days ahead, as power outages increased across the state, especially on Cape Cod and the nearby islands, where heavy winds were making restoration difficult.
The official said Washington has tried to get diplomatic talks going with Pyongyang but has heard nothing back through various channels. The official reiterated that the United States is ready to start discussions without preconditions. Some analysts say that Washington has not sent strong signals showing it is committed to diplomacy with Pyongyang  for example, the special envoy for North Korea, Sung Kim, only does that job part-time since he is also ambassador to Indonesia. And Mr. Biden has said he would only meet with the North Korean leader under certain conditions.

After the first four sets of missile tests in January, American officials called on the United Nations to impose additional sanctions on North Korea, but China and Russia blocked the proposal at the U.N. Security Council.

North Korea appears to have carried out more missile tests in January than in any month since Mr. Kim came to power a decade ago. The launch on Sunday was its third in the last week.

Mr. Kim has vowed to focus on expanding the Norths nuclear and missile capabilities since 2019, when his direct diplomacy with then-President Donald J. Trump collapsed. He has rebuffed the Biden administrations repeated offers to resume talks without preconditions; instead, he has ordered his government to prepare for long-term confrontation with the United States.

Mr. Moon and South Korean analysts said the recent tests reminded them of 2017. That year, the first of Mr. Trumps presidency, the North steadily escalated its weapons tests, from short-range missile launches to intermediate-range ballistic missile tests. Eventually, it tested three ICBMs and what it said was a hydrogen bomb.

Mr. Trump responded by persuading the U.N. Security Council to impose more sanctions on the North, and by famously threatening the country with fire and fury. He went on to meet directly with Mr. Kim three times, but their personal diplomacy ended with no agreement on rolling back North Koreas nuclear program or lifting the sanctions.

It has been the same cycle repeating itself: North Korean provocations, followed by a round of negotiations and their collapse and a pause in diplomacy, said Cheon Seong-whun, a former head of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government-funded research institute in Seoul. North Korea is now starting the cycle all over again, raising tensions with missile provocations.
U.S. plays hardball with Russia

The most punishing sanctions that President Biden has threatened in an effort to deter an invasion of Ukraine could devastate the Russian economy. Analysts predict a stock market crash and other forms of financial panic that would inflict pain on Russias people.

The swift and severe response promised by the U.S. could also roil other major economies, and even threaten the global financial system. British lawmakers will also consider broadening the range of sanctions available.

Sanctions could foment anger against President Vladimir Putin. But resilience is part of Russias national identity, and three reactionary security officials dedicated to restoring former Soviet glory have Putins ear. On Sunday, Russias foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said the country sent an urgent demand to NATO to clarify its stance, a sign of hope for further diplomacy.

Analysis: Some analysts warn that Russia might retaliate by cutting off natural gas shipments to Europe or with cyberattacks against American and European infrastructure. Ukrainian officials criticized the Biden administration for its warnings of an imminent Russian attack, saying they had needlessly spread alarm.
Manfred Thierry Mugler, the French designer who died Jan. 23 at the age of 73, was nothing if not exacting.

A complete perfectionist, said the model Naomi Campbell. You couldnt be one centimeter off.

This wasnt because he was a terror, said Joey Arias, the torch-singing drag artist, who appeared in Zumanity, the Cirque du Soleil spectacular Mr. Mugler helped conceive and design costumes for after retiring from his company in 2002.

Had that been the case, Mr. Mugler likely would not have amassed one of the most loyal tribes in fashion  a group that included Ms. Campbell, Mr. Arias, the hairstylist Danilo, the nightlife empress Susanne Bartsch, and the full-figured model Stella Ellis, who said in an interview that if his favorite shape was the hourglass, she was the hour and a half glass.
Image

Lost Luggage Key

Dear Diary:

I was on a trip from Queens, where I was born and raised, to the Soviet Union in 1985. I was at the Intourist hotel in Bukhara when I realized I had lost the key to my luggage.

I went to the lobby, hoping to find someone who spoke English and might be able to help me. Somewhere in the polyglot din of tourists, I detected a New York accent.

I approached the group the voice was coming from, explained my dilemma and asked if I could try their luggage keys to see if one might work on my suitcase.

One woman pulled out a key that looked just right. It was. I opened my suitcase and then tried to hand the key back to its owner. She insisted that I keep it.
Whatever its evolutionary roots, many people experience satisfaction in saying (or thinking): See? I was right. After months of trying to convince anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers and anti-social distancers that lifesaving measures are both for their own good and for that of others, frustration might get the better of people.

Theres schadenfreude across the ideological spectrum. Recently, on Fox News, Laura Ingraham, a commentator who often expresses her belief in Christian values, applauded the news that Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had tested positive for the coronavirus despite being vaccinated and boosted.

The problem is that even a mild case of schadenfreude is the opposite of a Christian value. Jesus asked us to pray for our enemies, not celebrate their misfortunes. He wanted us to care for the sick, not laugh at them. When Jesus was crucified alongside two thieves, he says to one of them, according to Lukes Gospel, not Thats what you get, but Today you will be with me in paradise. Schadenfreude is not a Christian value. Its not even a loosely moral value.

At this point I could run through a list of philosophers, theologians and wise voices from religions and traditions around the world to prove my point. Instead I will reclaim a word that has been largely lost from our discourse: mean. Crowing over someones suffering or demise is as far from a moral act as one can imagine. Its cruel.

Indulged in regularly, schadenfreude ends up warping the soul. It robs us of empathy for those with whom we disagree. It lessens our compassion. To use some language from both the Old and New Testaments, it hardens our hearts. No matter how much I disagree with anti-vaxxers, I know that schadenfreude over their deaths is a dead end.

Come on! some might say. Its a natural emotion. Thats true  and emotions are usually beyond our control. If someone coughs intentionally (or thoughtlessly) in your face on the subway, its natural to get angry. At least for a few seconds.

But what you do with those emotions  give in to them, prolong them or intensify them  is a moral decision. After your fellow subway rider coughs in your face, you dont need to express your anger by punching him. Simply letting your emotions take you wherever they please is what a baby does, not an adult.
As Carson explained it, We need a Supreme Court where we have the best candidates.

This from one of the most unqualified secretaries of housing and urban development the country has ever had, a man who didnt even know the basics of his job. When Representative Katie Porter asked him at a congressional hearing if he knew what an R.E.O. was (the initials stand for real estate owned, a term used to describe property that has failed to sell at a foreclosure auction), Carson seemed to think she was referring to an Oreo cookie. Even after Porter clarified the three letters, Carson was still left guessing what the O stood for, at one point suggesting: Real Estate e-organization.

This from a man whom Donald Trump may have nominated to the post only because of Trumps own constant, problematic conflation of Black with urban, even though most Black people in this country live in the suburbs.

The irony here is that Ronald Reagan, the Republicans patron saint before the rise of Trump, made a similar promise in 1980 when he was in trouble with women for not supporting the Equal Rights Amendment. He promised to nominate a woman  again the word white was silent  and thats how we got Justice Sandra Day OConnor.

Carson wasnt the only conservative making a fuss about Biden and identity politics. Tucker Carlson also railed against the impending pick, saying, Biden claims that his race counting is essential so that the court and the rest of his administration, quote, looks like America. He continued, Of all the lies that Joe Biden tells, this could be the easiest to check. We have the latest census numbers, and we can promise you with dead certainty that Joe Bidens nominees look nothing like America, not even close. Instead, Carlson said, a Black woman nominee will represent about 7 percent of the population.

I say, look at it another way.

Of the 115 justices who have served on the bench since 1789, 108  roughly 94 percent  have been white men. Zero percent have been Black women.

Viewed this way, through the long sweep of American history, the United States has some work to do.

There is no legitimate or logical argument against inclusion. Consciously including racial groups can be one of the most effective reparative remedies for centuries of racial exclusion.

Only when we disentangle the concepts of whiteness and maleness from the concept of power can we see the damage the association has done. Only then can we truly accept and celebrate the power of inclusion, diversity and equity. Only then can representative democracy in a pluralistic society begin to live up to its ideals.
Oakland University  where the campus extends into two cities, Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, each about 30 miles from Detroit  said it mistakenly told 5,500 incoming students that they had won the scholarships. In-state students pay about $58,000 in tuition over four years, with room and board costing an additional $11,192 a year, according to the university.

The university told students in the follow-up email, Because you are not a recipient of the Platinum Presidential Scholar Award, this message was unfortunately sent to you in error.

And just like that, the excitement of thousands of students, including Mr. Poindexter, evaporated.

He was extremely disappointed, embarrassed, even frustrated because he put in a lot of hard work, Gwen Poindexter, Mr. Poindexters mother, said on Sunday.

Brian Bierley, a spokesman for the university, said in a statement that the mistake was due to human error. He added that the students who received the message did not meet the eligibility requirements for the award.

To qualify for the Platinum Presidential Scholar Award, incoming students must have had a high school grade point average of at least 3.9 and a score of 1,450 or higher on the SAT, or 33 on the competing ACT, according to the university. As of this month, 162 students have qualified for the scholarship, and 62 have accepted.
BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Beijing on Sunday classified three areas in Fengtai District as high-risk for COVID-19, local anti-epidemic authorities told a press conference.

From 4 p.m. Saturday to 4 p.m. Sunday, the city reported 12 new locally transmitted cases attributable to the Delta variant. No new Omicron infections have been reported for seven consecutive days, according to the press conference.

The Chinese capital currently has three high-risk areas for COVID-19 and seven medium-risk areas, said Li Ang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.

Since Jan. 15, Beijing has reported a total of 96 confirmed local COVID-19 cases and 12 asymptomatic carriers. 
The significance of the America First coalitions parallel efforts can be seen clearly in Arizona, where the slates candidate is Mark Finchem, a former firefighter and real estate agent who has served in the state House since 2015 and has become the leading Republican contender for secretary of state. He has raised some $663,000 for his campaign, according to state filings, more than the two leading Democratic candidates combined.

Mr. Finchem, who declined to comment for this article, was in Washington on Jan. 6 and attended the Stop the Steal rally that led to the storming of the Capitol. He has publicly acknowledged his affiliation with the Oath Keepers, the far-right militia group whose leader and other members were charged with seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Capitol riot. He championed the Republican-ordered review of the 2020 vote in Maricopa County  though he never endorsed its conclusion that Mr. Biden won  and received a prime speaking spot in Mr. Trumps Jan. 15 rally outside Phoenix.

There, Mr. Finchem told the crowd that the 2020 election had prompted him to run for secretary of state, said he was part of a nationwide populist movement to regain control over our government and called for the State Legislature to decertify the presidential result in Arizona, which Mr. Biden carried by nearly 11,000 votes.

Ladies and gentlemen, we know it and they know it  Donald Trump won, Mr. Finchem said.

The coalitions other candidates include Jim Marchant in Nevada, a former state legislator; Rachel Hamm in California, who contends that Mr. Trump actually won that deep-blue state; and Kristina Karamo in Michigan, who developed a high profile in conservative media after she made uncorroborated claims that she had seen fraudulent ballots being counted in Detroit during the 2020 election, allegations that have been disproved by both local election officials and courts.

Major donors to the coalition include such promoters of election conspiracies as Mike Lindell, the chief executive of My Pillow, and Patrick Byrne, a former executive at Overstock.com, both of whom have also helped fund several election-denial campaigns and lawsuits. Mr. Byrne said he gave the group $15,000.

We would like as many like-minded secretary of state candidates to come forward as we can, Mr. Marchant said at a Las Vegas conference that featured members of the coalition along with speakers who are well-known to followers of QAnon conspiracy theories. Ive got a few that have contacted me. Were working to bring them into the coalition.
At least 700 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 riot, including 11 who have been charged with seditious conspiracy. Some have said they believed they were doing Mr. Trumps bidding.

As president, Mr. Trump pardoned a number of his supporters and former aides, including Michael T. Flynn, his first national security adviser, who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I., and Stephen K. Bannon, his former campaign strategist and White House adviser, who was charged with defrauding donors to a privately funded effort to build a wall along the Mexican border.

Late Sunday, Mr. Trump issued a statement denouncing a bipartisan effort to rewrite the Electoral Count Act of 1887, a century-old law that the former president and his allies misinterpreted in their failed effort to persuade his vice president, Mike Pence, to throw out legitimate election results. The effort to change the law is aimed at preventing any similar attempts in the future by clarifying that the vice president does not have the power to overturn results.

Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away, Mr. Trump said. Unfortunately, he didnt exercise that power, he could have overturned the election!

The statement was the first time Mr. Trump described his goal as overturning an election. But Mr. Trumps statement also included his usual false assertions about election fraud, suggesting he does not believe the election was legitimate.
After months of remote learning, a year of in-person-but-not-quite-stable hybrid school and a fall semester that was just beginning to feel kind of normal, Kyla Chester-Hopkins, a high school junior in Milwaukee, learned that she had Covid-19.

Kyla, 16, was deeply anxious about spreading it to her family members. She worried that she had infected her best friend. So in early January, she stopped going to school and returned to learning online  stuck, once again, in the bedroom where she had already spent so much of 2020.

Back then, she was home with her father and four siblings, all but one of whom  her baby brother  relied on the same Wi-Fi connection to work and learn. Missing art class most of all, she pulled out her acrylic paints to make murals that sprawled across her bedroom walls and ceiling. She returned to school in the fall of 2020, but it was hybrid at the time, and most of her classmates were not there.

Her junior year has been better. Kyla recovered from her bout of Covid this month and is now back in class. But she feels that the instability of her freshman and sophomore years is not over yet, and she is always cautious.
The police had warned Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer, not to go to Shanghai to visit the mother of a dissident. He went to the airport anyway.

His phones health code app  a digital pass indicating possible exposure to the coronavirus  was green, which meant he could travel. His home city, Changsha, had no Covid-19 cases, and he had not left in weeks.

Then his app turned red, flagging him as high risk. Airport security tried to put him in quarantine, but he resisted. Mr. Xie accused the authorities of meddling with his health code to bar him from traveling.
Biden administration officials reiterated on Sunday that the United States believes a Russian invasion is imminent, even if Ukraine has been trying to play down the crisis.

We have been nothing but clear and transparent about our concerns here at the Pentagon over the rapid buildup for the last few months around the border with Ukraine and in Belarus, the Pentagons press secretary, John F. Kirby, said on Fox News Sunday.

On CNNs State of the Union, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, made a joint appearance with the panels top Republican, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho. Mr. Menendez said there was an incredibly strong bipartisan resolve to have severe consequences for Russia if it invades Ukraine, and in some cases for what it has already done.

Mr. Menendez said that legislation under discussion was expected to include massive sanctions against the most significant Russian banks: crippling to their economy, meaningful in terms of consequences to the average Russian and their accounts and pensions.

Sanctions, though, were not Mr. Lavrovs focus on Sunday  NATO was.

He said an official request was sent Sunday to both NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, an alliance that includes Russia. Mr. Lavrov described it as an urgent demand to explain how they intend to fulfill their obligation not to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others.

If they do not intend to, then they must explain why, Mr. Lavrov said, adding that this will be the key question in determining our further proposals, which we will report to Russias president.
Lukashenko is just making more money, lamented Laurynas Kasciunas, the chairman of the Lithuanian Parliaments national security and defense committee.

Instead of being persuaded to free political prisoners as had been hoped, Mr. Lukashenko has arrested only more people, with around 980 now behind bars for their political activities, according to Viasna, a group that monitors human rights in Belarus. That is more than double the number reported last June when the current round of sanctions began after the forced landing in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, of a Ryanair passenger jet carrying a young dissident, who was promptly arrested.

Ms. Tikhanovskaya acknowledged the paradox that sanctions have been imposed but Belaruss income has increased and said the squeeze on Mr. Lukashenko needed to be tightened so as to apply unbearable pressure to shake the loyalty of officials and businesspeople Mr. Lukashenko depends on to stay in power.

Crucial for his economic survival is potash, of which Russia and Belarus together produce around 40 percent of the worlds supply.

The two countries producers have for years competed fiercely for export markets, but, with Belaruskali now likely to become dependent on Russian railways and ports to sell its products abroad, Moscow will gain powerful leverage over the Belarusian company. That would put it in a position to use potash much in the same way it uses its control of huge reserves of natural gas to skew the market and put pressure on European countries.

Everyone throws around pretty slogans about democracy but the result will be exactly the opposite of what they want, predicted Igor Udovickij, the majority owner of a bulk cargo terminal at Klaipeda port part owned by Belaruskali.
Many signs, however, point to the radicals gaining sway. The most obvious change has been inside Russia, where the poisoning of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny in 2020 was followed by a far-reaching crackdown last year on activists, the news media and even academics. Western officials said Mr. Navalny was poisoned by the Russian government, but Mr. Naryshkin, the foreign intelligence chief, has described the poisoning as engineered by Western agents seeking a sacrificial victim to help bring down Mr. Putin.

As they work to crush dissent, the hard-line security officials are also at the forefront of espousing traditional values as Russias superior alternative to a morally decaying West. A television channel was recently fined for showing a man with long hair and painted nails  not corresponding to the image of a man of a traditional sexual orientation. Two bloggers were sentenced to 10 months in prison for a sexually suggestive photo in front of St. Basils Cathedral.

Father and mother are being renamed parent number one and two, Mr. Patrushev said in a September interview, describing the Wests foreign values. They want to give children the right to determine their own sex, and in some places theyve gotten to the point of legalizing marriage with animals.

Mr. Putin repeated the line about parent number one and two in an appearance a month later, but left out the zoophilia.

As Russian troops mass near Ukraine, another element of the security officials ideology looms large: the glorification of the Soviet past. Mr. Patrushev said the collapse of the Soviet Union totally untied the hands of the Western neoliberal elite, allowing it to impose its nontraditional values upon the world. He and his colleagues cast Russia as a nation destined to regain that status as a bulwark against the West, with Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries belonging to Moscows rightful sphere of influence.
Two Offaly bridges will be featured in a brand new six-part series for RTE One called Droichid Na hEireann.

The show tells the story and history of Irelands beloved bridges. Presented by actor Lochlann O Mearain, the series explores the history, architecture, landscape and above all the people behind these extraordinary bridges and the pivotal role they have played in historic events and in modern day society.

From road to railway bridges, viaducts to footbridges, these man-made structures have long been an integral part of our countrys infrastructure. But beyond their primary function, how much do we really know about these structures?

In episode 5, Lochlann will reveal some of the most breath-taking bridges in the heart of Ireland, including Offaly in Shannonbridge and at one of Europe's oldest suspension bridges at Birr Castle.

He will sail along the River Shannon to gaze upon The Athlone Railway Bridge before walking across the Joe Dolan Memorial Bridge. Finishing his travels on the River Boyne where he marvels at the great engineering feat of the Boyne Viaduct and discovers if there is any truth behind the viaduct being built on a foundation of cotton wool.

Travelling the length and breath of the country, Lochlann explores century old stone bridges to modern contemporary designs from natural geological formations to great engineering feats, to reveal their hidden history and impact, far greater than just bricks and mortar.

He rediscovers the remarkable tales behind our bridges through a wealth of fascinating human stories told through expert commentary and local storytelling.

On his breath-taking visual journey through some of Irelands most beautiful landscapes, Lochlann ventures to the hills of Donegal to Poisoned Glen under the shadow of Mount Errigal, visits the beloved Shakey Bridge in Cork City, walks across Irelands longest rope bridge in Kells Bay and explores one of Europes first examples of a suspension rope bridge in Birr Castle.

In the walled city of Derry he visits a structure that bridged communities together, he listens to a unique musical performance at Bellacorrick Musical Bridge in Mayo and travels to Connemara to visit the iconic Quiet Man Bridge. While in the midlands he explores one of Europes finest examples of a suspension bridge in Birr Castle and travels to the Drogheda to visit a Victorian bridge supposedly built on foundations of cotton wool.

Droichid na hEireann explores the rich architectural and historical heritage of Irelands most fascinating and visually spectacular bridges.

The episode featuring Offaly will be aired on Monday, January 31.
Men armed with hatchets damaged a house and a car in Naas, it was alleged at a sitting of the local District Court on January 26.

Brothers David McDonagh, 35, whose address was given as 6 Clonmullen Lane, Edenderry and Christopher McDonagh, 26, whose address was given as 16A Stonebridge Park, Rochfortbridge, County Westmeath.

Each was charged with alleged criminal damage at 94 Hazelmere, Naas on January 14 last. Gardai gave evidence of arresting the pair on January 25.

Detective Garda Christine Brady objected to bail and said she feared that other offences would be committed.

The cost of the damage was estimated at 1,500. Det Gda Brady said the incident happened in broad daylight between 2pm and 2.15pm.

A car entered the Hazelmere estate and three males got out of the vehicle.

She said they went either side of the car and attacked it with hatchets.

Windows in the house were also broken.

It was quite violent in a residential area, said Gda Brady, adding that they left in the car they came in.

The court heard that one of the defendants is the brother in law of the injured party.

The court was also told that the injured party, a woman, knows the defendants for 14 years.

There was an incident at the location previously, which is not related to this incident.

Barrister Aisling Murphy said that the defendants had only come home from the UK that day and they were not in County Kildare at the time of the incident.

Ms Murphy said the defendants had nothing to do with the incident and were in Skerries at the time.

Ms Murphy added that David McDonagh has a pacemaker and has epilepsy.

Judge Desmond Zaidan remanded the pair in custody to February 2 for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A man is escorted by officers of the Judiciary Police under China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government in Macao, south China, Jan. 30, 2022.(Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)

MACAO, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Police in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) have detained two more men suspected of being involved in a gambling crime group related to a criminal case cracked in November 2021.

The 49-year-old and 34-year-old Macao men, surnamed Chan and Choi respectively, have claimed to be businessmen, but were found to run and provide help to the criminal group allegedly involved in illegal gambling and money laundering, the Judiciary Police under the Macao SAR government said on Sunday.

The police said they have found substantial evidence in the men's residences and offices, including computers, servers and cash worth around 4.1 million Hong Kong dollars (about 526,000 U.S. dollars).

The two men have refused to cooperate or answer questions, the police added.

Evidence showed that the suspected criminal group has taken part in illegal activities with another group involved in the same case, the police said. More details are yet to be released.

In November 2021, Macao police arrested 11 people suspected of being engaged in a criminal group for illegal gambling and money laundering, including a businessman surnamed Chao. The case was later referred for prosecution. 

A man is escorted by officers of the Judiciary Police under China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government in Macao, south China, Jan. 30, 2022.(Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)

Photo taken on Jan. 30, 2022 shows a press conference held by the Judiciary Police under China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government in Macao, south China.(Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)
THE Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O Brien TD, have announced a funding allocation of 175,161 for the implementation of Creative Ireland initiatives in Offaly.

Since the Creative Ireland Programme was launched in 2017, it has received investment of 21 million from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. This has enabled local authorities to deliver over 5,700 community-led creative projects to support their respective Culture and Creativity Strategies 2018-2022 along with the flagship Cruinniu na nOg  the national day of free creativity for children and young people that takes place in June.

This funding is part of a 6.6 million investment in local authorities throughout the country that will support creative projects that will connect people, creativity and wellbeing in 2022. The Creative Ireland Programme is committed to the vision that every person in their community should have the opportunity to realise their full creative potential.

During 2021 in Offaly, the Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity Team delivered 66 projects including:

Following on from the 2017 publication of 'Flights of Fancy; Follies, Families and Demesnes in Offaly' written by Rachel McKenna architect with Offaly County Council, the Offaly Creative Ireland team have supported the conservation of follies in the county. This is a five year legacy project which will have a considerable long term effect in the county. To date the Gloster Arch, the Ballycumber Folly and Acress Folly have all been conserved and in 2021 work on the Kinnitty Suspension Bridge in Kinnitty Demesne began. The bridge is a rare surviving example of a multiple-wire cable suspension bridge dating back to circa 1840.

Meadow - was a site-specific sound installation created as an Offaly Drama Project for the former Birr Workhouse burial ground with support from Creative Ireland. Through a musical setting of historical information and records The Meadow gave a voice to the thousands of lives lost in the workhouse during the Great Famine of 1845-1852. Conceived by Fiona Breen in collaboration with composer Tom Lane and historian Margaret Hogan. This project was originally developed in 2020 but was finally performed in August 2021.

Minister Martin said:I am very pleased to continue to support the excellent work undertaken by local authorities on behalf of the Creative Ireland Programme. Every Creative Ireland project delivered by our local authority teams harnesses the creative potential of our people and their communities. Their work is the cornerstone of the Creative Ireland Programme and brings together local expertise in arts, heritage, libraries, enterprise and community engagement in a meaningful and inspired way. As we emerge from the last two years, I know that they will once again deliver creative programmes that can build resilience, foster personal confidence and sustain their communities.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OBrien TD, added: Local authorities have extensive expertise across heritage, arts, libraries as well as vital local relationships. I firmly believe that culture plays a key role in local governments work in creating great places to live and work. Creative Communities takes this a step further. Culture and creativity can be part of responses to social isolation, to creating a sense of place and to integrating new communities.

Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Peter Burke, TD, said:Our Local Authorities are the closest arm of the State to our citizens and are well placed to engage directly with local artists and community groups. Through the PPN and other statutory committees and vehicles, they are linked in with our older people, members of the traveller community, community and voluntary groups and key stakeholders in every locality in the country. This scheme is wide reaching, and as a Government we want all members of society to have equal access cultural and creative opportunities.

For an overview of Creative Ireland projects in Offaly please go to https://www.creativeireland.gov.ie/en/offaly/
Vancouver and Quebec recently banned certain kinds of fossil fuel-based heating in new home construction. Similar bans are happening around the world, from Norway to New York City. But why  and why now? What impact will they have? Here's a closer look.
Hundreds made their way to the Bloody Sunday Monument for the annual memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony, carrying pictures of the victims and flowers in their memory.
Out of the two encounters, 4 terrorists of JeM were killed in the Pulwama, including top JEM commander Zahid Wani.
The Foreign Secretary has said a situation in which British soldiers would fight alongside Ukrainians against Russia is very unlikely.
The UK is preparing to send a "clear message to the Kremlin" by deploying troops across Europe - as NATO hopes to prevent Russia from "choosing a path of bloodshed and destruction" by invading Ukraine.
The US has seen indications that Russia has positioned supplies of blood near Ukraine's borders, two senior US defense officials told CNN Saturday, as part of its accumulation of medical supplies,...



#defenseofficials
A 51-year-old Bridgeport Township man, who is lodged in the Saginaw County Jail, reportedly admitted to the theft of a smoker stolen from Freelands Log Cabin Bar and Grill on Jan. 18.

The Log Cabin Bar received an anonymous tip that the grill was around King Road and Dixie Highway in Bridgeport Township. A bar employee met a trooper in the area on Jan. 20 and identified the grill as theirs. It was then returned to the restaurant.

Our smoker has been located and is back with the Cabin Family, was posted on the Log Cabin Bar and Grill Facebook page along with the announcement that a Smoker extravaganza is coming soon.

The suspect in the theft, Ronald Milford Dixon, was arraigned Jan. 24 in the 70th District Court in Saginaw. He is held on two counts of resisting and obstructing; and one count each of driving on a suspended/revoked license; driving without a security device on his vehicle; receiving and concealing property over $1,000 and less than $20,000; and larceny over $1,000 and under $20,000. The last two are both felony charges.

Dixon's bonds total $57,500.

Tittabawassee Township Police Chief David Simon said his office took the report for the stolen smoker and trailer. The owner was able to provide several photos from the surveillance camera.

Simon said the photos were shared with area law enforcement agencies. Michigan State Police Troopers assigned to the Saginaw Secured Cities Partnership detail were reviewing the photos and observed a van matching the description drive past them on Vermont St near Niagara St, in the city of Saginaw, at approximately 10:20 p.m. the day of the theft.

Troopers attempted to stop the vehicle; however, the driver attempted to flee and pulled into a drive in the 200 block of Vermont. The driver fled on foot but was apprehended after a brief pursuit.

Simon said the driver was shown surveillance photos and reportedly admitted to stealing the grill. He allegedly told troopers he had sold it to an unknown person, which was why he didnt have the smoker with him.

Simon said Dixon was lodged on several traffic-related offenses. Tittabawassee Township officers completed some follow-up investigation after the arrest and were able to obtain a two-count felony warrant from the Saginaw County Prosecuting Attorneys Office for larceny over $1,000 but less than $20,000, and receiving and concealing stolen property over $1,000 but less than $20,000.
BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected a thermal power plant on Thursday during his trip to north China's Shanxi Province, his third visit to energy-based enterprises during the past few months.

It followed visits to the Shengli Oilfield in Dongying City, east China's Shandong Province, in October last year, and a chemical enterprise under the China Energy Investment Corporation in Yulin City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, in September.

These visits shed light on where China's energy development is heading as the country strives to safeguard energy security and pursues a green path to advance energy revolution.

ENERGY SUPPLY VITAL TO PEOPLE'S LIVELIHOOD

During his Shanxi trip, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for strengthening domestic energy production, ensuring the supply of coal and facilitating the clean and low-carbon development of the coal industry.

The supply of power and heat is vital to the overall economic development and social stability, Xi said, urging 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.

The words echoed the remarks Xi made when he visited a drilling platform in the Shengli Oilfield last October.

China, as a manufacturing powerhouse, must enhance self-reliance in energy amid efforts to develop the real economy, Xi said during that visit.

It is necessary that coal serves as the main source of energy for a considerable period of time to support the country's modernization, he noted when inspecting Shaanxi in September.

Facing a coal and electricity supply shortage in the third quarter last year, Chinese authorities ramped up energy production and reined in price hikes to secure sufficient energy for factories and support the economy.

China should consolidate the foundation for domestic energy production, ensure coal supply security, and keep steady growth of crude oil and natural gas output, said Xi on Monday while addressing a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Last year, China's total output of raw coal increased by 4.7 percent year on year to 4.07 billion tonnes, and natural gas output increased by 8.2 percent year on year to 205.3 billion cubic meters.

CARBON GOALS AT STEADY PACE

While coal supply is important to China's development, the clean use of coal is high on the agenda as the country aims to peak its CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

While inspecting the power plant featuring clean and efficient utilization of coal in Shanxi, Xi was briefed about the reform progress made in the coal-rich province on energy revolution and the latest developments by local enterprises in the clean use of coal and industrial upgrading.

He called for accelerating green and low-carbon technological breakthroughs and continuously upgrading the industrial structure to achieve the goals of carbon peaking and neutrality proactively and steadily.

"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.

During the September visit to Shaanxi, Xi said the coal industry should follow a green and low-carbon path of development, and coal consumption needs to be transformed and upgraded.

The gradual exit of traditional energy sources should be based on the safe and reliable substitution of new energy sources, Xi said on Monday's group study session.

Cutting emissions is not aimed at curbing productivity or no emissions at all, he noted, stressing that the economic development and green transition should be mutually reinforcing.

While China's economic rise over the past decades was largely powered by coal, the country, now among the world's biggest investors in green energy, is increasing pace to shift to other renewables including wind and solar.

The country has formulated and released a top-level design document for peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, and an action plan for peaking carbon emissions before 2030.

It is necessary to accelerate the development of new energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydrogen energy that have scale and benefits, coordinate hydropower development and ecological protection, and actively develop nuclear power in a safe and orderly manner, Xi said at the group study session.

Efforts should be made to increase the proportion of green and low-carbon sector in the Chinese economy while strictly curbing the blind expansion of energy-intensive, high emission and low-standard projects, noted Xi. 
Peyton Manning Steals the Willem Dafoe Hosted 'SNL' with a Tribute to 'Emily in Paris'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 30, 2022 |

Cold Open  In the White House, Bidens aides present Russian disinformation about the conflict with Ukraine to President Biden. Its a bunch of funny headlines, repurposed memes, and commercials suggesting that Ukraine wants be to invaded. They introduce a new Secretary of Defense, who is a teenager with a lot of social media skills. Its a really bad cold open. Really bad. (Watch Here) (Score: 1 out of 10)

Willem Dafoe Monologue  Dafoe talks about his career, his over-the-top acting style, and how everyone thinks he should be the Joker. Its not particularly funny, but Dafoe is charming and likable as all get out. (Score: 5 out of 10)

Tenants Association Meeting  A series of tenants lodge complaints, make announcements, and Dafoe complains about the gentrification of New York City. The whole cast gets in on this one, but that doesnt make it good. Its going to be a long episode. (Watch Here) (Score: 2 out of 10)

Now Im Up  Chris Redd and Keenan sing a song about things that wake them up and keep them up in the middle of the night (iPhone notifications, wifes sharp toenails, gotta pee, etc.) Its not a particularly funny song, but it is catchy. (Score: 6 out of 10)

Badminster Dog Show  A dog show that celebrates bad dogs, and how they alienate their owners from their friends. There are dogs who are scared of everything, dogs who are sexual predators, dogs that refuse to walk, and dogs with weird penises, etc. (Watch Here) (Score: 3.5 out of 10)

Nugenix  Frank Thomas, Doug Flutie, and Willem Dafoe talk to a man turning 40 about his inability to get hard, even though he claims that he can get hard. Dafoe is a great actor. This skit is not great. (Watch Here) (Score: 4 out of 10)

Weekend Update  Che and Jost deliver groaner after groaner. Im not complaining. Bowen and Aidy play characters who forecast future trends, and not even Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang can save it. OK, I lied. Yang and Bryant elevate the hell out of it. And then Peyton Goddamn Manning shows up to talk about last weekends playoffs, only he missed them because he ended up bingeing Emily in Paris. Peyton remains the best comedic athlete to appear on SNL. (I am biased.) The man commits. (Score: 6 out of 10 for Update, and 8 out of 10 for Peyton).

Beauty and the Beast  Beast gives Belle a mirror that allows her to see her father in his home, who appears to be getting ready for a romantic night with, uh, himself. Hes really into ass play. It was a bad skit, but also, my kid wants it known that its also horribly inaccurate to the movie because Maurice was kidnapped first and knew where Belle was the whole time. (Watch Here) (Score: 2 out of 10)

Please Dont Destroy  These guys are supposed to be the future of SNL, but I dont really know why. Here, they hang out with a 10-year-old with quick comic timing. I dont hate it, but these guys havent really hit a home run yet. (Score: 5 out of 10)

Good Morning Columbus  A morning news show chatting with an author about his book, Knowing Yourself, but theres a lot of confusion because the book keeps being mistaken for Blowing Yourself. Theres a lot of double entendres. Its dumb as hell, but still the best skit of the night and, appropriately, the Mat skit of the night, too! (Score: 7 out of 10)

Office Song  Dafoe plays a temp who joins the office employees during an impromptu song. Its not a great skit, but it has a great punchline (it involves defenestration). (Score: 6 out of 10)

 Lindsay Ellis Deserved Better | Review: 'Small Engine Repair' is Sort of Mind-Boggling in Its Suggestion for How to Counter Revenge Porn 

Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

Header Image Source: NBC
Palestine, TX (75801)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
A 15-month-old baby was found trapped alone with her mom's corpse in a New York City Shelter for five days. The boy's father, Quraan Laboy, 31, plans to sue the City of New York and the Department of Homeless Services for $5 million in damages.

Baby in Bad condition

The baby, Lyric Laboy, was found by East River Family Center workers huddled by her mother's corpse, Shelbi Westlake, 26 last July 25.

In a Manhattan Supreme Court petition, the baby was "covered in human feces" and was severely dehydrated. She was later rushed to the hospital for treatment.

According to Seth Harris, Laboy's lawyer, Shelbi Westlake, the mother, and her 15-month-old-baby lived in an apartment-like unit at the East River Family Center at 325 East 104th Street in East Harlem for three or four months.

Court documents report that no one checked on the mother and daughter until a neighbor said a 'foul odor" coming from the apartment.

Westlake signed in at the shelter on July 19, six days before workers found Lyric. The City Medical Examiner's office said that Westlake died of an accidental drug overdose.

Allison Keenan, Laboy's other lawyer, said that "allowing an infant to remain with her dead mother for five days unnoticed not only highlights the indifference and lack of humanity shown to those most in need." She added that the incident also shows "complete malfeasance" by the Department of Homeless Services and New York City.

The young Laboy lost seven pounds and had a "horrific diaper rash" due to the tragic incident.

The baby's father also said that baby Lyric wakes up in the middle of the night kicking, fighting, and calling "mommy." Laboy said, 'I look at her, and I just start tearing up sometimes.'

Harris also reports that she has still been "routinely slapping her dad while sleeping to make sure he's alive."

Although baby Lyric has gained weight six months after the incident, the father said that the baby has not fully recovered yet, and has a lot of separation anxiety.

"I don't know how long she will suffer from this," Laboy said.

READ: Neve Campbell Shares Why She Told Her Son He's Adopted "From the Beginning"

Law Suit on Department of Homeless Services Underway

Meanwhile, the agency denied that Lyric was left alone for five days. It also did not disclose how long it was.

The Department of Homeless Services says that the incident is under investigation. The shelter now requires a same-night wellness check for any resident who has not signed the roster that evening.

Laboy plans to sue to Department of Homeless Services and the City of New York for $5 million in damages over the incident.

He said he had to leave his job at the New York City Housing Authority to devote his time to taking care of his daughter full-time.

"I had to drop everything. She's my number one priority right now," Quraan said. "My daughter's gotta deal with this mentally for the rest of her life," the father of the 15-month-old baby found in her mother's corpse said.

READ NEXT: NYC Subway Death: Family of 40-Year-old Woman Fatally Pushed on Subway Breaks Silence
General Secretary of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has expressed his disappointment at the vigorous attempt by the government to have Ghanaians accept E-Levy and possibly have it passed by parliament.



He says their desperate attempt clearly shows that it is a government that lacks ideas to generate revenue for the development of the country.



On November 17, 2021, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced the introduction of a 1.75% tax on all electronic transactions during the 2022 Budget Statement presentation to parliament.



According to him, this new directive forms part of strategies to widen the countrys tax net.



He added that the 1.75% tax is also to enhance financial inclusion and protect the vulnerable in the country.



The E-Levy since its announcement by the Finance Minister has received public backlash from some Ghanaians especially Members of Parliament from the Minority Caucus.



At a recent press conference, the Minister outlined a number of modifications to the Bill and announced that the government continued to engage stakeholders on the bill ahead of resubmission to Parliament.



But speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, Mr. Asiedu Nketia has government to render account of monies collected from previous taxes, loans and bonds before going to Ghanaians about the E-levy.



"The Auditor General's report has made us to understand that there is over 6 Billion Ghana cedis with institutions and individuals that government can go for and use it for developmental projects and the others that the E-levy seek to do. You can't waste money willfully and come back to tax the already suffering Ghanaian through E- Levy," he added.



Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia also cautioned the government about its continuous use of the luxurious private jet.



He explained that President Akufo-Addo's selfish desire and quest to fly luxuriously is also causing a drain on the already suffering public purse.



"The amount of money this government is spending on this luxurious travels can be channeled to other areas of the economy. But how do you expect to generate income when you are lavishly consuming the little left.



"I think this government does not have a clear mind and immediate solution for the mess they find themselves in, however, our position on the E-levy remains the same, we stand by Ghanaians and will continuously oppose this draconian tax," he said.



Watch Video Below





Meanwhile, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has ruled out suggestions that Ghana should consider going International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bail outHe says Ghana returning to an IMF-regulated programme, won't augur well for the country.The government of Ghana is seeking to pass the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy Bill, E-levy as Parliament has resumed for the second session of the 8th Parliament.Ken Ofori-Atta, at the governments town-hall meeting to discuss the E-levy on Thursday, 27 January 2022, said, the passage of the E-levy will save the country from falling back on the IMF for financial assistance, which, he said, would be disastrous.

Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A 20-year old man, Eyram Botwe, whose attempt to rob a motor rider at Agorve near Akatsi failed has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour.



The accused who was put before the Sogakope Circuit court on January 25, 2022, on the charge of attempt to commit robbery pleaded guilty to the offence and was convicted on his plea.



His Lordship Isaac Addo delivering in his judgement considered the fact that the accused was a first-time offender.



Narrating the incident, the prosecutor said the accused, Eyram sprayed pepper powder into the eyes of a motor rider in an attempt to rob him of his Haojue motorbike at Agorve but failed.



The accused on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, engaged the services of the commercial motor rider from Akatsi to Agorve. Unknowing to the rider Eyram had planned to dispossess him of the motorbike.



So on reaching closer to the Agorve Township the accused sprayed pepper powder into the eyes of the rider; causing them both accused and the rider to fall. The rider shouted for help. It attracted members of the community who rushed to the scene.



The accuseds attempt to steal the bike was unsuccessful; neither was his attempt to escape. He was arrested and sent to the Police station. Following which investigations were conducted. He was charged and arraigned accordingly.



In a related development, the Public Affairs Unit of the Volta Regional Police Command has cautioned the public, especially motor riders to be wary of such incidents as there is a trend for motorbike robbery in the southern part of the region.







Source: Daily Guide









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Former Head of Monitoring Unit of the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu has slammed the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and all other persons in support of the e-levy who urge Ghanaians to pay the e-levy because it is taxes that foreign countries use to develop their economies.



With the e-levy strongly opposed by the Minority and many Ghanaians, the argument has been that the electronic tax will serve as an avenue for development for the country.



Encouraging the citizens to embrace this initiative, the proponents have been drawing comparisons between Ghana and the economies of foreign nations, stressing the difference between the two in terms of development, is that the citizens abroad willingly pay taxes.



Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Charles Owusu wants these comparisons to stop because, to him, it's disproportionate for any person to compare Ghana with overseas.



He noted that the problem that most Ghanaians have with the e-levy, aside calling for the 1.75 percent to be reduced, is how it (e-levy) will be administered.



He explained that, in abroad, the taxes are used for its intended purposes unlike Ghana, therefore arguing that ''we don't see what our tax is used to do in this country''.



''Those abroad, when they pay tax, see the evidence that roads are being tarred, water runs through the tape 24/7; the system is working...I say if they set up tolls on my road, I will pay but you can't put tolls on a rough road. And so if you construct alphated road for me and set up toll on it and tell me to pay, why won't I pay?



''Because I can attest to it, but here we have a situation in a country where pregnant women lies on a mat. Tell me where in overseas do you see a pregnant woman lying on a mat in the hospital? Where in abroad do you find a Police officer living in a messy room?'' he questioned.



He further lambasted the State authorities saying ''it is only in Ghana that you will have a prepaid meter and load credit on it but can't use it because there is light off'' and wondered if this happens abroad too.



''I mean there's nothing like that in a foreign country, so we should stop that comparison!...In Ghana here, as soon as it rains, your telephone doesn't work. In Ghana, when it rains, your lights go out because it is afraid of rainfall. That is not happening there (abroad)...So, we shouldn't even engage in that kind of intellectual discourse at all," 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.

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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, were 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-Attas 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 thats 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.





Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Hong Kong: Mandatory testing notice announced

In view of some sewage samples collected at Ching Fai House of Tsz Ching Estate in Tsz Wan Shan which tested positive for COVID-19, the building has been covered in a compulsory testing notice.

The Environmental Protection Department and the Drainage Services Department in collaboration with the cross-disciplinary team of the University of Hong Kong had strengthened the sampling of sewage for virus testing in all districts, and had detected positive results in Ching Fai House, indicating that there may be hidden cases in the premises.

The Government requires people who have been at the building during the specified period to undergo a COVID-19 nucleic acid test.

The Government strongly reminds the public to strictly follow the compulsory testing requirements and undergo testing on time as required. They are advised to closely monitor their health conditions and to seek medical attention and undergo testing even if they have only mild symptoms.

This story has been published on: 2022-01-30. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
TEHRAN, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday night that his country has proven its will and determination to reach an agreement in the diplomatic endeavors in Vienna on the restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Raisi made the remarks in a phone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

He said any effort by the other side to this end requires to incorporate the removal of the sanctions on Tehran in a verifiable manner, as well as a valid guarantee that no other party would be able to unilaterally pull out of the deal in the future, as did the United States without having to bear the consequences, the president's website said.

He stressed that the United States has acknowledged that the former administration's "maximum pressure" campaign, launched against Tehran by former President Donald Trump, has failed.

Turning to developments in West Asia, Raisi said stability and security in the region can be ensured solely through intraregional solutions, not foreign interference.

The two presidents also discussed regional issues, particularly the situations in Yemen and Lebanon, as well as ways to boost bilateral ties.

Formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal was signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (namely the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States, plus Germany), together with the European Union.

However, Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, which prompted the latter to breach the deal's restrictions one year later, and advance its nuclear programs it had put a halt to.

Since April 2021, several rounds of talks have been held between Iran and the other remaining parties to revive the deal. 
Aerial photo taken on Jan. 29, 2022 shows the Beipanjiang Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Sitting over 565.4 meters above a valley, the Beipanjiang Bridge has been certified as the world's highest bridge by the Guinness World Records.

Spanning 1,341.4 meters, the bridge links Duge Township of Liupanshui in southwest China's Guizhou with Puli Township of Xuanwei in southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

A worker carries out maintenance tasks on the Beipanjiang Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 29, 2022.

Sitting over 565.4 meters above a valley, the Beipanjiang Bridge has been certified as the world's highest bridge by the Guinness World Records.

Spanning 1,341.4 meters, the bridge links Duge Township of Liupanshui in southwest China's Guizhou with Puli Township of Xuanwei in southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Maintenance workers examine the interior of the Beipanjiang Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 29, 2022.

Sitting over 565.4 meters above a valley, the Beipanjiang Bridge has been certified as the world's highest bridge by the Guinness World Records.

Spanning 1,341.4 meters, the bridge links Duge Township of Liupanshui in southwest China's Guizhou with Puli Township of Xuanwei in southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

A maintenance worker examines the interior of the Beipanjiang Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 29, 2022.

Sitting over 565.4 meters above a valley, the Beipanjiang Bridge has been certified as the world's highest bridge by the Guinness World Records.

Spanning 1,341.4 meters, the bridge links Duge Township of Liupanshui in southwest China's Guizhou with Puli Township of Xuanwei in southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Maintenance workers carry out an inspection on the Beipanjiang Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 29, 2022.

Sitting over 565.4 meters above a valley, the Beipanjiang Bridge has been certified as the world's highest bridge by the Guinness World Records.

Spanning 1,341.4 meters, the bridge links Duge Township of Liupanshui in southwest China's Guizhou with Puli Township of Xuanwei in southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)
Milovan Danielou, a former cook at Grumman 78 poses outside the closed down restaurant in Montreal, Friday, January 28, 2022. Danielou said he decided to start looking for a new job during the province's second closure of restaurant dining rooms in the fall of 2020, when his then-employer, taco restaurant Grumman '78, closed its main location permanently.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes.
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The Pittsburg State University, School of Nursing, was awarded an Advanced Nursing Education, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) Grant in 2018 and 2021 through the Health Resources and Services Administration* (HRSA). In 2018, HRSA awarded PSU a three-year grant of $831,522 to recruit, train, and retain registered nurses (RNs), and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to complete SANE training, resources, and certification. In July 2021, PSU received $1.5 million for a three-year extension, to recruit, train, and retain RNs and APRNs in rural areas of Kansas for SANE training, resources, and certification. The extension will provide increased numbers of sexual assault programs, improved access to forensic nurses, and multi-disciplinary education for sexual assault response teams (SARTs) across the state of Kansas. To learn more about other schools and SANE programs that were awarded the grant, see the 2021 HRSA ANE SANE Grant Awardees list.

2021 Objectives

Establish collaborative partnerships with healthcare stakeholders to provide didactic training and clinical experience for RNs and APRNs, utilizing existing SANE/SART program expertise.

Recruit RNs & APRNs for pediatric and/or adolescent/adult forensic training, in underserved areas of KS, goal of 40 trainees/year (120 trainees/3-year grant).

Organize and coordinate SANE didactic/clinical training in collaboration with Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV), Hays Med, and forensic nurse preceptors in KS.

Organize and coordinate SANE didactic/clinical training in collaboration with Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV), Hays Med, and forensic nurse preceptors in KS. Provide funding to facilitate SANE training, certification, and recertification.

Track participants through their didactic and clinical training, SANE certification, and practice adoption.

Track and report on SANE retention by screening for compassion fatigue and burnout and offering retention services to decrease attrition.

Collaborate with SANE programs in KS, to develop a Tele-SANE model that will provide necessary services for underserved rural healthcare.

History

The major goal for the 2018 PSU-ANE/SANE grant was to recruit and train eight nurses per year for three years. The grant reached the goal with eight nurses in year one, ten nurses in year two, and ending year three with over ten nurses trained throughout Kansas. Also, the grant sponsored the International Association of Nurses, Kansas Chapter annual conference, allowing it to be accessible to over 130 multi-disciplinary individuals. In August 2021, PSU hosted the first live SANE Adult/Adolescent course in KS, since March 2020 when training went virtual.



The 2018 grant also allocated funds to start or expand sexual assault programs in the three counties in Southeast KS (Crawford, Cherokee, and Bourbon). Grant funds were used for equipment, supplies, policies and procedures. A SANE program was started at the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas and the PSU Bryant Student Health Center. PSU is the only university with full sexual assault victim services (advocacy, law enforcement, forensic exam, evidence collection, counseling, medical and physical health) in KS or the MIAA.
ALGIERS, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Saturday held phone talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron after months of diplomatic tension.

According to a statement issued by the Algerian presidency, the two sides "discussed bilateral cooperation and the prospects of convening the higher intergovernmental committee," which had been scheduled last April, but was postponed due to the mounting diplomatic tension between the two sides.

According to the statement, the French president renewed the invitation for his Algerian counterpart to attend the sixth European Union - African Union summit, which will be held in Brussels on February 17 and 18.

The French-Algerian ties have been characterized by diplomatic riffs in recent months since Algeria recalled its ambassador to France and closed its airspace to French military planes in October, 2021.

The move was a response to a Paris' decision in September, 2021 to reduce the number of visas provided to Algerian officials by 50 percent as well Macron's critical remarks on Algeria. 
Pandemic and Clerk Error Cause Latest Delay in Susie Zhao Murder Trial

January 29, 2022 Connor Richards Editor & Live Reporter U.S.

Warning: The following article contains graphic details involving murder and sexual assault.

As family, friends and members of the poker community wait for answers in the Susie Zhao murder case, delays and pushbacks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, changes to legal counsel and a filing error mean it will take longer to get those answers.

Zhao, a 33-year-old professional poker player who made deep runs in the World Series of Poker Main Event and who was a regular in the Los Angeles poker scene, was brutally murdered in July 2020 shortly after relocating to Michigan. Zhaos suspected killer, 61-year-old Jeffery Bernard Morris of Pontiac, Michigan, is in custody and awaits trial on two counts of murder.

Morris has a pretrial hearing scheduled in February, while the trial itself is scheduled to get underway this summer. After a series of delays spanning the course of multiple years, here is everything you need to know about where things stand in the Susie Zhao murder trial.

Case Background

Zhaos badly burned and partially mutilated body was discovered on July 13, 2020 in a state recreation area in White Lake, Michigan. In the following weeks, White Lake police arrested and charged Morris, a convicted sex offender with a violent criminal history dating back to the 1980s.

An autopsy revealed that Zhao had been burned alive and sexually assaulted. Police and Oakland County prosecutors allege that Morris met Zhao at Sherwood Motel, where he bound her with zip ties and lit (her) on fire until she died. Surveillance footage showed that Morris later drove to the state park where Zhaos remains were found, while cell phone data linked the two to the Michigan motel.

In September 2020, Morris was charged with first-degree premeditated murder in Clarkstons 52nd District Court. As details emerged in the graphic case, prosecutors added a second murder charge and a judge bound the case over to the higher Oakland County Circuit Court.

Justice Delayed

Morris trial was initially slated to take place in March 2021, though that date was later pushed back to September due to coronavirus-related restrictions at the courthouse, according to The Oakland Press.

In September, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Martha Anderson agreed to delay the case until January 2022 due to a change in the defense counsel, court documents state. In December, the Oakland County Indigent Defense Services Office appointed Michael McCarthy as Morris new counsel, replacing Pamela Johnson.

This wouldnt be the last delay in the prolonged murder trial. On January 11, the case had to return to District Court due to an error at (the) time of bindover, which was caused by a clerk failing to add the second murder charge to the case before it was transferred to the Circuit Court back in late 2020.

Then, on January 12, Chief Circuit Judge Jeffery Matis issued an order stating that all jury trials scheduled through February 25 would be adjourned without individual orders due to a surge in coronavirus cases and would be rescheduled on or after February 28 when court resumes full operations, barring unforeseen circumstances.

This Court issues this Administrative Order as another in a series of Administrative Orders to address court operations during the time of the spread of the Coronavirus Disease that emerged in 2019, known as COVID-19, the order states, further noting that COVID-19 continues to materially affect the functioning of the Court.

As things currently stand, it looks like the murder trial will finally be getting underway later this year. The latest pretrial date is set for February 17, while the latest trial date is scheduled for June 16, according to court documents.

Zhao was found dead in July 2020

Remembering Susie Q

According to The Detroit News, Zhao immigrated from China as a child and grew up in Michigan. She later studied psychology and business at Northwestern University near Chicago and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she was a regular in the live poker scene and played and commentated on the Live at the Bike stream at the Bicycle Casino.

Zhao also did well in tournaments, accumulating $222,671 in live tournament earnings dating back to 2009, according to The Hendon Mob. Her best live cash came in 2012 when she finished 90th in the WSOP Main Event for $73,805. Just a few years later, she finished in 172nd place for $40,433 in the 2015 Main Event.

Susie Zhao made a lasting impression on the poker community

Zhao, who was known in the poker community as Susie Q, had a vibrant personality and appeared to make an impression on nearly everyone she played with.

She was one of the bubbliest and most vivacious opponents Ive ever had, said Clayton Fletcher, who played with Zhao in the 2015 Main Event. She was a very strong player who also liked to have fun at the table.

(Zhao) was nice on and off the table, said Ronnie Bardah. Had the pleasure to hang out and break bread with her on numerous occasions. Extremely intelligent and a sweetheart.

Susie Zhao was a so fkn cool. Was nice on and off the table. Had the pleasure to hang out and break bread with her https://t.co/BQSkq5awGO  Ronnie Bardah (@RonnieBardah)

Allen Kessler called Zhao one of his long time poker friends and said he had chatted with her days before her death.

Brandon Shack-Harris, meanwhile, noted that he had tons of great experiences playing and talking with her in the Chicago days.

Really cool person, and so glad I got to know her, Shack-Harris said.

PokerNews will continue to monitor this case as developments occur throughout 2022.
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When walking into the front gallery of the Aiken Center for the Arts, patrons are greeted by the smiling faces of the front desk ladies and their love of art.

These five women all have a love for art and bring to the table decades of teaching experience.

The Aiken Center for the Arts, located at 122 Laurens St. S.W. in downtown Aiken, is preparing for the Aiken Antique Show, to be held Friday, Feb. 4, through Sunday, Feb. 6, with a preview party Thursday, Feb. 3.

Vendors at the event will have a variety of items for guests to browse, including antique furniture, paintings, lighting, jewelry, linens and more.

The art center's volunteers are largely involved in making the annual production a success, said Caroline Gwinn, the executive director of the center.

Nancy Kempf

Nancy Kempf started volunteering at the center 12 years ago, and soon after that was hired to work part-time in the front gallery. She wanted to volunteer there because she loves the arts.

I've always been involved with the arts, Kempf said. I was an art major in college ... and I believe in the arts, and I believe in this little center. When they first moved this building from Rose Hill, I was new in town and there was an ad in the paper to help them move from Rose Hill to here, so I just got on board with that.

Kempf is an artist and works with acrylic painting, but said she is starting to get into oil painting. She tends to paint people in architectural situations that involve a lot of angles. Painting isn't the only type of art Kempf has worked on; she's also worked on mosaics and clay.

As for what she enjoys most about working in the front gallery, Kempf said it's meeting the different people who come into the center.

Those of us at the front desk are greeting people when they come in, and a lot of times there's so many new people in town, we're kind of introducing them to the arts center and all that we do here, Kempf said. "I like the people contact; I like being around art. The world needs more beauty and inspiration and creativity.

Kempf also loves working with the staff at the center, calling the women a wonderful group.

Christine Lawrence

Christine Lawrence, the gallery shop team lead, has been with the center since 2005. A lifelong love of art is what brought her to the center.

She has always had an interest in the topic, and actually wanted to be an art teacher.

Ever since I've been little I used to love to color, she said. That was my favorite thing to do. I love to color, draw, and I just kept that passion up. When I went to school, I would take all the art classes I could take; and then I just wanted to be an art teacher. So I went to school for early care and education, which didn't entail the art, but it did have some creative process in that. I got to learn different creative processes. Then I came here; I did have knowledge of art. I took art classes in college; I just loved art my whole life.

Lawrence has been able to put her desire to be an art teacher to good use at the art center by teaching different classes.

I teach art classes for children. I teach summer camp, after-school art, homeschool art, just various classes, even Saturday classes, like workshops for kids, Lawrence said. The Saturday workshops are more like painting for kids; like, we have a certain set painting. But the homeschool for the classes themselves, we do a variety of artwork  so it could be watercolor, drawing, acrylic, printmaking.

As for herself, Lawrence said she enjoys working with acrylic painting and paints landscapes and animals.

At the center, Lawrence said she gets to meet so many people, which is her favorite part.

I get to meet new and interesting people, meet new artists, Lawrence said. It's people I wouldn't necessarily  if I didn't work here  I wouldn't get to know them and talk with them. I love getting to know the people.

Lawrence added that she loves the other ladies working at the center and the center itself, calling it her home away from home.

Madeline Fox

Madeline Fox has been with the art center, consecutively, since 2015, but has been involved with some camps before then.

She started working after leaving the Aiken County Public School District where she worked in special education.

I knew I wanted to do something with my time, and I have a degree in art; and it's always been a part of my life, even though ... there were periods of my life, like raising children, I kind of put everything on the back burner, Fox said. But I always wanted to work in a place like this.

Fox primarily works with clay and pottery, along with doing some drawing and painting. She got into those mediums while in college.

I only took one art class in high school because it was like a college entrance program, and I didn't have all those electives until my senior year, Fox said. I always had an interest in it. I went to college with a math and computer science degree, always took art as electives. By the end of my sophomore year, I had it with math, so it was just an easy transition for me.

With her clay work, Fox said she mostly makes utilitarian items, which are items people can use. But when she teaches hand building, the pieces will be a combination of utilitarian and sculptural, along with decorative pieces.

One of my favorite classes I taught early on was face jugs ... that was a lot of fun. I like doing utilitarian things where we press crocheted lace and doilies, Fox said.

As for what she loves most about working at the center, it's the center itself.

I just love the place and the beautiful art work and items in the gift shop, Fox said. It's very peaceful here. Even when we're not busy, it's a pleasure just being here. And the people, we're a big team; we all work together.

In the past, Fox has had items sold in the gift shop, but hasn't had anything lately.

Aiden Cooke

Aiden Cooke has been with the center since 2016 when she started volunteering at the summer art camps.

Christine (Lawrence) pretty much taught me everything I know, as far as teaching the summer art camps, Cooke said. It was a lot of fun. Then it kind of came up that there was a position at the desk, and it went from there.

Cooke teaches several classes at the center, including beginning acrylics, linoleum block printing, and some art camp classes.

Here I do block printing, where you get a little piece of linoleum and carve a piece into it, Cooke said. I also teach at Mead Hall right across, first- through fourth-graders. They recently had a show here, so we're making connections. But I do, I really enjoy teaching the kids. They make me laugh every time. I like teaching adults, too. It's interesting ... with kids they kind of just go for it, and ... I love to see where they go for it because they always surprise me. With adults, you kind of have to build them up a little bit more, but when they make that sort of connection, they kind of go, 'I can do this.' I love that. That's really nice.

Cooke added that she herself enjoys doing intaglio etching.

It's a very, kind of meticulous, sort of detail; it really makes you kind of sit with the drawing because you are building the drawing on a zinc plate and then letting acid kind of etch the drawing in to the plate, she said. So then you can wipe it with ink and run it through the press as many times as the plates survive, which is years and years.

As for what she enjoys most about the center, it's the people.

Genuinely, it's the people that kind of make this place what it is. I get people  really, from all around the world  that kind of come in and look. Art is the big connector.

Gisela Sirrenberg

Gisela Sirrenberg has been working with the art center for nearly seven years, but has been involved for long.

Sirrenberg has had her jewelry sold at the center for over 10 years, but didn't start working there until after her husband passed away.

When my husband passed away, I thought I needed something to do, so I came in here and asked if they were looking for help. The rest is history.

She enjoys making ethnic jewelry, and loves using pieces from Africa, Tibet and Nepal, she said.

I like things to be different ... I'm not crazy about beads that are nice and 100% round; I like them to have some character. That's my style, Sirrenberg said.

Besides jewelry making, she does acrylic and resin pouring, which she also teaches at the center. Resin pouring involves mixing acrylic paint with floetrol, which is used by house painters.

Sirrenberg currently has some pieces for sale in the front gallery.

This place is very inspiring. When I started to work here, I had not even heard about these things, Sirrenberg said. Took a bunch of classes, but there was nobody here to teach that. I had seen it on TV and on YouTube, and I thought I have to learn that. I taught myself, more or less. I had a friend who did some of that, so helped me a little bit with the resin.

As for her favorite part of working at the center, Sirrenberg said it's the people.

This is like a big family, she said. Really, really nice atmosphere. We all get along very well and help each other out.
A new study conducted by the College of Charleston takes a closer look at the impact short-term rentals have on local communities.

The report, released Jan. 27, was a collaboration between Rent Responsibly, a platform for local short-term rental alliances, and the school's Riley Center for Livable Communities. It looked at two different perspectives on the industry: rental operators and local governments.

The results were promising, said Brumby McLeod, a research fellow at the Riley Center and chair of CofC's Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management.

"For the first time, were 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," McLeod said in a statement about the report.

The Riley Center compiled nationwide data through a survey of short-term rental owners and operators conducted in November.

The study found that the industry is predominantly individual homeowners and small businesses. Among owners, 70 percent have one rental. Among property managers that oversee multiple units, more than half manage 10 or fewer.

The report identified 12 main reasons why property owners and managers jump into the short-term rental game. A few had to do with finances, including needing the extra income, investing in real estate to build wealth and wanting or needing funds to cover home renovations and repairs.

On average, short-term rental owners relied on their property or properties for about 38 percent of their income, the study found.

While short-term rentals, by definition, allow for stays of fewer than 30 days, a significant portion  about 40 percent  of operators said they'll also rent to "non-leisure" guests, such as traveling nurses and remote workers, for "mid-term stays" of one to five months.

Still, vacationing is the top reason why guests stay in short-term rentals. About 81 percent of operators said leisure travel was the most common reason for visits.

Most operators said they get their bookings through the sites Airbnb and Vrbo.

The study also featured interviews with municipal staff members about managing short-term rentals.

Staffers in Charleston County were interviewed for the report, along with those in Park City, Utah and the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado. Charleston was chosen as one of the spots for interviews because of its "mix of traditional beach tourism communities and urban hub," the report says.

The study includes remarks from municipal staffers in those areas about specific issues in their communities. One, from a government worker in the Charleston area, spoke to an increased awareness of the concept, even while the number of short-term rentals in the community remains relatively unchanged.

"For us, this is sort of separating the facts from the emotions of some residents who now have maybe five short-term rentals on their street, whereas years ago they only had three," the staffer said. "And this idea, 'This has happened, this is taking over our community'  it really isn't. Awareness, I think, has changed."

Generally, the study found that local governments want to work with the industry but need help with enforcement.

One Park City staffer also spoke to an "obligation" for short-term rental landlords to "contribute back to the community."

The most time-consuming part of managing short-term rentals from a regulatory point-of-view is investigating nuisances and ordinance violations, the study found.

About 80 percent of operators surveyed said they haven't received a complaint in the last year about their units. Among those who have gotten complaints, noise is the most common, followed by parking.

One element of managing short-term rentals that's become more difficult, municipal staffers said, is understanding the impact of the rentals on the mix of housing and the availability of housing in their cities.

Short-term rentals are "no longer the lightning-rod issue" in the communities featured in the study, the report says. Rather, affordable housing has become "one of the most pressing issues."

Among surveyed short-term rental operators, a little over half said their properties would not be considered affordable long-term housing options. At least one-fifth of the sample said they would be.
South Carolina's membership in the Fortune 500 lapsed about six years ago.

A Pee Dee-based packaging business spawned from cone-shaped paper textile spools is set to renew it.

Sonoco Products Co. sealed an acquisition last week that will deliver $850 million in additional revenue, more than enough financial punch to earn it a fresh spot on the oft-cited annual ranking of America's largest publicly traded companies.

South Carolina had been represented on the list most years since Fortune magazine began compiling it in 1955.

The Palmetto State's best showing was in 1990, when five companies that included Sonoco raked in enough in annual sales to merit inclusion. The others were Springs Industries, Bowater Inc., JPS Textile and Delta Woodside Industries. SCANA Corp., the parent of the old South Electric & Gas utility franchise, became a perennial later.

The streak ended after the 2016 edition, when Domtar Corp. was barely clinging near the bottom of the ranking. The Fort Mill paper products manufacturer, which recently was sold and taken private, fell out contention the following year.

Since then, South Carolina has been one of about a dozen states without at least one Fortune 500 headquarters in their back yards.

Sonoco has been inside the velvet rope before, but not lately. Last year, it had its nose pressed on the glass, at No. 511. Of all the state's previous Fortune 500 representatives, the company is the last standing.

The 123-year-old former Southern Novelty Co. established by James Lide Coker has been courting local investors for decades. In 1937, for instance, it offered 20,000 shares of its common stock at $17.50 each, noting in a series of Charleston newspaper advertisements that it had paid dividends for 13 years in a row and in all but two years of its 37-year history.

From its Hartsville headquarters, the company is still returning profits to shareholders. It also oversees a research and manufacturing juggernaut that develops, makes and sells all variety of packaging for the consumer, industrial, health care and transportation markets. Its global workforce of 19,000 employees is spread out at 300 sites in 34 countries.

Sonoco's annual sales for 2021 are estimated at $5.6 billion. The final figure won't be released until the year-end financial results are released on Feb 10.

The transaction that's expected to nudge the company back into Fortune 500 territory is its $1.35 billion purchase of Ball Metalpack, a long-running Colorado-based manufacturer that makes recyclable metal food and household packaging. It's also the biggest producer of aerosol cans in North America.

The deal, announced in December, was finalized Thursday.

The acquired company employs about 1,300 workers at eight U.S. sites. It is being renamed to reflect its South Carolina ownership and will be folded into the Darlington County buyer's consumer packaging business.

Sonoco CEO Howard Coker called the tie-up "a clear strategic fit" in a statement last week, noting that the deal "expands Sonocos already established sustainable packaging portfolio to include metal packaging, which is one of the worlds top circular economy adapted products."

It's also expected to restore the Pee Dee company's Fortune 500 bragging rights. Annual revenue at Sonoco would climb to about $6.45 billion after accounting for the Ball Metalpack purchase, placing it somewhere around the No. 440th position based on the current rankings.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
As a hospice chaplain, Ive had to come to grips with legislation passed in my home state of California called The End-of-Life Option Act.

This law allows for terminally ill adults to request medication that will bring about their peaceful death. However, patients must be able to verbalize their request and they must be able to swallow the meds unassisted.

The law was months away from becoming active when I first visited Ruth, a 90-year-old hospice patient in Davis, Calif. Within a few minutes of entering her modest apartment, she tried dismissing me by claiming to be a lifelong atheist.

I told her what I tell many patients: Im not here to persuade you, convert you or even baptize you. Im here to be present with you through some tougher days.

Ruth smiled at that, cementing something between us.

Over the next several weeks, she told me stories of how shed raised two loving sons and made a good life for herself. However, she grew up in Hitlers Germany and had legitimate reasons to doubt Gods existence. Shed seen the imprisonment of relatives and the death of countless Jews.

Her childhood had been harassed by hunger and haunted by grief. Yet somehow, she became a woman who showed little regret about her life.

On my third visit, shortly before the law would take effect, she told me of her plans to request the EOL medications.

Would you, Ruth stuttered, could you, be there when I take the medications?

No, I screamed in my head. I wont! I cant.

Fortunately, the law allows medical staff to follow their own conscience on this. I could say no and would not be penalized by my employer.

But  and this is where things get dicey  the legal wording expressly forbids medical staff to persuade or dissuade a patient in their EOL choices.

Instead of answering her straight away, I tried defusing the question.

You know our hospice staff would really miss you if you did that. Everyone talks about how uplifted they are by their visits with you.

Then, as if loading both barrels, she aimed a look at me.

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Yes, she said, but I dont think its my job to encourage you. You must find your own reasons for living as I have my reasons for dying.

Ruth was right, of course. Her path was different than mine. She had to make her own decision.

A moment of silence broke over our bedside chat like stillness over a mountain lake. Then Ruth repeated her question.

So, will you be there when I end this life?

Let me interrupt my narrative for a moment to ask my own question: If youd been in my size-12 shoes, what would you have told the woman?

If your answer is a profound, No way, then Id follow up with, Why not?

Consider what the woman was really asking.

I think she was saying, I need to feel a kind presence. I need to know Im not alone.

When I realized that, I heard myself say, Of course Ill be there.

In the matter of our life, and certainly our death, the only thing we all want to know is that we arent alone.

Not long after our conversation, Ruth woke up to her last day on Earth and had breakfast with her sons. Then surrounded by family and hospice staff, she became our first hospice patient to end her life with medications.

She was never alone.

In the weeks and months that followed, our staff saw the truth of what shed said  it wasnt her job to inspire or encourage us.

Nevertheless, that truth never stopped us from celebrating her inspiring presence in our lives.

We will always remember you, Ruth.
ALL FOR LIBERTY: The Charleston Workhouse Slave Rebellion of 1849. By Jeff Strickland. Cambridge University Press. 256 pages. $29.99 paperback; $89.99 hardcover; $14.60 Kindle.

In discussions leading to Charlestons historic 2018 apology for slavery, mention was made of the City Workhouse. It was there, Mayor John Tecklenburg stated, that White Charlestonians sent Black Charlestonians to be imprisoned or whipped for which the city collected fees. The mention was overshadowed by the legal language of the resolution, and to many, it was a puzzling piece of news. With no structure standing to cast shadows or revive dark memories, the workhouse, which stood near the jail, at the southwest corner of Logan and Magazine streets, has slipped from the consciousness of the city.

Jeff Strickland, professor of history at Montclair State University, reverses that trend with his new book, which brings the horrors and history of the workhouse front and center. It merits reading by anyone interested in the truth of the injustice to, and the indomitable will of, the enslaved and free African Americans who lived, survived and triumphed here.

It is a book that makes engrossing but, possibly for some scholars, frustrating reading. The result of more than 20 years of research, it sets the workhouse in context of urban slavery and specifically focuses, as the subtitle suggests, on an important, though rarely considered, 1849 rebellion. The author puts it in context with the Stono Rebellion, Denmark Vesey, secession and the Civil War. He also brings organized religion, seen both as possibly fomenting and reducing rebellion, into the discussion.

"All for Liberty" reads well and swiftly with many little-known eyewitness accounts included. Strickland has scoured scores of sources, and his finds, with their level of detail, will astonish many and possibly chagrin other historians who missed them. While the descriptions of punishments, inhumane treatments and outright cruelty practiced within its walls will chill the blood, there is another entirely different level of horror: how such behavior became ingrained in law, and a daily bureaucratic function of a city government establishing fees and paying employees to torture enslaved men and women.

Strickland does much to explode the myth that urban slavery was less cruel than that on plantations, and if anyone still nurtures ideas of a benevolent city, one only has to read the rules of this torture chamber, which inquisition-like, flayed Black bodies for the heresy of not believing in their White masters supremacy.

The background and foreground frame the story of the enslaved master craftsman, plasterer or stucco-er Nicholas Kelly and his spontaneous rebellion with pick axes and stakes. Eyewitness and other accounts dramatize his escape with three dozen others and bring the story to its tragic end, with the authors concluding chapter noting reverberations to the present day.

For such an important book, it is distressing to see errors. The compass is swung with the Stono north of Charleston, not south; Calvary Church, almost torn down due to the revolt, is mapped in the wrong place; and the citys slave badge laws and the history of the workhouse building itself are misunderstood. Footnotes are opaque and important sources noted in them are missing in the bibliography. The concluding chapters passion on the continuing lack of justice for Charlestons African Americans is marred by unnuanced statements. Historic preservation and the College of Charleston (alone) are called out for peninsular gentrification, while archives are blamed for not collecting materials on the topic, even though the author acknowledges his use of local archives and remarks how rare such materials are. (Full disclosure: I am an archivist at the College of Charleston.)

Yet the book overcomes these flaws. The author restores an institution and episode lost (deliberately, he argues) to us. And in the story of Kelly and his peers, he recovers not just heroes but also Charlestons most ignored antebellum author. The enigmatic Francis Colburn Adams (who has intrigued this reviewer for years) was the most outrageous and outraged local writer to ever rail against the morals of a slaveholding society. In fact, it is Adams who offers key evidence on the rebellion.

Adams may remain forgotten, but thanks to "All for Liberty," Kelly, the workhouse and the rebellion no longer will be. It occurred in July 1849, with the trial on the anniversary of the falling of the Bastille. Perhaps the city of Charleston could dedicate its workhouse plaque, whose language has been approved, on a date which would acknowledge a horrific and heroic past as it moves toward reconciliation and healing.
Health experts across South Carolina say the recent surge in omicron cases is affecting the mental health of many students, mostly due to the recent school closures, forcing many children to transition to virtual learning.

"COVID has kind of brought things to a tipping point," said Kelsey Allen, pediatric emergency medicine fellow at the Medical University of South Carolina. "It's creating isolation for adolescents who thrive off of social interaction and routine."

Since the start of 2022, at least 230 South Carolina schools have gone virtual for at least one day for COVID-related reasons, pushing over 100,000 students from these schools into virtual learning.

There have also been over 400,000 students and staff quarantined due to COVID-related reasons since the beginning of 2022.

"We've had a steady deluge of inpatient acute crisis stabilization requirements here for adolescents, primarily for suicidal ideation and mental health issues that are directly related to kids being removed from the school setting," said Dr. Peter Loper, child and adolescent psychiatrist for Prisma Health."

And Dr. Chris Pruitt, medical director of the emergency department at Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said it's clear that schools need to stay open as much as possible during this pandemic.

"We've noticed a number of young children coming into the emergency department for anxiety, stress and even suicidal thoughts," said Pruitt. "It's really unconscionable when you are talking about 5-, 6- and 7-year-old kids."

Yet many health officials in the state say they have been seeing a constant rise in the number of pediatric mental health patients since before the pandemic and that COVID-19 has in many ways simply exacerbated the issue.

"This is not a brand-new issue," Allen said. "COVID-19 made it more and more difficult for teens and adolescents to cope."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pediatric mental health-related emergency department visits increased 24 percent among kids ages 5-11 and over 30 percent in kids ages 12-17 during the first wave of the pandemic.

The organization says children's mental health-related emergency room visits decreased sharply in early spring of 2020 but saw a steady increase in the following months into October of the same year.

"Many mental disorders commence in childhood, and mental health concerns in these age groups might be exacerbated by stress related to the pandemic and abrupt disruptions to daily life associated with mitigation efforts," the CDC said in a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Stephanie Gore, licensed professional counselor for LifeStance Health, said she's received an increasing number of patient referrals for kids experiencing mental health struggles among middle school-age kids.

"For kids in this age group, being able to hang out with their friends, attend sporting events or going to the movies is really important to them," said Gore."

Gore also said students may express themselves differently during times of stress and be especially sensitive to the response of others, limiting the students ability to feel comfortable when opening up.

Yet Gore also realizes that parents can be overwhelmed with the stress of COVID-19 and its isolating mitigation strategies, as well.

"When parents are overwhelmed, their initial response might feel like chastisement to a teenager really struggling," said Gore, "and the way the parent responds may cause the child to shut down further."

Gore suggested parents introduce coping strategies to their children upon noticing some of these mental health concerns that don't resemble punishment, like limiting access to certain peers or micromanaging daily activities.

This can cause the student to further suppress feelings of depression and anxiety and can often lead to a students need for medical intervention and hospitalization.

All in all, health officials across the state have a resounding and similar message  to get vaccinated and wear a mask. The constant back-and-forth between virtual learning and physical school is putting even more strain on vulnerable children. Experts continue to push vaccinations as a means of keeping kids in school, allowing for shorter amounts of time away from school settings.

The latest data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control shows 30.2 percent of kids and teens ages 17 and younger have received at least on shot and 23.9 percent are considered fully vaccinated.

Doctors also suggest reducing the use of social media as a means of social interaction.

"A majority of the kids admitted to our hospital within the last year-and-a-half for suicidal ideation have either overused or inappropriately used social media," said Loper, a pediatric psychiatrist for Prisma Health.

Loper said social media platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook, can lead to cyberbullying, socially prescribed perfectionism and sexting.

In lieu of using electronic devices and social media to cope with the unprecedented amount of isolation kids in the state are experiencing, Loper suggests setting aside "sacred time," when families choose to be present and engaged absent of screens.

"Get the kids together for a board game night once week," Loper said. "Doing these things makes sure you reinforce the value of meaningful interpersonal interactions in your home."
Photo taken on June 17, 2021 shows the construction site of a skyscraper in a vast business district in Egypt's new administrative capital. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

CAIRO, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The architecture projects of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in Egypt have strengthened friendship and cooperation between China and Egypt, said a recent report issued by the Chinese firm CSCEC.

In its 2020-2021 sustainability report dubbed "Witness Friendship," the CSCEC said the ongoing construction of the central business district (CBD) in Egypt's new administrative capital is the largest project implemented by a Chinese company in Egypt so far.

"This is an architectural miracle created by China and Egypt together. The CBD project will become not only the new landmark of Egypt but also a symbol of the country's modernization," said the report.

The first phase of the project covers an area of 505,000 square meters, and involves 10 office buildings, five apartments, four hotels, the 385.8-meter-high "Africa's tallest" Iconic Tower that will be "Egypt's pyramid in a new era," and supporting municipal works, according to the report.

Photo taken on June 17, 2021 shows the construction site of a vast business district in Egypt's new administrative capital. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

On Jan. 21, 2016, the CSCEC and Egypt's Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities signed a framework agreement for the general contract for the construction of Egypt's new administrative capital.

During the construction of the Iconic Tower, the CSCEC set a number of records in the architectural history of the Middle East and Africa, the report said.

The roof-sealing of the Iconic Tower has been not only an important achievement of mutual understanding and cooperation between China and Egypt, but also "a milestone for Egypt to introduce modern technology and usher in a new era of architectural development," it added.

The CSCEC and the Egyptian government have planned to found a joint venture to operate the CBD project including the 20 high-rise buildings, the municipal infrastructure, and real estate assets.

A ceremony is held to celebrate the successful installation of a steel skyway linking two office buildings at the central business district (CBD) project in new administrative capital, Egypt, June 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

On Feb. 8, 2021, the CSCEC and the Egyptian Ministry of Housing formally signed the general contract for the high-rise complex project in New Alamein City. After completion of the construction, the new coastal city will become the "summer capital" of Egypt, the report said. 
A James Island man accused of fatally shooting his 83-year-old mother before turning the gun on himself will remain jailed while awaiting trial.

John Thomas Schaefer waived his right to a bond hearing on Jan. 29 on charges of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Schaefer, 56, is accused of fatally shooting his mother, Carole Schaefer, Jan. 3 at their house at 1234 Oceanview Road.

A Charleston County sheriff's deputy was dispatched to the home that afternoon to assist first responders after emergency dispatchers received an open-line call from the residence, according to an arrest affidavit.

As the deputy approached the back door of the residence, a firefighter came out of the home and said, "It looks sketchy, there is a lady dead in a chair," an incident report details.

Carole Schaefer was found shot in the face while seated in a chair in the dining room. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her son lay in a pool of blood next to a rifle in the kitchen area, moaning in pain from a gunshot wound to the face. Firefighters had to pin Schaefer to the ground when he tried to reach for the gun, the report states.

Investigators determined John Schaefer shot his mother near the left eye before placing the bolt-action rifle under his chin and pulling the trigger, the affidavit states.

Schaefer was being treated at Medical University of South Carolina for his wound until Jan. 28, when he was released from the hospital and booked into the county jail, according to sheriff's spokesman Andrew Knapp.

A future court date has not been scheduled.
A woman involved in a West Ashley crash that killed two motorcyclists during the Christmas holiday has also died from her injuries.

Crystal Henderson, 43, of Charleston, was declared dead the morning of Jan. 28 at Agape Hospice Care, according to Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O'Neal.

Henderson was driving south on Magwood Drive the evening of Dec. 26 when her vehicle crossed the center line between Charlie Hill Boulevard and Ashley Crossing Drive, according to authorities.

Henderson's Nissan Sentra crashed head on into a passing motorcycle, killing both the operator and a passenger  Chad Belue, 50, and Lea Cook, 49.

Henderson's car then struck a second motorcycle, causing minor injuries to the rider, authorities said.

Henderson was the mother of two children and three stepchildren, according to an obituary.

She was the 23rd person to die in a traffic collision in 2021, according to Charleston police Sgt. Elisabeth Wolfsen.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
CLEMSON  U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham gave a glowing evaluation of South Carolina federal judge J. Michelle Childs, calling her highly qualified and said she would not be treated to the type of grilling Brett Kavanaugh received if she becomes a Supreme Court nominee.

"She's considered to be a fair-minded, highly gifted jurist," Graham, R-S.C., said on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Jan. 30.

"She's one of the most decent people I've ever met," he said, adding later, "I cannot say anything bad about Michelle Childs. She is an awesome person."

Graham did not confirm he is definitely a yes confirmation vote if President Joe Biden does pick Childs for the vacancy created by the announced departure of Justice Stephen Breyer.

Graham said he wanted to wait until the president's pick is definite before committing.

Childs, a U.S. District judge from Columbia, is so far the only name identified by the White House as under consideration to meet Biden's promise of appointing a Black female to the court if given the chance. That came about when her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was put on hold Friday. Media speculation says several other Black women are in the discussion as well.

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Graham said there is room for people on the court with diverse backgrounds and not always with an education from within the Ivy League legal community. Childs is a graduate of the University of South Carolina law school.

"It's OK to go to a public university and get your law degree," Graham said.

Graham downplayed criticisms by some other Republicans, including Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, that in specifically committing to name a Black woman to the court Biden was playing into affirmative racial discrimination.

"I do see putting a Black woman on the court making the court more like America," Graham responded, noting President Ronald Reagan forecast he would put the first female on the court, which turned out to be his pick of Sandra Day O'Connor.

Graham did not elaborate deeply on his Kavanaugh comments, but he was highly outspoken at the way Kavanaugh was treated by Democrats and other groups during his confirmation. Graham promised Republicans would not do the same if Childs is the choice.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who got Biden to commit to appointing a Black woman during the 2020 Democratic primary in South Carolina, also appeared on the CBS show, saying Biden breaking the mold on Supreme Court picks would be transformative for the country.

It says to others pursuing lofty goals, "You have just as much a chance," said Clyburn, who has publicly stumped for Childs, a Barack Obama-appointee to the bench.

Biden has said he will announce his pick by the end of February.
Dennis Coleman, a 58-year-old financial advisor from Charleston, has chased billfish around the world, but there's little doubt about his favorite billfish tournament, especially after what transpired recently.

Coleman won the 59th annual International Masters Angling Tournament fished Jan. 20-22 out of Los Suenos Resort in Costa Rica, accumulating 577.5 points over the course of three days fishing for blue marlin and sailfish.

"I'm still in shock. Somehow Lady Luck rode me hard. I'm still pinching myself over this thing," Coleman said after winning the invitational event.

Coleman said when he was first nominated by Sam Peters, the president of Release Marine in Savannah, and Carmine Galati of Galati Marine to participate in the event five years ago, he immediately fell in love with the format. He was the tournament's top rookie four years ago.

The tournament was started in the 1960s out of Sailfish Marina in South Florida by fishing legends John Rybovich, Charlie Johnson and Pete Benoit.

Anglers fish three days aboard different boats, two anglers per boat, and they are competing against a stopwatch. Points are based on how long it takes the angler to release the fish. The angler starts with 100 points at the hookup but for every 30 seconds they fight the fish they lose five points, and after fighting the fish for 10 minutes it is scored at five points. Anglers are able to fish two lines, and they rotate sides every hour. The fishermen bring their own rods and reels and the tournament supplies line and 7/0 circle hooks. Ballyhoo is the only allowed bait.

"It's all about getting a bite and it's all about time," Coleman said.

This was the first year blue marlin was an eligible species in the tournament, and Coleman said it was a pair of blue marlin on the second day that proved the difference.

"They've had a hell of a blue marlin bite going on. There were more blue marlin bites on most boats than there were sailfish bites," Coleman said.

Coleman scored 155 points with two sailfish releases the first day of the tournament. He added 145 points the second day of the tournament with three blue marlin releases and one sailfish release, but had another sailfish disqualified when he chose to back down on the fish, thinking it was a blue marlin (anglers could not back the boat down on sailfish). On the last day he had three sailfish and two blue marlin, scoring 277.5 points.

He said the key was catching two blue marlin from a dead boat, one he released in 3 minutes, 50 seconds and the other that took 4 minutes, 10 seconds.

"Those counted the full points and ultimately were the two fish that won it for me," Coleman said.

There is no prize money involved in the tournament, and anglers cannot tip the boat crew members. That is done by the tournament itself.

"They want to keep it as even as possible. There's not a dollar on the line," Coleman said. "It's about pride. The trophy is called the Old Man and the Sea (author Ernest Hemingway's signed novel by the same name was the original trophy), and it's about a 25-pound bronze monster.

"I also got a coat with a Masters emblem and a nice gold Bimini twist lapel pin. And you get stuck with a big, fat bar bill after the awards ceremony," he said with a laugh.

Local Quail Forever wins national award

The Mount Pleasant Chapter of Quail Forever has received the National Chapter of the Year's Habitat Award.

The chapter played a significant role in Quail Forevers first land acquisition in the southeastern United States. The Bobwhite Hills Wildlife Management Area expansion in central South Carolina was purchased under the Build a Wildlife Area program and consists of 790 acres in Lee and Sumter Counties.

Tim Askins, the Mount Pleasant chapter president, originally identified the property, fostered a relationship with the previous landowner, and became the liaison between the landowner, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and Quail Forever. For his work on this project, as well as many others, Askins received the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiatives Firebird Award recognizing outstanding work in quail conservation.

The Mount Pleasant chapter also helped identify the South Carolina Conservation Bank (SCCB) as a funding source to help offset organizational costs. They lobbied board members and assisted with presentations generating $850,000 in funding from the SCCB. This was the single largest contribution in Quail Forever history.

The chapter is also raising funds for the Build a Wildlife Area program during the Willie McRae Wildlife Benefit that will be held from 5-10 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant and Call of the Uplands that will be held from 6-10 p.m. Feb. 19 at Charleston Yacht Club. Visit scquailforever.org or email taskins@hotmail.com.

America's Boating Club

America's Boating Club Charleston will hold boating safety classes Feb. 12 and March 12 at 1376 Orange Grove Road, Charleston. Classes begin at 9 a.m. and end around 4 p.m. Successful participants earn the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Boater Education Card. The cost is $25 for adults and youth 12-18 are free. Call 843-312-2876 or email lynes@tds.net.

SALTT Fishing Seminars

The Student Angler League Tournament Trail (salttfishing.com) is holding monthly fishing seminars on the second Tuesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. at Harvest Church, located at 3552 Old Kings Highway, Murrells Inlet. Speakers include charter boat captains and local fishing experts.

SALTT also will hold a bass fishing seminar from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at J&K Outdoors, located at 1301 Highway 501 East Street in Conway. The seminar is limited to 50 participants and preregistration is encouraged. Tickets are $11 and every student angler gets a $10 store coupon. Reservations can be made at salttfishing.com/seminar-bass.html.

SALTT is a training ground for students in grades 1-12 interested in competitive fishing for redfish or largemouth bass. Three fall and three spring tournaments are scheduled out of Georgetown's Carroll Campbell Boat Landing. SALTT also puts on the annual Brody Bates Youth Redfish Open Scholarship Tournament which will be held April 2 this year out of Buck Hall Landing in McClellanville.
Photo shows Egyptologist Zahi Hawass's newly published autobiography book titled "The Guardian" during a signing ceremony in Cairo, Egypt, on Jan. 29, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

The 600-page book sheds light on the archaeological discoveries and accomplishments made by Hawass who once served as Egyptian minister of antiquities, and the challenges he faced during excavation and restoration work.

CAIRO, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's top archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass held on Saturday evening a signing ceremony for his newly published autobiography book titled "The Guardian: Days of Zahi Hawass."

Held in a hotel in downtown Cairo, the ceremony was attended by Egyptian officials, archaeologists, authors and artists, as well as foreign guests including ambassadors and other diplomats.

The ceremony started with a presentation on Hawass's accomplishments, excavations, archaeological discoveries, worldwide fame and testimonies of Egyptian and foreign archaeologists and public figures to his renown and charisma, including late famous Egyptian film star Omar Sharif.

"The book doesn't only narrate my autobiography but documents the history of archeological work in Egypt in the past 40 years," Hawass told Xinhua during the ceremony.

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass gives a speech during a signing ceremony for his newly published autobiography book titled "The Guardian" in Cairo, Egypt, on Jan. 29, 2022.

The 600-page book sheds light on the archaeological discoveries and accomplishments made by Hawass who once served as minister of antiquities, and the challenges he faced during excavation and restoration work.

"In the book, I give credit to all the people who contributed to archaeological work, such as building museums and archaeological areas, raising archaeological awareness and retrieving stolen artifacts," said the notable archaeologist.

The title of the book, "The Guardian," was chosen by Nahdet Misr Publishing House, which has been publishing books on all cultural fields in Egypt for 84 years.

"We are honored to have published for Dr. Zahi Hawass a large collection of books over the past 18 years, whether for children or adults, and we have crowned this cooperation with Hawass's autobiography, 'The Guardian,'" said Dalia Ibrahim, CEO of Nahdet Misr Publishing House.

"All generations need to know his biography and his big role in reviving Egyptian antiquities," Ibrahim added.

Tourists ride camels to view the Giza Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, on Oct. 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

A discussion panel was also held during the ceremony to analyse the value of the book and its contents, followed by a question and answer session.

Among the attendees were Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Mostafa El-Feki, Hawass's close friend who wrote the back-cover blurb of "The Guardian."

"I had the honor to introduce his autobiography on the back cover. I consider this book a reference for everyone who would like to know about the Egyptian antiquities and their popularity during the time of Zahi Hawass," El-Feki told Xinhua.

"I've always called for appointing Hawass as Egypt's ambassador for tourism, antiquities and culture to the whole world and I believe his popularity certainly reflected on his promotion of Egyptian antiquities," said the head of Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

A reopening ceremony of the Avenue of Sphinxes is held in Luxor, Egypt, Nov. 25, 2021, after years of renovation works. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Handout via Xinhua)

Describing Hawass as "the icon of Egyptian archaeology," Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, also strongly recommended Hawass's new book.

"This book is so interesting that once you start reading the first page, you won't stop until you finish the whole book," Waziri said. 


The effectiveness of lockdown measures by countries and states has been hotly debated for the last two years. Various measures have been tried enough times, in enough places, over a long enough period of time, that we ought to be able to arrive at a reasonably definitive answer.

This study, titled A Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Lockdowns on COVID-19 Mortality, published by The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise, seeks to do just that. The studys methodology strikes me as impressive. It began with a population of several thousand studies that could be relevant, but the authors winnowed the field down to 24 studies that met the authors criteria for inclusion.

This study is well worth reading in its entirety, but the abstract states its conclusion clearly:

This systematic review and meta-analysis are designed to determine whether there is empirical evidence to support the belief that lockdowns reduce COVID-19 mortality. Lockdowns are defined as the imposition of at least one compulsory, non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI). NPIs are any government mandate that directly restrict peoples possibilities, such as policies that limit internal movement, close schools and businesses, and ban international travel. This study employed a systematic search and screening procedure in which 18,590 studies are identified that could potentially address the belief posed. After three levels of screening, 34 studies ultimately qualified. Of those 34 eligible studies, 24 qualified for inclusion in the meta-analysis. They were separated into three groups: lockdown stringency index studies, shelter-in-place-order (SIPO) studies, and specific NPI studies. An analysis of each of these three groups support the conclusion that lockdowns have had little to no effect on COVID-19 mortality. More specifically, stringency index studies find that lockdowns in Europe and the United States only reduced COVID-19 mortality by 0.2% on average. SIPOs were also ineffective, only reducing COVID-19 mortality by 2.9% on average. Specific NPI studies also find no broad-based evidence of noticeable effects on COVID-19 mortality. While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted. In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.

Emphasis added. This studys conclusion is consistent with the broad observation that, whether one looks at different countries or at the U.S. by states, there is no apparent correlation between lockdown measures that have been taken, and results in terms of covid deaths, hospitalizations or cases. The same is true of mask requirements. The burden is on those who would continue to oppress the rest of us with limitations on our activities or mask requirements to prove, empirically, that such measures have benefits that outweigh their enormous costs.
The virtues of a meritocracy may be lost on Harvard students like that queer Middle Easterner, but they come through clearly in this excellent New York Times article by Michael Powell. His piece deals with the subject through the lens of Brooklyn Tech, an elite New York City high school from which one of my cousins graduated in the 1960s.

Brooklyn Tech hasnt yielded to demands that it stop admitting students based entirely on merit, as measured by an entrance exam. Consequently:

[Asian students] make up 61% of Brooklyn Tech, although they account for 18% of the public school population. . .Sixty-three percent of the citys public school students are Black and Latino, yet they account for just 15% of Brooklyn Techs population.

This doesnt mean that Brooklyn Tech lacks diversity. Indeed, says Powell:

The river of teenagers who pour into Brooklyn Technical High School. . .are Bengali and Tibetan, Egyptian and Chinese, Sinhalese and Russian, Dominican and Puerto Rican, West Indian and African American.

Its just that the student body isnt racially balanced.

Diversity and racial balance are two different things, though Supreme Court jurisprudence has tended to conflate them. Maybe the Court will delink them in the Harvard and North Carolina cases.

Should Brooklyn Tech engineer a more racially balanced student body? Powell lets both sides of that debate state their case. There is only one winner, though. On the one hand,

Educationally, we dont need these schools, said David Bloomfield, a professor at the CUNY Graduate Center and Brooklyn College. These students cannot be in a bubble. They need to be in a more diverse student body, where you could have advanced classes.

Note the conclusory nature of these assertions. No evidence is presented to support them.

By contrast:

Those who champion specialized high schools point to alumni who became top scientists, among them 14 Nobel Prize laureates. With few exceptions these were the children of working-class and immigrant families. The best students, they argue, should press as far ahead as brains and curiosity might take them. . . . Theres a big literature on the value of accelerated classes, and its very favorable, said James H. Borland, a professor at Columbia University Teachers College. Theres a strong research base that shows its very beneficial.

Powell makes two additional points that seem relevant and, indeed, important. First, Asian-American students, including those at Brooklyn Tech, are the least privileged racial/ethnic group in the city, if privilege is defined in terms of economics and/or cultural acclimation:

Fully 63% of Brooklyn Techs students are classified as economically disadvantaged. Census data shows Asians have the lowest median income in the city, and a majority speak a language other than English at home.

Second, black students used to make up a much larger percentage of Brooklyn Techs student body than they do now:

Decades ago, when crime and socioeconomic conditions were far graver than they are today, Black and Latino teenagers passed the examination in great numbers. In 1981, nearly two-thirds of Brooklyn Techs students were Black and Latino, and that percentage hovered at 50% for another decade.

(Emphasis added)

What happened? The war on standards happened:

To understand this decline [in black students performance] involves a trek back through decades of policy choices, as city officials, pushed by an anti-tracking movement, rolled back accelerated and honors programs and tried to reform gifted programs, particularly in nonwhite districts. Black alumni of Brooklyn Tech argue this progressive-minded movement handicapped precisely those Black and Latino students most likely to pass the test. Some poor, majority Black and Latino districts now lack a single gifted and talented program.

(Emphasis added)

Accordingly, Powell asks a very good question: Why obsess about the anti-egalitarian sins of a handful of high-performing schools that hold 6% of high school students? Why not focus on restoring meritocracy in the neighborhood schools that used to feed Brooklyn Tech with a large number of applicants who meet its standards?

Because progressive race hustler wont have it, I guess.

Finally, what do current Brooklyn Tech students think about meritocracy at their school? Assuming Powell has chosen a representative sample (and why wouldnt he?), they like it. Tausifa Haque, a 17-year-old daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants whose father drives a taxi and whose mother is a lunchroom attendant, says:

This is my great chance. Its my way out. I have classes with students of all demographics and skin colors, and friends who speak different languages. To call this segregation does not make sense.

Ricardo Nunez, who is black, says:

I dont feel like a minority. We resist being pitted against each other at this school.

Ayaan Ali, whose parents emigrated from Pakistan, would like to see more black students and thinks Brooklyn Tech should bring grades or class rank into the selection process. However, Ali adds that abolishing the test is like putting a Band-Aid over a gunshot wound.

Given the cratering of black test scores after neighborhood schools moved away from tracking and honors program in response to pressure from progressives, the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Moving schools like Brooklyn Tech away from a meritocratic model would inflict another wound.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria, VON, Osita Okechukwu.

According to sources at the commission, Mr Okechukwu arrived at the headquarters of the anti-graft agency in Abuja at about 1.30 p.m. on Saturday to honour an invitation.

Although the allegations he is being investigated for are still sketchy, Mr Okechukwu, a vocal member of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), is said to facing probe over alleged conspiracy, abuse of office, and misuse of N1.3 billion in public funds.

He was still with the anti-graft agency as of the time of this report. His phone was switched off when PREMIUM TIMES tried to reach him Sunday morning.

When contacted, EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren, acknowledged the VON chief executives invitation but declined to speak further.

The APC National Working Committee (NWC) had in 2019 suspended Mr Okechukwu alongside the former governors of Imo and Ogun, Rochas Okorocha and Ibikunle Amosun, for alleged anti-party activity. The suspension was later reversed.

Mr Okechukwu, a vocal supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, was appointed as the director-general of VON in 2016.

He indicated his intention to run for the position of the senator representing Enugu West in 2019. He sought to replace Ike Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party who has represented the district since 2003 but lost the APC primaries.
Even before kidnapping by bandits became rampant in his community, life was harsh for Saidu Dabo. The rural Katsina resident became popular early this month after a video recording of him removing his roofing sheets to sell for money he needed to rescue his son from kidnappers went viral.

Mr Dabo, a devout Muslim, however, said he believes God is always right and accepts what happened to him in good faith. But he still cursed his fate.

Mr Dabo was reclining against the cracked mud wall of his house in Faskari as he spoke with PREMIUM TIMES. He could not understand why a poor farmer struggling to feed his family is no longer being allowed to concentrate on that struggle.

This life is not fair that it is poor people like me who are being kidnapped, he said and then shook his head.

Mr Dabo has joined the list of thousands of people abducted and released by bandits after payment of ransom. He has also joined the list of hundreds of farmers who have been scared away from their farms by fear of being killed or abducted by the marauding bandits.

A report by PREMIUM TIMES last year showed how the activities of bandits have crippled farming in Katsina State with farmers forced to abandon their farms or negotiate with bandits.

Bandits territory

Katsina, like many of the Nigerian Northwest states, is beleaguered by security threats, especially kidnapping and banditry. The crime has become rampant and the bandits seemingly irrepressible.

Thousands of people have been killed or kidnapped by the bandits in the North-west and Niger State since 2021. In the first three weeks of 2022, at least 486 people were killed by non-state actors across Nigeria, over half of them by bandits in the North-west and Niger State.

Poor and vulnerable

Putting food on the table for his family was always a struggle for Mr Dabo. A look at the man would tell you that poverty had long been his companion. Only a part of his three-bedroom mud house is accessible from the outside because the stalks that support it have withered under the scorching heat of the sun. And the land on which the house sits does not even belong to him. He said only the mud walls and the roof are his own.

Mr Dabo said he did not think twice before asking his sons and some neighbours to help remove the roofing sheets once he returned home and had to raise the ransom for his son whom the bandits had captured as his substitute.

My son had to be rescued from them (bandits) he began. It was my responsibility to rescue him, not because he put his life at risk to save me. Also, we are all poor here so I didnt want to bother anyone with my problems again. People are struggling to get food, why should I bother them with my issues again?

Everything disturbs Mr Dabo now because the presence of bandits in their area has made life worse and poverty increasing by the day. Daily meals are now a dream because his sole source of income, farming, has been taken away from him by bandits.

Your farm has been taken away from you. You cannot go to the local markets to sell or buy. And you cannot go to your people in other villages to get food or other items. So what remains? As he spoke, he was looking straight at the reporters eyes, his own eyes showing his resignation to fate.

My life is useless, he said. I am a farmer, I do nothing but farm. But since this (insecurity) started, I stopped going to the farm because these boys are everywhere.

On the afternoon that he was captured, he had sneaked to the farm to gather corn stalks for the familys use. It was the beginning of an ordeal. A band of bandits lurking around in the bush immediately pounced on him.

I had gathered the corn stalks that I needed when I heard them shouting at me to stop. Five of them, four carrying guns. They circled me and said Lets go to our camp. I didnt argue because I knew they are merciless. I followed them deep into the bush, blindfolded, he said.

A short distance into the bush, Mr Dabo heard the roars of motorcycles. He was soon guided onto one of the motorcycles, sandwiched between two bandits. The journey lasted hours. He could not say where he was taken but felt it was far away from Faskari town.

In the beginning, the outlaws treated Mr Dabo with some respect, he believes because of his age. But when they realised he would not get them much money, they turned hostile. They had asked him to buy his freedom, but Mr Saidu told them he did not have anything to give them.

Surviving kidnapping

They promptly tied him to a tree, joining five other kidnapped men he met there.

They tied us to different trees. They never untied or even loosened the ropes. They also tied the women captives, but they put them under shades but we, the men, they left outside in the sun, he added.

Mr Dabo said they were brutally beaten.Look at this place  he drew up his trouser to show two bruises on his shin. Look at my legs too. But it was not the beatings that made me cry. I looked at them, all of them boys young enough to be my children but shouting at me. I knew the world is coming to its end. I felt very bad.

When the bandits asked him to tell his family to gather one million naira, Mr Dabo was astonished and told them it was impossible.

Nobody in all my family has ever seen one million naira. How could anybody look at me and the clothes I was wearing and mention one million naira?

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They lowered the ransom to N500,000 but he told them he could not get anything even close to that. Then they started beating him that night and the following morning. In the morning, they asked for N300,000. One of the bandits said that was because of his age, that they wanted him gone out of the place. In the end, they asked his family how much it had gathered. When his son, Ibrahim, said N50,000, they asked him to get ready to bring them the money.

Unknown to Mr Dabo and his son, Ibrahim Saidu, the bandits were setting a trap.

They kept telling me because I am old they didnt like beating me. I was happy when I heard them telling my son that they would accept the N50,000 Mr Dabo said.

He was surprised that the family could raise that sum. Nothing is worth N30,000 in this house. Even N20,000. But my son said they had gathered N50,000 and I was surprised, he said.

A courageous son

For Mr Saidu, the eagerness to get his father off the hands of the bandits made him forget the dangers of going into the bush to meet the kidnappers.

I knew it was dangerous. So when they called me that night and said I should bring whatever that we had made, I knew I had to go myself. I didnt tell my mother because the tension would have been doubled.

Mr Saidu said the fact he had to sell the familys possessions, including two small goats, to raise the N50,000 made him sad. But the family has nothing else to resort to and must save their father.

People helped us but you know we are all poor here. When I sold the goats and still couldnt make the money, I talked to our neighbours. People met and it was hard gathering N50,000 but Alhamdulillahi! we did our best and I am grateful to everyone.

The first time they spoke with him on phone, the kidnappers had threatened to kill his father if he didnt bring N300,000. Even after the negotiations, Mr Saidu said they kept threatening to beat his father to death if he did not bring the money quickly. Then he received a call at night directing him to meet them in Fankama through Yar Tsamiya village.

I went there alone and after I reached the village, they called and told me to return and go to Dan Farin Dutsi village. I went there too and waited for their call. I decided to continue trekking to reach a particular place when I saw two of them approaching me on a motorcycle. They were all carrying guns. They searched me, took away my phone and counted the money. After that, they told me to follow them and see my father, he said.

But Mr Saidu felt something was wrong. Bandits do not normally take with them the ransom bearer unless they plan to kidnap such a person too. Mr Saidu knew he had walked into a trap.

My only concern was that they should at least release my father so that he could go and continue taking care of the family with the little he can get, he told PREMIUM TIMES after his release.

When they reached the bandits den, Mr Saidu said it took him a couple of minutes to identify his father because he had grown lean and hairy. After some moments, the leader of the bandits came and decided their fate.

He told my father that the N50,000 was too small and that my father should go and beg his friends to gather N100,000 to rescue me. He also warned my father that he would not accept anything less than the stipulated amount. I felt it was over for me. Where would my father get such money?

Son also returns home

Mr Dabo eventually decided to sell the only valuable material remaining in his house: its roof.

He said he would have sold the house but the land does not belong to him. Neither does the land he has been farming for over three decades. While the land for the house belongs to a family member, the farm belongs to the extended family. He did not have the money but he knew his son must not die in the bandits den.

I knew I had to do something but what?

After raising the money from selling off his roofing sheets, his local mosque committee disallowed him from taking the ransom to the bandits by himself.

They said I would not go myself because everyone believed the bandits would apprehend me again. But I was also afraid of asking anyone to go because of the bandits holding anyone for my sons sake, the father said.

Mr Saidu was released when a neighbour of Mr Dabo went to pay the ransom.

As if justifying the fear of the people, the bandits did not release him until two days after collecting the ransom.

They said security agents could be around their camp. They took me on one of their motorcycles to the outskirts of Yar Tsamiya village from where I continued trekking, the son added

A farmers only wish

Mr Dabo said life as a poor farmer can not be more miserable. He had not been able to go out to look for what to eat since his release because he was shaken and my veins still ache from the beatings.

Mr Dabo now has only one wish.

My only wish, for now, is to return to our normal, quiet life. As a poor farmer, the only thing that matters to me is access to my farm. If there is security, nobody would be sitting idle, he said.

But that simple wish is a big ask in Mr Dabos part of Nigeria where audacious bandits now write communities to levy taxes and arrange payment.
No fewer than five residents of Ilesa, Osun State, have been killed during clashes between two rival cult groups and suspected land grabbers.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fight started on Friday afternoon after some youths, suspected to be cult members, stormed a new building that was being roofed at Omi-Tuntun area of Ilesa and demanded for money from workers at the site.

One witness, Bisi Oyetade, told NAN that the hoodlums, who also operate as land grabbers, were told to stop extorting workers at the site by some suspected cultists, said to be relations of the house owner.

Mr Oyetade explained that in the process, clashes broke out and a suspected cultist was overpowered, dragged to the bush and hacked to death by the gang protecting the new building.

He said that the hoodlums regrouped at night and avenged the death of their colleague. The group stormed Ijoka Area of Ilesa and killed another suspected cultist.

He added that in a bid to maim their opponents, an innocent woman was shot dead by the warring suspected cultists on Friday night.

According to him, the rampaging youths resumed their hostilities on Saturday and ended up killing two innocent residents.

The police have since launched an intensive manhunt for the suspects while some patrol vans of Ijamo and Ayeso Police Divisions in Ilesa were seen patrolling the town in order to restore peace and order.

NAN reports that all efforts to speak with the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Yemisi Opalola, on the matter were not successful.

(NAN)
At least 21 people were killed last week (January 23  29) by non-state actors across Nigeria.

Out of the 21 persons killed, three were police officers while the remaining were civilians including a traditional ruler.

Last weeks killings add to the 486 people killed in the first three weeks of 2022.

All the 21 people killed were in the North-west and South-west geopolitical zones of the country. There were no reported cases in the other four zones.

PREMIUM TIMES compiled the incidents from media reports. Thus, unreported cases are not included.

Below are the recorded incidents:

Nine in Zamfara

At least nine people were killed and several others displaced when bandits on Sunday night attacked communities in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

Communities under Tsafe (in Zamfara) and Faskari (in Katsina State) are being terrorised by Adamu Aleru, a notorious banditry kingpin in the Tsafe forest.

A resident of Tsafe town, Salisu Sabo, told PREMIUM TIMES that the villages attacked Sunday night include Magazawa, Kajera, Unguwar Dan Halima, Unguwar Rogo, Unguwar Ango, Kurar Mota and Kauyen Kane; all under Bilbis district.

Two policemen in Jigawa

The police in Jigawa State confirmed the killing of two of its officers in Taura Local Government Area and the abduction of the son-in-law to a government contractor in the state, Haruna Maifata.

The incident occurred at Kwalam in Taura LGA where the contractor lives.

The kidnappers abducted Maaru Abubakar, the son-in-law of the contractor.

Five in Ogun

A mob of residents on Monday set alight the traditional ruler of a community in Ogun, killing him and his three sons, according to witnesses.

Ayinde Odetola, the Olu of Agodo in Ewekoro Local Government Area, about 40 kilometres southwest of the capital Abeokuta, was killed after the mob invaded his palace in the community, news website Intel Region said. Other yet-unidentified targets were feared killed in the incident.

Also in Ogun state, an Inspector of Police, Omolayo Olajide died on Tuesday during a gun duel between the police and armed criminals.

The police spokesperson in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said two bandits were also killed during the gun battle.

Five in Osun

No fewer than five residents of Ilesa, Osun State, were killed during clashes between two rival cult groups and suspected land grabbers.

The report gathered that the fight started on Friday afternoon after some youth, suspected to be cult members, stormed a new building that was being roofed at Omi-Tuntun area of Ilesa and demanded for money from workers at the site.

One witness, Bisi Oyetade, narrated that the hoodlums, who also operate as land grabbers, were told to stop extorting workers at the site by some suspected cultists, said to be relations of the house owner.
Suspected armed bandits on Saturday kidnapped a businesswoman in Tegina in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State and have vowed to return to the town again soon.

The abducted woman, Rabi Usman, is a popular local entrepreneur who runs many businesses in the town, including a bakery.

Residents said a large band of armed bandits stormed the town around 11: 30 p. m. and went straight to the residence of Mrs Usman in the uphill part of Tegina town.

Tegina is the same town where 136 pupils of Islamiyya Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School were abducted on May 30 last year.

Ninety of the students were released three months later on August 26 after their parents reportedly paid N60 million and five new motorcycles as ransom.

Weeks after that May 30 incident, bandits returned to the community and kidnapped four persons at a water factory opposite Government Secondary School, Tegina.

The four victims include a health worker identified as Sani Garba and the owner of the water factory, Bako BK.

The other victims are the manager of the factory, Kasimu Lawan, and one of its workers, Masudu Ibrahim.

The health worker, Mr Garba, was the officer in charge of immunisation in Rafi local government area.

Mr Garba was killed by his captors after collecting N8 million ransom for his release. Mr BK, the owner of the water factory, was luckier as he was released for a ransom of N6 million, one motorcycle and five Java techno phones.

In the latest incident , residents said the bandits, believed to be from the same criminal syndicate terrorising the town, vowed to return for all the affluent residents of the community.

Locals said the bandits, after Saturdays attack, left behind a verbal message that they had the list of wealthy residents and would return for them.

An official of the road transport union in the town, Bello Muhammad, said the message has caused panick among residents.

Mr Muhammad appealed to the state government to deploy a join security team to protect the town.

The bandits numbering about 25, after abducting Mrs Usman, robbed her neighbours of their smartphones.

One of them tried to rustle a cow in a compound but their leader reprimanded him that it was not part of their mission for the day, Mr Muhammad told PREMIUM TIMES.

The Secretary to Niger State Government, Ahmad Matane, who coordinates security activities for the state government, told PREMIUM TIMES, Sunday morning, that he was yet to be briefed about the incident.

The police spokesperson in the state, Wasiu Abiodun, did not respond to phone calls from the reporter to comments on the incident.

Attacks by armed groups have continued in the North-west and Niger State despite repeated government assurance to address the challenge.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently directed the military to respond robustly to killings and kidnappings by bandits in Niger State.

Officials said over 151, 380 people, mostly peasant farmers, were displaced in the state by the activities of bandits in the last two years.

The displaced persons were registered in 13 local government areas, with Rafi council area, neighbouring Zamfara, where Tegina is located, topping the chart with 28,987 displaced persons.
Opeyemi Bamidele, a gubernatorial aspirant in the just concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election in Ekiti, has assured his supporters that he is seeking redress for the blatant abuse of trust during the exercise.

Mr Bamidlele, senator representing Ekiti Central on the platform of the APC, who stated this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, lamented how the process was hijacked by those at the helm of affairs at the Ekiti chapter of APC.

He said: We are of course, taking immediate steps within the confines of our partys constitution and the law to seek redress for this blatant abuse of trust and due process by the state actors.

It is public knowledge that no primary election took place on Thursday, Jan. 27 but yet, rather disappointedly, results were announced based on concocted and fictitious vote counts.

So while we are on this quest to seek an amicable resolution to this impasse, I urge all to remain calm and prayerful that justice and truth will prevail for the benefit of the people of Ekiti.

The primary election won by Abiodun Oyebanji, immediate past Secretary to the State Government, was believed by other aspirants to have been skewed in favour of the winner.

Mr Oyebanji, said to be the anointed candidate of the Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has said he would seek reconciliation with the aggrieved aspirants so that the APC can go into the main election as a formidable unit.

Like Mr Opeyemi, who was the director-general of the Fayemi Campaign Council in the 2018 gubernatorial election in the state, Dayo Adeyeye, a former Minister of State for Works also dismissed the primary election as fraudulent.

(NAN)
The crisis rocking the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, over the dismissal of the chairperson of the institutions chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Akinyemi Omonijo, and another leader of the union, Oluwagbemiga Adeyemi, a professor, is yet to abate.

Six months after an industrial court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, granted an out-of-court settlement terms freely entered into by both the universitys counsels and those representing Mr Omonijo, the university is yet to reinstate the latter.

On the part of Mr Adeyemi, the November 2019 judgement of the industrial court, also in Akure, which upturned his dismissal, was also upheld by an appellate court, aslo sitting in Akure, on October 6, 2021.

But rather than give in, the university on October 15, 2021, filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court, challenging the decision of the lower courts to reinstate Mr Adeyemi.

Omonijo versus FUOYE

Following his dismissal in 2019, Mr Omonijo approached the industrial court in Akure where he was represented by the law chambers of Nigerias rights activist, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, while the university was represented by Mr Ebunolu Adegboruwa, another rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

However, after many months of legal representations in court, in the case with Suit number; NICN/AK/21/2019 Between OMONIJO Akinyemi Gabriel -vs- Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), both the plaintiff and the defendant agreed to settle out of court.

On July 29, 2021, Kiyersohot Damulak, of the industrial court, sat via zoom for the adoption of the report of the terms of settlement in the matter.

Sources confirmed that Taiwo Omidoyin from Falana and Falanas Chambers appeared for the claimant while the the Chairperson of the universitys reconciliation committee, Olugbenga Amu, a professor, and Tosin Adesioye from the Chambers of Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa and Company appeared for the defendant.

Counsels of both parties adopted the terms of settlement and urged the court to enter it as judgment of the Court. After the submission of counsels of both parties, His Lordship pronounced the terms of settlement as consent judgment and judgment of the court on July 29, 2021, a source at the university who does not want to be named for possessing no authority to speak on the matter, told PREMIUM TIMES.

Terms of settlement

According to the documents from the court containing the terms of settlement, and which were obtained by this newspaper, the parties agreed that; That the letters dated 14th and 15th February, 2019 regarding the suspension of the claimant are withdrawn along with the withdrawal of the claimants claims in this suit; the claimant shall be reinstated by the defendant upon the court entering these terms as its judgment in this case; that the claimant shall be paid his outstanding salaries and allowances from February 14, 2019 to June 1, 2021 upon the court entering these terms as judgment of the Court in this suit.

Pursuant to and in consideration of the foregoing, the claimant hereby permanently withdraws and discontinues all his claims against the defendant as contained in his Form of Complaint and Statement of Fact both dated 29th April, 2019 or any claim whatsoever arising from the circumstances that led to this action; that the claimant shall also discontinue the instant suit and further drop all claims against the defendant; that the effective date of this agreement shall be the day of entering of these terms as judgment of the court; that the parties to this suit hereby agree that terms herein contained shall be made the Judgment of This Honourable Court; that each party shall bear its own cost in this suit, and that the parties have further agreed that the above Terms of Settlement shall form the Judgment of This Honourable Court.

However, in November 2021, four months after the settlement terms had been entered, the university wrote Mr Omonijo a letter of reinstatement, but with an additional caveat.

Reinstatement letter

Signed by the universitys acting registrar, who doubles as the secretary to the institutions governing council, Mufutau Ibrahim, the reinstatement letter read in part; I am directed to inform you that the university is in respect of a court judgment in your favour regarding the case you instituted against it, following your dismissal from the services of the university for serious misconduct. Accordingly, the governing council of the university at its 6th extraordinary meeting held on Wednesday, 3rd November, 2021, directed that you be reinstated to the services of the university with immediate effect.

However, considering the nature of the offence you committed which comes under serious misconduct in the PSR 3(030411) and could result in the institution of a criminal case against you, in which case a further disciplinary action would be taken irrespective of the outcome of the criminal proceedings, in deference to the court, Council further directed as follows: you should sign an undertaking to be of good behavior henceforth; and a letter of advice be served on you to desist from any act of misconduct that could disrupt the current peace and tranquility that is being enjoyed in the university.

Accordingly, you are hereby reinstated with immediate effect and advised to desist from any act that can disrupt the peace and stability in the University.

Claimant kicks

Worried by the condition attached to his reinstatement by the university, Mr Omonijo kicked against what he described as a contempt of court, saying the universitys demand for an undertaking was a ploy to tighten another noose on his neck.

In response to the condition, the claimants lawyer on December 14, 2021, via a letter signed by a counsel, Joshua Omidoyin, said while appreciating the university for the efforts, it should obey the court judgement without setting another fresh condition.

The lawyers letter read in part; While appreciating the decision of the University to end the litigation pertaining to the suspension of our Client from duty, we urge the Council to comply with the consent judgment of the National Industrial Court on the matter in every material particular. It is pertinent to note that the Court did not attach any precondition for the reinstatement of our Client.

Thus, the demand for a letter of good behavior on the part of our Client is not part of the terms of the judgment. In order not to be accused of engaging in contempt of Court, we are therefore compelled to request the Council to ensure that the letter for the reinstatement of our Client should reflect the terms of the enrolled judgment of the National Industrial Court.

University defends action

In its response sent to this newspaper by the public relations officer, Foluso Ogunmodede, the university accused both Messrs Omonijo and Adeyemi of misinforming the public, threatening to deal with such conducts appropriately.

The response, which is titled; Reinstatement: FUOYE tackles sacked lecturers for misleading public over courts order, the university accused the duo of being recalcitrant in their conducts.

The university said while Mr Omonijo had failed to honour the terms of settlement provided by its governing council as a precondition for his full reinstatement, the courts ruling in favour of Mr Adeyemi was already being challenged at the Supreme Court and that the claimant was aware of that.

The universitys statement read in part; It would be recalled that this was part of the infractions against the University and the local branch of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) committed by Omonijo and his co-travellers in 2018 which led to the disintegration of the Union in FUOYE and other unpalatable developments that culminated in the indefinite suspension of the duo by the Management to allow peace to reign, and their eventual dismissal and termination of appointment respectively.

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READ ALSO: FUOYE governing council suspends new VC appointment over 120 petitions

We, therefore, advise Omonijo and his co-travellers to stop rushing to the media to misinform and mislead the public as they are the ones trying to be clever by half by evading proper reconciliation terms of settlement as spelt out by the University Regulations.

It further added that it is only rational for the universitys council to ask Omonijo to assure the system that he would henceforth, adhere to the Rules and Regulations of the University before his reinstatement fully, with a view to forestalling a repeat of the unfortunate incidents orchestrated by Omonijo and his co-travellers from 2018 which gave the immediate past administration unnecessary headaches and hiccups.

What is expected of Omonijo in accordance to the Rules of Engagement of the University, FUOYE Governing Council directed Omonijo to append his signature to the terms of reference which would ensure that he puts up good behaviour and remain law-abiding before he is fully reinstated, the statement added.

The university insisted that it is not asking for too much by requesting the lecturer to sign an undertaking that he would not cause disruption of the peace on the campus.

Backstory

In 2018, ASUU, under the leadership of Mr Omonijo, wrote President Muhammadu Buhari through the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, on certain allegations against the university management.

In the 16-page report titled; The State of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti: Matters Arising, the union under the leadership of Mr Omonijo wrote about the sorry state of activities at the institution; a development that prompted Mr Adamu to order the universitys governing council to investigate and submit a report on the allegations contained in the document.

In the report, ASUU-FUOYE lamented the inadequacy of lecture theatres for students and office accommodation for academic staff, lack of standard laboratories, bad road network within the campus, compromised admission process and arbitrary appointment and promotion of staff.

Following the development, Mr Omonijo, a lecturer at the department of water resources management and agrometeorology, was suspended and later dismissed by the university, and was asked to stay away from the premises of the university except otherwise expressed in writing to you.

Meanwhile, as of the time of filing this report, the university had yet to reply to Mr Omonijos lawyers letter, seeking the reversal of the condition attached to the reinstatement offer.
ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Recent military operations conducted by elite Yemeni troops inflicted serious setbacks on the Iran-backed Houthi militia in the fight over Yemen's oil-rich provinces, said a military official.

The Southern Giants Brigades, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, on Sunday continued to launch a large-scale military operation against the Houthi militia in the country's eastern part, said the local official on condition of anonymity.

Following weeks of intense battles, the Southern Giants Brigades succeeded in ejecting the Houthi militia from key strategic areas in the country's oil-rich provinces of Shabwa and Marib, according to the source.

"The Houthis are now attempting to retaliate by using ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones attacks in addition to planting landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)," another official of the pro-coalition Yemeni forces told Xinhua.

"The Houthi rebels gave up fighting and fled their military sites in Marib and Shabwa following the rapid progress of the Giants Brigades on-ground," he said anonymously.

Last week, units of the Giants Brigades captured the whole district of Harib from the Houthis in Marib following days of intense battles and intensified airstrikes, according to local military sources.

They said the Houthis lost other key areas besides Harib as the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces are continuing military progress in the strategic province.

Given the numerous losses, senior Houthi leaders have launch more cross-border missile attacks against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In response, the Saudi-led coalition intensified its aerial bombardment and expanded airstrikes against the Houthi-held sites across the poorest country in the Arab world.

On Friday, the Saudi-led coalition reported that 70 Houthi militia members were killed within 24 hours as part of 24 targeted strikes in Yemen's Marib.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthi militia overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthis forced him into exile. 
The death of Abiola, who had earlier been clamped in detention by Abacha for declaring himself president, exactly a month after Abachas, naturally provoked a conspiracy theory. Although Abubakar said he was grateful to providence that the American delegations presence at the scene of Abiolas death provided enough alibi for his governments innocence in the death, the delegations presence  however  further gave vent to the conspiracy theory.

Trinidad and Tobago-born British writer of works of fiction and non-fiction in English, Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, commonly known as V. S. Naipaul, would seem to have Nigeria and the facts of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiolas death in military detention in mind when he wrote his famous novel, Half of Life. Renowned for and indeed underscored by the Swedish Academy, which awarded him the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature for his incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories, Naipauls Half of Life is a life of lie lionised to be true.

It is the life of Willie Somerset Chandran. Born to a Brahmin father, who gave him the middle name, Somerset, as homage to English writer, Somerset Maugham. He however despised this middle name and in the bid to hide it, he left India for London to study. There, he shrouded that name and faked the facts of his life for many years, mimicking other peoples behavior in the process, in order to hide his past. In the end, reality caught up with Somerset as he had to remove his self-imposed mask and eventually come to terms with the presence of suppressed history.

Since the announcement of his death in detention in 1998, a world in great anticipation of the actual truth of Abiolas sudden death has gotten laden with official narratives that lack logic. It is a cruel world where interrupting a flourishing life midstream is commonplace. It is also a world in which suppressing and masking the truth of lifes interruption is a daily occurrence. Almost 24 years now after his passage, Nigeria has moved on to the next phase of its grisly life-dom. Here, we conclude without a conclusion, because thoroughness and rigour are not part of our social order. The noise of the silence on Abiolas death however persists, leaving an unfinished conversation of how MKO really died.

Military head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, a man who gained from the peace of Abiola and Sani Abachas deaths, recently exhumed the facts of Abiolas passing. And, as they say in arithmetic, QED. The General magisterially packaged these facts, like a mortician, for eternal rest in the morgue. Abubakar had, in a live television programme, quenched the undying fire of speculations that Abiola died after sipping the tea he was offered by a visiting American delegation, led by then Secretary of State for African Affairs, Thomas Pickering, and consisting of Assistant Secretary of State, who later became National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, and Bill Twaddell, the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria. Abubakar said rather than poison that was speculated, Abiola died of natural causes.

Well, I smile because there were lots of allegations here and there that we killed Abiola. As always, when I am talking about the late Abiola, I still thank God for directing me on things to do when he gave me the leadership of this country, he said.

The narrative funneled out by the Abubakar military government was that, at the meeting the American team had with Abiola, he suddenly fell sick and, as Abubakar himself narrated in the recent interview, the security officers called the medical team to come and attend to him, and when they saw the situation, they said it was severe and needed to take him to the medical centre. So, it was the medical team plus the American team that took him to the medical centre, unfortunately, at the medical centre he gave up.

The prequel to Abiolas death was the expiration of the military despot, Sani Abacha, a few weeks earlier. Up until then, Nigeria had been in a political turmoil provoked by General Ibrahim Babangidas stiff-necked decision to annul the June 12, 1993 presidential election. No government in Nigerian history had evoked so much national perspiration as the goggled Generals. Yes, the history of military rule in Africa has been that of the muzzling of freedom and free speech, under Abachas you couldnt even sight the shadows of freedom, not to talk of muzzling it. Nigeria under him can be explained through that 1999 political drama produced by cinematographer, Tunde Kelani, entitled Saworoide. Abacha, the titular head, was not only a despot, his military epaulettes dripped with blood. Opponents of his rule vamoosed in daylight and he clamped dissenters in detention, as easily as ants crowd a diabetics pee. Abiolas wife, Kudirat, was shot dead in broad daylight and people lived in dread and apprehension. When he suddenly died on June 8, 1998, Nigeria exploded in a thunderous orgy of celebrations.

The death of Abiola, who had earlier been clamped in detention by Abacha for declaring himself president, exactly a month after Abachas, naturally provoked a conspiracy theory. Although Abubakar said he was grateful to providence that the American delegations presence at the scene of Abiolas death provided enough alibi for his governments innocence in the death, the delegations presence  however  further gave vent to the conspiracy theory. As at the time, Nigerias intractable crises had proven enough embarrassment to the rest of the world, especially to an America which saw African dictators as hindrances to its self-assigned task of promoting global democracy, human rights and good governance in the Third World. Americas economic interests were also stalling due to the protracted crises. It was thus difficult to glibly impeach the theory spiraling at Abiolas death that his killing was Americas quest to put a permanent end to the democratic impasse that had seized Nigeria like a pestilence.

Susan Rices memoir entitled Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For, which gave an account of what led to Abiolas death, though plausible, is not entirely believable. Rice had served Abiola the infamous cup of tea, which happened to be his last sip alive. She said she offered to give him the tea when Abiola suddenly lapsed into a coughing fit.

Precedence didnt favour America either. Its leading espionage organ, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), had a frightening reputation all over the world for the targeted killing of Americas perceived adversaries or persons who constituted stumbling blocks to its aspirations. While targeted killing is generally a euphemism for state assassination or murder, Americas state kingpins had always seen it as a tool of statecraft. It is supervised by governments and carried out outside judicial procedure and battlefield, but enveloped by the shawl of nationalist determination to neutralise terrorists and combatants. For instance, it is said that 76 children and 29 adult bystanders were killed by the CIA in Americas serial attempts to kill physician and founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) and ally of Al Qaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri. He had been indicted for his alleged role in the August 7, 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.

CIAs notoriety in this regard cuts through a plethora of instances. One of such was Democratic Republic of Congos Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, who was nearly killed on September 26, 1960 by an American called Joe. He had arrived Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) with a poison to administer on Lumumba, which would have manifested as an incurable deadly disease. Lumumba, after a putsch, was later, on January 17, 1961, in company of two associates, Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo, executed by firing squad, with Belgians supervising. The bodies of the three were thrown into shallow graves but later dug up, hacked into pieces and dissolved in acid, as Abacha had ordered done to Ken Saro-Wiwa.

So also was the CIAs attempt to assassinate Chiles leftist politician, Salvador Allende in 1973. Aside ploughing the sum of $3 million into opposition to Allendes 1964 presidential aspiration, on his victory in 1970, President Richard Nixon had approved a whopping sum of $10 million for Allendes overthrow. The same went for Cubas late president, Fidel Castro who, in his own admission, America made 634 futile attempts to assassinate. One of such was a 1960 CIA assassination ploy, in which Castros box of favourite cigars was poisoned with a botulinum toxin, which would have killed him instantly. Popularised by stories of Sherlock Holmes, clostridium botulinum, produced by gram-positive anaerobic bacteria, when ingested in food or applied to an open wound, results in muscle paralysis, paralysis of the respiratory system and then, death.

Even though the U.S. Senate attempted to wipe off these blood stains from Uncle Sam through thorough investigations, culminating in President Gerald Fords 1976 statement that, No employee of the United States government shall engage in, or conspire in, political assassination, the world holds this with a pinch of salt. Many targeted killings allegedly supervised by America are said to have taken place since then.

Susan Rices memoir entitled Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For, which gave an account of what led to Abiolas death, though plausible, is not entirely believable. Rice had served Abiola the infamous cup of tea, which happened to be his last sip alive. She said she offered to give him the tea when Abiola suddenly lapsed into a coughing fit.

About five minutes into the conversation, Abiola started to cough, at first mildly and intermittently, and then rackingly with consistency Noticing a tea service on the table between us, I offered Abiola, Would you like some tea to help calm your cough? Yes, he said, with appreciation, and I poured him a cup. He sipped it, but continued coughing, said Rice. Glib, suasive and evocative, isnt it? She further wrote in the memoir that even upon taking the tea, Abiolas persistent cough revved up and when the team called a doctor to attend to him, he later pronounced his death, after an hour, as due to a heart attack.

The fact that, although MKO was a Muslim, a religion that forbids autopsy notwithstanding, an autopsy was said to have been conducted on his remains, which turned out negative. However, discarding the theory that the June 12 election winner could have been poisoned would be naive. Research has shown that there are ten deadly poisons known to mankind and their powers vary. The poisons are: Arsenic, hemlock, dimethylmercury, polonium 210, mercury, tetrodotoxin, cyanide, atropa belladonna and aconitine. While arsenic is renowned for being the most potent of the lot, harvesting in its sack the hugest cadavers in its fury, it has been in existence since ancient times. It is preferred in targeted killings because it presents without colour, smell or taste. Upon its administration, the victim lapses into vomiting, severe abdominal cramps and ultimately, death. While the list of its preys is endless, Napoleon Bonaparte, George III of England and Simon Bolivar are some of its famous victims.

Like Naipauls Half of Life, in the fullness of time the world may  if indeed they were killed  someday get a full disclosure of what or who actually killed M.K.O and Abacha, as well as other suspected targeted killings by the Nigerian state. It is scary that individuals take out their fellow beings in the name of the state and manage to maintain straight faces, while keeping their scotched hearts from view.

Hemlock was popularised in tales of the Greek philosopher, Socrates execution. It has two variants: poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) and water hemlock (Cicuta species and Oenanthe crocata L). When administered, it presents with such numbing paralysis that, though the individuals mind is continuously working, his/her physical movements grind to a halt by stealth and gradually leads to death. It is the same for dimethylmercury, known to be an extremely poisonous material known also to be a slow killer. Its victim is only aware of a problem when they have begun to sing the nunc dimittis. Even dosages as low as 0.1ml are renowned to be very lethal. This was the case in 1996 when a Dartmouth College, New Hampshire Chemistry teacher had a drop of it trickle down her gloved hand. It went through the gloves latex and an autopsy on her body ten months later indicated that the dimethylmercury led to her death.

It is same for the rest of the poisons. While mercury could be sprayed in the air for victims to sniff to their death, tetrodotoxin is an uncommon poison found inside marine animals like Puffer fish and Octopus. Atropa belladonna poison is found in plants. Aconitine, like Atropa, resides in plants and gained notoriety in history as the poison with which the fourth Roman emperor, Claudius, also known as Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, was killed by his wife, Agrippina The Younger. Murdered at the age of 63, the empress merely mixed aconite with the mushroom meal she gave Claudius, a man who had been afflicted with a limp and slight deafness in the aftermath of sickness at a young age. Traditional Yoruba medicine also believes that the sun dried bile of a leopard ranks as one of the deadliest poisons on earth. Some of these poisons can never be captured by any autopsy and even if they do, they manifest as organ failure.

This is however not to conclude that the tea offered MKO by Rice contained the poison that killed him. He indeed could have died a natural death. The strongest motive for anyone to murder Abiola and Abacha however lay in that, taking them out would ensure a clean slate in the political equation of the Nigerian polity, with both the Nigerian and American political and governmental elites posed to reap bountiful dividends therefrom. Abiolas trial by an ordeal in detention, in the hands of Abacha, could as well have been the gradual poison that killed him. Indeed, knowing how maniacal Abacha was, the General could have caused any of the above poisons to be administered on him, in the hope that his expiration would come gradually. While America will look too sophisticated to allow its topmost officials to be amateurishly present at a proposed murder scene, especially with a not too salutary global renown in targeted killings, sometimes, confidence has been held to lead to slips and errors.

Suspicions of Nigerian and international complicity in MKOs death were further reinforced by the not too dissimilar pattern of his and Abachas expiration. While Abacha gradually bloated in his latter days on earth, with a noticeable podgy face, as seen in his far-between TV appearances, his corpse had allegedly distended significantly at burial point. General Abubakar, while attempting to disclaim governments hand in his death, would seem to be saying that the sudden sickness that took Abiolas life was the result of a heart disease. But heart diseases dont come about suddenly. The fact that a government doctor allegedly attached to treat him in detention didnt identify hitherto that his heart was tensioned signifies a suspected lax or nil medical attention from government to him.

Like Naipauls Half of Life, in the fullness of time the world may  if indeed they were killed  someday get a full disclosure of what or who actually killed MKO and Abacha, as well as other suspected targeted killings by the Nigerian state. It is scary that individuals take out their fellow beings in the name of the state and manage to maintain straight faces, while keeping their scotched hearts from view.

Unlike in the west, Nigeria does not have shamus agencies and organisations whose operations are independent of the state and who help to puncture these bloody balloons of knotty state and individual murders. Such efforts, aided by a police organisation that knew its onions, led to the unraveling of the killing in May last year of prominent Brazilian conservationist, Joao Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do EspIrito Santo da, who were ambushed while riding on bicycles in Para state, near the city of Maraba. The bodies of the couple were found in Praialta-Piranheira, the nature reserve where they resided for 24 years, with Claudios ear wickedly cut off. He had repeatedly warned that those who issued persistent death threats to him, consisting of loggers and cattle ranchers, might not relent until they got him.

Of course, like every other sector of the Nigerian life, journalistic investigative reporting is almost as dead as a dodo. Otherwise, well-funded media investigators could also undertake to unravel targeted killings. Though the investigations could take years, they will ultimately remove the shawls covering the identities of assassins covered in state clothing, which many of our leaders are.

Festus Adedayo is an Ibadan-based journalist.
The Nigerian presidency is serious business. It hurts when charlatans seize the moment to steal a place in the sun. We need a president who comes ready-made. There is no room for learning on the job. And there are some kinds of experience that we can do without. We dont need an experienced thief in government.

The 2023 election will be like no other. Its outcome will either make or mar Nigeria. Should an unprepared president emerge winner, he will be inheriting a poisoned chalice in the form of the many social, fiscal, religious and security problems the current government will hand over to him. But should a ready-made leader be entrusted with sorting out the mess, every challenge will become an opportunity to conquer the odds and excel.

The same set of challenges that constitute a poisoned chalice to one unprepared candidate, are embraced as a welcome opportunity to re-engineer the society for optimal service delivery by another gifted leader. One mans daunting challenge is another mans glorious opportunity.

Because of the large-scale deprivation that the masses of our people have been subjected to, the coming elections are not likely to follow the traditional alphabetical tango of ADC, YPP, APC, APGA, PDP, ZLP , etc. This time, the alphabet wont matter. People will want to scrutinise the credentials and pedigree of aspirants. Unlike never before, Nigerians are going to reject a naked politicians promise to clothe them. And this will be done beyond partisan party divides. The hard times have taught Nigerians that poverty has no tribe and that good governance has no political party.

Although the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) will remain dominant in the foreseeable future, voters are not likely to be as attached to them as they were at the dawn of the current spell of democracy in 1999. This is because the people have found out that the main difference between the two leading political parties, is the alphabets with which they are christened.

It wasnt so long ago when PDP appeared to be the problem with Nigeria. Seven years after the exit of that party from the presidency, the people are rueing their discovery that APC is not necessarily the solution. Many people even wonder if the parties havent become the private properties of moneybags and feudal lords.

We are not alone in this predicament. In 1796, President George Washington lambasted political parties for allowing cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men to subvert the power of the people. A research conducted in 2018 supported his view, as it was found that 38 per cent of U.S. voters identified themselves as unaffiliated with either of the two leading political parties.

If the same kind of research were carried out in Nigeria, I wager that more than 50 per cent of the people will confess that they cant be bothered about the alphabetical colour of their councillor or governor or legislator or president. And even if we were to limit the research to the real verifiable numbers of members in party registers nationwide, it will be found that those who are registered members of political parties are less than half of the population.

Nothing unites people like adversity  the licking of the stew of sorrow and misery by the wretched of our earth who had, over time, invested time and emotions in the ability of the political elite to deliver good governance, only for such hopes to be dashed. The people have now acquired what my Warri fast-guy calls wiseness (as carefully distinguished from wisdom).

Ideally, no wise nation borrows more than 40 per cent of its GDP. Nigeria is already at 36.9 per cent. We are nearing the tipping point and life is already excruciating for the masses of the people. Imagine if and when we do cross the 40 per cent mark. With well over 10 million out-of-school children and a rapacious elite that specialises in setting bad examples, the fear over Nigerias future is further heightened by the projection that the countrys population will balloon to 401 million by 2050.

It was that kind of wiseness that informed the highly impactful videos of Nuseir Yassin (Nas Daily) which have garnered 43.6 million followers. In one of those clips, he compares governance to piloting a plane. Suppose the people were asked to choose between two pilots: Mr A shows them his pilots licence with a rich flying record; he promises to abide by all aviation rules and fly them safely to destination, while Mr B promises that he will allow all of them to fly in Business Class free of charge.

Who is likely to win the vote? Mr B, of course, despite the fact that he knows next to nothing about flying a plane. This is how we all crash! says Yassin, Most humans vote using their feelings and not their brains. And that is democracys danger.

Nigerians can now see the link between whoever calls the shots from Aso Rock and the cost of a bag of garri. They can now understand that out of every one naira earned by Nigeria, 90 kobo is spent on paying interests on loans. With only 10 kobo left for other expenses, including developmental projects, the country has resorted to borrowing. Most of the monies borrowed are not even invested in projects that will yield returns to pay off the loans.

Ideally, no wise nation borrows more than 40 per cent of its GDP. Nigeria is already at 36.9 per cent. We are nearing the tipping point and life is already excruciating for the masses of the people. Imagine if and when we do cross the 40 per cent mark. With well over 10 million out-of-school children and a rapacious elite that specialises in setting bad examples, the fear over Nigerias future is further heightened by the projection that the countrys population will balloon to 401 million by 2050.

The global population growth is 1.05 per cent per year while that of Nigeria is 2.6 per cent. As if to snigger at those population experts, one federal legislator recently celebrated the birth of his 28th child openly. It is examples such as this that the economically marginalised masses follow to their peril.

The story has been told, ad nauseam, about how the almajiri system has contributed significantly to the birth of Boko Haram and banditry in the North. Yet, there is no serious plan by the affected states to discourage irresponsible parenting. Some politicians who see the urchins as pests think that the easiest solution is to load them with motorcycles in cattle-carrying trailers to the South of the country where, it is assumed, they can fend for themselves. The point is, how many can be so transported and how elastic is the capacity of their new hosts? Do we even care?

Whenever youre travelling out of the country, make sure you visit the business class cabin. Youll discover that all government officials still fly business class together with their entire families. For a country living on borrowed funds, the only word that faintly describes our attitude to public expenditure is reckless.

If the eyes patiently cast their gaze downwards, they will behold the ridge of the nose. The elite ought to be wondering how those on the lower rungs of lifes ladder have been coping in these hard times. Several years ago, one mudu of garri sold for N150 at the Garki market, Abuja. Today, it is N500. How do people cope? And yet, the pseudo-middle class is groaning more than ever before because the line that separated them from the lowly is fast eroding.

I have seen quite a number of potato cans advertising themselves as presidential aspirants. Some are doing it for the glamour; some, because they want to add former presidential aspirant to their CVs, and there are others who are doing it, believe it or not, to stay out of jail (If you know, you know!)

While so many people in government seem to hold fast to the misguided notion that they can tax their way into balancing the books, I have news for them. The current regime of taxes is forcing several small businesses to close shop.

Now that the removal of the opaque subsidy on petrol has been shifted forward by another 18 months, whoever becomes president in 2023 has his work cut out for him. He had better be knowledgeable in world economic systems and have the strength of character to stand up to the political vultures who always hover around the corridors of power in search of economic carrion.

I have seen quite a number of potato cans advertising themselves as presidential aspirants. Some are doing it for the glamour; some, because they want to add former presidential aspirant to their CVs, and there are others who are doing it, believe it or not, to stay out of jail (If you know, you know!)

The Nigerian presidency is serious business. It hurts when charlatans seize the moment to steal a place in the sun. We need a president who comes ready-made. There is no room for learning on the job. And there are some kinds of experience that we can do without. We dont need an experienced thief in government.

We should be seeking out our sons and daughters who are high flyers in continental and global organisations, just as Obasanjo sought out several of our technocrats from the international arena to take charge of strategic sectors during his time as president. Obasanjo paid off our debts. But see where we are now: Living at the river bank but washing our face with saliva.

When the U.S. was in recession, it cured insanity with madness by spending its way out of the bind. It took a president who understood modern economics to leverage on the multiplier effect of such an unprecedented intervention.

If I was a kingmaker or godfather or political juggernaut, if I had a say in the matter, I would think outside the box and draft Dr Akinwumi Adesina of the African Development Bank (AfDB) to come home and do his world acclaimed magic here.

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Wole Olaoye is a public relations consultant and veteran journalist. He can be reached on wole.olaoye@gmail.com, Twitter: @wole_olaoye; Instagram: woleola2021.
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
Parent Market Analysis

Technavio categorizes the global mechanical keyboard market as a part of the global IT spending market within the global information technology (IT) market.

Technavio uses the total revenue generated by manufacturers to estimate the global mechanical keyboard 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 mechanical keyboard market throughout the forecast period, Download a free sample.

Mechanical Keyboard Market Value Chain Analysis

To maximize profit margins and evaluate business plans, an end-to-end understanding of mechanical keyboard is required. The report will help vendors drive costs and enhance customer services during the forecast period.

Research and development

Developers or manufacturers

Sales and distribution

End-users

To unlock information about vendor drive costs and customer service, download our free sample report.

Vendor Insights

The mechanical keyboard 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 mechanical keyboard market, including some of the vendors such as Corsair Gaming Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., HP Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., Logitech International SA, Metadot Corp., Rapoo Europe BV, Razer Inc., SteelSeries ApS, Xiaomi Corp.

Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the mechanical keyboard market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Product Insights and News

Corsair Gaming Inc. - Offers mechanical gaming keyboards such as K60 RGB PRO, K60 RGB PRO SE, and others.

Offers mechanical gaming keyboards such as K60 RGB PRO, K60 RGB PRO SE, and others. Dell Technologies Inc. - O ffers a wide range of mechanical gaming keyboards with programmable macro keys, onboard memory and iconic Alienware design.

ffers a wide range of mechanical gaming keyboards with programmable macro keys, onboard memory and iconic Alienware design. HP Inc. - Offers mechanical gaming keyboards such as HyperX Alloy Origins, Alloy Core RGB, and others.

The mechanical keyboard market forecast report offers in-depth insights into key vendor profiles and offerings  Download Free Sample Report

Geographical Highlights

The mechanical keyboard market share growth in APAC will be significant during the forecast period. China and Japan are the key markets for mechanical keyboards in APAC. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in North America, Europe, MEA, and South America.

The increasing availability of personal computers (PCs) that incorporate high-end features at competitive prices has resulted in high demand for such PCs and other peripheral devices, such as mechanical keyboards, in countries such as India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. The increase in disposable income of people in the region, as well as the adoption of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) paradigm, are driving demand for mechanical keyboards in these countries. Various government initiatives in the region also drive the market. Digital India, for example, is a government initiative campaign started by the Indian government to ensure that its services are made available to citizens electronically by upgrading online infrastructure, increasing Internet connectivity, and making the country more digital.

Moreover, countries like the US, China, Japan, Germany, and the UK are the key market for the mechanical keyboard market in APAC, owing to the presence of several hardware manufacturers and the availability of low-cost products in this region.

To unlock the top strategies practiced by the maximum growth generating region, View Sample Report

Key Market Dynamics-

Mechanical Keyboard Key Market Drivers:

Growth of e-commerce

Online purchasing is becoming more convenient as a result of factors such as simple availability and low-cost products, which are driving up the usage of mechanical keyboards. Amazon.com, ALIBABA GROUP, and eBay are three famous e-commerce platforms that give discounts and extensive descriptions of product features on their online portals to acquire customers' trust. The growing use of the Internet and smartphones, as well as increased customer trust in online shopping and the availability of simple payment and refund alternatives, have all contributed to the global e-commerce market rise. Such factors are projected to have a beneficial impact on the market's growth over the forecast period.

Mechanical Keyboard Key Market Trends:

Product innovations

Mechanical keyboards were previously utilized with personal computers. However, the gaming industry has progressed technologically throughout time. Gamers seek high-quality peripherals to enhance their gaming experience, such as mechanical keyboards. As a result, graphically enhanced and more realistic in appearance, gaming-specific technology such as laptops, headphones, and keyboards provide players with the ideal gaming experience. Furthermore, mechanical keyboard improvements give consumers a more enhanced gaming experience, which is expected to assist the global mechanical keyboard market's growth throughout the forecast period.

Download a free sample for highlights on market Drivers & Trends affecting the mechanical keyboard market.

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Related Reports:

Computer Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

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Mechanical Keyboard Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.47% Market growth 2022-2026 $ 138.96 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 2.34 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, MEA, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 47% Key consumer countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and the UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Corsair Gaming Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., HP Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., Logitech International SA, Metadot Corp., Rapoo Europe BV, Razer Inc., SteelSeries ApS, and Xiaomi Corp. 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 provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
HAIKOU, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- A huge argument broke out between Guan Wanhou and his father.

"No way! Making agarwood is a craft passed down for generations within the family, how can I possibly share our secrets with other villagers," said Guan Yiguang, the old Guan, turning down his son's suggestion to teach their techniques to other villagers.

"Times have changed! If you want to make it big in this business, you can't just work on your own," his son argued.

Agarwood, better known as Chen Xiang in China, is known for being fragrant and having medicinal effects in traditional Chinese medicine. It is often used for perfume, incense, and souvenir carvings.

The Guan family are residents of Qinbiao Village in Ledong Li Autonomous County in south China's Hainan Province. The family is excellent at cultivating agarwood.

Guan Wanhou is a sixth-generation inheritor of the agarwood-making craft in his family. In 2006, he retired from the military and went back to his hometown to pass on the craft from his father.

Years have passed, but Guan's wish to make it big in the business has not been realized, especially as the country has banned the harvest of wild agarwood.

"I felt like I was working on my own," he said.

The junior Guan went to ask why local villagers were reluctant to grow aquilaria trees.

"They told me that they did not know the proper techniques to make agarwood and that they did not want to spend too much time on something they were not sure of," he said.

Guan then started talking his father into sharing their agarwood-making craft with locals so that more people would join them. The elder Guan argued heavily with his son, but eventually gave in.

"I told my dad that agarwood has a huge market, and supply is dwarfed by demand," the junior Guan said.

Guan Wanhou then started persuading local villagers to plant aquilaria trees and promised to teach them agarwood-making techniques.

Some local residents agreed and have been gaining skills in planting and caring for aquilaria trees and agarwood-making.

With the help of Guan Wanhou, villagers have grown about 50,000 aquilaria trees, but the plantation area is still "less than expected," Guan said.

"The main reason is the lack of land," Guan said, adding that he plans to encourage villagers to plant the trees in front of and behind their houses or grow the trees in existing fields such as rubber tree fields.

"We have about 800 families in the village, and if we can grow the trees around each family and along village roads, we will have at least 200,000 aquilaria trees," he said.

The trees are evergreen and can add to local greening efforts, he said.

"If we cultivate agarwood from all the trees we grow, we will surely reap a good harvest," Guan said. "It will be really exciting!"

The Hainan provincial government is encouraging the development of the agarwood industry, with a work plan in 2019 advocating the plantation of aquilaria trees to help people gain more income. Currently, the province has about 10,000 hectares of the trees. More than 1,250 companies have registered in Hainan in the field.

Guan plans to cultivate 250,000 aquilaria tree seedlings this year and give some of the seedlings to local residents for free.

"I hope the industry will truly take root in the village," he said. "I can't wait."

China has grown up to 67,000 hectares of aquilaria trees, which produce agarwood, but quality agarwood remains limited, and about 80 percent of agarwood used in China comes from imports, according to Cheng Qian, with the China Council for the Promotion of Environment and Forestry, citing latest figures.

Cheng said measures such as detailing industrial standards and strengthening market supervision should be taken to make breakthroughs in the development of the industry. 
TORONTO, Jan. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX: ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") announces that, as a result of a review by staff of the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC"), the Company is issuing the following news release regarding our disclosure on the Don Mario Property.

On December 29, 2020, the Company filed a technical report effective September 30, 2020, on the Don Mario oxide stockpile project, located on the Don Mario Property (the "Stockpile Technical Report"). On December 29, 2021, the Company filed a technical report effective September 30, 2021, on the tailings reprocessing project, also located on the Don Mario Property (the "Tailings Technical Report").

Both projects on the Don Mario Property were reported independently as the mineral resource base are not connected. OSC staff advised that under the definition of a technical report in NI 43-101, there can be only one current technical report in respect of a property. Any time a new technical report is filed, it will replace the previously filed technical report on that property and must include the material scientific and technical information which is still current and relevant to that property. Consequently, the Stockpile Technical Report and the Tailings Technical Report do not comply with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and Form 43-101F1  Technical Report ("Form 43-101F1").

As a result, the Company is in the process of preparing a new technical report (the "Amended Technical Report") that will effectively merge the disclosure contained in the Stockpile Technical Report and the Tailings Technical Report as both projects are located on the same property and information in respect of both is required for the technical report to be current.

OSC staff also identified certain other deficiencies in the Stockpile Technical Report and Tailings Technical Report related to missing disclosure that is required under several Items in Form 43-101F1, each of which will be rectified in the Amended Technical Report. The Company has engaged an independent technical consultant to assist in reviewing and preparing the Amended Technical Report to comply with the NI 43-101 requirements, and anticipates filing the Amended Technical Report on or before the date that is 45 days from the date hereof.

The Company will issue a subsequent press release when the Amended Technical Report is filed on the Company's SEDAR profile.

ABOUT ORVANA - Orvana is a multi-mine gold-copper-silver company. Orvana's assets consist of the producing El Valle and Carles gold-copper-silver mines in northern Spain, the Don Mario gold-silver property in Bolivia, currently in care and maintenance, and the Taguas property located in Argentina. Additional information is available at Orvana's website (www.orvana.com).

Cautionary Statements - Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this presentation constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, potentials, future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "believes", "expects", "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "are projected to" be taken or achieved) are not statements of historical fact, but are forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements herein relate to, among other things, Orvana's ability to address the deficiencies raised by staff of the Ontario Securities Commission and to complete and file the Amended Technical Report within the time frame set out above." I know some issuers like to keep all the boiler plate even when not required. If you choose to simplify then the below could be simplified as well.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, which includes, without limitation, as particularly set out in the notes accompanying the Company's most recently filed financial statements. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained or incorporated by reference in this information, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to the various assumptions set forth herein and in Orvana's most recently filed Management's Discussion & Analysis and Annual Information Form in respect of the Company's most recently completed fiscal year (the "Company Disclosures") or as otherwise expressly incorporated herein by reference as well as: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, whether due to labour disruptions, supply disruptions, power disruptions, damage to equipment or otherwise; permitting, development, operations, expansion and acquisitions at El Valle and Don Mario being consistent with the Company's current expectations; political developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations; certain price assumptions for gold, copper and silver; prices for key supplies being approximately consistent with current levels; production and cost of sales forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Orvana's current expectations; and the availability of necessary funds to execute the Company's plan. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, this presentation also contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including, without limitation, statements with respect to the results of the preliminary economic assessment, including but not limited to the mineral resource estimation, conceptual mine plan and operations, internal rate of return, sensitivities, taxes, net present value, potential recoveries, design parameters, operating costs, capital costs, production data and economic potential; the timing and costs for production decisions; permitting timelines and requirements; exploration and planned exploration programs; the potential for discovery of additional mineral resources; timing for completion of a feasibility study; timing for first gold production at Taguas; processing the stockpile at El Valle in connection with the metal production catch-up program; identifying additional resources beyond the replenishment of annual depletion rates at El Valle for the extension of mine life; issuing an expanded resource PEA for Taguas in a timely manner; completion of the infill drilling program at Taguas; making a decision on the oxides stockpile at Don Mario in a timely manner; and the Company's general objectives and strategies.

A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include: the potential impact of the COVID-19 on the Company's business and operations, including: our ability to continue operations; our ability to manage challenges presented by COVID-19; the accounting treatment of COVID-19 related matters; Orvana's ability to prevent and/or mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases at or near our mines; our ability to support the sustainability of our business including through the development of crisis management plans, increasing stock levels for key supplies, monitoring of guidance from the medical community, and engagement with local communities and authorities; fluctuations in the price of gold, silver and copper; the need to recalculate estimates of resources based on actual production experience; the failure to achieve production estimates; variations in the grade of ore mined; variations in the cost of operations; the availability of qualified personnel; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals and licenses; the Company's ability to use cyanide in its mining operations; risks generally associated with mineral exploration and development, including the Company's ability to continue to operate the El Valle and/or ability to resume long-term operations at the Carles Mine; the Company's ability to successfully implement a sulphidization circuit and ancillary facilities to process the current oxides stockpiles at Don Mario; the Company's ability to successfully carry out development plans at Taguas; sufficient funding to carry out development plans at Taguas and to process the oxides stockpiles at Don Mario; the Company's ability to acquire and develop mineral properties and to successfully integrate such acquisitions; the Company's ability to execute on its strategy; the Company's ability to obtain financing when required on terms that are acceptable to the Company; challenges to the Company's interests in its property and mineral rights; current, pending and proposed legislative or regulatory developments or changes in political, social or economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates; general economic conditions worldwide; current and future environmental matters; and the risks identified in the Company's disclosures. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's Disclosures for a description of additional risk factors.

Any forward-looking statements made herein with respect to the anticipated development and exploration of the Company's mineral projects are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this information are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future operating activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

SOURCE Orvana Minerals Corp.
HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Relief is coming for eligible homeowners in the Commonwealth who are struggling with their mortgage payments or other housing expenses as a result of COVID-19 pandemic-related financial hardships.

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) announced today that February 1 will mark the statewide launch of the Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund, or PAHAF, administered by PHFA. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was awarded more than $350 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds through the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF).

"This program will be a life raft for the rising number of homeowners facing possible loss of their homes and foreclosure as a result of the financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their lives," said Governor Tom Wolf. "We are pleased to announce that the Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund is now available to assist the state's homeowners who need it most."

The fund supports Pennsylvania homeowners whose household income is at or below 150% of the area median income (AMI) and are facing financial hardships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. PAHAF will use these funds to provide eligible Pennsylvania homeowners with much-needed assistance to prevent and/or ease mortgage delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, displacement and utility disconnection.

"Across the Commonwealth, homeowners have struggled to cope with pandemic-related financial hardships," said PHFA Executive Director and CEO Robin Wiessmann. "The launch of PAHAF ensures that eligible Pennsylvania homeowners receive the support and stability they need now more than ever. PHFA has been working diligently to launch this program, and we know it will be critical to keeping Pennsylvanians in their homes and supporting our state's economic recovery."

When PAHAF applications open on Feb. 1, it will be possible to complete them entirely online, eliminating the need for paper submissions and simplifying the process for applicants. For those who may need in-person assistance with their applications, housing counseling agencies and legal service providers across the state will be available to help. Homeowners will be able to apply online for PAHAF and see a list of organizations that can assist them by visiting www.pahaf.org or by calling the PAHAF call center at 888-987-2423. The call center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To qualify for this assistance, eligible Pennsylvania homeowners must have experienced a reduction of income or increase in living expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic after January 21, 2020 (including a hardship that began before January 21, 2020 but continued after that date). They also must currently own and occupy their home in Pennsylvania as their primary residence. In addition, the program has specific income requirements to be eligible. To see the full list of eligibility requirements, visit https://pahaf.org/am-i-eligible/.

Available PAHAF assistance programs include mortgage reinstatement assistance, forward mortgage payment assistance, assistance related to housing property charges and utility payment assistance to avoid displacement. Funds will be distributed directly to mortgage lenders, servicers, utility providers and other authorized third parties, not to homeowners. Homeowners and other interested parties are encouraged to visit www.pahaf.org to explore PAHAF resources and information.

About PHFA

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency works to provide affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. Through its carefully managed mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments, PHFA also promotes economic development across the state. Since its creation by the legislature in 1972, it has generated more than $15.9 billion of funding for more than 186,412 single-family home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 138,000 rental units, distributed approximately $191 million to support local housing initiatives, and saved the homes of more than 50,520 families from foreclosure. PHFA programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities and from fees paid by program users, not by public tax dollars. The agency is governed by a 14-member board.

Contacts:

SOURCE Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
JINGDEZHEN, China, Jan. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Countless failures complemented by the close-knit Dragon Kiln Tempering can create unique blue-and-white porcelain. For centuries, the craftsman's skills and spirit have been polished and tempered on and on. In League of Legends, a brand-new story of inheritance and protection is being written by a new group of guardians.

In Tencent's college marketing project of 2022 League of Legends theme skin release, League of Legends released the blue-and-white porcelain theme skin, allowing players worldwide to experience the charm of Chinese porcelain culture more abundantly. At the same time, the MV about blue and white porcelain, which called Sculpting Me, was jointly created by the League of Legends and Jingdezhen Municipal Bureau of Culture Radio Television Press Publication and Tourism, and dedicated to the heroes who have inherited thousands of years of history and firmly guarded the traditional Chinese porcelain culture.

https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4730324438155359

In the Sculpting Me, different types of kiln such as Zhongzhen Kiln and Gourd Kiln in Jingdezhen Ancient Kiln Folk Customs Expo area, as well as scenes including Gaoling Chinese Village appear in turn, showing people the ancient porcelain industry architecture and the hand-made history of Jingdezhen in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Porcelain and craftsmanship will explore the context of China's millennium ceramic culture together.

https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4729232623075356

Combined with the launch of this skin, Mr. Xie Xiaoming, a famous modern ceramic artist in China, associate professor of Jingdezhen Ceramic University, and inheritor of Jingdezhen ceramic decoration, revealed the mystery of blue and white porcelain production by interpreting the production process of blue and white porcelain. After thousands of years of development, blue and white porcelain has also presented different appearances in different historical periods. The blue and white porcelain skin of the League of Legends embodies a variety of fine brushwork techniques, porcelain shape, glaze technology and so on, containing the history of blue and white porcelain craftsmanship.

The League of Legends and Jingdezhen Municipal Bureau of Culture Radio Television Press Publication and Tourism have cooperated, aiming to interpret and promote Jingdezhen ceramic culture through the League of Legends IP digitally, promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of ceramic culture. It shows the world what the Jingdezhen heritage is by tourism and sculpture. The charm of ceramics for thousands of years conveys the beauty of the national style of blue and white porcelain and shows the appeal of "China".

The inheritance does not stop, and the culture does not stop. The League of Legends blue and white porcelain series skins combine game skins with Chinese intangible cultural heritage in the way of innovative cultural inheritance, which is a living inheritance of the traditional blue and white porcelain culture. Taking games as a carrier will also be a new way and a new platform for cultural exchange and output. To illuminate traditional culture with science and technology, to magnify the historical value, cultural value and brand value of Jingdezhen, adhering to the dissemination of excellent traditional Chinese culture and innovative ways to tell more people the beautiful story of China in the new era.

SOURCE Tencent
Parent Market Overview

Technavio categorizes the restaurant management software as a part of the global application software market within the global IT software market. The parent global IT software market covers companies that are engaged in developing and producing application and system software. The global application software market covers companies that are engaged in developing and producing software designed for specialized applications for the business or consumer market.

Technavio calculates the global IT software market size based on combined revenue generated by companies that are engaged in the provision of all types of IT software, including cloud-based software. It includes software license revenues and subscription revenues. Maintenance and support services fees charged by vendors are also included within the software revenues.

Understand the Restaurant Management Market Hierarchy and Gain Further Insights by Downloading Our Sample!

Market Competitive Landscape

The restaurant management software market is fragmented. The degree of fragmentation is likely to intensify in the upcoming years as the restaurant management software market players are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. Technavio has classified the industry-focused market players into dominant and strong players based on their annual revenues and market shares in this report. Some of the key players covered in this report include Fiserv Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Lightspeed Commerce Inc., Microsoft Corp., NCR Corp., Oracle Corp., Revel Systems Inc., Square Inc., Toast Inc., and TouchBistro Inc. among others.

Strategic Initiatives and Products launches

Fiserv Inc . - The company offers restaurant management software namely Clover Flex.

. - The company offers restaurant management software namely Clover Flex. Oracle Corp.: The company offers restaurant management software namely Simphony.

The company offers restaurant management software namely Simphony. Revel Systems Inc.: The company offers restaurant management software namely Revel Restaurant POS software.

For more insights on competitive strategies and market share of over 20 companies discussed in detail, Get Our Sample Report Right Here!

Value Chain Insights

Vendors in the market can leverage and formulate effective strategies from the Restaurant Management Software Market Value Chain Analysis covered extensively in this report. The end-to-end understanding of the value chains and stakeholders involved in the process is essential for vendors in optimizing profit margin and evaluating business strategies. The report has further elucidated on other innovative approaches being followed by vendors to ensure a sustainable market presence.

An elaborated analysis on the following core components are covered in this report:

Inputs

Software development process

Marketing and distribution

Post-selling services

Innovation

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Growing Foodservice Industry to Boost the Market Positively

There has been a surge in the demand for convenient food options among middle-income households and surging number of working women in the emerging economies. The rising number of restaurants as well as the need to improve customer experience and reduce expenses are necessitating improvements in restaurant operations. These factors will drive the growth of the global restaurant management software market during the forecast period.

Complications associated with transitioning from traditional systems likely to hinder the restaurant management software market growth

Vendors are facing limitations in transitioning from traditional systems to modern systems mainly in terms of appointment of dedicated teams, implementation of processes, and software management. Clear security measures are also required to ensure that data are not accessed by unauthorized users. The prevalence of these challenges might impede the growth of the market during the forecast period.

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COVID Impact and Recovery Analysis

The COVID-19-induced restrictions negatively impacted businesses, particularly those in the hotel and hospitality sector, which, in turn, negatively impacted the deployment of restaurant management software in 2020. The market is showing slowed growth in 2021 as well. However, with the initiation of COVID-19 vaccination drives, the demand for restaurant management software is expected to increase from 2022, thereby driving the market in North America during the forecast period.

View report to learn more about the pandemic impact on the market and the industry

Revenue-Generating Segment Highlights

The on-premise deployment segment held the largest restaurant management software market share in 2021. The segment will continue to retain its dominance in the market as on-premise deployments enable real-time monitoring of restaurant management software solutions. It also ensures complete security of enterprise data, such as source codes, version enhancements, and source code change histories.

North America will emerge as the largest revenue-generating regional segment of the restaurant management software market. 46% of the market's growth will be contributed from this region d during the forecast period. The US and Canada are the key markets for restaurant management software in North America. The market growth in these economies can be attributed to several factors including the rapid urbanization, increasing disposable income, well-organized nature of the foodservice industry, and market penetration of vendors.

Download Sample Report for Market Share Information of each contributing segment and top 20+ countries covered exclusively in this report

Key Report Takeaways

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will drive restaurant management software market growth during the next five years

Precise estimation of the restaurant management software market size and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the restaurant management software market in North America , APAC, Europe , MEA, and South America and top 20 countries across these regions

, APAC, , MEA, and and top 20 countries across these regions A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on over 20 industry-focused market vendors classified as dominant and strong players

Impact of lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, demand destruction, and change in customer behavior

Pre as well as post COVID-19 market estimates

Optimistic, base case, and pessimistic scenarios for all markets as the impact of pandemic unfolds

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Restaurant Management Software Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 14.04% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 2.95 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 12.98 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 46% Key consumer countries US, Canada, Germany, France, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Fiserv Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Lightspeed Commerce Inc., Microsoft Corp., NCR Corp., Oracle Corp., Revel Systems Inc., Square Inc., Toast Inc., and TouchBistro Inc. 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 focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.technavio.com

SOURCE Technavio
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Key Agrochemicals Sourcing and Procurement Report Highlights:

Market growth 2021-2025 : USD 46.6 Billion

: Growth momentum & CAGR : Accelerate at a CAGR of 3.55%

: Accelerate at a CAGR of 3.55% Top Pricing Models : Volume based pricing, and Spot pricing

: Volume based pricing, and Spot pricing Key consumer countries : North America , Europe , and APAC

: , , and APAC Supplier Selection Criteria : Technical specifications, Operational requirements, Acceptance criteria, and Evaluation criteria

: Technical specifications, Operational requirements, Acceptance criteria, and Evaluation criteria Top Suppliers: China National Chemical Corp., Bayer AG, and BASF SE

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Insights into Supplier Selection and Evaluation:

Profile and service capabilities of the service provider, industry specialization of the service providers, reputation of service providers, and assessment of value-added services are some of the most critical parameters that buyers use to shortlist the suppliers in equipment finance.

This report evaluates suppliers based on security measures, capacity, pricing, and geographical presence. In addition, suppliers are also shortlisted based on business needs, technical specifications, operational requirements, security compliance, regulatory mandates, legal requirements, quality control, change management procedures, pricing models, penalty clauses, sla nuances, evaluation criteria, and working environment.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, www.spendedge.com/report/agrochemicals-market-procurement-research-report

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Agrochemicals 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 Agrochemicals 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.

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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

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SOURCE SpendEdge
BEIJING, Jan. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The fourth China Daily Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition (BRESC), with the theme of "As time goes by, all things are revealed", kicked off. Focusing on cultural communication, the competition welcomes talents from all over the world. The event will harness both online and offline formats to gather creative and diverse ideas and wisdom from global youth.

The China Daily Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition is a prestigious, internationally recognized competition for public-speaking lovers from all over the world. Initiated in 2019, it is known for its multicultural and youthful nature, and is committed to building a platform for teenagers to interact and learn from each other globally. Till now, the competition has attracted more than a thousand contestants from 51 countries and regions to participate, achieving great success. Young people from Belt and Road (B&R) countries have enjoyed themselves in previous competitions held in Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Chengdu respectively. It doesn't matter where you come from, as long as you have something to say, this opportunity is the one for you.

The fourth Competition began on January 28, 2022. Individuals aged 16 to 22 (born in 1995-2006) from around the world are cordially invited to take part. The event consists of three stages, including the preliminary contest (January - June), the quarter-final (June - July), and the semi-final/final (August).

By sharing their different perspectives and cultural backgrounds, together, the competition's contestants create a rich tapestry of ideas and topics. Novais, a contestant from Hungary in the first BRESC, quoted ancient Greek philosophers to discuss the nature of justice: "Plato listed 'justice' as the most important virtue in The Republic whereas the sophist Thrasymachus said that 'power is justice'."

Wu Bojin, the first runner-up of the second BRESC, expressed his confidence when faced with the narrow-mindedness and egocentrism in the pandemic: "there are certain values that bind us together and reveal our common humanity - a universal longing to live a life that is free from fear, a life marked by dignity and respect and simple justice."

Duliya Desilva, the champion of the third BRESC, discussed the relationship between cooperation and competition: "as is shown in the Olympic Games, competition can promote cooperation." Important virtues, such as passion, creativity, and commitment, are commonly referenced in the young contestants' speeches for BRESC.

Serving as a cultural exchange platform, the China Daily Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition has helped promote meaningful domestic and international communication. Prof. Diana, the vice president of Global Unitalks congratulated China Daily on the success of the competition and showed her delight to see more "outstanding youths join the competition and gain more opportunities for cultural immersion".

Wang Wenli, Chinese Consul General in St. Petersburg, Russia, highly appreciated the role of the Russian preliminary contest in spreading Chinese culture in Russia and strengthening the deep friendship between the youth of the two countries.

Mohammad Yousuf Rahnaward, Head of the Chinese Department of Kabul University in Afghanistan and Executive Director of Confucius Institute, said that the BRESC strengthens international youth exchanges and contributes to the creation of a community with shared interests, destiny, and responsibility.

The China Daily Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition not only provides a professional and high-quality stage for young speakers around the world, but also gives Generation Z the courage and confidence to show their personalities and ideas. It also encourages the youth from B&R countries to experience an authentic and diverse perspective of China.

Visit https://bresc.i21st.cn/ for more details and how to apply.

Contact us by email: [email protected]

SOURCE China Daily
Parent Market Overview

Technavio categorizes the cyber security market as a part of the IT spending market within the information technology industry. The IT spending market is expected to have a positive outlook due to factors such as increasing demand for passive electronic components, growing demand for IoT devices, and the rising implementation of Industry 4.0 initiatives.

To estimate the size of the global cyber security market, Technavio has tracked the recent trends and developments in the industry. The market size has been calculated based on the revenues generated by the IT consulting, systems integration, and IT training services providers.

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Market Competitive Landscape

The cyber security market is fragmented with the presence of different vendors. The degree of fragmentation is likely to intensify in the upcoming years as with advances in technology, vendors are introducing firewalls with advanced capabilities like intrusion prevention, blacklists, reputation feeds, and URL filtering. Technavio has classified the industry-focused market players into dominant and strong players based on their annual revenues and market shares in this comprehensive report. Some of the key players covered in this report include AO Kaspersky Lab, Broadcom Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Fortinet Inc., McAfee LLC, The Boeing Co., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., and Trend Micro Inc. among others.

Strategic Initiatives and Products launches

AO Kaspersky Lab - Through this product category, the company offers cyber security solutions for enterprises with employees more than 1,000. Some of the most common solutions offered include Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Kaspersky Internet Security, Kaspersky Total Security, Kaspersky Security Cloud, and Kaspersky Security Cloud

- Through this product category, the company offers cyber security solutions for enterprises with employees more than 1,000. Some of the most common solutions offered include Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Kaspersky Internet Security, Kaspersky Total Security, Kaspersky Security Cloud, and Kaspersky Security Cloud Broadcom Inc.: The company offers a wide range of cyber security services through its brands Brocade Communication Systems and Symantec. In February 2019 , the company completed its 5G switching portfolio, designed to enable the deployment of end-to-end networks which consolidate all radio and fixed-line traffic onto an Ethernet-based infrastructure.

The company offers a wide range of cyber security services through its brands Brocade Communication Systems and Symantec. In , the company completed its 5G switching portfolio, designed to enable the deployment of end-to-end networks which consolidate all radio and fixed-line traffic onto an Ethernet-based infrastructure. Cisco Systems Inc.: The company offers a wide range of cyber security services such as Next-Generation Firewalls, Advanced Malware Protection, Email Security, Endpoint Security, Workload Security, and Multi-Factor Authentication.

For more insights on competitive strategies and market share of over 20 companies discussed in detail, Get Our Sample Report Right Here!

Value Chain Insights

Vendors in the market can leverage and formulate effective strategies from the cyber security market value chain analysis covered extensively in this report. The end-to-end understanding of the value chains and stakeholders involved in the process is essential for vendors in optimizing profit margin and evaluating business strategies. The report has further elucidated on other innovative approaches being followed by vendors to ensure a sustainable market presence.

The value chain of the IT spending market includes the following core components:

Research and development

Developers or manufacturers

Sales and distribution

End-users

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Increase in Use of Mobile Devices to Boost the Market Positively

The need for cybersecurity solutions has surged considerably in the recent years due to the increase in the usage of mobile devices including mobile phones, laptops, and tablets. The increasing access to Internet has resulted in rising instances of cyber threats. With companies expanding across regions, there is an increased need for the exchange of global data and information. The global expansion of business has given a significant rise to employees traveling worldwide. This has resulted in an increase in services offering security and access to secure networks from mobile devices. Furthermore, to eliminate the chances of cyber threats, end-users are deploying cyber security solutions. The increasing complexity of cyberattacks and the growing awareness of the security risks have compelled end-users to increase their IT spending for advanced security products.

High Cost of Deployment likely to hinder the cyber security market growth

The total installation cost includes the cost of software licensing, system designing and customization, implementation, training, and maintenance for an individual organization. The maintenance of on-premises cyber security solutions requires in-house IT administration staff to manage and control issues, which would result in high implementation costs. Furthermore, a cyber security solution contains additional hidden costs, such as costs involved in providing knowledge, experience, and skill development of the solution to understand its functionality.

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Revenue-Generating Segment Highlights

The government end-user segment held the largest cyber security market share in 2020. The segment will continue to retain its dominance in the market owing to the increase in security installations in developed and developing countries and the increased contribution from homeland security and the defense sectors. Governments across the globe are enforcing the use of cyber security products to monitor data traversing through the Internet. This is being done to gain some measure of control over the access to this data, thereby preventing unauthorized individuals from gaining access.

In terms of deployment, the on-premise segment emerged as the largest revenue-generating segment in 2020 and will continue to remain as the highest segment during the forecast period. On-premises cyber security is considered highly secure as it is managed and maintained by enterprises in the end-user industry. Enterprises have complete control over their on-premises solutions because of monitored and restricted access, and it also allows them to customize the cyber security solution according to their requirements.

North America will emerge as the largest revenue-generating regional segment of the cyber security market. 35% of the market's growth will be contributed from this region during the forecast period. The US will emerge as the key revenue-contributing economy of the region. A few important factors contributing to the market growth in North America are the increased adoption of cyber security solutions by end-user industries, the shift of conventional IT services to internet-based IT system, growth of end-user industries, increased government initiatives for the implementation of cyber security solutions, and the growing number of IT companies and IT start-ups.

Download Sample Report for Market Share Information of each contributing segment and top 20+ countries covered exclusively in this report

Key Report Takeaways

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will drive cyber security market growth during the next five years

Precise estimation of the cyber security market size and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the cyber security market in North America , APAC, Europe , MEA, and South America and top 20 countries across these regions

, APAC, , MEA, and and top 20 countries across these regions A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on over 20 industry-focused market vendors classified as dominant and strong players

Impact of lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, demand destruction, and change in customer behavior

Pre as well as post COVID-19 market estimates

Optimistic, base case, and pessimistic scenarios for all markets as the impact of pandemic unfolds

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Cyber Security Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 14.97% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 189.70 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 12.69 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 35% Key consumer countries US, China, UK, Germany, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled AO Kaspersky Lab, Broadcom Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Fortinet Inc., McAfee LLC, The Boeing Co., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., and Trend Micro Inc. 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 focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.technavio.com

SOURCE Technavio
Parent Market Overview

Technavio categorizes the global grinding wheels market as a part of the global industrial machinery market within the industrials sector. The parent global industrial machinery market covers companies engaged in the manufacturing of industrial machinery and components covering presses, machine tools, compressors, pollution control equipment, elevators, escalators, insulators, pumps, roller bearings, and other metal fabrications.

Technavio calculates the global industrial machinery market size based on combined revenue generated by manufacturers of machinery and components used in the industrial environment. The growth of this market will be driven by factors including growing industrial output leading to capacity additions in process and discrete industries and ease of operability of industrial machines.

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Market Competitive Landscape

The grinding wheel market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market.

Technavio has classified the industry-focused market players into dominant and strong players based on their annual revenues and market shares in this report. Some of the key players covered in this report include 3M Co., ATLANTIC GmbH, Carborundum Universal Ltd., Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA, DEERFOS Co. Ltd., Koki Holdings Co. Ltd., NORITAKE Co. Ltd., Robert Bosch GmbH, SHIN-EI Grinding Wheels MFG. Co. Ltd. , and Tyrolit - Schleifmittelwerke Swarovski KG among others.

Strategic Initiatives and Products launches

3M Co. - In April 2019 , the company announced that it had added 3M Extended Wear Medical Transfer Adhesive 4075 to its lineup of advanced adhesives for medical devices. In March 2019 , the company announced that it would be realigning its operations from five to four business segments. The new structure will comprise four business segments, namely Safety & Industrial, Transportation & Electronics, Health Care, and Consumer.

- In , the company announced that it had added Extended Wear Medical Transfer Adhesive 4075 to its lineup of advanced adhesives for medical devices. In , the company announced that it would be realigning its operations from five to four business segments. The new structure will comprise four business segments, namely Safety & Industrial, Transportation & Electronics, Health Care, and Consumer. Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA: n October 2019 , the company announced the completion of the sale of its Optimera construction materials distribution business in Denmark . In May 2019 , the company acquired Pritex Ltd., a key player in acoustic and thermal insulation solutions.

n , the company announced the completion of the sale of its Optimera construction materials distribution business in . In , the company acquired Pritex Ltd., a key player in acoustic and thermal insulation solutions. Robert Bosch GmbH: In July 2019 , Robert Bosch GmbH acquired Gesellschaft fur Regelungstechnik und Energieeinsparung mbH headquartered in Verl, Germany .

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Value Chain Insights

Vendors in the market can leverage and formulate effective strategies from the Grinding Wheel Market Value Chain Analysis covered extensively in this report. The end-to-end understanding of the value chains and stakeholders involved in the process is essential for vendors in optimizing profit margin and evaluating business strategies. The report has further elucidated on other innovative approaches being followed by vendors to ensure a sustainable market presence.

The value chain of the industrial machinery market includes the following core components:

Inputs

Inbound logistics

Operations

Outbound logistics

Marketing and sales

Aftermarket and service

Industry innovations

Want to get this report customized or tailor-made to suit your business requirements, Speak to Our Analysts

Increased Upstream Activities to Boost the Market Positively

Various applications including the manufacturing, maintenance and repair of upstream, midstream, and downstream components in the oil and gas industries deploy grinding wheels. Upstream operations have started to gain momentum with the recovery of crude oil prices. The major change in rig count has been witnessed in North America, owing to increased exploration activities in offshore regions and shale gas and shale oil fields coming online in Brazil. Hence, increased upstream activities are expected to increase the demand for grinding wheels in the oil and gas industry during the forecast period.

Operational Challenges likely to Hinder the Grinding Wheel Growth

Grinding via abrasion removes the metal from a surface to give a smooth finish and results in the generation of heat, resulting in the development of grinding cracks. The accumulation of such grinding cracks leads to the replacement of grinding wheels, and hence, increases the space part and operational costs. High temperatures often lead to discoloration of the surface due to oxide production and severe chemical damage to the workpiece. These operational challenges might eventually limit the market's growth during the forecast period.

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COVID Impact and Recovery Analysis

COVID-19 is expected to hamper the growth of the grinding wheels market. All manufacturing industries across APAC have been severely affected by the stringent lockdown regulations. Production units have been closed, or the production process has been halted to stop the virus from spreading, which will have a negative impact on the growth of the grinding wheels market in the region during the forecast period.

View report to learn more about the pandemic impact on the market and the industry

Revenue-Generating Segment Highlights

The straight wheels segment held the largest grinding wheel market share in 2020. The segment will continue to retain its dominance in the market as straight wheels are widely used in industries such as automotive, aerospace, and shipbuilding. Straight wheels are used in these industries to manufacture various components that undergo the grinding process. The growth of these end-user industries during the forecast period will, thus, drive the demand for straight wheels globally.

APAC will emerge as the largest revenue-generating regional segment of the grinding wheels. 53% of the market's growth will be contributed from this region during the forecast period. Many domestic and international companies in the manufacturing sector are investing heavily in APAC, owing to the growing industrial and economic development in the region. In APAC, defense spending is another factor that will boost the demand for grinding wheels. Major countries, such as China, South Korea, India, and Japan, are increasing their defense spending to incorporate advanced technology to modernize their military equipment and platforms.

Download Sample Report for Market Share Information of each contributing segment and top 20+ countries covered exclusively in this report

Key Report Takeaways

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will drive grinding wheel growth during the next five years

Precise estimation of griding wheel market size and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the grinding wheel market in APAC, Europe , North America , MEA, and South America and top 20 countries across these regions

, , MEA, and and top 20 countries across these regions A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on over 20 industry-focused market vendors classified as dominant and strong players

Impact of lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, demand destruction, and change in customer behavior

Pre as well as post COVID-19 market estimates

Optimistic, base case, and pessimistic scenarios for all markets as the impact of pandemic unfolds

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Electroplating Market by End-user and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

Grinding Wheel Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.88% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 50 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 4.30 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 53% Key consumer countries China, US, Germany, UK, and India Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Saint-Gobain, NORITAKE, Ekamant, 3M, DEERFOS, Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI), KOVAX, AWUKO ABRASIVES, Camel Grinding Wheels Works Sarid, TYROLIT, SHIN-EI Grinding Wheels, DSA Products, Andre Abrasive Articles, DK Holdings, Thai GCI Resitop, ATLANTIC, Wendt (India) and Hitachi Koki 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 forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library 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: https://www.technavio.com

SOURCE Technavio
Parent Market Overview

Technavio categorizes the ENT devices market as a part of the healthcare equipment market within the global healthcare industry. The growth of the healthcare equipment market is attributed to increasing life expectancy, surging cases of chronic conditions, and expanding access to improved healthcare in emerging economies. Technavio calculates the ENT devices market size based on combined revenue generated by companies that are engaged in the provision of all types of healthcare equipment and solutions.

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Market Competitive Landscape

The ENT devices market is concentrated. The market is characterized by the presence of established players such as Medtronic Plc, Cochlear Limited, OLYMPUS, Smith & Nephew, and Siemens Healthineers. The market is competitive, as many regional players are competing with the key players. These regional players provide their products at an economical price as compared to global companies creating consistent competition in low-end markets. Furthermore, manufacturers are investing in product development and product expansion in strengthening their product portfolio and geographical reach.

Technavio has classified the industry-focused market players into dominant and strong players based on their annual revenues and market shares in this report. Some of the key players covered in this report include Cochlear Ltd., Demant AS, HOYA Corp., Johnson and Johnson Inc., KARL STORZ SE and Co. KG, Lateral Medical, Medtronic Plc, Olympus Corp., Siemens Healthineers AG, and WS Audiology AS among others.

Strategic Initiatives and Products launches

Cochlear Ltd. - The company offers hearing aid solutions across Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific . The company offer ENT device namely Nucleus Implants.

- The company offers hearing aid solutions across Americas, EMEA, and . The company offer ENT device namely Nucleus Implants. Demant AS: The company offers hearing devices, hearing implants, and diagnostics. They offer ENT device namely Oticon.

The company offers hearing devices, hearing implants, and diagnostics. They offer ENT device namely Oticon. Johnson and Johnson Inc.: The company operates in key business segments including consumer, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. The company offer ENT device namely RELIEVA TRACT Nasal Dilation System.

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Value Chain Insights

Vendors in the market can leverage and formulate effective strategies from the ENT Devices Market Value Chain Analysis covered extensively in this report. The end-to-end understanding of the value chains and stakeholders involved in the process is essential for vendors in optimizing profit margin and evaluating business strategies. The report has further elucidated on other innovative approaches being followed by vendors to ensure a sustainable market presence.

The value chain of the healthcare equipment market includes the following core components:

Research and development

Inputs

Operations

Distribution

Marketing and sales

Post-sales and services

Industry innovations

Want to get this report customized or tailor-made to suit your business requirements, Speak to Our Analysts

Rising Prevalence of ENT Disorders to Boost the Market Positively

Hearing disorders have become quite prevalent in recent years mainly owing to genetic disorders and aging. Rising incidence of ENT conditions, such as larynx, pharynx, and oral cancers, tonsillitis, snoring issues, and ear infections, has driven the adoption of ENT devices. Furthermore, the growing adoption of cochlear implants has boosted the demand for ENT devices. With more and more older people facing hearing loss due to age, the adoption of cochlear implants to improve their hearing ability is expected to rise.

High Cost of ENT devices likely to hinder the ENT devices market growth

The total cost of a cochlear implant, including everything from evaluation to rehabilitation, can cost as much as $100,000. Other hearing aid devices also fall in the range from $1,000-$4,000 depending on the level of technology. Furthermore, most insurance providers do not cover the cost of devices to be used for people with hearing loss. This eventually limits the market growth.

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COVID Impact and Recovery Analysis

The outbreak of COVID-19 adversely affected the ENT devices market in the region in 2020. To control the spread of the disease, a temporary shutdown of ENT clinics and hospitals was observed in early 2020, which impacted the demand for ENT devices in the region. Also, due to the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases, lockdowns have lifted, and import and export of raw materials have resumed. Also, ENT clinics and hospitals have resumed their operations following the lifting of lockdowns, which will help the market recover during the forecast period.

View report to learn more about the pandemic impact on the market and the industry

Revenue-Generating Segment Highlights

The diagnostic ENT devices segment held the largest ENT devices market share in 2020. The segment will continue to retain its dominance in the market due to the surge in the adoption of endoscopes and hearing screening devices. Procedures including laparoscopy, thoracoscopy, rhinoscopy, and urethrocystoscopy often deploy rigid endoscopes. Furthermore, there is a spike in the usage of flexible endoscopes including gastroscope, duodenoscope, colonoscope, sigmoidoscope, enteroscope, and bronchoscope as they professionals to perform minimally invasive diagnoses.

North America will emerge as the largest revenue-generating regional segment of the ENT devices market. 34% of the market's growth will be contributed from this region during the forecast period. The market's growth in this region is primarily driven by the sales of the devices used for the diagnosis of various ENT disorders, such as sinusitis, rhinitis, otitis media and tonsillitis, and the deteriorating environmental conditions. The US was the largest revenue contributor to the market in the region mainly due to the rising number of ENT disorders in the country and the availability of advanced healthcare infrastructure, which ensures the continuous supply of treatment options to patients.

Download Sample Report for Market Share Information of each contributing segment and top 20+ countries covered exclusively in this report

Key Report Takeaways

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will drive ENT devices market growth during the next five years

Precise estimation of ENT devices market size and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the ENT devices market in North America , APAC, Europe , MEA, and South America and top 20 countries across these regions

, APAC, , MEA, and and top 20 countries across these regions A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on over 20 industry-focused market vendors classified as dominant and strong players

Impact of lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, demand destruction, and change in customer behavior

Pre as well as post COVID-19 market estimates

Optimistic, base case, and pessimistic scenarios for all markets as the impact of pandemic unfolds

Related Reports

Hearing Aid Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025

Bone-Anchored Hearing Aids Market by End-user and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025

ENT Devices Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.71% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 6.06 billion Market structure Concentrated YoY growth (%) 3.97 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW Performing market contribution North America at 34% Key consumer countries US, Germany, Canada, China, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Cochlear Ltd., Demant AS, HOYA Corp., Johnson and Johnson Inc., KARL STORZ SE and Co. KG, Lateral Medical, Medtronic Plc, Olympus Corp., Siemens Healthineers AG, and WS Audiology AS 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.

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Dehua, a ceramics manufacturing powerhouse in China, exports over 70 percent of its ceramic products to over 190 countries and regions worldwide. It was dubbed the "World Ceramics City" by the World Crafts Council in 2015.

It is noted that the output value of Dehua ceramics exceeded 45 billion yuan in 2021, with brand value reaching 108.6 billion yuan.

Traditionally well-known for white porcelain, Dehua country has been actively pushing forward industrial upgrades and transformation along with brand building for improved market competitiveness and international recognition and influence.

The county government has released series of measures such as giving support for ceramics related shows and exhibitions, ceramic design and technique competitions, exploring marketing channels, as well as developing ceramic cultural and creative products.

Eyeing on the goal of "small county with large e-commerce vision and whole business ecology", Dehua county is also working on building and improving the service platform for artistic ceramics, hosting product fairs and new product launch while helping to bridge masters and enterprises.

See the original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/326300.html

SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road
ACCRA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Member states of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) concluded on Saturday their negotiations on rules of origin, a move expected to further reduce tariffs on original goods within the African continent.

Ebrahim Patel, chairperson of the African Union (AU) Ministers of Trade, told a press briefing that the adopted rules could cover 87.7 percent of goods on the tariff lines of the AU member states.

Although trading under AfCFTA had started officially on Jan. 1, the problems regarding rules of origin remained unresolved, making it difficult to identify products that could enjoy the preferential tariff regime under the agreement.

"That is a big breakthrough," said Patel, adding that the agreed rules of origin would become the basis for full-scale trade among the various member states under the free trade agreement to boost Africa's economic growth.

"For ordinary citizens on our continent, this means more jobs, more economic opportunities, and Africa's opportunity to say we want to industrialize. We cannot simply remain the generators of raw materials," he added.

Wamkele Mene, the secretary-general of AfCFTA, said the conclusion of negotiations on rules of origin was an important milestone towards a successful implementation of the free trade pact.

"Now that we have 87.7 percent of rules of origin agreed, we are now in the position for member states to gazette these legal instruments at the national level so that countries can apply these rules of origin from a customs point of view," Mene said. 
Rome, Jan 30 : Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term, Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico announced late Saturday, after the parliament gathered in a joint session and concluded its eighth round of voting.

Mattarella was reconfirmed with a broad majority, namely 759 votes in favor from a total of 983 lawmakers and regional representatives actively taking part in the ballot, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I wish to thank lawmakers and regional representatives for the faith they have put in me," Mattarella, 80, said in a declaration broadcast live from the Quirinale presidential palace immediately after receiving the official notice of his re-election.

"The difficult days of this election, taking place during the serious health, economic, and social emergency we are still going through, call for a sense of responsibility and for the respect of the parliament's decisions," he said.

"These conditions require (us) to not avoid duties, which must prevail over other thoughts and different personal perspectives," he added.

Mattarella's candidacy emerged prominently at the end of a tense week in which the two major political blocs -- the center-left and the center-right -- failed to agree on a different common candidature.

As a consequence, seven rounds of voting were held since Monday, all delivering inconclusive results and exposing deep fractures within both coalitions.

After the leaders of the largest parties from center-right and center-left acknowledged the stalemate on Saturday morning, and agreed on Mattarella's possible second term, a direct request was submitted to the president by all parties' whips.

After a brief talk with Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Mattarella made himself available, despite having repeatedly made clear prior to the election that he would not serve a second term.

The re-election of a head of state is rare in Italy. So far, only Giorgio Napolitano, Mattarella's predecessor, had served a second term, and only for less than two years.

All major political leaders thanked Mattarella for his availability. "This is a great news for Italians, and I am grateful to the president for choosing to oblige to the strong will expressed by the parliament to reconfirm him to a second term," Prime Minister Mario Draghi said in a note.

Enrico Letta, leader of center-left Democratic Party, hailed Mattarella for taking a choice "of great generosity toward the country." Meanwhile, Letta noted the fact that parties were unable to find an alternative common candidature should not be neglected.

Right-wing League's leader Matteo Salvini said he was "comforted" by Mattarella's choice. "I also feel very serene, because I have made (prior to the re-election) all possible proposals." Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, also a leading figure of the Five Star Movement, told reporters the re-election was "a victory for the country." The pledging ceremony to reconfirm Mattarella is expected to take place next Thursday, when his first term officially ends.
Seoul, Jan 30 : North Korea fired one apparent ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea's military said, in the recalcitrant regime's seventh show of force this year.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the northern province of Jagang bordering China at 7:52 a.m. It did not elaborate, Yonhap news agency reported.

Jagang Province is where the North conducted the launches of its self-proclaimed hypersonic missiles in September last year and on January 5 and 11.

"Our military is tracking and monitoring related North Korean movements and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

Pyongyang has been ratcheting up tensions with a series of missile launches since the start of this year as Washington has stepped up sanctions pressure amid a protracted deadlock in nuclear talks between the two countries.

The North launched the largest monthly number of projectiles in January since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011. It conducted six projectile launches in both March and July 2014.

The North fired what it claims to be surface-to-surface tactical guided missiles Thursday, just two days after its apparent long-range cruise missile test.

It conducted four other launches earlier this month, including those of what it claimed to be hypersonic missiles.

The South Korean military has been keeping close tabs on North Korean military movements as the North made a thinly veiled threat to lift its yearslong moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.

The recent bouts of the North's "saber-rattling" also came as it seeks to tighten internal unity amid the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and persistent economic woes stemming from debilitating sanctions.
Mumbai, Jan 30 : As the Foreign Minister of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrives in India in early February, hopes of a 'ghar-wapsi have rekindled in five Indian youths, including two from Mumbai, stranded there since the past two years.

They are Naveen M. Singh (New Delhi), Pranav A. Tiwari, 22, (Patna), Thamizh R. Selvan, 32, (Chennai), Aniket S. Yenpure, 30 and Mandar M. Worlikar, 27, (Mumbai).

Their distraught families, waiting to see them, are fervently hoping that Iran will take an expeditious stand on repatriating their sons back to India.

"We are optimistic that the Indian government would raise the issue of our helpless children there with the dignitary Amir-Abdollahian and urge his intervention for remedial measures," one of the parents, Sham Yenpure, told IANS.

The saga of the five youngsters, harbouring dreams of a better future, began when they flew to Iran to join merchant navy ships in 2019 with valid qualifications and documents, through an Indian agent.

In February 2020, during one 'black voyage' in the high seas off Oman, they were unwittingly trapped in a deadly maritime narcotics smuggling racket, leading to their arrest and jail. Even after their acquittal in the case, they are languishing in Iran since then.

Their frantic families have written letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Iranian government, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other diplomatic officials, but to no avail.

From mid-2019, the excited five-some enthusiastically worked on their maiden ship jobs till the treacherous voyage in February 2020 on a ship, 'MV Artin10', owned by an Iranian, Razaee Mukkadam, which changed the course of their lives.

They sailed on several voyages lasting 6-7 weeks from Iran to deliver a variety of cargo in Kuwait, Muscat and other ports, with the ship's master, Capt M. Rasool Gharebi.

"On February 20 (2020), Capt Gharebi suddenly ordered the ship to drop anchor mid-sea, around 140 kms off Muscat. Later, another vessel came and unloaded what seemed like small 'rice bags' on our ship," Aniket Yenpure said, recounting the harrowing experience over the phone from Iran.

Since such high seas cargo transfers are illegal as per international maritime laws, some of the crewmen secretly recorded the operation on their mobile phones as evidence for the Iranian police and customs authorities later.

The very next morning, an Iranian Navy ship intercepted 'MV Artin10', arrested all aboard and transferred them to the naval vessel.

Capt Gharebi later admitted that "the Indian crewmen were innocent and had no knowledge of the illicit cargo transfer operation in the high seas". He even attempted to commit suicide by stabbing himself, but was rushed to the small Konarak Port and survived.

The five Indian youths were also offloaded at the same port town, arrested by the local Counter-Narcotics Department, and shunted to custody by a Konarak Court. Subsequently, Gharebi and the vessel owner Mukkadam were also arrested.

It was only during the court proceedings that the Indians learnt that the 'rice bags' actually contained 1.50 tonnes of banned narcotics and they were willy-nilly ensnared in a maritime smuggling racket.

The youngsters then spent the next nearly 13 months in jail - though they had not committed any crime, rued the father Sham Yenpure in Mumbai.

After some months, the case was transferred from the Konarak Court to the Chabahar Court which pronounced them innocent on March 8, 2021 and ordered their immediate release.

As the delighted youth went to collect their passports and other documents, the Konarak Counter-Narcotics Department re-arrested them and produced them before the local Court.

Though the Konarak Court also ordered their forthwith release as per the Chabahar Court ruling, it withheld their passports and other travel documents -- effectively leaving the five youngsters grounded there since March 10, 2021.

They spent the next five months as vagabonds, running from one place to another, living on dole and barely able to survive in extreme weather. The prime accused Capt Gharebi died in jail in December 2021.

After their plight was first highlighted by IANS (July 4, 2021), the Indian Embassy in Iran came to their rescue and shifted them to a single room in Hostel Marmano in Tehran where their basic needs are taken care of.

"As the Konarak Court raised certain objections to the Chabahar Court verdict in April 2021, the case was transferred to the Supreme Court of Iran. After two months, in end-June 2021, the apex court quashed the Chabahar Court judgment. The latest (2022) we hear is that our matter may be heard afresh by the lower courts," said a shaken Aniket Yenpure over the phone.

The youngsters have demanded legal assistance for the upcoming court battle, but officialdom is awaiting a nod from the Ministry of External Affairs.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
Srinagar, Jan 30 : Four JeM terrorists were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said on Sunday.

A search operation is currently underway at the Naira area, the police said, adding that arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists.

A joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : As part of its digital outreach, the BJP has deployed around 10 lakh workers with smartphones across Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Assembly polls to be held between February 10 and March 7.

Five to six workers with smartphones have been deployed at each polling booth of Uttar Pradesh. The saffron party has also formed its IT and social media teams at the block level in the poll-bound state.

A well-placed source in the BJP said that these 10 lakh workers with smartphones will reach out to each and every voter in their respective areas.

"We have formed a 21-member booth committee at each polling station. Among these, a minimum of five members have smartphones, which has been made mandatory so that all the information reaches the ground at the booth level," he said.

There are 1,74,351 polling booths in the state, an increase of 18.49 per cent from the 2017 Assembly polls.

Another party leader said that with minimum five members at each booth with smartphones, there are over 10 lakh BJP workers prepared to reach out the voters with digital content across the state.

"We have formed a team of five to six volunteers at each polling booth. Our volunteers are ensuring our digital presence among each voter at every polling booth. These workers, part of booth committees, work in coordination with the 'Panna Pramukhs' (head of each page of the voter list)," sources said.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has banned physical rallies and roadshows till January 31, with some relaxation for first and second phase of polling.

Another senior leader said that the BJP has formed a team for IT and social media campaign at the block level in all the 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh to digitally reach out to the voters amid the restrictions put in place by the poll panel.

"Our IT and social media structure is such that Uttar Pradesh BJP has a robust team of social media and IT volunteers at every level in each district of Uttar Pradesh. In addition, we have five workers with smartphones at each polling booth we can take all the information and content to the people through them," Shashi Kumar, Social Media Co-convenor of Uttar Pradesh BJP, told IANS.

For digital dissemination of information, the party has formed groups and has pages on all social media platforms. The party is reaching out to voters with information through WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.

As the Election Commission of India (ECI) has banned rallies and roadshows, the BJP is now planning to intensify information sharing through 1.75 lakh WhatsApp groups created at the booth level. The party also uses Facebook to share campaign content.

"We have created more than 1.75 lakh WhatsApp groups of minimum 50 persons at the booth level. Similarly, we are connecting with the people through Telegram, Facebook and Twitter. We have over 50 lakh views on our Telegram platform," said a source in the BJP.
Panaji, Jan 30 : The dynasty phenomenon has appeared to have aged like fine wine in Goa ahead of the February 14 Assembly polls.

And just like wine offers red, white and rose variants, the upcoming elections appear to have broken down the dynasty concept to sons and daughters, spouses and sundry.

The BJP appears to have displaced the Congress this time, when it comes to adopting the Family Raj doctrine, although the party appears to have preferred couples more than direct political descendants, when it comes to ticket allocation.

The BJP has picked two couples, Vishwajit and Divya Rane from Valpoi and Poriem Assembly constituencies, respectively. The party has also nominated the Monserrates, Atanasio and Jennifer, as its candidates from Panaji and Taleigao seats for the Valentine's Day poll.

The one couple which could not make the cut in the BJP are the Kavlekars. While Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar got the BJP ticket from the Quepem Assembly seat, his wife Savitri, who was also vying for a BJP ticket from the neighbouring Sanguem Assembly constituency, has had to contend with being an independent candidate.

The Trinamool Congress follows the BJP, allotting tickets to two couples, Kiran Kandolkar and his wife Kavita from the Aldona and Thivim Assembly constituencies, while the Congress has settled for just one marital pair, Michael and Delilah Lobo from the Calangute and Siolim Assembly constituencies.

Sons of powerful political sires have however found less favour with the BJP this time, as compared to wedded couples. The notable omission is late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal, whose claim for the ticket to the Panaji seat was rejected in favour of Atanasio Monserrate.

Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik's son Siddesh also could not make it to the BJP's ticket roster. While Utpal has filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate, Siddesh has backed off from the brink of rebellion after he was offered the post of a secretary in the party's state unit.

Late Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza's son Joshua however appears to have made the cut in the BJP, with the party offering him a ticket to contest the Mapusa assembly seat. Francis D'Souza was undefeated in Mapusa from 1999, before the BJP's most prominent Catholic face died in 2019.

The Alemaos appear to be the luckiest clan when it comes to cornering the most number of tickets in these polls. While the Trinamool Congress has fielded the father-daughter duo of Churchill and Valanka from the Benaulim and Navelim Assembly constituencies, respectively, in South Goa, Yuri Alemao, Churchill's nephew, has secured a ticket from the Cuncolim Assembly constituency. Yuri's father Joaquim incidentally has also been a Congress legislator in the past.

The Dhavalikar brothers, Sudin and Deepak, are the only sibling pairing to contest the February 14 Assembly elections from the Marcaim and Priol constituencies representing the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.

The state's most forested sub district of Sattari represents the sundry classification of the dynasty concept.

The candidates contesting the two constituencies of Valpoi and Sattari would be more at home sitting at a family dinner rather than featuring as election combatants.

The Poriem Assembly constituency in Sattari has been represented by former Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane for over 50 years. Goa was poised to witness a contest between Pratapsingh Rane on a Congress ticket against his daughter-in-law Divya Rane, who has been fielded by the ruling BJP.

Pratapsingh Rane withdrew from the contest at the goading of his son and Divya Rane's husband Vishwajit, Health Minister in the outgoing government who is contesting from the Valpoi assembly constituency on a BJP ticket.

The Congress' last minute replacement of Pratapsingh Rane in Poriem is yet another Rane-- Ranjit Rane, who is the son of former MLA Jaysingrao, who belongs to the Rane clan.
Lucknow, Jan 30 : The Chaina village in Malihabad, on the outskirts of Lucknow, has put up a unique demand for the elections. The residents have said that they will boycott the polls unless monkeys are driven out.

Chaina village has about 300 voters in a population of about 650.

Jitendra Dixit, a local resident, says: "'Bandar bhagao, vote pao' is our slogan for this election. Monkeys are a major problem here. Over a dozen residents and children have been bitten by monkeys in the past one week.

"Monkeys invade kitchens and spoil the food. We are forced to keep the children indoors. The people are living in a state of fear and our pleas to the administration have fallen on deaf ears." The State Election office has now taken cognisance of the problem and has directed the district administration to take immediate steps to solve the problem.

A district official has said that they will send a 'langur' along with its owner to the village. The presence of langur will drive away monkeys.

The villagers, meanwhile, want the monkeys to be caught and released in some other forest area.

"Langurs can be a temporary measure but we want the monkeys to be caught, not just driven away, because they will return sooner than later," says Dixit.
Here is a guide to the week ahead for you. This is your forecast for January 31 to February 6 Aries

This will be a favourable week for your professional life. You will get recognition for your work, and may also get a promotion or a hike in salary. People involved in social service will perform quite well and will expand their operations. You need to be diplomatic in your approach when dealing with higher authorities. You will be able to focus on what you are meant to do, so this is an auspicious time to put in the hard work, and you will get appropriate rewards. In terms of finances, there will be a good inflow of money. You are likely to enjoy good health, and you will remain optimistic and feel high on energy and enthusiasm.

Tip of the week: Be diplomatic Taurus

This week, there can be an increase in your day-to-day expenses. On the career front, you are likely to find favourable results, although you may face some problems due to your ego or overconfidence at the workplace. Businessmen, on the other hand, are likely to get good results on the business front. It is also advised to take care of your father's health as it may decline during this phase, and there could be an argument with him. Natives who are married will see favourable results in their personal life. They can enjoy doing recreational activities with their spouse. You will be filled with a desire to go on a vacation.

Tip of the week: Avoid ego tussles Gemini

Avoid doing any unethical or immoral activities this week else you can get into trouble. You are advised to stay watchful of your competitors. On the career front, you are likely to face some challenges and may face some delay in achievement of your goals. Businessmen need to be cautious while signing any contract and avoid taking any financial decisions. Students will be inclined to join research, and may find it hard to focus on studies. You are likely to suffer from seasonal infections and care is advised on the health front. It is also not advised to overindulge in eating or drinking as it may lead to poor blood circulation.

Tip of the week: Follow the rules Cancer

You will get moderate results on the career front and your opponents are likely to be active and give you stiff competition at the workplace. You may also face some troubles from your seniors and colleagues. In matters related to finance, you will not face any major problem and you will be able to manage your finances properly as you may initiate new work in order to accumulate wealth. Your relationship with spouse may remain monotonous, and there might be a lack of excitement. It is advised to be calm and composed while communicating with your partner. You have to take care of your stomach as you may face some digestive problems.

Tip of the week: Take stock of your finances Leo

You are likely to repay any outstanding debt. Those of you involved in government service will get recognition. Finances will flow smoothly, and there will be a continuous flow of income. There will be desired financial gains, and money stuck for a long time is likely to be released. Relationship-wise, your love life will be happy and enjoyable, and you will act more responsible and will have a greater sense of commitment. Inclination towards a romantic relationship is very high. Students appearing for competitive examinations will get success during this phase. Healthwise, you are likely to improve and may get relief from any past ailments.

Tip of the week: Love is in the air Virgo

This week, you may be distracted and can face issues in presenting your ideas. Work on your focus and talk to your seniors about the issues being faced. Businessmen may not yield expected results from the deal they make. Financially, this period will give you average results as you may face ups and downs in the cash flow, and there may be some financial pressure or burden on you. You will be spending money on your children and their needs, and hence strict financial discipline is required. Relationship-wise, there may be some issue in your love life as your partner can be demanding leading to unwanted confrontation. Your children may get an opportunity to study abroad.

Tip of the week: Be disciplined in financial life Libra

During this week, you may experience mood swings and may face some hurdles in executing routine work. Those employed need to follow strict discipline to complete their tasks on time. Gains through the rental property will help you to accumulate wealth. However, it is advised that one should be patient and thoughtful before making any big investment. Your love life may witness some obstacles as rude behavior can lead to frictions in existing relationship. Your mother's health may decline and she will need medical care. Your health will remain robust but you need to include regular workout in your daily routine to keep in good shape.

Tip of the week: Do regular workout Scorpio

This week, you will excel on many fronts and will see good things happening in in your life. On the career front, you will put in a lot of hard work that will pay off well, and you will get recognition for everything you do. Financially, this period is favorable for you as you may receive financial gain with the help of friends or siblings. Investments in speculative schemes will also pay rich dividends. Your love life will continue to be happy and joyous, and you may also go on a short journey which will strengthen your bond with your beloved. You will enjoy good health during this period, and will be free from prolonged disease if any.

Tip of the week: Plan a short trip Sagittarius

This week, you will be positively motivated to achieve your goals. This is a favourable phase for those working in the field of liasoning and government service. Financially, it is very wise to save now so that you can reap the benefit in the future. There will be many opportunities to gain, and your income will increase substantially. Your love life may get affected due to the demanding nature of your partner. You need to set the expectations to avoid any misunderstanding in future. Students are likely to stay focused in their education and will perform well in any competitive exam. Health concerns relating to shoulder and nervous system need to be monitored closely.

Tip of the week: Increase your savings Capricorn

You will now begin to see an improvement in your career. Financially, you may have to face some ups and downs. Avoid lending money to anyone nor make any new investment. You may also find it tough to balance your personal and professional life during this phase. It would be wise to keep them separate. In personal life, there may be some problems with your spouse, and there are chances of your relationship getting sore. Hence, try to keep yourself in check when dealing with them. Students will be full of confidence and will get good marks and score well in competitive examinations. Pay attention to seasonal ailments.

Tip of the week: Maintain work-life balance Aquarius

You should explore work opportunities out of the country. Otherwise, you may face difficulty and challenges. Those in business need to make some timely investments else expenditure is likely to shoot up dramatically. Analyse every business deal that is on the cards carefully and make a well-informed decision. Hidden enemies can create trouble in your way of success and achievement of goals, and hence you are advised to be cautious about the same. Misunderstanding and arguments with loved ones can create a dilemma in life. Health-wise, you need to take proper sleep and let your nerves relax.

Tip of the week: Take well-informed decisions Pisces

This week will be favourable for your career as senior officials will support your efforts. There are possibilities of earning sudden profit. You are likely to finish all the existing projects that you have been working on for a long time, and you will get rewards and recognition for the same. For businessmen, this is a very fruitful period as you will find new business proposals. Your financial position is also likely to improve with an increase in the flow of earnings. Relationship-wise, your love life will sail smoothly as the two of you will develop feelings for each other. Health will remain robust, but avoid eating street food.

Tip of the week: Avoid street food (Neeraj Dhankher is an Astrologer with proficiency in Vedic, KP and Nadi Astrology. He is Founder and CEO of Astro Zindagi. The observations are made by the writer based on his own analysis)
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 14 unveiled the public version of what is claimed to be 'the first ever' codified National Security Policy (NSP) of Pakistan, defining the direction the country should take in the next few years.

It was projected as the outcome of a full civil-military consensus, culmination of the untiring work of the officials of the National Security Division over the 'past seven years' and 'a proud moment' for all Pakistanis.

He spoke of the dire need of a 'multi-prong strategy', pointing out that the country had since its inception focused on military security because of 'an insecure environment' created for it by 'a neighbour that is seven times bigger', and tries to make out that Pakistan would now work for economic security, strong presence of the 'rule of law' and regional peace.

Many observers called the NSP 'people oriented' and 'inward looking', some saw in it signs of 'moderation' in a country that faced an economic crisis symbolised by its continued inclusion in the Grey List of FATF, while others noted an attempt to rehabilitate the image of Pakistan marred by its pro-Emirate role in Afghanistan.

The open part of the document is no doubt rhetorical in content - replete with platitudes like 'pushing national cohesion through an inclusive national discourse', 'prioritising equitable economic development' and 'reintroducing regional connectivity to realign the country's foreign policy'.

It clearly contends, however, that India is the principal adversary of Pakistan and ventures into an explicit criticism of the Indian regime under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly pursuing 'divisive policies'.

Imran Khan - fully echoing the stand of his Generals - has put the focus on a deepening Indo-Pak hostility. The central theme of the security policy is to 'defend Pakistan's territorial integrity at all costs' by having 'conventional capability and full spectrum deterrence'.

Projecting India as the main threat, it contends that prospects of violent conflict with it have grown because of a 'regressive and dangerous ideology which is gripping the collective consciousness in the immediate neighbourhood'.

Three clear readings can be made from what the Pak Prime Minister said in the presence of the top brass of his country's military establishment, and these would add to the security concerns of India.

First is the uninhibited 'communalisation' of Indo-Pak relations by Imran Khan who has for some time been vocal about the issue of 'minority rights' in India under the BJP regime.

The second is the total absence of any criticism of extremists and radicals operating out of the territory of Pakistan with faith-based motivation - confirming the belief of the world community that Imran Khan's regime has no problem with them and that he intends to continue using them as an instrument of foreign policy, particularly against India.

And lastly, the policy document carries an imprint of Sino-Pak strategic alliance that has given a new geopolitical profile to Pakistan marked by a distinct hardening of its attitude towards US - corresponding to the growing Indo-US convergence on global issues - notwithstanding the fact that Joe Biden's Presidency relied on Pak mediation to reach a 'peace pact' with Taliban for pulling out American troops from Afghanistan, and did not fault Pakistan for its dubious role in reinstalling the Taliban Emirate in Kabul.

Keeping up its belligerent posture towards India, Pakistan alleged that the 'rise in Hindutva-driven politics in India is deeply concerning and impacting Pakistan's immediate security.

References to the seven years of study that went into the framing of NSP shows that Pakistan is targeting the rule of Prime Minister Modi in this context. Reiterating that Pakistan sought 'a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute', the policy statement contends that 'India's illegal and unilateral actions of August 2019 have been rejected by the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)' and went on to repeat the charge that 'Indian occupation forces continue to undertake human rights abuses and oppression through war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal acts' there.

In short, Pakistan maintained that normalising ties with India will have Kashmir at its core.

The NSP pledges Pakistan's 'steadfast support to the people of Kashmir till they achieve their right to self-determination guaranteed by UNSC resolutions'. While the stand on Kashmir is on expected lines, what is notable is the insinuation that the pro-Hindutva policies of the Modi government has put the position of Muslim minority of India in jeopardy and guided India's 'oppression' in Kashmir.

Anti-India lobbies have been active on these lines within India and abroad, but it is unprecedented though not surprising that Imran Khan has openly framed Indo-Pak relationship in Hindu-Muslim terms. This is an enlargement of the Pak stand of regarding Kashmir as a 'Muslim' issue which had led Pak ISI to use Islamic militants to drive the Pandits out of the Valley in the beginning of Nineties, to strengthen its hold on that territory.

Secondly, Pakistan remains fanatically committed to its Islamic identity - the security policy mandates 'preservation of the Islamic character as enshrined in the Constitution' and refers to 'our diverse cultural heritage' in terms of accepting various segments of Islamic spectrum - from 'revivalism' of Islamic radicals who subscribed to Emirate to Islamism of the advocates of a Republic run on the concept of 'sovereignty of Allah'.

This is why Pakistan has never faulted the militant outfits of Islamic extremists and radicals and reserved its condemnation of 'terrorism' only to raise an allegation that it is India that is behind the domestic turbulence in Pakistan.

The deep collusion of the State with extremists and radicals in Pakistan has been a known strategy of Pak establishment - strengthened further by Imran Khan who is a fundamentalist at heart. This was reflected in the cross-border terrorism in Kashmir on one hand and the total involvement in the reinstallation of Islamic Emirate under Taliban in Kabul on the other.

It is notable that Imran Khan, even while talking of an economic issue like 'inclusive growth', commended for emulation the Madina model of Prophet Mohammad reinforcing the totally fundamentalist profile of Pakistan.

Within the Muslim world, Pakistan remained a source of strength for the block led by Saudi Arabia but is now for some time getting identified with an emerging group including Turkey and Malaysia that does not hesitate to criticise the US and as a conscious policy showed willingness to adjust with Islamic radicals - for whom the US-led West was the prime enemy.

Recent developments in Afghanistan add to India's concern on threat from Islamic terrorists. The advocacy by Islamic radicals of return to the 'Golden Period' of early Islam could not be disowned by any Muslim - which paved the way for 'revivalism' to gain legitimacy in the Muslim world at large. The call of Jehad given by Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS for political reasons, to 'bring back the lost glory of Islam' consequently had many takers too. The democratic world needs to have an effective strategy to handle this rising threat to its security.

Finally, there is a foreign policy shift in Pakistan broadly corresponding to the emergence of Sino- Pak strategic alliance cemented by the CPEC - that provided an upper hand to China in this axis - and a gradual drift of US-Pakistan relations in a direction where Pakistan was able to show recalcitrance toward American line on many vital issues like terrorism, Afghan Emirate and Kashmir.

CPEC founded on the territory of POK illegally ceded by Pakistan to China, has been described in the Policy document as a 'mega infrastructure project that had support across Pakistan and that would jump start Pakistan's economy and domestic growth'. Suggesting that the cooperation between US and Pakistan has shrunk to counterterrorism only, it calls upon the US to play its critical role for upholding regional peace and security.

Pakistan is evidently banking heavily on its alliance with China in securing its own geopolitical importance for the world, having its sway in Afghanistan for maintaining its 'strategic depth' there after entering into a 'give and take' with China in regard to any apprehension that China might have of an outside interference with China's doings in Xinjiang and achieving an equilibrium with both China and Russia over the situation in Afghanistan.

India has done well to have a convergence with CARs and Russia on not letting the Afghan territory be used for terror activity and growth of radicalisation.

The National Security Policy announced by Imran Khan with such fanfare is meant to create the impression that Pakistan is devoting to internal economic growth and better domestic governance - its real aim is to project the line that a much graver threat to Pakistan's security is posed by India under Prime Minister Modi.

India has to suitably take this into account in dealing with the Sino-Pak axis that is now becoming very active against this country.

(The writer is a former Director of Intelligence Bureau. The views expressed are personal)
Srinagar, Jan 30 : Five terrorists, including a Pakistani national, were killed in two separate encounters at Budgam and Pulwama districts in Kashmir in the last 12 hours, officials said on Sunday.

Four Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists were killed in an encounter with the security forces in the Naira area in South Kashmir's Pulwama district while one Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist was killed in another encounter in the Chrar-i-sharief area in Central Kashmir's Budgam district.

"Five terrorists of Pakistan sponsored proscribed terror outfits LeT and JeM killed in dual encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani and a Pakistani terrorist among the killed. Big success for us," tweeted the Jammu and Kashmir Police quoting Inspector General Police Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar.

A large quantity of arms and ammunition and other incriminating material has been recovered from the slain terrorists.

On Saturday, a joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the Naira area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about the presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter killing four terrorists.
SHEIKH ZUWEID, Egypt, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Villagers from the town of Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai governorate, east of Cairo, have returned to their homes after terrorism there was eradicated.

Terrorist groups spread in Egypt after the June 30 protests in 2013, especially in North Sinai, which forced many locals to flee.

Egypt has been fighting against the terrorist groups that killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers, and civilians in North Sinai. More than 1000 terrorists have been killed in the military crackdown over the past seven years.

Fierce battles between the two sides caused the displacement of the villagers in the towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid, especially after their homes and farms were destroyed during the battles.

With the success of defeating the terrorist groups, the government allowed the residents to return to their home villages.

Sheikh Arafat Khader, tribal leader of Sheikh Zuweid, said that the residents have returned to the villages located in the south of the town, such as Abu Rafai, Al Dhaher, Abu Al-Araj and Abu Faraj, which is the gateway and entrance to Sheikh Zuweid.

In the west part of Sheikh Zuweid, families from the villages of Al-Ghara, Qabr Omair, Al-Nakhlat, Al-Khrouba also returned, he added.

However, some residents have not returned yet due to the security operations that the armed forces are still carrying out in these villages against the remnants of terrorist groups.

Abdel-Latif Zammat, a resident of Sheikh Zuweid, said that people returned with great joy, despite the destruction of their homes and farms.

"Families erected tents next to their demolished houses until they are rebuilt," Zammat told Xinhua.

Hussein Eid, another resident of Sheikh Zuweid, lamented that villagers, who were forced to leave their hometown seven years ago, were living a difficult life in Ismailia or Bir al-Abed, north of Cairo.

"Fearing the explosions, the IS kidnapping, and intimidation, we left our homes and settled in other areas," Eid, who found his home totally destroyed, told Xinhua.

Eid built a small tent for his family, next to his demolished home, while waiting for the government to pay for the reconstruction as promised.

Salman Salim, 38, who returned to his village west of Sheikh Zuweid after years of displacement, faced the same difficulties.

"We tried to live under terrorism to avoid displacement, but we could not. Death was crawling around us from every direction because of the war. My family and I fled with light luggage and left the furniture of the house," Salim told Xinhua.

He added that they went to a village in the nearby city of Bir al-Abed, leading a miserable life for seven years.

"When we returned after the villages is purified from terrorism, we did not find our homes as they were. I found my house in ruins," Salim said sadly.

The good news is, Mohamed Abdel-Fadil Shousha, governor of North Sinai, recently visited the villages, reassuring people that their demands and all the needs of services and facilities would be met.

He said that compensations will be paid to house owners for partially and completely destroyed homes, adding that more residents are returning to the rest of the villages in the area. 
Seoul, Jan 30 : South Korea's Foreign Ministry said that it will send three officials to its embassy in Kiev to prepare contingency plans for Korean nationals amid the escalating tension between Ukraine and Russia.

The decision came after Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong held a virtual meeting with chiefs of South Korea's diplomatic missions in Russia, Ukraine and other nations on the previous day amid tensions between Moscow and Kiev, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Seoul's Embassy in Ukraine also plans to update information on means of transportation and land routes on its website while holding meetings with Korean residents and companies.

The Ministry advised South Koreans in Ukraine to depart to safer regions in the near future, as international flights are still operating normally at seven airports in six cities.

Around 440 Koreans are staying in Ukraine, with most of them in the capital Kiev and other inland cities.

Last week, the Ministry advised Korean nationals in 15 southern, eastern and northern regions of Ukraine to swiftly leave the nation amid the increased threat of Russian military action.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the 30 years of diplomatic ties with Israel, Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Sunday took a jibe and asked whether it was the best time to ask for advanced Pegasus spyware.

He said, "PM said that it is the best time to set new goals in the India-Israel relationship, Of course, it is the best time to ask Israel if they have any advanced version of the Pegasus spyware." "The last deal was for $2 billion. India can do better this time. If we get more sophisticated spyware ahead of the 2024 elections, we can give them even $4 billion," he added.

After the new expose in an international publication on Pegasus, the Congress on Saturday targeted and alleged that the Modi government was involved in the whole incident and snooped on rivals 'which was an act of treason'.

Addressing a press conference, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala jointly said that the snooping was an "act of treason".

"The Modi Government is the deployer and executor of the illegal and unconstitutional snooping and spying racket through Israeli surveillance spyware Pegasus & the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is himself involved!" "This is a brazen 'Hijack of Democracy' & 'An Act of Treason'," they said.

Surjewala said, "The Modi government purchased Pegasus Spyware in 2017 and other military technology as the 'centrepieces' of a package, including 'weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion' from Israel during PM Modi's visit. It is not a coincidence that the Budget of National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) reporting to NSA went up from Rs 33 crore to Rs 333 crore in 2017-18."
Bengaluru, Jan 30 : The Karnataka Police have recorded the statement of Dr Neeraj, in connection with the suicide case of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa's granddaughter Dr Soundarya. Dr Neeraj, Soundarya's husband in his statement said that the couple shared a good bonding, there was no crisis between them and he is not able to understand what pushed Soundarya to the verge of committing suicide, police sources said on Sunday.

Soundarya committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan in her flat leaving behind her 9-month-old male baby on Friday. Dr Neeraj has said that he led a cordial life with Soundarya. He claimed that they did not quarrel or had any difference of opinion among themselves.

Dr Neeraj has further stated that the incident has shocked him and he is not able to understand what led her to commit suicide. After the birth of the child, Soundarya spent most of the time at her parents' place and visited the flat occasionally, police said.

"As always, I expected Soundarya to wake up late in the morning, so I started for work early in the morning at regular time. When she came to the flat on Thursday night she seemed to be fine," claimed Neeraj, police sources said.

After recording the statement of Dr Neeraj, the High Ground police who are investigating the case conducted spot inspection in the flat where Soundarya committed suicide in the presence of Neeraj and family members. The police have also recorded the statements of Soundarya's mother and maids, according to sources.

Soundarya wanted to serve the poor and chose to work at the Bowring hospital, which is run by the government. Meanwhile, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant met Yediyurappa at his residence and spoke to him for about 20 minutes. Further investigation is on.
Lucknow, Jan 30 : Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the BJP has, so far, fielded 99 candidates with a criminal history.

"The BJP is short of hitting a century. They have given tickets to 99 criminals," he said in a tweet on Sunday.

The war of words between the SP and BJP has been rapidly escalating on the issue of criminals.

While the BJP has been accusing Akhilesh Yadav and his party of patronising persons with criminal backgrounds, Akhilesh has returned the fire by demanding to know the number of cases against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said during his tours in the state that if the SP comes to power, there will be a reign of criminals in the state.

Yogi Adityanath, meanwhile has said that when he returns to power after the Assembly elections, he would continue with his bulldozer policies against criminals.
Ramgarh Sector : , Jan 30 (IANS) Serpentine course of Devika River forms the International Border (IB) between India and Pakistan in this sector.

Strategically, the border security force (BSF) guarding the frontier calls it 'natural border', to the common man it appears 'unnatural'.

Peace has been a great dividend for scores of villagers living close to the IB in this sector since the DGMOs of the two countries decided to respect the bilateral ceasefire.

Farmers are tending their wheat and oilseed crops as normally as elsewhere in the hinterland. Pump sets are pouring water to irrigate the fields and children are playing like they never did during the last many years.

Pakistani cows graze close to our border fence in the 'No Man's land'. BSF jawans keep vigil to ensure that the animals of the 'enemy' do not come close to the fence and get hurt.

Quite obviously, man and animal are equal partners who share the blessings of peace in this sector.

"We are often called by the soldiers of Pakistan rangers to nudge the cattle back into the Pakistan side as their owners get worried about the safety of their herd", said a BSF jawan standing atop a border post.

The way our jawans are polishing their shoes in the sunshine and speaking casually to their families on the cell phones, one does not need to be told that things are completely under control here.

Locals say the jawans guarding the border are members of their extended families.

"Whenever we face an emergency, help is just a call away. In times of peace and war, we depend on BSF jawans and officers who come to help us", said Kishan, 56, a local farmer.

Cormorants, bar-headed geese, mallards and common teals float on the gentle waters of Devika River as partridges from the two sides cross the border fence to pick grain and gravel without a care in the World.

"Being so close to the border, the birds and animals do not fear being poached. "We have swamp deer, wild goats, boars and antelopes like the Nilgai moving freely around over posts", said another trooper as he peeped out of the concrete bunker to interact with us.

Locals narrate stories of the horrors war has wrought into their lives in the past. "Whether it was 1965, 1971 or any other time the two sides belligerently pounded each other's positions, we have stood to lose the most.

"Our homes got destroyed, cattle got killed, agricultural fields got damaged and we often had to run away to save our lives.

"We pray each day for the present peace to continue. People in cities and towns cannot imagine the misery we face during war and during uneasy peace", said Muluk Ram, 78, a villager.

"We have to constantly remind ourselves of the age old maxim, if you want peace, prepare for war", said a middle rung BSF officer as he welcomed us with his soldierly 'Jai Hind' salutation.

Some miles away from here, is the shrine of Baba Chamliyal, revered equally by Indians and Pakistanis.

The annual 'Urs' at the Dargah is an example of the Sufi's divine power.

Each year during the 'Urs' in peace times, Pakistan rangers offer a 'Chadar' at the saint's Dargah and take home some soil from the Shrine's compound. The soil is believed to have curative properties.

Indian troops offer 'Sherbat' to Pakistani visitors. The villagers of the two countries wave to greet each other.

During the 'Urs' days, the saint's miracle dissolves the mistrust of each other harboured by the two armies.

Peace at no price is costly when viewed in the backdrop of death and destruction wars have brought into the lives of the villagers living on the two sides of the so-called 'natural border'.

The only hope for the villagers of India and Pakistan living on the two sides of the IB is that the miracle of Baba Chamliyal holds longer and hopefully forever.
Bengaluru, Jan 30 : The farmer from Tumakuru district in Karnataka, who shot to fame for arranging Rs 10 lakh in 30 minutes after being insulted by staff of Mahindra showroom, said that he protested against the treatment meted out to him with an intention to prevent any such experience to others.

Kempe Gowda was insulted by Mahindra showroon staff after the latter told the former that despite not having Rs 10 in pocket, he had come to the showroom to purchase a vehicle.

After Gowda expressed his happiness over the turn of events, business tycoon and Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, himself reacted and the company apologised for the incident.

The staff of the Mahindra Group visited the house of the farmer apologising for the incident and invited him to buy the Bolero Pick-up goods vehicle.

"The showroom staff had come to my house and apologised. They invited me to buy the vehicle. I happily got the vehicle delivered. I paid Rs 9.4 lakh. They didn't give any concession and I also didn't ask for a discount," he said.

"No one should be looked down upon or judged by the clothes they wear," he added.

Earlier, Anand Mahindra had welcomed the farmer into the Mahindra family and the company has said the matter of the incident of humiliation of a farmer at a Mahindra showroom in Tumakuru district of Karnataka got resolved.

"Let me add my welcome to Kempe Gowda..," Mahindra said on Friday evening. The Bolero Pick-up goods vehicle was delivered to the farmer on January 28.

Mahindra Automotive reacted on Twitter, saying, "We regret the inconvenience caused to Kempe Gowda and his friends during their visit to our dealership on January 21. As promised we have taken appropriate measures and the matter is now resolved. We would like to thank Kempe Gowda for choosing to be with us and we welcome him into the Mahindra family." The field officer had chided the farmer when he visited the Mahindra showroom to purchase a vehicle, saying that the latter didn't have Rs 10 in his pocket. Kempe Gowda then had arranged Rs 10 lakh in 30 minutes and slammed the showroom staffers for making differential treatment by his appearance.

Anand Mahindra, earlier took to Twitter to make his stand clear with reference to the incident of Mahindra showroom staff insulting a farmer who came to buy a Bolero Pick-up goods vehicle.

"The core purpose of @MahindraRise is to enable our communities and all stakeholders to rise. And a key core value is to uphold the dignity of the individual. Any aberration from this philosophy will be addressed with great urgency," Mahindra tweeted, quoting a tweet by Mahindra and Mahindra CEO Veejay Nakra.

The Mahindra automotive company on Twitter said, "Dealers are the front face of our company. It is our responsibility to ensure that they behave in the most customer- centric manner and ensure the dignity of all our customers. We will investigate the incident and if there is any transgression, we will take appropriate action which includes counseling and training of our frontline staff." Kempe Gowda, a farmer from Ramanapalya near Hebbur town, has taught employees of Mahindra car showroom a lesson of courtesy that they should not judge a person by his clothes on January 21. Gowda was insulted by staff when he came to the showroom located in Tumakuru city to purchase a car. After being insulted, he arranged Rs 10 lakh in 30 minutes and demanded delivery on the same day.

The showroom staff had apologised for their mistake in the police station. Gowda's quick action and vigour has been appreciated by people all over the state and his photos and videos have gone viral on social media.

"I came to make a purchase of a Bolero Pick-up goods vehicle. I had come to the showroom along with my seven friends and uncle. Company field officer mocked and chided me that I don't not even have Rs 10 with me and how could I have the capacity to purchase the vehicle. The officer also said that no one comes to purchase a car in such a group," the farmer added.

"My uncle asked him if we bring the money, will he be able to deliver the vehicle. The field officer challenged that if we managed to bring the money, he would deliver the vehicle immediately and he again challenged that if we will be able to bring the money in half an hour," he said.

"I arranged Rs 10 lakh in 30 minutes and placed it in front of the field officer. I managed to arrange it with my friends. I had approached the police about the insult caused by the showroom employees. I am an educated man. I have studied till Class 10. What will these people do to farmers from villages?" he questioned.

The matter was resolved after the intervention of police. After Kempe Gowda arranged the money and demanded immediate delivery of the vehicle, the showroom staff had sought three days' time for the same. Kempe Gowda later gave them a lesson that they should never judge a person by his clothes and looks.
Chennai, Jan 30 : Well-known Tamil director Manikandan's eagerly-awaited film 'Kadaisi Vivasayi', featuring actor Vijay Sethupathi in the lead, will hit screens on February 11 this year.

Actor Vijay Sethupathi, popularly known as 'Makkal Selvan', and who plays the lead in 'Kadaisi Vivasayi', has co-produced the film.

His production house, Vijay Sethupathi Productions, through its twitter handle on Sunday announced, "The eagerly awaited 'Kadaisi Vivasayi' will hit the screens on February 11. Get ready!" 'Kadaisi Vivasayi' which in English means 'The Last Farmer', has been written, shot, directed and produced by Manikandan himself.

The film has been ready for release for quite some time now. In fact, the film, which has music by Ilaiyaraaja and art direction by Thota Tharani, was ready in December 2019 itself.

However, after that, the pandemic broke out and the film's release kept getting delayed. Now, the team has announced that the film will hit screens on February 11.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : While the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat had been coordinating their activities in the US and Europe for a while, so far the South Asian theatre was left for Jamaat to handle.

The first public entry of Muslim brotherhood in South Asia and India was seen last year with the seeding of the Boycott movement, DisinfoLab said in a report.

MB had been nurturing some of the political/ civil groups in India for a while, it has been keeping a low profile, that is until now. Something, however, has changed in the recent past. The report had earlier documented an expose of the Jamaat-led business enterprise which is run in the name of Kashmir but benefits only a handful of individuals and their families -- all settled in the US and Europe.

However, after the expose, these individuals and organisations got discredited and are no longer capable of running the Kashmir conflict industry. And hence, it seems that the baton of the Kashmir conflict industry was needed to be handed over to MB, a veteran of the conflict industry in Palestine, DisinfoLab said.

Compared to Jamaat, MB has better experience in running the BDSM. This transition was first witnessed during the previous boycott campaign that was launched against India -- which was led from the front by Brotherhood and its affiliate 'news media', including Al Jazeera, it added.

The absence of their carefully groomed next generation of vulture activists at the Tribunal except for a handful of 'doyens' of the Kashmiri conflict industry was also an indication that MB would run the show on its own. However, it needed the 'Kashmiris' at the event to establish its connection with Kashmir, even if by Kashmiri it meant only the ISI agents and rape convicts living in the US/UK and having no connection with Kashmir whatsoever, the report said.

The fact that the Tribunal did not even pretend to engage other stakeholders on Kashmir indicates that MB means business -- the business of collecting funds in the name of Kashmir, it added. Whether all segments of Jamaat are happy with this decision could be anyone's guess.

Lord Nazir Ahmed is a British politician of Pakistani origin. A former member of the House of Lords, he was made a life peer in 1998 on the recommendation of the then Prime Minister Tony Blair. Ahmed sat in the House until his retirement in 2020, before pending expulsion after being found guilty by the Labour Conduct Committee of sexually exploiting a woman. (53) The woman, he sexually exploited was a Kashmiri, who had sought help from him. This is a shining example of how the conflict industries benefit these vulture activists -- not only in cash but also to satisfy their carnal desires, DisinfoLab said.

Ghulam Nabi Fai is a convicted ISI agent, who had also been to jail for his 'services'. It would have been unkind to not invite him, even at the risk of revealing the ISI/ Pakistan link behind the Tribunal theater, though great efforts were taken to field new faces, not exposed by DisInfo Lab, it added.

Another known Jamaat/ ISI stooge was Huma Dar, who is associated with Stand With Kashmir (SWK). Huma Dar is a lecturer at UC Berkeley and an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Arts. She is also the founding member of a working group on "Muslim Identities & cultures", at UC Berkeley. Her father was a retired Pakistani Army officer, and her sister Aliya Farouk Khan's father-in-law, Late Lt. Col. Mian Mohammad Yusuf Khan was also in the Pakistan Army. Dar is a Khalistani sympathiser and was involved in the 2017 Sikh Rally held in San Francisco, the report said (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 30 : Former Kerala Minister K.T. Jaleel, who had to resign from his ministerial post due to an observation from Lokayukta, has come out against the Lokayukta and former Supreme Court judge Justice Cyriac Joseph.

In a social media post, Jaleel said that Kerala Lokayukta is a person who will stoop to any level to support the Congress-led UDF and added that he (Joseph) was the person who had helped bail out a senior UDF leader during his stint as the Kerala High Court Judge. Jaleel in the post said that the Justice had bargained hard with the then UDF government for appointing his sister-in-law as the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University.

Kerala is in the midst of a political storm after the ruling Left Front government in its last cabinet meeting decided to dilute the powers of Lokayukta, which are bitterly opposed by the Congress, BJP, and even the coalition partner in the LDF government, CPI.

K.T. Jaleel, who was in controversy over influencing the posting of his close relative and had to put in his papers after the Lokayukta made observations against him. Due to this, during the second Pinarayi Vijayan government of the LDF, he was not considered for a ministerial berth even though he won his Assembly seat.

Congress leader and former Opposition leader of the state, Kerala Ramesh Chennithala while speaking to IANS said, "The posting of Justice Cyriac Joseph as Lokayukta was done by present Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and as leader of Opposition, I have also unanimously supported the government decision. My support was due to the fact that he was a good Justice and had professionally excelled as the Kerala High Judge as well as Supreme Court judge. It is for the Kerala Chief Minister to answer on this allegation and I don't think that the Chief Minister would support his former cabinet colleague on this allegation." Several people have come out against the statement made by K.T. Jaleel and High court advocate and social activist, Advocate Jaishankar while speaking to mediapersons said, "Jaleel seems to be frustrated and hence this statement as he had to resign following the observation by the Lokayukta. But I will not give a clean chit to Justice Cyriac Joseph as he was close to the Kerala Congress (Mani) and personally very close to late K.M. Mani, who was the leader of the Kerala Congress (Mani). It was with the support of the Kerala Congress (Mani) that he had become the Kerala High Court judge then. Now it is for the Chief Minister to answer on this." The statement of Jaleel has left the LDF government red-faced as the CPM is already in a corner with its coalition partner, CPI coming strongly against the CPM decision to bring reforms in Lokayukta.

CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran had while speaking to mediapersons said that the CPM had not taken up the issue of Lokayukta reforms in the meeting with the CPI that was held on January 14. He also said that the CPI is openly commenting on the matter as the CPM had not informed them about the reforms in Lokayukta.
Chennai, Jan 30 : The Tamil Nadu government will be opening counselling centres at government schools across the state which will be run by former school students. The centres will provide career guidance and job opportunities to students of classes 9 to 12.

School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi told IANS: "In the last assembly session, I had announced that counseling centres would be opened in all government schools in the state to support students of classes 9 to 12 for their higher education and future career prospects. While teachers and parents will be involved in these centres, old students of the schools will also be in the team as the presence of these seniors will help bridge the communication gap with the new generation." The minister said that a fund of Rs 3,08,85,000 (Three crore eight lakh and eighty-five thousand rupees only) was allocated for this scheme.

Student module creation through workshops (curriculum, syllabus, and module), development of career guidance portals for students, blended training for teachers and online certificate courses, career guidance pamphlets, identifying and orienting talented students are the main jobs to be done by the counseling centres that are to be opened in schools.

The Education Minister said that the School Education Department (SED) has launched an e-certificate service for school children. The certificates that are to be distributed include equivalence, genuineness, and Tamil medium certificates, certified copies of mark sheets, and migration and conduct certificates. Generally, students had to physically visit the schools or district educational offices for these certificates.

The students can now approach e-seva centres for these certificates now and the scheme is implemented under the Tamil Nadu e-Governance agency's e-district project.
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired an intermediate-range projectile, believed to be a ballistic missile, toward its eastern waters, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Sunday.

The JCS said in a statement that the South Korean military detected one intermediate-range ballistic missile, which was launched eastward at a high angle into the eastern waters from the Mupyong-ri area in the DPRK's northern province of Jagang at about 7:52 a.m. local time Sunday.

The projectile traveled some 800 km at an altitude of around 2,000 km. The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States were analyzing further details on the projectiles, according to the JCS.

Right after the DPRK's projectile launch, the JCS chief and the South Korea-U.S. combined forces commander held phone talks and reaffirmed the firm defense posture between South Korea and the United States, the JCS said.

The JCS noted that the South Korean military was monitoring the relevant situations and maintaining readiness posture to prepare for the possible additional launch.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in presided over the emergency plenary session of the National Security Council (NSC), marking the first such meeting convened by the president in about one year, according to the presidential Blue House.

During the session, Moon said the DPRK's projectile launch was a challenge against the denuclearization, peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula as well as diplomatic efforts by the international community, noting that it was an act violating the UN Security Council resolutions.

Moon urged the DPRK to stop raising tension and committing any act of pressure, calling for Pyongyang to respond to the dialogue overtures from the international community including South Korea and the United States.

The DPRK said it conducted six 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, two tactical guided missiles on Jan. 17, a long-range cruise missile on Tuesday and a surface-to-surface tactical guided missile on Thursday. Sunday's launch marked the seventh of such tests. 
Seoul, Jan 30 : South Korea's top nuclear envoy held phone talks with his US and Japanese counterparts on Sunday over North Korea's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile earlier in the day, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said.

Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his American counterpart, Sung Kim, denounced the North's latest missile launch as a challenge to the international community's efforts to diplomatically resolve the Korean peninsula issue, as well as to the UN Security Council resolutions, Yonhap News Agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

"(The two sides) agreed to maintain the security posture based on the firm South Korea-US alliance and continue efforts for an early resumption of dialogue with North Korea," the Ministry said in a statement.

Noh also held a separate phone conversation with his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, and agreed to continue "close communications and cooperation" to keep the situation on the peninsula under control.

North Korea fired the missile from the northern province of Jagang at 7.52 a.m., and it flew about 800 km at a top altitude of 2,000 km, according to South Korea's military.

It marked the North's seventh show of force this year and by far its biggest weapons test since the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.

Pyongyang appears to be inching closer to its earlier threat to consider suspending a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests amid an impasse in its nuclear negotiations with the US.
If wishes were horses, then 'Nirmala would lower all prices'. The change in the original proverb may seem contrived, but the thought is not unwarranted, as it reflects the sentiment of common folk in the country today.

The customary presentation of the Union Budget on February 1 invariably raises expectations that there may be a cut here or there to help people save money or earn more.

The Budget presentation is all about big numbers, lots and lots of money, multi-million-rupee projects and schemes, and policy stipulations, but all that common folk care about are announcements of relief measures.

These could be reductions in prices of food, clothing, medicine, education, housing and health, and above all, in taxes and fuel rates. This is the basic list of just about any family in the country.

Talk to any person and the principal complaint is about the ever-increasing prices of the basic items required for normal living. These include basic food items -- vegetables, fruits, grains, pulses, spices, edible oil and milk; stationery and items of clothing; and expenses on travel and healthcare.

Especially because of the Covid surge, the per capita personal expenditure on healthcare has increased multifold. Almost every family has seen a rise in medical expenses, from minor medical consultations to major hospitalisations.

Covid has altered the economic picture of households, especially in middle-income settings. Many spent their life savings on the medical treatment of their near and dear ones. When the Covid second wave struck the country in April-May 2021, a number of families had to resort to external help and crowd-funding to pay their hospital bills.

The desperation for treatment, hospital beds, medicines and even medical consultations has not been seen on such a massive, heartbreaking scale in recent times.

Covid exposed the huge gaps in the country's healthcare system and for some time even created a sense of hopelessness all around. The suffering has affected common people gravely and they desperately aspire for some relief, either in the form of tax cuts or a lowering of the cost of the medical treatment of Covid-19 and other chronic major illnesses.

Since 2014, the Centre has increased the basic income-tax exemption limit and 80C deduction, introduced standard deduction and optional tax slab rates. This has been helpful, but in the Covid-affected environment, more needs to be done. So, hopes for some relief are expected in the family units.

Along with increased expenditure on health, the Covid surge has also affected the creation of new jobs. Hiring is muted; in fact in the private sector a significant number of people have been laid off, many have suffered salary cuts, and many more have either been not paid or are poorly paid.

The simmering frustration was lately manifested when a train in Bihar was set on fire by job aspirants. The Railways had received about 1.25 crore applications for 3,528 vacancies, and just 7,05,446 candidates had been shortlisted -- a mind-boggling statistics.

For any government, the challenge of creating jobs in these times is huge, but those who are unemployed continue to nurture the hope that vacancies in government departments are filled and private companies get an enabling business environment to bloom.

The middle class wants jobs, tax breaks, concessions on healthcare and education, and reduced prices. The lowering of fuel prices is one such wish. After the deregulation of fuel prices, diesel and petrol rates have only risen relentlessly.

Some time ago, sensing the disquiet among the people over the continually rising fuel prices, the Centre as well as certain state governments lowered the prices by a few rupees. A large cut is wished for, but with the Covid pandemic not ebbing and global crude oil prices rising yet again because of the Russia-Ukraine tensions, we can't hope for much on this front.

The wishes of common folk are best expressed by the nursery rhyme: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

If turnips were watches, I'd wear one by my side

If 'ifs' and 'ands' were pots and pans

There'd be no work for tinkers' hands.

In the present context, we will have to change the opening line to: "If wishes were horses, prices would come down." With the Covid surge still showing no signs of slowing down, economies have taken a hit everywhere, whether at the global level or in family units. The macro and the micro are all affected equally.

A miracle budget is the need of the hour. And even a bigger miracle is needed to rid the country and the world of the pandemic. The economy needs to boom again and the wishes of common folk need to come true.

(Deepika Bhan can be reached at deepika.b@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, Jan 30 : The BJP on Sunday released its candidates for all 60 seats for the Manipur assembly polls. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh will contest from Heingang assembly constituency.

The BJP has given tickets to three women candidates -- Nemcha Kipgen from Kangpokpi, S.S. Olish from Chandel and Soraisam Kebi Devi from Naoriyapakhanglakpa.

The BJP has also fielded three former IAS officers -- Dinganglung Gangmei (Dipu) from Nungba, Yengkhom Surchandra Singh from Kakching and Raghumani Singh from Uripok.

Names of BJP candidates for Manipur were released by union minister and state election in-charge Bhupender Yadav with state in-charge Dr Sambit Patra here.

Yadav said that the BJP Central Election Committee has approved names of party candidates for Manipur and BJP will contest on all the 60 seats and will form the government with two third majority.

"Mostly those who have long association and worked for a long time with the party in Manipur have been given tickets. Only two sitting MLAs have been replaced with new faces," Yadav said.

The Manipur assembly polls will be held in two phases. In first phase polling will be held on February 27 in 38 assembly seats and in second phase polling will be held on March 3 in 22 assembly constituencies.

In the 2017 Assembly election, the BJP had won 21 seats but it formed the government with the help of smaller parties and independent MLAs.

The Congress had then emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats but failed to form the government.
Gurugram, Jan 30 : Five people were booked following a raid on 'Refill Republic Ahata' (byob) in sector-57 in Gurugram for allegedly organising a liquor party in violation of Covid-19 guidelines and serving liquor to 60-70 youngsters including girls, officials said on Sunday.

Following inputs about the liquor party being organised in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, a team of the chief minister flying wing led by DSP Inderjeet Yadav raided the spot, they said.

The officials said a liquor party was underway at the place when the raid took place.

Police said the illegal party was organised at 'Refill Republic Ahata' located in Sector-57 where around 60-70 youngsters including girls were participating with loud music.

The Ahata owner is among those who were booked, they added.

The officials said fines were imposed, and a detailed enquiry has been ordered.

A case was registered under sections 188 (disobedience of order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act at the Sector-56 police station, a senior police officer said.
London, Jan 30 : Small changes to periods can follow a Covid-19 vaccine but they quickly return to normal, a leading UK menstruation expert has said.

Victoria Male, from Imperial College London, called studies from the US and Norway which tracked women's cycles "reassuring" and she blamed misinformation for fuelling concerns over infertility, the BBC reported.

The UK regulator said there is no evidence Covid-19 vaccines affect the ability to have children, the report said.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received more than 37,000 reports of unexpected vaginal bleeding, heavier and delayed periods after a Covid-19 jab.

It has always been said there is no evidence of a link to the vaccine because women's cycles vary naturally -- but scientists called for more research.

In a British Medical Journal editorial, Male, a lecturer in reproductive immunology, pointed to two studies.

A US study of nearly 4,000 women using a menstrual-cycle tracking app found their next period was delayed by half a day after a second vaccine dose, but there was no delay after the first.

Those who had two doses in the same cycle had a two-day delay but, Male said, that was unlikely among women in the UK, where the gap between doses is at least eight weeks.

The cycle length of one in 10 of the women changed by more than eight days, compared with one in 25 unvaccinated women, but after just two cycles, their periods returned to normal.

Another study, of more than 5,600 people in Norway, shows how much periods can vary naturally.

Nearly 40 per cent saw at least one change, even before being vaccinated, with the most common complaint heavier than normal bleeding.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : A British "hitman" has been found guilty of conspiring to kill a Pakistani dissident in the Netherlands, the BBC reported.

A court in London heard that Muhammad Gohir Khan was offered about $134,000 to carry out the murder in Rotterdam last year.

However, he failed to track his target down, and was arrested on his return to the UK, the BBC report said.

Now a jury has given a unanimous guilty verdict of conspiracy to murder and he is set be sentenced in March.

The intended victim, Waqass Goraya told the BBC that he is sure the Pakistani intelligence services were ultimately behind the plot and that it forms part of a wider crackdown on dissenting voices both inside and outside Pakistan.

Pakistani officials have not commented on the case.

Khan, from east London, had racked up debts of more than 200,000 pounds whilst running a cargo company.

He was working as a delivery driver for a supermarket, but reacted enthusiastically when he was contacted about a "job" in Europe by a contact in Pakistan, the BBC report said.

The man they planned on killing was Goraya, a prominent social media activist and critic of the Pakistani military and government, living in Rotterdam.

He was abducted and tortured whilst visiting Pakistan in January 2017 by suspected members of the intelligence services, and told the BBC he was convinced they had now attempted to have him killed in Europe.
Hyderabad, Jan 30 : Four women were killed and three others injured when an over speeding car ran over a group of labourers sitting by the roadside in Telangana's Karimnagar town on Sunday morning.

Four occupants of the SUV allegedly escaped after hitting the labourers waiting on the pavement at Kaman Chowrasta on Karimnagar-Hyderabad highway, police said.

Tragedy struck the daily wagers when they were waiting for work on a Sunday morning. Some of the labourers were also eking out a living by making knives and axes there.

Assistant Commissioner of Police T. Srinivasa Rao said the car being driven at a high speed hit the road kerb and then ran over the group of workers on the pavement before hitting a pole.

While a woman died on the spot, six others were injured. They were shifted to Government Hospital, where three of them succumbed.

Eye witnesses told policemen that none of the occupants in the car were injured and they all escaped leaving behind the damaged vehicle.

Police registered a case and identified the owner of the vehicle. Preliminary investigation revealed that the SUV had eight challans pending against it for over speeding/dangerous driving. The e-challans were issued under the limits of different police stations of Cyberabad, Siddipet and Karimnagar over the last four years.

Meanwhile, relatives of the victims and leaders of opposition parties staged a protest in the town, demanding justice for the affected families.
Canberra, Jan 30 : The one-off Test in the women's Ashes ended in a thrilling draw as England managed to survive the last two overs with one wicket in hand against Australia at the Manuka Oval on Sunday. The narrow draw meant that the women's Ashes is still alive with a three-match ODI series still left to play. The match also makes up for a strong case to have more women's Test matches in future, with the duration being extended to five days.

After Australia declared at 216/7 to set England a target of 257 off 48 overs, the tourists took on the challenge with aplomb. Tammy Beaumont was quick off the blocks, hitting seven boundaries to get 36 off 42 balls before Rachael Haynes at cover plucked a catch out of thin air to send the right-hander back to the dressing room.

Lauren Winfield-Hill, sedate till then, began to quicken up in company of captain Heather Knight till Rachael took a catch at mid-wicket on Ellyse Perry's bowling to end her stay at 33. At 94/2, Heather and Nat Sciver joined forces for an aggressive stand full of boundaries and strike rotation to get England close towards the target.

With 104 needed off 17 overs, Australia brought a twist in the match as Darcie Brown trapped Heather plumb in front of the stumps. The captain went for the review but replays showed ball hitting the stumps. Sophia Dunkley played a blinder of a knock to keep England in the hunt for chase. She hit back-to-back boundaries off Darcie before smoking Annabel Sutherland for successive sixes.

Nat reached her fifty and looked great till England lost their way sensationally. Annabel had Nat caught while pulling at square leg for 58, before returning in her next over to dismiss Amy Jones for four at long-on. Alana King, in her debut Test, removed Sophia on 45 off 32 balls with Beth Mooney taking a brilliant catch at long-on.

Annabel returned to take out Katherine Brunt with an edge behind to keeper Alyssa Healy while Alana effected a run-out of Anya Shrubsole and then dismissed Charlie Dean to leave England nine down with 2.1 overs left. Sophie Ecclestone and Kate Cross batted out the remaining balls to force a draw after England lost six wickets for 27 runs out of nowhere.

Earlier, Australia, resuming from 12/2 on day four, saw Beth and Ellyse steady the ship. The duo put on a 91-run partnership and were aided by generous drops (Beth at 40, Ellyse at 35) and mix-ups. Though Ellyse was trapped lbw by Sophie on 41, Beth marched on to reach her half-century before being trapped plumb lbw by Charlie for her maiden Test wicket.

Post lunch, captain Meg Lanning fell to Katherine Brunt, edging to first slip for the pacer's ninth wicket in the Test match. Ashleigh Gardner (38), Tahlia McGrath (34) and Jess Jonassen (14 not out) picked up the scoring rate with boundaries to set up Australia's declaration.

The bold declaration left England with a record chase and they did come really close, thanks to the efforts of the top five before losing their way suddenly but managed to hold on to the draw. With the Ashes scoreline now 6-4, the ODI series will now decide who will take the series.

Brief Scores: Australia 337/9 d in 104.1 overs and 216/7 d in 64 overs (Beth Mooney 63, Ellyse Perry 41; Katherine Brunt 3/24, Charlie Dean 2/24) drew with England 297 all out in 105.5 overs and 245/9 in 48 overs (Nat Sciver 58, Heather Knight 48; Annabel Sutherland 3/69, Alana King 2/39).
Srinagar, Jan 30 : A top commander of the proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and a Pakistani national were among the five terrorists killed in two separate encounters in Kashmir's Budgam and Pulwama districts in a span of 12 hours, officials said on Sunday.

Four JeM terrorists were killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Pulwama's Naira area, while one Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist was killed in another encounter in Budgam's Chrar-i-sharief area.

The terrorists killed in the encounter have been identified as -- Zahid Wani resident of Karimabad, Waheed Ah Reshi from Khadarmuh, and Inayaitullah Mir from Nyira.

The Pakistani terrorist has been identified as Kafir alias Chotu. He was active in the area since 2020.

Zahid Wani was one of the main commanders of the JeM outfit after Lamboo and Sameer Dar, who were masterminds of the 2019 Pulwama attack, security forces said in a statement.

"This module was directly controlled from across with the support of Sakargargh and Kotli camps under the direct supervision of Qari Zarar and Mulana Rouf Azhar (brother of Massod Azhar). Pakistan is continuously trying to push these elements to India from across," the statement said.

Zahid was originally a staunch overground worker (OGW) of the Tehri-ul-Mujahideen (TuM) outfit. He was arrested in 2016 in Srinagar in connection with harbouring two TuM terrorists, namely Danish and Mugeez belonging to Srinagar's Parimpora police station area. He had arranged camouflage gear for these two terrorists back then. He was an extreme radical and a hard core jihadi.

Zahid was one of the oldest surviving JeM terrorists and top Commander in South Kashmir after the killing of Lamboo and Sameer Dar.

He was active since 2017 and was responsible for large-scale recruitment of terrorists in South Kashmir.

His elimination will now surely disorient the remaining JeM terrorists operating in the valley since Zahid used to give them planning and leadership. Also, local recruitment in JeM may see a drop in forthcoming days.

Meanwhile, the weapons that were recovered from the slain terrorists included one M4 with night vision sight, two AK Series weapons, two pistols and 12 grenades.

"Five terrorists of Pakistan sponsored proscribed terror outfits LeT and JeM killed in dual encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani and a Pakistani terrorist among the killed. Big success for us," said the Jammu and Kashmir Police in an earlier statement quoting Inspector General Police Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar.
Hyderabad, Jan 30 : Covid-19 has not just caused a health emergency, but also a financial emergency for millions of families. Prolonged illness and high medical bills added to the woes of people who were badly affected by this deadly infection.

Many are possibly still recovering from the damage caused to their health and financial planning. To overcome such situations in the future and for India to grow stronger and healthier, insurance is possibly the only solution.

Healthcare providers suggest that the Union government bring in a favourable policy in the upcoming Union Budget to encourage all Indians to opt for health insurance.

"Health insurance policies are not just to cover medical expenses, but insured individuals will have the freedom to avail quality healthcare. Changing lifestyles and newer ailments are posing increased threats to the well-being of our societies, and it is important we gear up to meet these challenges effectively," said D.V.S Soma Raju, Executive Director, SLG Hospital.

He hoped that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech will give importance to health insurance because only an 'Insured India' will develop into 'Healthy India' eventually.

"When age is on our side, we all are healthy and tend to take enhanced risks on personal and professional fronts. But there would be a time when we must think about the future and be prepared for any eventuality. Covid-19 infection and the unprecedented devastation it brought to mankind is the perfect warning to wake up and act. While we all must stay safe and ensure our health is well protected, taking health insurance will add to the welfare of the individuals, families, and the societies at large," said Hemanth Kaukuntla, Vice-Chairman, Century Hospitals.

Speaking on the significance of health insurance, Satwinder Singh Sabharwal, COO, Aware Gleneagles Global Hospital, said that fast-paced lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits, ever increasing levels of pollution, and growing incidences of diseases at a young age, could lead to medical emergencies at any stage and for anyone.

"Without proper insurance coverage, medical emergencies often leave families cash- strapped, which at times could be more damaging than the ailment itself," he added.

"Leading a financially secured life is the dream of every individual. Irrespective of saving enough money or not, one must give importance to apply for health insurance, because that is certainly the most important parameter for financial freedom. Health insurance provides prompt access to medical treatment, with the usual flexibility to customise policy as per individual's or family's needs," said C.Raghu, Director, Aster Prime Hospital.

In addition to encouraging more and more Indians to apply for insurance, healthcare professionals also wish the Union Finance Minister to make substantial allocation to improve health infrastructure in the country.
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's economy is expected to grow over 5 percent in 2022 after the southeast Asian nation has fully reopened since November, buoyed by its high vaccination rates, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said here on Sunday.

"The success of the COVID-19 national vaccination campaign has allowed Cambodia's economy to grow at a faster-than-expected rate," he said during a handover ceremony of 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated from Poland.

"Cambodia's economy is projected to grow by around 3 percent in 2021 and will continue to grow by more than 5 percent in 2022, mainly thanks to the full re-opening of the country, and the return of the socioeconomic activities to normal across all sectors," he added.

The kingdom's economy is mainly driven by agriculture, tourism, garment exports, and real estate and construction.

So far, Cambodia has administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 14.35 million people, or 89.7 percent of its 16 million population, the health ministry said, adding that 13.75 million people, or 86 percent, have been fully vaccinated with two required shots.

Most of the vaccines used in the country's inoculation program are China's Sinovac and Sinopharm.

"Undoubtedly, vaccination is the key measure to control the spread, to end the COVID-19 crisis, and to re-open socio-economic activities safely in the new normal," Hun Sen said.

Cambodia has well controlled the spread of COVID-19. The kingdom has reported zero death from the disease for 26 days straight, according to the health ministry.

The country logged 57 new cases on Sunday, including 44 domestic infections, bringing the national total caseload to 121,299, with 3,015 deaths and 117,428 recoveries, the ministry said. 
Lucknow, Jan 30 : Nida Khan, daughter-in-law of Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, well known cleric of Barelvi sect, has joined the BJP in Lucknow.

This is yet another jolt to the Congress since the cleric had recently announced his support to the Congress.

Nida said that she had joined the BJP because she was impressed with the working of the BJP government, particularly the law banning triple talaq.

"This was turning point for me in supporting BJP. The triple talaq issue will be a game changer for the BJP, The Congress only gives slogan for women but has done nothing much for women," she said.

She said that her father-in-law had failed to stop exploitation of women in his own home.

She said that she would campaign for the BJP and had not yet decided about contesting the elections.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, a leading farmers body, has announced plans to march in Islamabad to protest against the shortage of agricultural inputs, including urea, and the economic hardships faced by farmers, Samaa TV reported.

The march would begin from Multan on February 14, the body announced on Saturday.

Kissan Ittehad Chairman Khalid Mehmood Khokhar said that several marches would be staged across the country in February, and they would eventually converge in Multan to proceed towards Lahore and Islamabad.

The larger march would arrive in Islamabad in the last week of February, he said.

Farmers across Pakistan have faced a severe shortage of fertilisers, especially urea.

President of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif has said the people who feed the whole country are protesting helplessly and the government is nowhere to be found.

The entire nation would suffer if the government does not come to the farmers' aid immediately, he said.

The opposition leader said that after sugar and gas, urea has also become a luxury in the country under the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, the report said.

The government should ensure the availability of urea to the growers at reasonable prices, he added.

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also plans to lead a march on Islamabad at the end of February, while the Pakistan Democratic Movement has announced one for March 23.
Phnom Penh, Jan 30 : Cambodia's economy is expected to grow over 5 per cent in 2022 after the Southeast Asian nation has fully reopened since November 2021, buoyed by its high Covid vaccination rates, Prime Minister Hun Sen said here on Sunday.

"The success of the Covid-19 national vaccination campaign has allowed Cambodia's economy to grow at a faster-than-expected rate," he said during a handover ceremony of 300,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine donated from Poland.

"Cambodia's economy is projected to grow by around 3 per cent in 2021 and will continue to grow by more than 5 percent in 2022, mainly thanks to the full re-opening of the country, and the return of the socioeconomic activities to normal across all sectors," he added.

The kingdom's economy is mainly driven by agriculture, tourism, garment exports, and real estate and construction, reports Xinhua news agency.

So far, Cambodia has administered at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines to 14.35 million people, or 89.7 per cent of its 16 million population, the Health Ministry said, adding that 13.75 million people, or 86 per cent, have been fully vaccinated with two required shots.

"Undoubtedly, vaccination is the key measure to control the spread, to end the Covid-19 crisis, and to re-open socio-economic activities safely in the new normal," Hun Sen said.

The country logged 57 new cases on Sunday, bringing the national total caseload to 121,299, with 3,015 deaths and 117,428 recoveries, the Ministry said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, Jan 30 : The Gujarat ATS on Sunday arrested Maulana Qamar Gani Islami in connection with the sensational murder of Kishan Bharwad who was shot dead in Dhandhuka city by bike borne assailants for uploading a video on social media against Muslims.

The arrest was made from the national capital. Gani was produced before a local court which sent him on transit remand. Gani will also be produced before concerned court in Gujarat. The ATS is likely to seek ten days remand for interrogation.

Kishan was murdered on January 25 and six people have been arrested in this case so far.

Kishan uploaded a video on social media after which he came on the radar of extremists. It has been alleged that Qamar Gani made a provocative speech against Kishan after which the main accused Shabbir shot dead Kishan with the help of his aide.

The Gujarat ATS has claimed that Gani is connected to Tehrik-e-Farog.

Kishan had uploaded a video on social media site Facebook in which he spoke about Muslims after which he came on the radar of extremists. Shabbir and his friend allegedly planned to kill him after being provoked by Gani. They came on bike and shot him dead.

During interrogation, both told Gujarat Police that they met Qamar Gani in Mumbai. During the meeting Gani told them that whomsoever speaks against Islam and Muslims should be eliminated. After this they hatched a conspiracy to kill Kishan.

On January 29, the Gujarat Government directed the state ATS to probe the matter. The ATS arrested Kamar Gani from Delhi within twenty four hours.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : Shares of CE Info Systems-backed MapmyIndia haven't been able to keep its strong bull run and have fallen around 15 per cent since its bumper listing on the exchanges.

Making its market debut on December 21, 2021, with over 50 premium over its issue price at Rs 1,565 on the National Stock Exchange, it had evidently attracted eyeballs of the potential investors during the IPO subscription.

Its issue price was Rs 1,033.

Founded in 1995, headquartered in New Delhi, MapmyIndia builds digital map data, telematics services, location-based Software-as-a-Service and GIS AI technologies.

Post the listing gains, it managed to rise further towards Rs 1,850 and above, but currently it is at Rs 1,336 per share.

It is noteworthy to mention that the company's net profits during the Q3FY22 saw some decline year-on-year. The company on Friday reported a net profits of Rs 18.5 crore during the quarter, as compared to Rs 21.6 crore in the same period last fiscal.

"Sales of automotive OEMs were impacted due to semiconductor shortage, which in turn impacted us," the company said in a regulatory filing.

Besides, revenue from operations fell around 11 per cent to Rs 43.4 crore.

"The momentum for our products and platforms is strong and this will further cement our leadership position in the digital mapping and geospatial space," said Rakesh Sharma, Chairman and MD of the company in the same filing.
New Delhi/Imphal, Jan 30 : The BJP has done a tightrope walk in announcing the names of 60 candidates for elections in Manipur and has retained most of the sitting MLAs to avoid dissension and desertion.

However, elections are always tough games with a lot of 'Ifs and Buts' elements and still there could be some exodus from the saffron camp; but perhaps it would be maintained at minimum.

In the list announced, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has been fielded from his traditional Heingang constituency.

The list includes three women candidates - Nemcha Kipgen from Kangpokpi, Ms Soraisam Kebi Devi from Naoriya Pakhanglakpa constituency and S.S. Olish from Chandel (ST) reserved constituency.

Nemcha Kipgen has a bright prospect as she is a sitting BJP legislator (2017). In 2012 she had won the seat on the Congress ticket. In 2017, NPP, BJP's post-poll ally, candidate Letpao Haokip had won the Chandel seat.

In these two constituencies Naoriya Pakhanglakpa and Chandel (ST), the advantage is not with the saffron party, and the contests can be symbolic in more ways than one.

But BJP nominee Olish had polled over 23 per cent of vote share in 2017 and polled 9,842 votes to finish third in the race.

Whether the saffron party was able to make further inroads in last five years remains to be tested.

Closer analysis suggests the BJP could face a tough fight in eight-ten constituencies in the valley that sends 40 legislators to the 60-member assembly.

In the hills including Naga stronghold areas, the BJP's list suggests it is banking on the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi vis-a-vis the Naga peace talks and hence the advantage could be with NPF.

Most BJP candidates are new.

The BJP nominees will get the advantage of support from the Kuki population in Churachandpur and the adjoining region.

The saffron party has fielded Okram Henry Singh, nephew of Congress stalwart Ibobi Singh, from Wangkhei assembly constituency.

Okram Henry Singh was declared as the winner in 2017, but on April 15, 2021, the High Court declared the election result as null and void.

It also declared that Yumkham Erabot Singh would be the elected member from the Wangkhei constituency.

The BJP nominee against Okram Ibobi Singh in Thoubal assembly seat will be L. Basanta Singh.

The saffron party has also decided to field a former IAS officer, Raghumani Singh from Uripok assembly segment. He will be pitted against Y. Joykumar Singh of National People's Party.

Singh is the deputy chief minister and thus the going may be tough for the BJP candidate.

The saffron party has good prospects of winning certain seats like Churachandpur (ST) and Singhat seats, but will face a tough fight in Chandel and Tengnoupal.

The going would not be easy even in Yaiskul assembly constituency where sitting legislator Thokchom Satyabrata Singh has been fielded again.

The possibility of former cop Thounaojam Brinda contesting in this constituency either as Congress candidate or Independent would make things difficult for the BJP.

She has been a vocal critic of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh.

(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist)
New Delhi, Jan 30 : Director General of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Adwaita Gadanayak, will be building a grand 28-feet high granite statue of the iconic freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate, which was announced on his 125th birth anniversary.

A hologram statue has been installed in its place for now and will remain there until the construction of the original granite statue is complete.

Sharing information and significance of the statue, Adwaita who was awarded the National Lalit Kala Akademi Award in 1993, told IANS: "Netaji's statue will be the first in the country to be made of granite stone. He was protecting the nation and stood in front of the enemies like a rock. We are making his granite statue so that we remember his sacrifices all the time. Keeping all the things in mind such as his height, weight, clothes, gait, this idol will be made." "Choosing a stone for the statue is a big deal, it should be a strong enough black stone. About 30 artists will work in making this statue, but to create it, a traditional method will also be adopted. The idol will also be carved using chisel and hammer and it will be shaped through a digital medium. So, we are working with both traditional and contemporary artists.

"Netaji was a brave soldier, warrior, great general and a skilled politician. To free the country from British raj, he had formed the Azad Hind Fauj. Therefore, to make a statue of such a big personality, stones are being collected from places across South India.

"The granite will come from the South because it is only found there. In fact, we are thinking of getting it from Chamarajanagar in Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh. We are also looking for it near Bengaluru. Our team needs a jade black coloured stone for the idol." According to Adwaita, a granite stone 30 feet high, would be large and heavy so a special cart to transport the granite and other construction materials will be arranged for.

He said: "We are not making it just like any other statue. Although people have got an idea through the hologram but while making it, every little details will have to be considered, which is a lot of work." Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in Odisha's Cuttack. He came from a well to do family and was the ninth sibling among his 7 brothers and 6 sisters. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the construction of his statue, his family members also welcomed it.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : India has been facing the Covid pandemic for two years now and the pharma industry has witnessed ups and downs during this period while the government has introduced some policies to strengthen India's healthcare industry during the crisis.

But public health expenditure, as a share of country's gross domestic product, is still low and the industry stakeholders are hopeful of a change this year as Covid has provided an opportunity to increase health spending in this budget.

"The Indian pharmaceutical industry is of strategic importance for the country, providing access to affordable quality medicines across the world. The pharmaceutical industry is science-based and knowledge-driven with scientific developments evolving at a rapid pace. The budget should spur innovation and set the pace for taking the pharmaceutical industry to the next level," Sudarshan Jain, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, told IANS.

He said that the primary thrust for the Indian pharmaceutical industry going forward should be to move up the value chain by scaling up R&D and innovation to meet the unmet needs of patients across the world.

"The industry should evolve from 'Make in India' to 'Make and Discover in India, for India and World' fulfilling the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam," he added.

Jain underlined that as we have been into the pandemic for the last two years, everyone has talked about strengthening of health infrastructure. "But it can not be done with spending just 1.2 per cent of the GDP, and instead the health spending should go around 2.5 per cent of GDP this year." The Covid-19 pandemic has remained a challenge for the healthcare system as lack of adequate infrastructure and the shortage of basic medical equipment are some points which emerged as important obstacles in providing heathcare services in rural areas.

"The industry expects that preventive medicines will get important places because of Covid pandemic in this budget," said Dr Ravi Mallik of Radix Healthcare.

He said that they are hopeful that fund allocation for health will increase in this budget to strengthen the health infrastructure across the nation. In developed nations, over 12 per cent of GDP is spent on health, he said, adding that India's health share in GDP should increase to 2.5 per cent.

Dr V.K. Monga, Chairman, DMA Nursing Home Forum, said that the Covid pandemic has exposed the health infrastructure of the country.

"We have to increase the spending on health to at least five per cent of total GDP to fight such pandemics." He added that lower government spending on health gives advantage to the private healthcare sector. People also prefer rivate hospitals as they are well-equipped with modern facilities which government hospitals lack. The government has to increase spending on health to make healthcare more efficient and accessible for all, Dr Monga said.

(Avinash Prabhakar can be reached at avinash.p@ians.in)

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Davanagere : , Jan 30 (IANS) M.P. Renukacharya, senior BJP MLA and staunch follower of former CM B.S. Yediyurappa, has said that more than 15 arrogant cabinet ministers in Karnataka should be sacked.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Renukacharya said, these ministers are not responsive. "I have given a list of arrogant ministers to party President Nalin Kumar Kateel and CM Bommai. They should be sacked in the interest of the party and the government," he maintained.

"One of the ministers whom I tried to contact didn't receive my calls. His personal secretary said that the minister has tested positive for Covid and he is under quarantine. Later, he was found attending cabinet meetings. I spoke about the issue with CM Bommai," Renukacharya explained.

"I have complained against more than 15 cabinet ministers in the government. These ministers are not accessible. They don't receive calls. If letters are written, these ministers' personal secretaries write back. This is an insult to legislators and people of who he represents," he claimed.

"I am so angry that I can't show it in front of the media. I condemn their attitude, I am not supposed to talk before the media. But, this behaviour of ministers will spoil the image of the government and the organisation," he said.

"The matter will be discussed with state in-charge Arun Singh. If I am guilty, let the party initiate action against me. I am raising my voice in the interest of the party," Renukacharya said.
New Omicron cases in UK nearly double in a day Image Source: IANS News

London, Jan 30 : Covid infections jumped by a tenth across the UK last week, according to another study that shows children are fueling the resurgence of Omicron.

According to the Daily Mail, King's 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 report said.

The findings mirror other coronavirus surveillance studies and the Government's 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 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.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
DHAKA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- A senior expert of Bangladesh's National Zoo in capital Dhaka has wished a happy "Lunar New Year of the Tiger" to the Chinese people and sought Chinese cooperation in animal care and welfare in the new year.

Md Abdul Latif, director of the Bangladesh National Zoo, told Xinhua recently that in the Chinese culture, tiger represents great strength, vitality and bravery.

"May the Year of the Tiger bring the Chinese people endless happiness, peace and prosperity," he said.

"We all know that the exchange of knowledge plays a very important role. My humble request is to the Chinese government to share their research knowledge with us so that we can also benefit from it," he said, noting that China is doing research and trying to use the knowledge to make wild animals more human-friendly.

Apart from this, he expressed his keenness to do exchange programs on animal conservation such as the Royal Bengal Tiger.

According to the official, animals that are scarce in Bangladesh, especially at the Bangladesh National Zoo, can be brought here through exchange and cooperative breeding programs.

"I believe building a zoo will go one step further in this direction of education, research and conservation of wildlife." 
Amritsar, Jan 30 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced that when the AAP government is formed in Punjab, the pictures of constitution maker Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh would be installed in all government offices, instead of chief minister and any political leader.

Talking to the media with AAP's chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann here, Kejriwal said the AAP government would follow the principles and ideals of Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh and fulfill their dreams.

"After a long struggle and great sacrifices, our country got independence. Our great freedom fighters sacrificed their lives to liberate the country. But today we are forgetting their ideals and sacrifices. People are moving away from their ideals and principles.

"In order to remember the sacrifices, principles and ideals of two great freedom fighters of our country, we announced in Delhi on January 26 that the pictures of Babasaheb Ambedkar and Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh will be put in place of the chief minister and leaders in all government offices.

"In Punjab too, the AAP government will remove the picture of the chief minister from all government offices, to install pictures of Baba Saheb and Shaheed Bhagat Singh, so that every time people see them, they will remember their struggle, sacrifice and thoughts and be inspired to follow his path." AAP chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann said today's announcement will inspire the youth and government employees to do good for the country and the state.

"I am very saddened when an old man tells us that the British were better than today's leaders," Mann said. Corrupt and selfish leaders have wasted the visions and sacrifices of the country's martyrs and freedom fighters. The way the ruling leaders are plundering the country today, the British will also be ashamed to see this.

Mann said that after independence Babasaheb Ambedkar had suspicion that corrupt politicians would misuse the power and the people of the country would not get true freedom. "Today his suspicion is proving to be true," he added.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : Tech giants such as Google and Facebook will be required to pay newspapers and other media outlets for using their stories, under new laws being drawn up by the UK Government, Daily Mail reported.

Under the plans, which are modelled on a system that has been introduced in Australia, the platforms will be encouraged to negotiate payment deals with news organisations. If the negotiations fail, an independent arbitrator would set a fair price, the report said.

The move, being driven by UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, comes amid growing concerns that the tech companies are dominating online advertising, to the detriment of consumers and businesses.

The new regime will be regulated by the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), the digital watchdog that was set up within the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to rein in the power of the tech platforms, the report said.

The unit will also investigate the algorithms used by search engines such as Google, which many news organisations believe are manipulated to disproportionately direct search enquiries towards Left-leaning news organisations, and filter how people read and access news, to the detriment of quality, paid-for journalism, Daily Mail reported.

A source in the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said that the planned regime was 'pro-competition' and 'supports the sustainability of the press'. The source said: 'The new regime will be an important vehicle to tackle the imbalance of power between the largest platforms and publishers.

The measures would give publishers greater transparency over the algorithms that drive traffic and revenue, more control over the presentation and branding of their content, as well as greater access to data on how users interact with their content.
Chennai, Jan 30 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has urged the people to take a vow that there remains no place for the "heirs" of Nathuram Godse -- who assassinated Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, on the Indian soil.

The Chief Minister after paying floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 74th death anniversary at the Marina beach on Sunday in a tweet called upon the people to uphold unity by adhering to brotherhood and nurturing love.

He said: "Let us take a vow that there is no place in the Indian soil for Godse's heirs and their evil thoughts." The Chief Minister, however, neither mentioned anyone, nor took any names.

Governor R.N. Ravi also paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary at the Raj Bhavan.

He also administered a pledge against untouchability and observed a 2-minute silence as a mark of respect to Mahatma Gandhi.

He said that Mahatma Gandhi was a charismatic leader of the freedom movement and had an unwavering commitment to truth.

The Governor also said that his commitment towards non-violence and to serve the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and untouchables were exemplary.

Students from Harijan Sevak Sangh and Raj Bhavan officials joined the Governor in his pledge against untouchability.

The Governor also interacted with students at the Raj Bhavan and distributed Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography to the students.

He also called upon the authorities to arrange career counselling for students so that they can opt for their future carrier prospects.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : Delhi Congress Committee President Ch Anil Kumar on Sunday alleged that 172 homeless people have died in the city in the first 28 days of January due to severe cold, as the Delhi Government has not made any arrangements to protect the poor living on the streets.

He said that with the Chief Minister and his Cabinet Ministers away on political tourism to states going for polls, Delhiites have been left to fend for themselves. Whether it was Covid-19 pandemic crisis, cold or pollution, the poor are the worst victims of Arvind Kejriwal's irresponsible and incompetent governance, he alleged.

He said that yet the CM has no shame in boasting about the "Delhi model" of development everywhere. Ch Anil Kumar said that Delhi reeled under one of the longest spells of cold and rainy conditions and for thousands of people, who have been sleeping under flyovers, cement pipes used for drainage purposes and bus shelters, it was a killing nightmare with the Kejriwal government doing little for their safety.

Ch Anil Kumar said that considering the fact that over two lakh people live on the streets of Delhi without a roof over their heads for the past many years, the dirty night shelters setup by the Delhi Government can barely accommodate a few hundred, and most poor people still prefer to sleep in the open, as the night shelters are unbearably filthy, unsafe and a breeding ground for infections and diseases, including Covid.

He said that women dread to use such night shelters as they feel most unsafe in them in the absence of any security.

Ch Anil Kumar said that any responsible Chief Minister would have been present in Delhi when the cold weather became unbearable in January and Covid infections and deaths were rising sharply, but CM Kejriwal's priority lay elsewhere as he was addressing election meetings and selling MLA seats in Punjab and other States, instead of tackling the issues dogging Delhi.

The DPCC President alleged that CM Kejriwal has squandered crores for his comfort, publicity, political propaganda and useless stunts, but nothing for the poor who play a vital role in the upkeep and development of the National Capital.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : A day ahead of the start of Budget session of Parliament and amid Pegasus snoopgate controversy, the Congress has demanded that government should address issues which concern common people.

The party in a statement said, "With the Budget Session starting tomorrow, will Modi government address the issues of failing economy, unending price rise, unbearable unemployment, Chinese aggression, dismissal of MoS Ajay Mishra, compensation to the families of Covid victims & martyred farmers?" The stage is set for a stormy Budget Session with the opposition gearing up against the government on the Pegasus snooping issue. The Congress is reaching out to the opposition to devise a common strategy to corner the government.

Not only the Congress but other political parties are also planning to corner the government on the snooping row in the country.

Leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We will seek the view of other political parties and then the further strategy will be decided." The Congress has said that the Prime Minister is directly involved in it and alleged that the Modi government purchased Pegasus Spyware in 2017 and other military technology as the "centrepieces" of a package, including "weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion" from Israel during PM Modi's visit. It is not a coincidence that the Budget of National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) reporting to the NSA went up from Rs 33 crore to Rs 333 crore in 2017-18.
Mumbai, Jan 30 : Kajol has tested positive for Covid-19 and been forced to isolate herself. From isolation, the "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" actress took to her Instagram to share a picture of her daughter Nysa Devgn.

Captioning the throwback picture where Nysa can be seen in ethnic attire, Kajol wrote, "Tested positive and I really don't want anyone to see my Rudolph nose so let's just stick to the sweetest smile in the world!" Teasing her daughter, she added in the caption, "Miss u @nysadevgan and yes I can see the eye roll!"

Priyanka Chopra Jonas commented under the picture, "She's stunning." Kajol's sister Tanishaa Mukerji wrote in the comments section: "Sending u some virtual hugs baby @kajol." On the work front, Kajol had signed "The Last Hurray", which will be directed by Tamil and Malayalam actress Revathi.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 30 : Senior Congress leader and former leader of Opposition in Kerala, Ramesh Chennithala has said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan must cut short his visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and come back to the state and take the lead in fight against Covid-19.

Speaking to media persons in his constituency, Harippad on Sunday, the former state Home Minister said that with the Covid-19 situation getting worse, the Chief Minister should cut short his UAE visit and take charge of Covid fight.

For the fifth consecutive day, fresh Covid cases in the state have crossed fifty thousand with the state recording 51,570 cases with a Test positivity rate (TPR) of 49.89 per cent.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had left for Mayo clinic in the United States of America on January 14 for medical treatment. He was supposed to arrive back on January 29, but he landed in the UAE on that day and announced that he would be staying in the Gulf country for one more week before returning home. This led to Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala requesting the Chief Minister to cut short his UAE visit and to reach Kerala at the earliest.

Chennithala while speaking to IANS said, "The presence of Chief Minister is required in the state now as Covid-19 cases are mounting and there is no micro-level management. The Chief Minister must cut short his UAE visit and come back to the state and take the lead in containing the dreaded pandemic."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
London, Jan 30 : Manchester United have started an investigation into allegations of domestic violence against young forward Mason Greenwood. United have been left stunned after Greenwood's girlfriend Harriet Robson posted photographs and videos on social media of serious injuries she claims the England star inflicted on her.

United issued a statement insisting they "did not condone violence of any kind" and said, "We are aware of images and allegations circulating on social media." "We are aware of images and allegations circulating on social media. We will not make any further comment until the facts have been established. Manchester United does not condone violence of any kind," Manchester United said in a statement.

Greenwood has not been picked by Southgate since being sent home from Iceland in disgrace in September 2020, after he and Phil Foden broke Covid protocols.

Apart from United, Greater Manchester Police too have started an investigation, saying they were "aware of images and video circulating on social media. Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances".

Greenwood, 20, made his United debut in 2019 and went on to score 35 goals in 129 appearances to establish himself as one of the brightest young talents in Europe.
Vijayawada, Jan 30 : Suicide of a minor girl in Vijayawada due to sexual harassment by a leader of opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has sent shock waves in the city while the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has demanded harshest punishment to the culprit.

The 14-year-old girl jumped to death from fifth floor of her apartment building in Bhavanipuram area on Saturday. In a suicide note, which police later recovered from her bedroom, the student of class 9 wrote that she was ending her life due to sexual harassment by Vinod Jain, who resides in the same building.

Police have arrested the accused, who contested the recent municipal elections as a corporator on TDP ticket. He has been booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The girl's grandfather said she looked depressed since morning but did not say anything when he enquired. He said when he and his daughter were going for an evening walk she came to them and hugged her mother to say 'I love you'.

When the father and daughter duo returned home from walk they were shocked to learn that she ended her life from jumping down. He said the police recovered suicide note from her bed room in which she wrote how Vinod Jain was sexually harassing her.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh State Women's Commission chairperson Vasireddy Padma said that the government has taken the incident seriously and that all efforts will be made to ensure that the culprit gets stringent punishment.

Endowments minister Vellampalli Srinivas termed the incident as shocking and said the government will ensure justice to the victim's family. "The kind of harassment the girl was subjected too is really shocking. We can't even speak what the girl has written in the suicide note," he said.

The minister alleged that TDP president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was encouraging such people leading to crimes against women and children YSRCP legislator and actor R.K. Roja said that a 60-year-old man sexually harassing a 14-year-old girl and driving her to suicide is a heinous crime. She called up on women to stage protests across the state to seek stringent action against such criminals.

She alleged that during TDP rule many women and children became victims of rapes and sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, the TDP on Sunday suspended Vinod Jain from the party.
Chennai, Jan 30 : Prasanth Nagarajan's upcoming film "Amigo Garage", featuring Master Mahendran in the lead, is being billed as a "gripping gangster thriller".

The Tamil film, the first look of which was released recently, has been garnering attention for its unique title.

Talking to IANS, Nagarajan said: "The film is not a comedy but a gangster thriller. We all know gangsters to be fiercesome and tough. But then,there is another side to a gangster that is filled with pain. My film will talk about that." With the title containing 'Amigo', the director, asked if the film has a Spanish connection, said: "Yes, one of the characters who is close to the lead character played by Master Mahendran has a Spanish connection. Also, the garage plays an important part in the film. We have therefore named it 'Amigo Garage'." The film, which also has G.M. Sundar, Dasarthi, Deepa Balu, Athira Raj and Sirikko Udhaya in lead roles, will have Mahendran playing a gangster.

"We have finished shooting the film. At the moment, post production work is on. We intend to release the film in either May or June this year," Nagarajan said.

But will it be released in theatres or on OTT? "It depends on the situation," the director said. "We are keeping our fingers crossed. We will take a call once the film is ready."
CANBERRA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been deployed to deliver essential supplies to flood-stricken parts of South Australia (SA).

Steven Marshall, the Premier of SA, on Sunday announced that the ADF will fly 20 tonnes of food and supplies into the town Coober Pedy in the state's north on Monday ahead of a forecast extreme weather.

"We are very grateful to our friends in the Australian Defence Force who have been helping South Australia, first with the bushfires of course, then with our response to coronavirus and now with these extreme weather events," Marshall said.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned parts of SA's north to brace for up to 200 millimeters of rain in the next three days with a forecast peak on Tuesday, potentially cutting remote towns off from the rest of the state.

It comes with vast regions of the Outback already underwater due to an unprecedented flooding.

The Stuart Highway, which connects dozens of towns in rural SA including Coober Pedy to the state capital Adelaide and the Northern Territory (NT), remained under half a meter of water on Sunday while vital freight rail tracks have been damaged and will not be repaired until mid-February.

Marshall urged motorists to avoid traveling to the region, with anyone driving between Adelaide and the NT forced to take a detour through Queensland.

"Unless you need to be traveling in the north of South Australia, please stay away -- this is a very dangerous situation," he said.

"Our concern is the further extreme weather and rainfall events forecast over the next 72 hours.

"This is going to further exacerbate the already difficult situation that we are envisaging." 
Los Angeles, Jan 30 : American firefighter-turned-filmmaker Megan Smaker, whose recent documentary "Jihad Rehab" drew fierce criticism at its 2022 Sundance Film Festival screening, addressed the critics and presented her side along with executive producer Mohamed Aabas to 'Variety'.

The film documents the life of Yemeni men who faced unlawful detention for 15 years at Guantanamo Bay, before being relocated to the Mohammed Bin Nayef Centre for Counselling and Care -- a "rehabilitation centre" in Saudi Arabia.

The alleged extremists underwent a graduation programme there to be allowed to get back to regular life. "Jihad Rehab" follows Ali, Nadir and Mohammed's turbulent journey over three years as they try to come to grips with their trauma and navigate an uneasy future in Saudi Arabia.

On being asked what does she make of critics panning the film with their opinion that it frames the subjects as terrorists, Megan told 'Variety': "The first time you see them, we give (a list) of what the US government has accused them of, in one shot. But for the next 90 minutes, we let them tell their side." Mohamed Aabas, a Yemeni criminal justice reform advocate, added: "Part of my real concern right now is that Meg turned on the light to show what was going on, and now the talk is not about these men, or what's happening with the Yemeni detainees; it's about the terminology or who got access." "We forget that there's a community here that has generally been -- excuse my language -- s*** on by our Gulf neighbours. I know a lot of these people have really good intentions, but I wish the focus would be on the Yemeni community. All of that is being brushed aside for controversy on terminology, or on who made this film, rather than the actual story," Aabas said.

Further explaining how her film is different other documentaries in the past on the subject, Megan told 'Variety', "All the other documentaries that have been done on (this topic) with the exception of one have sensationalised it, and have been very fear-mongering and have reinforced stereotypes - and they have mostly been done by white directors." "So I understood the initial pushback when they saw it on the lineup at Sundance, and they said, 'Oh, not another one of these'. And so I wasn't angry. I was like, 'Yeah, I completely understand why they're probably feeling this way'. And that's one of the reasons we invited them to come talk to me and Mohammed, and see the film and say, 'If we are missing something, let us know, because we're still editing'," she added.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : Delhi Police has arrested a 45-year-old man hailing from Assam who was involved in buying luxury cars that were stolen from the national capital area, an official said on Sunday.

The accused was identified as Motiur Rahman, a resident of Islampur, District Lakhimpur, Assam.

Furnishing details about the case, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Monika Bhardwaj said a team was constituted to bust gangs involved in motor vehicle theft and supply of the stolen luxurious cars.

On November 9, last year one of the accused thief namely Akbar Ali was apprehended with a stolen Brezza car. During interrogation he disclosed that he had also stolen a Baleno car from Hauz Khas area and sold it to the accused Rahman, who was a receiver of stolen vehicles, in Assam, and on his instance the stolen Baleno Car was recovered from the house of Motiur Rahman.

The police conducted several searches and raids but accused Motiur Rehman went absconding. Subsequently, a non-bailable warrant was also issued against him.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of Crime Branch on January 10 finally arrested the accused Motiur Rahman from Dimapur, Nagaland, the official said.

During interrogation accused Rahman disclosed his involvement in the said case and revealed that After this, he was taken on police remand and the team along with the accused sent to North Eastern States to nab the associates and to recover the stolen vehicles. During the course of investigation, at the instance of the accused, a raid was conducted at the hideouts of Kiyeto at Thilixu, Dimapur, Nagaland and a stolen Baleno car was recovered from there.

The receiver of the said car Kiyeto went absconding from there.

The DCP further informed that after this the police team along with the accused Motiur Rahman went to Imphal, Manipur in search of his associate Nobha and to recover the stolen vehicles. Subsequently, raids were conducted in the different areas of city Imphal, Manipur and six more high-end cars were recovered.

All these cars were stolen from Delhi and later sold by the accused with the help of his associates in the North-Eastern states namely Kiyeto and Nobha. So far the police have recovered two Maruti Baleno cars, two Toyota Fortuner cars, four Hyundai Creta, one Maruti Brezza, and one Toyota Innova.
Melbourne, Jan 30 : Rafael Nadal roared back from two-sets-to-love down to beat Daniil Medvedev in the classic final and win Australian Open 2022 men singles trophy, claiming his record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title, here on Sunday.

Under the lights at Rod Laver Arena, the legendary Spaniard demonstrated his trademark big-match mentality, overcoming the Russian Medvedev 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in an epic five hours and 24 minutes final to win the trophy.

With his dramatic victory, Nadal has claimed sole ownership of the record for the most Grand Slam men's titles, moving past Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic who are both on 20 major crowns.

The 35-year-old, who clinched the trophy in Melbourne in 2009, has also become just the second player in the Open Era alongside Djokovic to win each of the four majors at least twice.

Nadal now leads Medvedev 4-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, with this their second meeting in a Grand Slam final. At the US Open in 2019, Medvedev rallied from two-sets-to-love down before Nadal prevailed in the decider in a Flushing Meadows epic.
Toronto, Jan 30 : With their relatives in India deciding not to bring back their bodies back to the country, the four members of a Gujarati family who froze to death on January 19 while trying to enter the US illegally from Canada's Manitoba are likely to be cremated in Winnipeg.

However, no decision has been taken yet.

A gofundme to raise $70,000 for the victim family has almost hit the target amount.

The bodies of the four family members - who have been identified after autopsies as Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife Vaishaliben Patel, 37, daughter Vihangi Patel, 11, and son Dharmik Patel, 3 - are currently lying in a morgue in Winnipeg.

Jaswant Patel, a cousin of the deceased man in their native village Dingucha near Ahmedabad, said that the family wants their funerals to take place in Canada.

The Indian High Commission in Ottawa, which is in touch with the victims' family in Gujarat, will take the final decision on the matter.

As the Gujarati community of Winnipeg awaits a decision on the funerals, it held an online Shanti Path (prayer meeting) for the victim family on Saturday.

"Over 60 people joined us. We prayed for the family. Our local MP and the Mayor were among those who conveyed their condolences," said organiser Bhadresh Bhatt of the Hindu Sabha of Manitoba.

Bhatt, who has been coordinating with the Indian High Commission since the tragedy came to light, said mission officials are in touch with the relatives in Gujarat of the victim family.

"Since the victim family has no relatives and friends in Winnipeg, the Indian High Commission will finally take a decision of the funerals - whether they will be held in Winnipeg," he said.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : The history of India's budget sessions is worth reminiscing as Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is gearing up to present the Budget 2022-23 on February 1. The events are quite interesting, and many key and historical changes were witnessed. The tradition of presenting the budget in India began in 1860 during the British rule.

Since the country's independence in 1947, there have been many interesting and historical changes in the way of presenting the budget, its timing, date and language.

Let's go through the journey of budget in independent India.

First budget of independent India.

After India attained independence August 15, 1947, the first budget of independent India was presented on November 26, 1947 by then Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Shetty. He was also lawyer and economist. It did not have a tax proposal. Only a period of 7 months was covered.

The Finance Minister who got the budget printed in Hindi for the first time.

CD Deshmukh, India's third finance minister, is credited with making several historic changes in the budget.

It was during the tenure of Deshmukh, who took charge of the Finance Ministry from 1951 to 1957, that for the first time a copy of the budget was printed in English as well as in Hindi.

Earlier, the budget copy used to be printed only in English language.

Along with this, Deshmukh is also remembered as the Finance Minister who brought about major changes in the methods, nature and goals of the budget.

It was during his tenure that five year plans were started in the country and a plan to expose black money was also brought.

However, before him, the country's second Finance Minister John Mathai had mentioned the Planning Commission and the Five Year Plan in his budget of 1949.

The first woman to present the budget of India.

The current Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is a woman, but before her another woman leader has presented the budget of India in the Parliament.

Indira Gandhi was the first woman to present the budget of India in the Parliament.

In 1969, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi withdrew the charge of the Finance Ministry from Morarji Desai, the Deputy Prime Minister and became the Finance Minister of her own government.

Angered by this, Morarji Desai resigned from the Indira cabinet.

In such a political situation, in addition to being the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, who was also handling the Finance Ministry, presented the budget in 1970 and with this she became the first woman to present the budget.

Although the record of presenting the budget in Parliament as Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru had made his name before him in 1958.

Finance minister who presented the budget most timesMorarji Desai holds the record for presenting the most number of budgets in the country.

Desai, the former Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the country, who held the responsibility of the Finance Ministry in the government of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, holds the record for presenting the most budget 10 times.

Out of these, 8 times he presented the annual general budget and 2 times the interim budget.

Finance Minister who put India on the track of liberalization through economic reformsIn 1991, the Congress-led government had come to the power at the Centre, and this was the first Congress government in independent India whose prime minister was not from the Nehru-Gandhi family.

P.V. Narsimha Rao made Manmohan Singh his Finance Minister and the Budget that was presented by Singh in 1991, during the period of economic crisis, later proved to be a milestone in the history of Indian economy.

Manmohan Singh introduced economic reforms, started abolishing the 'license raj' and during his tenure, India was seen running fast on the path of liberalisation.

Finance Minister who changed the timing of presenting the budgetThe trend of presenting the budget in India was started during the British period, so he had also fixed the time of presenting the budget in the Indian Parliament according to the Parliament of his country.

When it is 11 a.m. in the day in London, it is 5 p.m. in the evening in India. That is why, the British government used to present the budget in the Parliament of India at 5 p.m. in order to tell the budget of India to its MPs at 11 a.m.

Even after the Independence of the country, for many decades, the budget was presented in the Lok Sabha only at 5 in the evening.

But during the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha changed the time of presenting the budget and for the first time in the history of the country presented the budget in the day instead of 5 p.m. in 1999, and since then this tradition has been followed, and is being done.

The current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also present the budget in the Lok Sabha on February 1 at 11 a.m.

Finance Minister who changed the date of presenting the budgetIn the first term of the Narendra Modi-led government, a major change was made in the date of presentation of the budget.

In 2017, the then (late) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the budget in Parliament on the first date instead of the last date of February and since then the budget is presented on February 1 every year.

In Jaitley's tenure, the Railway Budget was also included in the General Budget, ending the tradition that has been going on for 9 decades.

India's first woman finance minister Nirmala SitharamanAlthough Indira Gandhi was the first woman as a minister in charge of the finance ministry, who presented the budget in 1970, the record of becoming the country's first full-time woman finance minister is in the name of Nirmala Sitharaman.

Sitharaman is going to present her fourth budget on February 1. But along with being the first woman finance minister, many such records have also been registered in her name, due to which she has also joined the list of finance ministers who brought historic changes in the budget.

Sitharaman changed another British-era tradition, presenting the budget in a briefcase or suitcase.

She went to the Parliament House in 2019 carrying budget papers in a bag of red cloth instead of a briefcase.

In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, a completely paperless digital budget was presented in Parliament for the first time in 2021.

This year, the tradition of printing the budget copy has stopped.

With this, Sitharaman became the first Finance Minister of the country who presented the budget from tabs instead of books and papers.

This time also, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present a completely paperless digital budget.

This budget session of 2022-2023 will also be remembered for not doing 'Halwa Ceremony'.

In fact, before the budget, a 'Halwa Ceremony' was traditionally organised every year in the Finance Ministry, but this time due to the threat of Covid-19 and its new variant Omicron, the Halwa Ceremony was not organised.

This time instead of halwa, sweets were served to the employees.

The record of giving the longest speech in the history of presenting the budget so far is also recorded in the name of the current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

While presenting the budget in the Lok Sabha in 2020, she made a new record by giving a speech of 2 hours 41 minutes. Earlier, this record was registered in the name of Jaswant Singh, another Finance Minister of the NDA government.

In 2003, Jaswant Singh gave a speech for 2 hours 13 minutes while presenting the budget as the Finance Minister of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Jan 30 : The Election Commission will hold a review meeting on Monday to discuss the existing ban on physical rallies in view of declining Covid cases.

The Union Health Secretary is likely to meet the poll body virtually at around 11 a.m. on Monday. The Health Secretaries of five poll-bound states - UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur - are also likely to join the virtual meeting.

The poll body will take the decision on existing restrictions on the political rallies after reviewing the curent Covid situation in the poll-bound states.

On January 22, the Election Commission had extended, till January 31, the ban on physical rallies and the roadshows amid the Covid cases. The poll body had allowed for physical meetings of political parties or contesting candidates in designated open spaces with some restrictions after the review meeting with the Health Ministry and poll-bound states in that meeting.

The assembly election in five poll-bound states are scheduled to begin from February 10. Polling in Uttar Pradesh will take place in seven phases, while Manipur will vote in two phases, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote for assembly election in a single phase.
Mumbai, Jan 30 : Will Salman Khan host "Bigg Boss 16"? When Deepika Padukone, who joined the "Bigg Boss 15" grand finale with the other lead players of the upcoming film "Gehraiyaan" asked this question to the superstar host on Sunday night, Salman said he would not repeat his association with the show if his fee is not increased.

"Price increase nahi hoga toh nahi karunga," he said emphatically. Only time will tell whether this declaration needs to be taken with a bucketful of salt.

Deepika also played a round of truth and dare with Salman. When asked the name of the celebrity whom she stalks, Deepika said it was none other than Salman Khan. She said she even knew who the actor was with at Panvel (his family's farmhouse outside Mumbai).

All eyes, in fact, are on Deepika, for she will announce which one among the four finalists left in the fray -- Pratik Sehajpal, Shamita Shetty, Karan Kundrra and Tejasswi Prakash -- will be eliminated from the final race.

Latest updates on Bigg Boss Season 15
Kolkata, Jan 30 : Days after West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress mulled on moving a "substantive motion" in the Parliament against Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, he on Sunday appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to sit for discussion.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should work according to the Constitution. I shall request the Chief Minister to take out time and sit for discussion. There is no place for conflict in democracy. In democracy, people who are sitting on the top should work in tandem so that it can help the people in general. There is no place for arrogance in democracy. The way the Chief Minister makes comments on the governor is not correct. We should sit for discussion and find a solution to it," Dhankhar said in a programme at Barrackpore on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Appealing to the Chief Minister to establish rule of law in the state, he said: "The state has become a gas chamber and this I shall not tolerate. I cannot allow the state to be blood stained." He also questioned again about the fund for the "Maa" canteen the Chief Minister designed to provide low-cost meals to the poor people of the state.

The Governor's statement comes at a time when the Trinamool is mulling to move a "substantive motion" in the Parliament during the upcoming Budget Session against the his "interference" in the running of the state. The ruling party might demand for the removal of the Governor in the Parliament.

The conflict between the Governor and the state government reached a flashpoint after Dhankhar openly criticised the state government and the Speaker at the assembly on Tuesday.

"The Speaker... thinks he has license 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," Dhankhar had said.

He was referring to two previous incidents when his speech was blacked out in the Assembly.

Dhankhar didn't spare the Chief Minister and the ruling party even. Hitting out at the Chief Minister and the bureaucracy, he had said: "For the last two years, the Chief Minister has not replied to any information sought. Bureaucracy has to be held accountable. The bureaucracy is politically committed. Are they to follow the diktats of an individual?" On the National Voters Day, he had said: "The voters should have the right to exercise the franchise freely and fearlessly but unfortunately enough that is not the case in West Bengal. Here people don't have the freedom to exercise their votes freely." "We have seen post-poll violence of unprecedented level, those who dared to vote according to their own volition had to pay the price with their life," he said.
London, Jan 30 : Manchester United and England ace Mason Greenwood has been arrested on suspicion rape and assault as part of an ongoing police investigation into allegations made on social media.

Earlier, after Greenwood's alleged girlfriend Harriet Robson accused the star forward of sexually assaulting her and subjecting her to domestic abuse, Manchester United has issued a statement where it asserted that they do not condone violence of any kind.

Following the news went viral, the police came into action, and as per a Daily Mail report, he was later arrested.

"Greater Manchester Police was made aware earlier today (Sunday 30 January) of online social media images and videos posted by a woman reporting incidents of physical violence.

"An investigation was launched and following enquiries we can confirm a man in his 20s has since been arrested on suspicion of rape and assault. He remains in custody for questioning. Enquiries are ongoing," a police spokesman was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

The woman shared a disturbing audio clip in which a man can be heard allegedly forcing her to have sex.

"Move your f**ing legs up...I don't give a fk what you want...I don't care if you don't want to have f**ing s*x with me...do you hear me," the man in the audio clip said.
New Delhi, Jan 30 : The heads of all the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) were invited to the 2022 Republic Day parade on the Rajpath and had attended, the forces clarified on Sunday.

This clarification came after a media report that the DGPs of the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo- Tibetan Border Police, and the Sashastra Seema Bal were not invited for the Republic Day Parade this year.

The CRPF, in a tweet, said that the "information published in @IndianExpress that DG CRPF was not invited to Republic Day Parade is not just incorrect but also ill intended and insulting to the Force. Shri Kuldiep Singh, DG CRPF, was invited to the Republic Day Parade which he attended".

The BSF also in a tweet, said: "IndianExpress article stating that DG BSF was not invited to the Republic Day Parade is incorrect & far from the truth." Similarly, the ITBP, in its tweet, said: "A newspaper published today a piece that DsG of CAPFs were not invited at the Republic Day Parade 2022. It is clarified that the DG ITBP was invited & attended the Parade. It was for the 1st time that the 'Janbaz' bikers of ITBP displayed a brave show at the parade." ITBP DG Sanjay Arora is holding the additional charge of the chief of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Kumar Rajesh Chandra who retired on December 31, 2021.

"DG #CISF Sh. Sheel Vardhan Singh was invited & attended the 73rd #RepublicDay parade at Rajpath, New Delhi.The information published in news paper stating that DsG of CAPF were not invited at the Republic Day Parade 2022 is incorrect", the CISF said.

The CAPFs contingents participate in the Republic Day parade every year and all DGs and senior officials of the forces attend in ceremonial dress.
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired an unidentified projectile toward its eastern waters, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Sunday.

The JCS said in a statement that the South Korean military detected one projectile, presumed to be a ballistic missile which was launched into the East Sea from the DPRK's northern province of Jagang at about 7:52 a.m. local time Sunday.

The South Korean military was monitoring the relevant situations and maintaining readiness posture to prepare for a possible additional launch, the JCS said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in was to convene a National Security Council (NSC) meeting after the projectile launch, according to Yonhap news agency.

The DPRK said it conducted six 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, two tactical guided missiles on Jan. 17, a long-range cruise missile on Tuesday, and a surface-to-surface tactical guided missile on Thursday. Sunday's launch marked the seventh of such tests. 
New Delhi, Jan 31 : A day ahead of the start of Parliament's Budget session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday called on Vice President M Venkiah Naidu, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, to discuss the preparations.

The Vice President's Secretariat said that they discussed extensively on the preparation for the upcomingsession and expressed optimism that all political parties will engage in constructive debates and contribute to a productive session.

The Budget Session will commence on January 31, and is scheduled to conclude on April 8. Its first part will extend up to February 11 and there will be a break till March 12, during which the Standing Committees will examine Demands for Grants of Ministries/Departments and prepare Reports. In all, there will be 29 sittings - 10 in the First Part and 19 in the Second Part.

The President will address both members of both houses at 11 a.m. on Monday and half and hour afterwards, the Lok Sabha will sit and the 'Economic Survey 2021-22' will be laid by the Finance Minister on the table of the house.

The Budget will be presented by the Finance Minister on February 1.

From February 2 to February 11, the Lok Sabha is scheduled to sit from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Members will be accommodated in the Lok Sabha chamber and its galleries (except Press Gallery) and the Rajya Sabha chamber and its galleries (except Press Gallery).

During the first part of the session, the Discussion on Motion of Thanks on President's Address and General Discussion on Budget will be held and the government has tentatively fixed four days for Discussion on Motion of Thanks which will mean 40 hours for it and other business such as questions, Private Members' Business, and others.
Bhopal, Jan 31 : A large number cows were found dead in a cowshed in Berasia town in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal district leading to a political slugfest in the state. Following which, the district administration to order for an investigation in the matter.

A video surfaced on social media earlier in the day showing a large number of carcasses at the cowshed that triggered a political slugfest between the Congress and the state ruling BJP. Considering the gravity of the matter, Bhopal district collector Avinash Lavania visited the cowshed.

After an inspection, Lavania directed to lodge an FIR against the cowshed management.

The collector directed the Berasia SDM to take action against the cowshed director for collecting the carcasses at one place and not carrying out the last rites as per guidelines.

He also ordered an investigation into the matter involving the officials of local administration.

Further, the collector ordered for an autopsy of carcasses to know the cause of death of the bovines.

The district administration has asked the state Animal Husbandry Department to carry out a health check-up of all cows in such facilities across the district.

In the meantime, leaders from both - the BJP and the Congress - launched a war of words on social media, levelling allegations on each other.

Senior Congress leader and two-time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Divijaya Singh, who often seen vocal on such issues, accused the BJP of being involved in a trade in cow bones and leather.

Meanwhile, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh alleged a trade in cow bones and leather was going on in this cowshed, which he claimed was run by a woman BJP leader.

Singh claimed, "Trade of cow bone and leather in Berasia has been going on for many years in the Gaushala (cowshed) run by BJP leader Shandilya. Today more than 500 cows were found dead. A case of cow slaughter should be registered on the board of directors of this cowshed." He demanded that the grants received by the cowshed in previous years should also be investigated.

Similarly, senior Congress spokesperson, K.K. Mishra, accused the BJP-led state government of suppressing the issue to hide the truth in the matter. "Those who use cow-mother for their political business, now have started suppressing the issue." Responding to the allegations, BJP leader, Pankaj Chaturevdi, said, "BJP is committed to the protection of cows and the district administration has ordered an investigation." "The Congress is trying to make it an issue for their political gains," he added.
Tehran, Jan 31 : Iran's Health Ministry has reported 21,996 new Covid-19 daily cases, taking the country's total infections to 6,344,179.

The pandemic also claimed 44 lives in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll since the outbreak of disease in the country in February 2020 to to 132,424, the ministry was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

A total of 6,098,675 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 1,404 remain in intensive care units, according to the ministry.

By Sunday, 60,699,381 Iranians have received their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, 54,040,089 two jabs, and 16,877,782 the third booster doses.

A total of 44,694,344 tests have so far been carried out across the country.

Gholamreza Marhaba, spokesman of the Economic Commission of the Iranian parliament, on Sunday told official news agency IRNA that 30 lawmakers have been tested positive with the Covid-19 Omicron variant.

Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi also warned against the surge of a new wave of Omicron-led coronavirus in the country.

He called for accelerating the vaccination of the booster doses which could play a major role in curbing the spread of the virus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Guanacaste Airport, Nicoya, Costa Rica [ NCT / MRNC ]

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Nicoya Airport Info:

Nicoya Airport IATA Code: NCT Nicoya Airport ICAO Code: MRNC Latitude : 10.2 Longitude : -85.4667 City : Nicoya Country : Costa Rica World Area Code : 110 Airport Type : Small Nicoya Airport Address / Contact Details :

Nicoya Guanacaste (NCT), Costa Rica Timezone : America/Costa_Rica Guanacaste Airport Timezone : GMT -06:00 hours Current time and date at Guanacaste Airport is 20:17:56 PM (CST) on Wednesday, May 4, 2022

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Guanacaste Airport Map - Location of Guanacaste Airport Load Map Costa Rica - General Information Country Formal Name Republic of Costa Rica Country Code CR Capital San Jose Currency Colon (CRC)

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Universal Solar Direct feels that it has a critical responsibility to fulfill towards society. It is also their moral duty to support others who are in need. This sentiment has enabled them to give back to the community with all their heart and soul.

"The goal of this partnership is to change the world for the better. Just talking about working for others is not going to help. Universal Solar Direct realized that and this was the reason that we have associated with GivePower in several of their endeavors aimed at making the world a better place for generations across continents." - Universal Solar Direct Team

Universal Solar Direct is proud to be a part of a platform that is internationally recognized and well known for being a source of support for millions of people across the globe.

Universal Solar Direct believes in giving back to society as much as you take from it by supporting the charity that you believe in. It is your sense of obligation and the will to bring about a positive change in the lives of people around you that drive you towards these efforts.

Universal Solar Direct has chosen to donate to various projects in GivePower 's portfolio.

Having the power to give someone the quality of life they have always dreamt of is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Working towards improving the lives of others fills you with a sense of accomplishment.

Universal Solar Direct found its calling in the very successful project of GivePower that it had carried out in Nepal. By providing solar energy to local fishermen, the organization had taken a giant leap towards the betterment of its citizens.

Another project that spoke directly to Universal Solar Direct was the Virunga National Park project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was an exemplary initiative in 2016 where GivePower installed 3 micro-grids to enable communication across the region. It also facilitated electric cooking and reduced the citizens' dependence on wood and charcoal.

Spread the word! Universal Solar Direct and GivePower believe in spreading the word and inspiring others to do as much as they can for people in need. We all are the children of mother earth and the sooner we realize it the better it is for all of us. Universal Solar Direct is serving in different cities: Las Vegas, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Utah
35-year-old Combat Veteran, and Regional Coordinator for the Warrior Care Transition Program is the first candidate to file for State Senate District 1 caucus being held February 5th at 11am at the Wicker Park Social Center. He put out the following statement.

The people of Senate District-1 deserve a Senator that takes this office seriously and has the strength to continue Senator Mrvans legacy of hard work, commitment, and dedication. That is why I met with the Lake County Chairman and became the first to file my candidacy for this upcoming caucus. Due to State Senate District-1 shifting, it makes sense to vote in the candidate that lives in both the current and the new district to ensure we maintain consistency in the lead-up to the primary and general election. This is an opportunity for Precinct Committeemen to put the best interests of their community front and center and vote their conscience because we have so much more work to do and so much to lose.

In a race to represent the newly redrawn Senate District 1, Del Rio brings a powerhouse of advocacy and policy experience. He served as the State Wounded Warrior Advocate where he worked up close in the fight against Veteran homelessness, opioid addiction, education benefits, and unemployment, and then joined the Department of Defenses Soldier and Family Readiness Program (SFRS) assigned to the six counties of Northwest Indiana. From 2008-2009 Del Rio deployed to Iraq as an Infantryman and Turret Gunner with the 76th Infantry Brigade conducting Combat Logistics Patrols in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Del Rio now serves as the Regional Coordinator overseeing the National Capitol Region for the Wounded Warrior Program.

Del Rio resides in Highland, Indiana with his wife Marisol Del Rio, a Chemist with Munster-based Community Hospital, and their son, Xavier. Del Rio is a member of Whiting Masonic Lodge #613 and attended Indiana University (where he met his wife) and Thomas Edison State University.
A broad range of timely topics will be covered including HIPAA, OSHA, Fraud, Waste and Abuse, Ethics, human resources compliance, and current challenges related to COVID.

The 5th annual Healthcare Compliance Symposium will be offered virtually. A broad range of timely topics will be covered including HIPAA, OSHA, Fraud, Waste and Abuse, Ethics, human resources compliance, and current challenges related to COVID. Attorneys, compliance officers, managers, nurses, medical assistants, healthcare professionals, business associates, and students are encouraged to attend. This convenient online learning event offers multiple CEUs and CLE in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Attorneys and experts listed below from various specialties and firms throughout the United States will serve as instructors for the educational event:

Stephen D. Bittinger, Esq.

Emily Johnson, Esq.

Kathleen W. McNicholas, MD, JD, CHC, CCEP

Elizabeth Sullivan, Esq.

Rachel V. Rose, JD, MBA

Lauren Moak Russell, Esq.

Catherine Walters, Esq.

The symposium is a joint effort to provide resources for professionals facing the challenges of the ever- changing healthcare industry. The event will be held on April 28, 2022, with online access for virtual attendance. Discounts apply for Delaware Law School Alumni and clients of First Healthcare Compliance. Learn more and register now.

About Delaware Law School: Widener University is a metropolitan university that connects curricula to social issues through civic engagement. Dynamic teaching, active scholarship, personal attention, applied leadership, and experiential learning are key components of the Widener experience. Delaware Law School is the First States only law school, providing a Juris doctor, legal graduate and paralegal degree programs with an emphasis on developing legal professionals who reflect the Delaware Way and its traditions of civility, integrity and mutual respect. The school offers signature programs in corporate and business law, environmental law, family health law and policy, trial advocacy, and dignity rights.

About First Healthcare Compliance: Founded in 2012 by a nurse attorney, the First Healthcare Compliance software solution creates confidence among compliance professionals through education, resources, and support in the areas of HIPAA, OSHA, human resources compliance, and fraud waste and abuse laws. Serving clients across the United States, the companys evolving platform provides real-time insight for board reporting and across multiple locations. For more information please visit https://1sthcc.com/


Indiana State Police's press release said the man was arrested on preliminary charges of murder.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-11 06:00:31|Editor: huaxia

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MONTEVIDEO, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay's Defense Minister Javier Garcia said on Tuesday that the gradual reopening of the country's borders to foreigners will comply with health protocols and won't affect the country's health conditions.

"We will open borders in a gradual manner, continuing to provide health and safety," Garcia said, adding that it will not be an uncontrolled situation.

The South American country's borders have been closed to foreigners, with certain exceptions, since March 2020, and will reopen starting on Sept. 1 for fully immunized homeowners who present a negative COVID-19 PCR test.

Beginning on Nov. 1, borders will open to all foreigners who are fully vaccinated with a negative COVID-19 PCR test.

On Monday, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou announced that as a result of the improvement in the country's epidemiological situation, borders will be gradually reopened to foreigners.

Uruguay recorded no deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday or Sunday, as it has seen a sustained drop in active cases, infections and deaths.

Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 has reached 65 percent of the population with two doses. Enditem
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 01/30/2022



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[ Spoiler Warning: This report contains spoilers on Memphis and Hamza's relationship and whether the : Before the 90 Days couple is still dating, engaged or have gotten married].

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So are Memphis and Hamza still together now? Did they get married or has the : Before the 90 Days couple broken up?

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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

: Before the 90 Days' fifth season featured Memphis giving Hamza an ultimatum about marriage, so did the couple follow through with their marriage plans or did they split because of their differences -- and do spoilers reveal Memphis and Hamza are still together now?Memphis is a 34-year-old from Muskegon, MI, and Hamza is a 28-year-old from Kairouan, Tunisia.After being single for four years and dating around quite a bit, Memphis -- who called herself spontaneous and fun -- met a "special" guy named Hamza eight months prior to filming : Before the 90 Days.Hamza apparently inspired Memphis to leave her wild days in the past.Memphis is a single mom to a 13-year-old daughter named Kennedi, whom she welcomed from a relationship that took place 14 years ago, as well as a six-year-old son, whom she shares custody of with her ex-husband.Memphis said she works hard to support her children and put herself through school for over eight years to obtain her Master's degree and become a nurse practitioner.Memphis was so proud of her life but wanted to share it with a man, and dating American men online apparently wasn't working out for her.Memphis said Hamza had given her "butterflies" that she never felt before."He's very considerate," she gushed on the show."He tells me where he's going and every morning I get 'good morning' text messages and 'I love you.' I'm just so overjoyed that someone actually cares for me as much as I care for them. I haven't experienced that all my life."Memphis said feeling loved and cared for is how she determined she wanted to be with him long-term.The only problem was the couple's language barrier since Hamza only speaks a little English and she doesn't speak any Arabic. She joked about how the only words they both knew was "sexy time."Memphis planned to fly to Tunisia and take "sexy time" to a whole new level. She said she was truly in love with Hamza and wanted to skip getting engaged and go straight to getting married.Memphis intended to spend one week with Hamza in person, get married during Week 2, and then spend the third week honeymooning and enjoying being newlyweds.While Memphis' friends were a little worried and skeptical about Memphis skipping the K-1 visa and going straight to a spousal visa, Memphis was convinced she had found her perfect match and the man of her dreams.One of Memphis' pals pointed out how Hamza could be after a green card, but Memphis said Hamza wanted to start a new life, and a better life, with her. She dubbed Hamza consistent, but her friends apparently disagreed with her spontaneous choices and feared Memphis getting hurt."I'm going to do what I want to do regardless, because I feel like this is right in my gut and in my heart," Memphis explained.Memphis' mother Deborah, however, told the cameras that she thought Hamza probably had an ulterior motive -- and she wasn't sure Hamza would be a good stepdad.Memphis claimed she had told Hamza he must get a job in the United States in heating and cooling, so she didn't plan on supporting him financially for very long.Memphis then shared how she had been in 12 different foster homes until the age of 19. Memphis' mother struggled with a crack addiction when Memphis was nine years old and her biological father was in prison.Memphis felt her childhood played a part in her desire to feel secure with a man. She thought being married would fill a hole she had in her heart, and Memphis looked forward to having a stable and complete family."I just hope in my heart the decision I am making is the right one," Memphis noted.Memphis believed her choices would benefit her kids in the long run because they'd have a stable father figure and she'd be happy with a man whom she shared an "amazing connection" with.But her foster sister Ingrid said in a confessional, "Memphis is a hothead and can be very intimidating, so I am very concerned that Hamza is not ready for Memphis."Hamza apparently knew that Memphis and her ex-husband coparent very well."But what Hamza doesn't know is that when we started dated, I was going through a rough patch in my life. So I spent a couple of nights with my ex-husband, not in an intimate way, but only for emotional and moral support," Memphis told the cameras."But Hamza is very jealous, so if he finds out, it's going to be a problem."Memphis said she had been missing emotional and physical intimacy in her past relationships and hoped Hamza would give that to her."I am 1,000 percent invested in marrying a man I've never met before and making him a father figure to my children," Memphis explained."Having a complete family with a man I can trust is something I've always dreamed of. It's time for me to be happy, and I truly believe Hamza is the man for me. I just hope he is who he says he is and that he's the right man for me."Hamza still lived with his parents, which he claimed is normal in Tunisia for men until they get married. Hamza's mother still cooked for him and did his laundry, and he appeared well taken care of at home.Hamza's parents got divorced when he was 10 years old, and he said his mother is "everything" to him.Hamza therefore hoped to find a job in America and help his mother financially, but his mother and sister Rawia were concerned about the way Memphis dressed and her different culture."How I see things, if two people love each other, sex before marriage is normal," Hamza said, before telling his mother that the world had changed and spending the night with a woman would be okay.Hamza apparently lied to Memphis, saying his "old-fashioned" mother would be okay with them sleeping together. Hamza feared Memphis wouldn't like his mother and tension and stress would rise in their relationship as a result.When the pair met each other at the airport, they hugged and seemed so happy. Hamza also brought Memphis a beautiful bouquet of flowers.Hamza told the cameras he had "no problem" with Memphis and her physical appearance was "fine," but Memphis hoped they could get to know each other given their language barrier.Memphis was pissed off when she found out that Hamza's mother didn't want them sleeping in the same room. She told Hamza, however, they needed to have sex before marriage to make sure they're compatible physically.The next morning, Hamza's mother discovered Memphis and Hamza were in the same room together, and so she seemed to assume Memphis had spent the night with her son.Hamza's mother appeared to be disappointed and angry, and Memphis blurted out "oh sh-t" in a confessional. The situation led to a tense relationship between Hamza's mother and Memphis, especially when Memphis' past came into question.Once Memphis explained to Hamza how she had a fear of abandonment due to her childhood, she became more vulnerable and the couple felt closer than ever.But Memphis soon later learned Hamza had lied about his age and he's only 26 years old. He had told Memphis he was 28 at the time. Feeling extremely upset, Memphis said she felt "betrayed" and lied to.Hamza said he lied because he wanted Memphis to think he's mature, and his mother and sister didn't think the lie was serious or a big deal.However, the lie made Memphis question whether she even wanted to go through with marriage, and she wondered what else her fiance could be lying about.Memphis shared with the cameras how she had very rough relationships in the past and didn't want this one to turn out the same way. She was tired of being betrayed, hurt and taken advantage of, but all Hamza could do is apologize -- repeatedly.Memphis became skeptical of everything else Hamza had told her as a result of his lie. She wondered if Hamza had a career and truly received a college degree in heating and cooling energy. She asked to see the certificate as proof, but it was written in Arabic.Hamza worried lying about his age had really hurt his relationship, but he promised Memphis he wouldn't lie about anything again.Memphis and Hamza then headed to an embassy two hours away to get the ball rolling on their marriage. They couple planned to stay in a hotel together overnight, but Hamza didn't have anything planned out.The couple's driver also forgot his insurance papers, and so Memphis told Hamza that he needed to be more prepared for things."Memphis nags me a lot. I do not like her attitude at all," Hamza complained.The couple wasn't going to make it to the consulate on time, and Memphis told Hamza that he didn't seem to care and getting married appeared to be a game to him. She accused him of being immature and "not being a man."Memphis, however, was very pleased with their room that night, when they finally arrived.While drinking cocktails, Memphis essentially told Hamza that she didn't want to return to the United States just dating him.Hamza got upset, thinking Memphis was more caught up in "the papers" than their relationship. He wasn't sure Memphis really cared about him as a person."You like Hamza or you like marriage?" Hamza asked."I like both," Memphis admitted. "You have to show that you can do good for me. I need you to be the man."Memphis gave Hamza an ultimatum that they either get married or break up. She said if Hamza really cared about her, he would make sure they got married during that trip.In late January, Instagrammer John Yates posted a screenshot of a photo from Hamza's Instagram account.In the comments of Hamza's selfie, Memphis' mother Deborah Smith Price wrote, "Hello handsome son in law," seemingly giving away that Memphis and Hamza are in fact married.Hamza replied, "Thank mam," along with four red-heart emojis.John went on to post screenshots of a man named Travis' alleged tweets from January 8 through January 9.Travis claimed to be Memphis' ex-boyfriend, and he reportedly bashed Memphis by saying he'd never want to have kids with her and his reasoning for letting her go should be obvious based off the footage that has aired on : Before the 90 Days' fifth season.While Travis appeared to note Memphis is "a good woman" who just picks "bad men" and makes bad decisions, he accused her of being wrapped up in her ex-husband."Her ex husband is the love of her life, not this new guy [Hamza]. She stayed overnight at her ex husband's when we lived together," Travis tweeted, according to John's screenshot.He later wrote to a fan, "I was with Memphis for a year but thank God we don't have a child together... I wish her the best, but Hell No, I didn't want a baby with her."Travis apparently went on to post a big "spoiler alert," writing about Memphis, "She is bipolar [and]] was pregnant with his baby. She had the baby a few months ago."Travis was referring to Hamza and pointed out to Twitter users that : Before the 90 Days, although it's just airing now, filmed about a year ago.Travis therefore suggested Memphis had plenty of time to get pregnant and deliver a child before the premiere of : Before the 90 Days' fifth season.After John posted Travis' tweets, Memphis apparently reached out to John in a DM to scold him for sharing unflattering information about her on Instagram.In a post captioned, "Cause I just don't care anymore," John uploaded an alleged screenshot of his conversation with Memphis.Memphis allegedly wrote to him, "I think it is sad that you post things from people who obviously are desperate and want some acknowledgement because their life sucks so bad!""At the end of the day, I do not have to go online and talk bad about people," she continued."Especially, with ill intention! Trav is very bitter and all my friends and family know it and thought it was quite funny that he is so desperate for 'clout' that he has to tell lies!"Memphis sarcastically applauded him and said, "But I guess keep doing you and spreading the hate! Good job."John apparently replied to Memphis, "I didn't say anything -- I used question marks cause I was just reporting on things that was said. Everyone else is saying you already had a kid and are married."Memphis later seemed to confirm her relationship status by responding to John, "I don't care about the married and kid thing!"She confirmed how she had an issue with John calling attention to Travis' tweets when Travis is allegedly "so desperate for attention.""I really wish people would try to look beyond some of the things because at the end of the day, it is TV. Where is the disclaimer that states that the show is a certain percent true events? Just wondering!" Memphis complained."I'm not trying to be rude or anything. It is just saddening to me!"John told Memphis she had signed up for the show and he's just doing his job. He also insisted he was being "very considerate" of her when he felt personally attacked by her.John concluded -- referencing her alleged marriage and the baby again -- "All I did was repost [your] own mother calling Hamza her son in law... It's clear that [Travis is] legit as you just confirmed his existence, but at no point did I ever say you were married and had a baby.""Everyone else has -- I haven't," he noted. "People are looking up your baby registries right now."Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
File photo taken on Jan. 29, 2021 shows Sergio Mattarella (Front) speaking to the media at the Quirinale presidential palace in Rome, Italy. Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term by the parliament gathered in a joint session in the eighth round of voting on Jan. 29, 2022. (Pool via Xinhua)

ROME, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term, Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico announced late Saturday, after the parliament gathered in a joint session and concluded its eighth round of voting.

Mattarella was reconfirmed with a broad majority, namely 759 votes in favor from a total of 983 lawmakers and regional representatives actively taking part in the ballot.

"I wish to thank lawmakers and regional representatives for the faith they have put in me," Mattarella, 80, said in a declaration broadcast live from the Quirinale presidential palace immediately after receiving the official notice of his re-election.

"The difficult days of this election, taking place during the serious health, economic, and social emergency we are still going through, call for a sense of responsibility and for the respect of the parliament's decisions," he said.

"These conditions require (us) to not avoid duties, which must prevail over other thoughts and different personal perspectives," he added.

Mattarella's candidacy emerged prominently at the end of a tense week in which the two major political blocs -- the center-left and the center-right -- failed to agree on a different common candidature.

As a consequence, seven rounds of voting were held since Monday, all delivering inconclusive results and exposing deep fractures within both coalitions.

After the leaders of the largest parties from center-right and center-left acknowledged the stalemate on Saturday morning, and agreed on Mattarella's possible second term, a direct request was submitted to the president by all parties' whips.

After a brief talk with Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Mattarella made himself available, despite having repeatedly made clear prior to the election that he would not serve a second term.

The re-election of a head of state is rare in Italy. So far, only Giorgio Napolitano, Mattarella's predecessor, had served a second term, and only for less than two years.

All major political leaders thanked Mattarella for his availability. "This is a great news for Italians, and I am grateful to the president for choosing to oblige to the strong will expressed by the parliament to reconfirm him to a second term," Prime Minister Mario Draghi said in a note.

Enrico Letta, leader of center-left Democratic Party, hailed Mattarella for taking a choice "of great generosity toward the country."

Meanwhile, Letta noted the fact that parties were unable to find an alternative common candidature should not be neglected.

Right-wing League's leader Matteo Salvini said he was "comforted" by Mattarella's choice. "I also feel very serene, because I have made (prior to the re-election) all possible proposals."

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, also a leading figure of the Five Star Movement, told reporters the re-election was "a victory for the country."

The pledging ceremony to reconfirm Mattarella is expected to take place next Thursday, when his first term officially ends. 

Members of Italy's parliament celebrate after Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term at the end of the eighth round of voting in Rome, Italy, on Jan. 29, 2022. Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term by the parliament gathered in a joint session in the eighth round of voting on Saturday. (Str/Xinhua)

Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati (2nd L, Front), president of the Italian Senate, and Roberto Fico (2nd R, Front), president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, count ballots during the eighth round of voting to elect Italy's new president in Rome, Italy, on Jan. 29, 2022. Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term by the parliament gathered in a joint session in the eighth round of voting on Saturday. (Str/Xinhua)

Members of Italy's parliament celebrate after Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term at the end of the eighth round of voting in Rome, Italy, on Jan. 29, 2022. Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term by the parliament gathered in a joint session in the eighth round of voting on Saturday. (Str/Xinhua)

Staff members count ballots during the eighth round of voting to elect Italy's new president in Rome, Italy, on Jan. 29, 2022. Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term by the parliament gathered in a joint session in the eighth round of voting on Saturday. (Str/Xinhua)
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 
/ Robert Marchant / Hearst Media

GREENWICH  Chabad Lubavitch of Greenwich is looking to pitch a tent for outdoor learning and religious observances at its Lincoln Avenue facility.

The religious organization is seeking permission to erect at 40-foot by 40-foot temporary structure. The aim is to use the outdoor tent as a public-health precaution against the coronavirus pandemic, the application said.
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TORRINGTON  Chad Widing was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 4, and struggled against the symptoms, the debilitating medications and the frustration from childhood into his adult years.

He was an angry man with a bad attitude, and it affected every area of his life, he said. A few years ago, the Torrington resident decided to write a book about his experiences. Now, My Path to Independence: A Look Into Life Through the Eyes of a Person With a Disability is being published by Westbow Press, a self-publishing alliance of HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Authors Solutions.

I am so excited to get this book launched, Widing said. It took a while for me to finish it, but I did, and I want to share it with people who need it.

My Path details Widings struggles with a terrible temper and the reasons behind it, he said. Until he was able to accept his life the way it was, and to control his temper, every day was difficult.

Its hard to imagine Widing as an angry man. His home is quiet and peaceful, with his parakeet Whitey chirping in his cage near a sunlit window. Photographs of family and friends cover the walls of his small apartment on Tucker Drive, along with memorabilia of life on farms in Maryland and Connecticut. A pair of snowshoes hangs on the wall by the kitchen, which he says he still uses from time to time. His care companion, Stuart Gero, is a treasured friend who visits regularly.

Gero has been with Widing since around 2013.

I love him, Gero said of Widing. I cant tell you how proud I am of him, for what hes done. Hes a wonderful guy.

Widing is also a member of the United Methodist Church in Torrington, which showed him a caring community that helped him connect with God, he said. He became an usher at the urging of a friend and today he is the acting chairman of the churchs mens club.

At church, people saw a very angry and upset man, but for all of my faults, I was still welcomed into the church, and theyve been there for me through thick and thin, he said. They saw me at my worst and I know that I wouldnt be anywhere, if I had not made drastic changes.

More changes came when he relocated to Torrington, but it took a while for him to get there. For many years, he lived with his parents on their farm in Maryland, his home state. Widing learned about farm animals and agriculture firsthand, he said.

But he battled with his parents as an epileptic.

I didnt want to be one, he said. As a child, I was very impatient, and I acted up a lot.

For years, he took an anti-epileptic and anti-convulsant drug called Dilantin, which works by slowing down impulses in the brain that cause seizures, according to drugs.com, but I still had seizures and they were terrible, he said.

A doctor wanted to put me in an institution, but my parents said, No way. So I stayed home with them, but it was very hard, he said.

By the time his dad sold the family farm in Maryland, Widing was living with a girlfriend, who had three children of her own.

My father was on the board of directors for the Epilepsy Association for the eastern shore of Maryland, and they decided to start a transition home for young adults with epilepsy in 1982, Widing said. As it turned out, I was one of the first young adults to enter the program. I was there for about a year, and through a job I had, I met my girlfriend, and I eventually moved in with her. That was the beginning of 14 years of happiness and heartbreak.

The heartbreak was his bad temper, and his inability to accept his life the way it was.

During this time, I had a lot of jobs, and I lost each one for the same reasons: A bad attitude, and anger issues, Widing said. This isnt conducive for keeping a job for a long period of time.

Widings family intervened and took me away from my girlfriend and back home to clean up the farm.

I went home to clear out 40 years worth of stuff on 300 acres, he remembered. I had to go.

After that, the family moved to Connecticut, where Widing and other family members helped his parents settle into a new home they built. However, the conflicts between him and his father remained, and Widing stayed angry.

Eventually, he was put in touch with a social worker, who recommended that he move out on his own.

They got me into the Torrington Housing Authority, and I accepted an apartment; this would be the beginning of a change for me, he said.

Widing received residential support services and got vocational services for a job with the Arc of Litchfield County, also known as LARC  where today he is a member of the board.

In spite of the church, social services support and the move away from his parents, he said, he was still a very angry man.

I was told that I was going to get arrested, and I didnt believe it, he said. I was finally arrested for kicking a womans car, and that was my wake-up call. I ended up in court, I paid restitution, and I was mandated to take anger management classes.

Getting arrested was the best and the worst thing that could have happened to me, Widing said. Anger management taught me how to control and vent my anger. I came to understand that I could only change myself; you cant get people to change to suit your lifestyle and way of thinking. I learned to cope with the constant change that is always happening in life.

And he learned to enjoy his life, he said.

Im now a much more relaxed, calmer and more flexible person, he said. For this Im grateful. It took me 15 years to accomplish it, but I finally did it; I still have to pay attention to my everyday actions, but its so much better now.

The message in My Path is to never give up on yourself. On the wall in his apartment, a cross-stitched plaque his mother made reads: If you think you can or you think you cant, youre right. That passage is on the cover the book.

Its one of the expressions hes adopted to remain positive and to keep moving forward, and they are his mantras for his life. And its driven home in the book, which shares his story with readers who might be struggling with their own disability, and the anger and frustration that often goes with that struggle.

Just because you may have problems does not give you a free pass to not take responsibility for your own actions, Widing wrote. We must be an example for others to follow. God will not give you any more than you can carry, and we can always ask him for help to carry the load; God will gladly help you.

Widings book will be available soon at WestBow Press; visit westbowpress.com for more details.
LISBON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's ruling Socialist Party (PS) led by Prime Minister Antonio Costa has been projected to win a snap election of the parliament, according to exit polls.

Projections of electoral results released by Portuguese television networks gave the Socialists victory on Sunday's legislative election by a margin of 36.6 percent to 42.6 percent of votes.

The defiant Social Democratic Party (PSD) stood at second place with a percentage between 26.7 percent and 32.7 percent.

"It was a great electoral campaign, it was a unique opportunity for everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, it surpassed everything that had been done," said Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The impasse of the 2022 State Budget by the current government last October has triggered the dissolution of the parliament and the early election. 


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The four prize-winning images by photojournalist Ali Haj Suleiman of Syrian children scavenging for metal shells in war rubble that were were presented as victims of U.S. military actions in Afghanistan on Twitter by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jan. 24, 2022.

When Ali Haj Suleiman saw his prize-winning photos of children scavenging in war rubble shared on Twitter by a top Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, the Syrian photojournalist was not flattered. The children of war-torn Syria were presented as victims of U.S. military actions in Afghanistan.

Suleiman took screengrabs of the tweet and tagged spokesman Zhao Lijian, seeking a correction and apology for the use without permission of his work and the misrepresentation of the images. Zhaos Jan. 24 tweet said: This is 20 years of war, America's consequences for children in 'Afghanistan'." Suleiman noticed it on Jan. 27.

"These large and small shells are the Syrian Assad regime supported by Russiathe legacy of attacks against Syrian civilians and children, wrote Suleiman, who at 23 has spent half his life with his country embroiled in a brutal civil war.

He did not contact me and did not apologize after deleting the tweet, Suleiman told RFAs Mandarin Service in an interview by text, translated from Arabic to English.

Im so angry because what the officials are doing is changing the truth, he wrote.

The children in the image that Zhao misrepresented were risking their lives to collect scrap metal from bullet casings and artillery shells to earn money survive the war, Suleiman wrote from northwestern Syrias Idlib province, the sole remaining stronghold of the opposition to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The tweet disappeared without explanation, but not before it stayed up several days to be shared by Zhaos 1.1 million followers, and circulated widely on the popular Sina Weibo inside China.

Syrian photojournalist Ali Haj Suleiman, in an undated photo. Courtesy of Ali Haj Suleiman. Suleiman also documented that Zhaos tweet was shared by fellow Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying, who deleted the post after the Syrians complaints.

Its so annoying when you see officials in countries trying to change the facts, said Suleiman, whose photos of the Syrian children won honorable mention last year in the UNICEF Photo of the Year Award competition.

Zhao and Hua are proponents of Chinas "wolf warrior" diplomacy featuring envoys who aggressively use of social media platforms like Twitter that are banned in China to insult, threaten against governments or individuals that criticize China.

They and their colleagues are no strangers to having misleading social media posts blow up in their faces before being quietly removed.

In November 2020, Zhao responded to a report on Australian atrocities in Afghanistan by posting a doctored image showing a smiling Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife at the throat of a veiled child, who is holding a lamb.

A screen grab of Zhao Lijian's tweet of Jan. 24, 2022 falsely describing Syrian war scenes as from Afghanistan shared by fellow Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying. Credit: Ali Haj Suleiman. This is not the first time

Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanded an apology for what he called "a false image and a terrible slur" that Beijing "should be totally ashamed of."

A report last May by the Oxford Internet Institute following the removal of tens of thousands of fake pro-China social media accounts by major platforms found that many of the accounts supported the work of public figures pushing "wolf warrior" diplomacy on Twitter.

China's then ambassador to London, Liu Xiaoming, had nearly 27,000 fake accounts following his account on Twitter, which had retweeted Liu's tweets nearly 200,000 times before being deleted by the platform, the report found.

International relations expert Yao-Yuan Yeh of the University of St. Thomas in Houston told RFA that the latest row is unlikely to convert Zhao to fact checking before posting.

"He doesn't care what the facts are, because the core focus of big external propaganda is big internal propaganda. In fact, he wants to tell the country how good we are by smearing the United States, said Yeh.

For him, verification of facts and information are not important at all, and this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, he added.

For Suleiman, who turned to photography to document the war after his family fled the capital Damascus for opposition-held Idlib after the arrest of his father in 2014, Zhaos clumsy propaganda effort is made worse by the fact that China is a diplomatic supporter of the Assad regime at the United Nations.

The Chinese government is participating in the ongoing massacre against the Syrian people through its use of its veto in the Security Council against decisions aimed at deterring the Syrian regime from killing the people and even against decisions to pass humanitarian aid to Syrians across the border, he told RFA.

Written in English by Paul Eckert.
SARAJEVO -- Salvador Andres Pelaez is still doing his best to keep the peace.

Just this month, the former Spanish peacekeeper rekindled old friendships from a foreign war that ended almost three decades ago.

Pelaez spent six months in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1993-94 as part of a UN contingent protecting civilians amid overlapping conflicts for control of territory in the former Yugoslav republic.

Thanks to an online network of veterans of international stabilization and peacekeeping efforts there, he reconnected in January with childhood survivors of the war.

"These children taught me the great values of life," Pelaez told RFE/RL's Balkan Service after being in touch with some of the Bosnians who, as children, had buzzed around him and other UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) troops while tragedy unfolded around them in Mostar and nearby towns.

"They played, but they were very smart and at the same time they understood the situation they were in," Pelaez said. "They were constantly looking for ways to survive."

An estimated 2,000 of Mostar's 100,000 or so residents died in the 1992-95 Bosnian War.

The fighting for Mostar and its iconic 16th-century Old Bridge over the Neretva River became a powerful symbol of the ethnic and religious enmities that wracked the region and charged multiple wars.

Over the course of successive sieges -- the first pitting Serbs against Croats and Bosniaks and the second pitting Croats against Bosniaks -- Mostar was transformed from a picturesque mix of religions and cultures to a symbol of division and stalemate that lasted for decades after the guns fell silent.

While it has a single mayor and city council, it is still afflicted by parallel institutions that emerged from the kind of ethnic and political rivalries that have paralyzed Bosnia-Herzegovina more broadly since the 1995 Dayton Agreement.

'Less Shooting With Them Around'

One of the young men Pelaez was back in touch with this month is Haris Behram, who as an 8-year-old along with other boys spent long days nearby the Spaniards and their armored vehicle on the east bank of the Neretva, in the center of Mostar.

"We played around those transporters for two years," Behram, now a thirtysomething entrepreneur in Mostar, told RFE/RL. He said he and the other children stayed within 200 or so meters of the peacekeepers for protection from stray grenades, artillery, or gunfire. "If I told someone that now, they'd tell me [that's like] being in prison."

The soldiers frequently shared their rations, Behram said, with one of the foreigners' ready-made meals feeding "three or four of us."

Behram's cousin, Almir Behram, was also in the photos. He was 11 at the time.

"I remember that we played a lot and there was less shooting because there were UNPROFOR [troops] there," Almir Behram, who is now a firefighter, said. "I also remember that they gave us food, but I don't like to remember that time too much."

In an allusion to the majority Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs who fought over the fate of the former Yugoslav territory at the time, Haris Behram told RFE/RL that "all three sides have three [separate] stories" about the conflict.

"Whoever was under occupation, I wouldn't want to repeat it to him," he said.

He said his most vivid memory illustrating the significance of the international peacekeeping efforts in his country was seeing Bosnian women and children lying in the street in a failed bid to prevent the UN contingent from leaving Mostar.

'Is This A War Or A Playground?'

UN peacekeepers including Pelaez were deployed to Mostar and other Bosnian towns after hostilities escalated between Bosniaks and Croats in 1993.

Pelaez recently recalled the first thing he saw when the doors swung open of the armored vehicle that sped him and his fellow peacekeepers into central Mostar after they arrived in September 1993.

"The first thing I saw was the children," he told RFE/RL.

Many were asking for food and sweets, he said, others for pens and paper.

"I wondered, 'For God's sake, what's going on here? Is this a war here or a playground?'"

Photo Gallery: Mostar, Then And Now On November 9, 1993, one of Bosnia-Herzegovina's cultural treasures became a casualty of war. The Old Bridge in Mostar, built in 1566 during the Ottoman Empire, was destroyed by shells fired by Croatian gunners amid fierce fighting with Bosnian Muslims. The destruction was ordered by Slobodan Praljak, a former commander of Bosnian Croat forces, who was found guilty of the crime in 2013 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). "It's just an old bridge," Praljak was quoted as saying in 1993. Praljak's 20-year sentence was upheld by judges on appeal in The Hague on November 29, 2017. A new bridge built largely from the original stones was unveiled in Mostar in 2004, becoming a symbol of postwar reconciliation. These combination photographs compare the war-ravaged sites of Mostar with the reconstructed city. (This gallery was originally published in April 2013.) Share on Facebook

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The Neretva River effectively separated an eastern portion of the city, defended by the nascent Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a western portion defended by the Croatian Defense Council.

Fighting simmered with occasional flare-ups of artillery fire for the next two years, until the Washington Agreement ended the conflict between the Croat and Bosniak sides in 1994 and the Dayton agreement followed with a more comprehensive regional peace among Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks in late 1995.

Around 25,000 troops served the UNPROFOR mission over more than three years and provided considerable humanitarian aid but were unsuccessful at ending the fighting, most spectacularly in the failure to protect 8,000 Muslim men and boys encircled by Bosnian Serb forces at Srebrenica in 1995.

A NATO-led Implementation Force followed to enforce the 1995 Dayton agreement, giving way to an EU force in 2004 that still maintains hundreds of soldiers in Bosnia, where Bosniaks are the majority with sizable Croat and Serb minorities.

Pelaez and some of his former comrades from the Madrid contingent returned to Mostar in 2018 to mark 25 years since their UNPROFOR deployment.

But they didn't manage to track down any of the civilians they'd protected decades earlier.

Three years later, Pelaez turned to Facebook, with better results.

'Everyone Was Trying To Help Us'

The Bosnia Veterans page was set up as a forum for former UN and NATO troops who served during the 1992-95 Bosnian War, and now includes around 8,400 members.

It is full of shared images and reminiscences, as well as crowdsourced efforts to identify people and places.

Pelaez joined the group about a year ago.

In a post earlier this month, he shared his story and wartime photos alongside children "with whom I shared many days of games and the little fun that I could provide them in their childhood."

He asked anyone who recognized the people in the photos to contact him.

Pelaez told RFE/RL he was "surprised when people started texting him" within days.

"Everyone was trying to help us find the boys" in the picture, he said.

"When I left town in 1994, I thought about how they would survive, how they'd grow up," Pelaez said. "I had a lot of questions in my head."

He said he plans to travel to Bosnia this year to meet some of those survivors, and to show his wife places like Mostar, Jablanica, and Sarajevo.

He recalled some of his visit three years ago -- before the current intensification of political efforts to divide the country -- suggesting that there is cause for hope.

"I saw a lot of destroyed buildings that haven't been repaired since the war," Pelaez said. "But people are trying to live in peace. They say, 'OK, we fought a war, but now we want to survive.' I think people are ready for that."

With contributions by Andy Heil in Prague
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain is considering a major deployment of troops, warships, and fighter jets in Eastern Europe to counter Russian hostility toward Ukraine.

"This package would send a clear message to the Kremlin: We will not tolerate their destabilizing activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility," Johnson said in a statement late on January 29.

The comment comes as NATO members stepped up vows of additional support for Ukraine in the face of a Russian military buildup along their common border in what many in the West fear could be the prelude to an invasion.

Earlier on January 29, France unveiled plans to send hundreds of troops to Romania.

That came a day after the United States said it would soon move a small number of U.S. troops to Eastern European and NATO countries and that it has put thousands more on standby. The United States already has tens of thousands of troops stationed across Western Europe.

Amid the tensions, Moscow has denied any plans to invade Ukraine.

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 Crimean Peninsula and began stoking a war in the eastern region known broadly as the Donbas.

Washington and London, among others in the West, have said that any new Russian incursion into Ukraine would lead to swift and devastating sanctions against Moscow.

Britain is set to present its offer of bolstered military presence to NATO military chiefs next week, his office said.

The move could see the British force in Eastern Europe double to some 1,150 troops, officials said. Additional weapons could be sent to Estonia, they added.

Johnson, who is scheduled to visit the region next week, will also speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, his office said.

Johnsons office said the deployment would be focused on supporting NATO allies in the Nordic and Baltic regions.

"I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, ensuring we are able to support our NATO allies."

Johnson, who has been under pressure following a series of political scandals at home, said, that if Putin chooses "bloodshed and destruction" in Ukraine, it would be "a tragedy for Europe."

"Ukraine must be free to choose its own future," he argued.

Ukraine is not in NATO but has received military, economic, and political support from the West.

Johnson is also scheduled to send Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to Moscow for talks with their Russian counterparts in the coming days.

France, in its announcement, said it plans to send "several hundred" troops to Romania as part of a "defensive alliance." Defense Secretary Florence Parly said she had visited Romania on January 27 to discuss the issue.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa
Beijing is closely following Russias military buildup along its border with Ukraine, viewing it as a litmus test for political unity in the West and using the mounting tensions as an opportunity to strengthen its ties with Moscow, analysts say.

In a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on January 27, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the United States and its allies not to hype up the crisis around Ukraine and called for a peaceful resolution to the escalating crisis, saying Russias reasonable security concerns should be taken seriously.

Regional security cannot be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs, Wang said, according to a Foreign Ministry statement, in reference to demands issued by the Kremlin that Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO.

Beijing was relatively mute amid the buildup of more than 100,000 Russian troops, but Wangs remarks, which echoed messaging from Russian President Vladimir Putin, were Chinas most explicit so far in support of the Kremlin, reflecting a growing bond between the two countries governments and a shared opposition towards the United States.

While not part of a formal alliance together, Beijing and Moscow have nurtured diplomatic and defensive ties into a strong partnership that looks set to deepen as Putin heads to China to hold a summit with Xi and attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on February 4.

Beyond watching the situation in Ukraine for opportunities to chide the United States and boost relations with Moscow, analysts say China also sees it as a crucial test for American resolve and the strength of transatlantic ties, which could have long-term consequences for how Beijing approaches its own geopolitical flash point in Taiwan.

China is always watching and seeing how Western alliances like NATO are holding up under pressure, Theresa Fallon, the director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels, told RFE/RL. That makes this crisis about much more than just Ukraine. Its also a broader stress test for the West from Beijings point of view.

Litmus Test?

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the area that separates the island from mainland China, have grown in recent years, with Beijing routinely sending jets to buzz Taiwanese airspace and holding military exercises close to the island.

Beijing considers Taiwan to be a province of China and reuniting with the island has become a legacy issue for Xi. While the Chinese leader repeatedly talks of an eventual peaceful unification with Taiwan, he has said that Beijing would retake it by force if necessary.

With Chinas territorial ambitions in mind, the Western response to Moscows security demands on NATO and the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are being watched closely by Beijing.

Ukraine is a place where Russia and Chinas interests are converging, Jessica Brandt, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, told RFE/RL. They have very different long-term objectives, but in the near term they are united in denting the power of the United States and European cohesion.

The United States has been vocal in its opposition to Russias military movements near the Ukrainian border and Blinken told RFE/RL during a January 27 interview that Russia would face massive consequences if it chooses the path of aggression with Ukraine.

But Kremlin demands for a moratorium on NATO expansion and a pullback of the alliance's troops and weaponry away from Russia have also exposed gaps in the Western response.

The United States and its allies have reportedly assembled a punishing set of financial, technological, and military sanctions against Russia that would go into effect shortly after a renewed invasion of Ukraine. But divisions over how to enforce such measures, especially in Germany and France, could lessen their impact.

The lack of cohesion on how best to go about deterring Russia or what measures to take in the event of an attack on Ukraine was also on display following Germanys refusal to grant reexport licenses to Estonia to send German-made artillery to Ukraine.

Both China and Russia can press and grow those fissures that already exist in the transatlantic alliance, Brandt said. It's a ripe opportunity for them to pursue these goals.

But while analysts say the tensions in Ukraine are an important test that China is monitoring and that Western disunity could embolden Beijing in the future, the Kremlin's designs on Ukraine are unlikely to shift Chinas calculus about using force against Taiwan.

Unlike Ukraine, the United States is committed by law to protect Taiwan, with the Taiwan Relations Act requiring Washington to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats toward it as matters of grave concern. Moreover, many experts believe Beijing prefers to use economic and political tools, rather than military ones, to influence Taipei and allow China to take control of the island.

There are certainly implications from Russia invading Ukraine that affect Chinas calculation in its own context for Taiwan, but thats just one element among many, Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, a fellow at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan and a former adviser to the European Parliament, told RFE/RL. Ultimately, what China does in Taiwan wont be decided by what Moscow does in Ukraine.

A New Kind Of Partnership

Amid Russias renewed push against Ukraine, Russian-Chinese bonds appear to be growing to levels that seemed unlikely even a decade ago.

Andrei Denisov, Russias ambassador to China, said Moscow regularly updates Beijing on progress in its security talks with the United States, and Chinese state media personalities and diplomats have begun echoing Russias talking points over tensions with Ukraine and NATO that portray the alliance as an aggressor and Washington as using the situation for political gain.

Chinese goodwill toward Russia was also on display on December 15, when Xi and Putin talked up their partnership in the face of growing confrontations with the United States and a shared hostility toward the West.

The call highlighted the ways in which Russia and China are drawing on each other for mutual support, with Putin criticizing the AUKUS (Australia, the United States, and Britain) partnership in the Pacific and Xi supporting Moscows demands for security guarantees to limit the Wests influence across the former Soviet Union.

The Kremlin said security in Europe is also set to be on the agenda as Putin heads to China. The summit marks the Chinese leaders first face-to-face meeting with a head of state in nearly two years and the pair will look to cement their partnership amid the rivalry with Washington.

But while the Russian and Chinese leaders will continue to show a united front and although Beijing favors the pressure that Moscow has mounted against the West, Ferenczy says it is unknown if China would be fully supportive of another Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A Russian invasion would have wider implications for other parts of the world, she said. For China, its a question about whether thats good for their interests or if its better that Russia holds back.
France's foreign minister has accused a Russia-backed mercenary group of plundering the resources of the West African nation of Mali.

Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a newspaper interview published on January 30 that fighters from the Vagner Group, aka Wagner, which he said includes -- "former Russian soldiers, armed by Russia, and accompanied by Russian logistics -- are despoiling Mali."

"They are already at the moment using the country's resources in exchange for protecting the junta, he told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

"Vagner uses the weakness of certain states to implant itself ... to reinforce Russia's influence in Africa," Le Drian added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the mercenary group does not represent the Russian state and is not paid by it. He has also said private military contractors have the right to work and pursue their interests anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law.

France, Germany, Canada, and Britain have troops in Mali fighting against an Islamist insurgency in the African country.

However, the mission became endangered after Mali slid into political turmoil two years ago, culminating in a military coup in August 2020 against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

France, Germany, Canada, and Britain and 11 other nations late last year said in a joint statement that they "firmly condemn the deployment of mercenary troops on Malian territory."

On December 15, the United States warned Mali against deploying Vagner forces, saying a reported deal between the country and the private military contractor would divert money away from efforts to fight terrorism and could ultimately destabilize the region.

Mali's government denied any deployment of fighters from the Vagner Group and called the personnel Russian trainers.

Le Drian did not say whether the presence of Vagner Group personnel could lead to the withdrawal of French troops fighting the Islamist insurgency in Mali.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly said on January 29 that European states fighting the militants there would seek ways to keep the mission going. But she added that there were limits to the price that France is prepared to pay to remain.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron has told his Iranian counterpart that the 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran can be revived, but ongoing negotiations must speed up and Iran must return to its full obligations under the accord.

In a telephone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on January 29, Macron "reiterated his conviction that a diplomatic solution is possible and imperative, and stressed that any agreement will require clear and sufficient commitments from all the parties," Macron's office said on January 30.

Diplomats from Germany, France, and Britain, known collectively as the E3, together with Russia and China, have been meeting in the Austrian capital since last spring trying to bring Iran and the United States closer to a deal to restore the agreement that stalled when Washington withdrew in 2018 and restored punitive sanctions against Tehran.

Talks to return to the deal, under which Iran agreed to curbs on its controversial nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, are expected to resume next week.

Iran has rejected any deadlines imposed by the Western powers amid concerns that time for a deal is running out.

"Several months after the resumption of negotiations in Vienna, [Macron] insisted on the need to accelerate in order to quickly achieve tangible progress in this framework," the French president's office said.

The comments echoed those made this week by the European Union's Enrique Mora, who is coordinating the talks.

Political decisions are needed now, Mora wrote on Twitter on January 28.

The E3 said in a statement the same day that all sides know the talks are reaching the final stage."

Key issues in negotiations remain the speed and scope of lifting sanctions on Tehran, including Irans demand for a U.S. guarantee it will not violate the agreement again.

The talks are also moving slowly over technical details about how and when to restore curbs on Irans atomic work, which has advanced significantly since the United States withdrew from the accord.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP.
On January 27, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a virtual summit with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The summit was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of official ties between India and the five Central Asian states, though this was the first time leaders of the six countries had ever held a summit.

Their talks focused on historical cultural ties and connectivity, and while the results may appear modest, some see the meeting as symbolically ushering in a new era of relations in Indias ancient connections with the Central Asian region.

On this week's Majlis Podcast, RFE/RL's media-relations manager, Muhammad Tahir, moderates a discussion that looks at Indian-Central Asian ties and where they could be going after this summit.

This week's guests are: from New Delhi, Ashok Sajjanhar, executive council member at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses; president of the Institute of Global Studies; a distinguished fellow with the Ananta Aspen Centre, and former Indian ambassador to Kazakhstan; also from New Delhi, Punchok Stobdan, currently a senior fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in India and a former Indian ambassador to Kyrgyzstan; from California, Bakyt Beshimov, currently a Global Studies and International Relations lecturer and professor of the practice at Northeastern University and a former Kyrgyz ambassador to India; and Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed concern on January 30 about Europe's gas dependence on Moscow as fears mount of a Russian military escalation in Ukraine.

He said there was consensus among the military alliance's 30 members on the need to diversify energy supplies.

The European Union depends on Russia for around one-third of its natural-gas supplies, and a current shortage amid chilly winter temperatures is already making importers nervous.

"We are concerned about the energy situation in Europe because it demonstrates the vulnerability of being too dependent on one supplier of natural gas, and that's the reason why NATO allies agree that we need to work and focus on diversification of supplies," Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg's warning comes with more than 100,000 Russian troops, tanks, and equipment amassed near the border with non-NATO member Ukraine, a post-Soviet transit country for Russian energy supplies to Western Europe that's been locked in a seven-year war against Russia-backed separatists.

Kyiv has consistently railed against Western cooperation to support Moscow's efforts to bypass its traditional gas export routes through Ukrainian territory, knowing its own supplies and billions in transit fees are on the line.

Analysts and a number of NATO governments regard the recently built Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a Russian path to boosting European gas dependence and delivering a costly blow to Kyiv.

Also on January 30, the German regulator said that a locally based subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom still faces hurdles before the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline to deliver Russian gas via the Baltic Sea can begin operating.

German Federal Network Agency President Jochen Homann told the FAZ broadsheet that "further steps are missing" before Gazprom's nascent local subsidiary, Gas For Europe, based in Schwerin, can be added to the commercial registry.

Homann predicted in an interview to be published on January 31 that a "conclusion will unlikely be possible in the first half of the year."

An EU gas directive requires the operation of Nord Stream 2 and the distribution of its gas to be managed separately, an obligation that created obstacles in November for Swiss-based Nord Stream 2 AG.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa
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
LONDON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths in the United States is increasing at a worrying rate, hitting 2,259 on Wednesday, the highest level since last winter's surge, the Daily Mail said in a recent report.

Meanwhile, daily cases have dropped by 13 percent during the same period, down to 639,723 per day, said the newspaper, citing data from Johns Hopkins University.

While cases are declining in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert, warned that it is too early to totally "return to normal," the report said.

The high volume of COVID-19 cases can still strain hospital systems and cause deaths to rise to worrying levels, it added.

Another threat could be around the corner as well.

Across the pond in Britain, a sub-variant of Omicron that is believed to be even more infectious is starting to spread. While it still accounts for less than 1 percent of sequenced cases in the nation, officials are on alert for the new "stealth" strain that can not be detected by PCR tests, according to the report. 
Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic said on January 30 that there has been no dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina since Albin Kurti became Kosovo's prime minister and predicted that probably none is on the way.

Kurti has held two meetings with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic since returning to power in March with calls for "reciprocity" amid Serbia's steady refusal to recognize the independence of its former province.

Selakovic told Serbian public broadcaster RTS that talks next week with U.S. State Department special envoy Gabriel Escobar and EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak will focus on the stalled dialogue to normalize relations between Belgrade and Pristina and everything that burdens them.

"Our position and what doesn't change is that we are always ready to sit down at the negotiating table and talk," Selakovic said. "It is obvious to us that since Kurti has been in Pristina...there has been no dialogue and there probably won't be...so long as he is making the decisions."

Kurti, a wartime student leader and Kosovar Albanian nationalist whose Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party rose to power after 2019 elections, has used import duties and border checks to press his calls for a change of policies in Belgrade.

Selakovic said Belgrade is weighing its moves and is committed to dialogue and preserving peace, stability, and its interests in Kosovo, which has a sizable minority of Serbs.

Both sides signaled after previous Kurti-Vucic meetings that the parties were far apart in their positions.

The European Union has stressed it was willing to organize a new meeting once the Serbian and Kosovar sides showed willingness to achieve concrete results for their 7 million and 1.9 million citizens, respectively.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and Belgrade spent years encouraging the more than 110 countries that have accepted Kosovar statehood to withdraw their recognition.

EU leaders recently reaffirmed the blocs commitment to the stalled enlargement process for Serbia, Kosovo, and four other Western Balkans states but have avoided any timeline.

Escobar, the deputy assistant secretary of state overseeing U.S policy in the Western Balkans, has vowed a renewed push to help those countries achieve EU integration.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the Western military alliance will not send combat troops to Ukraine in the event that Russia invades the country.

"We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to Ukraine...we are focusing on providing support," Stoltenberg told the BBC during an interview on January 30. "There is a difference between being a NATO member and being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine."

Stoltenberg's comments come among heightened tensions between NATO and Moscow as Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine's border, which has led to concerns of an invasion.

The Kremlin, which has denied it plans to invade as it did in 2014 when it seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, has insisted in recent negotiations with Washington and NATO that guarantees be made that Ukraine and other former Soviet states will not be admitted to the alliance.

Ukraine seeks NATO membership but has not been offered a Membership Action Plan, which would provide a road map to joining. However, NATO has said its "open door" policy is not up for negotiation, and Washington has stressed that sovereign states have a right to choose their own military alliances.

After the United States responded to Moscow's demands in writing, Russian President Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron on January 28 that he felt the West had "ignored" Moscow's security concerns.

NATO has said it is prepared to step up its troop presence in its Eastern European member states should Russia invade Ukraine, and many members of the alliance have provided military equipment, including lethal weaponry, to Kyiv as tensions mount.

Britain is expected to publish new legislation this week that would broaden economic sanctions against Russia if it chooses to invade Ukraine.

"What the legislation enables us to do is hit a much wider variety of targets. So there can be nobody who thinks that they will be immune to those sanctions," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News on January 30. "Any company of interest to the Kremlin and the regime in Russia would be able to be targeted so there will be nowhere to hide for Putin's oligarchs, for Russian companies involved in propping up the Russian state."

Truss, who is expected to travel to Russia this month for discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said it was "very unlikely" that British troops would be sent to fight in Ukraine in the event of war, however.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is considering options to alleviate Russian aggression, including a "major" deployment of troops, warships, and fighter jets in NATO members of Eastern Europe, is expected to travel to Ukraine and hold a planned telephone call with Putin this week in an effort to "accelerate diplomatic efforts."

In a tweet on January 30, Johnson wrote that he continues to "urge Russia to engage in negotiations and avoid a reckless and catastrophic invasion."

Washington, which has said there will be severe consequences if Russia invades Ukraine, has said that it is seeking a diplomatic solution to the standoff but added that Moscow must first dismantle its buildup near Ukraine's border.

"The Russian government has said publicly that it has no intention to invade Ukraine, but the facts on the ground tell a much different story, U.S. Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan said on January 28.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has said he expects to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the coming weeks for a new round of talks, but that Putin will ultimately decide how to respond to Washington's stated response to Moscow's demands.

Lavrov said on state television on January 30 that Russia will seek clarity from NATO and the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe pertaining to their positions on regional security, and will continue to demand legally binding security guarantees "with full, equal, regard to Russia's legitimate interests."

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.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
News

featured urgent

Rutledge residents to Rivian: 'We don't want you'

Representatives of Rivian Automotive Inc. were in Newton, Morgan and Walton counties Wednesday and brought along a couple of their vehicles. This one is outfitted with a three-person collapsible tent attached to a platform over the truck bed. Company representatives have said they plan to hold public meetings and answer questions from the community in February. A Rivian Automotive representative demonstrates a camp kitchen that can be stowed inside the gear tunnel behind the back seat of the R1T pickup truck. Special Photo This rendering shows a potential layout plan for the massive Rivian plant proposed for Walton and Morgan counties, just across the Newton County line.

MADISON  The comments of a nearly 80-year-old Rutledge resident summed up the sentiments of dozens of residents who turned out to speak against the Rivian plant Tuesday.

Im no one special, but theres a lot of people I speak for, said Carol Spencer of Rutledge. Were just the little, simple people out there that live everyday. Everything Ive heard about this Rivian thats coming in, to me, sounds negative, and Im speaking for myself and all these little people thats not here today. Please, Rivian, go away from here. We dont want you; we want our lives to stay like it is. We love it.

More than 30 people spoke during the public comment portion of the Joint Development Authority meeting in Madison during the 45-minutes of allotted time. Virtually every one expressed concerns  and sometimes downright fear  about what will happen to their communities if Rivian builds a massive $5 billion electric vehicle assembly and battery plant on 2,000 acres in Walton and Morgan counties. A portion of the property is in incorporated Social Circle.

A number of comments centered on potential environmental contamination of the air and water (most residents in the area are on wells) and disruption of their rural quality of life. Many residents said they moved to Rutledge and Morgan County to escape development in other parts of the metro area.

Rutledge resident Kenneth Morris said he had lived in both DeKalb and Henry counties before moving to Rutledge.

Weve been running away from rampant overdevelopment all of our lives, he said. Weve seen it happen in both locations where you couldnt even drive to the Walmart on weekends. Its going to happen here, folks.

Some speakers took members of the Joint Development Authority to task over the way the Rivian deal was negotiated without the publics awareness. Details of the project negotiations remain confidential pending finalization of the deal.

There were also complaints that members of the JDA are not elected to those positions and are not accountable to their constituents for their decisions. The board is made up of an elected official from each of the four counties boards of commissioners  Jasper, Newton, Morgan and Walton  and an appointed citizen from each county.

So who do we turn to? Who is our defense against all of this? asked Rutledge resident Steve Shepard.

Opponents of the project are not relying on local elected officials to represent their interests. In just a few days, grassroots opposition group Rutledge Opposes Rivian Assembly Plant raised more than $125,000 toward its goal of $250,000 to retain legal representation to fight the Rivian development.

According to Rivians website, the company plans to develop a carbon-conscious campus in Walton and Morgan counties, where it will eventually employ 7,500.

Once ramped, the Georgia facility will be capable of producing up to 400,000 vehicles per year, the website states. Construction on the facility is expected to begin in summer 2022, and the start of production is slated for 2024. Site considerations included logistics, environmental impact, renewable energy production, availability and quality of talent and fit with Rivian company culture.

The project is of special interest to Gov. Brian Kemp as part of his Electric Mobility and Innovation Alliance announced last year to promote the electric mobility industry in the state. Rivians deal with Georgia will likely include millions in tax incentives and abatements, which have not yet been disclosed. In addition, the governor has proposed $125 million in next years budget to purchase the land and develop a training program and facility that will prepare workers for employment in the industry. The state has also pledged to assist with infrastructure improvements, including a new interchange at Interstate 20 and Old Mill Road.

There was some speculation at Tuesdays JDA meeting that Rivian might not be financially stable enough to pull off the massive development.

One resident noted that the company failed to produce its projected number of vehicles at its Illinois plant in 2021, and the stock price has dropped below its initial public offering price in November.

I see it as a failing business, he said. I see it as something that, when its all said and done  Stacey Abrams will be governor of this state, and this wont help it.

The property under option to Rivian will next go to planning commission meetings in Morgan and Walton counties and Social Circle for a recommendation on rezonings before going before elected boards for a vote.

The Walton County Planning Commission will hear Rivians rezoning petition on Feb. 3, followed by presentation to the Walton Board of Commissioners on March 1.

Morgan Countys Planning Commission will hear the rezoning petition on Feb. 24, followed by the Board of Commissioners on March 1.

Social Circles planning board will hear the petition on Feb. 22. The City Council will hear the request at its March 15 meeting.
OTTAWA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of trucks and thousands of protesters blocked the streets toward downtown Ottawa on Saturday to protest the government's vaccine mandates required to cross the Canada-U.S. border.

The protest is part of a self-titled "Freedom Convoy 2022," which started out as a rally of truckers against the requirement that Canadian truck drivers crossing the border into the United States be fully vaccinated as of mid-January.

After being joined by thousands of other protesters, it then turned into a demonstration against the government's overall restrictive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The crowd gathered around the Parliament Hill, waving flags and banners and chanting slogans against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is self-isolating after one of his children tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The increasing number of protesters prompted police to prepare for the possibility of violence. As of Saturday night, no injuries or deaths were reported.

Parliament members were advised by the head of House of Commons security, Sergeant-at-Arms Patrick McDonell, to "go somewhere else" if a demonstration occurred at their personal residences or constituency offices, and to "refrain from posting anything related to the demonstration on social media." 
Until last week, Chula Vistas police drones could only fly within a roughly one-mile radius of the police station downtown.

Now, thanks to special authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Chula Vista Police Department can expand its drone programs coverage area.

This month, the FAA granted Chula Vista a Certificate of Authorization, effective March 15, to fly drones beyond the visual line of sight. Before receiving this permission, a police officer had to maintain direct eye contact with the drones, which limited how far that drone could go.

This is a brand-new change to our operations and we are very, very happy with it, said police Capt. Phil Collum.

The FAA granted the Palm Beach Police Department in Florida similar permission to fly beyond the visual line of sight about a year ago.

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Since Chula Vista launched its drone program last year, drones have responded to 328 emergency calls and contributed to 45 arrests. Drone deployment has also negated the use of 38 officers, which leaves them available to respond to other emergencies, according to stats from the Chula Vista Police Department.

But so far, that success has been limited to a small area immediately around the police station, Collum said.

Now this gives us the potential of replicating that success in other parts of Chula Vista, Collum said. But exactly how we will go about doing that is still being determined.

The FAA has a partnership with Chula Vista to develop new drone regulations for law enforcement agencies. The regulations that come out of this partnership will set the guidelines for how police departments throughout the country can use drones for law enforcement purposes.

The FAAs permission to fly drones beyond the line of sight doesnt give the Chula Vista Police Department the ability to fly drones however they want.

Regulations still require the Police Department to have a spotter looking at the airspace the drones are flying in to protect them from any obstacles, such as incoming aircraft or light poles. But the officers do not have to maintain physical eye contact with the drone itself.

Moving forward, the Police Department will have an officer on the roof monitoring the sky to make sure nothing comes near the drone. The department can also position officers throughout Chula Vista to be observers if drones are flying nearby.

So while the new regulations allow Chula Vista to cover more ground with drones, exactly how much is yet to be determined, Collum said.

In Chula Vista, drones use a high-definition camera to send a live video feed to police headquarters, where a supervisor evaluates the situation and coordinates an appropriate response. Officers heading to the scene can use a mobile phone app to see what is happening before they arrive.

Police data show the drones respond to emergency calls in less than two minutes  faster than the departments current response time of more than six-and-a-half minutes.

Having a drone get to the scene first helps the police determine how to respond because a live video stream is more accurate than a dispatch call. For example, live footage can show the difference between a minor or a major car crash. Or, officers can see whether a suspect is carrying a weapon.

Cape, a Silicon Valley tech company, has helped Chula Vista develop its drone program. The companys software allows drones to fly on autopilot while officers view the live footage from miles away.

The company ran a similar program with the Ensenada Police Department in Mexico, where regulations dont require officers to physically monitor airspace. During a 10-month period last year, Ensenada police officers made more than 500 arrests with the help of drones, according to Cape.

Chula Vistas long-term goal for the drone program is to have similar results. Officers envision having a small fleet of drones that can be dispatched from various locations in Chula Vista and respond to emergencies faster than patrol vehicles.

However, the department is well aware that the technology is new and they plan to take their time with it, Collum said.

We are very aware that we are a test, Collum said. We are a potential model for law enforcement all over the country so, for that reason, we are going very, very slow.

Before launching the program, Chula Vista developed some privacy protection protocols. Drones do not conduct random surveillance or go out on general patrols. Also, the camera does not record until after the drone arrives to a crime scene.

Additionally, the Police Department plans to build a website that the public can use to review every flight path.

Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter
A man who stabbed a popular TV news reporter and an Issaquah nurse 15 years ago in one of King County's most notorious murders is among dozens of convicted criminals hoping that Gov. Gary Locke will, in the final months of his administration, grant him mercy.

William Pawlyk was a respected businessman and Naval Reserve officer when he killed Larry Sturholm and Debra Sweiger in 1989, and has been, his many supporters say, a model prisoner and mentor to fellow inmates ever since.

Even a juror who found him guilty after hearing every horrific detail of the slayings says she believes "everyone can be driven to that edge" and would now gladly invite Pawlyk into her living room.

But Sweiger's brother, Steve Lay, remembers how his sister lay in her coffin with scarves wrapped around her neck and wrists, her hair combed close "to hide the knife marks on her beautiful face because she was literally sliced to pieces."

He's aghast that a man who stabbed two people each more than 100 times with hunting knives that he'd carefully hidden in preparation, taping them to his socks, can even ask or be considered for clemency.

"I just think this process is so sick, I can't even explain it to people," Lay said, anger tightening his voice. "I thought it was a joke. I said, 'It's impossible. He got life without parole.' "

The Clemency and Pardons Board will hear Pawlyk's request Oct. 29 and make a recommendation to Locke, who has not yet received the case. Pawlyk is among more than 80 people who have petitioned for clemency or a pardon in recent months. The board screened about 40 cases and agreed to hear 23 of them Oct. 28-29 and will hear others in December, according to Shelby Hultman, who coordinates the board's activities for the governor's office.

Next week, the board will also hear from John Echeveste, a former Seattle police officer seeking a pardon for having sex with a 14-year-old girl, a crime that landed him in jail for eight months in 1989.

And five other convicted murderers are asking for clemency or pardons, including Herbert Rice, who got life in prison for stabbing to death a Yakima couple when he was 17 in a 1988 robbery that netted two TV sets and a pack of cigarettes.

Locke has granted clemency to more than 30 people, including at least one convicted murderer, during his two terms, according to Hultman.

Last year, he granted the early release of Terrence Gardner, a man convicted of felony murder in the death of a Bremerton man, after the board recognized the man's accomplishments, including his continued payment of child support while behind bars. The decision cut Gardner's 24-year sentence roughly in half.

Pawlyk's attorney, Sheryl Gordon McCloud, will urge the board to give the 63-year-old prisoner a chance at freedom -- if not now, then at some point before he dies.

She said his crime, though unquestionably awful, was a completely aberrant act of a man who snapped under "incredible pressures," including his belief that Sweiger, with whom he was romantically involved, was having an affair with Sturholm.

Pawlyk, who stabbed himself after the attack in an apparent suicide attempt, had received commendations as a Navy Reserve officer, worked for Boeing Computer Services and chaired the Richland Economic Development Board.

"The entire rest of his life has been not just crime-free but incredibly exemplary in every other respect," McCloud said.

She said his remorse was evident in his suicide effort and that a prison official deemed him a low risk to commit other crimes.

In letters supporting his clemency, business leaders, prison officials and others described Pawlyk as a natural leader with a talent for calming disagreements. They lauded his efforts to tutor other inmates, helping them get their high-school equivalency degrees.

Oregon Supreme Court Justice R. William Riggs, who knew Pawlyk through the Naval Reserve, called him an honest, conscientious person and "an outstanding candidate for clemency."

In his own letter, Pawlyk wrote, "Having reflected much upon the horrible magnitude of what my actions wrought, I deeply regret the anguish and grief inflicted on the family and friends of Debbie and Larry. They didn't deserve to die."

A juror in his trial, Barbara Snodgrass, 76, said, "I just think years of swallowed anger finally erupted. I don't think he would ever do anything like that again."

But King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng notes that the jury specifically rejected Pawlyk's claim that he was insane, finding him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, the state's most serious crime.

He will strongly urge the panel to deny the man's clemency request.

Maleng said he already took Pawlyk's previous accomplishments into account when he didn't seek to have the man executed.

"The crime Mr. Pawlyk committed was among the most horrific in King County during my tenure as prosecuting attorney," Maleng wrote in a letter to the board. "The life sentence he received was, and still is, commensurate with his brutal, premeditated and prolonged act of violence against two unarmed people."

Sturholm, 46, was an award-winning KIRO reporter who covered offbeat stories with touches of humor. He'd agreed to help Sweiger produce a video promotion for a planned business venture when he went to her home, in an upscale neighborhood near Issaquah, on July 31, 1989, according to court documents.

Pawlyk was waiting. He met Sturholm at the door and stabbed him 181 times. He hid the man's body, showered and waited for Sweiger. He accused the 35-year-old mother of two of having an affair and stabbed her when she denied it.

Badly wounded, Sweiger left a few last words for her daughter, then 4. The bloodstained note said simply, "Jenny, I love you. Mother."

Lay said he was "literally shaking" as he wrote a letter recently to Locke, pleading to keep his sister's killer in prison. The task, he said, left him "sickened, disgusted, violated, astonished and totally bewildered by the justice system."

He described the way his mother collapsed onto his sister's coffin and how the trauma helped drive the woman to an early grave. He said he often heard his father crying as he spoke about the sickening death of "his little girl."

The Sweiger family believes Pawlyk already got mercy by being allowed to live, according to Lay. Years ago, Sturholm's family also asked that Pawlyk face the death penalty.

Sturholm's brother, Phil, said his family is now mulling over Pawlyk's clemency request. He said he appreciated the chance he and his wife got years ago, on the eve of Pawlyk's sentencing, to meet with the killer at the King County Jail.

They asked questions, said what they wanted to say and heard what they believed was a heartfelt apology.

But Sturholm remains clear about one thing: "When it comes to something like this, there's no such thing as forgiveness. It was savage."

In the last days of Gov. Mike Lowry's administration in 1996, the board considered clemency for six convicted killers and recommended it for one: Dawud Malik, a man who has spent nearly 40 years in prison for two murders he said he didn't commit in a racially charged 1966 case.

Lowry rejected Malik's request. So did Locke, a former prosecutor, in 1997, but he is now weighing it again. He's also considering the board's February recommendation for clemency for Susan Cummings, a woman convicted of killing an 88- year-old neighbor in Walla Walla in 1983, when Cummings was 16.
The future of mental health care for the 2,200 people held in Alameda Countys Santa Rita Jail, along with a proposed $25 million settlement that would bring more sheriffs deputies to the jail, are in the hands of a federal magistrate.

But whatever the outcome of a lawsuit targeting conditions at the lockup, something unusual, perhaps unprecedented, has occurred in the case: The inmates voices have been heard in court.

For five hours Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins of San Jose, who had ordered the hearing, heard remotely from 39 people speaking from the jail in Dublin. Most are being held before trial or conviction, many have mental health problems, and all of them opposed the settlement.

The jail doesnt need to hire more sheriffs. They need to hire more mental health professionals, one said, a sentiment shared by most of his fellow speakers.

Inmate David Hegis, who described himself as a mental health patient, said he needs to see a specialist once a week, not the current once-a-month schedule, or the 90-day intervals proposed in the settlement for most inmates receiving mental counseling or treatment. And sheriffs deputies at the jail, he said, beat up people in the middle of the night and set up fights in cells.

An even more harrowing account came from Jaclyn Mosbacher, who has filed a separate suit accusing county jailers of mistreating her and other incarcerated women.

They strip-searched me and threw me outside in the cold for hours, Mosbacher told Cousins. She said she had been pregnant and wound up with a miscarriage while in an isolation cell, and officers told me I was responsible.

We need counseling to help us stay human, she said.

Afterward, Yolanda Huang, a National Lawyers Guild attorney, said in an interview that the hearing was the first time theyve ever gotten to publicly talk about what theyre going through, how they feel. Her organization and others had urged Cousins to listen to the inmates before ruling on the settlement, which he had preliminarily approved in September.

Huang said she had never heard of any previous court hearing in which large numbers of inmates were allowed to discuss conditions of confinement and the resolution of a case affecting them.

The settlement would resolve a lawsuit filed in 2018 over conditions for mentally ill inmates at Santa Rita. Its terms include mental health screenings for new inmates, construction of therapeutic housing units, and new standards for solitary confinement and use of force. It includes $21 million for more than 250 new sheriffs deputies at the jail, which has been short-staffed, and $4 million in attorneys fees.

Cousins had planned to issue a final decision last week, but instead agreed to take testimony from inmates after hearing objections from advocacy groups including the National Lawyers Guild, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and the American Friends Service Committee.

Kara Janssen, a lawyer for inmates who filed the 2018 suit, told Cousins after Thursdays testimony that the complaints had raised some very legitimate concerns that would all be addressed by the settlement, which followed years of negotiations.

Conditions at the jail have been horrible in the past but would be improved by the changes the county has agreed to implement, Janssen said. She said deputies would be trained in handling mentally ill inmates, but that care and treatment would be provided solely by qualified mental health professionals, with monitoring from the U.S. Justice Department and the court.

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Samantha Wolff, a lawyer for the county, said some of the inmates complaints were demonstrably false, without giving details, but agreed that all legitimate concerns would be resolved by the settlement.

However, Huang and a number of inmates said conditions were likely to get worse with the arrival of more deputies and the scheduling of treatment only once in 90 days for inmates who are not considered violent or suicidal. Huang said the proposed therapeutic housing units, while potentially helpful, would have room for only about 80 inmates.

The other 2,120 inmates, she said, would remain locked up 20 hours a day in a room the size of a closet with somebody else, under the jails current COVID-19 restrictions.

Or, as one inmate told Cousins, people in the jail need more out-of-cell time ... more trained staff to help people with their issues instead of more enforcement. Were normal people too. Were just in a bad situation.

Cousins said the testimony had added great meaning to his understanding of the issues, but did not indicate how he would rule. He could approve the settlement or reopen the case for further negotiations that could include community groups objecting to the current proposal.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
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Working under an expired contract, San Francisco teachers and administrators reached a one-year, stopgap deal late Friday as the district weathers a fiscal crisis.

The tentative contract would give teachers $4,000 in bonuses next year while increasing substitute pay up to $60 per day. The deal also includes a $3,000 bonus for Advanced Placement teachers and another $3,000 for teachers in hard-to-staff schools.

That means a teacher who qualifies for all three could see $10,000 in bonuses next year.

The agreement does not include ongoing raises, other than the guaranteed increases associated with years of experience and education levels, but does offer some immediate financial relief for educators, union officials said.

Given all of the struggles educators have been through over the past two years, we are relieved that we could get one-time compensation directly to all members, as well as a much needed increase in substitute pay, Cassondra Curiel, president of the United Educators of San Francisco, said in a joint statement with the district. We are fighting for the schools our students deserve in a particularly challenging period. This is a step in the right direction.

The previous teachers contract expired in July 2020.

The district is facing a $125 million shortfall next year, as well as a $140 million deficit the year after, leading to an appointed state expert to advise the district and review contract agreements. A staff raise would probably have been rejected by the expert.

We are living through a moment in history with challenges we have never faced before, and educators continue to inspire us with their resilience and strength, said Superintendent Vince Matthews. We are extremely pleased to reach an agreement that supports our educators, our students and our communities.

The agreement came on the same day the district sent letters to some teachers and other staff advising that they were on a list of people who could get preliminary layoff notices in March.

The school board has adopted a budget plan that is expected to cut $50 million from classrooms, in addition to reductions at the central office and among various programs.

That will include balancing classroom enrollment, to ensure teachers are spread evenly across the district, reducing the number of teachers required. Currently, some teachers have a handful of students, given lower enrollment than expected, while others at different schools have full seats. The school board voted in the fall against shifting teachers to address the disparities.

District officials have said there will probably be staff reductions, although the numbers could change dramatically before official notices go out May.

The tentative deal reached Friday requires approval and is subject to a vote of union members and the school board.

The agreement includes suspending teacher sabbaticals for a year to help mitigate teacher shortages, while also suspending an extra preparation period for Advanced Placement teachers. Those benefits are not standard items in teacher labor agreements and combined cost the district nearly $10 million per year.

The one-year pause on the extra preparation period is arguably the most controversial part of the agreement.

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Parents and teachers say they fear the temporary loss of the extra planning period for those instructors could lead to fewer advanced courses, which district officials said was not the case.

It means AP teachers will teach five courses a day instead of four, reducing the number of teachers needed at a school site. That could mean layoffs, or losing staff through retirements and resignations.

In addition, the funding for the extra planning periods often exceeded what it cost to pay for them, meaning schools such as Lowell High got additional money to pay for music or other programs from that pot.

That will be a huge loss to high schools, which have created programs and resources for students with that funding, said Rebecca Johnson, a Lowell Advanced Placement teacher.

In addition, Johnson fears many teachers will lose their jobs because of the cut to the AP preparation period, and that those job losses will in turn pay for the teacher stipends included in the deal.

I dont want that, said Johnson, who would receive $7,000 if the contract is approved. I want my colleagues to have jobs.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
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The California Highway Patrol temporarily closed Interstate 580 and stopped BART service in the area on Saturday when officers responded to a report of a possible incendiary device located inside of a vehicle parked in the center divider on I-580 eastbound in Castro Valley, authorities said.

The vehicle  located just east of Eden Canyon Road  was deemed safe after officials with the Alameda County Sheriffs Office Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit searched and x-rayed the vehicle, CHP officials said.
The whole world watches every move that San Francisco makes when it comes to its housing and homelessness crisis. Once again, the city is sending an unexpected message.

The latest came when the local outpost of YIMBY Action, one of San Franciscos  and the nations  loudest advocates for building housing everywhere, announced who it thought should replace David Chiu, one of the Legislatures leaders on housing, in the Feb. 15 Assembly special election.

The organization endorsed Bilal Mahmood, a scientist and entrepreneur who has never held elected office, over City College trustee Thea Selby, former Supervisor David Campos and Supervisor Matt Haney.

In other words, it advocated replacing a statewide housing leader with someone who has no political track record on housing. While Bilal is new to politics, he brings a bold and thorough approach to housing policy, YIMBYs endorsement read.

It was an obvious message to the other candidates: Youre not doing enough. It was aimed in particular at Haney, who had the most to lose in not getting the endorsement, especially as hes positioning himself as a pro-housing progressive  a stance some YIMBYs are still a bit wary of.

But the endorsement also carries a potential risk to the groups future influence, analysts say. Not that the YIMBYs are worried about that now. Many are so frustrated with the pace of change on housing issues that they were ready to take a chance on an outsider.

What frustrates me about politicians, both locally and across the state, is they constantly talk about equity and justice. But really they just want to perpetuate the status quo, said Steve Marzo, a lead volunteer at SF YIMBY, which stands for yes in my backyard, a rebuttal to the NIMBY (not in my backyard) label bestowed on those who oppose new housing.

So we really just cant keep electing the same politicians who keep enacting the same policies and expect different results, Marzo said. So I think Bilal is a fresh face and he will bring the change thats needed.

The YIMBY nod could matter more than just symbolically, as the organization estimates it has roughly 10,000 people on its mailing list who are regular voters. In most races, that would earn a shrug.

But in an election that is expected to draw 100,000 to 120,000 votes, every spoonful of San Franciscos political stew matters. Especially in a race that is off the standard political calendar and will probably draw mostly voters who are tuned into local politics. Mahmood told me that hes already felt its impact, as his campaign attracted a slew of volunteers after the endorsement was announced this month.

The people are who on the YIMBY voting list  they vote, Todd David, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition, a pro-housing organization that is friendly with YIMBY. It has not endorsed in the race.

But, cautioned San Francisco State political science Professor Jason McDaniel, just because voters are on the YIMBY mailing list doesnt mean they will follow its advice.

If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the Feb. 15 election, a runoff will be held April 19. The winner will have to run again in the statewide primary June 7 and, if among the top two finishers, again in November.

McDaniel doesnt expect Mahmood to finish in the top two, despite his putting together a strong campaign and spelling out smart, detailed positions. The conventional wisdom among analysts is that Haney and Campos will face off in the runoff.

The downside of being a first-time candidate in a special election is that Mahmood has had a limited time to introduce himself to voters. (Mahmoods campaign says it has raised $400,000 from individual donors, and he has contributed roughly the same amount to his campaign.) Haney and Campos in particular have higher name recognition because of their time on the Board of Supervisors.

First-time candidates often think they can overcome the name recognition battle with money  and you can do that to a certain degree, McDaniel told me. But (in this race) youre also facing a lot of quality candidates who also are fairly well funded.

Voters have shown repeatedly that its not easy for newcomers here, he said.

Laura Foote, executive director of YIMBY Action, told me that Mahmoods lack of experience is a question we debated a lot internally. So much so that Mahmood was asked a question during the groups recent debate that the others werent: You have no legislative experience and no relationships with state legislators. How will you get your ambitious agenda passed?

Foote said the organization was impressed with Mahmoods answer.

If we look across history, who are the people who made systemic change? It was outsiders, not career politicians, Mahmood responded. He name-checked New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and 26-year-old first-term San Jose Democratic Assembly Member Alex Lee, the youngest member of the Legislature, as people who didnt have legislative experience or relationships with the respective bodies they operate in.

My career has been built on being an outsider and entering into a new discipline and building the necessary coalitions in a very short period of time to achieve the outcomes that were necessary, he said.

Foote was impressed, even though she was initially personally highly skeptical. But she said hes hit a lot of marks that other first-time candidates dont, in terms of raising money and assembling a staff, and getting people to take him seriously on his ideas.

I think he made some decent points about outsiders in politics who have been successful in the past, Foote said.

Haney was dubious.

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They went with someone who said every single thing they wanted to hear, but has zero track record in doing any of those things, Haney told me. Its one thing to say what people want to hear. Its another thing to have actually done it, and Ive done it, and when you do it, there are times when you have to make some compromises.

The YIMBY endorsement said that if this were a ranked-choice election, we would consider Matt Haney as a #2 and hoping that if elected (he would) become a strong advocate for housing in the legislature.

Yet the group was skeptical of Haneys mixed record, and criticized his crucial vote on a project that would have created 316 small units of housing in the heart of the Tenderloin  Haneys district  that the board unanimously opposed last year.

The YIMBY endorsement, however, also applauded Haneys move towards pro-housing positions. It lauded his support for a 495-unit apartment complex on a current Nordstrom valet parking lot, which would have included 73 affordable units on-site and 45 off-site, and that the board rejected.

Matt Haneys views have certainly evolved recently when it comes to housing, said David, the housing advocate who was a former political director for state Sen. Scott Wiener, another leader in the Legislature on the issue. Remember, though, its evolved just recently.

Mahmood told me that its kind of damning that on a board of 11 (members), he couldnt get a project that should have been a slam-dunk passed, referring to Haney. If he cant build consensus on a board of 11, how is he going to build consensus among 80 members in the Assembly?

This race is still unpredictable enough that some pro-housing advocates have wondered whether the YIMBY endorsement would be enough to nudge Mahmood into a runoff against Campos, who is arguably the least aligned with the organizations goals. Campos once proposed a moratorium on the construction of market-rate housing in the Mission District. (The board rejected it.) Campos said his views on building housing have evolved since he served on the Board of Supervisors from 2008 to 2016.

McDaniel said there was a bigger risk to the YIMBYs if Haney won without their endorsement.

If (Haney) goes on to win, McDaniel said, he may feel that hell be able to speak to voters on these issues without your help.

Both Haney and YIMBY leaders denied that would be the case, telling me that they would be able to work together if he made it to Sacramento. A line at the end of the YIMBY endorsement covers that possibility.

If our endorsed candidate does not progress to the Special General, the endorsement reads, YIMBY Action will choose a new candidate to endorse.

Regardless, the message has been sent: Youre not doing enough.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
From rising sea levels that could flood coastal settlements, to drought that threaten farms statewide, to apocalyptic forest fires, California is on the front lines of the climate disaster. But due to its size and its impact on the rest of the country, the state is also perfectly positioned to wield a key, under-discussed tool for fighting climate change: insurance regulation.

And yet as loss of life and property damage grow in the state with each passing season, Californias insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, has been backpedaling on the issue  after receiving more than $17,000 in donations and gifts from fossil fuel interests during his 2018 campaign.

When he was sworn into the job three years ago, Lara vowed to use his power to combat global warming.

We need bold action to ensure our communities adapt and are resilient to this new reality, he said during his January 2019 inauguration speech. There is no other industry that has the necessary expertise to ensure that California is prepared to mitigate and reduce risk to our communities and environment.

Lara was correct: Insurance regulation is an important front in the battle against climate change. Thats because insurance companies fuel global warming by underwriting fossil fuel projects and investing the premiums they collect from consumers in fossil fuel companies. State insurance commissioners have the power to curtail both of these behaviors.

California emerged as a leader in addressing insurance companies links to fossil fuel companies under the direction of Laras predecessor, Dave Jones. Such efforts were pivotal, since Californias insurance market is so large, it helps set industry-wide standards.

But despite his promises, Lara, who has received extensive funding from the insurance and fossil fuel industries over the course of his political career, has not continued most of Jones efforts.

Laras been an incredible disappointment, said Ross Hammond, senior strategist at the climate advocacy group Sunrise Project. He has done almost nothing in regards to climate change.

Just a few months into his term, Lara had a chance to take action on the matter  and chose not to. In March 2019, dozens of advocacy and activist groups submitted a petition asking Lara to require insurers to disclose their investments in fossil fuels and which fossil fuel projects they insure.

If we knew which companies were underwriting a refinery or a gas storage site, then we would have the ability to target them and get them not to do it, said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, which was the leading group on the petition.

Lara denied the petition in April 2019, claiming in a letter that he was pursuing a much more comprehensive strategy on climate than the actions requested by the petition and asked for collaboration between the petitioners, consumers, and the insurance industry.

Since then, that strategy hasnt materialized.

Jones, while serving from 2011 to 2019, required large insurance companies to disclose their investments in fossil fuels and requested that insurance companies divest their holdings in thermal coal. The entreaty led to over $4 billion in divestments. Laws and regulations inspired by Jones policies were recently implemented in Connecticut and New York, two critical states for the insurance industry.

Term limits prevented Jones from running again in 2018, and he was replaced by Lara, then a state senator. Lara had sponsored bills focusing on climate changes impact on insurance, suggesting potential sensitivity to the issue. But perhaps a better augur of the direction he would take once elected was the $65,000 of contributions from oil and gas companies that he had accepted over the course of his career, including during his campaign for insurance commissioner.

During the campaign and after his election, Lara also accepted over $270,000 in campaign donations from insurers and individuals with ties to the insurance industry. After sustained criticism for the perceived conflict of interest, Lara announced he would no longer serve as his own campaign treasurer, returned $83,000 worth of contributions, and temporarily suspended his campaign fundraising in summer 2019.

In 2018, shortly before his election, Lara accepted a gift of two field-level tickets to a Beyonce concert from Sempra Energy, an $11 billion California-based natural gas and electricity company that several months ago agreed to pay $1.8 billion for its role in the worst natural gas leak in U.S. history, near Los Angeles.

The following year, Sempra and fossil fuel giant Chevron made charitable donations on Lara's behalf to the LGBTQ-rights group Equality California to support the Sacramento Equality Awards, according to state ethics records.

Chevron gave $15,000, while Sempra contributed $5,000. Lara reported the donations as behested payments  the term for when California officials raise money from corporations or other groups and donate the money to nonprofits.

Lara separately reported a $15,000 behested payment in 2019 from the Western States Petroleum Association, an oil and gas lobbying group, though records show the donation was refunded.

Given these connections to fossil fuel and insurance interests, it's probably not surprising that Lara has failed to continue Jones agenda.

Thats not to say that the Department of Insurance under Lara has been entirely silent on climate. In July 2021, the department released a climate report containing recommendations for policies to reduce the costs from wildfires, extreme heat, and flooding.

The report contained numerous suggestions for mitigating the impact of climate change. But it was silent on ways that insurance regulation can be used to fight climate change directly. It did not mention the terms fossil fuels, oil, natural gas or divestment. It also didnt discuss the insurance industrys investments in fossil fuels and underwriting of fossil fuel projects, let alone how these activities might be curtailed.

Lara is up for re-election this year, with the primary set to take place in June. He is likely to be a formidable candidate, thanks in part to blanket support from the Democratic establishment. He has been endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and over a dozen members of Californias congressional delegation. A coalition that includes Equality California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Federation of Teachers recently announced a $3 million independent expenditure on Laras behalf.

Lauding Laras work to protect consumers and fight climate change, the coalitions press release announcing the expenditure also said that his election as an out gay Latino son of immigrants has had a transformative impact on the lives of millions of Californians.

Representation is clearly important, but similarly crucial is the question of whether or not Lara is actually providing the needed response to climate change.

California should be leading the way because were the most progressive state in the nation, with a mandate from the public to combat climate change, Court said. Yet we have a commissioner whos not taking the lead and who is unfortunately wanting to play ball with the insurance industry.

Sam Mellins is senior reporter at New York Focus. A version of this story was originally published in the Daily Poster, a subscriber-funded investigative news outlet.
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San Francisco has walked back a lot of its talk around reimagining public safety over the past few years. But despite a shifting political climate, the publics ability to know how and when police were watching seemed like a sacrosanct right.

Mayor London Breed is trying to diminish it.

On Jan. 18, Breed filed a ballot measure to increase police surveillance in the city by gutting an oversight ordinance that she herself voted for as an interim mayor in 2019. Breed is posing her new measure as a necessary tool for police to fight drug-related crime in the Tenderloin, even though harsher, more invasive policing never solved Americas  or San Franciscos  drug problem.

The situation is a messy tangle of story lines tied to when and how police use new surveillance technologies, but heres a simple truth: Without proper regulation, the sweeping surveillance abilities Breed wants the department to have only invite potential abuses of power. For a department that has required federal oversight in the past, Breed is opening a door to a dangerous policing future.

The 2019 ordinance currently requires the SFPD to keep the public informed about the surveillance technology it uses, which could be anything from video cameras to drones. The department also has to get approval from the Board of Supervisors before acquiring or using new forms of surveillance. The only exceptions to this process are incidents involving serious injuries or deaths.

If approved, Breeds measure would allow police, without the boards approval, to temporarily use surveillance technology for a much wider array of incidents beyond what they can already claim, including organized retail crime. And the department would decide on its own when to access real-time surveillance in public safety crisis areas where violent crime has spiked or there are open-air drug markets, like the ones operating daily in the Tenderloin.

Breed and Police Chief Bill Scott say the measure is necessary. But their argument is built on outright exaggeration.

According to SFPD data, there was a 1% increase in violent crime in the city from 2020 to 2021. An uptick in homicides and gun violence contributed to this bump, but San Franciscos violent crime numbers arent higher than what the city experienced five years ago and are far lower than the rates it saw in the 1970s to 1990s.

Thefts and car break-ins also increased last year, but remained lower than pre-pandemic levels, while burglaries and auto thefts remained high despite slight dips from 2020.

Breed says police cant react to crimes in real time because of the current ordinance. The truth is they werent any better at solving these crimes before the ordinance. According to California Department of Justice figures, two-thirds of violent crimes and more than 90% of property crimes have gone unsolved in the city each year for the past decade.

So what will giving the police greater surveillance powers actually accomplish?

If (Breed) gets her way ... the chief will have unilateral authority to use surveillance technology however he wants in whatever fashion under his conditions, said Brian Hofer, an Oakland privacy advocate who helped craft the existing ordinance. That means the public has no input.

No police department should have unchecked autonomy, especially one with a history as checkered as the SFPD.

From the 1930s to the mid-1970s, the departments surveillance dragnet swept up some criminals, but mostly folks with no arrest records. According to an April 1975 San Francisco Examiner story republished online by the ACLU, police collected unnecessary files for decades on civil rights demonstrators, anti-war activists ... protesters from San Francisco State. The story goes on to say that the lone person in control of the departments surveillance tactics was then-Police Chief Donald Scott.

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Theres a dark, dark history and a number of instances of the SFPD conducting really dangerous and discriminatory surveillance, said Matt Cagle, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California.

This lack of oversight was the norm for San Francisco until 2019, when local advocates representing a coalition of vulnerable groups campaigned for what they called the Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance. The ordinance was a groundbreaking step toward policing the police in the digital age, and the Board of Supervisors adopted it on an 8-1 vote.

The SFPD was sued for violating it roughly a year later.

In October 2020, a lawsuit filed on behalf of three minority activists by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and ACLU of Northern California accused the SFPD of using a Union Square camera network to spy on people involved with the George Floyd protests. The case had its first hearing in San Francisco Superior Court on Jan. 21. A second hearing is scheduled for Feb. 1.

The notion that we should give these immense powers to police without any kind of check ... that really is us rolling back the clock and becoming woefully ignorant to the past harms the SFPD has caused upon other communities, Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Saira Hussain told me.

San Francisco has backed away from its 2020 promises of reimagining public safety. If the Board of Supervisors cant convince Breed that her measure is misguided, it will go before voters in June. And residents who value police accountability and their own privacy will once again have to fight to preserve it.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips appears Sundays. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
The San Jose City Council is set to vote on a controversial proposal next month which would reverse a 36-year ban on billboards in the city, a plan that has garnered sweeping opposition among residents.

Two 1,000-square-foot electronic billboards could be constructed along Highway 101 at Mineta San Jose International Airport if a request from the airports director of aviation, John Aitken, is approved, the Mercury News reported Saturday. The implementation of the double-sided LED signs in partnership with Clear Channel would also result in the removal of eight existing billboards throughout the city, in addition to bolstering the airport with $600,000 in annual funding as it struggles to recover from COVID-related losses.

But the San Jose Airport Commission isnt so keen on the idea, rejecting the proposal in a 5-1 vote last week over concerns related to community pushback and light pollution, per San Jose Spotlight.

Allowing these in San Jose would be outrageous and wrong, Laurence Kuhn, a founding member of the Silicon Valley Branch of the U.S. Green Building Council, said at the Jan. 26 meeting. [I] will seriously consider moving out of San Jose if these go up. We owe it to the voters and inhabitants  By allowing these first digital billboards at the airport, the city will be opening the floodgates for dozens of additional billboards and ongoing litigation. Let's not turn our town into another Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

Staff at the University of California's Lick Observatory, located about 28 miles east of the airport on the summit of Mount Hamilton, have also voiced their fervent opposition, arguing the billboards would brighten skies across the region and hinder astronomers, in addition to distracting drivers and negatively impacting nocturnal wildlife.

Were detecting new worlds from right here in Santa Clara County, Paul Lynam, a staff astronomer at the Lick Observatory, told the Mercury News. Access to these facilities is very important to people and astronomers across the world. To lose those capabilities would be a travesty.

San Jose adopted a city-wide ban on new billboards in 1985 in response to public backlash over visual clutter, blight and message content, according to the city's website. The city council voted to allow the construction of 22 signs at 17 city-owned sites in 2018; however, none of the billboard installations have yet been approved or completed. By February 2021, the city halted the plan entirely due to lack of support  a 2021 survey by the San Jose Planning Commission found that, in a pool of 2,000 residents, 91% of respondents opposed the billboards.

The Federal Aviation Administration has reportedly cleared the project, and airport spokesperson Keonnis Taylor told the Spotlight the signs will be "tilted downwards and turned off between midnight and 6 a.m."

The city council hearing is scheduled to take place on Feb. 15.
During a Harvard Law School lecture last April, Justice Stephen Breyer made clear that he viewed the judiciary as divorced from politics. Once a judge takes an oath, the Supreme Court jurist said, "They are loyal to the rule of law, not to the political party that helped to secure their appointment."

But just three days later, a new phase in an extraordinary year-long campaign was launched to pressure Breyer to rethink his loyalties and focus far more on the political party that helped secure his appointment and the court's dwindling liberal minority. A group of Democratic operatives circulated an online petition. Activists protested his events. Op-eds appeared in newspapers. A truck circled the Supreme Court building with a billboard that read: "Breyer, retire."

It was the start of a remarkably public push on the political left to pressure Breyer, 83, the high court's oldest justice and one of its three liberals, to retire while Democrats controlled the White House and Senate and make way for a younger nominee installed by President Joe Biden. Activists were motivated by the experience of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the liberal icon who died in office in 2020 and was replaced by President Donald Trump's nominee, conservative Amy Coney Barrett.

The campaign was carried out by various groups and politicians - not always acting together, and with some delivering their messages far more discreetly than others - that culminated this past week with Breyer's announcement that he would soon step down after serving since 1994.

Breyer's brother, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, said in an interview, "Of course he was aware of this campaign. I think what impressed him was not the campaign but the logic of the campaign. And he thought he should take into account the fact that this was an opportunity for a Democratic president - and he was appointed by a Democratic president - to fill his position with someone who is like-minded."

"He did not want to die on the bench," Charles Breyer added.

A court spokeswoman said Justice Breyer is not giving interviews at this time about his decision to retire.

The ghosts of nominations past hung over Breyer's deliberations. Many Democrats recall how President Barack Obama was stymied before the 2016 election by Republicans who refused to hold hearings on Merrick Garland, his nominee to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia.

Then there was Ginsburg. The experience of her remaining on the bench throughout Obama's presidency and denying Democrats the opportunity to fill her seat with a younger liberal, only to pass in the waning weeks of the Trump presidency, caused many Democrats to rethink how forcefully they would press for Breyer to retire.

Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., who last April became the first member of Congress to call on Breyer to retire, said, "I don't like talking about it because it's a sensitive subject. People adore Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But the fact is, due to decisions or non-decisions around retirement, made by her, we got Amy Coney Barrett."

In the case of Breyer, the mission for Democrats was complicated because Breyer, despite having once been a staffer in the office of Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, prized the notion of keeping the court free of politics and talked about the importance of the separation of powers. It was further complicated in that Biden - who as the nation's oldest president often talks about age as more how old you feel than how old you are - was not in a firm position to push the idea that an elderly judge step aside.

Inside the White House, senior officials had known for months that Breyer's retirement was almost imminent, long before he officially announced his decision in a letter to Biden last Thursday, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Late last fall, senior White House aides were informed Breyer was close to a decision, and they had expected him to make the announcement he would retire in early 2022, according the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private conversations.

The news of Breyer's expected retirement, a closely held matter inside the White House, reassured senior Biden aides that the president was extremely likely to have the opportunity to nominate a replacement justice before the midterm elections in November and allow him to fulfill a campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Once White House officials knew Breyer's retirement was likely imminent, they felt less pressure to ask emissaries to engage in conversations with the justice about stepping down at the end of this term, the people said.

Biden himself never asked Breyer, whom he has known since the 1970s and whose nomination Biden oversaw when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, about retiring. In fact, since Biden took office, the president and Breyer had not spoken directly before their joint event at the White House on Thursday, according to two people with direct knowledge of their interactions, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment.

Charles Breyer said, "The White House decided, I guess, to leave him alone. That it's his decision and he shouldn't be subjected to White House pressure - and that it could have a negative effect."

"None of the justices want to be told when to leave," he added. "They want to decide themselves. And that, I think, the president and others recognized. It actually worked out."

It is unclear how many of Biden's aides knew of Breyer's thinking, but former Breyer clerks are stocked throughout the administration. They include national security adviser Jake Sullivan; Tim Wu, who works on the National Economic Council; and Josh Geltzer, who works on the National Security Council. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain also has a relationship with Breyer from his time working in the White House Counsel's Office when President Bill Clinton nominated the justice.

Last summer, after Breyer did not announce his retirement, many Democrats worried he would stay on the court beyond the 2022 midterms and risk the possibility that Republicans could take control of the Senate - and with it, control of judicial confirmations.

With the Senate split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris's tiebreaking vote giving Democrats the majority, Democrats also worried about the fragile health of their own members. In fact, Breyer himself became alarmed last year when Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., was briefly hospitalized after Biden's inauguration, according to a person close to Breyer who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.

In the Senate, most Democrats felt they didn't need to exert public pressure on Breyer to step down from the court because they were confident that the veteran justice and alumnus of the Senate Judiciary Committee would understand the precariousness of the Democrats' grip on power, according to multiple senior officials familiar with the caucus dynamics who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.

"No one in the country is smarter than Justice Breyer about the law but also the politics of judging," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. "He is no politician, but he's worked for politicians - and specifically he's worked in the Senate. So he can read the calendar, and he knows what the score is."

"The only question - the real question - in my mind was, how and when he would do it," Blumenthal added.

Senate Democrats worried that speaking out publicly in favor of Breyer's exit could backfire.

"It's just not a good look for senators - because we are responsible for confirming them - to be seen as bullying a Supreme Court justice," said one of the senior officials.

But while the conversations within the Senate chamber and White House were mostly ginger and quiet, they grew loud as outside groups attempted to force a discussion.

"Our worry was that people's hopes for Breyer to retire wouldn't amount to more than a lot of finger-crossing and public silence," said Brian Fallon, a longtime Democratic operative who once worked for Senate leaders and now runs Demand Justice, which formed in 2018 to urge Democrats to prioritize court reform. "After the experience in 2020 and the regrets about people not speaking up and trying to urge Justice Ginsburg to think about retiring, it seemed like we were on a path to repeat that deference to an aging justice not taking advantage of a narrow period of time when their successor could be confirmed."

As soon as Democrats from Georgia won two Senate seats last January, giving them the narrowest of majorities, Fallon's group first called on Breyer to retire. But that statement was released to Politico on the morning of Jan. 6, and was almost immediately overshadowed by an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

A few months later, the group sponsored a billboard on a truck that drove around the Supreme Court urging Breyer to retire. "A lot of people resisted and felt it was uncouth or impolite," Fallon said.

Asked about the truck in an interview in August with The Washington Post, Breyer said, smiling, "I wasn't here."

Charles Breyer said of his brother that the political pressure "was there and certainly he was aware of it. Did it annoy him? It was certainly on his mind. But he has a way of taking things that are annoying to him and just setting them aside. He's always been able to do that."

But the billboard made those around the justice angry. Former Breyer clerks contacted Fallon's group to say the public campaign could cause the justice to dig in so it didn't appear as if he were bowing to public or political pressure.

"Even if it wasn't going to be dispositive or directly impact him, we thought we were achieving something larger, which is to teach Democrats to stop treating the Supreme Court with kid gloves," Fallon said.

"You have to view this as a political fight," he added. "It's not a legal fight."

Initially, Breyer dug in, just as some suspected. On a book tour last fall, he promoted his belief that politics should not intervene with the judiciary. During one stop in early October, held at the Smithsonian in Washington, Demand Justice organized a small group of hecklers to disrupt the event and hold signs calling on him to retire.

"He was almost reveling in the very antiquated idea that the court wasn't political," Fallon said.

Breyer has often alternated between an idyllic view of judges being freed of partisan concerns when they don judicial robes and a new reality of political warfare in the courts fostered by partisans, political parties and a more cynical media.

In his book, "The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics," Breyer criticizes the media for labeling judges as conservative or liberal. And he says it is dangerous to constantly remind which president chose them and which political party supported them.

But even as outside calls grew more animated for him to resign, most elected officials took an arm's-length approach. Jones, the first member of Congress to call on him to retire, did so during an April interview with the online streaming platform Cheddar News. He didn't prepare for the question, he said, and simply stated what he thought was obvious: Breyer should retire.

About two months after Jones called on Breyer to retire, he got some company.

"I would probably lean towards yes," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told CNN, when asked whether Breyer should retire. "I would give more thought to it, but I'm inclined to say yes."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., added more fuel to the Democratic angst when he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in June that if Republicans won back the Senate in 2022, he might block Biden from replacing Breyer, just as he did with Obama.

Within days of McConnell's comment, Demand Justice mobilized again. They took out a paid advertisement in Politico, signed by 13 liberal groups, including Black Lives Matter and the Sunrise Movement, calling on Breyer to retire. Nearly 20 law professors and political scientists published an advertisement in the New York Times, saying it was time for him to leave, "with future control of a closely divided Senate uncertain."

Demand Justice was preparing to mount another campaign this spring, though planning had not gotten underway aside from private conversations with elected officials.

"If he stayed on past June, I think way more public officials were willing to come forward," Fallon said.

But Fallon and others were caught off guard when Breyer's announcement came this past week. They were even more surprised when Breyer delivered a speech at the White House that to some felt like an acknowledgment of the perilous political era.

Breyer quoted extensively from President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Gettysburg Address, evoking a period of Civil War and uncertainty over the future of the republic.

Future generations, he said, will "determine whether the experiment still works. And of course, I am an optimist, and I'm pretty sure it will. Does it surprise you that that's the thought that comes into my mind today? I don't know. But thank you."

- - -

The Washington Post's Ann E. Marimow contributed to this report.
By Eli Wolfe

San Jose Spotlight

With a countywide COVID vaccination deadline looming Tuesday, local firefighters are bracing for more overtime demands and staffing challenges.

Last month, Santa Clara County ordered workers in high-risk settings to get both COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots by Jan. 24. Workers who don't comply with the order may no longer work in high-risk settings after Tuesday.

This order applies to workers who have received religious or medical exemptions from local employers, and it also supersedes local health orders in San Jose.

As of Thursday there are still 41 firefighters in San Jose who haven't received vaccinations due to religious or medical exemptions. San Jose Fire Department and union officials do not know how many vaccinated firefighters have received booster shots.

Matt Tuttle, president of San Jose Firefighters Local 230, told San Jose Spotlight he believes any noncompliant firefighters will be placed on unpaid leave after Tuesday, putting additional strain on the department.

"Should we lose these firefighters, we will see an increasing number of firefighters forced to remain at work for extended periods of time beyond their required regular shifts," Tuttle said. "Many of our employees are already working well beyond their 56-hour work week, and it is not uncommon for our paramedic firefighters to work over 96 hours in a week."

Santa Clara County established its new health order at the end of December, requiring COVID booster shots for workers in high-risk settings such as hospitals and jails. This follows a surge in omicron variant cases.

Dr. Sara Cody, county public health officer, said the order aims to prevent regional hospitals from being flooded with patients like they were at the end of 2020.

Earlier this month, the county created a limited waiver process so departments could apply for exemptions for unvaccinated employees to continue working in high-risk settings if there was a risk of staffing shortages.

Erica Ray, spokesperson for the San Jose Fire Department, said there are 611 vaccinated firefighters, and the department is still collecting information on which employees have received booster shots, with the understanding that those who don't comply with the health order can no longer work in high-risk settings. There are approximately 719 sworn positions in the department.

"As such, affected employees were or are being engaged in the interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations, which may include modified work or unpaid leave," Ray said.

Asked how the department will be affected if dozens of firefighters can't work the frontlines, Ray said the department does not anticipate impacts to staffing as a result of members who choose not get vaccinated. SJFD is not applying for a waiver, she added.

San Jose requires that there be a minimum of 186 firefighters on duty each day. When there aren't enough, SJFD uses overtime to fill in. Tuttle said the department already relies heavily on overtime, noting it responded to roughly 98,000 calls in 2021. According to a recent city memo, San Jose and San Diego have the lowest ratio of firefighters to residents of similarly sized U.S. cities.

"Clearly we continue to do more with less and cannot afford to lose a single firefighter," he said.

Struggle in the county

Adam Cosner, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1165, believes the health order deadline won't have any impact on operations for the Santa Clara County Fire Department, but it will likely extend overtime hours. According to a recent department memo, about 93 percent of employees are fully vaccinated, and a majority have received booster doses.

"At the end of the day, it's just going to result in more work for my guys," Cosner told San Jose Spotlight. "That's been the thing we've been struggling with."

While overtime may not harm the department's operations, Cosner said staffing levels need to improve before fire season, which will put significant pressure on firefighters across the region.

Some firefighters appear to be outraged by the county health order. During Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, Randy Sullivan, a member of the Santa Clara County Fire Department, said hundreds of positions have gone into mandatory overtime due to staff shortages over the past month. He warned the board that the health order will exacerbate these shortages.

"If you live in Cupertino, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Los Altos or Los Altos Hills, you are going to be affected," Sullivan said.

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The Vallejo Fire Department on Thursday announced it will be relaunching its First Responder Fee program that will collect fees from insurance companies of patients who are assessed or treated by Vallejo firefighters.

The program will only collect fees from insurance companies, and citizens will not be required to pay any portion of the fee, according to the fire department.

The Vallejo City Council approved an agreement with Medic Ambulance in May of 2021 to provide billing services for the program.

The patient will receive a copy of the invoice that will be sent to the patient's insurance company.

The Palo Alto Police Department urgently needs the public''s assistance in identifying and locating a man who committed a lewd act this week while closely standing behind a woman as she rang up her groceries in the self-checkout line of a Safeway store.

The incident happened at about 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Safeway store, located at 2811 Middlefield Rd. The victim, a woman in her 20s, called police Thursday morning to notify them of the incident.

The woman told police she was ringing up her groceries in the self-checkout line when she noticed the suspect standing very closely behind her.

Police in close collaboration with the Safeway store's management were able to review surveillance video of the incident, which shows the suspect masturbating while standing immediately behind the woman. The suspect appeared to be fully clothed at the time and was discreetly masturbating, according to police, but in such a way that his actions may have not been immediately obvious to a passerby.

Police in Benicia continue to investigate the cause of death for two people found inside a residence with gunshot wounds Saturday.

Officers responded to a report of suspicious deaths at a residence near East E Street and 5th Street.

The two people inside had gunshot wounds, according to police.

A police spokesperson said the incident may have been a murder-suicide, but investigators are still trying to determine the cause of their deaths.

Oakland police investigators had their hands full Friday evening with four separate shooting incidents throughout the city that sent four people to local hospitals during a four-hour period.

The first shooting occurred just before 8 p.m. in the 1600 block of 4th Avenue. There, Oakland police communications received a call of a person shot in the area. Once officers arrived on scene, they were able to locate a victim, who was then transported to a local hospital.

An hour later, at about 9 p.m. in the 5700 block of International Boulevard, police said a shooting victim went to a local hospital.

At about 11:30 p.m. in the 9700 block of B Street, officers responded to a local hospital where a shooting victim was listed in stable condition.

Finally, just before midnight in the 2900 block of Linden Street, officers went to the scene after being notified ShotSpotter activation of a shooting there. Officers located the crime scene, then received notification that the victim, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, transported himself to a local hospital.

The Pleasanton City Council will hear from residents next week about the city's plan to switch from citywide elections, or at-large elections, to district-based elections.

The public meeting, on Thursday night, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Residents can join the meeting via Zoom. Previous public meetings were held Jan. 4 and Jan. 18. After this week, there will be one additional public meeting on Feb. 24.

This city of 82,000 has held at-large elections since it incorporated in 1894.

For more details, residents may contact the Pleasanton city clerk's office at (925) 931-5027.

To join Thursday's meeting, click the following link at the city's website: https://weblink.cityofpleasantonca.gov/weblink/DocView.aspx?dbid=0&id=298034&page=1&cr=1

A major thoroughfare between Lafayette and Moraga is open again after downed power lines and a fallen power pole from a solo traffic collision forced police to close it Friday night.

The Lafayette Police Department said Moraga Road was closed at Rimrock Road in Lafayette as of 9:30 p.m. Friday because of the accident, which happened near 777 Moraga Rd. Until the roadway was reopened, traffic was being turned around at St. Mary's Road in Lafayette and at Sky Hy Drive and Via Granada in Moraga.

Because of the downed power lines and power pole, approximately 1,000 PG&E customers were without power following the crash.

A 700-acre fire that has been burning near Big Sur in Monterey County for eight days was 85 percent contained as of Saturday morning, according to Cal Fire.

The fire is burning in the Palo Colorado area between Big Sur and Carmel-by-the-Sea and is expected to be fully contained by Wednesday.

All evacuations have been lifted. All road closures have been lifted as well. There have been no injuries or casualties.

One structure has been destroyed, and 225 structures are threatened. The fire started Jan. 21 from a pile burn.

Interstate Highway 580 in Castro Valley was closed twice Saturday, once for a traffic collision in the morning and again in the afternoon to investigate a potential bomb in a car parked in the center divider.

At 1:45 p.m., the California Highway Patrol responded to a report of a possible incendiary device inside a vehicle parked in the center divider of the westbound highway near Eden Canyon Road.

The eastbound lanes of the highway were closed and BART service stopped while investigators from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office search the vehicle and x-rayed the potential bomb before it was deemed safe. BART service resumed and the CHP tweeted that all lanes of the highway were reopened at 4:22 p.m.

Golden Gate Ferry adds weekday, weekend and late-night service to existing round-trip commute service between Tiburon and San Francisco beginning Monday.

The new service is the result of a collaborative public-private partnership between Golden Gate Ferry, Tideline, the town of Tiburon, Blue & Gold Fleet and A & C Ventures, Inc., the company that owns the Tiburon Ferry Landing, to address the needs of Tiburon's residents and businesses.

The new Golden Gate Ferry schedules replace service currently provided by Blue & Gold Fleet, which ends service Sunday.

No one was injured in a house fire Saturday that gutted a garage in Santa Rosa and resulted in moderate damage to the residence.

Firefighters arrived on scene at about 5 p.m. at 2405 Lemur St. and observed smoke coming from the roof of the single story house. Firefighters determined there was a working fire inside the garage of the residence.

The residents were home at the time of the fire. They said they began to smell smoke and upon checking the house, it was discovered that the fire was in the garage.

The National Weather Service forecast for Sunday for the greater San Francisco Bay Area calls for mostly sunny skies Sunday with highs in the 60s to low 70s. Overnight lows Sunday morning will range from the 40s to the 50s. There will be some patchy fog during the early morning hours, but it is expected to burn off by mid-morning.

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.
Still wearing her high school uniform with a backpack hoisted over her shoulders, Poison Oakland stepped out into the November afternoon sunshine and booked it down the sidewalk.



She had a show to catch.



It was 2013, and English pop star Charli XCX was on everyones radar, writing the wildly popular Icona Pop single "I Love It." Within a year, the rising celebrity  then 21 years old  would contribute the catchy hook to Iggy Azaleas Fancy in addition to releasing the chart-topping track Boom Clap later that summer, securing two of the biggest hits of 2014. Critics tried to compare her to the likes of Lorde and Grimes, though it proved difficult for them to fit her into any particular box.



Her career was ascending, a far cry from her beginnings as a teenage rave DJ releasing her tracks on MySpace. If you wanted to know where pop music was going, Charli XCXs melding of bubblegum party jams and dark electronic ballads was a good place to start.



Thats how a 14-year-old Poison Oakland found herself outside of Slims that night, where Charli XCX was headlining a concert at the now-shuttered SoMa venue. Oakland didnt know it at the time, but the neighborhood would eventually become her stomping ground as a drag performer  and that show in particular would change the rest of her life as she knew it.



By 2019, Charli XCX was pulling Oakland onstage to dance with her at a sold-out show at the Fox Theater. And the following year, the pop star would invite her to appear in a documentary about the process of making her latest album during a pandemic: alone together, which premiered in theaters on Friday and is available to stream on Hulu.



It was like a dream come true, said Oakland.





In a flurry of Zoom calls, self-recorded vignettes and distorted animation sequences, the film follows Charli XCX and her fanbase  known as her Angels  on an unexpected mission. The pop star enlists the help of the Angels to release said album, how im feeling now, in a matter of just five weeks. We learn how deeply collaborative that process was, as Charli holds demo listening sessions for her fans, workshops lyrics with them over Instagram live, and asks them to contribute footage and creative oversight for her music videos.

I fell in love with her first album, 'True Romance,' and I dont think I had listened to something that had touched me in that way before. The sound was super new to me, said Oakland. It came at a period of time when I was really finding myself. Her music did a lot of that for me  I felt myself through the music, and I saw myself in her.



:::



Oakland was born and raised in the Bay Area, and describes her femininity as an ongoing struggle in her childhood. Its easy to see parallels between both artists  in 2012, Charli XCX told Rolling Stone she dreamed of becoming a Spice Girl when she was seven years old. At the same age, Oakland tells me she had similar aspirations, idolizing Britney Spears and Barbie dolls.



In my head, I had this inner pop star, and that was what I wanted to be. But I wasnt really allowed to express that, she said.



But after attending her first Charli XCX show at Slims, something changed. She discovered the pop stars fanbase and began to foster a sense of community she hadnt experienced before.



I found those concerts to be a second home to me. Shows were really my first outlet to express myself in a way that I felt safe to be gay in a space. Were talking about being in high school, when I didnt feel safe enough to be myself around anyone, really, she said. I would often go to a concert by myself, meet some gay kids in the line who love Charli or Marina [& the Diamonds] and started making friends in a scene where I felt comfortable. That was huge for me.

Courtesy of Poison Oakland

Eventually, those shows and newly forged friendships led to a deeper involvement within the Bay Areas nightlife and historic drag scene. One night while Oakland was out at the Stud, another drag queen scouted her and asked if she would be interested in performing there.



Thats how I got booked for my first gig, Oakland said. And it was pretty nonstop after that.



She began to host a weekly show on Wednesday nights at Powerhouse called Club Shevil and performed at Aunt Charlies in San Francisco and Port Bar in Uptown Oakland. When I saw her perform for the first time, it was at the Fishbowl last September. A clip from MTVs My Super Sweet 16 opened her set as she swiveled her hips in front of a vanity mirror to a mash-up of Cassies Me & U and Ciaras Goodies. Her long, brunette wig skimmed her waist as she gyrated for the audience, who sang along to every word.

Robby Durler / SFGATE

If I had never gone to that first Charli show, who knows where my life would be now? said Oakland, adding that the pop star had been a huge influence on her drag as well. I fell in love with being out at night and being surrounded by other people like me. So I definitely have her to thank for that because it was a huge impact on me.



She was about to begin hosting monthly shows at Jolenes when the pandemic put her burgeoning drag career on hold. All the clubs had closed  some of them for good  and she watched as many of her friends who were also drag performers lost their entire income.



Fortunately for Oakland, she had another job to fall back on as a freelance journalist for YR Media, but her day-to-day life went through a drastic change as she pursued a new kind of gig: working with her parents at their goatscaping business in the Oakland hills.



Im like a 21st century shepherd, she said, laughing. I take care of the goats and sheep, I nurse them, I do vet stuff too. I feel like Im really multifaceted  Im a drag queen journalist who does farming.

Courtesy of Poison Oakland

In the documentary, Oakland discusses how shes able to balance these divergent aspects of her life, but also describes how the loss of gigs led her to undergo somewhat of an identity crisis.



Because my drag is such a big part of what I do, I havent been able to express myself fully in the way that Im used to, she discloses in the film. I had events and gigs all lined up and all of that was cancelled. Now, I feel like part of me is missing.



:::



Interestingly enough, alone together is completely devoid of studio interviews with Charli XCX, lending the film a candid, homemade feel. We see the glitz and glamour stripped away from her pop star image as she howls into a microphone without autotune and openly bawls on camera about her lack of self-worth.



She stumbles through a couple of pivotal life changes, too. Her on-and-off boyfriend of seven years, Huck, moves across the country to Los Angeles to shelter in place with her (the longest stretch of time theyve previously spent together is just 11 days.) She also seeks out a therapist for the first time as she struggles with anxiety and depression, due in part to the drastic shift in her career.



Even as I found success, I still felt lost and unfulfilled, she admits in the documentary.

Her transparency is admirable, yet these aspects of the plot dont emotionally resonate nearly as much as the moments were able to spend in the bedrooms of her fans, who feel just as trapped as she is (if not more so.) This focus feels atypical of most music documentaries, showcasing the intimate parts of the Angels lives as well, and ultimately allowing viewers to gain a better understanding of them not just as consumers of Charli XCXs music, but as some of the artists closest confidants amid a time of isolation.



One fan living in Mexico reveals that while he doesnt have many friends in his hometown, hes found solace in the community of Angels, who support his dreams of someday opening an LGBTQ+ nightclub. Another fan, who is undergoing the process of gender transition, recounts the difficulty of their familys disapproval, but also how Charli XCXs music and queer virtual nightclubs shes hosted like Club Quarantine have provided them with a much-needed escape.

Joshua Wo/@joshuawo

Meanwhile, Oakland laments the decline of LGBTQ+ nightclubs in the Bay Area, namely Club BNB and Club 21 in Oakland  the adjoining venues were reportedly sold to be converted into tech offices in 2019  as well as San Franciscos oldest queer bar, the Stud, describing the latter as the venue she looked forward to returning to most once the pandemic was over.



It was so heartbreaking, she said. It was the most soul-crushing news I could have gotten. But history is history, and their plan is to move it into a new location whenever possible, so Ive begun to look forward to that day. We all have to look on the bright side and to the day when we can all dance together again.



Whats truly captivating about alone together isnt necessarily the story of a pop star living in quarantine, but in how the documentary addresses the loss of LGBTQ+ spaces and the resulting impact on the communities they serve. Its also a celebration of the creative ways in which the Angels were able to reconnect in spite of that loss, and find solace in one another in the virtual realm.



Near the documentarys end, a thousand fans congregate on a Zoom conference call for Charli XCXs virtual album release party. Then, the pop star hollers Oaklands name, inviting her to take over the show for a performance.



Watching from their own homes across the world, the Angels type frenzied messages of approval as Oakland crouches in front of the screen and begins to lip sync to one of the pop stars songs. They shout back every word.

Courtesy of Poison Oakland
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio (Photo: VNA)

He cited the project on building a waste-to-energy plant in the northern province of Bac Ninh implemented by T&J Green Energy Company Limited as an outstanding example for this cooperation.

According to the diplomat, under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) between the two countries, the Japanese Government will assist Vietnams purchase of equipment with Japanese advanced technology, thus contributing to the zero carbon economy in Vietnam. Currently, there are 40 approved JCM projects in Vietnam and in the coming time, Japan will continue to promote cooperation under this model.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio (Photo: VNA)

The ambassador noted that within the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Japan in November 2021, Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha and Japanese Minister of the Environment Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi signed a cooperation plan on climate change response towards the target of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Commenting on Vietnam's efforts to pursue a "green economy", towards green, clean and sustainable growth, Ambassador Yamada suggested that in the coming time, Vietnam needs to continue concertizing the circular economy and sustainable development based on the amended 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, which took effect from January this year. He added that Vietnam should also draft more ideas to materialize the zero-carbon society.

The ambassador highlighted PM Chinhs official visit to Japan last November, holding that the visit marked a new stage in the bilateral strategic partnership, as embodied in the joint statement towards the opening of a new era in the bilateral extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia.

He noted that PM Chinh was the first foreign politician that Prime Minister Kishida Fumio welcomed after taking office, which demonstrated that Japan attaches importance to its bilateral relations with Vietnam. He affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of Japan with shared strategic interests in the region to realize the goal of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The diplomat said PM Kishida, once in his capacity as Secretary-General and advisor of the Japan  Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Association as well as Foreign Minister for years, had always reserved special sentiments for Vietnam and worked to promote bilateral ties. Meanwhile, PM Chinh, who used to be Chairman of the Vietnam  Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group, has deep understanding about the Vietnam-Japan relations. PM Chinhs Japan visit was a chance for the two leaders to deepen their trustful relations as the PMs of Vietnam and Japan.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio (Photo: VNA)

According to the ambassador, 2021 was a year full of difficulties and challenges for the world, including Japan and Vietnam, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to spread with dangerous new variants. He said the pandemic was a test of the true values of the two countries relationship. However, through PM Chinh's visit to Japan, it can be seen that the process of developing and deepening bilateral relations has always been maintained.

For 2022, Ambassador Yamada expressed his belief that the bilateral cooperation will continue to develop steadily, based on the orientations set by the two PMs Joint Statement.

He hoped that in 2023, when the two countries will mark the 50th founding anniversary of their diplomatic ties (September 21, 1973-2023), Japan and Vietnam will look back at the past half-a-century journey and continue to develop bilateral cooperation more extensively and deeply, thus opening up a new period in their strategic partnership.
A Sydney fund manager is short-selling stocks in energy giant AGL and national airline Qantas as part of a controversial investment strategy known as green shorting, marking the start of a more aggressive approach to sustainable finance in Australia.

Plato Investment Management, which manages about $10 billion, has launched a new global net zero investment fund that short-sells dirty stocks to drive down carbon emissions and maximise profits.

Plato Investments fund managers Don Hamson, left. and David Allen are launching a new Net Zero fund using a technique called green shorting Credit:Oscar Colman

The rising popularity of sustainable investment strategies has typically been defined by divestment of heavy emitting stocks, such as fossil fuel producers, or using stakes in these companies to agitate for greater action on climate change.

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald revealed last year that US hedge fund giant AQR had warned the prudential regulator investors were increasingly using green shorting to achieve net zero emissions targets, prompting fears the ASX was vulnerable.
The boss of Brisbane Airport says Australia is losing a race to reconnect with the world and faces a tougher tourism industry recovery because airlines are dedicating capacity to countries that have already reopened their borders.

Gert-Jan de Graaff, chief executive of countrys third-busiest airport, hopes domestic air travel will return to pre-COVID levels at some point in 2022, after two gruelling years in which the pandemic brought the industry to a standstill.

Brisbane Airport Corporation chief executive officer, Gert-Jan de Graaff.

But in a dire forecast for the Sunshine States $28 billion a year tourism industry, he believes it will take three to five years for international traffic into Brisbane to fully recover.

Airlines have reduced their fleets and crew, so they have to rebuild that... [and] here in Australia were competing with the whole world, he said.
In the September quarter last year, 1.5 million cattle and 1.4 million sheep were slaughtered to produce more than 500,000 tonnes of meat, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. A group of emaciated sheep after transport to an export abattoir. Vets employed by the federal agriculture department and stationed at export abattoirs have privately spoken of feeling pressure from meat processors when raising animal welfare concerns, and a lack of support from some senior public servants when they reported incidents. At times it feels as if the overriding rationale is that the government and industry just want the exports. We can be seen as an obstruction to that, said one federally-employed vet who is not authorised to speak publicly. The loading of unfit animals is of particular concern. Ive had to pull dead animals out of a truck many times. Everyone in the industry knows an animal must be fit enough to reach a destination without suffering further pain or harm.

The most disturbing incident covered in the reports detailed the handling of 14 injured sheep once they arrived at a Victorian abattoir in August, 2019. Four sheep were observed at the base of the unloading station and had been piled on top of one another. Another debilitated sheep was observed further up the unloading ramp and had not yet been euthanised, the veterinarian reported. Five sheep were observed on the floor in the unloading area in a moribund and debilitated state and another sheep was dead. All these injured/compromised animals were dragged off the truck alive and they were not euthanised prior to removing them off truck. The OPV (on-plant vet) had to direct company staff to immediately euthanise these animals. Dead sheep on arrival at the abattoir. In another case raised in the reports, 11 Angus cattle from a leading Victorian beef producer were destroyed on the order of a vet after they were found to be in poor condition and bruised upon arrival at an export abattoir.

Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said while it was unusual to have an industry body calling for new regulations and standards, it was necessary. We strongly agree that we need to create a national animal welfare standard, he said. Mr Hutchinson said the meat industrys own certification standards had higher animal welfare requirements than the mostly voluntary Model Code of standards that is applicable across all slaughtering facilities in Australia. The Model Code has not been updated since 2000. He said community expectations and stringent animal welfare requirements from leading supermarket chains ensured most meat processing companies maintained high standards. He said meat producers were among the most heavily audited industries in the country, with companies subjected to regular external scrutiny for employee safety, food standards and animal welfare. Our position never falters. You throw the book at those doing the wrong thing. Go as hard as you can. We have a duty of care to these animals as soon as they leave the farm, he said.

The RSPCA, which has the legislative power to conduct animal welfare inspections in Victoria and other states, released a report last year that recommended the urgent creation of new national animal welfare standards, increased auditing by state authorities, the presence of an animal welfare officer at every slaughtering facility and more regular use of CCTV. There is little to no transparency around animal welfare standards or auditing of slaughtering establishments, especially in domestic abattoirs and knackeries, the RSPCA report concluded. Federally-employed vets in export abattoirs have no regulatory oversight for animal welfare. This power is given to state and territory authorities. However, the state and territory authorities are reliant on the on-plant vets or meat company staff to report animal welfare issues to them. The RSPCA report found there was no formal regular oversight presence at domestic abattoirs, poultry processors and knackeries in Australia. There is no routine reporting process for animal welfare concerns other than through complaints made by employees or members of the public. The relevant state or territory authority may then investigate these complaints, the report concluded.

Otherwise, it is only during audits by the relevant state or territory authority that an animal welfare concern could be noted and may lead to enforcement action or further investigation. The RSPCA gave New South Wales and South Australia the highest rating for animal welfare standards in the livestock industry, while Victoria was among the next best. While there is no requirement for domestic abattoirs in Victoria to have a vet on site, Victorian government agency Primesafe requires one to be on call. Primesafe also does unannounced audits of abattoirs twice a year but does not inspect knackeries. The agencys most recent annual report showed it received less than 20 complaints raising animal welfare concerns, with only a handful of them being substantiated. Primesafes audit process did not detect a single problem with slaughter processes or other welfare incidents associated with livestock. Primesafe declined to comment on the recommendations in the RSPCA report or to answer other questions.

Dr Babington said while Australias livestock industry had above average animal welfare requirements when compared internationally, there was still room for much improvement. She said the transportation of livestock was a known and accepted stress. Although national livestock transport standards, which are underpinned by various state and territory legislation, required only animals deemed fit to be loaded, it was relatively common to find sick or injured animals being loaded onto trucks. Loading Under Victorias livestock transport laws, it is up to the consignorthe person responsible for shipping the animalsand the transport driver to ensure that only animals deemed suitable for loading are put onto trucks. Victoria and NSW are planning to introduce updated animal welfare legislation this year, with proposals to introduce a minimum standard of care and a big increase in fines for individuals or corporations found guilty of aggravated cruelty.
Hillsong founder Brian Houston has stepped down as the global leader of the Pentecostal church as he prepares to defend court charges that he covered up allegations of his fathers child sexual abuse.

In a video address to the faithful on Sunday, Mr Houston, flanked by his wife Bobbie, admitted his shock that last year he received unexpected news of charges against me that allege the concealing of information that may have been material to prosecute his father Frank Houston.

Brian Houston, flanked by his wife, Bobbie, tells the churchs faithful that he was stepping down to prepare to defend court charges that he concealed information about allegations of his fathers sexual abuse.

Mr Houston was served with a court attendance notice over the allegations last August. He was charged with concealing a serious indictable offence of another person. He will plead not guilty and defend the charge.

The charge relates to alleged concealment of information relating to an indecent assault of a male allegedly committed by his late father, Frank Houston, in 1970, according to court documents. Frank Houston died in 2004.
Evidence is mounting that Omicrons new sister variant, known as BA.2, is more transmissible than the original strain but at this stage does not appear to be more vaccine-evasive.

The subvariant BA.2 is one of at least three sub-lineages of Omicron, the strain of COVID-19 first spotted in Africa in late November and now dominant around much of the world.

A coronavirus sample is analysed at University Hospital Geelong on 12th August 2020. Credit:Jason South

While rare in Australia and most other countries  the virus is found in about 2 per cent of local samples  BA.2 has started to gain a serious foothold in England, India and Denmark, where it has out-competed Omicron and now makes up most viruses sampled.

That does seem to suggest there is an intrinsic transmissibility advantage, said Dr Adam Wheatley, who heads a research team studying the immune response to COVID-19 at the University of Melbourne.
Vale Nan, correspondent with heart and conviction How many of us always looked forward to seeing a letter from Nan Howard (Letters, January 29-30)?

We may not always have agreed with her point of view, but her constancy was to be admired.

Her passing this week is a loss, not only to her family and friends, but to the Herald. I would have liked to have known Nan and feel that, after reading her many letters, I have a picture of her in my mind. Im sure she was a much-loved lady of grace and humility. Vale, Nan Howard. Terry Charleston, Cootamundra We will all miss Nans letters, even though most times I didnt agree with her sentiments, influenced by her conservative Christian beliefs. My heartfelt sympathy to her family and friends. Josephine Piper, Miranda How sad to read that Nan Howard has died. I love reading the letters to the Herald. I do it each day and I love it because it challenges me and forces me to critically reflect. At times it has drastically changed my perspective on issues. From Nans own views, through to those of others, the views can be at different extremes, and its this depth and breadth which provides me with a daily intellectual and emotional challenge. Ezio Mormile, Farmborough Heights A fitting tribute from her daughters reflects the influence Nan Howard had not only on her family but also the conversational thread woven through these pages, a testament to her Christian faith, summed up in the last verse of The Book of Proverbs (31:31): Give her credit for all she does [did]. She deserves the respect of everyone. Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook

I was saddened by the death of Nan Howard, who was a friend of my mother and stepfather (both deceased). Her regular letters to the Herald showed a genuine conviction to the tenets of her faith, something that I can confirm to readers was practised, not just preached. Nan, and her husband Donald, were the only members of their church congregation to provide continuous support, encouragement and solace throughout my mothers long battle with dementia. For this, I am truly grateful. In the opinion of this heathen, if a paradise exists in the afterlife, Nan qualifies for entry not through any belief in a supernatural power but because she was an uncommonly decent, caring and loving human being. Col Burns, Lugarno Vale Nan, sending sympathy, along with thanks to her family for letting us know of her death. I will miss her contributions. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Matthew 25:21. Marietta Hopkins, Woolooware Call us what we are: Women There are certainly major risks involved in changing the language associated with women, childbirth and mothers (Inclusive language risks dehumanising women, January 29-30). Using unfamiliar and unclear language like bodies with vaginas does not help society deal with issues that predominantly affect women and girls, such as female genital mutilation, child marriage, domestic violence, pregnancy, abortion and breastfeeding. There are also concerns about how women who assert their needs according to their terminology are treated by medical professionals who have absorbed such dehumanising language. It is very notable that there is no comparable campaign to stop using the word men in favour of bodies with testicles or some such. Why is it women who are expected to adapt to new language? Perhaps it is time for some creative terms to be developed that are inclusive and respectful but do not cause medical problems, or language is individualised for the person and their context. Pauline Croxon, Earlwood As a feminist from the 1960s, I am appalled by the proposed inclusive language. We fought to have women recognised as adult, intelligent and responsible, but we are still proud to be women. Irene Thom, Vaucluse

How long will it be before mothers are reduced to the status of birthing units or gestators, given our love of turning verbs into nouns. In a further move, it seems that sperm providers are also excluded from the list. Becoming a mother remains a unique experience whose significance should never be diminished. Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls Gender-specific language aside, hasnt one of the primary functions of bureaucrats been frequent changes of nomenclatures to create an illusion of progress? Graham Meale, Boambee East Will the inclusive language for males be released on April 1? Kim Crawford, Springwood Great Barrier grief Indeed, $1 billion in funding for our precious Great Barrier Reef is welcome (New funding Band-Aid on a broken leg, say scientists, January 29-30). Underlying this recent pledge by the Morrison government, however, is a solid dose of electioneering and evasion. First, the timing of the announcement before an election, and just before a report to UNESCO on the reefs protection is due, is a deliberate and purposeful attempt to win votes. Second, the proposed conservation projects are treating the symptoms and avoiding the reefs plight: climate change. Sadly, until our political leaders cease support for fossil fuel expansion and develop the policies required to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions before 2030, the reef will remain in danger. It is time we voters held our leaders accountable for meaningful climate action. Amy Hiller, Kew (Vic)

We are expected to applaud government spending commitments on the Great Barrier Reef and on koalas. In fact, the government would deserve more praise for not doing things: Not allowing run-off from mining and industry to pollute the reef, not supporting the burning of fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and coral bleaching, and not allowing logging of koala habitats. The more bad things that dont happen, the less after-the-fact reactionary spending we need. Eric Scott, Bondi Junction The Prime Minister has already discovered a neglected Great Barrier Reef and koalas in need of a cuddle on his May Day road to Damascus. No doubt we can expect clampdowns on ruthless forest-clearings and ruinous fracking in the Beetaloo Basin to complete the miracle. Ray Alexander, Moss Vale Perhaps Scott Morrison should promise some car parks for koalas (and clown fish)? That should get some votes. Chris Jolly, Balmain First, the Morrison government announces funding to save the Great Barrier Reef that doesnt address climate change. Next, funding to save koalas that doesnt address massive land clearing. These things happen in threes, so Im guessing there will be funding for problem gambling that doesnt include any measures on poker machines or bookmakers. Tony Judge, Woolgoolga Peerless Pearson for PM

Noel Pearson is my favourite visionary  mind you, the field to choose from is not big (A rich destiny: make our own luck, January 29-30). Malcolm Turnbull scuttled the Uluru statement  it was never intended to be a third chamber of parliament, but an advisory body. Our nation is indeed composed of three parts: original culture, the British inheritance and the multicultural era  and we should never think of ourselves as just a former colony but as an entire continent, the only continent on earth that is united as a single nation. We need a strong leader to take this on and avoid drifting the American way. I see it mate, we are on track, we are on track. Is it too late for Noel Pearson to dive into the political pool? Steve Johnson, Elizabeth Beach Athletes who inspire When Australia eventually becomes a republic, I hope in my lifetime, we need someone with the qualities of Dylan Alcott and Ash Barty as president. Let us not elect a mere figurehead, but a leader who can inspire the country in times of good and times of adversity. Dylan has faced adversity all his life and come through to shine as Australian of the Year. Ash is not only a sporting champion of extraordinary talent but has time and again displayed empathy and humility and an ability to inspire. Both fit the definition of a role model. Stephanie Edwards Roseville App for the ages At my age I am finding QR codes (Letters, January 29-30) a very effective method of recording where I was and even what I was doing. Particularly when I wonder whether Ive wasted another week of my diminishing life span. Rodney Crute, Hunters Hill

Put the flags out The editorial (Fly the Aboriginal flag on the Harbour Bridge every day, January 29-30) cautions us not to see the flying of the Aboriginal flag as a substitute for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and Closing the Gap. More important than flying the Aboriginal flag is creating one new flag to show us where we have been and are going. Mark Porter, New Lambton Living as I do by the Harbour Bridge, it warms my heart to see the Australian and Indigenous flags flying side by side atop. This should be permanent. Edward Loong, Milsons Point Would it not be simple to have the current flag on one side and the Aboriginal flag on the other Pankaj Rao, Merewether Hero to the half shell
Never mind all the Australia Day waffle of last week, writes Darrell J Waight of Concord West. True Australia (day) is alive and well, as demonstrated on the Epping to Chatswood Metro on Thursday. Three boys sat opposite me, aged about 12 to 14  one dark, one very dark and one white. All were obviously best mates. Great to see, but no doubt this item wont get to print.

Sue Bradley of Eltham (Vic), a denizen of the brass section, has noted with interest the music selections for MRI scans: Some time ago I had to have an MRI, so I took my own CDs with me and chose Mahlers 5th symphony (bit of a brass players favourite, that). What I didnt realise was that the MRI makes its own music: a rhythmical and pitched banging sound, extremely loud. This managed to be in a clashing key with almost everything in the symphony; and just as I got accustomed to the clash, either Mahler or the MRI machine would change key, giving me a whole new aural horror. I hope there is never a next time for an MRI, but if there is, Im going to go for the John Cage 433 option.

On January 27, 2022, there were 2722 people in NSW hospitals with COVID-19, notes Robert McCusker of St Georges Plains. Spooky!

With Kokkinakis and Kyrgios in the doubles tennis final on the weekend, I couldnt tell if the commentators were calling them the Special Ks or the Special Case, says Michael Sinclair of Melbourne. Clearly both understandings are totes appropes, as their younger audience might say. Siuuu!

Adrian Connelly of Springwood isnt the messiah, but he does like a good oratorio: On the subject of virtual assistants (C8), I had not long finished reading an article in the Herald about the tensions in Ukraine when, as I made my way to put the kettle on, I asked Siri to play something from my library. Result? From Handels Messiah, Why do the nations so furiously rage together? I knew she listened, but I never knew she could see what I was reading.
Expanding the historic Parramatta Park into a heritage precinct is one of the few ways to resolve a lack of open space in Sydneys fast-growing city, says Paramattas new lord mayor.

With the pandemic highlighting the growing importance of parklands to residents, Parramatta City Council has identified a deficit of 212 hectares of open space in its local government area.

The 85-hectare Parramatta Park is one of the oldest public parks in the world. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Lord mayor Donna Davis said Parramatta did not have extra green space that could be set aside as land for parks, leaving the expansion of Parramatta Parks northern boundaries into the neighbouring Cumberland heritage precinct and Parramatta Female Factory as one of the best solutions.

Theres very few other opportunities, she told a parliamentary inquiry into new legislation, which will shake up the management and control of Sydneys oldest and best-known parks including Parramatta Park, and Centennial and Moore Park.
Masks will be mandatory in Queensland high schools, large assemblies will be suspended and a procedure for rapid antigen tests (RATs) will be introduced for sick students and teachers as they return to classrooms.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Sunday masks would also be strongly encouraged for students in Year 3 and older when classes resume on February 7.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has revealed the return-to-school plan and return-to-work date. Credit:Dan Peled - Getty

Well be making the masks available at schools as well, she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said teachers could remove their masks to teach, and students could remove them while seated.
Kinshasa, Congo: A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has condemned about 50 people to death nearly five years after the murders of United Nations investigators Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan but the victims families have questioned whether those who ordered the killings have been held accountable.

A local immigration official was among those given death sentences while an army colonel was given 10 years in prison, said Tresor Kabangu, who represented several defendants in the trial. DR Congo has observed a moratorium on the death penalty since 2003 so those convicted will serve life sentences.

Dozens of militia members have been sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for their involvement in the murder of UN experts, Swedish-Chilean Zaida Catalan and American Michael Sharp, who were abducted and killed in the Kasai region in 2017.

Human rights groups say investigators have ignored the potential involvement of higher-level officials, and Catalan and Sharps families said they did not believe the ultimate masterminds had been brought to justice.

Sharp of the United States and Catalan of Sweden were assassinated on March 12, 2017 in the Kasai Central region while on a field visit with representatives of Kamwina Nsapu, a militia active in Kasai whose customary chief Jean-Pierre Mponde was killed by Congolese army troops in August 2016.
London: The ease with which Russian billionaires can stash billions of dollars in property and other assets in London is taking the bite out of the UKs tough talk on sanctions against Russia for any incursions into Ukraine.

Reports this week that a key piece of legislation designed to fight money-laundering and dirty money inflows into the UK from Russia and elsewhere may be delayed arent helping.

As the West strives to take a united stance on possible sanctions, Britain is struggling to shake off its reputation as the place to be for wealthy Russians looking to park their billions  one that has earned the British capital the Londongrad moniker. The continued ability to bring funds from Russia into Britain with secret ownership of assets could dent the effectiveness of sanctions, said Tyler Kustra, a professor of politics at the University of Nottingham.

Participants at the Russian Debutante Ball in London, a city that has earnt the moniker Londongrad. Credit:Alamy Stock Photo

A lot of this money is hidden between numerous levels of shell corporations, he said. We can sanction a Russian politician, a Russian general as much as we want but we dont necessarily have the ability to seize their assets because we dont know who the true owner of those assets are.
Somerset, KY (42501)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 49F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 49F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
A familiar fight is taking shape in advance of the new legislative session, with one side speaking out in favor of private property rights and the other pleading to maintain, or even tighten, strict government regulations.

Whats novel is which side is taking what position.

The issue is minimum lot sizes, which can sound esoteric but goes a long way toward explaining why Connecticut looks the way it does. In short, many suburbs require giant pieces of land for each single-family home, a vestige of a time (not so long ago) when communities were explicitly designed based on exclusion. If those regulations were relaxed, there would be many more opportunities for more people to live where they want to, with accompanying benefits for equity, the environment and, not least, the state economy.

The conservative response, as exemplified by a Republican state representatives recent opinion piece, takes the stance that zoning as it exists needs to stand, regardless of what property owners want to do with their land. That puts them in a maybe-unfamiliar position of supporting what appears to be the big government solution, but if your core belief is that suburbs are sacrosanct, maybe this is inevitable.

The push to loosen minimum lot sizes is coming from Desegregate CT, an advocacy group that caused a stir last session with its push for zoning reforms that ultimately led to a new law allowing the construction of accessory dwelling units, occasionally known as granny pods, which are a separate home on a residential property.

It could be an apartment over a garage, a basement with a separate entrance or another building altogether, but the idea is that more people would be able to afford to move into exclusive towns. Given that ADUs would most often rent to someone the property owner already knows  a grandparent, for instance  its fair to ask just how much desegregating such a policy would accomplish. Still, its a start.

Now the group is pushing to take on minimum lot sizes, which makes sense. A lot of good could come from reform here.

Zoning exists for a reason, and when someone buys a home they have a reasonable expectation that someone isnt going to build, say, a slaughterhouse or a paint factory next door. But strict zoning also helps make suburbs into the stereotypically sterile place theyve always been known as. If all you can build is single-family homes on large lots, you lose any sense of dynamism or activity, to say nothing of economic growth.

Some people dont want dynamism. Thats fine. But theres an odd trope in this country where people who buy a house think they should get veto power over the property down the street, too. Its not supposed to work that way. Neighbors should have a say, like anyone in town or the state by virtue of who gets elected and what laws pass, but they shouldnt get to dictate what happens on land they dont own, especially when changes could have widespread benefits beyond a homeowners personal inconvenience.

But this is what opponents of reform are asking. The state representative in Greenwich says zoning reform would force towns to increase housing density, but thats not on the table. Property owners would be allowed to build more residences, but not made to do anything.

Not that such an idea should be out of bounds. Massachusetts, for example, is seeing a new law take effect this year that would push nearly every town in the Boston area, some 175 jurisdictions, to either build multifamily housing or lose access to state funding. Its unclear how this will play out, but its noteworthy that Massachusetts is supposed to be the economic model Connecticut is striving to meet (also, that Massachusetts has a Republican governor).

Back here in Connecticut, opponents of reform are falling back on traditional complaints, including that those seeking change are just a front group for the developers were all supposed to hate.

For those keeping track, that means conservatives on this issue are in favor of strict government regulations, but against people making money. Weird.

These questions, though, dont fit easily into traditional party breakdowns. If it were only Republicans in opposition, reform would sail through. But its Democrats who too often stand in the way of anything new in Connecticut housing, even as its increasingly clear that a lack of housing is hurting the state economy. If no one can afford to live in your town and the only option available includes an hourlong commute, it doesnt matter what kind of jobs are on offer.

State-level reform is needed, but as last session showed, getting there wont be easy. Even a slimmed-down ADU plan only passed with an opt-out clause.

It will be even tougher in an election year. Still, its a fight worth having.

Suburbs were built on exclusion. They were designed that way, and they did such a good job that even decades later they continue to exclude in ways that many in this country thought were part of our past. Were all paying the price for it.

Hugh Bailey is editorial page editor of the New Haven Register and Connecticut Post. He can be reached at hbailey@hearstmediact.com.
The state has distributed another 900,000 at-home COVID-19 tests over the past week, bringing the total this month to 4.5 million, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Sunday.

Despite facing issues early on, the state has managed to work with vendors to procure the tests and distributing them to partner organizations across Connecticut, officials said.

We are continuing to work with many public and private organizations to help distribute these self-tests to the residents of our state,Lamont said. If anyone has been unable to get their hands on a self-test, I strongly encourage them to place an order through President Bidens distribution program by visiting covidtests.gov or calling 800-232-0233 and they will be mailed to your house for free.

Over the last week, nearly 450,000 tests were distributed to municipalities for social services and vulnerable populations, teachers, students, staff, first responders and more, the governors office said in a press release.

Community groups and faith-based organizations received 300,000 tests, officials said.

The University of Connecticut received 60,000 tests, according to the governors office. Every public college and university now has at least one test available for every residential student to facilitate a safe return to campus, the governors office said.

Another 60,000 tests were given to state employees and non-profit partners, officials said.

The governor said his administration has thousands more at-home tests on order that are in the process of being delivered to the state.

christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com
Branden Knight, 29, passed away May 1, 2022. Calling hours will be Friday from 6:00-8:00 with the funeral Saturday at 11:00 at Fleming-Billman Funeral Home, 49 W. Jefferson Street, Jefferson; burial will follow in Oakdale. www.fleming-billman.com
Defence Minister Vasile Dincu of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) says that President Klaus Iohannis respects very well the hierarchy regarding communication to the general public.

He was asked on Sunday if he did not feel that President Klaus Iohannis was often absent when he should have gone out and talk to the people.

"I believe, as a communications professor, I believe in a very clear hierarchy of communication levels and types of communication. There are presidents who always want to take up everything and take in all the information, communicate instead of the prime minister, communicate instead of the ministers when there are important events. I believe that President Iohannis respects the hierarchy very well and lets the whole administrative system be valued. Romania had presidents who would communicate very often, but I believe that the President of Romania should communicate only in key moments, and when he says something, it should be an essential thing. When the presidents would communicate every week - and there were such political times - I could see that becoming commonplace. (...) If I were to opt for such a system, I would opt for this type of a system in which the President communicates the least and the most important things; in such order, horizontal communication would be created downwards, other types of communication suited to particular events," Dincu told Prima TV private broadcaster on Sunday.
As a NATO member, Romania is not forced to go to war, not even in the worst-case scenario in which the Russian Federation went to war with Ukraine, says Romania's Defence Minister Vasile Dincu.

He was asked on Sunday if Romanian men, especially young men, should be afraid that they would be drafted given the situation in the region.

"You shouldn't be worried at all, and I want to bring you some very pragmatic arguments: first of all because Romania as a member of a strong defence system, the strongest - which NATO is - is not forced to go to war at this time, not even in the worst-case scenario when the Russian Federation forces its way into Ukraine. Because, as [NATO secretary general] Stoltenberg recently said, the NATO Treaty provides for possible military intervention only if a country that is a member of NATO has been attacked, that's how NATO solidarity works. Ukraine is not [a member state]; it is trying to become a NATO member, but it does not have this status yet," Dincu told Prima TV private broadcaster on Sunday.

He added that not even Ukraine has mobilised its military reserve.

"It has been under attack, but it has not mobilised its reserve, so that is not the case at the moment," Dincu added.

He said that for those who want to join the army, there are opportunities developed by the Defence Ministry.

"For example, voluntary enlistment is a modern system, a NATO system in which, in order to increase the military reserve, in addition to the existing reserve, we also need reservists who sign up, get short-term military training and certain benefits, such as a salary for the time they work as civilians at their workplace," said Dancu.
Romania will meet all its reform and investment commitments included in its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), and no renegotiation process would be possible before 2023, when the first such opportunity arises, spokesman for the Romanian Government Dan Carbunaru told AGERPRES on Sunday.

He added that state pension reform remains a very important goal under PNRR.

"The Romanian government will meet all its reform and investment commitments included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Starting any renegotiation before 2023, when a first opportunity arises, is out of the question. We have to focus on achieving the goals and milestones so that Romanians can benefit from the billions of euros we need to support the economy and raise the standards of living. As Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca pointed out on Friday at a news conference with Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann, pension reform is a very important goal and the government has to get focused so that Romanians may enjoy a regular income that allows them to lead a decent life after a lifetime of employment," said Carbunaru.

He added that state pension reform has been addressed ever since the first meeting of the PNRR Inter-Ministerial Committee.

"As such, it is a goal of PNRR; it is part of the raft of reforms that the government needs to perform in order to draw the money that we have at our disposal under this programme. We will continue to pay all the necessary attention to carry through this reform," said Carbunaru.
ST. LOUIS  Heavy rain swelled the creeks on Jan. 30, 1982, then the rain turned to snow. With only 4 inches of snow forecast, the worry was flooding. Lightning illuminated the snowfall as most people went to bed that Saturday night.

They awoke next morning to a winter wonderland unseen here in 70 years. Lambert Field recorded 13.9 inches of snow, but the airport was on the low slope of the storm's worst.

Follow-up National Weather Service reports put the totals for most of the city, southwest St. Louis County and Jefferson County at 18 inches or more. Madison County had 17 inches, St. Clair County 15. The Greenville, Ill., area was buried under 2 feet. Fifty miles to the north and south of the Gateway Arch, accumulations were light.

The Jan. 30-31 storm was the third-heaviest snowfall ever recorded here, beaten only by 20.4 inches on March 30-31, 1890, and 15.5 inches on Feb. 20, 1912.

Hundreds of motorists abandoned vehicles on highways and streets. Buses and heavy trucks got stuck in traffic lanes. Police nabbed a burglar by following his footsteps. At 9 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 31, Edwardsville firefighters David Carnaghi and Capt. Dennis Henson helped to deliver Sharon Miller's 9-pound son in the back of their ambulance, stuck on Interstate 55.

"The baby is fine. Those guys were just great," said Miller, eventually safe and warm in a hospital.

Snowplows worked nearly round the clock, but there was too much snow to push away. It would take most of a week, at heavy cost to public budgets, to clear the main roads.

The action heroes were civilian owners of four-wheel-drive vehicles, who became the locomotion for police departments, medical services and repair crews. They delivered medicine to the sick and milk to babies, and doctors and nurses to hospitals.

10 times the Mississippi River froze over in St. Louis The river froze over at St. Louis at least 10 times from 1831 to 1938, when completion of the Alton Lock and Dam corralled much of the ice fro

Jackie Taylor of Ballwin walked to her job at a pizza parlor. She made 30 pizzas that Ballwin firefighters delivered to a nursing home, where none of the staff showed up.

Amtrak and Greyhound stopped running. Lambert cleared its runways, but few passengers could get to their flights. Bi-State canceled most bus routes for two days. Public officials urged workers to stay home - an easy call to honor, given the state of most driveways. The Missouri National Guard cleared downtown's main streets with front-end loaders and dump trucks.

Five days into the big dig, an exasperated Mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl Jr. said, "The city has 454,000 residents, and that means the city has 454,000 civil engineers."

At least 16 people died, most of them stricken while shoveling snow. Most schools didn't even try to reopen until Monday, Feb. 8.

Read more stories from Tim O'Neil's Look Back series.
Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

When attorney Melinda Gorman looks at the case of Mac Payne, her client, she sees something different than the narrative that has been pushed by police union lobbyist Jane Dueker, who regularly trashes political opponents (and journalists like me) on the social media platform Twitter.

Theres really nothing about this particular domestic violence case that is really any different than any other domestic violence case, Gorman says.

The record backs her up.

In early January, Payne, 36, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. The allegations were awful, that he pushed and struck the mother of his child and then threw hot soup on her, causing burns. Police responding to the scene arrested him and took him to the station to be booked while they sought charges from the office of Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner.

An on-duty judge issued a warrant for Paynes arrest in the case, in which he wrote  as is standard in nearly all domestic violence cases in the city  that Payne should be held without bond until he has an opportunity to appear before a judge.

At the jail, while awaiting charges to be filed, Payne tested positive for COVID-19. According to Gorman, he was quite sick, displaying symptoms. Police and jail policy, as my colleagues Joel Currier and Mark Schlinkmann have reported, is to transport such patients to a hospital before making a decision on whether the defendant should be held in jail. That didnt happen in Paynes case. He was released before charges were filed. He was then charged with two of the lowest-level felonies: a D felony for second-degree domestic violence and an E felony for third-degree domestic violence.

Heres where all hell broke loose. The lobbyist went on a Twitter tirade, alleging that somehow the administration of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones was releasing domestic violence suspects against the wishes of judges.

But thats not really what happened, Gorman points out. Her client was released before charges were filed by the circuit attorneys office, something that happens in many cases. The judges no-bond warrant wouldnt apply until then. At that point  particularly since the Missouri Supreme Court reformed the use of cash bail in the city courts  there is a requirement that such a defendant have an on-the-record bond hearing in front of a different judge, within 48 hours. In the case of Payne, based on the court schedule the day he was originally arrested, that bond hearing would have been the next day; the judge likely would have let him out on a personal recognizance bond.

In fact, thats what happened in three other cases of alleged domestic violence the very week Payne was arrested, according to court records. The purpose of cash bail is not to punish people accused of crimes before they have been convicted. Its to ensure that defendants show up for their court dates or, in extreme cases, protect society from people accused of violent crimes. Otherwise, the concept of innocent until proven guilty loses all meaning.

In domestic violence cases, judges in St. Louis regularly release defendants on personal recognizance bonds, meaning they dont have to pay cash to be released, with the requirement that they stay away from their alleged victims and, often, that they also wear a GPS device. This is in accordance with Missouri Supreme Court rules.

In fact, police officers know this all too well. Remember the case of Nathaniel Hendren, the city police officer who killed a fellow officer, Katlyn Alix, while playing a Russian roulette-style game? He posted bond and was placed on house arrest after a much more violent crime than the one Payne is accused of committing. Hendren was eventually convicted. Payne may well be, once he has his day in court.

It would be very unusual for D and E felonies to lead to no bond, Gorman says, especially in a case like her clients. Payne has no criminal record. He has a job and had a place to stay away from the victim. He is an example of why an Arnold Foundation study found in 2013 that low-risk defendants who are held on bail are actually more likely to reoffend than those who are let out of jail pending trial, because they are separated from jobs and the things that keep them grounded to the community.

Matthew Mahaffey agrees. The citys head public defender, Mahaffey has nothing to do with Paynes case but has been watching the controversy. He has represented many defendants in similar cases.

This case seems to have worked as the system was designed, Mahaffey says.

The only difference, is, because the police union lobbyist made a stink, police ended up breaking down Paynes aunts door to rearrest him. But after he had his bond hearing, as required by law, he was released upon posting cash bail.

The whole breaking down of his aunts door was totally unnecessary, Gorman says. I reached out to the circuit attorneys office, and we discussed a plan to have him surrender himself once he was healthy enough to do so. If anybody would have bothered to check Casenet they would have seen he had counsel. I think everyone is trying to look for someone to blame as to why Mr. Payne was released. Its a lot of finger-pointing. In reality, had he been held in jail, the same result would have happened.

But his aunts door wouldnt have been kicked in. And he likely wouldnt be out $2,000  10% of the $20,000 bond the judge set at his hearing last week. Payne is free today, pending trial, because the system mostly worked the way it is supposed to.

The judge listened to everything (the victim) had to say and still gave him a bond, Gorman says. The judge made a sound decision in light of all the facts.

From City Hall to the Capitol, metro columnist Tony Messenger shines light on what public officials are doing, tells stories of the disaffected, and brings voice to the issues that matter. 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  Three men were fatally shot and one injured in a north St. Louis neighborhood late Saturday afternoon, police said.

Officers arrived around 4 p.m. to the 4900 block of Cote Brilliante Avenue and found three men in their 20s had been shot. Two of them were pronounced dead at the scene.

The other was taken to a hospital, where he died, St. Louis police Chief John Hayden said.

The injured man, also in his 20s, ran to a nearby convenience store where he was later found by officers, Hayden said. He was in stable condition at a hospital, the chief said.

Police recovered two guns from the scene and found nearly 50 shell casings in the area, police said. Sunday afternoon, police said they also found "suspected narcotics."

The incident occurred near Cote Brilliante and Euclid Avenue, roughly a block east of North Kingshighway in the Kingsway East neighborhood.

Police did not release the victim's names Sunday.

Anyone with information is urged to call homicide detectives directly at 314-444-5371. Anyone with a tip who wants to remain anonymous and is interested in a reward can contact CrimeStoppers at 866- 371-8477.

Updated at 1:30 p.m. Sunday with more information.

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.

Austin Huguelet Austin Huguelet is the Post-Dispatch's retail business reporter. He's previously covered Missouri politics for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow Austin Huguelet 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
ST. LOUIS  The city Democratic Committee on Saturday voted to pick Michael Gras, an attorney and the 28th Ward committeeman, to run in a special election April 19 to succeed recently resigned Alderman Heather Navarro.

But in a legal and political oddity, the city Election Board has determined that Gras and any candidates for the seat chosen by the city Republican Committee and other parties will be listed on the ballot without any party designation.

Other candidates also can qualify by getting signatures on petitions, said Gary Stoff, the boards Republican director.

Navarro quit, effective last Monday, to avoid a potential conflict of interest with her new job as director of the Midwest Climate Collaborative. Theres about a year left in her four-year term.

Stoff said the unusual situation of parties selecting candidates for a nonpartisan ballot is due to the need to mesh Proposition D, an election overhaul ordinance passed by city voters in 2020, with a city charter provision on aldermanic vacancies.

While Proposition D says elections to fill vacancies for alderman should be nonpartisan, it didnt affect a charter provision describing how political party committees should pick nominees for special elections instead of letting voters do that in primaries. The charter takes precedence over ordinances, Stoff noted.

Stoff said the Election Board, which announced Saturday how the vacancy would be filled, relied on legal advice from the boards attorney and the city counselors office.

They agreed on how the charter and ordinance work together, Stoff said.

Stoff said the board also got legal advice on how to handle the Navarro vacancy in light of a ward reduction plan passed last month by aldermen and signed into law by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. That was required by a charter amendment passed by voters in 2012.

The boundaries for the 14 new wards are now technically in effect but aldermen to represent them wont be elected until April of 2023. That means 28 ward aldermen continue to serve this year even though only 14 wards legally exist.

However, the election board, Stoff said, reasoned that the special election should be held within the boundaries of the old 28th Ward because that was the area from which Navarro was elected in 2017 and 2019.

Aldermanic President Lewis Reed has said the board will operate this year with members continuing to represent their old areas.

Gras, 38, said he was appointed committeeman in January 2020 to fill a vacancy and then was elected to the post in August of that year.

The biggest thing I can do is assure everyone in the current 28th Ward that I would be looking out for them as alderman for the next year, Gras said.

Gras nomination Saturday also was supported by the wards committeewoman. Stoff said its too late to get the aldermanic race on the ballot for the April 5 election, in which two propositions will go before voters citywide.

Navarro has said her new job with the climate-related organization could be a conflict because the organization is closely associated with Washington University and she will be a university employee.

The university is a major institution in the ward and often is involved in development and other issues in the ward.

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Former President Donald Trump on Saturday teased a 2024 presidential candidacy and said he would consider pardoning those who were charged in connection with the deadlyJan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol if he wins the White House again.

Trump's comments came during a campaign-style rally in Texas in which he complained about the criminal prosecutions that Capitol rioters have faced as a result of their attempt to interrupt the counting of Electoral College votes after he lost the 2020 election. He said the rioters are being treated "so unfairly."

"If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly," Trump said. "And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly."

His comments reflect the growing sentiment among Republicans that the Capitol rioters should be forgiven and the events of that day forgotten  as the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 has issued scores of subpoenas to individuals and organizations as part of its probe and is expected to release an interim report on its findings this summer. Some of Trump's allies in Congress have pleaded for pardons for rioters. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender, recently called one-year commemorations of the Capitol riot an effort to "smear" Trump's supporters.

"It's a disgrace. It's a disgrace," Trump said of the prosecutions and prison sentences rioters have faced.

The Department of Justice has charged more than 700 in connection with the attack on the Capitol. The tally includes more than 150 people charged with assaulting police officers, more than 50 charged with conspiracy, and charges of seditious conspiracy against the founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, and 10 other members or associates. More than 100 police officers were injured, some critically, after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

Trump raised the prospect of pardons after a speech repeating his lies about widespread voter fraud causing his loss to President Joe Biden in 2020. Republicans in statehouses across the country have seized on Trump's lies to enact new laws that would make voting more difficult for some, and to pursue ongoing reviews of the 2020 election results.

Trump did not explicitly say he will run for president in 2024. Doing so would trigger a series of legal and campaign finance requirements.

But he said, in 2024, "We are going to take back the White House."

Trump also used the speech to rail against New York prosecutors' investigations into his business empire, calling for "the biggest protests we have ever had" if the prosecutors "do anything wrong or illegal."

New York Attorney General Letitia James earlier this month laid out details of what her office believes to be "misleading or fraudulent" financial statements. And Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. has vowed to personally focus on a probe into Trump's business practices. Both prosecutors  who Trump called "racists"  are Black, and neither has faced credible accusations of misconduct.

"These prosecutors are vicious, horrible people. They're racists and they're very sick  they're mentally sick," he said. "They're going after me without any protection of my rights from the Supreme Court or most other courts. In reality, they're not after me, they're after you."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Sunday described Trump's suggestion of pardons as inappropriate. Collins, one of seven GOP senators who backed an unsuccessful bid to convict Trump on impeachment charges for his role in stoking the Jan. 6 riot, said it would be very unlikely she would support him if he ran in 2024.

January 6th was a dark day in our history, she told ABC's This Week. We should let the judicial process proceed.
For decades, well-meaning urban planners and politicians have presented various formulas to bridge the many gaps between St. Louis rich and poor neighborhoods and erase its racial dividing lines. Traditional models for transformation, typically rolled out with lots of fanfare, have tended to fizzle miserably. St. Louis insisted on being The City That Would Not Save Itself.

Against that backdrop, enthusiasm about yet another big transformational plan needs to be tempered with a strong dose of the citys stubborn reality. What matters this time around is that a $245 million plan being unveiled by the Great Rivers Greenway doesnt rely heavily on taxpayer funding or visions of bulldozers and massive redevelopment. Rather, it is an organic approach that focuses on getting people to mingle with one another along a vast network of bike paths and walkways dubbed the Brickline Greenway.

The Great Rivers Greenway organization has quietly pieced together one of the nations most impressive networks of 16 urban bike and hiking paths. It now proposes to replace the old demolition-and-redevelopment formula, which consistently fails for lack of local buy-in, with a more integral approach based on the concept that interconnected neighborhoods and vibrant public spaces create the kinds of foot traffic that attracts job-creating development.

A good example of the concept is the High Line walkway on Manhattans West Side. Before its construction, the route was a disused, overgrown elevated rail line that attracted crime and deterred business development. It is now a 1.45-mile-long public park packed with pedestrians, artwork, stunning views and lots of new commercial development. Similar developments, such as the Katy Trail in Dallas and the Atlanta BeltLine, have shown similar success.

The Brickline would traverse some of the citys most troubled neighborhoods on a north-south route between Fairground Park and Tower Grove Park. Susan Trautman, chief executive of Great Rivers Greenway, acknowledges that crime and security issues present challenges. Gentrification is always a danger.

Safety is the No. 1 issue cited by residents about the Brickline plan, Trautman says. The security plan calls for off-duty police wearing green uniforms to conduct foot patrols, aided by security cameras. At-risk youth also will be employed to assist. Editorially, weve argued in favor of foot patrols as a way of building trust between police and the communities they serve. Financial aid packages and the inclusion of neighborhood groups in business-development discussions are among the plans to stave off gentrification.

The project comes with a hefty price tag that requires major commitments by the regional business and philanthropic communities. Considering the hundreds of millions of dollars they poured into the Gateway Arch and Forest Park Forever projects, now seems like the ideal time for them to step up with a specific focus aimed at reuniting a split city and uplifting the areas left behind when the big philanthropic dollars start flowing.
Unvaccinated should be at back of line for hospital beds; Trump deserves jail and more top letters
Just three days after he finished documenting Epik Highs concert at Coachella, photographer-musician Isne Bobo Nuyent was back home in Los Angeles doing a Zoom interview to promote his latest pop-punk single No More Talking (https://streamlink.to/nomoretalking). The Vietnamese American artist spent two months on the road with the hip-hop trio, photographing them nightly and creating short videos of their daily events to share with the groups fans. And after weeks of getting an average of four hours of sleep per night, he said hes looking forward to resting a bit and hanging out with his parents and sister.
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Manufacturers Bank is pleased to welcome Michael Leary, a Chartered Financial Analyst, as Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, reporting to Kazuhisa Miyagawa, Chairman and CEO, and functionally to the Manufacturers Bank Board of Directors and to Kim Olson, Chief Risk Officer of the Americas Division of SMBC, the banks parent company. Mr. Leary will be responsible for the overall direction and control of risk exposure for the bank and will provide leadership and strategic direction regarding the risk framework, including oversight of both financial and non-financial risk. He will also be a member of Manufacturers Bank Management Committee.

Mr. Leary is an accomplished banking professional with more than 30 years of experience in risk management, regulatory oversight, consumer relations, commercial banking, and treasury operations. He holds three patents related to banking technology and is highly respected in the industry as a thought leader on leveraging technology, data, and decision science to support risk management.

We are excited to welcome Michael, with his extensive risk management background, to build a strong and robust risk management program, said Mr. Miyagawa.

Ms. Olson said, We are fortunate to bring Michael on board at this important juncture as we continue to build our U.S. operations. Michael has significant retail banking risk management and banking technology experience, which will allow him to deepen our risk management framework and oversight and position us for disciplined growth.

Prior to joining Manufacturers Bank, Mr. Leary served as the Senior Vice President of Payments Risk and Collections Infrastructure at U.S. Bank, where he successfully led cross-functional teams to implement world-class risk and fraud management tools for payments, lending, and deposit products. As Senior Vice President, Risk Strategies Execution Executive at Bank of America, Mr. Leary architected the banks Model Analytics Platform for consumer and small business risk management and revenue reporting and implemented the banks first relationship-data-driven underwriting strategy. His experience and accomplishments also include working as a Supervising Examiner with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Mr. Leary has Bachelor of Science degree from Kings College Wilke-Barre, PA, and is a CFA charterholder since 1998.

About Manufacturers Bank

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Manufacturers Bank is a subsidiary of SMBC Americas Holdings, Inc., a bank holding company wholly owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. For nearly 60 years, Manufacturers Bank has been the right-sized bank for middle market and corporate businesses providing sophisticated solutions and the expertise of a larger institution with the personal high touch services of a community bank.

Our clients have direct access to experienced bankers and decision makers including our executive team. We have a complete portfolio of services to help you achieve your financial goals, including Commercial and Small Business Lending, Quick Service Restaurants, Specialty Banking, Fiduciary, Trust and Estates, International Services and Cash Management Services.

Manufacturers Bank is headquartered in Los Angeles and operates from branch offices in Beverly Hills, Brea, Downtown Los Angeles, Encino, Glendale, Newport Beach, San Jose, Torrance and Warner Center.

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For additional information please contact: Dean Bui, SVP, Marketing & Product Development Manager, 213-489-6286 or Megan Glover, EVP Head of Human Resources, 213-797-5341.

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Dean Bui

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[email protected]

Source: Manufacturers Bank
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  North Korea carried out its seventh weapons test of the month on Sunday, firing an intermediate-range ballistic missile off its eastern coast, South Korean and Japanese officials said.

South Koreas military detected the launch from the Norths northern border at around 7:52 a.m., according to separate statements from the countrys Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Security Council.

The military estimated the missile flew about 500 miles at an altitude of 1,240 miles. The launch was still being analyzed by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies, the Joint Chiefs said.

In preparation for additional launches, the military maintains a readiness posture by tracking and monitoring related trends, its statement said.

Meanwhile, Japanese officials confirmed and condemned North Koreas latest weapons test.

A possible ballistic missile was launched from North Korea, Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas office tweeted at 8:01 a.m. It was in the air for about 30 minutes and landed in waters outside Japans exclusive economic zone, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters about an hour after the launch.

"Such a violent ballistic missile launch violates the relevant U.N. Security Council resolution, and Japan has made a strict protest against North Korea, Matsuno said. We will continue to collect information to protect the lives and property of the people.

The launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile would be North Koreas first in nearly five years. The communist regime last tested an IRBM and its first intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017, amid heightened tensions with the United States and South Korea.

Such a launch would also conflict with a statement by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on April 20, 2018, a week before summit talks between him and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim said his country would no longer need to conduct nuclear tests or test-fire intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles due to the advancements made in its weapons program, KCNA reported.

Moon presided over a National Security Council meeting on Sunday and described North Korea's actions as "similar" to the ratcheted tensions in 2017.

The launch constitutes North Koreas seventh round of weapons tests so far this month. It fired two tactical guided missiles on Thursday that struck an island target, according to a Friday report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency in which Pyongyang pledged to keep developing powerful powerheads. Two cruise missiles were launched on Tuesday.

The practical combat performance of the long-range cruise missile system would hold a reliable share in boosting the war deterrence of the country, the KCNA report said.

South Koreas Ministry of National Defense said Thursdays tests were short-range ballistic missiles that are prohibited by the U.N. Security Council.

The Souths military estimated those missiles flew a maximum 118 miles at an altitude of 12 miles, specifications that are below a previous ballistic missile test conducted Jan. 17. The military did not release detailed information on Tuesdays cruise missiles.
As Russia continues to mass forces on its border with Ukraine, top Russian and U.S. diplomats are likely to meet this week in an effort to defuse the crisis.

Republicans and Democrats appeared increasingly united in their efforts to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull back his forces, with two key U.S. lawmakers saying Sunday they could soon have a deal on a package of sanctions meant to deter Russia from invading Ukraine and severely punish Moscow if it does.

This week may test whether efforts by the Biden administration and its allies to prevent a war in Europe are bearing fruit. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will probably speak again this week, a senior State Department official said, after earlier efforts by the top diplomats to reach a resolution were unsuccessful.

Victoria Nuland, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said Sunday that those talks would probably focus on written responses from the Biden administration to the Kremlin's demands for security guarantees. "We've heard some signs that the Russians are interested in engaging on that proposal," she told CBS News's "Face the Nation," pointing to the expected communication between Blinken and Lavrov.

"We want to settle these issues through diplomacy," Nuland said. Putin has "given himself that option, but he's also given himself the option of a major invasion. So we have to be ready for that."

President Joe Biden said Friday that he planned to send some U.S. troops to Eastern Europe to bolster NATO allies, describing the number as "not too many." The U.S. military has issued "prepare to deploy" orders to 8,500 personnel.

Senior U.S. lawmakers also said Sunday that they are optimistic about bipartisan agreement on issuing punishing sanctions against Russia.

"I believe that we will get there," Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN's "State of the Union."

"We have been working in good faith," he said. "We've been accommodating different views and we are committed, jointly, in a bipartisan way to defend Ukraine and to send Putin the message: It'll be bluntly and consequential."

James Risch of Idaho, the committee's top Republican, said the two parties had hit a sticking point over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but he indicated that the differences were surmountable.

"We've had a disagreement on that, continuing disagreement, since the administration took office," Risch said. But he said that Germany's decision to halt certification of the pipeline, which could pump billions of cubic meters of Russian gas into Europe, had "changed the dynamics and open[ed] the door, really, for us to reach agreement."

The Biden administration will brief all senators in a classified setting on the crisis in Ukraine on Thursday, a Senate aide said.

Menendez said that some sanctions could be approved before a Russian invasion of Ukraine, a measure that Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, said her government supports.

"We ask [for sanctions] both" before and after a Russian attack, Markarova told "Face the Nation." She said Russia had already invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it annexed Crimea. "And they didn't change their behavior during the eight years. So, yes, we believe the basis for sanctions is there."

Responding to U.S. concerns that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was playing down the threat of an imminent Russian invasion, Markarova said leaders didn't want to panic Ukrainian citizens.

"We are not downplaying the risk. We actually see the situation the same way and we see the buildup," she said.

"To defend our country, we cannot afford to panic. We have to get ready, all of us, not only our military, our very capable military and veterans, but also all civilians. So we know and we see what is going on," Markarova added.

Britain's foreign secretary said Sunday that the United Kingdom would "widen" its sanctions on the Kremlin to include "companies involved in propping up the Russian state," as Washington and its allies intensified their efforts to deter a possible invasion.

The comments by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss came a day after Britain said it was preparing to send extra land, air and sea forces to Eastern Europe to support NATO allies.

Truss, asked about Putin's intentions during an interview with the BBC on Sunday, said it was "highly likely that he is looking" to invade Ukraine. "That is why we are doing all we can through deterrence and diplomacy to urge him to desist. That's why we are strengthening our sanctions regime here in the United Kingdom. We're going to be introducing new legislation so that we can hit targets including those who are key to the Kremlin's continuation and the continuation of the Russian regime."

In a separate interview with Sky News, Truss did not rule out the possibility that the sanctions could include seizures of property in London owned by Russian "oligarchs." She said "nothing is off the table."

The head of Russia's security council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Sunday dismissed U.S. warnings that Russia could attack Ukraine as "absolutely ridiculous" and said Russia did not want war.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that deploying more British forces to the region, including jets, warships and military specialists, would "send a clear message to the Kremlin - we will not tolerate their destabilizing activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face Russian hostility."

Johnson is expected to speak to Putin this week and will visit the region in coming days.

Russia has repeatedly denied that its massive buildup of troops and military equipment around Ukraine, along with a wave of military exercises, is a precursor to a renewed assault.

"Today, they're saying that Russia is threatening Ukraine. This is absolutely ridiculous. There is no threat," Patrushev, the head of Russia's security council, said Sunday at a wreath-laying ceremony at a cemetery.

"We do not want war. We don't need it at all. Those who are pushing toward it, especially those from the West, they are pursuing some self-serving false goals of their own," he said, adding that war against Ukraine "does not suit us."

Russian officials are reviewing U.S. and NATO counterproposals on security, submitted last week in answer to Russia's earlier demands to limit NATO military activity in the former Soviet sphere.

Lavrov on Friday described the NATO response as "ideologically motivated" and "permeated with its exceptional role and special mission."

Western officials have warned that a Russian invasion, potentially one similar to its 2014 annexation of Crimea, could come at any time. U.S. intelligence, relying in part on satellite imagery, has found that Russia is massing forces around Ukraine in support of a potential incursion on multiple fronts.

Zelensky, Ukraine's president, said at a news conference Friday that the evidence of an imminent invasion was insufficient, accusing his Western counterparts of inciting "panic."

Asked Sunday about Zelensky's complaints, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, said the Biden administration has been trying to ensure that Ukraine is "prepared" in the event of an attack.

"We've seen the Russian playbook before," she said. "They are using disinformation. They're encouraging Ukrainians not to worry about an attack. But we know that the attack is possible. You don't amass 100,000 troops if you don't have intentions to use them," she said during an appearance on ABC's "This Week."

A diplomatic resolution to the crisis would need to include "Russia making the decision to pull their troops back and to come to the diplomatic table and talk with the United States, with the Ukrainians, with our NATO allies, about their security concerns," Thomas-Greenfield said.

"We've made clear that we're prepared to address our concerns, Ukrainian concerns and Russian concerns," she said. "But it cannot be done on the battlefield."

Even the Ukrainian leader played down the threat of an invasion, though thousands of civilians across the country are training for the worst. Army reservists  some armed only with wooden replica weapons or those they've obtained on their own  receive basic combat training and in a time of war would be under direct command of the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian citizens also have been trading advice about preparing for war on social media, including under the hashtag # (#weareready).

The United States has requested a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday to discuss Russia's military buildup, as it pushes for a diplomatic solution to the standoff. Moscow has described the meeting as a "PR stunt," but U.N. diplomats expressed confidence that any Russian bid to stop the meeting would be voted down, Reuters reported.

Biden is also set to meet Monday with Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani as U.S. officials work to shore up alternative energy supplies for Europe, which relies on Russian natural gas exports, in the event that Moscow responds to potential sanctions by cutting off supplies.

- - -

Amy Wang and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  Russia further boosted troop levels on the Ukrainian border this weekend, adding to President Vladimir Putins options should he decide on a military incursion, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

He can execute some of those options imminently, Kirby said on Fox News Sunday. Imminent means it could happen really, honestly, at any time. It depends on what Vladimir Putin might want to do.

The U.S. and its allies are seeking to step up military and diplomatic pressure on Russia after the Kremlin massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine and scheduled military exercises next month in Belarus, which also borders Ukraine. Russia denies its planning to further invade Ukraine.

Putin could something on a small scale, he could do something on a fairly large scale, Kirby said Sunday. And he continues to add troops to that border with Ukraine. Were watching that even over the course of this weekend.

President Joe Biden has said hell send U.S. troops to Eastern Europe, though not a lot of soldiers would be involved in the near term. He didnt elaborate in brief comments to reporters on Friday. Diplomacy next moves to the United Nations Security Council, which the U.S. has asked to take up Russias encroachment on Ukraine on Monday.

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CLEVELAND (Tribune News Service)  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has an aquatic house of horrors planned for invasive Asian carp threatening the Great Lakes.

The gauntlet of irritation is part of a layered defense of Lake Michigan that the Corps is preparing to implement over the next several years to thwart the arrival of undesirable carp by way of Chicago-area rivers and canals.

If the noise wont drive them away, then perhaps the curtain of bubbles will. And if neither are successful then ideally a shot of electricity will do the trick.

The plan received a boost last week when the Biden Administration awarded $225.8 million for partial design and construction of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, which comes with an ultimate price tag of more than $850 million over several years.

The Corps hopes to award a construction contract for increment one in the summer of 2024.

Fish of concern

There are four primary species of Asian carp that worry the Corps and others concerned with the health of the Great Lakes.

The silver and bighead carp would be the two most destructive to Lake Erie, said Tory Gabriel, extension program leader and fisheries educator for the Ohio Sea Grant program at Ohio State University. Thats because they eat plankton and would crowd out native species such as walleye and perch.

The silver carp provide an added danger because they are known to jump out of the water in response to boat motors and cause injuries to humans.

Advocates for the Great Lakes have worried for years that Asian carp will make their way from the Mississippi River watershed into Lake Michigan, threatening the entire Great Lakes and its multi-billion dollar fishing and boating industries.

Connecting watersheds

The pathway for the carp was created more than a century ago after Chicago grew concerned about sewage flowing from the Chicago River into Lake Michigan and reversed the rivers course so that it instead connected to the Des Plaines River, part of the Mississippi River basin.

A similar rerouting of the Calumet River is also part of the extensive waterway system west of Chicago.

So far, only one silver carp has been caught upstream from the existing electric barriers located at the village of Romeoville on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, said Kevin Irons, assistant chief of fisheries for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. That was in 2017, about nine miles west of Lake Michigan on the Little Calumet River.

Its rather odd that it appeared where it did, Irons said, adding that it could have been pulled through the electric barriers by a barge or a human could have put it in a bucket and taken it there.

A single bighead carp was found in Lake Calumet, also part of the waterway system, in 2010.

Whats in store for the carp?

The Interbasin Project, which is planned for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam 27 miles southwest of Chicago on the Des Plaines River, would provide additional safeguards to keep carp from even making it to the existing electric barriers at Romeoville.

One of the planned deterrents will be speakers in the water that will emit noise designed to turn the fish away. Irons said researchers are still working on the right sounds.

We know we could push fish with boat motor sounds, he said, but blasting those could be inefficient because its probably just certain frequencies the fish are responding to.

It wont be music or any scripted sound, he said, but probably something closer to white noise.

A second layer of deterrent will be a curtain of bubbles rising from an air-filled pipe along the bottom of the stream. Its expected that the bubbles will turn the fish away, said Andrew Leichty, project manager for the Corps, but they may also be used to extract tiny carp caught in the hydraulic currents created between two barges as they approach the lock.

Also, an electric barrier will be installed as part of the projects increment two. Its expected to be most effective on larger carp.

Among the safety concerns with an electric barrier are stray voltage that can interfere with neighboring electrical systems and humans falling off boats and into charged water, Leichty said.

At Romeoville, all mariners must be inside the pilot house of their vessel while passing through the electrified area as a precaution against falling in the water, Leichty said.

Yet another technique to be employed later in the projects development will be the ability to flush water downstream through the lock when boats pass through. The flushing would be designed to carry away any fish eggs or larvae floating in the water, Leichty said.

A price on their heads

In addition, as part of an overall inter-agency front to battle the carp, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will continue to encourage fishermen to catch and remove the offending species from Illinois rivers so that they never reach the Chicago area. Theres a bounty of $100 per fish on black carp, which are the most difficult of the four to find, Irons said.

Also, fisherman can earn 10 cents for every pound of Asian carp they catch along an 80-mile stretch of the Illinois River, which is formed by the confluence of the Des Plaines and Kankakee rivers and flows into the Mississippi.

As of now, most carp do not swim very far up the Des Plaines River, Irons said, and one reason could be that they are turned off by pollutants, including chemicals and discarded medications, that they encounter in the water as they swim upstream toward Chicago.

While the Asian carp can be damaging to all the Great Lakes, Lake Erie could be especially harmed by Asian carp, according to a 2016 report by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The only one of the four species found in Lake Erie so far is the grass carp. It was first detected spawning in the Sandusky River in 2013 and likely got there after having been stocked in ponds years ago, Gabriel said.

The grass carp is considered less harmful than the silver or bighead species because it feeds on aquatic vegetation, Gabriel said, and so far it has not been found in populations large enough to cause any damage.

Three bighead carp were found in Lake Erie, one in 1995 and two in 2000, while the silver carp has never been seen in the lake, Gabriel said.

Gabriel said he supports the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, which would basically create a zone of chaos that the fish would have to breach to reach Lake Michigan.

Asked how confident he is that the efforts will be able to keep the Asian carp at bay, Gabriel said thats hard to say.

The more things that we do like this the higher my confidence gets, he said.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Tribune News Service)  Brandon Tucker released his grip on the bar and jumped down. He sat down in a chair beside him to wipe the beading sweat on his forehead after his 10th muscle up. He takes a bite of a granola bar.

You guys better grab a cup of coffee, its going to be a while, Tucker said.

He was talking to the group of people surrounding him Sunday at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum . His family, friends, and four brothers traveled with him from Columbus, Ga., for the event.

Ive seen the work he puts in day in and day out, said brother Dustin. I couldnt be anywhere else today.

At 10:31 a.m., Tucker began his attempt to beat the Guinness World Record for the most muscle ups done over a 24-hour time period. Tuckers personal goal is to beat it in half the time.

The current record was set on Oct. 29 , 2021, when Spaniard Alejandro Soler TarI completed 1,256 muscle-ups, according to Guinness website .

This is not Tuckers first time competing for a world record.

Tucker beat the world record for the most pull-ups done in 24 hours by completing 7,715 pull-ups on Oct. 26, 2019. After getting that world record, Tucker is setting out for another one.

Hes always gotta have a goal, said Dustin.

Thats just how he is, echoed another brother, Ethan.

Similar to a pull-up, a muscle-up is performed on a bar and combines a radial pull-up followed by a dip.

Its about growth its not about the trophy, said Tucker. You dont stop because you hit the goal, just like you dont stop when you get your Rangers tag. You keep getting better, pushing yourself mentally and physically to become a better person for the people around you.

For the first hour, Tucker completed two muscle ups about every 20 seconds and then takes a few-second break. He reaches up for the bar, pulls his body up so that the top half of his body is over the bar, and dips back down.

Tucker will continue this motion for the next 23 hours.

Tucker served seven years in the U.S. Army with the 75th Ranger Regiment. He had just received a promotion to sergeant when he lost his mother in a car crash in October 2015. Shortly after burying his mother, Tucker was medically retired from the Army for a stomach condition.

His world was turned upside down over the course of a couple months. The Army had been his plan for the rest of his life. Tucker knew that he had to do something to maintain his fitness and mental health.

Doing things that push myself prepare me for future trials, like losing my mom said Tucker. You do it for the people you have left. And the mental challenges  what I can do with this mind and this body  it keeps pushing me to do more.

Tucker is personal trainer in Georgia, where he inspires his clients to train hard but also to be aware of their mental health. His fitness Instagram, @tucker1_brandon, contains quotes about being strong in times of struggle and finding your passions by being yourself.

I was trying to rehab my shoulder after breaking it, and Brandon singlehandedly changed my life, said Jake Koehler. Koehler came from Georgia to watch Tucker compete for the world record.

Tucker also advocates for charities to help veterans and active military members. The Gallant Few is an organization dedicated to helping veterans find jobs and maintain a healthy lifestyle after leaving the military.

The National Veterans Memorial and Museum connected Tucker with them to hold the Patriot Challenge.

Mary Kubik, Tuckers event manager, said the money raised from Tuckers attempt and the Patriot Challenge will be donated to Warriors Heart. The Warriors Heart is an addiction and PTSD treatment center for active military, veterans, and first responders based in Texas.

Marys brother was killed in Afghanistan, and afterwards, I was coming into his squad. Its tradition to choose an Airborne Ranger in the Sky, so I chose him. Fast forward Mary walks into the gym one day once Ive left the Army, and I asked You dont happen to be related to Ronald Kubik, do you? And shes been helped me campaign and manage events ever since. We kind help each other.

And thats 100! shouted Kubik at 11:24 a.m.

After almost one hour, Tucker had completed 100 pull ups. Only 1,156 to go.

2022 The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch.

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(Tribune News Service)  The women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of the U.S. Army arrived in Europe in February of 1945 to warehouses piled to the ceilings with letters and packages. There was no heat, the windows were blacked out, and rats went after packages that contained spoiled cakes and cookies, according to the U.S. Army Center of Military History .

They were there to sort through millions of pieces of mail that were stalled and not making it to the intended service members, so the 855 women were divided into three, eight-hour shifts and worked seven days a week to fix the Armys backlogged mail system. They cleared the six-month backlog in England in half that time, and another three-year backlog in France that May.

A lot of people are still unfamiliar with their work and how this all-Black female battalion served their country during World War II, but the Foundation for Women Warriors is hosting a free, online screening of The Six Triple Eight, a documentary about the unit, using its nickname. The film starts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at foundationforwomenwarriors.org .

Jodie Grenier is CEO of the Foundation for Women Warriors, a nonprofit providing support and resources to female veterans and their families. She talked about the film, the racism and misogyny the battalion faced, and the work being done to honor them with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Q: Were you previously familiar with the story of the Six Triple Eight before this film?

A: Im embarrassed to say that I just learned about these women about 2 years ago, and that is a sentiment that I share with many women who are veterans  a lot of times, womens military history is just unknown or untold. Part of our mission is our tagline: Honor Her Service and Power Her Future. We really believe we cant empower the next generation if we dont tell the stories of past generations because we stand on their shoulders. Ive just learned about them in the past couple of years, so Im eager to share their story and the stories of so many other groups of women who served their country.

Q: What was your initial reaction to learning about the 6888th?

A: It was a moment of reflection of really seeing how much these women overcame and how many challenges they were faced with. It was also a moment of inspiration, and I would also say, a bit of frustration that I didnt know about them. I think all of those gave the impetus to ensure that were continuing to share their story.

Q: Can you talk about some of the issues and challenges facing the women in this battalion during that time, and how that would affect ones experience serving in the military?

A: One of the challenges that they faced, that I didnt, was segregation. They were serving in the U.S. Army and they get to England and France, and theyre given segregated barracks. I cant even begin to comprehend what that was like, but its startling. Then, you also have an Army of men who are resistant to having women serving in any capacity. That is something that resonates with me. In one instance in particular, the major in charge of the Six Triple Eight was told that her superior was coming to do an inspection.

When he got there, he asked why only two-thirds of the unit was in formation and ready for inspection. She told him that they had three different shifts [so that they could work on the backlog of mail around the clock] and the third shift was sleeping. He told her to get them up and she basically stood up to him and said, Over my dead body. That was during a time when shes a woman, and a Black woman, standing up to a white man. The bravery and courage it took to put her troops well-being ahead of her own is a leadership lesson for everyone.

The challenges they faced were so significant compared to anything I might have faced. Honestly, women like those in the Six Triple Eight really bore the brunt of a lot of the challenges that went on to open up every unit for the women who serve today. We would do a disservice if we didnt honor them and really pay homage to how much they went through and how much courage and grit they had.

Q: What kind of difference did their work in clearing the backlog of mail make during the war?

A: The tagline of the unit was No Mail, Low Morale. One of our ambassadors served in the Marine Corps and her grandfather served in World War II, and he specifically told her about this unit and about receiving mail after not having received it for so long, and what a huge impact that had on him. Even when I served in Iraq, letters from home just meant so much. Handwritten letters I used to receive from my grandmother, whos since passed away, I still have those. Its really deeply personal, and it keeps your motivation high, keeps you feeling like the end is in sight, and that theres light at the end of the tunnel. Having that at a time when the world was on the line during World War II, they made such an immeasurable impact on the morale of U.S. troops.

Q: Why does highlighting the work of this all-Black female battalion matter?

A: I think it matters for a lot of reasons. I think that we sometimes take progress for granted and we think that maybe because weve made some progress in some areas, that theres not still work to be done. I think that its so important to visit history and to be honest about it so that we dont forget and dont slip back into an environment that isnt appreciative of everyones differences and contributions. I think its also important for representation and to know that World War II wasnt just won by white men; it was women, it was Black women, it was our country being made up of a rainbow of contributing communities. I think its important on so many different levels.

Q: What do you hope people get from watching this film?

A: I hope they walk away with a deeper appreciation for the challenges that Black women who served in the military back in the 1940s faced to ensure that our country won World War II, and that the world won it. I also hope they walk away with a deeper appreciation for women who serve this country and that when they start to think about Veterans Day or Memorial Day, that what comes to mind is not the stereotypical soldier whos a man, but perhaps a Black woman, or a woman, comes to mind when they think about veterans.

2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune.

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The Ministry of Health is reporting the death of a patient with Covid-19 at North Shore Hospital.

The patient, who was in the 70s, was admitted to hospital on January 21.

The person had a number of underlying health conditions and was receiving appropriate ward-level care, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

Our thoughts are with the family, whanau and friends who have requested that their privacy be respected at this sad time.

The Ministry of Health are reporting 103 new community cases of Covid-19 across New Zealand with another 40 in Auckland to be reported on Monday. There are 37 new cases identified at the border.

Of the 103 new community cases, four are in Northland, 56 in Auckland, 12 in Waikato, one in Tairawhiti, 14 in Bay of Plenty, eight in Lakes, three in Hawkes Bay, one in MidCentral, one in Taranaki, two in Wellington and one in Nelson Tasman.

There are 11 people in hospital. One is in North Shore, four in Middlemore, two in Auckland, three in Rotorua, and one in Waikato Hospital. There are no cases in ICU or HDU.

Bay of Plenty and Lakes

There are 14 new cases being reported in the Bay of Plenty today. Eight are contacts of existing cases and three are being investigated to determine any potential links. Six of these cases are in the Western Bay, four are in Tauranga and one is in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

There are three further cases onboard the Singapore-flagged Maersk Bogor container ship, which is currently under quarantine at the Port of Tauranga.

Bay of Plenty public health officials are encouraging anyone in Katikati who has symptoms or has been at a location of interest anywhere in New Zealand, to please get tested.

Testing centres and opening hours in Katikati can be found on the Healthpoint website.

Countdown Katikati has been identified as a location of interest.

Eight new cases are being reported in the Lakes area today. Of these, six are contacts of other cases and two are being investigated. All eight of these cases are in the Rotorua district.

Omicron update

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.

We are expecting the number of cases connected to the Soundsplash music festival in Hamilton last weekend to grow over the coming days as further test results are received.

The Ministry of Health is continuing to advise all attendees to get a test, if they have not already done so.

Were continuing to ask everyone in New Zealand to act as if Omicron is circulating in their community, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

That means wearing a mask, physical distancing and scanning in using the COVID-19 Tracer app, when youre out and about.

The most common early symptoms of the Omicron variant are a sore or scratchy throat, and a runny nose.

So if you have these symptoms, please get a test, and stay at home until you get a negative result.

Testing and vaccination centre locations nationwide can be found on the Healthpoint website.

Northland

Today the Ministry of Health is reporting four cases in Northland. Three of these cases were reported on Saturday. The new case is a household member of an existing case.

Auckland

There are 56 cases to report in Auckland today. However, a technical issue has meant that approximately 40 further have not been entered into the Ministrys reporting systems.

We are working to resolve the issue and the additional cases will be reported tomorrow.

Health and welfare providers are now supporting 891 people in the region to isolate at home, including 288 cases.

Waikato

There are 12 new cases in the Waikato today, with ten linked to previous cases and two under investigation. Seven are reported for Hamilton, two in Paeroa, one in Waihi, and two locations not yet confirmed.

There were 1620 tests processed in Waikato yesterday.

Public Health, primary care and manaaki providers are supporting 40 cases to isolate at home.

Tairawhiti

There is one new case to report in Tairawhiti today. The case is linked an existing case and also has links to Soundsplash.

Hawkes Bay

Three new cases are being reported in Hawkes Bay today. Investigations are underway to determine any potential links to existing cases.

MidCentral

There is one new case being reported in MidCentral today, they are linked to an existing case in Tairawhiti.

Two bus journeys will be published today as locations of interest in relation to this case. Anyone who was on either of these buses is considered a close contact and must self-identify by calling the COVID-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 or registering here.

The first bus was the InterCity IC6965 bus from Gisborne to Napier which departed Gisborne at 9.30am Friday 28 January and arrived in Napier at 1pm on the same day.

The second bus was the InterCity IC6367 bus from Napier to Wellington, which departed Napier at 1.50pm Friday 28 January and arrived in Wellington at 7.45pm on the same day. Although the case disembarked in Palmerston North, where they later tested positive for COVID-19, the entire trip is considered to be a Location of Interest and all passengers are close contacts.

Taranaki

There is one new Covid-19 case to report in Taranaki. The new case is a known close contact of cases linked to the Hawkes Bay region and this person has been isolating in South Taranaki whilst waiting for test results.

Wellington

The Ministry of Health have confirmed two new cases in the Wellington region. One case is in the Hutt Valley, linked to an event in Auckland, and one case is in Capital & Coast DHB already in isolation and linked to an existing case.

With a further positive wastewater test result in Porirua, we urge anyone who lives in Porirua and Wellingtons northern suburbs to get a test if they feel unwell with Covid-19 like symptoms, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

There are a number of new locations of interest to announce across the Wellington region, including two inbound flights deemed close contacts where people who were on-board need to self-isolate and test immediately. See full details of the Ministrys Locations of Interest here

Nelson Tasman

The ministry is reporting one new case in Nelson Tasman today. This case was transferred from Christchurch and is isolating in Nelson. Investigations are underway to determine how they are linked to the outbreak.

Covid-19 vaccine update

On Saturday 9,108 paediatric doses were given, bringing the total to 159,296. There were also 30,146 booster doses, taking the total administered to date to 1,287,972.

With Omicron in New Zealand, the best thing you can do is get your booster as soon as it is due, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

Boosters lower your chances of getting very sick and being hospitalised. It also helps slow the spread of the virus. Thats why its important to get your booster four months after your second dose - so if youre over 18 and your booster is due, please get it now.

Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 4,040,538 first doses (96%); 3,960,959 second doses (94%); 1,287,972 booster doses

Vaccines administered yesterday: 764 first doses;1,300 second doses; 9,108 paediatric doses; 30,146 booster doses.

Maori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 512,045 first doses (90%); 484,949 second doses (85%).

Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 277,078 first doses (97%); 268,951 second doses (94%).

Paediatric vaccines administered to date (percentage of 5-11-year-olds): 159,296 first doses (33%)

Maori (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 20,551 first doses (18%)

Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 5-11): 11,503 first doses (23%)

Vaccination rates for all DHBs (percentage of eligible people aged 12 +)

Northland DHB: First doses (90%); second doses (87%)

Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)

Waikato DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)

Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (92%)

Lakes DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%)

MidCentral DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)

Tairawhiti DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (89%)

Whanganui DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (89%)

Hawkes Bay: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)

Taranaki DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (92%)

Wairarapa DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)

Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (97%)

Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (95%)

Nelson Marlborough DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%)

West Coast DHB: First doses (93%); second doses (90%)

Canterbury DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (97%)

South Canterbury DHB: First doses (95%); second doses (93%)

Southern DHB: First doses (97%); second doses (96%)

Hospitalisations

Cases in hospital: 11; North Shore: 1; Middlemore: 4; Auckland: 2; Rotorua: 3, Waikato 1

Average age of current hospitalisations: 58

Cases in ICU or HDU: 0

Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (N/A cases / 0%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (1 case / 20%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (4 cases / 80%)

Cases

Seven day rolling average of community cases: 59

Seven day rolling average of border cases: 43

Number of new community cases: 103

Number of new cases identified at the border: 37

Location of new community cases: *Northland (4), *Auckland (56), Waikato (12), Tairawhiti (1), *Bay of Plenty (14), Lakes (8), Hawkes Bay (3), MidCentral (1), Taranaki (1), Wellington (2), Nelson Tasman (1)

Number of community cases (total): 11,914 (in current community outbreaks)

Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 9,016

Number of active cases (total): 710 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)

Confirmed cases (total): 15,910

Contacts

Number of active contacts being managed (total): 7,566

Percentage who has received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 73%

Percentage who has returned at least one result: 72%

Tests

Number of tests total (last 24 hours):18,765

Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 19,471

Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 9,832

Wastewater

No unusual detections to report.

NZ Covid Tracer

Poster scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,747,941

Manual diary entries in the 24 hours to midday: 45,837

My Vaccine Pass

My vaccine pass downloads total: 4,982,395

My vaccine pass downloads (last 24 hours): 9,407
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Tahlequah, OK (74464)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms likely - heavy rainfall is possible, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Showers and thunderstorms likely - heavy rainfall is possible, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected.
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Arayan5614 BHPian

Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Bangalore Posts: 40 Thanked: 120 Times

Tracing the owner of an abandoned car



About a year back a nice looking car - In a decent condition with no sign of accident or anything, gets parked roadside in our locality.







Call it unusual but I see cars like small babies and an object with its own personality and identity, something which must be treated with dignity



I noticed when this car didn't move the 2nd or 3rd day from the location and the place of parking wasn't next or any shop or resident.



Blue is my favourite colour and Chevy beat is one of the cars my extended family-owned and I absolutely loved it,



The cocktail of two had my attention in the first meeting





The time passed, it had been almost 30 days and the car remained there, I looked at the car from my balcony almost every day talking to my wife - Someone must be missing this car!



Sounds unusual but as if the car was looking at me with some expectations!



This was the time when the lockdown happened - Couldn't go near to the car and earlier I couldn't make a note of the registration number.



once lockdown was lifted I went to the car and took a couple of pics:







Sent the pics with details to the Bangalore police through Twitter - but till day there hasn't been any response from them

















Time passed and I thought since the number is of Maharashtra (thane) why not the state police of Maharashtra be contacted - guess what I did that too











No response from them too



Time flies - The road was getting widened and construction contractors ( my guess) moved the car down the road which is covered in thick grass now



In all this time - The car had lost wheels, glasses broken etc







Till today, I believe someone would have been missing this car somewhere!





@Team-bhp Folks, - is there a way we use our expertise and network to trace the owner of this sweet car and help this car reunite with its companion



isn't this car deserve better treatment Hi Folks,About a year back a nice looking car - In a decent condition with no sign of accident or anything, gets parked roadside in our locality.Call it unusual but I see cars like small babies and an object with its own personality and identity, something which must be treated with dignityI noticed when this car didn't move the 2nd or 3rd day from the location and the place of parking wasn't next or any shop or resident.Blue is my favourite colour and Chevy beat is one of the cars my extended family-owned and I absolutely loved it,The cocktail of two had my attention in the first meetingThe time passed, it had been almost 30 days and the car remained there, I looked at the car from my balcony almost every day talking to my wife - Someone must be missing this car!Sounds unusual but as if the car was looking at me with some expectations!This was the time when the lockdown happened - Couldn't go near to the car and earlier I couldn't make a note of the registration number.once lockdown was lifted I went to the car and took a couple of pics:Sent the pics with details to the Bangalore police through Twitter - but till day there hasn't been any response from themTime passed and I thought since the number is of Maharashtra (thane) why not the state police of Maharashtra be contacted - guess what I did that tooNo response from them tooTime flies - The road was getting widened and construction contractors ( my guess) moved the car down the road which is covered in thick grass nowIn all this time - The car had lost wheels, glasses broken etcTill today, I believe someone would have been missing this car somewhere!@Team-bhp Folks, - is there a way we use our expertise and network to trace the owner of this sweet car and help this car reunite with its companionisn't this car deserve better treatment Attached Thumbnails



Last edited by Arayan5614 : 28th January 2022 at 11:36 . Reason: Grammar correction
T-Mobile released a new COVID-19 policy that will remove unvaccinated employees. The telecom giant's human resource chief confirmed this detail by releasing an email message to all corporate workers on Friday, Jan. 27.

Many tech companies and organizations are still having a hard time during the ongoing pandemic. They are conducting safety measures to prevent further infections as the daily COVID-19 cases rise.

But, there are times when these firms are forced to require their employees to get vaccinated. Now, T-Mobile joins other tech firms that require their employees to get vaccinated.

T-Mobile's New COVID-19 Policy

According to Fox Business' latest report, T-Mobile's latest memo to its employees states that they need to get vaccinated. However, this requirement is not abrupt since they still have time to get their vaccine shots.

Also Read: AT&T and Dish Spent $12 Billion on 5G Auction | T-Mobile Also Wins

On the other hand, the email message doesn't state that they need to get "fully" vaccinated right away.

"Employees who have not yet taken action to receive their first dose and upload proof by February 21 will be placed on unpaid leave," said T-Mobile said via Business Insider.

This means they still have almost one month to set their vaccine appointment. Meanwhile, when it comes to full vaccination, the telecom giant said they still have until Apr. 2 to complete their vaccine shots.

Other Details of the New COVID-19 Policy

T-Mobile explained that although it requires employees working at offices to be fully vaccinated, it will still allow limited exceptions for certain locations, roles, and legally mandated accommodations exemptions.

Deeane King, the telecom firm's EVP and chief human resources officer, said he hopes that those who will be given unpaid leaves will soon be vaccinated so that they can return to their workplaces as soon as possible.

T-Mobile is not the only company in the U.S. requiring employees to get their vaccine shots. Nike recently announced a similar health policy.

In other news, BBB warns about some fake COVID-19 test websites since they can lead to massive scams and online data theft. Meanwhile, Singapore and Taiwan are now accepting each other's COVID-19 digital documents.

For more news updates about T-Mobile's COVID-19 policies and other related topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: T-Mobile Anti-Scam Initiative Blocks 21 Billion Spam Calls After Doubling in Numbers This 2021

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Russian crypto investors may need to pass some exams. As of the moment, government officials are already working on a new law that is expected to regulate the rising digital coins in the blockchain industry.

As of the moment, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies across the globe are being eyed by various governments in different countries to completely regulate digital tokens.

Now, Russia is taking a step further as lawmakers confirmed that a new law would soon fill the regulatory gaps in the blockchain market. Here are other things that could happen once this rule has been approved.

Russian Crypto Investors To Face Exams?

According to Bitcoin.Com's latest report, the upcoming legislation aims to provide special exams. Once they arrive, non-qualified crypto investors in the country must pass them.

Also Read: Is The Recent Crypto Price Crash A Sign For You To Invest Now? Here's What To Know

On the other hand, Russian lawmakers also explained that these tests will allow the interested cryptocurrency investors to purchase digital tokens with a total annual value of more than $7,700.

Meanwhile, Russia's Security and Anti-Corruption Committee Deputy Chair Andrey Lugovoy said that the new law would offer a tight crypto regulation.

Lugovoy added that the new cryptocurrency bill is expected to be presented in the State Duma during the lower house of parliament's spring session.

Other Crypto Restrictions

Aside from Russia, some Nigerian crypto accounts were blocked by Binance because of a security threat. Bloomberg reported that the restriction was conducted so that the users would comply with the country's anti-money laundering regulations.

Binance's decision will also ensure the platform's security to protect its traders.

"Protection mechanisms such as know your customer, anti-money laundering measures, collaboration with law enforcement, and account restrictions are in place," explained Binance.

In other news, Elon Musk promised McDonald's that he would eat a happy meal on TV once the food company accepted Dogecoin. Meanwhile, Facebook's crypto project is currently in trouble as its assets are sold off.

For more news updates about cryptocurrencies and other blockchain topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Crypto Prices Might Not Increase Even With Better Adoption Rates--Goldman Sach

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Four months after his cousin pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a 30-year prison term, a man who worked for a Highland Road couple will go on trial Monday in their 2015 beating, robbing, kidnapping and murder.

Ernesto Llerena Alonso faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of Denis "Bubbie" Duplantier, 71, and Suzanne "Suzy" Duplantier, 70.

Alonso, 48, did landscaping work for the couple and lived on other property owned by them.

His cousin, Frank Garcia, 54, of Hollywood, Florida, faced the same first-degree murder charges but pleaded guilty Sept. 29  moments after a jury was sworn in  to manslaughter counts and was sentenced to 30 years behind bars.

The victims' bodies were found Oct. 19, 2015, in the back seat of their red pickup at a Hammond gas station near Interstate 12. They had been strangled with zip ties.

Alonso's white pickup was captured on surveillance video as it followed the couples vehicle into the Petro truck stop, authorities have said. Alonsos truck was later discovered at Garcia's home in Florida.

Authorities have said the Duplantiers were robbed, beaten and killed in their Highland Road home, where they lived almost all of their 48 years of marriage.

The Duplantiers were reported missing by worried family members who hadnt had contact with them for more than a day. Baton Rouge police officers conducted a welfare check and found the door open to the couples Highland Road home. They and their red pickup were missing.

A safe inside the Duplantier home was found open, with cash missing, authorities have said. Blood was located in several rooms. Authorities believe Alonso and Garcia entered the couple's home and beat them to get the information needed to open the safe.

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

At Garcia's guilty plea hearing and sentencing, Prosecutor Dana Cummings revealed that $160,000 in cash, believed to have been stolen from the Duplantier home, as well as valuable coins and jewelry belonging to the couple, was found at Garcias home in Florida.

After Garcia pleaded guilty, Alonso's attorney, Dwight Doskey, said Alonso contends that "his limited participation came only after Franks actions surprised him, and then Frank threatened the lives of Ernesto and his family."

In the event the defense makes that argument to the jury, Cummings filed a motion Friday asking for a special jury instruction that the defense of coercion is not available to a defendant charged with murder in Louisiana.

Garcia's plea agreement with the state does not require him to testify against Alonso.

+4 Trial starts Monday in Highland Road couple's 2015 deaths; new revelations out this week Six years after the strangled bodies of a Baton Rouge couple in their 70s were found in the backseat of their pickup at a Hammond gas station,

Court documents say the residence of another man was searched by authorities. Baton Rouge police detective Zac Woodring could not remember the circumstances surrounding the search of that residence, but thought the man's name may have come up because of reports he had missing coins from the safe.

A state appeals court ruled in 2020 that Alonso and Garcia could receive a fair trial in East Baton Rouge Parish. The appellate court reversed state District Judge Trudy White, who had decided in 2019 that East Baton Rouge jurors should not hear the case.

Prosecutors announced in 2016 they would not seek the death penalty against either man after discussions with the victims' families.

+6 Death penalty not sought against two men accused of killing Highland Road couple during robbery, DA decides Family members of an elderly couple killed in their Highland Road home made a gut-wrenching decision after meeting with prosecutors over whe

State District Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts will preside over Alonso's trial.
When state lawmakers traveled to Lafayette for their redistricting roadshow, speaker after speaker had the same request: keep Senate District 22 intact.

Covering nearly all of Iberia and St. Martin parishes, the district, represented by Republican state Sen. Fred Mills, added about 500 people over the past decade. According to the U.S. census, it doesnt need to be significantly reworked to comply with population changes.

But passions were stirred ahead of the public hearing, after former state Sen. Troy Hebert, who is mulling a run for the seat, paid for an ad in The Teche News and The Daily Iberian, claiming that a plan had been hatched by the powers that be to split District 22 in half, diluting the influence of voters in St. Martin and Iberia parishes.

"Under this new district," the ad read, "the Senator will either come from Lafayette Parish or be beholden to Lafayette Parish."

The possibility of St. Martin Parish getting lumped in with Lafayette to its west, and Iberia Parish getting grouped with St. Mary Parish to its east, prompted outrage from residents and leaders in both parishes.

Whether its issues of drainage or public works, the two parishes often work together to go after funding, said Mills, R-Parks, adding that they are truly, truly linked together.

At the end of the day, Iberia Parish and St. Martin Parish are one in the same, said Iberia Parish President Larry Richard.

State Rep. Blake Miguez, an Erath Republican, told his colleagues it was upsetting to think that his hometown of Loreauville could be represented by a senator from Terrebonne Parish.

Theres a difference between growing up along the bayou, on the bayou, up the bayou and down the bayou, Miguez said. Theyre totally different and have unique needs.

After months of public testimony from cities across the state, legislators are convening Tuesday evening in Baton Rouge to adjust district lines to fit the latest census and ensure that there are roughly the same number of constituents in each of the districts that choose 105 state representatives, 39 state senators, 11 state school board members, five state utility regulators and, perhaps, seven state Supreme Court justices.

They have until Feb. 20 to complete their work but hope to finish by Saturday.

The census figures show an anemic population growth rate in Louisiana and underline a generalized trend over the past 40 years of people moving from north Louisiana to the south.

Minority populations over the past 10 years have grown by 432,916 people, or 23% statewide, while the White population has decreased by 6.3% and now accounts for about 57% of the states 4.6 million people. The number of Black people increased and now account for 33% of the population.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund Inc. and more than a dozen civil and human rights organizations point out that federal law requires the new election districts to account for this shift in demographics. Theyre looking for a second minority-majority congressperson, a third minority member on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, eight or so state representatives, and more state senators.

So many of our seats in this current map are safe. They lack competitiveness, said Peter Robbins Brown, the policy and advocacy director at Louisiana Progress. Fifty-two of the 144 legislative seats up in the 2019 elections were won because nobody challenged the incumbents.

There is such a lack of competition that people feel its not worth their time to run, Brown said. We end up in situation where people of goodwill are pulled to an extreme to protect themselves politically.

The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Half of the dozen Acadiana state Senate seats will need to find more constituents.

Thirteen House seats will need to pick up population in Acadiana, mostly in rural areas. Eleven Acadiana House seats will have to shed constituents. They are mostly in the majority-White sections of Lafayette and Calcasieu parishes.

Though Black population increases statewide, numbers decrease on legislative level State Rep. Sam Jenkins says his House district within the city of Shreveport is compact enough that he would have noticed stores closing and h

Reapportionment is a numbers game dictated by law, influenced by history and performed by politicians with a definite stake in its outcome. Its giant puzzle involving the movement of 3,934 precincts each representing a different demographic and different philosophies on politics, culture and life.

The law is at once clear  cant pick up your pencil when encircling the different precincts for districts that have an equal number of constituents in each  and muddy  cant dilute minority participation, as historically has been done, but need to keep communities of interest.

The headlines are about the possibility of a second congressional district with a Black majority based in Baton Rouge.

But significant redrawing of U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins 3rd Congressional District seat is likely as map drawers try to find enough constituents to fill in the decreased populations of U.S. Rep. Mike Johnsons 4th Congressional District, based in Shreveport, and Rep. Julia Letlows 5th Congressional District, based in Monroe.

Though both the 4th and 5th districts are based in the northern part of the state, which has lost about 80,000 residents during the past decade, they stretch deep into Acadiana.

The north lost population in the last census, too. But the Republican-majority Legislature in 2011 drew the districts to protect the GOP congresspeople from north Louisiana.

Interestingly, the 2011 maps gave St. Landry Parish three White Republican representatives in Congress. Only one White council member holds a government seat in the overwhelmingly Black town of Opelousas. St. Landry makes up about 5% of constituencies in the two north Louisiana congressional districts that are based more than 180 miles away and less than a half of 1% of Higgins district, though Lafayette and Opelousas are only 25 miles apart.

Mark Ballard: Keeping 'communities of interest' will be the big fight over redistricting For years, White legislators have neutered minority participation in Louisiana politics and that needs to be corrected, at least so say the NA

The president of St. Landry Parish, Jessie Bellard, said with the parish split among five House districts, four Senate districts and three congressional districts, its hard to get the attention needed to get things done on a local level.

Leave some meat on the bone for someone else, Bellard said. Its not fair to my parish to have all these little pieces cut out.

Ironically, one of the districts most affected by the shift in population from farm to town is the state representative in charge of redistricting for the House.

Crowley Republican Rep. John Stefanski, who chairs the House and Governmental Affairs Committee, represents House District 42, which has 37,368 people  6,992 shy of the necessary population for a House seat.

Acadia Parishs 5,700 residents is 7% less than in the last census. Lafayette Parishs population, on the other hand, grew 9% to about 250,000 residents. The mostly rural District 42 will have to pick up population from nearby urban districts to reach the legal requirement.

Theres an argument to be made that if you live in a rural community, you feel like youve been evaporated. There is a strong sentiment to make sure rural communities have a strong identity, Stefanski said. Every district is going to have to change, and every member needs to be expecting that change.
In a file photo, then-House Clerk Butch Speer, right, chats with the late Senate Secretary Glenn Koepp as the pair wait for the joint session opening the 2018 Legislature. They were redistricting experts for the Legislature, which again must draw new district lines.
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My doctor told me I wasnt depressed, but I counterargued that I was anxious. He suggested therapy while I introduced the idea of valium. He said that pregnant women dont take valium, and what did I think I needed it for? I told him we were one year into a global pandemic, my debut novel was about to be released, and I was due to give birth. Congratulations, he said, and I left with a referral for six sessions of therapy.

In the therapists office, I sat on a stiff chair and told her I was open to valium if she thought it was a good idea, but she remained silent. I said that when I signed the publishing contract, it felt like the eye of luck had opened, and shone the precious light of legitimacy over me. Finally, I wasnt an unemployed pregnant person bobbing aimlessly through life, I was a novelist. I tried to explain to her that as good as this was, I still felt the need to read every review of my book. She put her pen down and frowned. That doesnt seem to be coming from a place of love, she said.

Australian author Ella Baxter, whose debut novel is New Animal. Credit:Keith Little

I couldnt decide whether I liked this novel or not. Three stars.

The eye of luck stayed open, which meant cases were down and my book launch could go ahead. I bought an aqua coloured 70s sparkling pantsuit to wear, but in front of the linen literary crowd, it made me feel too bold and flammable. Twenty minutes in, I disassociated like a shucked oyster from nerves and spent the rest of the evening floating between the industrial fans of the bar. Occasionally, I was pulled back to earth by someone trying to touch the fabric of my outfit.

No plot. Two stars.

The eye of luck blinked closed, and all book launches moved to Zoom. Most people kept their cameras on throughout, but as the pandemic raged, and the fatigue of being perceived online set in, many chose to take the form of a black square. I watched as authors released books that contained years and years of meticulous effort and time, and I softly applauded them from the dark, welcoming their beloved work into the world.
Sunbury Pop Festival. Fans leave with their belongings at the end of the festival, February 1972 Credit:Age Archives

One of the main things making Sunbury a success is the good music coming from some of the bands, the excellent programming and lack of delay in getting groups on stage.

It has to be good music to keep 35,000 people happy, interested and on their feet dancing and clapping along.

First published in The Age on January 31, 1972

On Saturday, the audience was treated to the new music of the McKenzie Theory, who are doing interesting things  especially with the imaginative extra of a violin.

The Indelible Murtceps roused the crowd and had the days first demand for an encore with their tight rock and roll.

Some Good Advice  with the marvellous rave in the middle  proved to be one of their best crowd-movers.

The driving music of Friends  a group of good musicians serving the crazy talents of vocalist Le De Castro was another of Saturdays highlights.

In their fast-moving set they included some of the good old rockers  Lucille, Tutti Frutti and Be Bop A Lula  which delighted the audience and had them yelling for more.
This week, students return en masse and on schedule to state and other schools in Victoria after two years of interrupted learning.

Despite the ongoing pandemic and new daily case numbers in the thousands, the return to school is necessary for young Australians, their exhausted parents, and for the economy.

Many groups have suffered disproportionately through the pandemic, none more so than our kids who have endured previously unimaginable disruption to their formal education, their emotional wellbeing, their socialisation and their friendships.

Victoria and NSW adopted nearly identical back to school policies to ensure children could return to class at the start of term 1. Credit:Quentin Jones

Two surveys of parents by the Royal Childrens Hospital in Melbourne in 2020 found students suffered substantial mental health impacts from remote learning.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will promise a cash bonus worth up to $400 to more than 200,000 aged care workers in a speech on Tuesday that seeks to address frustration in the community over the Omicron coronavirus outbreak over summer.

The government will announce two bonus payments of up to $400 for aged care staff, to be paid on a pro-rata basis for hours worked.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The first payment will come this month and the second in early May in a sequence that coincides with the Coalitions effort to lift its political fortunes before the election due in May.

Mr Morrison will announce the bonuses in a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday along with a message about the disruption to Australians over the summer and a discussion about lessons learned, according to those drafting the speech.

The move comes after Labor leader Anthony Albanese called in his interview on the ABCs Insiders program on Sunday for a pay rise for aged care staff and tougher regulation so that every nursing home had a nurse.

The move replicates a $393 million program earlier in the pandemic to give bonus payments to aged care workers in government subsidised home care and to aged care workers providing direct care, food or cleaning services in government subsidised residential care.

Labor has not revealed how much it would offer aged care workers if it formed government but Mr Albanese said on Sunday that higher wages were one of the two key changes needed in the sector, along with stronger regulation.

We still dont have a commitment to have a nurse in a nursing home. We still dont have a commitment to increase numbers of other care workers in aged care, he said of government policies on Insiders on Sunday.

And we still dont have a commitment to increases in wages and conditions so that aged care facilities are able to attract the staff.
NSW has reported 13,026 new COVID-19 cases and 27 deaths, as Treasurer Matt Kean urged the federal government to lead the countrys economic management and not outsource it to the states and territories.

There are 2779 COVID-19 patients in NSW hospitals, including 185 in intensive care. The figure is up by three on those in ICU on Sunday, when NSW Health also reported 52 deaths.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has repeated his calls for the Commonwealth government to provide small business support. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Of the new cases, 5664 were detected from rapid antigen tests and 7362 from PCR swabs.

NSW Health said that 2000 positive PCR tests from Sydneys north, recorded between December 25 and January 6, had been added to the tally after they were not reported previously.
The education state still has more international secondary students than the rest of Australia, although numbers have dived during COVID from almost 9000 in late 2019 to just over 4800 late last year. Victorian government schools accredited to teach international students  more than 100 secondary and 50 primary schools  were forced to suspend new intakes last year as the state battled coronavirus outbreaks. There are now about 3300 international students enrolled in government schools. Tuition fees for international students at state schools this year range from $12,628 for primary students to $18,819 for year 11 and 12. Home-stay fees range from $200 to $370 a week, according to government documents. Students can also study online in terms 1 and 2 before flying to Australia later this year.

Phil Honeywood, of the International Education Association of Australia, said new arrivals were crucial and schools and governments really need to ensure that we tick all the boxes to address the challenges they will face. This will include finding sufficient home-stay families, overcoming some vaccine protocols [for under-18s], and ensuring they dont start the school year late because of the shortage of commercial flights. But Tracey OHalloran, who runs Australian Education Assessment Services  which helps schools market themselves overseas and conducts tests of international students  is downbeat about a quick rebound. The school sector will take time to recover, possibly four to five years, she said.

Loading Parents of school-age students will take time to feel confident again to send the child overseas while there is still uncertainty. But we are hoping it will be much sooner. Throughout COVID, dozens of the states most expensive private schools have pleaded for the urgent return of international students. Among them is Oakleigh Grammar, which has 20 international students this year, down from 50 before the pandemic. Principal Mark Robertson said 10 students had stayed in Australia throughout the pandemic, five had moved from other schools that had shut their international student programs, and the remaining five had flown in over the summer, predominantly from Cambodia.

Loading COVID has also stretched Victorias boarding schools, which have become increasingly reliant on international students relative to regional and rural Australians. Many have kept their doors open over the past two years to look after students who were unable to return to their home countries. Katherine Tong, boarding captain at Burwood girls school PLC, has not seen her family in China for 842 days (as of Thursday). She said the boarding house had become a home away from home. While I cant see my real family, my friends and all the staff are really nice, so I feel Ive found a second home in Australia, the 17-year-old said.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has fired a broadside at the Prime Minister and Treasurer for not stepping up to contribute to a billion-dollar program to help the states small businesses hit by the impact of the Omicron outbreak that cruelled consumer confidence over summer.

As officials flagged that COVID-related deaths would remain high for weeks, the NSW government on Sunday detailed a package to cover 20 per cent of the payroll of small businesses with turnover under $50 million that suffered a 40 per cent decline over January.

But Mr Kean took aim at Scott Morrison and his Treasurer for not signing up to the scheme.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (right) and NSW Treasurer Matt Kean arrive at a COVID-19 update. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Im very disappointed, I was hoping to make this announcement standing next to the Prime Minister today and the Treasurer [Josh] Frydenberg, Mr Kean said. But theyre not to be found.
The eye-watering earnings paint a picture of Bartys dominance on her way to her third career major.

Barty earned $2.875 million for her win in the final on Saturday night, and spent just 453 minutes on court in her seven matches across the last fortnight.

As Ash Barty swept all before her on her way to a maiden Australian Open title, she earned a remarkable rate of $6346 per minute.

Before she was forced to fight from 1-5 down in the second set against Danielle Collins, Barty had barely been tested in any of her six matches on her way to the final.

In beating Collins, Barty became the first Australian Open womens singles winner with 30 or fewer games dropped en route to the title since Mary Pierce in 1995.

She also kept her perfect record in grand slam finals alive. Barty is three from three, joining Naomi Osaka, Jennifer Capriati and Virginia Wade as the only three women with a minimum of three major titles to never trip up in the final.

Barty had only been broken once before facing Collins, and finished with three total breaks of serve conceded.

Thats the fewest for a grand slam winner since 2016.
Rafael Nadals victory speech, he started with saying good morning to the crowd:

I know it is a tough moment. Daniil, you are an amazing champion. I have been in this position a couple of times in this tournament, having chances to have the trophy with me, but I dont have any doubt that you have this trophy a couple of times in your career because you are amazing. So I want to congratulate you and all of your team and family for everything.

Rafael Nadal. Credit:AP

It has been one of the most emotional matches of my tennis career and to share the court with you is just an honour. So all of the best in the future.

I even dont know what to say, guys. It is just amazing. A month-and-a-half ago I didnt know if I would be back on the tour playing tennis again and today I am here in front of all of you having this trophy with me and you having this trophy with me and you dont know how much I fought to be here. I cant thank enough all of the support I received since I arrived here. You are just amazing. Thank you for the love and the support.

This is probably one of the most emotional ones in my tennis career and having the huge support that I received during the three weeks, it is just going to stay in my heart for the rest of my life. So many, many thanks.

I honestly cant thank enough all of the guys that are there. All of the team, all of the family. Part of the family are not here, part of the team are not here. You know how hard it has been the last year-and-a-half and in the low moments, you have been there in every single moment to support and without you guys, nothing would be possible, so thank you very much for everything.

One more time I will say, maybe, that is a chance that is my last Australian Open, but now I have energy to keep on going. So thank you very much! I really cant explain the feelings that I have right now, but I am going to keep trying my best to keep coming next year.
Washington: No one should underestimate former president Donald Trumps standing within the Republican Party, especially the passionate allegiance of a substantial part of the GOP base. But there are signs that, since the assault on the Capitol last year, his support within the party may not be quite what it was.

The suggestion that he has slipped comes with a sizable caveat. Majorities of Republicans have bought into Trumps false claims about the 2020 election. A Washington Post-University of Maryland survey, completed at the end of last year, found that more than 6 in 10 Republicans said there is solid evidence that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Nearly 6 in 10 say President Joe Bidens election was not legitimate.

Former president Donald Trump speaks to thousands of supporters at an outdoor rally in Florence, Arizona earlier this month. Credit:The Washington Post/Melina Mara

More Republicans say they want Trump to run again in 2024 than say they want another candidate. Its not clear how widespread the enthusiasm for another Trump presidential campaign really is. But its even less clear that there is any Republican who could deny him the nomination, at least as things now stand.

Still, the Donald Trump of 2022 does not look quite like the Donald Trump of old. One indication of this change came with the release of a new poll from NBC News. Over the course of Trumps presidency and since he left office, the poll has tracked attitudes of Republicans, asking them whether they see themselves mainly as supporters of Trump or mainly supporters of the party itself.
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"Vamos a priorizar las necesidades de esta provincia como la construccion de hospitales. Los servicios del Estado tienen que estar al alcance de todos", resalto el presidente @PedroCastilloTe durante su encuentro con la poblacion de Caballococha, region Loreto. pic.twitter.com/ZzqMs4qt35
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The Edge Tries: Bondi Sands Everyday Skincare range

Life is expensive AF, so let us tell you if this stuff is worth your cash.
A Yemeni boy poses with a Kalashnikov assault rifle during a gathering of newly recruited Houthi fighters in the capital Sanaa, to mobilize more fighters to battlefronts in the war against pro-government forces in several Yemeni cities, on July 16, 2017. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

2,000 Child Soldiers Recruited by Yemens Houthi Rebels Died Fighting: UN Report

U.N. experts said in a new report that nearly 2,000 child soldiers recruited by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen died on the battlefield between January 2020 and May 2021, and the Houthis continue to hold camps and courses encouraging youngsters to fight.

In the report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Jan. 29, the experts said they investigated some summer camps in schools and a mosque where the Houthis, also known as the Yemeni Shiite rebels, disseminated their ideology and sought to recruit children to fight in their seven-year war against Yemens internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

The children are instructed to shout the Houthi slogan Death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam, the four-member panel of experts said. In one camp, children as young as 7 years of age were taught to clean weapons and evade rockets.

The experts said they documented 10 cases where children were taken to fight after being told they would be enrolled in cultural courses or were already taking such courses, nine cases where humanitarian aid was provided or denied to families solely on the basis whether their children participated in fighting or to teachers on the basis of whether they taught the Houthi curriculum, and one case where sexual violence was committed against a child who underwent military training.

The panel said it received a list of 1,406 children recruited by the Houthis who died on the battlefield in 2020 and a list of 562 children recruited by the rebels who died on the battlefield between January and May 2021.

They were aged between 10 and 17 years old, the experts said, and a significant number of them were killed in Amran, Dhamar, Hajjah, Hodeida, Ibb, Saada, and Sanaa.

An armed Yemeni youth, loyal to the Shiite Muslim Houthi movement that controls Sanaa, sits amid the rubble on Dec. 5, 2014, guarding the damaged house of the Iranian ambassador in the Yemeni capital, which was targeted by a car bomb earlier in the week. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Yemen has been engulfed in civil war since 2014 when the Houthis took Sanaa, the capital, and much of the northern part of the country, forcing the internationally recognized government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened against the Houthi movement in 2015, backed at the time by the United States, seeking to restore the government to power. But the conflict, which has become a regional proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has stalemated for years and killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, mostly civilians. Millions are suffering from food and medical care shortages, and the country remains on the brink of famine.

In February 2020, the Biden administration removed the Houthis from the U.S. foreign terrorist watch list and announced it was ending support for the Saudi-led coalitions operations in the region amid outcry, with progressive advocacy groups and legacy media mainly focusing on Saudi Arabias contribution to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

In recent weeks, shifting front lines on the ground have resulted in escalating attacks from the Houthis following gains by UAE-backed forces in the contested province of Marib, which the Houthis have been trying to take for more than a year. Coalition airstrikes followed two Houthi attacks inside the UAE using missiles and drones, killing three in strikes near the Abu Dhabi international airport.

The panel of experts said the Houthis have continued their aerial and maritime attacks on Saudi Arabia, with targets close to the border most at risk and usually attacked several times per week with a combination of unmanned drones and short-range artillery rockets. But the rebels also continue to strike deep inside Saudi Arabia less frequently using longer-range drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, they said.

In the Red Sea, the experts said, waterborne improvised explosive devices were used to attack commercial vessels at anchor in Saudi ports, in some cases more than 1,000 kilometers from Yemeni shores. It appears almost certain that those devices were launched from a mothership, which would have towed the devices for most of the journey, they said.

The purpose of these attacks was primarily political, i.e. the Houthis want to push Riyadh towards accepting a political settlement beneficial to them, the experts said. This contrasts sharply with the use of missiles and un-crewed aerial vehicles within Yemen, the aim of which is often to attain maximum lethality.

The 303-page report said violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are the norm rather than the exception in the Yemen conflict, citing arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, and ill-treatment committed by all parties.

Migrants continue to be particularly vulnerable to abuses and human rights violations, the experts said, and in Houthi-controlled areas, detention and the judicial system are used to quell any opposition or perceived dissent, especially by journalists, women and religious minorities.

The annual U.N. report, covering the year to Dec. 5, 2021, said the Houthis and paramilitary forces loyal to them continue to violate a U.N. arms embargo.

Most types of un-crewed aerial vehicles, waterborne improvised explosive devices and short-range rockets are assembled in Houthi-controlled areas using locally available materials, as well as commercial components, such as engines and electronics, which are sourced from abroad using a complex network of intermediaries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the panel said.

The experts said evidence shows that weapons components and other military equipment continue to be supplied overland to the Houthi forces by individuals and entities based in Oman.

Oman, which borders Yemen, remains neutral in the war and is the only regional country other than Iran to maintain relations with the Houthis.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthis in violation of the arms embargo. The experts reported the seizure of some Iranian-made weapons, but the Iranian regime continues to deny any involvement in providing weapons to the rebels.

The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
"Huacho es un pueblo historico. Han pasado 200 anos de vida republicana y tenemos pueblos sin agua. Por ello, asumimos una responsabilidad conjunta que garantice el desarrollo de Lima provincias", manifesto el presidente @PedroCastilloTe en su visita al puerto de esta ciudad. pic.twitter.com/zAQCGcNWSo
NYPD officers assemble at St. Patricks Cathedral in NYC for the wake of fallen PO Jason Rivera on Jan. 27, 2022. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times)

Actress Fired After Viral Criticism Over Street Closures for Killed NYPD Officers Funeral

A New York City actress was fired from her job after she posted a video complaining about street closures during the funeral of slain NYPD officer Jason Rivera, said her former employer.

In a now-deleted video, actress Jacqueline Guzman was allegedly seen criticizing the NYPD for the massive funeral by claiming they are blocking streets.

We do not need to shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly. They kill people who are under 22 every single day for no good reason and we dont shut down the city for them, Guzman appeared to say on TikTok as she was walking down an empty street, according to the New York Post.

The woman then added, What if somebody is having a heart attack in this area. Nobody can get to them because its all blocked off for one [expletive] cop.

Guzmans employer, Face to Face Films, confirmed that the woman in the video was Guzman and said that it terminated her employment.

Face to Face Films has just been made aware of an insensitive video involving one of our members, Jacqueline Guzman. Face to Face Films does not support nor can condone these comments made about fallen Officer Rivera. As a result, she is no longer a member of our company, Face to Face Films confirmed on its Facebook page over the weekend.

On Face to Faces website, a now-deleted page said that Guzman is a Cuban-American actress based in New York City, originally from Florida. Anthony Laura, the founder of Face to Face, told the New York Post that Guzman was a film and theater actress.

And the womans now-viral comment drew the ire of a top NYPD union official, Pat Lynch, who issued a statement.

New Yorkers turned out by the thousands yesterday to help us honor our fallen brother. One person spreading hate cannot erase that. This kind of garbage has polluted the conversation for far too long, Lynch said in a statement in an apparent reference to leftist rhetoric against police officers. We need the New Yorkers who are standing with us to speak up and push back.

Although Guzman appeared to have deleted the video from her social media, it was saved and later re-uploaded elsewhere online. Her TikTok account was also made private.

Rivera, who was 22, had only been a police officer for about a year when he and his NYPD partner, Wilbert Mora, were ambushed by a gunman in Harlem earlier in January. Lashawn McNeil, 47, allegedly shot and killed both Rivera and Mora following a 911 call over a family dispute, officials said.

Another woman with the name Jacqueline Guzman, who also runs a TikTok account, meanwhile, pleaded with angry social media users to stop messaging her and threatening her. She said that she has been mistakenly and maliciously targeted by social media users, adding that she doesnt agree with the other Jacqueline Guzmans rhetoric about police.

My name is Jacqueline Michelle Guzman. I am a 25-year-old gymnastics coach and a business owner, the Long Island woman said in a video. This video is to clarify that I am not the Jacqueline Guzman in that videothat awful video. I have been receiving multiple calls and messages and many threats.

She added: Please stop targeting me and attacking me. I personally cannot handle it.

In another social media post, Guzman and her sister added: Please note that we have been mistakenly & maliciously tagged in a hateful post  to be clear that is not either of us, nor are we affiliated with that post. We support all law enforcement in our community. We do not align with her messaging, we find it despicable.
The U.S. Department of Justice is seen in Washington, on June 11, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

American Mom, School Teacher Was a Battalion Leader for ISIS, Prosecutors Allege

Federal authorities arrested a former Kansas school teacher and mother of five and charged her with plotting terrorist attacks on American soil, including a shopping mall and a college campus.

Allison Elizabeth Fluke-Ekren, 42, was apprehended in Syria late Thursday, according to a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.

Fluke-Ekren began her stint as a terrorist shortly after leaving the U.S. in 2008, according to the DOJ. In a statement released Friday on Fluke-Ekrens arrest and extradition back to the U.S., the DOJ detailed her intense involvement with the ISIS terrorist group over the course of three years.

Fluke-Ekren allegedly served as a leader of an all-women military battalion of ISIS known as Khatiba Nusayba.

Six eyewitnesses gave detailed accounts to U.S. federal agents of Fluke-Ekrens alleged terrorist activity starting in 2016, which was about eight years after she moved to the Middle East. One of the witnesses described Fluke-Ehrens alleged plot to park a vehicle full of explosives in the basement or parking garage level at a U.S. shopping mall and detonate the explosives in the vehicle using a cell phone with a triggering device.

One witness said that the former Kansas school teacher fantasized about large-scale attacks and only considered a location a good one for the attack if it contained large amounts of congregating people.

According to another eyewitness account, Fluke-Ekren said she considered any attack that did not kill a large number of individuals to be a waste of resources and campaigned for attacks to occur on American soil.

Fluke-Ekrens battalion, which included young children, was trained in the handling of AK-47s, grenades, and improvised explosive devices. They were also taught how to prep a go bag with rifles and other military supplies.

The DOJ also had information that members of the all-women ISIS group often expressed they were especially proud to have an American leading them.

Under the blog entitled 4kansaskids.blogspot.com, Fluke-Ekren wrote about family exploits in the Middle East before joining ISIS. There are several pictures of her, her first husband, and her children riding camels. Posts dating back to Christmas day in 2008 by friends include well wishings and hugs to the kids.

Everyone asks about you here in Wichita and KC, wrote one friend. Take care and I hope to read much, much more about your adventures!!!!

Fluke-Ekren replied back stating Please give everyone in both places my best regards and salaams.

Several new posts now appear on her blog with a very different tone. One person wrote just yesterday When you were planning to put a bomb under a shopping mall, did you think of the kids that would be murdered? Kids like your kids?

The blog posts predate the birth of her fifth child, who is believed, based on information from the DOJ, to be around 13. Her other children would be young adults.

Terrorism appears to have become a family affair, replacing camel-riding activity with toting AK-47s. According to one witness in the federal complaint, one of Fluke-Ekrens children, estimated to be about 5 or 6 years old, was seen outside the family home in Syria toting one of the gas-fueled assault weapons. Fluke-Ekrens American husband died in 2016 while leading ISIS snipers in an airstrike. She remarried a Bangladeshi described as a prominent ISIS leader.

According to the federal complaint against her, the ISIS battalion led by the American mom included children about the age of her children seen in pictures on her blog.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, if convicted, the maximum prison sentence faced by Fluke-Ekren is 20 years.

Her arraignment is scheduled for Monday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Eastern District of Virginia federal courthouse in Alexandria. Under federal sentencing guidelines, if convicted, the maximum prison sentence faced by Fluke-Ekren is 20 years.

Update: Fluke-Ekren appeared in court on Jan. 31 for a brief hearing. She did not enter a plea. Judge Ivan Davis ordered her held without bail until a detention hearing, which is to take place on Feb. 4.

Joseph King of the Alexandria law firm King, Campbell, Poretz, and Mitchell was named as Fluke-Ekrens attorney at the hearing. King did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times about the case. King and his law firm have represented several high-profile criminal cases in the Washington DC area including serial killer Charles Severances case.

U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh told Judge Davis today during the hearing that Fluke-Ekrens adult children as well as her parents have requested to have no contact with her.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss arrives for a Cabinet meeting at Number 10 Downing Street in London, on Jan. 25, 2022. (Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)

British Troops Very Unlikely to Fight in Ukraine: Foreign Secretary

Britains Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said it is very unlikely for British troops to get involved in fighting in Ukraine, though she said the UK government believes a Russian invasion is highly likely.

Asked on the BBCs Sunday Morning programme if she could rule out a scenario with British soldiers on the ground in Ukraine during a possible conflict with Russia, Truss said, Thats very unlikely, adding that Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has been clear about that.

She said, This is about making sure that the Ukrainian forces have all the support we can give them, whether its intelligence support, whether its cyber support, whether its defensive weapons, which we have been supplying into Ukraine.

A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea on Jan. 18, 2022. (AP Photo)

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also said the alliance has no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to Ukraine.

Stoltenberg emphasised the difference between NATO allies and NATO partners when it comes to protecting countries against specific threats.

He told the BBC: For all NATO allies, we provide 100 percent security guarantees, meaning that if one ally is attacked, that will trigger a response from the whole alliance. One for all, all for one, which is the core message of NATO.

For Ukraine, a partner, we provide support and also send the message that there will be heavy economic sanctions if Russia uses force again, he said.

Truss told the BBC that the UK government believes it is highly likely that Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to invade Ukraine.

Therefore, she said, the UK is doing all we can through deterrence and diplomacy to urge him to desist.

She said Britain is also supplying and offering extra support to Baltic states, stressing that the UK is the largest contributor to NATO in Europe and the largest European NATO supporter of troops and defences in Europe.

Truss said the UK is strengthening its sanctions regime. We are going to be introducing new legislation so that we can hit targets including those who are key to the Kremlins continuation and the continuation of the Russian regime, she said.

Talking to Sky News earlier, Truss said Nord Stream 2, a planned gas pipeline which would run from Russia to Europe across the Baltic Sea and bypass an existing pipeline running through Ukraine and Belarus, should be halted if Russia invades Ukraine.

We cannot favour short-term economic interests over the long-term survival of freedom and democracy in Europe. Thats the tough decision all of us have got to make, she told the Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme.

PA Media contributed to this report.
A cargo ship moves towards the Bayonne Bridge as it heads into port in Bayonne, N.J., on Oct. 13, 2021. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Can Modern Supply-Side Economics Build Back Better?

Commentary

Traditional supply-side economic policies stimulated U.S. growth to such an extent that by 1906, U.S. workers became the richest workers in the world, a trend that continues to this day.

Recently, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen proposed relabeling President Bidens Build Back Better policies as modern supply-side economics.

Modern supply side economics seeks to spur economic growth by both boosting labor supply and raising productivity, while reducing inequality and environmental damage, she said.

Yellen wrongly said Bidens modern supply-side strategy is superior to traditional supply-side economics, which stresses limited government spending, cuts in regulatory burdens, and lower tax rates. Traditional supply-side policies have failed to produce their promised benefits, she said.

Lets examine the history of traditional supply-side economics and consider the extent to which it has failed to produce its promised benefits. Then lets look at the history of the Biden administrations progressive policies, which Yellen has relabeled modern supply-side economics.

The Real History

The United States was founded on traditional supply-side policies designed to provide individuals with maximum freedom over their economic lives. These were the policies promoted by Adam Smith, the 18th-century classical economist and author of The Wealth of Nations. Smith said countries enjoy the greatest prosperity when they adopt low tax rates, limit government spending and regulations, allow markets to respond freely to supply and demand, provide a stable monetary policy, and follow the rule of law to protect people and their property from others, including the government.

It was these policies that led to U.S. workers surpassing those in the UK in 1906 to become the richest in the world. In the 115 years from 1900 to 2015, average worker real take-home pay increased by 211 percent. Today, U.S. workers remain the most prosperous workers of any major country in the world. Countries with less economic freedom than the United States, such as Japan, China, and most of Europe, all have living standards well below those of the United States.

Countries with the least economic freedom produce abject poverty. Individuals will risk their lives in an effort to escape to U.S. freedom and prosperity.

Although the United States has a relatively high level of economic freedom, weve moved far from Adam Smiths ideal of low tax rates and minimum government interference. The move away from free-market classical economic principles wasnt a steady one.

My book, Rich Nation, Poor Nation, presents the history of U.S. economic policies from 1900 to 2015. Since 1900, there were only 50 years when economic policies clearly moved in the direction of traditional supply-side economics. By contrast, there were 52 years when policies were moving away from these free-market classical principles. The remaining years, 1940 to 1953, involve policy moves back and forth in response to wartime conditions. As a result, policies during this time werent consistent with a clear policy alternative.

Yellen said traditional supply-side policies failed to produce promised benefits. However, during the 50 years when U.S. policies clearly followed free market classical principles, our country enjoyed its greatest progress. Almost all of the 211 percent increase in average worker real take-home pay, 87 percent, occurred during these 50 years. The remainder occurred from 1940 to 1953, when there was no clear move in one policy direction or the other.

I chose to label moves away from traditional supply-side policies progressive economic policies. During these progressive policy years, there were rapid increases in federal spending and regulations, controls over markets, and increases in tax rates.

The first such period came from 1913 to 1920. President Woodrow Wilson, the father of progressive policies, promised to replace the free markets with active government action. His intent was to make the economy more productive and prosperous, as well as reduce inequality. Wilsons policies involved sharp increases in the money supply, rapid increases in government spending and burdensome regulations, wage and price controls, and tax increases intended for businesses and the rich.

Instead of real take-home pay rising at its prior rate of close to 2 percent per year, Wilsons progressive experiment ended with gains of a mere 0.07 percent per year, a half percentage point over seven years. The policies created such havoc that the public responded in 1920 by throwing those responsible out of office.

Newly elected leaders reinstated classical economic principles. From 1920 to 1929, there were major reductions in tax rates, federal spending, and regulations. Average real take-home pay increased by 1.7 percent per year. The period became known as the Roaring Twenties.

In what has been a pattern, the next shift to progressive policies began in 1929, under Republican President Herbert Hoover. Hoover was enamored with such progressive ideas as increasing government spending and using government intervention to control the economy. His moves to place high tariffs on international trade and increase federal spending and taxes created economic carnage.

In 1932, voters responded by putting the original progressives back in power. Their policies extended the depression to the end of the decade. Although real after-tax wages rose by 1.4 percent per year from 1929 to 1940 there was a major increase in poverty due to high unemployment during the period now known as the Great Depression.

The remaining periods of progressive policies were also very disappointing. These moves in 19651981, 19881995, and 20042015 all failed. The annual change in average workers real take-home pay was negative 0.7 percent, negative 0.5 percent, and 0.06 percent, respectively.

The first line in the chart shows years when U.S. policies moved clearly in the direction of traditional supply-side policies. The third line shows years when U.S. policies moved clearly in the direction of progressive policies. The percentage changes below each period show the change in average take-home pay per year during those periods. (ClassicalPrinciples.com)

Progressive Policy Legacy

During the entire 52 years when progressive policies were clearly in effect, average worker take-home pay failed to increase. It was the only extended period in U.S. history when the greatest country in the world failed to provide its workers with any increase in living standards. As great as the U.S. economy is, when we adopted policies similar to those found in underdeveloped nations, it has behaved like the economy of an underdeveloped nation.

Changing the label on failed policies doesnt change those policies any more than putting lipstick on a pig makes it pretty. The historical record is clear. Whatever we choose to call them, whenever the United States has followed policies to increase federal spending, regulations, and tax rates, the result has been economic failure. So long as U.S. policies move in the direction of those favored by the Biden administration, the recent decline in real wages will continue, followed by economic stagnation and a recession.

In order to reignite U.S. potential, it will be necessary to return to free-market classical policies. Specifically, we must reduce the growth in government spending and regulatory burdens; eliminate government controls over energy, labor, and health markets; adopt a more stable monetary policy; and lower taxes to prevent built-in automatic increases.

The history of the past 100 years provides encouraging news. Todays destructive economic policies are nothing new. Weve endured their ill effects before. Each time weve recovered. We can do it again. Traditional supply-side policies have stood the test of time. Their proven effectiveness will end the current economic turmoil, raise living standards, and allow the United States to resume its unprecedented history of prosperity.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 22, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Cartels Have Operational Control of US Border, Are Terrorizing the US, Rep. Chip Roy Says

Mexican cartels are making billions of dollars from drug trafficking, human smuggling, and exploiting the U.S. border, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said.

Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 1.3 million illegal immigrants crossing into Texas from Mexico in 2021, while hundreds of thousands more werent captured. Seizures of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl have sharply increased, as have overdose deaths in the United States.

We have 100,000 Americans die from opioid poisonings. Theyre not really overdosestheyre poisonings, Roy told NTDs Capitol Report on Jan. 28.

China is moving it through Mexico, cartels are making money, China is getting empowered, Americas getting hammeredall because this administration refuses to do its job of securing the border.

The chemicals to make fentanyl are produced in China and shipped to Mexico, where counterfeit pills are manufactured, heroin is spiked, and other products are laced before being sent across the southern border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a 1,066 percent increase in fentanyl seized at South Texas ports of entry during fiscal year 2021.

The cartels, which fight over the lucrative territory that abuts the United States, have expanded their reach, profits, and power through a massive increase in human smuggling and trafficking over the past year.

They often send large groups through in one area of the border to tie up Border Patrol resources, which leaves nearby areas unpatrolled and open for illicit transport, said Rodney Scott, former U.S. Border Patrol chief.

They simply overwhelm agents with those massive numbers, and that creates other areas where theres no law enforcement at all, Scott told Capitol Report on Dec. 16.

Thats where theyre bringing the narcotics, the criminal aliens, the people that want to avoid arrest for whatever reason, and theyre just pouring across at will. This is a crisis, and it is real.

Illegal immigrants have to pay a cartel to cross into the United States, and the amount varies based on country of origin and destination in the United States. Often, the illegal immigrant doesnt have the money and will enter the United States indebted to the cartel.

These are human beings. They are put into the labor or sex trafficking trade and theyre basically held as slaves to enrich the worst elements of our societycartels, but also just illegal illicit organizations that are perfectly happy to use the cartel network to get the people that theyre going to abuse. Its absolutely horrific, Roy said.

One boy thought he was paying $4,000 to go pick grapes in California. Instead, he was going to be held for ransom in a stash house in Houston.

Recently, eight illegal immigrants were discovered in a vehicle in Boerne, Texas, just north of San Antonio.

The driver of the car was an American citizen employee of one of those cartels, moving those eight peopletwo of whom were bound in the trunkheading to a stash house in Houston, Roy said.

How is the most powerful nation in the history of the world allowing our borders to be operationally controlled by cartels, while Democrats pat themselves on the back for compassion, using asylum as an excuse for wide-open borders that do nothing good for the American people?

Roy has introduced a bill that seeks to designate two cartels as terrorist organizations in the past two congressional legislative sessions.

The bill directs the State Department to designate the Reynosa/Los Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel and the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas as foreign terrorist organizations. It also requires the State Department to produce a report on those cartels, as well as any others that meet the criteria.

The bill has the support of 45 co-sponsors, all Republicans.

But hes not confident it will be approved during the Biden administration.

They dont give a rats rear end about securing the border or trying to go after cartels, Roy said.

But the bill also faces opposition from some Republicans.

You have some Republicans who hand-wring and go, Well, you cant call them cartels, because you elevate them to something thats the same as the Taliban, or Al-Qaeda, or ISIS, Roy said.

But to me, they are terrorizing the United States, theyre terrorizing people in Mexico. Theyre doing it purposely, theyre doing it for political power, theyre doing it to enrich themselves.

They hang people, they bury people alive. They kill people and send videos to their families so that they can terrorize people.

Roy said the United States needs to go after the cartels and reclaim operational control of the southern border.

Charlotte Cuthbertson Senior Reporter Follow Charlotte Cuthbertson is a senior reporter with The Epoch Times who primarily covers border security and the opioid crisis.
Chinese soldiers from the People's Liberation Army wear protective masks as they march after a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of China's entry into the Korean War, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 23, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

China Is Undermining the US Through Elite Capture: Author

The United States is currently traveling down a losing path in its battle against China because the communist regime has co-opted many U.S. elites in Washington, Wall Street, corporate America, and the U.S. tech sector, according to author Peter Schweizer.

Schweizer, who recently released his new book Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win, said his book shows how appalling it is that some of the elites have been willing to kowtow to the regime just so that they have access to the Chinese market.

They should be embarrassed, he said. They seem to be all too happy to do the bidding for Beijing when it comes to American politics.

Schweizer made the remarks during a recent interview with EpochTVs China Insider program. Hes also the president of U.S.-based think tank the Government Accountability Institute.

I think whats important for people to keep in mind is that Beijing doesnt have to lobby for its own interest, because there are so many powerful interests in the United States that will lobby on their behalf, he said.

The present course can only lead to China replacing the United States as the worlds top superpower, according to Schweizer.

Unless we start to take radical action, we will lose. There is no question in my mind, he said. We will lose because our elites will be happy to sell out, collect their money, and position themselves in elite positions for generations to come.

That outcome doesnt necessarily mean that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would occupy the United States, Schweizer said, but the United States as people know it would be very different.

For some people who say, Look, thats not my concern, this should be their concern, he said. Life here is going to be heavily influenced by what the regime in Beijing wants.

Washington

One of the U.S. government officials named in the book is Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Schweizer wrote that the longtime senator has come to the defense of the CCP while her husband, Richard Blum, reaped profits by inking business deals with Chinese firms with ties to the Chinese regime.

In defending the Chinese regime, Feinstein compared the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacrewhere at least 10,000 people were killed by Chinese tanks and soldiersto the 1970 Kent State shootings and the 1993 Waco siege in Texas, according to the book.

I was appalled as anyone by the tanks at [Tiananmen] Square, but three tanks of this government went into Waco and killed 29 children, Feinstein said during a Senate hearing. Now those are not analogous; they are different situations. It was wrong of our government, and it was wrong of the Chinese government.

In 1994, when the Senate was contemplating rescinding most-favored-nation trading status with China, Feinstein objected and said such a move would be counterproductive and would inflame Beijings insecurities.

The book also explores the relationship between Feinstein and former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, going back to the days when they were mayors in San Francisco and Shanghai, respectively. The book quotes the Los Angeles Times stating that the relationship gave Blum access to the normally impenetrable Beijing political system.

In 2000, Kam Kuwata, who was Feinsteins spokesperson at the time, was quoted in SFGate saying that Blum has a right to do business and hes never done anything wrong.

Silicon Valley

Beijing is very sophisticated in appealing not only to the pocketbooks of these players, but also to their egos, Schweizer said, pointing to Microsoft founder Bill Gates as an example of the latter.

In 2006, Chinas state-run media outlet Peoples Daily Online named Gates as one of 50 foreigners shaping Chinas modern development. According to his book, Gates was the only true technologist on the list.

Hes a member of something called the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), which sounds sort of friendly and nonpolitical. Its actually, of course, an organization run by the [Chinese] Communist Party, and its goal is to advise the Chinese government on technology policy, Schweizer said.

Gates was one of 18 foreigners selected by the CAE to be one of its lifetime members in 2017, according to Peoples Daily Online. The media outlet reported that the foreigners would improve CAEs status in the field of engineering.

CAE supports the Chinese regimes policies. In a 2018 article published on its website, CAEs party committee stated that it had provided important scientific support to the regimes industrial blueprint of Made in China 2025, while endorsing its Military-Civil Fusion strategy and Belt and Road Initiative.

In June 2021, Microsoft was in the middle of controversy when its search engine Bing yielded no results when users in several countriesincluding the United Statesentered the query tank man, the iconic unidentified man who was pictured standing in front of a line of tanks leaving Tiananmen Square in 1989. Microsofts explanation for the empty search result, accidental human error, drew criticism from human rights organizations.

The CCP

In short, the Chinese regime doesnt care if U.S. politicians are Republicans or Democrats, as long as theyre willing to do Beijings bidding, according to Schweizer.

They dont mind if American politicians talk about the Uyghurs occasionally, or say we should have a diplomatic boycott, he said. Theyre fine with that.

As long as youre helping them on the main tenets of what they want, which is access to American finance and access to American technology, and a few other things.

That is the strategy theyre employing.

The Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property estimated in 2017 (pdf) that the U.S. economy suffers an annual loss of between $225 billion and $600 billion due to Chinas intellectual property theft each year.

In 2021, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency is opening one new China-related counterintelligence case every 10 hours and has about 2,500 active investigations across the United States.

My sense of what people have to understand is the nature of the Chinese regime is such that it cannot be trusted, Schweizer said. And I dont think it can be trusted in its relationship with us, and we need to keep that in mind with everything.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Feinsteins office didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.

Frank Fang journalist Follow Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based journalist. He covers news in China and Taiwan. He holds a master's degree in materials science from Tsinghua University in Taiwan.
An employee makes chips at a factory of Jiejie Semiconductor Company in Nantong, in eastern China's Jiangsu Province on March 17, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Automotive Chip Supply Shortfall Will Reach 20 Percent Due to US Sanctions, Outdated Technology: Trade Group

Chinas chip supply will remain tight this year, and the automotive chip supply shortfall will widen to 20 percent, the countrys car manufacturing trade group said. The regimes own experts have revealed that the key reason for Chinas chip shortage is not the pandemic, but Chinas outdated chip technology and U.S. sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Luo Junjie, a spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the CCP, said on Jan. 20 that the shortage of chips last year had the greatest impact on the auto industry, and many domestic auto companies experienced production cuts or short-term shutdowns.

In 2022, the shortage of chips in China looks set to continue to worsen. Data fed back by foundries and chip manufacturers show that this year, the automotive-grade microprocessors, storage, logic, and analog chips produced can only meet the production needs of 4 million new energy vehicles in China.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) predicted at the end of December 2021 that the sales of new energy vehicles in China will reach 5 million in 2022. Compared with the supply of auto chips, Chinas new energy vehicle market will face a 20 percent demand gap.

Luo blamed the pandemic and the sanctions and suppression of the United States for the tight supply of chips in China. However, Yuan Chengyin, general manager of Chinas National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center, told Bloomberg in January 2021 that the main reason for the shortage of automotive chips in China is not the impact of the pandemic, but the lack of domestic technical knowledge and ongoing geopolitical tensions. Yuan believes that if Chinese companies cannot produce their own semiconductors, the domestic supply chain will continue to be affected by international factors. He predicted that the shortage of automotive chips will continue for 10 years.

Hong Kong-based electronics industrialist Yuan Gongyi said in an interview with The Epoch Times that the threat of U.S. sanctions has made it difficult for Chinese companies to obtain chips.

When the world is short of supply, all chip factories outside China will certainly put China at the bottom of their list. Why? The U.S. policy is changing every day. They say they want to sanction Chinese companies, so no one dares to help China. Most of these chips are custom chip fabrication. For example, the delivery may take place after six months. During the waiting period, if the U.S. government imposes sanctions, the chip products will not sell.

The chip industry has become at the forefront of wrangling between the United States and China. The United States has sanctioned Chinas telecom giant Huawei twice, once in 2019 and again in 2020, blocking Huaweis access to chips. When explaining the U.S. sanction against Huawei, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in February 2020 that since the 19th century, Americas technological prowess has guaranteed its prosperity and security.

Yuan Gongyi said that the United States is now in a military confrontation with the CCP, and chips are an important component of weapons.

Now you see that China has some supersonic missiles, and other high-tech weapons, all of which must have chips. Didnt Japan have a meeting with the United States recently? In fact, it is about the materials used in the CCPs chips. Many materials are Japanese manufactured  I think there is a great chance of actual military conflicts on the western side of the Pacific Ocean, especially in the Nansha district. Therefore, the United States must stop [the exports of] all equipment and raw materials related to chips. So this is not just a car problem, it is a problem regarding all of Chinas chip supply.

At the China Automobile Forum in June 2021, Ye Shengji, chief engineer and deputy secretary-general of the CAAM said that Chinas semiconductor self-sufficiency is at 15 percent, of which the auto chip self-sufficiency is less than 5 percent. Among all kinds of chips, MCU control chips are the shortest in supply, and Chinas MCU control chip companies are the weakest.

Microcontroller units, also known as microcontrollers or single chips, integrate peripheral interfaces such as memory, timers, USB, analogue to digital conversion and LCD driver circuits on a single chip, forming a chip-scale computer.

Today, an average car requires more than 40 chips. With the rise of new energy vehicles, the demand for chips has greatly increased. According to Deloitte survey data, the average demand for chips for fuel vehicles is 934, while the demand for new energy vehicles is 1,459.

In addition to low production capacity, Chinese chips technological level is also far behind Europe and the United States. State-funded media outlet Chen Bo Observation stated that Chinese chips are at least three generations behind the international level. At present, the most advanced mass-produced chips in the world are 5-nanometer chips, and the manufacturers are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Samsung of South Korea, and Intel of the United States.

TSMC and Samsung are working on 3-nanometer technology, which is expected to be launched in the first half of 2022.

Chinas Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation started mass production of 14-nanometer chips in 2020. The next-generation technology after 14 nanometers is 10 nanometers, then 7 nanometers, and finally 5 nanometers. Therefore, Chinese chips are three generations behind the leading international level.

Mario Morales, vice president of technology and semiconductors at the International Data Corporation, also believes that Chinese chips may be three to four generations behind the worlds cutting-edge level.

Over the past three years, the Chinese regime has invested $2.3 billion in at least six major chip construction projects in China, including the Wuhan Hongxin and the Jinan Quanxin project, but all have failed.

Yuan Gongyi said: The fundamental problem is that there is no individual creativity, so it will never catch up  All the things we see today are made by talented people, not by money. Why is the United States so successful? There are many independent thinkers in the United States.
While out enjoying a picnic, Australian wildlife conservation artist Deb Farrimond spotted a pair of familiar, wide-eyed faces in the trees above her head. It was a pair of southern boobook owls, fluffy, adorable, and all too happy to pose for the camera.

Fortunately for me, the owls were very curious about me and my camera, and were quite comical with head tilts and wide eyes, Farrimond, 57, told The Epoch Times. Very funny to watch, and luckily my photos turned out really well.

Deb, treasurer for the Pastel Artists of South Australia, was attending a Christmas picnic with the group at her local Oaklands wetlands in the southern suburbs of Adelaide when she saw the fluffy pair. However, it was not the first time shed seen this species in the area.

My husband and I had visited the wetlands the week prior to this, and found the owls in the same place they had raised their chicks the previous year, she said. I use my own reference photos from my travels and field trips, so finding this beautiful southern boobook family for the second year in a row was a huge thrill.

Deb shared her photos on several social media pages, including Australian Native Birds, where they amassed thousands of views.

People have absolutely loved them, said Deb.

Married with three children and six grandchildren, Deb is an artist with a passion for bringing awareness to endangered species. She has been painting wildlife for roughly six years, using soft pastels, charcoal, and scratchboard as her main mediums.

Boobooks are the smallest owls in Australia and hunt at night, preying on small marsupials, mice, and insects, she said. I am planning to paint these gorgeous little birds in the new year, and hopefully bring their character to life on paper.

My aim is to bring awareness to our wildlife and the struggles they face with human interference in their world. I support conservation charities and local rescue groups with sales of my work, and hope to continue for years to come.

Deb sells and shares her art with the world on Instagram and on her website.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Bright newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Ola Kaellenius, chairman of Daimler AG attends the presentation of the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class at the Daimler production plant in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart, Germany, on Sept. 2, 2020. (Ralph Orlowski/Reuters)

Daimler AG to Rebrand as Mercedes-Benz on Feb. 1

BERLINDaimler AG will be formally renamed Mercedes-Benz Group AG on Tuesdaynearly a year after the spin-off of its truck and bus division was announcedin a move its boss hopes will unlock shareholder value for the premium carmaker.

The change is the latest in a string of structural reshuffles for the carmaker that began its life as Daimler-Benz AG in 1926. The Mercedes brand, named after the daughter of an automobile entrepreneur, was officially adopted by Daimler AG in 1902.

We have a real chance to raise the multiple, CEO Ola Kaellenius told reporters on Friday, without naming a specific target valuation for the firm now worth just under 77 billion euros ($86 billion).

Shares of Daimler Truck AG, spun off from the newly anointed Mercedes-Benz last December, have risen slightly since their market debut to trade at 32.23 euros ($35.92) on Friday. Mercedes-Benz shares, at their highest levels since 2015 in November 2021, reached 74.25 euros ($82.75) on the day of the split, but have trended slightly lower since to trade at 71.15 euros ($79.30).

Still, a premium carmaker battling over the luxury market, by definition small and finite, could only grow so much, analysts said.

Investors could start viewing Mercedes as a Lucid Motors or Tesla type and start to give it an EV (electric vehicle) multiple, European auto analyst at RBC Capital Markets Tom Narayan said.

But Lucid and Tesla get to start at 100 percent EV. For Mercedes you have to convert your existing ICE (internal combustion engine) business to EVs. That may be a limitation on how far the multiple could go near-term.

Daniel Schwarz, management director at Stifel, said valuations reflected the view that German brands were on the defensive, forced to protect their market share.

Teslas valuation is based on the assumption that Tesla will win market share from German manufacturers, who dont have a comparable revenue growth potential.
Democratizing Access to Capital With Benzingas 2022 Alternative Investment Listmakers

Equity crowdfunding platform Wefunder was among the the companies featured at Benzingas 2022 Alternative Investments Listmaker Event.

This years Listmakers have made major contributions to the industry either by introducing new alternative investments to the market or by making these investments more accessible for the everyday investor.

Wefunder has played a fundamental role in the development of crowdfunding platforms. The company has provided access to startup investments for more than 1 million investors who have funded over 1,700 founders.

We were founded on the premise that we wanted to democratize access to capital, Wefunders Justin Renfro said Wednesday during Benzingas Listmaker Event.

Wefunder operates as a technology platform designed to connect startups and investors. The companys average funding round is about $500,000, but the range is from $50,000 to $5 million, according to Renfro.

Wefunder has seen its business accelerate following industry regulations imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision last year, Renfro said.

The crowdfunding cap was raised from $1 million to $5 million, and individual investors using crowdfunding platforms are no longer listed individually, but are rather pooled into groups which looks more attractive and is much cleaner for the companies, he said.

As a result, better companies are exploring regulation crowdfunding as an option, Renfro said.

Renfro went on to talk about different investment strategies, potential risks and more.

A number of crowdfunding companies made the list this year.

Here is a look at the other 2022 Benzinga Alternative Investments Listmakers:

CrowdStreet

CrowdStreet is a commercial real estate crowdfunding platform that has been launching some of the most exciting offerings on the market. The company has a steady flow of new deals, so investors can find new opportunities almost every week.

Red Swan CRE

The Red Swan CRE Marketplace is bringing blockchain to the world of commercial real estate investing. The platform allows deal sponsors to issue equity in properties as digital tokens, which can later be traded on the platforms secondary market.

Blockchain provides a much simpler, faster, and less expensive way for sponsors to raise capital. This means higher potential returns for the investor. In addition to being able to invest with regular USD fiat and stable coins pegged to the USD, the company recently launched two offerings that can be invested in with Dogecoin.

Cadre

Cadre offers investors the option to add commercial real estate to their portfolios through its Direct Access Fund or by selecting individual deals to invest in. The company also provides a secondary market to provide potential liquidity options to its investors. Eligible assets can be listed during quarterly secondary market windows after holding an investment for a minimum of just six months.

StartEngine

StartEngine built a name for themselves with its equity crowdfunding portal that offers retail investors the ability to invest in a variety of exciting new startups with minimum investments as low as $100. Other assets, too, are available on the platform including fine art and the StartEngine Real Estate REIT. The company also launched its secondary marketplace, allowing investors to buy and sell shares of certain startups. This is a major innovation for alternative investments because its providing liquidity in an otherwise highly illiquid asset class.

Masterworks

Masterworks has opened up the world of blue-chip art investing to the masses through its platform that sells shares of contemporary artworks that are expected to appreciate in value. Individuals can invest in new offerings that are regularly added to the platform or buy shares of past offerings on Masterworks secondary market. Paintings offered on the platform have included works from artists such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and several others. This type of art would be quite difficult for most people to invest in since many of the paintings are valued at well over $1 million.

Wefunder

Wefunder is not only one of the largest equity crowdfunding platforms in the world, but the company also helped create the industry as we know it today. The company lobbied Congress to help make crowdfunding available for non-accredited investors. Wefunder has provided access to startup investments to over 1 million investors who have funded over 1,700 founders. Today, Wefunder is the No. 1 Regulation CF portal, with a 42 percent market share.

Arrived Homes

Arrived Homes has made investing in rental properties extremely simple and affordable. Instead of searching for a property, arranging financing then dealing with the headaches of being a landlord, investors can purchase shares of professionally managed rental properties for as little as $100 within minutes. The company acquires properties in some of the best rental markets in the country, finds the tenants, and deals with all of the property management responsibilities while passive investors simply collect their share of the cash flow each quarter and wait for the property to increase in value over time.

YieldStreet

YieldStreet offers a diverse range of offerings for a variety of alternative investment funds similar to those to which only the wealthiest investors have traditionally had access. Investors can use YieldStreet to diversify across several alternative asset classes with a single platform. Recent offerings on YieldStreet have included funds for commercial real estate equity, luxury car lease portfolios, structured notes, fine art, litigation finance, and several others.

AcreTrader

Farmland is an often overlooked asset class among most retail investors, but it has proven to be one of the most consistent and reliable high-yield investments available. AcreTraders crowdfunding platform allows individual investors to buy equity shares in cash-yielding farmland across the globe. Past offerings have included farms that produce avocados, pecans, walnuts, corn, soy, citrus, and other cash crops.

Groundfloor

Groundfloor offers an alternative real estate investing option to the typical equity crowdfunding and REIT platforms. The company provides short-term high-interest loans to real estate investors and builders for the renovation or construction of residential properties, then sells portions of those loans with a minimum investment of only $10.

The platform typically has anywhere from 50 to 70 loans available to invest in at any given time with new offerings being added weekly. Since loan terms typically range from six to 12 months, investors are able to realize a return much more quickly than with other real estate investment options.

Republic

Republic is an equity crowdfunding platform that built its reputation by offering investment opportunities in startups, but has been adding new exciting and innovative offerings to its platform. The company recently launched various real estate city funds, allowing individuals to invest across entire markets in cities like Miami, Dallas, and Austin, but has taken real estate investing to the next level with its Realm Metaverse Real Estate offering to invest in a diversified portfolio of digital real estate NFTs across various metaverses.

ALTO IRA

Alto IRA provides self-directed IRAs that allow individuals to add alternative assets to their retirement accounts. Investors can start a new IRA or roll over an existing IRA to invest in over 75 different alternative investment platforms. Investors can benefit from the tax advantages offered by a self-directed IRA while investing in assets like real estate, startups, and artwork through most of the platforms on this list. The company also has a Crypto IRA, which allows investors to add over 100 of the most popular cryptocurrencies to their retirement portfolio.

LEX-Markets

Lex-Markets is one of the newest players in the real estate crowdfunding space and is making commercial real estate available to investors with virtually any budget. The company allows non-accredited investors to directly invest in commercial real estate deals with minimum investments as low as $250. Investors can also trade their shares of commercial properties through the LEX ATS without minimum holding periods. This is a huge move forward in the commercial real estate industry, where holding periods are typically five to 10 years.

Modiv

Modiv is a public, non-listed REIT that acquires, owns, and manages single-tenant net-lease industrial, retail, and office real estate throughout the United States, with a focus on strategically important and mission critical properties. Effective Nov. 24, 2021, Modiv closed its Regulation A crowdfunding offering. Check back for investor updates and information in the coming months.

Rares

Rares has turned collectable sneakers into an investable asset class by securitizing some of the most rare and valuable sneakers then selling shares for as little as $10. Investors can then hold their shares until Rares determines the best time to sell the shoes and liquidate the asset, or sell their shares on the platforms secondary market. Many of the sneakers on the platform arent ones that the average individual can easily access. One of the most recent offerings is for the Nike Air Yeezy I Prototype, worn by Kanye West during his performance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008, which is now the worlds most expensive pair of sneakers.

Vinovest

Vinovest allows investors and wine connoisseurs alike to build portfolios of investment grade wine thats expected to increase in value over time. The companys Master Sommeliers combine their expertise with quantitative investment models to curate wine portfolios that can either be stored in Vinovests network of storage facilities or sent directly to the investor. The value of each bottle of wine can be tracked through an investment dashboard and listed for sale at any time, but Vinovests experts notify investors when the wine has aged to maturity and reached the peak selling point.

Rocket Dollar

Rocket Dollar lets people unlock IRA/401(k) money to invest in alternative and private assets such as real estate, crypto, startups, private equity, venture, and more with no taxes.

By Adam Eckert

 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
El presidente @PedroCastilloTe superviso el proceso de inmunizacion contra la COVID-19 a los menores de edad, quienes en compania de sus padres, acudieron por su primera dosis en el colegio Ramon Castilla de Caballococha, region Loreto.#ProtejoSuNinez #SiempreConElPueblo pic.twitter.com/ddbc8W3QQP
Today we dont think about books muchyou know, those hold-in-your-hand objects we used to study in grade school.

Before information came to us through computers, printed books were the key to knowledge. People wanted books in their homes; they filled their home libraries with books worth reading and that mattered to them. People wanted beautiful books in their libraries, and book publishers responded. Publishers bound books in gilded fabric. They commissioned the most skilled artists to illustrate the stories. The most beautifully illustrated books were published during what is known as the Golden Age of Illustration (circa 18801917).

Publishing company Hodder and Stoughton published a collection of stories by an ancient fabulist, Aesop. The Fables of Aesop, published in 1909, was illustrated with 25 colored drawings. The book, 12 and 1/8 inches by 9 and 7/8 inches, was bound as a quartolarge sheets folded in fours and printed on both sides to produce eight pages. Each page was then trimmed to make separate pages, totaling 80 unnumbered leaves.

The book was bound in publishers white buckram fabric of 100 percent cotton, and the front cover and spine were stamped in gilt; the publishers emblem was gilt-stamped on the back cover. The top of the pages was edged in gilt. The book was delivered in the publishers white cardboard slipcase. The illustrator produced 25 mounted color plates for the book, some with slightly irregular shapes.

Beautifully Illustrated Stories

Fables is decorated with illustrations by arguably the greatest illustrator of animals and flowers, E.J. Detmold. Edward Julius, a twin brother of Charles Maurice who was also an illustrator, showed great understanding of how animals looked and acted, and often used fantasy settings to better tell the story.

An 1899 sketch of Edward Julius Detmold by Charles Maurice Detmold. (Public Domain)

Detmold was also a printmaker and was considered the premier animal illustrator of the Victorian Age. He placed animals in their natural settings. His animals possessed an unmistakable intelligence that draws the viewer.

The 25 fables that Detmold illustrated for the bookamong them The Hare and the Tortoise, and the lesser-known The She-Goats and Their Beards and The Oxen and the Axel-Treeswere made for his touch.

The fable of the hare and the tortoise gives children and adults a great lesson to live by. As the tale goes, the hare could easily win a race and beat the much slower tortoise. But when the hare naps far ahead of the tortoise, the tortoise wins the race.

Illustration from The Hare and the Tortoise, by E.J. Detmold. (Public Domain)

Detmold chose to focus on the hare waking up, physically and mentally. It looks out at what just happened: The tortoise has crossed the finish line and is taking a nap. How could the hare have lost? The artist showed all the physical magnificence of the hare: its long, strong hind legs; front paws, strong and agile; and a long, sleek body. Yet, with all these superior traits, the hare is fooled by its belief in its superiority.

Detmolds illustration for The She-Goats and Their Beards tells the mythical tale that nanny goats were given beards by the king of the gods to look like male goats. The males complained that this lowered the status of a more-powerful male of the species, but they were assured that outer appearances dont matter as much as whats inside.

Illustration from The She-Goats and Their Beards, by E.J. Detmold. (Public Domain)

Detmold showed imposing males hovering above the smaller nannies. His beautifully designed illustration shows beards on all the goats. The smaller nanny goats have beautiful beards, but the billy goats show their strength and protective stance over females surrounded by flowers. What we notice are the eyesthe males look down and to the right; they are watchful and protective. They have nothing to prove. Detmolds illustration allows us to think about the relative strength of each animal. Warm browns, golds, and oranges swirl around the animals. He chose to surround his creatures with autumn flowers throughout waves of curving beards.

In Aesops time, oxen pulled wagons that were built with axle-trees, crossbars that held the wheels. His tale The Oxen and the Axle-Trees tells how the axle-trees complain about holding up the wagon, even as a pair of oxen drag an overloaded wagon along a country lane. The oxen never complain yet they do all the work. This fable gives an insight into human nature: Those who suffer the least often make the most noise.

Illustration from The Oxen and the Axle-Trees by E.J. Detmold. (Public Domain)

Detmolds illustration reveals a heavily laden wagon of barrels and jars filled with an autumn harvest being led by a pair of oxen silently enduring their task on the rocky road. As a sign of the axle-trees importance, we dont even see them in the picture. What we do see, though, are how magnificently these harnessed oxen do their job without complaint.

Illustrations Contribution to Publishing

Illustrators make books beautiful, especially traditional storybooks. Children know this. The myths, legends, fables, and fairy tales that we remember from childhood are embedded in the images that make the stories memorable.

Illustrated books draw the reader in two ways: If we look at the pictures first, we are intrigued with the characters depicted and then pulled into reading the story. If we read the story first, our eyes are drawn to the image to fill in what we may have missed in the text.

We learn from Aesops fables that human nature has not changed much. Detmold deepened our appreciation with beautifully designed images of animals featured in the fables, which show us how to be more human. His illustrations nudge us to pay more attention to the written word. Great illustrations can bring us back to a respect and reverence for language and art that can be found in a beautiful book.
The Apple logo is displayed at an event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2019. (Stephen Lam/Reuters)

Dozens of States Say Apple Stifles Competition; Back Fortnite Maker

OAKLAND, Calif.Apple Inc. is stifling competition through its mobile app store, attorneys general for 34 U.S. states and the District of Columbia said on Thursday, as they appealed against a ruling that let the iPhone maker continue some restrictive practices.

While dozens of state attorneys general have filed recent antitrust lawsuits against other big tech companies, including Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.s Google, none had so far taken aim at Apple.

Thursdays remarks, led by the state of Utah and joined by Colorado, Indiana, Texas, and others, came in a lawsuit in an appeals court against app store fees and payment tools between Fortnite video game maker Epic Games and Apple.

Apples conduct has harmed and is harming mobile app-developers and millions of citizens, the states said.

Meanwhile, Apple continues to monopolize app distribution and in-app payment solutions for iPhones, stifle competition, and amass supracompetitive profits within the almost trillion-dollar-a-year smartphone industry.

The action comes after a U.S. district judge in Oakland, California, mostly ruled against Epic last year.

That decision found that commissions of 15 percent to 30 percent which Apple charges some app makers for use of an in-app payment system the company forced on them did not violate antitrust law.

Epic challenged the ruling in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Thursday, professors, activist groups, and the states weighed in through court filings that described legal arguments in support.

Apples reply is expected in March. On Thursday, the company said it was optimistic that Epics challenge would fail.

The states said in their filing that the lower court erred by failing to adequately balance the pros and cons of Apples rules and also by deciding that a key antitrust law did not apply to non-negotiable contracts Apple makes developers sign.

Paradoxically, firms with enough market power to unilaterally impose contracts would be protected from antitrust scrutinyprecisely the firms whose activities give the most cause for antitrust concern, they said.

By Paresh Dave
Director Timothy Cheys original thriller about the end of the world packs a punch

Not Rated | 1h 30min | Thriller | 2 June 2002

Christian films always get their share of hate, but I think that faith-based films that are made by actual Christians, such as Timothy A. Chey, are at worst commendable. In Mr. Cheys case, many of his films are fantasticeven if they suffer from relatively small budgets. On the other side of the coin are the larger-budgeted Hollywood biblical films that have all kinds of resources at their disposal, but feel hollow and inauthentic.

A couple of examples in comparing between indie Christian films and much of the Hollywood fare would be 2013s Final: The Rapture (which Chey also directed) and the 2014 Hollywood product Left Behind. While Cheys creepy thriller about the rapture seemed more authentic and soulful, its Hollywood counterpart actually felt disrespectful to its biblical source material. Its almost as if the latter was designed to make a quick buck off of Christian audiences.

But there was also another end times film that Chey directed a little over a decade earlier2002s Gone. While this film shares some basic similarities with Final: The Rapture, there are many details that set it apart. Lets start with the characters and setting.

Gone chronicles the lives of several American attorneys who have been sent by their law firm to defend a giant corporation that has been polluting many water sources in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Like many corporations, the one that the lawyers have been hired to defend is unconcerned with peoples healththey want to make the most money while having the least responsibility.

Bill Hampton (Joel Klug) is a jet-set lawyer who thinks he has it all in Gone. (RiverRain Productions)

The lawyers include Dean Davis (Dirk Been), Bill Hampton (Joel Klug), and Jay Nelson (Timothy A. Cheyyes hes also the director). All three are non-believers (at least at first). While strolling around the city, the trio encounters a homeless and blind Filipino man who loudly proclaims that the end of the world is approaching. As the three lawyers poke fun at the beggar, the latter warns of hail the size of bowling balls, oceans turning to blood, and stars falling out of the skies.

One day, while Dean is out walking around, he finds the homeless man in a particularly fired-up state. As the young man laughs off the elders predictions about the coming end of the world, the old man falls down dead. This freaks Dean out and he begins to question his own dismissals about God. Of course, all of this doesnt sit well with his pessimistic cohorts Bill and Jay, who begin to consider him the weak link among them.

Dean Davis (Dirk Been, L) in Gone. (RiverRain Productions)

Later, Jay is out strolling around being his usual a-hole self when he sees another homeless man. When the homeless man approaches Jay for some change, the ruthless lawyer mocks him. Suddenly, the beggar bursts into dust and Jay sees numerous spirits (including the beggars) flying up into the sky. Meanwhile, Dean also experiences the rapture elsewhere as numerous people around him on a footbridge suddenly vanishleaving only their clothes behind.

From there, pandemonium ensues as the trio attempt to get to safety. After all, the more populated places on Earth have been transformed into hot zones of criminal activity as looting, rioting, and general chaos breaks out across the globe.

Although I enjoyed Gone about as much as I did Final: The Rapture, there were some differences. Although this film mostly took place in one country (the Philippines), which Im sure was because of its tighter budget, it felt more tightly paced. Chey was also on hand to act (as Jay Nelson) and was so convincing as a morally bereft lawyer, that he could have been the main villain in any Hollywood production of that day and age.

Jay Nelson (Timothy A. Chey) is great as a villainous attorney in Gone. (RiverRain Productions)

If you dont mind the obvious penny-pinching due to budgetary constraints, Gone is a fantastic end times film that should be enjoyable for both Christians and non-Christians alike. It has enough metaphors, chills, and thrills, to entertain people while offering some sobering messages about the biblical last days of planet Earth.

Gone

Director: Timothy A. Chey

Starring: Dirk Been, Joel Klug, Timothy A. Chey

Running Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Release Date: June 2, 2002

MPAA Rating: Not Rated



Rated: 4 out of 5 stars

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Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A taut and sobering end-of-the-world thriller

TV-PG | 1hr 27min | Action, Thriller | 30 September 2019

Disaster movies have been a mainstay of the world of cinema for decades. One could even argue that with all of the so-called advances in visual effects technology recently, Hollywood is churning out big-budgeted end-of-the-world films that seem to captivate the movie-going masses like moths to flames.

However, there are also many faith-based films that cover catastrophes on a global scale, but in a biblical sense. Instead of featuring big artificial-looking monsters (sorry, CGI still cant render organic beings realistically) or meteors hurtling through space toward planet Earth, the end of days as described in the Bible is the real threat.

Speaking of which, a little faith-based film titled The End of Days: Global Catastrophe entails just that catastrophic event.

Hunter Wilde (Mike Norris) in a gunfight with terrorists in The End of Days: Global Catastrophe. (Bridgestone Multimedia)

The film starts off with the main character, Hunter Wilde (Mike Norris, who also directs), talking with his friend Hunt Bonneau (Robert Guice). Since an electromagnetic pulse attack has struck the United States, scattered groups have banded together in rural areas. Hunter is dropping supplies off for Hunt who says hes had to quarantine many of the people at his ranch because of a mysterious viral outbreak.

Suddenly, a group of terrorists attacks and Hunter engages in a running gunfight with them. He manages to survive and drives back to the safety of a small settlement called Crossroads, which he also built. There, he is greeted by his daughter Jo (Kat Rowland), Pastor Paul Wilson (Ted Ferguson), and a gaggle of other survivors living on the edge.

The compound is gated against physical threats, but there are also spiritual dangers lurking about. As Hunter points out in narration: It feels like God left the gates of Hell open. Everyday supplies are scarce and safety is found in compounds inside of which fences and armed survivors keep at bay encroaching evil.

Jo Wilde (Kat Rowland) tries to console her troubled father Hunter (Mike Norris) in The End of Days: Global Catastrophe. (Bridgestone Multimedia)

As the band of survivors tries to live as normal a life as they can under the desperate and dangerous circumstances, a dark and sinister presence shifts in the shadows surrounding the compound. This primarily comes in the form of Dagon (Jordan DragonKing), an entity that is harvesting souls and now has its sights set on the compounds survivors. Since Hunter is considered especially stubborn and resilient, he becomes the primary target. And if he falls, so go the rest of the survivors.

As the days roll by, Dagon manipulates the survivors into believing that Hunter murdered one of them, who was found hanged. Hunter, confused by the voices in his head (which is Dagon attacking his psyche), takes off in an effort to battle whatever dark forces are invading his mind and soul. Will he return to the compound? Or will he fall to the demonic forces arrayed against him?

One of the enjoyable aspects of the film is that it describes a world that could potentially happen. Even if you dont believe in the biblical rapture, many of the themes in the filmsuch as EMP weapons shutting down power grids; foreign invasions, etc. are distinct possibilities.

Pastor Paul Wilson (Ted Ferguson) in The End of Days: Global Catastrophe. (Bridgestone Multimedia)

Many of the characters arent at all predictable. For instance, although Pastor Paul is the compounds spiritual adviser, he has his doubts about faith and doesnt really provide much in the way of hope for his fellow survivors. He seems to be too preoccupied with wondering why God didnt rapture them out and save their souls, especially since they are Bible-reading, God-fearing Christians.

Overall, The End of Days: Global Catastrophe has refreshingly non-preachy dialogue and a realistic premise. It goes to show that what a film might lack in budget, can sometimes more than be made up for with an interesting storyline, believable characters, and positive messages.

The End of Days: Global Catastrophe

Directors: Mike Norris, David Timmes

Starring: Mike Norris, Jordan DragonKing, Kat Rowland

Running Time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

MPAA Rating: TV-PG

Release Date: September 30, 2019



Rated: 4.5 stars out of 5

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Had Enough of Covid? Then I Have Great News

Commentary

For nearly a year, experts have noted that the COVID shots cannot establish herd immunity to end the pandemic, as the gene transfer injections do not prevent infection or transmission.

Its not rocket science, yet health officials and government leaders around the world have irrationally claimed otherwise, and censored any and allregardless of credentialswho dared to suggest alternative approaches.

Now, all of a sudden, the narrative is rapidly changing, with loads of these same individualstruthfully, if you can believe thatacknowledging that the COVID vaccines cannot end the pandemic and that we need to learn to live with the virus. Some have even started speaking out against repeated boosters, at least at intervals of three to four months.

It seems a major driver for this U-turn in the pandemic narrative is the emergence of the Omicron variant. While incredibly infectious, it causes only mild cold symptoms in the vast majority of people, so its essentially ripping through populations, leaving natural herd immunity in its wake. As a result, many are now claiming the end of the pandemic is in sight.1

Moving on From COVID

In a Jan. 15, 2022, Trial Site News article, Mary Beth Pfeiffer reported:2

The director of global infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital is predicting what was unthinkable less than a month ago: The end of the pandemic. Dr. Edward Ryan made stunning and encouraging comments on the Omicron variant that give hope for a return to normalcy. Among these: Omicron will make boosters unnecessary. The COVID virus will join the ranks of the common cold. And the latest wave will enter clean up mode shortly. We are fighting the last war with COVID and should be pivoting back to normal life, the summary of Dr. Ryans comments states. Spring/Summer will be really nice!'

According to Ryan, nearly 100 percent of COVID cases in the Boston area are now Omicron, which is good news, considering it doesnt appear to bring with it any of the more severe side effects seen with previous strains, including Delta. In New England, the current outbreak is predicted to rapidly wane and disappear during the month of February 2022. Nationwide, Omicron was reportedly responsible for about 73 percent of all cases as of early January 2022.3

Pfeiffer also reports that, according to Ryan, booster shots will not be needed for Omicron, as by the time a dedicated injection is released, the wave will already be over and done with. Ryan is reported to have stated that were all going to get it, which will give us the immunity we need to get through it, referring to the Omicron infection.

Ryans comments fly in the face of mainstream medical recommendations, which near-universally call for boosters for everyone, including children. Clearly, however, Ryan makes a lot of sense. The boosters, while seemingly able to temporarily raise a double-jabbed persons resistance against Omicron, its designed to protect against the original SARS-CoV-2 strain that no longer exists.

Overall, it appears the only reason a double-jabbed person would need a booster against Omicron is because the first two doses impaired their immune system such that theyre now more vulnerable, even to a milder strain. This downward spiral of negative immunity can only continue if people continue to take boosters, especially mismatched ones.

Vaccine-Induced Herd Immunity Called Out as Myth

In early August 2021, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, professor Sir Andrew Pollard, actually spoke out against the idea that the COVID shots were the answer everyone was looking for. At the time, he referred to the idea that vaccine-induced herd immunity against COVID was mythical. As reported by Yahoo! News, Aug. 10, 2021:4

 Pollard  said  that herd immunity is not a possibility with the current Delta variant. He called the idea mythical, warning that vaccine programs should not be developed around it.

We know very clearly with coronavirus that this current variant, the Delta variant, will still infect people who have been vaccinated and that does mean that anyone whos still unvaccinated, at some point, will meet the virus, Pollard told a session of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on coronavirus.

He said that while vaccines might slow the process of transmission down, they cannot currently stop the spread completely.

I think we are in a situation here with this current variant where herd immunity is not a possibility because it still infects vaccinated individuals, he said, predicting the next thing may be a variant which is perhaps even better at transmitting in vaccinated populations. He added: So thats even more of a reason not to be making a vaccine program around herd immunity.'

During that same APPG meeting, professor Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia stressed that variants capable of evading the COVID shots were an absolute inevitability. Pollard and Hunter both turned out to be correct, as Omicrons vaccine-evading capacity has now been documented.

Most People Are Done With COVID

The reprieve Omicron provides could not have come at a better time. At this point, after two years of repetitive fearmongering, most people have simply had enough. Its not often you put a hold on life for this long, and the general consensus appears to be that people are ready to brave life even if the threat of COVID remains.

The determination to get on with our lives is deeply and perhaps unchangeably human . Whatever damage Omicron might wreak in the immediate future, we will, most likely, soon lead lives that look a lot more like they did in the spring of 2019 than in the spring of 2020.  Yascha Mounk, associate professor, Johns Hopkins University

In a Dec. 22, 2021, Atlantic opinion piece, Yascha Mounk, associate professor at Johns Hopkins University and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted that No matter the severity of the variant, the appetite for shutdowns or other large-scale social interventions simply isnt there. He goes on:5

It feels like everyone I know has COVID  The pattern among my circle of friends fits with whats unfolding in South Africa, where the coronaviruss new Omicron variant was first identified.

The number of cases in the country shot up quickly, but the number of deaths has so far increased much, much more gradually  possibly indicating that Omicron is more contagious but causes less severe disease than previous variants 

I wager that, whatever course Omicron  or future strains of the disease  might take, we are about to experience the end of the pandemic as a social phenomenon 

Despite skyrocketing caseloads, few pundits or politicians are proposing strict measures to slow the viruss spread. The appetite for shutdowns or other large-scale social interventions simply isnt there 

Scientists have their own way of deciding that a pandemic is over. But one useful social-scientific marker is when people have gotten used to living with the ongoing presence of a particular pathogen.

By that definition, the massive surge of Omicron infections that is currently coursing through scores of developed countries without eliciting more than a half-hearted response marks the end of the pandemic.

Mounk, like others, pointed out that if Omicron turned out to be as mild as it initially appearedwhich has been borne out since thenthen natural herd immunity would develop as the highly infectious virus spread like wildfire. With that baseline of natural immunity, populations would, in the future, be far better equipped to handle any new strains that emerge, without a significant increase in mortality.

Living With Risk

Mounk goes on to discuss how, over time, people get used to and learn to live with all sorts of risks, including direct threats to life and limb, and thats exactly the kind of resiliency we see building and spreading now:6

When I was growing up in Germany, I was fascinated by news reports about life in very dangerous places. Residents of Baghdad or Tel Aviv seemed to put themselves in danger simply by going shopping or meeting friends for a cup of coffee.

How, I wondered with a mixture of horror and admiration, could anybody be willing to accept such an existential risk for such a trivial pleasure?

But the truth of the matter is that virtually all humans have, for virtually all of recorded history, faced daily risks of disease or violent death that are far greater than those that the residents of developed countries currently face.

And despite the genuine horrors of the past 24 months, that holds true even now  The determination to get on with our lives is deeply and perhaps unchangeably human.

In that sense, the spring of 2020 will be remembered as one of the most extraordinary periods in history  a time when people completely withdrew from social life to slow the spread of a dangerous pathogen. But what was possible for a few months has turned out to be unsustainable for years, let alone decades.

Whatever damage Omicron might wreak in the immediate future, we will, most likely, soon lead lives that look a lot more like they did in the spring of 2019 than in the spring of 2020.

Do You Have a Cold, Flu or COVID?

Based on what Im seeing around me, it seems the prediction that Omicron will get just about everyone is likely to be true. People are sick in droves. The good news is that theres little panic surrounding these cases. Most people are now realizing that theres no need.

That said, I still recommend treating any COVID symptoms early and aggressively, just in case. As mentioned, the vast majority of SARS-CoV-2 infections are now related to Omicron, and the core symptoms are near-indistinguishable from the common cold and/or influenza. The most commonly reported symptoms of Omicron infection are:

Loss of taste or smell.

In addition to these, other symptoms commonly reported with SARS-CoV-2 infection, up to and including Delta, include:

Stomach/gastrointestinal pain (which in some cases could be a sign of microclots in the intestines 8 )

) Nausea or vomiting

Diarrhea

A key difference in symptomology between Delta and Omicron is that Omicron does not appear to cause the loss of taste and smell, which often occurs with Delta infection (as with previous strains). Fortunately, Omicron also does not seem to be associated with blood clots, like previous strains (especially the initial ones), and its also far less likely to cause severe lung infection and damage.9, 10

Treat Symptoms Early

Considering the uncertainties around diagnosis, its best to treat any cold or flu-like symptoms early. At first signs of symptoms, start treatment. Perhaps its the common cold or a regular influenza, maybe its the much milder Omicron, but since its hard to tell, your best bet is to treat symptoms as you would treat earlier forms of COVID.

Considering how contagious Omicron is, chances are youre going to get it, so buy what youll need now, so you have it on hand if/when symptoms arise. And, remember, this applies for those who have gotten the jab as well, since youre just as likely to get infectedand perhaps even more so. Early treatment protocols with demonstrated effectiveness include:

Sources and References

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A stranded motorist (R), gets help shoveling out his car from a passerby with a shovel in Providence, R.I., on Jan. 29, 2022. (David Goldman/AP Photo)

Hundreds of US Flights Canceled After Winter Storm in Northeast

Approximately 1,300 flights were canceled across the United States on Sunday following a severe winter storm that pummeled New England on Saturday.

Flight tracking website FlightAwares data shows that as of 10:30 a.m. ET, some 1,380 flights were scrapped by airlines nationwide. Another 647 delays were reported, according to the website, which also showed that about 1,200 international flights were canceledled by China Eastern Airlines, which saw about 351 cancelations on Sunday.

Several states declared emergencies ahead of the storm, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North and South Carolina and moved north, hammering Boston, Nantucket, Long Island in New York, and Maine. As of Sunday morning, at least 60,000 homes and businesses were without power in Massachusetts, data from PowerOutage.us shows.

LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, and Bostons Logan International Airport each saw more than 200 flights cancelations on Sunday, FlightAware data shows.

The strong weather systemdubbed Winter Storm Kenan by the Weather Channeldumped more than 2 feet of snow in some areas while featuring high winds. Significantly milder weather is expected across the East Coast, including New England, on Sunday, according to a National Weather Service forecast, although temperatures in some areas, including upstate New York, dropped to single digits on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

And conditions on Nantucket, Massachusetts, improved after the storm caused significant coastal flooding in the area. The water was deep enough for two people to row a canoe along a flooded street, according to a photo posted on Twitter, and others shared videos of high water near what appear to be expensive homes.

Sections of New York City were inundated with more than 12 inches of snow, and some areas in Massachusetts saw up to 29 inches, the National Weather Service reported.

Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito on Sunday told reporters that residents should continue to stay off the roads so that snowplows can work unimpeded.

The storm delivered just what experts predicted  with 20-30 inches, they were about right, Polito remarked.

The weather system may have caused the death of an elderly woman who was found dead in a hotel parking lot in Uniondale, New York, said the Nassau County Police Department in Long Island in a statement to Reuters.

Officials also told the Weather Channel that an elderly man died after falling into a swimming pool while shoveling snow Saturday morning.

In all, the storm was blamed for the cancellation of more than 4,500 flights over the weekend.
Three young family members hold flowers as they walk commemorating the victims during a Walk of Remembrance to Memorial Garden to mark the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on Jan. 30, 2022. (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Ireland Calls for Justice on 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

LONDONDERRYIreland on Jan. 30 called for the British government to ensure justice for the families of 13 peaceful protesters shot dead by its soldiers on Bloody Sunday in 1972 as thousands marked the 50th anniversary of one of the defining days of the Northern Ireland conflict.

The UK government in 2010 apologized for the unjustified and unjustifiable killings of 13 Catholic civil rights protesters by British soldiers in Londonderry on Jan. 30, 1972and of a 14th who died later of his wounds.

But none of those responsible for the shootings have been convicted and last July, British prosecutors announced that the only British soldier charged with murder wont face triala decision that is being challenged by victims relatives.

Irish republican Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald (L), Deputy First Minister Sinn Feins northern leader Michelle ONeill (2nd L), Ireland foreign minister Simon Coveney (C), and Irelands Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Michael Martin (2nd R) attend a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument to victims of Bloody Sunday, in Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland, on Jan. 30, 2022. (Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images)

There should be a route to justice, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told state broadcaster RTE after laying a wreath and meeting with relatives of the victims.

As somebody said, our children were buried 50 years ago but we still havent laid them to rest  because we dont have justice, he said.

Coveney reiterated the Irish governments opposition to a proposal by British Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government to halt all prosecutions of soldiers and militants in a bid to draw a line under the conflicta move that angered relatives and has been rejected by all the main local political parties.

We absolutely cannot and will not support that approach, he said.

Relatives holding white roses and photographs of those killed led thousands of people in retracing the route of the 1972 march.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin looked on as the names of each of the victims were read out at a memorial.

The full process of the courts and of justice should be deployed, Martin told journalists after the ceremony.

No member of the UK government attended the events, but Johnson in a Twitter post on Jan. 29 described Bloody Sunday as one of the darkest days of the Troubles and said Britain must learn from the past.

A major escalation of the conflict occurred in 1972 between Irish nationalist militants seeking unification with the Republic of Ireland, the British Army, and loyalists determined to keep the region British.

More than 3,000 people were killed before the 1998 peace process largely ended the violence.

By Clodagh Kilcoyne
Huge crowds gather on Parliament Hill during the trucker convoy protest against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Legacy Medias Slanted Coverage of Trucker Protest Is Reprehensible

Commentary

As far as large protests go, the Truckers for Freedom protest at Parliament Hill in Ottawa has gone remarkably well. Thousands of upset people have converged in one spot and demonstrated with no reports of violence or vandalism. No clashes with police, no windows smashed.

If you watched nothing but legacy media coverage of the event, however, you would think that the demonstration was dominated by neo-Nazis and other assorted hate groups. The coverage has been nothing less than appalling.

Lets review what has been making headlines since day one of the protest was held on Jan. 29.

A photograph of a person carrying a Nazi flag has been circulating. It was never actually seen among the protesters but it has been used to try to claim the protest has been dominated by Nazis.

A protester climbs a lamppost to display his sign on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

A single Confederate flag was seen among the crowd. That picture has also been widely spread. But a video of demonstrators chasing that lone flag-holder from their ranks appears to have been overlooked by the media.

Some fools had parked on the steps of the National War Memorial and an idiot danced on the top of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This video is being constantly replayed by mainstream outlets, but they neglect to mention that this took part well outside of where the demonstration was held and it was only a handful of people. Those people were draped with Quebec flags by the way. Why isnt the media trying to claim it was part of a Quebec nationalist movement?

A few twits draped a flag and put a mask on the Terry Fox memorial statue. The items were removed within minutes and the statue is unharmed (unlike many statues destroyed in past protests). It was disrespectful but hardly a capital offence. Still, we are barraged with images of the desecration continually on mainstream channels.

A Member of Parliament was photobombed by a jerk who had drawn a swastika on a Canadian flag with a felt pen. Ridiculous demands have been made that the MP apologize, though he clearly didnt even know the flag was being waved behind him. Media is eagerly working to keep this story alive.

Thats about it. Thats all. That is the worst that the mainstream media could find after thousands of demonstrators spent an entire day in Ottawa.

Why couldnt the media report on the thousands of Canadian flags being waved proudly through the demonstration? Why couldnt they at least note that despite a week of predictions from experts that this demonstration would turn into another January 6 event, not a single violent incident happened?

If we are going to pick winners and losers from the demonstration in Ottawa, the clear losers are the members of the mainstream media.

Trust in legacy media outlets has been in decline for years along with their viewership. The slanted coverage of news coupled with government bailouts has driven people to seek news from alternative news providers. The reprehensible behaviour from the mainstream media this week truly exposed to Canadians just how rotten that institution has become.

Nobody expects the media to support the truckers protest, but people expect coverage to be fair at least.

The media first ignored the convoy, then it tried to sow rumours about the legitimacy of the fundraising for the convoy, then it moved on to trying to paint the convoy as being extreme. The CBC even tried to link backing for the convoy to Russian interests.

Yet, we are witnessing an incredible event unfolding before us.

Despite the most vociferous efforts of Canadas political and media establishment, an unprecedented nationwide movement and protest has emerged. The organizers didnt need mainstream media coverage in order to bring together tens of thousands of people. They didnt even need establishment banks in order to raise over $8 million from over 100,000 people.

This is what is at the root of the desperate and almost hysteric opposition to the Truckers for Freedom protest from the Canadian establishment. Canadas political and media elites have lost control, and it scares the tar out of them. They dont know what to do and are responding by hysterically lashing out.

Time will tell whether the protest will have the effect of actually pressuring authorities to drop pandemic restrictions. Even if it doesnt, the convoy has already been a grand success.

The convoy has shown that citizens can and will stand up for themselves when pushed too far, and that the establishment isnt invulnerable.

Canadas political and media elites needed a good dose of personal insecurity, and they just got it. They now can choose either to change their tune or get left behind. I suspect that they will choose the latterand we will all be better for it.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
St Paul's Cathedral and areas of the financial district of the City of London are seen at dusk on Oct. 9, 2008. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

London Is Top Global Finance Center but Lags in Key Areas, Says Study

LONDONLondon remains the top global financial center, 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 centers 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.

New York remains by far the biggest financial center, 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 unrivaled 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 some of the taxes.

Britains finance ministry has proposed that the Bank of England has a formal remit to facilitate Londons competitiveness.

A year since Britain left the EUs 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.

By Huw Jones
The intersection in North Las Vegas where police say a Dodge Challenger ran a red light, hitting several vehicles and killing at least nine people, on Jan. 29, 2022. (Courtesy of KVVU)

Mass-Casualty Traffic Collision Kills 9, Injures More in Las Vegas

A six-vehicle crash described as a mass-casualty traffic collision by police left at least nine people dead in Las Vegas, said officials.

We have not seen a mass-casualty traffic collision like this before, Alexander Cuevas, with the North Las Vegas Police, told reporters on late Saturday.

On Saturday evening, a Dodge Challenger ran a red light on Commerce Street and hit several vehicles at a high rate of speed, said Cuevas. He cited a bystander who witnessed the crash.

And, with that, it struck multiple vehicles and, unfortunately, it was a chaotic event, Cuevas said, adding the collision involved some 15 people. Nine died and six suffered injuries, the officer said.

Please make this a safer community by slowing down. Pay attention to speed limits, he added.

North Las Vegas Police told The Associated Press that the identities of the driver and the other eight people who died would be released by the Clark County coroners office.

Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families who are experiencing a tremendous and unnecessary loss due to a careless and senseless act, North Las Vegas Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown said at a news conference near the scene of the crash.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak reacted to the crash, saying that our hearts ache for the families & loved ones of the 9 people killed in this senseless act  Kathy & I will be keeping them in our hearts & prayers during this very difficult time.

Aside from the high rate of speed, police said there was no motive as to why the driver ran through the red light.
Presidente @PedroCastilloTe: "Desde el Gobierno tenemos toda la disposicion para que los pueblos avancen en su progreso sin distincion".#SiempreConElPueblo pic.twitter.com/CXqyqmC6NP
The McDonald's logo is seen outside the fast-food chain McDonald's in New York on Oct. 22, 2019. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

McDonalds Australia Accused of Denying Paid Breaks

Australias largest employer of young workers has been accused of denying them the paid breaks they were entitled to, with separate legal action launched by two unions.

McDonalds Australia recently marked its 50th anniversary, celebrating 1.5 million jobs it says its created during that time.

But a number of its workers have accused the company of denying them paid 10-minute breaks they are entitled to take every four hours.

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) is seeking compensation for workers who did not receive paid breaks, as well as penalties against McDonalds Australia for breaching the Fair Work Act.

The fact that one of the largest employers of young Australians (on junior rates of pay) has been deliberately and systematically denying teenagers their breaks is astonishing, SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer said.

The unions inquiries among McDonalds workers uncovered a number of alleged breaches, including through social media ads informing employees of their rights and encouraging them to contact the union if they were not receiving entitlements.

The SDA amended ongoing actions against McDonalds franchisees last month to include McDonalds Australia, which it accuses of conspiring to deny workers breaks and aiding and abetting franchisees to do so.

The legal action has been launched in the Federal Court in South Australia and the SDA says it could result in millions in compensation for thousands of workers around the country.

Many workers were allegedly told their paid break entitlements did not apply to them because they were allowed to drink or go to the bathroom throughout their shift, while others were informed their restaurant did not have enough staff to cover break periods.

McDonalds Australia senior corporate relations manager Samantha Brown told AAP the SDA claim was both surprising and disappointing and said the company intended to defend itself to the fullest.

The company believes its restaurants complied with applicable instruments, provided rest breaks to employees and were consistent with historic working arrangements, she said.

The SDA also did not challenge how breaks are taken or raise it as a matter of concern throughout successive enterprise bargaining processes for new industrial agreements.

We are very mindful of our obligations under applicable employment laws  and continue to work closely with our restaurants to ensure employees receive all correct workplace entitlements and pay, Ms Brown said.

SDA SA branch secretary Josh Peak says McDonalds has fed workers a cock and bull story about their break entitlements for too long.

Fast food restaurants are busy, hot and the work is exhausting  its shameful to think young workers have been denied their rightful breaks and told they dont exist.

The SDA action comes after the rival Retail and Fast Food Workers Union launched a separate class action with Shine Lawyers last month, following one of its members receiving $1800 compensation after legal action against a McDonalds franchisee that denied them paid breaks.

The SDA says its action differs as it is not a class action and the union will represent hundreds of workers directly.
More Than 100 People Stranded After Vandals Strike San Diego Zoo

Four people were arrested on Saturday for allegedly vandalizing the Skyfari Aerial Tram at the San Diego Zoo in Southern California, which left more than 100 people stranded for hours, authorities said.

The four men, aged 20 to 24, were allegedly rocking back and forth in their gondola, officials told local media. It caused the Skyfari gondola system to shut down automatically, leaving the other passengers stranded for about an hour, said the San Diego Fire Department in a Twitter post, which added later that all guests are safely on the ground.

The four mens identities were not disclosed by police.

Hussein Alhamadami and his girlfriend were among those who were stranded on the gondola. Recalling the shutdown, Alhamadami said it wasnt clear to passengers why the ride stopped.

We were just hoping that we were going to get down soon, Alhamadami told Fox5. It would swing back and forth for a few seconds and then it would stop.

SDFD crews at the Zoo assisting patrons who were stuck on the Skyfari ride for about an hour. Now unstuck & patrons safely exiting gondolas on their own. Some may need medical eval. SDFD crews remaining until all are on the ground. #sdzoo pic.twitter.com/LdSudI7AOE  SDFD (@SDFD) January 30, 2022

They were staying stuff on the speaker, he continued to say. I couldnt really hear so I had to call customer service and they said it would take about 20 minutes but unfortunately, it took about two hours.

We were walking around seeing the animals and then we look up and everyones stuck, zoo visitor Jordan Gakstatter told KNSD.

Marissa Florendo, another visitor, added to the station: They had told everyone to get out of the line and we noticed as we were going through the park that pretty much it was stopped and people were up there for a really long time.

Zoo officials told the Fox affiliate station that stranded passengers were each given complimentary tickets for a future visit to the zoo.

The ride features 28 gondolas holding up to four people each, according to the zoos website. It says that riders are provided with an airborne shortcut over the treetops to the other end of the Zoo, and  spectacular views of the Zoo and surrounding Balboa Park in San Diego, it says.
Nigerian Terrorist Warlords Offer Truce After Government Bombs Forest Hideouts

The Nigerian Air Force has used recently acquired fighter-bombers to bomb the hideouts of terrorist bandit gangs in the country, prompting gang warlords to release abductees and extend peace offers to the government.

Two feared terrorist leaders in battle-scarred Zamfara state, Nigeria, are now offering to call it quits, provided that they can escape the long reach of the law.

Among them, Bello Turji, 33, commander of at least 400 heavily armed terrorists, has subjugated more than 100 towns and villages in eastern Sokoto state, Nigeria, since mid-2021 and forced the communities to pay levies in the form of cash, produce, or cattle, lawmakers told The Epoch Times.

Another terrorist looking to make peace with the Nigerian government is Alhaji Halilu, who commands a large gang network in West-Central Zamfara.

Both terrorists are in negotiations with government officials for a conditional amnesty, Murtala Ahmed Rufai, a social historian at Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto, told The Epoch Times.

For more than two weeks in December 2021 and January, the Nigerian Air Force has bombed the forest hideouts of several of the 17 major terrorist gangs that have terrorized the states of Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kaduna for years.

Turji, one of the youngest warlords, addressed a three-page open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, Zamfara Gov. Bello Matawalle, and the emir of Shinkafi, a local government area in Zamfara.

Bello Turjis transcribed handwritten letter requesting amnesty. (Murtala Ahmed Rufai)

Turji and most of his soldiers are believed to be illiterate, yet a handwritten letter with his name dated Dec. 14, 2021, offers states that hell surrender his arms, provided that his grievances will be remedied. His proposal for an amnesty is under study by Nigerias governing officials, according to Rufai, an authority on bandit gangs. The letter was dictated by Turji and written by a literate member of his gang, he told The Epoch Times.

Armed feuds between land-owning farmers and semi-nomadic herders sparked the emergence of large terrorist gangs 13 years ago, according to Rufais book I Am a Bandit. Farming communities defended themselves against bandits by forming local militia dubbed vigilantes. Turji offered in his letter to disarm only if the vigilantes would surrender their weapons as well.

Once government will disband vigilantes, by Gods grace we will lay down all of our weapons, the letter reads.

The bandit leader represented himself as a proxy for all of the terrorist gangs and proposed a grand peace parley.

We want to have a meeting with the leaders of this country of ours as well as respected Islamic clerics all over the country. If this will happen, I, Muhammadu Bello Turji Kacalla, promise to retrieve all weapons used for terrorism and surrender them to the Nigerian authorities, the letter reads.

While Turji may speak for between 400 and 2,000 criminals, the many terrorist gangs spread out over five states in northwest Nigerian number more than 10,000 and answer to other warlords.

Turji, having displaced scores of village leaders with his own terrorist captains, also insists that he doesnt pose a challenge to Nigerian authorities at the federal or state levels.

I assure you that we are not fighting the government, the letter reads.

Turjis terrorist gang is among the most notorious for setting up roadblocks to kidnap motorists for ransom. His gang also rapes women in communities that resist his levies, and they rustle vast herds of cattle.

In late November 2021, the Nigerian Ministry of Justice declared that the gangs would fall under the category of terrorists, enabling the government to use A-29 Super Tucano Turboprop bombers recently acquired from the United States to bomb the gangs.

A Nigerian Air Force strike in the early hours of Jan. 1 in the village of Tsamre, Nigeria, in Birnin Magaji County on the eastern edge of Zamfara, killed two of Turjis fellow warlords, Alhaji Auta and Kachalla Ruga, according to media reports. Dozens of terrorists were killed on the same day at the funeral gatherings of the warlords, Nigerian media outlets reported.

Bandit warlord Bello Turji relaxing in shade in Sabon Birni County, Sokoto state, Nigeria, in 2021. (Courtesy Mamman Bashar Konoma)

The tide is turning against the bandits, said David Otto, a London-based defense consultant to the Nigerian military who credits air strikes for putting bandits on the run.

We see two measures of success. First, the decapitation of bandit leadership, and second, we see a large number of abductees released by bandits without conditions. Thats why Bello Turji has called for negotiations, but the opinion of the top military is that the time for negotiations is over.

At least 97 kidnapping victims were rescued by a combined force of police and vigilantes on Jan 3, when police stormed Kunchin Kalgo forest in Tsafe County, according to a statement from Zamfara Commissioner of Police Ayuba Elkana, who called the operation a landmark achievement.

Rufai challenged that claim.

All of the abducted people were released voluntarily by Turji, he said.

The victims reportedly had been taken from their villages in Gusau County in East Zamfara and held for more than 60 days. Police identified the kidnapper who had held the victims as Alhaji Ado Aleru, who was a regular visitor to the village of Yan-Kuzo, Nigeria, in Chafe County of Zamfara state.

Aleru is believed to be involved in murder, kidnapping, purchasing, the re-selling of the abductees of other gangs, and rape, according to Rufais research. The neighboring Katsina state government declared him wanted and has offered a bounty of 5 million Naira ($12,000) for information about his location. He was observed attending functions in Yan-Kuzo, according to Rufai.

The bombing campaigns have been lauded by Nigerias northern-state governors, including Kaduna Gov. Nasir El-Rufai, who told Arise TV on Jan 3 that he urged carpet bombing of bandit hideouts in the forest.

These bandits operate in the periphery because their hiding place is in the forest. Its a major problem, El-Rufai said.

The governor acknowledged that innocent civilians would be killed by such measures, but urged the tactic, nonetheless.

Ive always believed that, you know, we should carpet-bomb the forests. We can replant the trees after. Lets carpet-bomb the forests and bomb all of them, he said.
People watch a TV showing a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan. 30, 2022. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

North Korea Continues War Drills, Launches Most Powerful Missile in Years

North Korea ramped up its recent bevy of weapons tests on Jan. 30, firing what analysts say is the most powerful missile the isolated regime has tested in five years.

Pyongyangs seventh launch of January 2022 traveled 1,242 miles upward and landed in the ocean about 500 miles away, according to officials of the Japanese and South Korean governments. No damage or injuries were reported.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff told South Koreas Yonhap News Agency that it detected the missile, which was fired at a steep angle from Jagang Province, North Korea, at about 7:52 a.m. local time. The military body also confirmed the distance and height that the projectile flew, while noting that the missile hit a top speed of Mach 16, or 16 times the speed of sound.

Our military is tracking and monitoring related North Korean movements and maintaining a readiness posture, the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Pyongyang may have broken North Koreas 2018 pledge to stop testing long-range missiles and nuclear devices.

Arguing that the Jan. 30 test violated U.N. Security Council resolutions, Moon said the move is a challenge toward the international societys efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, stabilize peace, and find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear impasse between North Korea and the rest of the world.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks as he presides over a meeting of the National Security Council at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan. 30, 2022. (South Korea Presidential Blue House/Yonhap via AP)

The regime of Kim Jong Un should stop its actions that create tensions and pressure and respond to the dialogue offers by the international community, including South Korea and the United States, Moon said.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has condemned the launch.

We have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or that of our allies, the command stated. We will continue to monitor the situation.

The test was North Koreas seventh round of launches this month. The unusual frequency of tests indicates its intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled nuclear negotiations as pandemic-related difficulties put further stress on an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters that the missile was the longest-range projectile that North Korea has tested since its Hwasong-15 ICBM in November 2017.

Kim announced in 2021 a new five-year plan for developing weapons and issued an ambitious wish list that includes hypersonic weapons, spy satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched nuclear missiles.

State media outlets reported on Jan. 28 that Kim visited an unspecified munitions factory producing a major weapons system and that the workers pledged loyalty to their leader who smashes with his bold pluck the challenges of U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A man hangs from a lamp post and holds a placard from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Ottawa Freedom Convoy Protest in Photos

OTTAWATruckers and supporters of the Freedom Convoy rallied in Ottawa on Jan. 29 to call for the abolition of vaccine mandates and others COVID-19 restrictive public health measures. The day was festive and reminiscent of the atmosphere of Canada Day in the capital, but lots of colours were added to the traditional red and white, with many people flying flags of Quebec, other countries, and those with political messages. Heres a snapshot of what transpired.

Protesters hold flags and banners in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 22022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

People protest against vaccine mandates in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Indigenous people perform a traditional chant during the protest for freedom on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

A girl holds a placard during the freedom protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Protesters wave flags and hold banners in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

A sign is placed on a patrol SUV from the Ottawa Police on Metcalfe St. in Ottawa during the freedom protest on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Protesters perform with drums as they walk away from Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

A man gives a bear statue a protest placard in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Protesters climb on top a trailer carrying tree logs in downtown Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

A protester rides on top of a ladder in the back of a pick-up truck during the freedom protest in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

A man waves Canadian flags out of a truck in downtown Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Protesters walk in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Protesters hold a Quebec flag upside down as a signal of a nation in distress on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Protesters stand atop a truck in downtown Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Protesters hold signs during the freedom protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Protesters fill Wellington St. and Parliament Hill grounds in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

This protester named Alex, in a costume and not dressed for the weather, stood still the whole day in -20C weather holding a sign in front of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)
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: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Could Happen at Any Time

The U.S. Department of Defenses top spokesman warned Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time and claimed there are a number of ways to do so at Russian President Vladimir Putins disposal.

Putin has a lot of options available to him if he wants to further invade Ukraine, and he can execute some of those options imminently, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a Fox News Sunday interview.

Top Defense Department officials share a grim outlook of the immediate future, he added, pointing to Russian troops massed along the Ukraine-Russia border as well as the number of troops in Belarus, also located next to Ukraine. He also cited Russian ships positioned in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

It doesnt have to come to conflict. We still believe theres room and space for diplomacy, and wed like to see that be the solution here, Kirby said.

Several days ago, Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, claimed the Biden administration, other foreign leaders, and media are overstating the direness of the immediate situation.

This means panic on the market, panic in the financial sector, Zelensky told reporters last week.

Russian officials have frequently denied plans to invade Ukraine, a former Soviet republic. Moscow has sought a pledge from the United States and NATO that the security organization will not allow Ukraine to join.

In 2014, Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula and also started arming rebel groups in the Donbas region of Ukraine, starting a low-intensity conflict that has left more than 14,000 people dead.

Civilians participate in a Kyiv Territorial Defense unit training session in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 29, 2022. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Top U.S. officials have floated levying sanctions against top Russian officials and its energy sector, including stopping the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But Kirby, in Sundays interview, explained that the administration wont yet impose sanctions because one of the things about sanctions is once you trip that, then the deterrent effect is lost.

At the same time, he added, the United States is aiming for sanctions and economic consequences the likes of which we have not looked at before or even considered even as far back as 2014.

Pentagon officials are also looking at other means to harm the Kremlinnot just economic warfare, he said.

One of the last things they want is a strong and bolstered NATO on their western flank and if he does another invasion inside Ukraine thats exactly what theyre going to get, Kirby said. Youre going to see the United States and our NATO allies bolster our capabilities on the eastern flank of the alliance.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, several top Republican and Democrat senators indicated they are close to reaching a deal on legislation that would sanction Russia over its recent military buildup.

I would describe it as that we are on the one-yard line, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on CNNs State of the Union.

There is strong bipartisan support to back Ukraine and punish Russia if it invades, the senator said before adding that he believes an agreement will be reached this week.
Police Report No Violence as Thousands Stage Peaceful Protest in Canadian Capital Over Mandates

Thousands of truckers and others held a loud yet peaceful protest in Canadas capital of Ottawa on Jan. 29 and 30 against the governments COVID-19 vaccine mandates, as police in the capital reported no incidents of violence

The Freedom Convoy started as a rally of truckers who opposed the mandates, but it quickly morphed into something much broaderwith people from all walks of life taking to the streets against vaccine passports, requirements, and other restrictions that have been handed down by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in recent months.

Im not able to work no more because I cant cross the border, said Csava Vizi, a trucker from Windsor, Ontario, who noted that he was the familys sole breadwinner.

Its not just about the vaccines, said Daniel Bazinet, owner of Valley Flatbed and Transportation in Nova Scotia on the Atlantic coast. Its about stopping the public health mandates altogether.

Myself and a lot of other people are here because were just sick of the vaccine mandates and the lockdowns, said Brendon from Ottawa, who declined to give his last name.

He was carrying a sign reading, Justin Trudeau makes me ashamed to be a Canadian.

Supporters of the Freedom Convoy protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in front of Parliament of Canada, in Ottawa, Canada, on Jan. 28, 2022. A convoy of truckers started off from Vancouver, Canada, on Jan. 23, 2022, on its way to protest against the mandate in the capital city of Ottawa. (Dave Chan/AFP via Getty Images)

Ottawa police said the protests were peaceful and that there have been no incidents of violence or injuries reported.

Im locked into my own country right now, Tom Pappin, an unvaccinated man who came from just outside Ottawa, told The Associated Press. I cant go on a holiday. I cant go to a restaurant, I cant go bowling. I cant go to a movie. You know, these are things [that show you] its just gotten out of control.

Pappin said he estimates that attendees of the rally and protest are likely to stay parked near Parliament until the vaccine mandates are lifted.

But Trudeau has said he believes that Canadians arent represented by this very troubling, small but very vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government, at society, at mandates, and public health advice.

Protesters hold flags and banners in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

People walk in front of trucks parked on Wellington Street as they join a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, on Jan. 29, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

The prime ministers itinerary for the day typically states that hes at home if hes in Ottawa. On Jan. 29, it said he was in the National Capital Region amid reports that he and his family were moved to an undisclosed location.

The protest comes days after his office confirmed that one of Trudeaus children contracted COVID-19 and that hes isolating and working remotely.

It has also attracted the attention of former President Donald Trump, who spoke at a Texas rally on Jan. 29 and declared his support for the truckers.

We want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way, Trump said in Conroe, Texas. They are doing more to defend American freedom than our leaders by far.

Before that, billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated his support for the Canadian truckers to his 71.8 million followers on Twitter.

Reuters contributed to this report.
SAN JUAN, Puerto RicoFederal authorities detained 17 Dominican migrants on Friday after their boat capsized near Puerto Ricos northwest coast in the pre-dawn hours, with the U.S. Coast Guard searching for an estimated 10 others still missing.

Jeffrey Quinones, a Customs and Border Patrol spokesman, told The Associated Press that those detained told officials that a total of 27 people were aboard the boat that struck a rock and turned over near Shacks Beach in Isabela.

There are no indications that they have drowned, he said of those still missing.

The boat, known as a yola, overturned about 75 yards (69 meters) from shore, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad told the AP. He said authorities received a 911 call from somebody who heard the migrants splashing and running.

No migrants were rescued at sea, although he said the Coast Guard searched for several hours.

The incident comes a day after the Coast Guard suspended a search for an estimated 34 migrants who went missing in waters off Florida, with five bodies found. They were aboard a boat that left Bimini, a chain of islands in the Bahamas that lies just east of Miami.

Only one lone survivor, a Colombian, was found clinging to their boat off Fort Pierce, Florida. He said he and 39 others had departed Bimini for Florida. Authorities have not released their nationalities.

Separately, a Coast Guard cutter repatriated 94 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic on Thursday, following the interdiction of two other smuggling vessels near Puerto Rico.

Migrants from the Dominican Republic and Haiti have increasingly tried to cross the treacherous 92 miles (148 kilometers) of water known as the Mona Passage that separates the island of Hispaniola that both countries share from Puerto Rico. It has long been used as a smuggling route, with many migrants drowning or dropped off at craggy, uninhabited islands near the U.S. territory who have to be rescued.

Some 449 Haitians and more than 200 Dominicans have been detained since the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, Quinones said. Other migrants detained so far this fiscal year include 38 Venezuelans and 19 Cubans, and a handful of migrants from Brazil, Romania, and the Dutch Caribbean territory of Sint Maarten.

From Jan 2628 alone, authorities said they responded to five alleged smuggling events near western Puerto Rico, detaining 164 migrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

A total of 716 migrants have been detained by the Border Patrol sector in northwest Puerto Rico since Oct. 1, compared with more than 600 detained for the entire fiscal year 2021 and 356 for the previous year.
Russia to Move Planned Military Drills Away From Irish Coast

Russia will move its planned military drills outside Irelands exclusive economic zone (EEZ) following a request from the Irish government, officials from both countries have confirmed.

The planned artillery drills caused considerable controversy in Ireland after it emerged that they were slated to take place in early February about 150 miles in international waters off Irelands southwest coast, within its airspace and exclusive economic zone.

Irish fishermen had planned to travel to the area to disrupt the Russian naval plans in a bid to protect their fishing stock.

Irelands Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said on Jan. 29 that he has received assurances from his Russian counterpart that the drills will be relocated.

This week I wrote to my counterpart, the Minister of Defence of Russia, to request a reconsideration of naval exercises off the Irish coast. This evening I received a letter confirming the Russian exercises will be relocated outside of Irelands EEZ. I welcome this response.  Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) January 29, 2022

Coveney wrote on Twitter: This week I wrote to my counterpart, the Minister of Defence of Russia, to request a reconsideration of naval exercises off the Irish coast. This evening I received a letter confirming the Russian exercises will be relocated outside of Irelands EEZ. I welcome this response.

In a statement, the Russian ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov said, In response to the requests from the Irish government as well as from the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu has made a decision, as a gesture of goodwill, to relocate the exercises by the Russian Navy, planned for Feb. 38, outside the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ), with the aim not to hinder fishing activities by the Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas.

Russia has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraines border, demanding that Ukraine not join NATO.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the BBC on Jan. 30 that there is no certainty about the intentions of Russia, but there is a real risk of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine.

Russia has denied it is planning an invasion, and it says the Western accusations are merely a cover for NATOs own planned provocations.

Coveney said on Jan. 24 that the planned drills off the Irish coast were not welcome, as this isnt a time to increase military activity and tension in the context of whats happening with and in Ukraine.

He added that Ireland doesnt have the power to prevent this happening but, certainly, Ive made it clear to the Russian ambassador in Ireland that its not welcome.

Jack Phillips and PA Media contributed to this report.
Senate Filibuster Does Not Have Racist Origins: President of Liberty Government Affairs

The president of Liberty Government Affairs, Brian Darling, said that the Senate filibuster rule does not have racist origins, as Democrats have recently asserted.

The filibuster does not have racist origins at all. I mean, the extended debate has been part of the Senates history since its inception. Whats happened is theyve changed the rules and how to shut down debate, Darling told NTDs Capitol Report. In 1917, the Senate changed the rules to establish a two-thirds vote to shut down debate.

Darling told host Steve Lance that the rule changed again in 1975 when the U.S. Senate lowered the threshold to a three-fifths vote, or 60 senators to pass legislation; this is where the rule currently stands.

After winning back the White House in November 2020, some Democrats have amplified their call to end the Senate filibuster rule, which is currently preventing the party with the thinnest of majorities from passing two massive pieces of legislation.

A coalition of 100 Democrats in Congress have now branded the filibuster a tool in preventing progress towards racial justice.

It is a relic of Jim Crow-era policies that continue to preclude our nations efforts to fulfill a foundational promise laid out in the constitution, members wrote in an April 2021 statement.

As it currently stands, Democrats need 50 votes in the Senate to eliminate the filibuster to pass both their voting reform bill and their more than $1.5 trillion social spending package.

We urge Senate Democrats to do what it takes to pass an agenda that meets the needs of everyday people, including eliminating the filibuster, the statement continues. We simply cannot afford such a catastrophic compromise. We must legislate towards a better, more just America.

Darling said the filibuster is a necessary procedure that makes legislation more transparent because it forces senators to debate the contents of bills on the Senate floor. He added that the Senate is meant to be a deliberating body that makes careful bipartisan decisions.

Democrat leaders have not been able to secure all 50 Democratic votes in the Senate because two senators, Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) joined Republican senators to vote down an attempt to change the filibuster rule in order to pass their partys major election overhaul bill.

Darling said that even without Manchin and Sinema, Democrats can still find a way to end the filibuster, but it would be a long process.

It would take a lot of work on the part of Democrats that they dont seem to want to do right now, he said.

Darling noted that while the filibuster has been used to block civil rights laws, that filibuster was led by Democrats. In addition, the filibuster has been used by Democrats to block other Republican bills. According to senate records, Democrats have used the procedure more than Republican senators.

Theyre wrong when they say it has racist origins, theyre just trying to denigrate the filibuster and distract from the fact that theyre just trying to seize power in the Senate, Darling said.

Masooma Haq Follow Masooma Haq began reporting for The Epoch Times from Pakistan in 2008. She currently covers a variety of topics including U.S. government, culture, and entertainment.
Daniel and Ruth Wilkey attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Jan. 29, 2022. (Nancy Ma/The Epoch Times)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.Shen Yun Performing Arts has a message for all of us who are still navigating the pandemic: Hang on, dont give up, dont let go of yourself, stay true, keep blossoming, said musician Ruth Wilkey of the performance.

Ruth and her husband, Daniel Wilkey, attended Shen Yun at the Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado Springs. Ruth sings, plays the piano, and has been a music teacher for 30 years.

Ruth was astounded Shen Yuns vocalist. The baritone particularly impressed her with a song To Heaven in this Lifetime, which tells the story of the souls journey through the planes of heaven to await the Creator on Earth.

Theres the hope and the love and the joy and the life, because so many things are pushing us down and oppressing us and threatening us.  Ruth Wilkey

That was powerful, she said of the message. Theres the hope and the love and the joy and the life, because so many things are pushing us down and oppressing us and threatening us, Ruth said. She added that Chinese culture was being destroyed at the present time and that America was facing a similar fate.

Its a beautiful message, how youre coming back to life with your traditions, she said.

Daniel, a retired independent photographer, agreed with his wife and remarked at the performances healing properties. Its very bright. And the music also, its just so sparkly and lively. Its been a joy, he said.

He also expressed appreciation for the elaborate and fine architecture and textile designs from Chinas 5,000 years of civilization.

New York-based Shen Yun is reviving Chinas traditional culture through its classical and ethnic dance and music. Each piece in the two-hour-long performance portrays a story related to Chinas rich, divinely-inspired history.

As a photographer, Daniel said he was overwhelmed by the beautiful colors in Shen Yuns costumes and backdrops. He was also impressed to learn that Shen Yuns style of dancing is an authentic presentation of Chinas traditions.

It is so beautiful, and the different color schemes and patterns whereas you go from the south of China up over past the Great Wall into the [homeland of the] Juchen peoplevery interesting.

I think most people here in the United States dont realize just how much variety there is in what we now we call China, he said.

The Men of the Juchen is a dance depicting the culture of the predecessors of the Manchurians. The Juchen were famous for their horsemanship and skill in archery.

Daniel applauded Shen Yuns artistic director. I think the mans a genius. I think its awesome, absolutely awesome.

Ruth said she wished her adopted Chinese sister from Hong Kong was watching Shen Yun with her.

She has been telling me whats happening with the Falun Gong and the Uyghur people as well. Its just breaking her heart. I was wishing so much I had her with me today, its just so beautiful, Ruth said.

Two of Shen Yuns mini-dramas depict the story of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that teaches people to improve their moral and physical wellbeing according to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, but that is being brutally persecuted by the Chinese regime.

Daniel added that he felt Shen Yuns message is connected to the divine.

Whether the feeling of oppression comes from the outside or whether it is ones own depression, Shen Yun always offers hope, he said: The divine is watching out, so dont give up.

Reporting by Nancy Ma and Diane Cordemans.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
SoCal COVID Cases Continue Dropping; Free N95 Masks and Longer Paid Sick Leave

LOS ANGELESAs new COVID-19 cases and positivity rate continue dropping in Southern California, more programs are available for people to gain better access to testings, masks, and financial support.

On Jan. 27, Los Angeles County had 23,796 new cases reported, down from 43,091 the previous Friday, according to the countys Department of Public Health.

To help students who are struggling academically, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti launched a program this week to allow students to earn money by tutoring their young siblings or school-aged relatives in their household.

The pandemic has been especially hard on young Angelenos, who faced so many disruptions to their lives and schooling, Garcetti said in a Jan. 25 statement. With Student 2 Student Success, were making sure younger students get the extra support they need, and providing our tutors with a chance to explore a future career in education or child care.

The program will provide approximately 1,000 young Angelenos with paid work experience and job skills training, Garcetti wrote on Twitter.

Orange County has 4,751 people tested positive on Jan. 28. Meanwhile, the number of hospitalizations has declined to 1,022, with 29 deaths reported, according to the countys Health Care Agency.

During the past holiday season, county residents were struggling to find self-test kits and available testing appointments in local pharmacies and testing centers. More pop-up COVID-19 testing centers are now available for walk-ins, but some may be unlicensed and unauthorized.

Orange Countys Health Care Agency have been receiving reports about fraudulent testing operations. The agency urges the public to always ask for laboratory information and healthcare credentials when visiting a pop-up testing center.

The winter Omicron surge has also prompted state officials to take more actions to help people who are unable to work and are struggling financially due to falling ill.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators made an announcement this week again, requiring employers to offer their employees up to two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave to support their families.

By extending sick leave to frontline workers with COVID and providing support for California businesses, we can help protect the health of our workforce, while also ensuring that businesses and our economy are able to thrive, the Jan. 25 announcement read.

Employees will have access to COVID-19 supplemental paid leave through Sept. 30, 2022.

California residents are also eligible for free COVID-19 at-home test kits. People who need a testing kit can order from the U.S. Postal Service website by filling in their address. Each household may receive four free at-home test kits, which are usually shipped within 712 days.

The states indoor mask mandate has been extended to Feb. 15 in order to minimize COVID-19 infections.

The federal government has launched a free mask program, giving out free N95 masks at local pharmacies and community health centers.
Taiwan's Vice President William Lai arrives to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Honduras' President-elect Xiomara Castro, at the Enrique Soto Cano Military Air Base, in Comayagua, Honduras January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

Taiwan Vice President Wraps Up Overseas Trip With US House Speaker Meeting

TAIPEITaiwan Vice President William Lai wrapped up his visit to the United States and Honduras with a virtual meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a further show of support from Washington for the self-ruled island.

Lai went to Honduras this week for the inauguration of its new president, seeking to shore up ties with one of Taiwans last remaining diplomatic allies.

Only 14 countries now maintain official ties with Taiwan, viewed by Beijing as Chinese territory with no right to the trappings of a state. The Chinese regime claims the island as its own, despite the fact that Taiwan is a de facto independent country, with its own military, democratically-elected government, and constitution.

Stopping off in San Francisco on Friday on his way back to Taiwan, Lai said he had spoken virtually with Pelosi, one of the Democratic Partys most high-profile politicians.

I was pleased to meet with @SpeakerPelosi, a champion of human rights and true friend to Taiwan. We are committed to working together to strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan partnership, Lai wrote on Twitter, sharing a picture of the video call, also attended by the de facto Taiwanese ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim.

Lai briefly talked with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Honduras on Thursday, a rare encounter that was highly symbolic and provoked anger in Beijing at a time of simmering tension with Washington.

Taiwans Vice President William Lai (R) speaks with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris during the Honduras presidential inauguration ceremony in Tegucigalpa, on Jan. 28, 2022. (STR/Taiwan Presidential Office/AFP via Getty Images)

The United States has no formal relations with Taiwan either, but is its most important international backer and arms supplier.

Transiting Los Angeles on his way to Honduras, Lai also spoke virtually with over a dozen members of the U.S. Congress.

Lai is a potential contender for president in Taiwans next election in 2024.

Taiwan has been grateful for continued U.S. support offered it by the Biden administration, which has repeatedly talked of its rock-solid commitment to the democratically governed island.
Tesla to Delay New Models in 2022 for Automated Vehicle Push

Elon Musk, the CEO and founder of Tesla, said on Jan. 26 that the automaker will delay releasing its new vehicles, such as the Cybertruck, until 2023 because of supply chain problems.

However, the company stated that it would be able to build 50 percent more vehicles than it made in 2021.

Musk, a native of South Africa, said production of Teslas new Cybertruck, Semi, and Roadster models wont start until at least 2023 after promising a 2021 release.

Tesla stated that for 2022, its focusing on automated car navigation software and a new humanoid robot called Optimus.

Musk believes that human-like robots and self-driving cars are more important at this moment than the Cybertruck design or $25,000 electric cars. Optimus is a humanoid robot that can assist in factory tasks or perform other types of repetitive work, and he hopes that it could eventually address global labor shortages.

Musk thinks that robots could be more important than cars and that they have the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time. He said full self-driving will become the most important source of profitability for Tesla and that, in the long-term, its nutty good from a financial standpoint.

Tesla and other automated vehicle designers have constantly missed their targets to deploy fully autonomous cars for years, with Tesla Model 3, Model S, Model X, and Model Y cars still far from driving themselves.

The company currently has 60,000 drivers who have paid $12,000 or a $199-per-month subscription to test the latest self-driving software package, FSD Beta, in the expectation that full autonomy will become possible.

The Society of Automotive Engineering, which sets standards for the engineering industry, has set six benchmarks that a vehicles technology must reach before its officially declared autonomous. Thus far, the market has only produced automated cars and not autonomous cars, which, by definition, allow the car to do everything without human assistance.

FSD Beta has sophisticated features such as smart summon, which allows drivers to call their cars from parking spots t pick them up. The Tesla app on their smartphones acts as a remote control.

Musk believes that smart summon could multiply a vehicles utility, as owners could send their cars out to work when not needed.

Teslas other vehicle assistance feature is the self-driving system known as Autopilot, which is standard on every new Tesla vehicle. Autopilot enables the car to perform some maneuvers on its own, though it should only be used with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment, according to Tesla.

It can automatically change lanes, maneuver the vehicle into a parking space, and make some turns. However, Autopilot and FSD Beta software arent enough to make Teslas vehicles fully autonomous.

A concern that Teslas rivals and industry regulators have is its innovative technological approach to automation, which some say is dangerous and potentially deadly.

Tesla uses a system of cameras and artificial intelligence for navigation, instead of standard technologies such as radar and lidar sensors used on competing fully autonomous designs. Even if the technology is perfected, Tesla would come under more rigorous scrutiny from regulators before deploying fleets of free-roaming vehicles.

Its clear that if youre marketing something as full self-driving and it is not full self-driving and people are misusing the vehicles and the technology, you have a design flaw, and you have to prevent that misuse, Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told CNBC.

Industry and government officials are in the process of updating industry safety standards for vehicle automation, such as for whos at fault if a self-driving car causes injury.

Federal vehicle safety regulators are issuing new guidelines to states, but not comprehensive standards for governing self-driving cars, while certain states still require approval for fully autonomous vehicles.

Full autonomy will be dependent on achieving reliability far in excess of human drivers as demonstrated by billions of miles of experience, as well as regulatory approval, which may take longer in some jurisdictions, Tesla states on its website.

The NTSB and the California Department of Motor Vehicles are currently investigating different aspects of Teslas FSD development and technology after auto safety regulators opened a probe into Teslas advanced driver assistant system following crashes involving the vehicles and parked emergency vehicles.

Being safer than a human is a low standard, not a high standard. People are often distracted, tired, texting.  Its remarkable that we dont have more accidents, Musk said.

Hes still optimistic that Tesla will have a feature enabling its cars to safely drive themselves in any conditions by the end of 2022.

I would be shocked if we do not achieve full self-driving safer than human this year. I would be shocked, Musk said during Teslas Jan. 26 fourth-quarter earnings call. You know, the cars in the fleet essentially becoming self-driving by a software update. I think [it] might end up being the biggest increase in asset value of any asset class in history. We shall see.

A newly released software update, Autosteer on City Streets and Traffic and Stop Sign Control, can presumably enable cars to navigate and steer on urban roads without driver assistance. However, automakers have yet to convince the public, as driver surveys show that more than 70 percent of the U.S. public are still wary of driverless cars.

Tesla made $5.5 billion in 2021 compared with its previous record of nearly $3.5 billion posted in 2020. The company delivered a record 936,000 vehicles in 2021, nearly double its 2020 figure, with fourth-quarter vehicle sales hitting 308,600.
Smoke billows from a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, on Sept. 10, 2019. (Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

The Big and Fatally Flawed Business of Climate Change

Commentary

The world has been ending for decades.

In 1989, a senior official from the United Nations Environment Program warned that entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000.

For good measure, a study from the program added that shifting climate patterns would bring back 1930s dust bowl conditions to Canadian and U.S. wheatlands.

So much for that.

In 2006, in his movie An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore stated unequivocally that we only had 10 more years before we reached the point of no return.

It would seem that weve been barreling down a path of climate-driven self-destruction forever.

One solution thats been put forward has been the idea of carbon offsets or carbon taxes. According to the World Bank, 40 countries and 20 cities around the world use some form of carbon taxes or carbon emissions trading to curb greenhouse gas production.

Here in the United States, its an idea thats been debated and discussed to death, but never actually implemented.

Heres why.

The Inconvenient Reality of the Energy Industry

At the Climate Action Summit of 2019the global climate change party the U.N. has been hosting since 1995, otherwise known as COP2577 countries and over 100 cities committed to achieving a net-zero emissions policy by 2050. Billions of dollars were pledged by global governments to various green initiatives. It was a huge success.

For the record, net-zero emissions doesnt mean absolute zero. It means that if you own a business that emits CO2, you would need to offset that production by removing an equal amount of greenhouse gases and storing it permanently in soil, plants, or materials.

Fast forward to COP26 last year (where, in the ultimate irony, attendees rented Teslas were charged by diesel generators), the results were a little different.

CNBC reported that the U.N. climate summit ended with calls on governments to return next year with tougher pledges to slash greenhouse gas emissions. And, Climate scientists, legal experts and politicians argued the final deal out of Glasgow resulted in incremental progress inadequate to address the climate crisis.

Apparently, enthusiasm waned 

Now, I dont want to be totally dismissive of these efforts. Certainly, a cleaner planet is a noble goal. And I want to believe this massive global effort is being made in good faith. But its not hard to understand why countries around the world would be looking to hedge their climate bets.

Energy isnt an elastic commodity. You can start buying chicken if arbitrary beef taxes make steak too expensive. But you cant just build a wind farm to replace the coal plant that got too expensive to run.

Social Engineering the Energy Market

Energy runs the world. It heats and cools our homes. It fuels our cars. It basically powers our lives. And heres another inconvenient truth: Fossil fuels are the very heart of the worlds energy consumption.

Trying to force a change through economic disincentives (i.e., taxes) is a recipe for disaster.

First off, the concept in and of itself is flawed. Its a self-eliminating tax. Its taxes are designed to force businesses into more sustainable forms of energy, but as businesses move in that direction, tax revenues decrease. And thats never acceptable to governments.

Then theres the effect on the end user. Taxes that are designed to modify behavior are typically pretty punitive (the U.N. has recommended a tax of $135 to $5,500 per metric ton). Thats because their goal is to drive the taxpayer to a less desirable option, such as having to spend $10 million to retrofit a factory for solar or wind. These costs end up getting passed on to the end user, making these taxes regressive long after theyre gone (assuming theyre even that successful).

The concept of carbon taxes is a form of social engineeringits designed to elicit a response that wouldnt happen otherwise.

Such a levy raises the cost of doing business, which makes it a regressive tax, and doesnt optimize innovation which only comes via  wait for it  profit.

Yeah, money makes the world go around, and free markets where profit can be made will drive innovation.

These malformed efforts are largely driven by governments and think tanks.

The problem with that is governments and think tanks are largely funded by free public money. Its not like they have to produce a valuable result to get paid, such as all businesses do. And for all their staff members Ph.D.s, they dont understand the actual disincentives that taxes create.

So while the world struggles to save itself with green energy, heres a clue: Oil is back above $80 per barrel, and I believe its aiming for $100. That means integrated oil producers such as Exxon and BPas well as independent explorers such as EOG Resourcesshould all perform well.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
People arrive to attend the Huawei keynote address at the IFA 2020 Special Edition consumer electronics and appliances trade fair on the fair's opening day on Sept. 3, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The Lefts Washington Influence Peddling Helps North Korea, Iran, Xi, and Putin

Commentary

Its one thing to get rich lobbying Washington on behalf of powerful interests. Its another altogether when Americas enemies benefit.

Documents released last week revealed that Democrat mega-lobbyist Tony Podesta, brother of longtime bag man for the Clintons John Podesta, pulled in $1 million lobbying the Biden White House on behalf of Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant tied to Beijings Peoples Liberation Army. A longtime worry has been that Western countries adopting Huaweis low-priced communications hardware would become victims of espionage by the Chinese communist regime, or that at Beijings bidding Huawei could even cripple the vital national services or industries of free economies that come to depend on its 5G technology.

The Peoples Republic of Chinas 2017 National Intelligence Law requires that an organization or citizen shall support, assist in and cooperate in national intelligence work in accordance with the law and keep confidential the national intelligence work that it or he knows. Huawei thus becomes an agent of the Chinese regime whenever Beijing so chooses to make it such.

In truth, it already is. The Washington Post reported last month that Huawei chillingly touts that within China how it can identify individuals through voice and facial recognition and monitor prisoners re-education schedules through a program called the Huawei and Hewei Smart Prison Unified Platform. According to the Post, there are indications that Huawei is involved in police surveillance and corporate tracking of workers and consumers.

Podestas million bucks is not merely for being an agent for Beijing, however. In 2020, FBI director Christopher Wray took part in the Justice Departments announcement of an indictment of Huawei for conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)  to steal trade secrets stemming from the China-based companys alleged long-running practice of using fraud and deception to misappropriate sophisticated technology from U.S. counterparts.

But more disturbingly, the Justice Department disclosed Huaweis deceptive efforts to hide its business and technology projects in countries subject to U.S., E.U. and/or U.N. sanctions, such as Iran and North Korea. Through a subsidiary, Huawei assisted the Government of Iran in performing domestic surveillance, including during the demonstrations in Tehran in 2009, Justice contended.

In 2019, the Post obtained internal documents revealing that Huawei over more than eight years secretly helped North Korea build its wireless network, with the strong suspicion that it in violation of U.S. export controls it provided equipment to North Korea, which is under international sanctions for its nuclear weapons development and testing and its human rights violations.

According to the Post, documents also showed that Huawei has business connections with the Chinese firm Dandong Kehua, which in November 2017 was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for moving goods to and from North Korea, viewed by the United States as financing Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs.

What is most head spinning is that this longtime powerful Washington figure, who, indirectly though it may be, now helps the worlds most evil regimes, all of whom either have or will likely soon have nuclear weapons, is both a confirmed creature of the left and one of DCs most unashamed exhibitionists of bling.

Podesta has been everything from a lawyer for Rolling Stone magazine to an aide on the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, Ted Kennedy, Fritz Mondale, Michael Dukakis, and Bill Clinton. But in recent years, his perch has been as the flamboyant king of K Street lobbyists, known for his red shoes and Italian suits, hosting lawmakers and power brokers at his apartment in Venice during the famed Art Biennale exhibition, and showing off a museum-grade artwork collection in his mansion in tony Kalorama, a couple of doors from the Obama mansion. Add abodes in Manhattan, Sydney, Tasmania, on Lake Barcroft in Virginia, and a Capitol Hill townhouse devoted to fundraising.

But the federal government caught up with Podestas work for the U.S. subsidiary of a Russian bank under U.S. sanctions. Art and real estate purchases and vacations ultimately left Podesta deeply in debt, forcing him to shutter his 62-employee lobbying firm, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2018, noting that Podesta and his wife had together given more money to the Democratic Party and Democrat candidates than any other Washington lobbyists over the preceding decade, according to records. Their 1,300-piece art collection  valued at an estimated $25 million included Shepard Faireys famous Hope portrait of Barack Obama, which they ultimately donated to the National Portrait Gallery.

In 2007 and 2008, the Podesta Group paid in excess of $300,000 for the shipping and handling of Podestas art, apparently improperly reported as a business expense, according to documents viewed by the Wall Street Journal.

As giant clients like Wal-Mart bailed out of his firm, and even its own bank pulled the rug out, Podesta himself never ceased the jet-setting, vacationing in the French beach town of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon, as the Journal recounted, throwing a birthday party for himself in the face of the Feds closing in, with hundreds of guests feasting on pizza from the brick-oven stove in his Kalorama mansions backyard, and while employees got their final paycheck and their health insurance was set to end, Podesta was reportedly in New York for a two-day celebration of the new fashion calendar of Pirelli, his personal client, hobnobbing with celebrities like Naomi Campbell and Sean Diddy Combs. Finally, Podesta took an advance on his lobbying commissions on his way out the door before shutting the company.

Podesta is not alone. Disgracefully, Huawei has enjoyed the services of Steptoe & Johnson, founded nearly a century ago, whose attorneys have included prominent Republicans like Judge Lawrence Silberman and former Arizona Rep. John Shadegg and well-known Democrats like former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt and federal Judge Kimba Wood; Huawei has also been the client of Sidley Austin, founded in 1866, which boasts Mary Todd Lincoln and Western Union as early clients and once employed both Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee; and it has been represented by Jones Day, which has done legal work for more than half of the firms in the Fortune 500, for the National Rifle Association, and whose lawyers have ranged from former California Democrat Rep. Jane Harmon to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Business, labor, and special interests tilting the scales in the halls of power against ordinary Americans is one thing. Getting rich helping those who seek the destruction of America and the free world is a far darker brand of corruption, not to mention an existential threat to our nation.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The eruption of underwater volcano Tonga, triggered a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, and is seen in an image from the NOAA GOES-West satellite taken at 05:00 GMT, on Jan. 15, 2022. (CIRA/NOAA/Reuters)

Tsunami Models Underestimated Shock Wave From Tonga Eruption

LONDONThe volcanic eruption in Tonga this month unleashed an atmospheric shock wave that radiated out at close to the speed of sound, pushing large waves across the Pacific to the shores of Japan and Peru, thousands of kilometers away.

Forecasting models and warning systems, designed primarily to assess earthquake-triggered waves, did not account for the boosting effects of the shock wave. It was a critical flaw in these systems, scientists said, leaving them unable to predict exactly when the waves would hit land.

The trans-Pacific and global waves arrived earlier than forecast, which (was) terrible for distant shorelines, said civil engineer Hermann Fritz at Georgia Tech University, who studies tsunamis.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano eruption triggered a tsunami that destroyed villages and resorts and knocked out communications for the South Pacific nation of about 105,000 people. Three people have been reported killed.

However Tongans were well equipped to deal with the tsunami. The small island nation is considered among the most prepared for natural disasters, with years of tsunami drills under its belt, and many people knew to evacuate to higher ground.

But for faraway Peru, for example, the lack of accurate information may have contributed to the death of two people who drowned in unusually high waves, as well as the catastrophic oil spill from a ship near La Pampilla refinery.

We need to re-evaluate tsunami hazards for other volcanoes around the world, Fritz said.

For example, the underwater volcano known as Kickem Jenny is thought to pose only a regional tsunami risk to the neighboring Caribbean island of Grenada. But in fact it may very well excite the entire Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and possibly even the Atlantic and global oceans, if a Tonga-type event were to happen, he said.

A general view shows damaged buildings following the volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tongatapu, Tonga, on Jan. 16, 2022. (Malau Media/Reuters)

Volcano-triggered tsunamis have been rare in modern history, and the shock wave from Tongas volcano was among the largest ever recorded, similar to the one produced by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

Prior to the 2018 tsunami that followed the eruption of Anak Krakatau, a tsunami set off by a volcano had not happened in the ocean in more than a century. Rather, 90 percent of tsunamis are triggered by earthquakes.

As such, tsunami warning systems are programmed to prioritize seismic events, with scientists gauging risk by whether an earthquake magnitude is high enoughabove 7.5 on the Richter scaleto cause a destructive tsunami.

Seafloor instruments also monitor for irregular changes in wave height, sending information by surface buoy and then satellite to a warning center for assessment.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii initially warned of dangerous waves within 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of the Tonga eruption. However, their bulletin noted that due to the volcano source we cannot predict tsunami amplitudes nor how far the tsunami hazard may extend. Roughly 10 hours later, the warning was updated to include a possible threat to Perua surprising development given that the tsunami near Tonga was relatively small.

Tsunami waves, driven by gravity, travel at around 200 meters (660 feet) per secondroughly the speed of a jetliner. But the shock wave from Tongas volcano had moved at more than 300 meters (186 miles) per second and was so powerful, scientists said, that it caused the atmosphere to ring like a bell.

Through the transfer of this energy from the atmosphere to the ocean, the shock wave amplified ocean waves around the world, pushing them farther afield and accelerating their travel timesomething tsunami warning centers werent equipped to handle.

Now, Fritz said, the possibility of atmospheric pressure waves needs to be added to tsunami warning centers suite of modeling and forecasting tools.

By Gloria Dickie
A family passes by one of the stands promoting green energy at the Climate Village in Cancun, Mexico, on Dec. 4. (Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images)

2 Rules for Investing in Todays Green Lunacy

Commentary

Im not in favor of destroying the planet. Ive lived on it all my life. And Ive really become quite fond of it.

Im not alone in that sentiment.

The global kabal have long been pushing a (somewhat manipulated) narrative that climate change is real, dangerous, and most of all man-made.

Basically, its the fault of all the modern conveniences that you and I enjoy, that have sprung from the fossil fuel-based economy the world has created over the past couple centuries.

Now, they say, thats got to end, for the sake of the planet.

Going forward, we have to create a future of energy that uses descriptors like sustainable and renewable, even if theyre not really accurate.

They dedicate their lives to creating a clean, green future. Actually theyre all full of $#!%

Green Energy for Thee

Take the Biden administrations climate czar John Kerry, for example.

His familys Gulfstream Aerospace G-IV made more than 16 trips in 2021. In fairness, not all were for his czarness. He leases it out through his charter company Flying Squirrel LLC.

Its a well known fact that private jets put out as much as 40-times more carbon emissions as commercial flights.

When asked whether his flying private to Iceland (to accept an environmental award of all things) was sending the wrong message, Kerry replied: If you offset your carbon, its the only choice for somebody like me, who is traveling the world to win this battle.

Clearly a necessity as long as he offsets his carbon

Last July, the European Commission, the overlords who make the rules for the European Union, proposed exemptions from the EUs jet fuel tax for cargo-only flightsostensibly on the grounds that they are classified as business aviation.

Can you guess what else is classified as business aviation and also in line for a tax exemption?

Private jets.

Private jets will enjoy an exemption through classification of business aviation as the use of aircraft by firms for carriage of passengers or goods as an aid to the conduct of their business, if generally considered not for public hire. A further exemption is given for pleasure flights whereby an aircraft is used for personal or recreational purposes not associated with a business or professional use.

Not only that, a study by the group Transportation and Environment also found some seafaring exemptions in the proposal as well:  the proposed carbon pricing scheme (ETS) and the low GHG fuel standard (FuelEU Maritime) will only apply to ships above 5,000 GT and exclude a number of ship types such as offshore vessels, fishing vessels, and yachts.

So, if one of your modes of transportation is made by Gulfstream or Sunseeker or the like, you should get a pass on the carbon tax.

What About Green Energy as an Investment?

Today, green investing is a big winner if youre on the receiving end of the moneylike the Al Gores of the world.

Most of us arent.

If youre on the side thats pumping money into these companies, then you should know that green energy, from a technological perspective, is really not ready for prime time.

Dont get me wrong: There is a place for solar, wind, geo-thermal and the likes, just not as a reliable, main source of energy. And not in the near future.

So green investing rule No. 1: Do not fall victim to political arguments that are being represented as the science of green energy.

Green investing rule No. 2: Approach green investment opportunities with strict objectivity and a healthy dose of skepticism. If youre looking to add some green energy to your portfolio, consider more established energy companies that are already profitable; companies like NextEra Energy, Enphase Energy, or SolarEdge Technologies.

They can tax and regulate fossil fuels into oblivion but that wont make green a success. Only the market can determine that.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
UK Offers to Bolster Potential New NATO Military Deployment to Europe

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to bolster any new NATO defenses against an amassment of troops by Russia on its border with Ukraine with the offer of a major military deployment to Europe.

The prime ministers office said the extra forces on offer would include sending defensive weapons to Estonia, and doubling British troops on the ground, with the potential deployment expected to signify the UKs support for its Nordic and Baltic partners.

This package would send a clear message to the Kremlinwe will not tolerate their destabilizing activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility, Johnson said in a statement late on Jan. 29, days after he told parliament he was looking to contribute to any new NATO deployments to protect allies in Europe.

I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, ensuring we are able to support our NATO allies, he said.

Officials will finalize the details of the offer in Brussels at the start of February, with ministers discussing the military options on Jan. 31.

If President Putin chooses a path of bloodshed and destruction, it will be a tragedy for Europe. Ukraine must be free to choose its own future, Johnson said.

Johnson is due to visit the region next week and will also speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin by phone. He will also make a second trip to meet NATO leaders in early February, according to his office.

Meanwhile, Britains foreign and defence ministers will also visit Moscow for talks with their Russian counterparts in coming days, with the aim of improving relations and de-escalating tensions.

The latest development comes after U.S. President Joe Biden said late on Jan. 28 that he will order U.S. troops to deploy to Eastern Europe in the near term. A week prior, the White House said that it was deeply concerning the UK government reported it had received information the Russian Government is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv as it considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine.

A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea on Jan. 18, 2022. (AP Photo)

Russia has an estimated 100,000 troops or more, with tanks and other weapons, on its borders with Ukraines northeast, after having made a series of security demands to NATO in December 2021 to guarantee that Ukraine will never be able to enter the security alliance, and to scale back its deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

But NATO members have not budged on the Kremlins demands, and instead have put forth a number of proposals to come to terms with Moscow in other areas such as arms control, confidence-building measures, and limits on military exercises.

In 2014, Russian troops seized and annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula. Shortly after, Russia began supporting separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine that have been fighting Ukrainian government forces; the ongoing war has since killed over 14,000 people.

NATO members have been sending weapons and missile systems to Ukraine to bolster its defenses, and have warned of economic sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine. Russia has denied plans to invade.

Russia confirmed on Jan. 29 it would relocate naval exercises off the coast of Ireland as a gesture of goodwill after a request from Dublin to do so amid concerns of a Ukraine invasion.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) makes a statement with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 5, 2021. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

US House to Take Up Bill Next Week on China Competition, Chips Industry

WASHINGTONThe House of Representatives will take up a bill next week aimed at increasing competitiveness with China and supporting the U.S. chip industry, including $52 billion to subsidize semiconductor manufacturing and research.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Friday that the House would vote on the 2,900-page bill, called the America Competes act, saying it would make further strides in innovation, technology, and advanced manufacturing. The bill also authorizes $45 billion to support supply-chain resilience and manufacturing of critical goods, industrial equipment, and manufacturing technology.

President Joe Bidens administration is pushing Congress to approve funding to subsidize chip production in the United States, as shortages of the components used in autos and computers have increased supply chain bottlenecks.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Friday the bill would create thousands of jobs all over America. We need Congress to pass that bill in order to revitalize American manufacturing.

The Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act last year, which includes $52 billion to increase U.S. semiconductor production and authorizes $190 billion to strengthen U.S. technology and research to compete with China.

The House bill has some differences with the Senate version. If it passes the House, leaders of both chambers will negotiate to resolve differences.

The House bill also includes a number of trade provisions and would impose additional sanctions on the Chinese regime for what the United States says are rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region. The Chinese communist regime denies the allegations. The bill would also offer refugee status for qualifying people from Hong Kong, where Beijing has clamped down on pro-democracy activists.

The House bill also reauthorizes and revises Trade Adjustment Assistance programs, which help workers whose jobs or pay is hurt by imports, and reforms the Generalized System of Preferences, a preferential tariff system for imports.
Christian denominations that follow a liturgical calendar experience a beautiful rhythm of ordinary Sundays and special holy days, of times of fast and times of feast. In the Catholic church, the Advent/Christmas season officially concluded on Jan. 9.

Currently, we are in what is called Ordinary Time, which doesnt mean that these Sundays and weekdays are unimportant; it only means we are counting the Sundays in between the two major liturgical seasons. (More properly, it could be referred as ordinal time, describing the numerical position of the particular Sunday.)

This year, there are seven Sundays between the end of the Advent/Christmas cycle and the beginning of the Lent/Easter cycle, and 27 Sundays between the end of the Easter season and the beginning of Advent.

We cannot speak about Ordinary Time without speaking about Sunday. The every-seven-day celebration of the Lords Day is the basic structure upon which the church year is built. The great liturgical seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter are more expansive celebrations of particular aspects of the one Mystery of the Lords Death and Resurrection that we celebrate every Sunday.

These two special seasons focus our attention upon critical dimensions of the one mystery, a mystery so overwhelming that we are compelled to separate out various elements for particular attention. These seasons of Christmas and Easter in no way minimize the critical importance of the Sunday celebration throughout the rest of the year.

Ordinary Time is not very ordinary at all. The weekly Sunday celebration is the identifying mark of the Catholic Christian community that comes together, remembering that on this first day of the week the Lord of Life was raised up and creation came at last to completion. This is not ordinary at all. This is the fabric of Christian living.

Here is how the catechism of the Catholic Church puts it: The Sunday Celebration of the Lords Day with the Celebration of the Eucharist is at the heart of the Churchs life. Sunday is the day on which the Paschal Mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church (CCC 2177).

In the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we see this practice of the Christian assembly dates from the beginnings of the apostolic age (Acts 2:42-46). The letter to the Hebrews reminds the faithful not to neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25).

"We celebrate Sunday because of the venerable Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we do so not only at Easter but also at each turning of the week, wrote Pope Innocent I at the beginning of the fifth century, testifying to an already well-established practice that had evolved from the early years after the Lord's Resurrection. St. Basil speaks of "holy Sunday, honored by the Lord's Resurrection, the first fruits of all the other days, and St. Augustine calls Sunday, "a sacrament of Easter.

In the light of this constant and universal tradition, it is clear that, although the Lord's Day is rooted in the very work of creation and even more in the mystery of the biblical "rest" of God, it is nonetheless to the resurrection of Christ that we must look in order to understand fully the Lord's Day.

The bishops of the United States are calling for a three-year grassroots revival of devotion and belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which we celebrate every Sunday. They want to see a movement of Catholics across the United States, healed, converted, formed and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist  and sent out in mission for the life of the world.

These three years will culminate in the first National Eucharistic Congress in the United States in almost 50 years. Thousands of Catholics will join together in Indianapolis for a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage toward the source and summit of our Catholic faith.

Sunday is so important in the life of a Catholic that one of the six precepts of the church is to attend Mass on Sunday. This obligation is just a specification of the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath. We should remember that the commandment about keeping holy the Lords Day is just as important as the commandments of not killing or not stealing. Happy Sunday!

The Rev. Frank E. Lioi is pastor of St. Marys Church and SS. Mary & Martha Parish (St. Francis and St. Hyacinth churches) in Auburn, Our Lady of the Snow Parish (St. Joseph Church, Weedsport, and St. Patrick Church, Cato) in northern Cayuga County, and dean of the East Region (Cayuga and Tompkins counties) of the Diocese of Rochester. He can be reached at flioi@dor.org.

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What would you do if the government stood to separate you from your child for COVID-19 quarantine?

This is just one of the fears currently facing U.S. diplomats in China amid the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) severe zero-COVID measures.

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, sources familiar with the issue say the U.S. Embassy in China is seeking State Department approval to send its diplomats home.

A British tabloid was the first to report that one of Chinas rocket scientists, involved in development of hypersonic missile technology, has just defected to the United States.

What could this mean for U.S.-China competition and tensions over the Taiwan Strait given that the CCPs highest-level military secrets could now be in U.S. government hands?



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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.

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.
AUBURN  Amid an escalating debate on banning literature both locally and nationally, an Auburn school district committee will review a nonfiction young adult book in the high school's library because multiple written challenges have been submitted.

The Auburn Enlarged City School District has received formal complaints on the book "All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto," by journalist and activist George M. Johnson. Such complaints are required under the district policy in order to start an official review process.

Concerns about the book from some parents first surfaced at a school board meeting in December. After more community members became aware of the situation, several residents spoke in support of having the book available at last week's board meeting.

The book chronicles Johnson growing up as a queer Black person. Some passages include material the book's detractors have argued are too sexually explicit for students, and schools in some states have banned it. Detractors have compared it to child pornography and said it shouldn't be openly available to young people at a high school library.

But library and intellectual freedom advocates have said taking the work off library shelves would be censorship and that the book and its overall context, including the select passages, reflect real-world experiences of adolescents, particularly those within the LGBTQ community.

Auburn school board members first heard a complaint about "All Boys Aren't Blue" at a meeting on Dec. 14 before more people voiced concerns at a Jan. 11 meeting. Auburn Superintendent Jeff Pirozzolo said earlier this month that the district is not able to simply remove a book some find objectionable and needs to adhere to policies based off of state law. At that time, he hadn't received a written challenge on the book.

Since then, however, the district has received multiple written challenges to the book, triggering a process in which a committee must review the book and give a recommendation to the school board, which will decide whether the book can remain at the high school or not.

The review committee

The district's "Objection to Instructional Materials" policy states criticism of the schools' instructional materials should be brought forth to the superintendent in writing. The policy, last updated in January 2004, adds that the superintendent will then designate a committee, including the librarian and building principal, to investigate and judge the material being challenged according to the qualitative standards and principles of the district's "Selection of Library and Audiovisual Materials" policy.

Pirozzolo said the committee, expected to have nine members, is being formed. The group is set to be led by Amy Mahunik, Auburn's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and Brian Morgan, the AHS principal. It is expected to include administrators, teachers, at least one parent and at least one student. Pirozzolo said he will not be on the committee. High school librarian Beth Cuddy will also be on the committee, a requirement of the policy.

Pirozzolo said the district wants to have English teachers "because English is part of literature and reading" representing teachers on the committee. Matteo Bartolotta, the school board member who is designated liaison between the board and the school, will also be asked, if his schedule allows him. The district is also expected to reach out to Kiearalyn Mathis, the school board's student representative for the 2021-22 school year. If Mathis is not able to participate or declines, Pirozzolo said, Morgan would probably choose another student.

Pirozzolo said one of the parents who filed a challenge on the book would be asked, as well. "I think it's important that the committee understands the perspective of why the complaint was put in," he said.

A timeline for a resolution regarding this issue has not been established, Pirozzolo added, saying that the district still has to order copies of the book so committee members can read it and that members will need time to read it.

Once the committee is formed, Pirozzolo said, the group will meet to discuss the policy and have a conversation. Members will then read the book. After reading the book, the group will come together again to make sure the board policy is being followed and then have a conversation on whether the book should remain at the library or not.

The committee's recommendation is not meant to be made based on the personal opinion of individual committee members, Pirozzolo added, but by adhering to the established policy. That discussion is intended to be based on the district's "Selection of Library and Audiovisual Materials" policy.

The committee will send a recommendation to the school board, which will make the final decision on whether the book will stay or be removed from the library. Pirozzolo said state education law requires school board have final say on whether or not a challenged book should be in a school library.

Increased attention

While Pirozzolo had previously said that as of Jan. 12, no student had checked the book out of the library, AHS librarian Beth Cuddy said in an email to The Citizen Friday that the book is currently checked out by a student and there is a waiting list of nine more students for it.

At the Tuesday, Jan. 25, school board meeting, 10 people spoke about the book during the public comment period, with nine supporting the inclusion of "All Boys Aren't Blue" on the library shelves.

One of the supporters of the book was Steve Gamba, the high school's choral and music director. After being an educator for 28 years, Gamba said he is "finally confident enough to stand here in front of the governing board of the district for which I work and identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community without fear of repercussion."

Gamba said that is because he feels the district's leadership has "fostered a safe and accepting and inclusive environment. A good portion of the beginning of my career was spent in fear of losing my job simply because of who I am."

Saying that books "give voice to feelings and collective experiences," he said parts of the book rang true to his experiences.

"To focus only on a few paragraphs and pages to characterize an entire book is both narrow-minded and wrong, while at the same time, invalidating the struggles of and further marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community here at Auburn High School," he said. "I found this book to be appropriate, provocative and a catalyst for equality, inclusion, diversity and change, which aligns with the mission statement of the Auburn Enlarged City School District."

Later, Barb Stotler, who had expressed concerns about the book at previous board meetings, took to the podium. She said she purchased the book and read it cover-to-cover.

"It's a good book. It's something that a lot of kids could use and I support that. What I'm objecting to is the six-to-eight pages of straight porn in the center of the book," she said.

Describing herself as a "huge proponent of the First Amendment" and saying she has been censored a lot on social media due to her conservative views, Stotler said critics of those raising objections to "All Boys Aren't Blue" have mischaracterized the situation.

"This is not about censorship," she said. "I want to make something very clear: To those of us that are objecting to this book, it's not about race or sexual preference. It's about a book with pornography. There are laws both state and federal pertaining to obscenity and minors."

Cuddy, the high school librarian, also spoke during public comments. She said libraries are meant to provide resources to serve all populations, including young adults from different backgrounds and experiences.

"The foundation of a pluralistic society like ours in the United States is the ability to see one another as human regardless of the differences. What a society teaches its young people says something about what a society values." she said. "By having this book, 'All Boys Arent Blue,' and others reflecting the experiences of LGBTQ+ people, we are saying to those students that you matter, your story matters, and it deserves a place on our shelves."

Cuddy noted the book has been widely reviewed, which is something librarians look for while making book purchase lists, and added that the book has received different accolades and acknowledgments.

"Having it on our shelves does not take away parents rights to have a say in the media their children consume," she said. "What cant happen is one parent or a group of parents taking that decision away from all parents or from teens, who dont shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate, as has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court."

Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, over an alleged N1.3bn fraud.

Osita Okechukwu was said to have been detained by the EFCC over an alleged abuse of office, conspiracy, and embezzlement of public funds.

He reportedly arrived at the headquarters of the anti-graft commission in Abuja around 1:30 pm on Saturday.

EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, had confirmed that the commission invited the VON DG.

The VON DG is being accused of conspiracy, abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds amounting to N1.3 billion.

EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren, however, declined further comment on why Okechukwu was invited.

Meanwhile, the VON DG has been relatively outspoken about national issues in recent months.
The Plateau State governor, Simon Bako Lalong, has advised Nigerians to be circumspect and deliberate in their choice of public office holders by supporting candidates who have the fear of God and respect for humanity.

Governor Lalong disclosed this at the 1st General Assembly of Catholics in Politics and Catholic Business Leaders in Abuja, in a statement credited to his spokesman, Dr. Makut Simon Macham.

Lalong said Nigerians of all faiths must fully participate in the political process before, during and after elections by ensuring that candidates that aspire public office possess godly principles and traits that will guide them to govern with the fear of God and do justice to all.

He stated that bringing Catholic politicians and captains of industry under one roof to discuss their roles in the Nigerian project at this particular time is very significant, because the nation is in dire need of godly men and women to champion the rebirth that will lead Nigeria to achieving its national aspirations.

He emphasised that the forum provides the participants an opportunity to discuss the challenges confronting Nigeria such as insecurity, corruption, violence, diseases, poverty, and poor infrastructure with a view to peer-reviewing one another and giving stewardship of their responsibilities in various offices.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo commended the Catholic Church for organising the General Assembly which is in line with its long tradition of speaking truth to power and creating consciousness among citizens.

Osinbajo said the pursuit of the common good pushes people in or out of positions of authority, to seek equal treatment, fairness, justice, and human rights of others outside their ethnic, religious, political and other affiliations.

Guest Speaker Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Hassan Kukah represented by Rev. Fr. Raymond, speaking on the theme: Moral Principles in Catholic Teachings and the Nigerians Political Business Life, said the Catholic social teaching prescribes that participation in governance is beyond elections.

He said leaders; particularly those who profess to be men and women of faith must live sacrificially, shun evil, love one another, embrace honesty and righteousness as well as remember always that heaven is their goal as their lives on earth are tenured.

He warned politicians to desist from using the Church for personal and selfish political gains, stating that the Church is not a political party and embraces candidates of all political parties who are God-fearing and ready to serve honestly and build a better nation.
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has reiterated his argument on Northern Presidency in the forthcoming general election and insisted that this is the time for the north to produce President Muhammadu Buharis successor.

According to him, another Northerner, should be in the saddle in 2023 as Nigerias presidency is not for any section of the country but for everyone.

Mohammed, who is interested in the presidency himself, spoke in Bauchi on Friday evening while receiving a situation report from the Contact and Consultation Committee he set up for his presidential ambition.

He claimed that the agitation for power shift to the South applies only to Buharis party All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said: I want to let all Nigerians, especially those clamouring for the 2023 presidency to go to the South, that it is the turn of the North to produce the next president.

We are aware of the agitations of the southern part of the country because the leader of the country today, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is from the North, will finish his tenure in 2023, so power should rotate to the South.

But I want to say that I am in PDP, I am not in APC. It is the APC that has this burden of zoning the presidency to the South.

In my party, the last President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, was from the South and he was my President.

During this period, my party was at the centre for 16 years; 14 of those years were led by people from the South, so where is the justice and the justification?

Therefore, it is the turn of the North to produce the next President.

Says Atiku qualifies to be president but age is no longer on his side. Mohammed also spoke on the presidential aspiration of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, saying that while the Adamawa born politician has all it takes to rule Nigeria, age is not on his side.

He said: There was a time we invited our elder statesman to Bauchi; the one we respect so much in the whole of Nigeria, and in the Northeast; the Waziri of Adamawa.

We interacted and I told him I know he is the most senior among us and he is very qualified. But because of his age and fatigue, having suffered so much for Nigeria, he should allow his younger brother.

Though Im not desperate about it, he should know Nigerians like me too. Im ready to put my weight behind him though if he later emerges the party flag bearer.

Mohammed said he needed more time for more consultations with critical stakeholders in the PDP and other stakeholders across the country on his ambition.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the Contact Committee, Senator Adamu Ibrahim Gumba, advised Mohammed to discuss with Atiku so that one of them could step down for the other since they are both from the Northeast.

He claimed that PDP members backed the idea that the next President of Nigeria should come from the North, adding that the Northeast and Northcentral are the most qualified regions of the country because they have not produced an elected President in the history of the country.
This is not just primitive rural superstition; [juju] is practiced by all kinds of people, from illiterate herd boys to multi-dregreed university professors. If you don't understand the power of this belief, you will never truly grasp the rich albeit often incomprehensible spirituality of Africa. Lawrence Anthony, The Elephant Whisperer

Nobody respects the law of Nigeria. Judges dont. Police dont. Lawyers dont. Politicians dont. Citizens dont. Why? Because there are no consequences. Those who fear the laws are the downtrodden who have no godfathers. That is why stealing a goat is more dangerous than stealing billions. Nigeria is a country of absurdities. J. S. Okutepa. (SAN)

No be juju be this

So, wetin be or what is juju?

juju; plural noun: jujus.

A charm or fetish, especially of a type used by some West African peoples. Supernatural power attributed to a charm or fetish. Juju and witchcraft".

Juju, an object that has been deliberately infused with magical power or the magical power itself; it also can refer to the belief system involving the use of juju. Juju is practiced in West African countries such as Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana, although its assumptions are shared by most African people.

Juju comes from the traditional African religion popularly known as voodoo. Juju refers specifically to objects used in conjunction with spells or curses, and like any practice or belief it can be manipulated to create power over people.

Witches and juju things are absolutely fascinatingthey can fly on broomsticks, do magic spells with their wands and stir up incredible potions in their cauldrons. They can ask for and do the unimaginable, in Nigeria it is just about the unthinkable things they can and cannot do or are held liable for doing or not allowing to happen.

The Harry Potter books for example have made witches (and wizards) really cool recently - who wouldn't want to be as smart as Hermione Granger, as brave as Ginny Weasley or play Quidditch as well as Cho Chang? However, in Nigeria, it is about Child Rights abuse and killings.

This admonition is not about juju or witchcraft but it is about juju and the witchcraft worrying Nigeria. Kindly follow me for the next few paragraphs and then we can share thoughts.

Almost eight years and the government could not get one refinery working at full capacity providing employment and serving Nigerians in a land blessed with the resources. A nation of all typologies of expertise in the oil sector and still cannot simply have an agreement on whether there is subsidy or not and what to do with itno be juju be that!

Police follow PHCN abi DISCo officials to disconnect electricity from another police station. Meanwhile DISCo is indebted to WaterBoard and WaterBoard is indebted to local contractors that supply purifying chemicals and the contractors cannot pay local tax because they are indebted to the local electrician who repairs household electronics destroyed as a result of terrible electricity current supplied to homes. We have changed names, balkanized the utility company, privatized it, funded it yet the energy problem persists, it is one hellish vicious cycleNo be juju be that!

How many times have you seen policemen wear protective gloves, or collect forensic evidence, do we have a data bank, a country of different data capture for NIN, another for drivers licence, another for BVN, even another set of data for unavailable Nigerian passports (printed in another country). Yet theres no-go-to data bank, waithave you seen a desktop in a local police station, not-to-talk of a laptop, apart from the big boysNo be juju be that!

We close factories to build places of worship and then pray for jobs, every national celebration has an interdenominational service and Jumaat prayers as accompaniment, yet we are a religiously wicked people, every Christian with his personal juju-man, and every Muslim her own boka-man. We do interfaith prayers at official events, meetings and steal afterwards, and then do thanksgiving; saying na god oooNo be juju be that!

A government official builds a hospital, and calls it world class, and yet he goes to another country for healthcare, they commission schools they describe as world class and yet they are kids, are schooling in puppet colleges in other climes, they live in villages and build castles in the US, and beg these dudes for aid and loansno be juju be that!

We are venting on power relations across balance of the geographical spread called Nigeria, in other words, we want power to go south, north has had its share, we are talking Muslim-Muslim ticket, and cant say Christian-Christian ticket. No one is talking about the Ogboni-Krishna ticket. Sadly, we are stuck with if the President is from here the Vice must be from there in the only nation with the aberrations such as South-South, North East, North West, South East and too many juju-like political expediency laced necessities such as federal character, catchment area, indigene and non-indigene, educationally disadvantaged; still no way, Infact historically we have no history so we cannot agree on who is at fault or what the solution isNo be juju be that!

Who remembers, in 2015, the Witches and Wizards Association of Nigeria (WITZAN) announced that it had endorsed Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate for the 2015 Presidential election.

We just held a meeting of witches in Kogi State where it was revealed to me that Jonathan would win the presidential election. He has the support of all witches to continue in office said a certain Dr Iboi, the President of the association.

Well, we can see that WITZANs pick ended up not winning the race. The following year WITZAN made a cry for help, as the association released a statement for Nigerians to stop persecuting them, we are waiting for them towards 2023no be juju be that!

Last week in the news, brother and mother collide to murder brother, another son attempts to kill his mother, young lads eat their poo in public, same week, three lads, the oldest being twenty beheaded the girlfriend of one of them, all for money ritual. A trend that has seen scary rise in the last two years, and being the pretentious people that we are, acting like it's new, only a few years back it was panties stealing and till date nobody has been arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and jailedno be juju be that!

Our Federal Road Safety Corp Officers only work during the day and close by 5:00PM and the roads can be left unsafe at night. Nigerian cannot be de-jujulized by praying, by big grammar, by protests, the juju has to be engaged, the gatekeepers of power and resources in Nigeria are not up to 5000 but their juju is strong and is holding the nation down.

It is a sad reality that 2023 really does not offer much if we refuse to address the witchcraft that has beset the motherland, if we refuse to see that all is not well, and keep behaving like a bewitched people, a big storm is not far away, and if we dont act, the disaster that loomsOnly time will tell
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended three trans-border drug traffickers for allegedly trying to smuggle 48,000 tablets of 225mg Tramadol through Mubi, Adamawa State to Cameroon Republic.

NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, who made the known in a statement on Sunday, said the suspects: Mohammed Hussaini, 32; Adamu Bella, 18, and Mohammed Umar, 18, were rounded up at Tsamiya Junction, Madanya Road, Mubi, Mubi North, Adamawa State last Friday with the exhibits concealed in the wraps of another drug.

According to Babafemi, when spoken to, they claimed the drugs were being taken to Bagira town along Nigeria-Cameroon border to be delivered to some Cameroonians for on ward delivery to Maroa in Cameroon.

Babafemi added that operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos airport during their routine cargo search intercepted a consignment of 22 international passports of six different countries hidden in a bag of Gari among other food items.

He also said over 1,500 kilograms of imported Loud and other contraband substances were also intercepted in raids across Lagos and Edo states.

The statement states, This comes on the heels of a similar operation at Alaba Rago area of Lagos where operatives of the state command of the Agency intercepted 1,200 parcels of imported Loud, a strong variant of cannabis suspected to have been smuggled into the state from a neighbouring country with a total weight of 1,229 kilograms.

In another raid on Wednesday 26th Jan, at Suru Alaba, Ajeromi-Ifelodun LGA, Lagos, operatives arrested one Ibrahim Musa, 25, with 18,530 tablets of Tramadol, Rohynol, Diazepam, Exol-5, and 138 bottles of Codeine.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos, operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the airport during their routine cargo search intercepted a consignment of 22 international passports of six different countries concealed in a bag of Gari among other food items.

Nine of the passports were three each of UK, France and Portugal, while the rest were: Nigeria -8; Ghana -4 and Cameroon -1. Also at the airport, operatives equally recovered 12 parcels of cannabis weighing 4.95kg concealed in a carton of Golden Morn packaged for export through the SAHCO export shed.

In Plateau state, a team of NDLEA officers on Friday 28th Jan. arrested two suspects; Emeka Ezenwa, 37, and Julius Akingbe, 45, for being in possession of 126.5grams of methamphetamine concealed inside a DVD player coming from Lagos, while a raid in Kampani Zera- Wase LGA of the state on Friday led to the arrest of Fatima Sadiq, 20, who was caught with 21.3kg cannabis.

A similar raid on Friday of a notorious drug joint, Bakin Kogi Ringim, Jigawa state led to the recovery of different quantities of Cannabis, Diazepam, Exol-5 and some new psychoactive substances with a total weight of 8.680kg as well as weapons such as knives, cutlasses, Gora sticks, catapults and charms.

In Edo state, operatives recovered 19 bags of cannabis weighing 144.10kg stored in the bush along Uromi Road, Esan North East LGA ready to be transported to other parts of the country, while eight bags of the same substance weighing 111kg were recovered from a bush at Iruekpen, Esan West LGA.

Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has applauded officers and men of Lagos, MMIA, Adamawa, Plateau and Edo commands of the Agency for their tenacity and vigilance. He charged them along with their colleagues across the country not to give up until the last gram of illicit drug is recovered from every part of Nigeria.
Over 18 people were reportedly killed, 40 injured and several abducted when terrorists invaded Galadima Kogo community in Shiroro local government area.

It was gathered that the attack started around 5 pm on Saturday and lasted for hours.

The Nigerian voice also learnt that the terrorists had issued a four-day notice to the villagers prior to the attack.

The notice however coincided with the withdrawal of security personnel from Galadima Kogo.

Several houses were razed and several cattle of the residents carted away during the attack.

A villager of Galadima Kogo who spoke to news men narrated that they received a notification from the bandits that they would attack in four days.

He disclosed that leaders of the community informed the security taskforce deployed to the community but they were shocked when the security was withdrawn instead from the community.

The Convener, Lakpma Youth Assembly, Jubrin Allawa confirmed the incident.

Hr said that the security taskforce deployed to the area was withdrawn, adding that this gave the terrorists to have a field day in their attack.

The Concerned Shiroro Youths of Niger state also condemned the withdrawal of security from the community.

In a statement by the co-Conveners Sani Abubakar Kokki and Bello Ibrahim, the group said that they had found the bodies of 12 people who were gruesomely killed, adding that several others were sustained gunshot injuries while several others are still missing.

The decision taken by government to withdraw the security personnel notwithstanding the accompanying reason is reckless and insensitive in its entirety, especially to the plights of innocent and unarmed law abiding citizens already ravaged by incessant insecurity.

Considering how porous, prone to insecurity and vulnerable to deadly attacks by the rampaging terrorists Galadima Kogo is, one can easily conclude that the withdrawal of security personnel at this material time is a deliberate attempt to further jeopardize peoples lives and put them in the line, the group stated.

The youths urged the government to restore the withdrawn security personnel and deploy additional security personnel to other areas prone to insecurity with immediate effect.

Enough is enough as we can no longer fold our arms watching while our lives are being wasted senselessly by criminal elements. Forewarned is forearmed as a stitch in time saves nine!, the statement read.

The Nigerian Voice learnt that the bodies of 18 victims were brought to the Minna General Hospital late on Saturday night while several injured persons are currently receiving treatment at the Minna General Hospital and the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna.

The State Police spokesman DSP Abiodun Wasiu, said information on the attack can only be given by the Commissioner for local government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Internal Security, Mr Emmanuel Umar.

Meanwhile, Umar could not be reached as at the time of this reporting.
The Integrity Youth Alliance has said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited under the management of Mal Mele Kyari is open to integrity test line of Transparency, Accountability & Performance Excellence (TAPE)

According to a press release on Sunday, January 30, 2022 signed by the Publicity Secretary of the Alliance, Danjuma Lamido, he said that the GMD/CEO of NNPC Limited has entrenched the culture of transparency in the Management system of the company and has nothing to hide from Nigerians.

It will be recalled that a Civil Society Organization; The Peoples Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M) on Sunday called on the Federal Government to demand details of N3tn budgeted for Petrol Subsidy in 2022.

There is no doubt that NNPC activities have been open to transparency and accountability since the assumption of office of the Mal Mele Kyari and this has been done through the monthly publications of the financial operations of the Company,'' the statement said.

It is on record that the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has said that concerted efforts by the Company and some federal agencies to combat the menace of smuggling of petroleum products have been largely hampered by existing arbitrage fueled by the prevailing huge price differentials in pump price of petrol in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.

The NNPC Limited CEO said though the Company, working in concert with other agencies, has made noticeable progress in combating the menace, the battle was yet to be won.

Mallam Kyari on several occasion has emphasized that the activities of smugglers have also made it difficult for the country to determine the actual consumption figures for petrol, noting that the Company can only know what was trucked out from loading depots across the country but cannot determine how much of that was consumed in-country.

It is also on record that in an effort to tackle the smuggling of petroleum products and end the attendant losses to the country, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, in October 2019, had established what it termed as Operation White, with a monitoring team drawn from five agencies of government.

Operation White was a transparency initiative aimed at tracking importation and distribution of petroleum products in and out of the country to check smuggling and diversion of products and to stop economic loss to the nation arising from such illicit movements of white products, the statement said.

It will be recalled that the project was launched separately in Abuja and Lagos and members of the monitoring team were drawn from the NNPC, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA) and the Department of State Security (DSS) while the ministry mandated NNPC to drive the project.

As part of its monitoring mechanism, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is almost concluding plans to deploy electronic tracking devices to monitor fuel distribution across the country and curtail smuggling activities as a result.

According to our findings, there is an ongoing initiative to put electronic trackerson tanks and fuel stations that would monitor the distribution of fuel in the country.

With the implementation of electronic monitoring, every truck carrying fuel, including the fuel stations where the fuel is being discharged, would be visible and effectively monitored by the corporation.

It will be recalled that the Peoples Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M) has disputed the 65.7 million daily petroleum consumption assessed by the NNPC as it contradicts the 38.2 million petrol consumption per day estimated by the Directorate of Petroleum Resources.
The group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd, Mele Kyari, will on Monday, January 31, 2022 deliver the 30th convocation lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger state.

The lecture is titled Energy Transition and Energy Accessibility: The New Paradigm, according to a statement signed by the universitys deputy director of information, Mrs. Lydia W. Legbo.

The convocation will hold at the University Auditorium, Main Campus, Gidan Kwano from 4.00pm.

The university will also on Wednesday, February, 2, 2022, confer honorary doctoral degrees (Honoris Causa) on four prominent Nigerians in recognition of their contributions to national development.

The distinguished Nigerians include;

General Abdulsalami Abubakar, GCFR,

Former Head of State, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Akinwumi Adesina, CON

President, African Development Bank.

Mele Kolo Kyari,

Group Managing Director

NNPC Ltd.

Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, CON

Founder and Chairman, BUA Group.


From the middle of 2020, the three-person Cayuga County Civil Service Commission had just two members because of a retirement. Thanks to the results of the 2021 elections, that changed on Tuesday.

With Republicans having a new majority coalition on the county Legislature, they approved an appointment to fill the post at its monthly meeting Tuesday, July 25. The election results also made available the candidate they have put into the role: former Legislator Timothy Lattimore.

Lattimore was available because he could not run for reelection to the county Legislature last year due to term limits, and he lost in a bid for an Auburn City Council seat.

The process leading to Tuesday's vote has upset Democrats on the Legislature, who believe a more qualified candidate was shut out of consideration for the $10,300 position.

Weedsport resident Melody Smith Johnson was the choice of Democratic legislators for the open commissioner seat going back to when the vacancy first surfaced, according to Legislator Aileen McNabb-Coleman, D-Owasco, who had served as Legislature chairperson in 2020 and 2021.

Despite being the majority party on the Legislature those two years because they held the most seats, Democrats could not get any legislation passed without at least some support from outside their conference. That prevented Smith Johnson from being brought to the floor for a vote.

"It was a stalemate," McNabb-Coleman told The Citizen on Friday.

The November general election switched control to the Republicans, and they secured the needed support of independent Legislator Andrew Dennison and Conservative Legislator Hans Pecher to push through Lattimore's appointment, which runs through May 31, 2024.

The vote Tuesday broke on party lines, with all of the Democrats and independent Tricia Kerr voting against Lattimore's appointment. They believed Smith Johnson, who worked for 20 years as a human resources manager and currently runs her own nonprofit and small business, did not get a fair consideration.

Following the vote, Legislator Brian Muldrow told his colleagues that the appointment established a troubling precedent. He said Smith Johnson submitted a resume and cover letter for the position that was circulated to legislators a week ago while no such information was supplied by Lattimore. Smith Johnson also spoke earlier in Tuesday's meeting about why she felt she was the best choice for the position.

"I consider myself friends with Tim Lattimore, so it's nothing personal against him, but I do think it's shameful that we have not had a conversation with him or to see the skillset that fits the job," Muldrow said. "And to have Melody pass a resume around to every legislator, come here and do a speech, and we're just going to just vote for him because we know him. I think that's unfortunate."

Republican Legislator James Basile said Democrats did a disservice to Smith Johnson by not bringing her interest in the position forward sooner.

"The position's been open for over a year. ... I do feel that it was unfair to your candidate or this person you presented at the last minute," he said.

Legislator Heidi Nightengale, who is the minority leader for the Democratic caucus, said she was not given an opportunity to bring Smith Johnson's interest to the Legislature until that point. Instead, she said Republicans held a caucus meeting and made their decision to choose Lattimore and never involved Democrats in the process.

Smith Johnson, who is Black, spoke about the message her appointment would send to minority candidates, whom the county has struggled to recruit into the workforce. The Civil Service Commission oversees the county, school district and municipal adherence to state civil service law governing public employment and hiring.

In 2019, Smith Johnson noted, she spoke at Legislature meeting in which the body voted to put more deliberate effort into recruiting minority applicants for open county positions to address a lack of workforce diversity.

"I stand before you today to say that you are once again at a watershed moment in choosing the next civil service commissioner. ... I'm asking you tonight to once again put your vote with intentionality to ensure that the Cayuga County Civil Service Commission will represent the diversity of our county," she said.

"The whole of who we are as an organized body as a community and as a county is always bettered by the intentionality of leadership to bring to the team the most qualified and proven leader for the job and I submit to you ... that amongst those considered tonight for the next commission appointment, that I am that qualified and proven leader and tonight it is time to add to the depth of my passion and my experience and the perspective that only I, as a woman of color, can bring to the current civil service commission as it carries out the work of the county to deliver public service to every single one of our county residents."

Jeremy Boyer can be reached at (315) 282-2231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @CitizenBoyer

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Man injured, two dogs killed in tiger attack

KANCHANABURI: A Karen tribal man was badly injured and two dogs killed in an attack by three tigers in a forest in Thong Pha Phum district, national park officials said on Saturday (Jan 29).

animalsSafety

By Bangkok Post

Sunday 30 January 2022, 08:30AM

National park officials present 10,000 baht in initial financial assistance to Porkalee, the wife of the injured man. Photo: Piyarat Chongcharoen / Bangkok Post

National park rangers carry Wan, 46, away from the scene of the tiger attack that left him with multiple wounds. Photo: Piyarat Chongcharoen / Bangkok Post

National park rangers take an injured man to a hospital following a tiger attack in a forest in Khao Laem National Park in Kanchanaburi on Friday (Jan 28). Photo: Piyarat Choncharoen / Bangkok Post

The attack on Friday prompted officials of Khao Laem National Park to ban entry to forested areas near Pilok-Samathor creek and nearby forests for 90 days for safety reasons, reports the Bangkok Post.

The victim of the attack was a local resident, identified as Wan, 46, a Karen man with no ID card, said Niphon Chamnongsirisak, director of the Protected Area Regional Office 3.

The victim, who lived in Tambon Pilok in Thong Pha Phum district, had left his village around 9am to round up his nine buffaloes that were grazing in the Samathor forest inside Khao Laem National Park, about four to five kilometres from his home, said Mr Niphon.

Mr Wan, accompanied by three dogs, was in the forest around noon when he saw three tigers rushing towards him. He was attacked but managed to climb a tree to escape them. But two of his dogs were attacked and killed, said Mr Niphon.

After the tigers retreated, the injured villager climbed down from the tree and rode on a buffalo to get home. Along the way, he met a friend and sought help. He was taken to the village and notified the village head, who alerted authorities.

Mr Wan sustained around 20 wounds, some of them serious, to his neck, hands, arms, legs and face and was being treated at Thong Pha Phum Hospital, said Mr Niphon.

After the attack, Khao Laem Natinal Park deployed about 10 rangers to inspect the scene and guard the area to prevent the animals from attacking local residents.

For now, residents are not allowed to enter forested areas in the two national parks. In case of necessity, they need permission from the park chiefs, and will be escorted by rangers, said Mr Niphon.

National park authorities have provided B10,000 in initial assistance to the family of the victim. Ms Porkalee, 33, wife of Mr Wan, received the money on Saturday.

Fridays attack happened just three weeks after the discovery, also in Thong Pha Phum district, of the pelts of two Indochinese tigers along with weapons and other items at a campsite near the Thailand-Myanmar border.

Five suspects managed to flee, leaving meat from the tigers on a grill. All five men later surrendered to police to face charges. They claimed the tigers had preyed regularly on their cattle, so they used a dead cow the big cats had killed as bait and shot them with borrowed guns, according to police.

There were reports that soldiers of the Karen National Union (KNU) had alerted local residents in Tambon Pilok that five tigers that they used to spot at Khao Krathing mountain on the Myanmar border near Pilok Khi village had disappeared from the area.

The wild animals were believed to have migrated to search for food in forested areas in Thailand. After news about the deaths of the three tigers, KNU soldiers warned local residents to be more careful about the remaining tigers that might come to attack them and their animals.

Thai parks officials said last year that there were 177 Indochinese tigers left in the wild in the country, an increase from 160 a year earlier. They attributed the significant upturn in breeding to success in protecting the species over the past decade.

However, the increasing tiger population also means the animals might be roaming farther from their usual areas in search of food.

Indochinese tigers are also found in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and southwestern China. The total population may only be around 350, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Phuket Opinion: Shooting dogs

PHUKET: The shooting dead of beloved family dog Harley while she was walking with her master along a well-used trail in Baan Manik sent a wave of anger throughout the expat community this week. There is nothing that could motivate a humane person to shoot a playful dog in the face. The act was despicable, immoral and cowardly.

opinionanimalsviolencecrime

By The Phuket News

Sunday 30 January 2022, 10:00AM

Happy and playful, Harley. Photo: Colin Mackay

Harley had just recently delivered a litter of nine pups and was enjoying a walk with her master, long-term Phuket expat Colin Mackay, and two friends when she was shot. The key suspect is a local farm worker, the only person in the vicinity where the shot was fired from and who quickly left the scene not to be heard of again.

The loss has devastated Colin Mackays family, especially his daughter. Colin is no stranger to Thai life and Phukets horrid history in the treatment of dogs. In the early 2000s it was common for dogs to be rounded up and shot, their bodies dumped in garbage trucks. This latest shooting harked back to those days, when dogs were treated with contempt and their lives considered trivial.

Back then, it was common for packs of strays to be seen in every village, every moo baan, across the island. Some of the packs were threatening, others dangerous, but most just hungry. At that time Thais generally had yet to take dogs into their hearts as friends and beloved companions. That has changed, very much so due to the example set by King Bhumibol Adulyadej and his publicly expressed affection for his own dog, Tong Daeng.

Laws aimed at preventing cruelty to animals were finally introduced in 2014 under the Cruelty Prevention and Welfare of Animal Act, yet it is painfully obvious that Thailand has a long way to go before its people can consider themselves as generally humane to dogs.

As John Dalley MBE of the Soi Dog Foundation pointed out, it is illegal for anybody other than an authorised vet to kill a dog or a cat except in a life threatening situation. Anybody found guilty of killing or cruelty to animals can be imprisoned for up to two years and fined up to B40,000. Yet dog poisonings continue in Phuket neighbourhoods without consequence, sometimes regardless if it is a neighbours dog.

Mr Dalleys question as to whether Harley was shot for the perpetrators amusement or whether he planned to eat it was not a wayward comment or a distasteful claim. Dog meat is still eaten in Thailand, with Sakhon Nakhon still notorious for the practice, despite Thailand slowly taking steps to clamp down on the dog-meat trade.

Thalang Police have indicated that any investigation into the killing of Harley may be thwarted by the lack of a body produced as evidence, as Harleys body was removed from the scene while Colin walked back to fetch his pickup. He returned to find only bloodstains on the ground where her body had lain.

The assertion is stupefying. They can at least bring the man in for questioning. Their superiors superiors, the Region 8 Police, have been bragging about the ability to intercept people wanted on arrest warrants at the Phuket Check Point for months. And if their brethren at Phuket City Police can track down a thief who upset a little girl for stealing a handful of plants, the Thalang Police have no excuses for their lack of effort.

If the issue is a matter of how important the person is in deciding whether to dedicate any serious effort to track down the killer, police might like to know that Colin Mackay is the author of the seminal book A History of Phuket and the Surrounding Region.

The book is now archived in the library of the esteemed Siam Society, established under Royal Patronage in 1904, and still under Royal Patronage. What most foreigners know about the history Phuket, what theyve read on countless tourism websites, is because of his book. That is what Colin Mackay has given this island.
Tourist offers 1,000 reward for return of stolen holiday money

PHUKET: A Greek tourist is offering a 1,000 reward for the full return of 4,900 (about B182,400) stolen from his rental car in Kata. If the money is returned in part, the tourist is willing to return 20% of the amount returned.

tourismcrimepolice

By The Phuket News

Sunday 30 January 2022, 06:42PM

A notice announcing the reward has been posted in Thai on the back of the car.

A notice announcing the reward has been posted in Thai on the back of the car.

Alexandros Alexiadis learned of theft on Wednesday (Jan 26), but so far has received no updates on whether any action has been taken to recover this stolen money.

Alexandros, or just Alex, arrived in Phuket on Dec 26 with his wife Lesia and their three children: 14-year-old son Illia; 11-year-old daughter Liza; and their youngest, 5-year-old daughter Vasiliki.

The family arrived in Phuket from Greece under the Test & Go entry scheme and checked in to stay at the Kata Ocean View Residence condo project. The family is set to fly home on Feb 25.

Officers from Karon Police Station came to see me twice, but it is hard to communicate with them. They dont speak English, Alex told The Phuket News.

Some ladies who work for the Condo helped me by translating, but it was limited. I called my embassy in Bangkok, they told me they will also contact the police tomorrow, he said.

The money was in the car as staff said he was unable to place the money in the safe in the residence he is renting as staff said they were unable to open it. The option of placing the money in the management office safe was not suggested, leaving Alex not to know they had one.

And it was not left in the room due to cleaning staff concerns. Big irony, isnt it? Alex admits.

What bothers me the most is that the parking area [in front of the condo building] has some CCTV coverage. The entrance is visible from the cameras but the car was parked in a blind spot, he said.

The car was parked in the location where it was entered and the money taken as it was rented from the condo management office.

Alex noted that so far he has been refused to be able to view the CCTV footage the condo staff do have of the parking area. Concerns about Alexs stolen holiday money have been met with decreasing enthusiasm.

They tell me to just accept the reality that my money is stolen and let it go, Alex said.

At this stage not sure how the thief entered the car. I found the driver door partly open. At first I thought I probably left it unlocked, but I see now that the car autolocks if it is not driven, Alex explained.

Tourist Police have now been informed of Alexs predicament. The theft of the money has left the family with just Alexs credit card to rely on while in Phuket.

Phuket Tourist Police will send their people to go with me to Karon Police Station tomorrow [Jan 31], Alex told The Phuket News.

The exact amount stolen was 4,900, comprising 47 100 banknotes and one 200 banknote.

If it is fully returned the reward will be 1,000, if partly returned they can keep 20%, Alex said.

People can contact Alex by calling 090-8910802 or via WhatsApp or Viber on +306974888915.

Alex has also had a notice announcing the reward posted in Thai on the back of the car.

For Alex, who has returned to Phuket on holiday many times over the past 10 years, the theft has come as a shock.

I have been visiting Thailand every year, for two to three months per year, since 2009. I never worried about stealing. Almost all the people I know have the same feeling for Thailand, he said.

However, Alex added that he understood the financial pressure local people have been under throughout the COVID crisis.

COVID restrictions and the decrease in the tourism income have lowered the quality of life here on the island and people are desperate. They even stole some baht coins I had next to the gear lever. That says a lot, he said.
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RIDGEFIELD  A new hire in the towns planning and zoning department is bringing years of experience to the role.

On Monday, Alice Dew, of Brookfield, had her first day on the job as Ridgefields planning and zoning director. She replaces Richard Baldelli, former director and zoning enforcement officer, who retired on Jan. 3. An interim zoning enforcement officer will remain on board to support Dew as she acclimates to her new role.

Dew served as Brookfields land use director from 2015 to 2021. In that role, she oversaw the planning and zoning commissions, as well as the day-to-day operations of the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Inland Wetlands Board, the Building Department and the Health Department.

I had things fairly worked out in Brookfield and allocated the work I was doing to other departments, so itll be a more sustainable job for them going forward, Dew said. Ridgefield is a lovely town, and I thought it would be a nice new challenge for me.

As land use director, Dew partnered with Brookfields Economic & Community Development Commission to realize the vision for the Four Corners, the town center at the intersection of Route 7 and Route 25. Brookfield has already hired her replacement.

She was also Brookfields zoning enforcement officer for five years and served on the towns Conservation Commission for 20 years. Her earlier career experiences include positions with the U.S. Forest Service and a solar energy installation company.

The succession reflects a once in a generation transition for Ridgefields Planning and Zoning Commission, according to Chairman Robert Hendrick. Baldelli was the director and zoning enforcement officer for the past five years and served as the enforcement officer under other directors for 30 years before that.

Baldelli announced his retirement in late October, days after Town Planner Karen Martin told him she was leaving to accept a job with SLR Consulting, Hendrick said.

The key staff departures occurred just two weeks before the election, where four of the nine Planning & Zoning seats turned over to newcomers. The four new commissioners are Elizabeth DiSalvo, an architect, Chris Molyneaux, a local attorney, Mariah Hutchings Okrongly, a sustainability program manager, and Joe Sorena, a civil engineer.

Commissioner Joseph Dowdell was reelected to a second term and later elected vice chairman by the commission. Hendrick  who was elected chairman last fall  is in the middle of a four-year term expiring next November along with commissioners John Katz, Susan Consentino and Ben Nneji.

After several executive sessions to interview candidates and discuss options, the commission voted unanimously on Dec. 14 to extend an offer to Dew. She accepted right before the holidays.

Hearst Connecticut Media spoke with Dew on her second day of work. Although she didnt have much to say about the plans and projects shell be working on in the future, shes excited to get started.

The commission seems  very interested in going ahead with a little more focus on planning, Dew said. Ridgefield is a fairly well-established town, so they might start looking at more of the details of ... the zones that they have (while) taking into account COVID and other things.

Hendrick said Ridgefield is fortunate to have Dew.

(Alice) brings expertise and credibility on planning and zoning issues in western Connecticut, and her various life experiences help her balance the interests of both conservation and development, he said in an email to Hearst Connecticut Media. She impressed the commission ... when we discussed prioritizing customer service, improving engagement of the community and all stakeholders and driving accountability, efficiency and continuous improvement in everything we do.

The Planning and Zoning Commission meets at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month via Zoom.

alyssa.seidman@hearstmediact.com
State lawmakers will vote on a proposal that will split Cayuga County into two congressional districts.

The legislation, which was released on Sunday, details how the county would be divided. The new 22nd Congressional District would include the city of Auburn and the towns of Aurelius, Fleming, Genoa, Ledyard, Locke, Moravia, Niles, Owasco, Scipio, Sempronius, Sennett, Springport, Summerhill, Throop and Venice. The remaining towns  Cato, Conquest, Ira, Mentz, Montezuma, Sterling and Victory  would be in the newly drawn 24th district.

The town of Brutus would be split, according to the legislation. Part of the town would be in the 22nd district, while the rest would be in the 24th.

Legislators kept most of Cayuga County, including Auburn, in a central New York district. The 22nd would be comprised of all of Onondaga and Tompkins counties and parts of Cortland, Madison, Ontario, Schuyler and Seneca counties.

The 22nd replaces the existing 24th district represented by U.S. Rep. John Katko. Katko, a Republican, announced earlier this month that he will not seek reelection this year.

The 24th would be a sprawling district extending from western New York to the North Country. All of Genesee, Orleans and Wayne counties would be in the district along with parts of Erie, Jefferson, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Oswego, Seneca, Wyoming and Yates counties. This would be U.S. Rep. Chris Jacobs' new district. Jacobs, a Republican, represents parts of western New York and the Finger Lakes region in Congress.

For the last decade, Cayuga County was kept whole in one congressional district with all of Onondaga and Wayne counties, plus western Oswego County. But it's not unusual for the county to be split into multiple congressional districts.

From 2003 to 2013, the county was part of two districts. Auburn and the southern half of the county were in the 24th district, which included parts of central New York, the Mohawk Valley and the Southern Tier. The northern towns were part of the 25th district, which consisted of Onondaga, Wayne and part of Monroe.

The state Legislature is expected to vote on the maps this week. Lawmakers took over the process after the failure of the state Independent Redistricting Commission to reach a consensus on plans for congressional and state legislative lines.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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EDWARDSVILLE  Felony charges have been filed after a Madison Police officer was injured by a suspect Friday.

Iresha S. Turner, 30, of St. Louis, was charged with aggravated battery, a Class 2 felony, and criminal trespass to a residence, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison Police Department.

According to court documents, on Jan. 28, Turner allegedly kicked an officer with the Madison Police Department in the thigh. Turner also allegedly entered a Madison residence without authority.

Bail was set at $50,000.

Other recent felony charges filed by the Madison County State's Attorney's office include:

 Damon R. Bellovich, 26, listed as homeless out of Granite City, was charged with residential burglary, a Class 1 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On Sept. 28, Bellovich allegedly entered a residence in Granite City with the intent to commit a theft. Bail was set at $100,000.

 Bruce B. Pickett, 62, of Cottage Hills, was charged with theft over $10,000, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. On Jan. 11, Pickett allegedly exerted unauthorized control over a 1.5-carat diamond ring valued at more than $10,000 but less than $100,000. Bail was set at $40,000.

 Dorian C. Andrews, 34, of East St. Louis, was charged with offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 2 felony, and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Wood River Police Department. On Jan. 24, Andrews allegedly had a 2007 Jeep Compass that was stolen or converted and used the vehicle to flee a Wood River Police officer, going over 21 miles per hour the posted speed limit. Bail was set at $50,000.

 Ricky J. Short, 44, of Warren, Ohio, was charged with unlawful possession of a stolen license plate, a Class 2 felony, and unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriff's Department. On Dec. 10, Short allegedly had a license plate to an unidentified vehicle and a handgun made in Italy. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Bobbie J. Lancaster, 39, of Cottage Hills, was charged with forgery, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriff's Department. On Nov. 22, Lancaster allegedly altered a document of payment in the amount of $296.75. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Delano D. McGlowan Jr., 29, of East St. Louis, was charged with theft over $500, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, McGlowan allegedly exerted unauthorized control over motor vehicle parts for a 2006 Dodge Ram truck having a total value in excess of $500. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Lisa K. Whitt-Long, 50, of St. Louis, was charged with retail theft under $300, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On Jan. 7, Whitt-Long allegedly took possession of five bottles of tequila, a bottle of Mountain Dew, five packs of thermal underwear, four bottles of shampoo and a Reebok sweatshirt having a total retail value less than $300. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Aaron R. Glover, 28, of Glen Carbon, was charged with retail theft under $300. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. On Dec. 27, Glover allegedly took a socket wrench set having a total retail value less than $300.

 Aaron L. Trask, 31, of Alton, was charged with criminal damage to property, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. On Jan. 24, Trask allegedly caused more than $500 in damage to equipment at the Polo Center Laundromat. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Danisha C. Friarson, 23, of St. Louis, was charged with retail theft over $300, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. On Oct. 21, Friarson allegedly took a Roku television from Walmart having a total retail value in excess of $300. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Christopher G. King, 26, of St. Louis, was charged with retail theft over $300, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. On Oct. 21, King allegedly took a Roku television from Walmart having a total retail value in excess of $300. Bail was set at $15,000.

 John W. Skelton, 55, of Hartford, was charged with driving with revoked license, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. On Jan. 24, Skelton allegedly was driving a 1995 Chevrolet Carryall while his license was revoked due to a 1997 DUI conviction. The bail was set at $15,000.

 Jamone T. Bester, 31, of Collinsville, was charged with driving while license is suspended and resisting arrest by a peace officer causing injury, both Class 4 felonies. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. On Jan. 28, Bester allegedly was driving a Honda Accord with a suspended license, due to a previous DUI conviction, and allegedly resisted arrest and caused injury to a Collinsville police officer. Bail was set at $15,000.
The Telegraph

EDWARDSVILLE  A Granite City man has been indicted on three counts of attempted first degree murder, a Class X felony, and three counts of aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony.

According to court documents, on Jan. 17 Frank H. Genovese, 46, of Granite City, allegedly used a buck knife to stab one person in the back, one person twice in the neck, and sliced another persons face, all while making statements about his intention to kill.
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SPRINGFIELD  A new study suggests Illinois could do more to reduce tobacco use across the state.

The annual American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control report tracks the efforts of the federal government and state governments across the country on actions taken to eliminate tobacco use and enact tobacco control laws and policies.

Illinois received mixed grades across five different categories, but raised its mark from a D to a C when it comes to access to cessation services. Illinois gets high marks for its air quality, thanks in large part to the now nearly 15-year-old Smoke-Free Illinois Act which prohibits smoking in virtually all public places and workspaces.

That is in large part because Illinois now has a law in place that requires Medicaid to cover all three forms of tobacco cessation counseling, phone, group, and individual, said Kristina Hamilton, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association in Illinois and Iowa.

It's important because smoking rates among low-income people are nearly double the general population in Illinois, Hamilton said. This will hopefully help to reduce the smoking rate among low income individuals.

The report states Illinois spends about $12 million for state tobacco control programs. That's nowhere near the $136 million that some experts say should be the goal.

We still are at only 9% of what the CDC recommends we spend on tobacco prevention and control, Hamilton said. We would like the General Assembly to increase that budget in the future.

The ALA remains highly concerned about the nearly 23% of Illinois high school students using some form of tobacco, driven in large part by e-cigarettes, especially flavored ones.

We are strongly advocating for municipalities to pass policies to end the sale of flavored tobacco products that include menthol cigarettes and flavored cigarettes because they are so popular among youth, Hamilton said. It's really undoing a lot of the impactful work that the tobacco control community has done the past couple of decades.

Among the recommendations in the report, the ALA is calling on Illinois lawmakers to ensure tax parity among tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.

We would like to see other tobacco products taxed at the same rate of cigarettes, Hamilton said. For price sensitive consumers of tobacco products, if you increase taxes, you do see lower usage rates of build tobacco products.

The ALA also continues to advocate for the elimination of the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.

We know that it has saved lives and prevented another generation being addicted to certain tobacco products, Hamilton said.

New in Illinois is the Preventing Youth Vaping Act, which took effect at the beginning of the year. The law prohibits companies from marketing e-cigarettes to minors, prohibits misleading e-cigarette advertising, and gives the Illinois attorney generals office and law enforcement agencies both criminal and civil authority to hold violators accountable.
The Supreme Court decision that killed the federal vaccine-or-test rule for large businesses is a defeat for employee health and safety.

But even aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government doesnt devote sufficient resources to protect workers in high-risk environments.

The agency that monitors workplace conditions, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has the authority to send investigators to workplaces known to expose workers to occupational hazards and, if warranted, issue citations and levy substantial fines on business owners.

Yet, OSHA has only sparingly applied this authority to some of the countrys most dangerous workplaces.

Meatpacking plants, factories and greenhouses employ many of Americas lowest paid and most vulnerable workers. Many are immigrants and people of color laboring in crowded or otherwise hazardous conditions. The pandemic has shown how the front-line, essential work done by this brown-collar workforce is critical to keeping the economy and communities going. Yet on top of being at high risk of COVID-19 illness and death, these workers have always been exposed to higher occupational health and safety risks than those in other industries.

Long before the pandemic, greenhouse workers  such as those handling the hothouse tomatoes that brighten many American salads  suffered from a slew of health and safety violations, including lack of protective gear for handling toxic chemicals and lack of water breaks in temperatures above 100 degrees. When COVID-19 hit, greenhouses in Cochise County, Arizona, for example, did not require virus-related precautions, as my clinic learned while providing legal services to workers.

OSHA investigations are virtually unheard of in these and comparable workplaces. An October congressional hearing on COVID-19 infections and deaths among meatpacking workers at the countrys top five meatpacking companies revealed that at least 59,000 meat industry workers were infected with the virus during the first year of the pandemic and 269 died as a result. Among the horrors recounted at the hearing were stories of workers being given just one mask each and having to pull it down or remove it when it became spattered with blood.

While the hearing highlighted COVID-19 risks at these plants, the work conditions of meatpacking  such as rigorous production quotas, crowded spaces and continuous repetitive motion with little respite  have long been hazardous, causing accidents, musculoskeletal disorders and exposure to chemical and biological hazards. Nevertheless, there was little accountability for these and other high-risk workplaces even before the pandemic.

One reason for this lack of enforcement is that OSHA does not have enough investigators. As of 2020, the agency had fewer investigators than at any time since 1975. This limits it to investigating a tiny fraction  under 40,000 annually  of the approximately 7 million workplaces OSHA is supposed to oversee. Even in 2004, when OSHA conducted substantially more investigations than it does now, the probability that a covered workplace would receive an investigation in any given year was below .001.

In 2020, the National Employment Law Project estimated that, at current staffing levels, it would take OSHA 165 years to inspect each of the workplaces under its jurisdiction just once.

But there is another, subtler reason OSHA does not issue more citations to high-risk workplaces: Like many agencies, it relies on worker complaints to determine which places to investigate.

The most vulnerable workers, however, rarely complain because of the ever-present threat of retaliation. Employers are known to punish those workers who dare to assert their rights with demotion, termination and immigration enforcement. This makes it unlikely that those workplaces most inclined to violate OSHA rules will be investigated and penalized.

And worker complaints do not always resolve safety concerns. In July 2020, meatpacking workers at a Maid-Rite plant in Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against OSHA alleging it failed to protect them following an imminent danger complaint they had submitted about their work conditions, to which the agency first responded with a letter asking Maid-Rite to address the problem itself. (OSHA later investigated and a federal judge dismissed the complaint, though workers reportedly planned to appeal.)

The pandemic and the recent Supreme Court ruling  which did recognize OSHAs power to regulate hazardous workplaces  offer the agency an opportunity to re-focus limited resources on the health and safety of Americas most vulnerable yet essential workers.

This will not be simple or happen overnight: It will require OSHA to increase its ranks and engage those states that have their own workplace health and safety agencies but are not adequately enforcing the law.

But there is one change OSHA can make immediately: Regularly investigate the industries most likely to harm workers even in the absence of worker complaints. The pandemic proved that the welfare of the nation is inextricably connected to the health and safety of essential workers.
Lamborghini India recorded a whopping 86 per cent YoY growth in 2021 as compared to 2020. The Italian supercar major has delivered 69 cars, claimed Sharad Agarwal, Head of Lamborghini India in a post on LinkedIn.

(Also Read: Extremely rare Lamborghini Aventador SVJ 63 Roadster burnt to ashes in Mexico)

He said that Lamborghini India witnessed strong growth owing to the new product launches in 2021 and customer engagement initiatives. He also hopes that the company will be able to continue this momentum in 2022 as well. The supercar brand registered its best-ever sales in 2021.

The automaker claims to have achieved its fastest 100 cars milestone in the super-luxury car segment by delivering 100th Urus in the country. Also, it reached the cumulative sales milestone of 300 Lamborghini cars in last year only.

The Italian car brand under the Volkswagen umbrella launched four new products in the Indian market in 2021. These were Lamborghini Huracan Evo RWD Spyder, Urus Pearl Capsule, Urus Graphite Capsule and Huracan STO.

The automaker also claims that it achieved a couple of milestones last year, which helped it to engage more consumers and grab more attention. During the Esperienza GIRO from Delhi - Chandigarh - Shimla, the automaker witnessed the participation of 50 Lamborghini models in a 550 km drive. The 50 Lamborghinis claimed to have driven 1,500 km distance across three chapters during Lamborghini Day 2021.

Lamborghini also claimed that it reached the Umling La pass, which is the highest motorable road any Lamborghini car ever travelled.

While speaking about the 2021 sales performance of the brand and its expectation in 2022, Sharad Agarwal, Head of Lamborghini India said that the company will continue to focus on the three pillars for the Indian market. It aims to bring new models faster to the market, set new benchmarks in customer experience by curating unique exclusive experiences for both its customers and prospects; expand its reach to new geographies and segments in India and drive consistent growth in the market.

First Published Date:
More than a million members of LV have been betrayed by the men running the mutual insurance company they own.

Yet Mark Hartigan, the chief executive, and Alan Cook, the chairman, remain in their lucrative jobs, despite being the architects of a disastrous attempt to ditch nearly 180 years of mutual history by selling out to a bunch of buyout barons.

LV's members scuppered the proposed deal with US private equity firm Bain in a vote in early December. Since then, savers and policyholders have been left in limbo.

Writing on the wall?: Alan Cook has said he will step down, but Mark Hartigan has made no such pledge

Immediately the Bain transaction was dead in the water, LV's fellow mutual insurer Royal London offered to enter exclusive talks over a mutual merger. We have as yet no detail but it would give LV customers the opportunity to keep their savings under the umbrella of mutuality.

Since then, there has been radio silence. This is unsettling. The longer LV's future remains unresolved, the greater the risk of drift, decline, and loss of momentum.

Many questions remain unanswered, including: Why are Cook and Hartigan still there? Cook has said he will step down, but there is no departure date. Hartigan has made no such pledge and incredibly, the LV board has not even ruled out paying him a bonus for last year.

It is unsatisfactory, to say the least, for members that the same duo who landed the company in this plight are still in charge. Nothing in their handling of the abortive sell-out gives much faith in their ability to resolve the mess they have created.

Indeed, they have every incentive to spin it out and carry on drawing their bulging pay packets. So too do the army of advisers who are hauling in hefty fees.

This cannot go on. The clueless twosome, Hartigan and Cook, have lost all credibility and should be replaced. Given their dismal performance on the Bain deal, it is unacceptable that LV members are forced to rely on the pair to negotiate a future path.

Independent directors on the LV board must draft in a heavyweight chairman and chief executive to act as champions for loyal members.

This is what has happened in previous debacles. At Equitable Life, the highly respected Vanni Treves was brought in as chief firefighter. Similarly, the late Lord Myners came in to the Co-op after its bank ran into trouble.

Candidates to chair LV could include Joe Garner, who is leaving as chief executive of Nationwide, where he has been a formidable champion of mutuality. Financial expert and campaigner Ros Altmann is another person of real stature.

Hartigan and Cook have shown themselves to be deeply inadequate stewards. The lack of information from inside their bunker since their plan was dismissed is in keeping with their behaviour throughout.

The deal with Bain would have involved a major shift in the ownership and culture of LV. Yet they failed to make a convincing case as to why members would benefit.

The pair claimed LV had no future as an independent  an about-turn on previous assertions that it had thriving prospects. Now they seem to have flip-flopped again and independence is again an option.

This is not just about LV but about mutuality itself. Now, more than ever, with the cost of living rising, savers and policyholders need mutuals in the name of consumer choice.
Activist investor Cevian Capital has taken a stake in telecoms giant Vodafone Group.

It is understood to have held talks with Voda in recent weeks about improving its performance.

Stockholm-based Cevian, one of the largest activist investors in Europe, could push the company to sell operations in its global empire, to bulk up in key business lines, or to buy back its shares from the market, Bloomberg reported. Cevian declined to comment.

Boost: US-listed shares in Vodafone rose nearly 6 per cent after news of the stake emerged

US-listed shares in Vodafone rose nearly 6 per cent after news of the stake emerged on Friday night.

The FTSE 100 stalwart, headquartered in Berkshire, operates in 20 nations and has more than 300million wireless customers.

Despite a recent surge on merger rumours, its share price has plunged over the past five years, falling from more than 230p to 128p, giving the company a market value of 34billion.

City rumours last week suggested that Vodafone could be vulnerable to a predator, with private equity firms said to be circling.

In a bid to bolster defences, it is understood that Vodafone is considering an acquisition. It has held early-stage talks with Deutsche Telekom and Orange of France about a merger of their wireless towers. Voda hived off its towers as a new company listed in Germany called Vantage, where it owns around 80 per cent.

The company has also approached CK Hutchison, the Hong Kongbased parent company of mobile network Three about a merger.

Cevian has gained attention for its stake in insurer Aviva, where it has amassed a 5 per cent stake.

Vodafone declined to comment.
The boss of the US group buying Inmarsat has promised it is committed for the long haul and has no plans to sell off parts of the satellite company's business.

Launching a robust defence of the 5.4billion takeover, Viasat chief executive Rick Baldridge told the Daily Mail that his firm intends to create a slew of new UK jobs and invest more in Britain.

But critics said assurances must be 'cast iron' and legally binding after many disastrous UK buyouts.

Baldridge's comments come after Viasat was grilled by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng last week about potential undertakings.

The takeover is one in a line of controversial aerospace and defence deals in recent years.

There are fears Inmarsat could suffer the same fate as aerospace group Cobham, which was carved up 18 months after it was bought by US private equity firm Advent.

The Government has been so worried about the string of sell-offs it has brought in laws to protect firms in sensitive industries  including space  which include automatically screening deals.

Inmarsat is the largest provider of in-flight wi-fi for airlines and the top provider of internet connections for ships. It has 14 satellites in orbit and plans to launch another seven. Baldridge said: 'We've got a good history of making acquisitions an integral part of the company.'

He added that Viasat could sell some of Inmarsat's US operations if they do not fit into the future, but added that the company has been around for 35 years and not sold anything to date.

Viasat invested 300m in a cyber centre in Aldershot, Hampshire, last year, and does other work in the UK.

He added: 'We've already been making hundreds of millions of dollars in commitment here.

'So, you don't have to believe me and say, 'What are you going to do with this? Is this going to be the latest promise?' Look at what we've done.' But aerospace analyst Francis Tusa said any promises would need to be cast-iron, multi-year legal commitments to ensure that Inmarsat avoids Cobham's fate.

Tusa said: 'Assurances are not enough on their own. They need to check Viasat's not crossing its fingers behind its back  with too many takeovers we've seen promises that were comical.'

Inmarsat was taken private in 2019 for 4.7billion by private equity groups including Warburg Pincus, but was put up for sale last year.

Most of its 2,000-strong workforce is based in the UK.
SPARKS [mdash] Mrs. Mattie L. Clements Martin, 93, of Sparks, Georgia, passed away at her granddaughter's home on April 25, 2022. Mrs. Martin was born on January 17, 1929 in Colquitt County to the late Ivey Lane Hart and Ola Gay Hart. She lived most of her life in Cook County and was of the 


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British ultra-luxury car brand Rolls-Royce has created a bespoke Phantom Orchid, which is a one-off model for Singapore. After the SG50 Bespoke Rolls-Royce Ghost, this is the second luxury car built by the British brand for the country. The SG50 Bespoke Rolls-Royce Ghost was built to celebrate Singapore's 50th anniversary. The automaker hasn't disclosed the price of this one-off creation.

(Also Read: Second unit of Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, world's costliest car, confirmed for 2022)

The significance of the latest one-off Rolls-Royce Phantom Orchid is that it has taken inspiration from a hybrid orchid, which is Singapore's national flower and known as Vanda Miss Joaquim. The automaker claims to have selected the orchid as an inspirational theme for resilience, beauty and strength.

For creating this mode, Rolls-Royce chose the Phantom long-wheelbase as a blank canvas. The automaker claims that this bespoke luxury car took two years to be built through a collaborative effort by the designers, craftspeople and artisans.

Despite carrying the signature styling philosophy of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, the bespoke model comes with some distinctive design elements, especially inside the cabin. The Rolls-Royce Phantom Orchid comes wearing a unique Arctic White paint with a tint of violet. It's combined with fine glass particles for a pearlescent finish.

Inside the cabin, it gets delicate design applied in the interior by UK-based artist and textile designers Helen Amy Murray. The cabin features a Gallery that shows artworks and objects of self-expression. Murray created a hand-sculpted silk artwork behind a pure glass that runs uninterrupted across the car's fascia. The cabin claims to evoke elegance through the Grace White, Havana, and Smoke Grey with Dark Olive stitching.

Rolls-Royce Bespoke designer Yohan Benchetrit created orchid-inspired picnic table inserts for the rear occupants of the car, further complementing the whole artistic theme inside the one-off Phantom.

Speaking about this one-off Phantom Orchid, Michael Bryden, lead designer, Rolls-Royce Bespoke, said that the company envisaged a balanced yet progressive design through the car, which echoes the values of the Singapore region. "The orchid is seen in many facets of Asian life, a reminder that the resilient adapt and thrive regardless of the evolving environment," Bryden said. Interestingly, he was also the lead designer of the SG50 Bespoke Ghost for the country.

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Haitian Drapo Art Flags honor the spirits and beliefs of the individual artists themselves, while instilling a sense of hope, protection and esoteric divinity.
Kingsport, TN (37660)

Today

Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 51F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 51F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Part 2 of J.H. Osborne's look back at Mr. and Mrs. John B. Dennis offers details of how the former Miss Lola Anderson came to be in Kingsport in the 1920s.
James Hamm is again under consideration for parole, and the community should make it clear to the parole board that it wants him to stay locked up until 14 years is served.
Volkswagen is all set to unveil its modern iteration of the original Microbus Type 2 on March 9 and the German automobile giant now claims that the upcoming ID. Buzz is going to be its most emotional electric vehicle. The carmaker is expected to reveal more details about the EV and its final name as well.

(Also Read: Series production of Volkswagen ID.5 EV begins)

Volkswagen ID. Buzz EV will be based on the auto manufacturer's dedicated electric vehicle architecture MEB platform and it will share several components with ID.3 and ID.4. However, Volkswagen also claims that this electric bus will be a highly distinctive product compared to its other siblings carrying ID badges.

Volkswagen CEO Ralf Brandstatter has explained how he sees the ID. Buzz in an interview with Autocar UK. According to him this fully electric people mover should help the German car brand to become the most desirable brand for sustainable mobility. he also said that a variety of battery and electric motor options for the Volkswagen ID. Buzz will demonstrate how flexible and versatile the modular electric drive system is.

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is certainly going to be one of the most significant electric vehicles under the auto manufacturer's ID wing. Also, this is going to be a significant model in the Volkswagen fleet, especially keeping a focus on the brand's strategy to go fully electric in near future.

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz has been previewed by concept models for more than two decades. Pre-production of the Volkswagen ID. Buzz kicked off last week with the very first model now heading to Spain for the first international press test drives.

Volkswagen claims that the ID. Buzz will be the most configurable EV in terms of design and powertrain setup. It will be available in multiple variants. These will include both passenger, cargo and ride-hailing variants. While the powertrain and design elements are likely to remain similar, the cabin layout would be different as per the use. There will be both standard and long-wheelbase variants of the upcoming EV. Also, there would be different range variants based on different battery packages and single and dual motor configurations.

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ALBANY - If Albany Nanotech is awarded the National Semiconductor Technology Center  a $2 billion federal research center for computer chip manufacturing research envisioned by U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer  it will be brilliant researchers like Christophe Vallee and companies like Tokyo Electron that will help New York beat out other states to land the highly coveted center.

Albany Nanotech is the most advanced publicly owned semiconductor manufacturing research facility in the United States and is considered a front-runner for the NSTC, funding for which is still being debated by Congress.

Schumer was in Albany this past Monday showing off Albany Nanotech to Don Graves, the deputy secretary for the U.S. Commerce Department, which would have the ultimate say on where the NSTC will be located.

Graves participated in a press conference with Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul after touring Albany Nanotech's clean rooms where companies like Tokyo Electron Ltd., also known as TEL, test cutting-edge machines, called "tools" in the industry, used in chip-making.

Graves came away impressed.

"What you have put together here in this city and this region is spectacular," he said.

One of the selling points of Albany Nanotech is the industry partnerships that take place on chip research - IBM, for instance, partners with Samsung on next-generation chips there to keep shrinking transistor sizes down to 2 nanometers - which is smaller than the diameter of a single strand of DNA.

Another unique strength of Albany Nanotech is that it is home to SUNY Polytechnic Institute and its College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, which trains engineers and scientists to work in computer chip factories, or "fabs" as they are known.

The presence of SUNY Poly at Albany Nanotech is another feature that state officials believe will help land the NSTC because it brings both academia and workforce development to the companies that locate at the complex, a mixture that is unrivaled in the United States.

Ross Goodman, deputy director for program management at the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics, a state-funded agency located within SUNY Poly that helps tech companies move research to commercialization, says that the Albany Nanotech model provides "fertile ground" to companies looking to collaborate with both academics, students and even rival companies.

"It's a really successful model," Goodman said.

The model evolved in late 2020 when TEL announced that it was awarding SUNY Poly a $2.3 million, five-year grant to bring in Vallee as the first-ever TEL innovation scientist.

Vallee, a leading expert in plasma science, is in his second year in the program. He works on TEL's equipment and in SUNY Poly's labs, working with doctorate students who are also funded through the program, which also involves state funding.

Vallee is an expert in what is known as plasma etching that is used to form the layers of material deposited on silicon wafers to make individual computer chips.

"It's very complicated, and you have to do it over and over and over again," Vallee said of the plasma etching process, which is also used to do what is known as "selective deposition," meaning some of the material is only deposited on certain parts of the wafer instead of it being uniform. "It's a very complex process."

Vallee is working to advance the science of plasma etching and deposition - and it could benefit both TEL and SUNY Poly.

SUNY Poly officials said the arrangement with Vallee, who brought his family to the Capital Region from France for his five years at Albany Nanotech, is unique to the facility.

But it's a model that not only helps TEL build better plasma etch tools - it helps them train new scientists and engineers that can use them in chip fabs around the world.

TEL is excited to partner with SUNY Poly to advance fundamental research in the area of plasma etch and deposition, while also training the next generation of engineers and scientists to join the ranks of our vibrant and dynamic industry, Larry Smith, president of Tokyo Electron U.S. Holdings, said when TEL announced the hiring of Vallee.

Smith said TEL has hired several SUNY Poly students over the years, and that will likely accelerate as Vallee trains even more students in Albany.
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ALBANY  The family of the man critically wounded by Albany police last week is continuing to raise questions about the shooting.

Among their concerns is that they said they were initially barred from visiting Jordan Young in the hospital following the shooting due to him being under police custody.

It wasnt until the county public defenders office intervened that the family was granted access to Albany Medical Center Hospital  albeit on a restricted basis, said a family spokeswoman.

Additionally, the family said they only learned Young was shot through media reports, said Alice Green, executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, who has been speaking on behalf of the family.

The chief of police and mayor have shown extreme disrespect for Mr. Young and his family by failing to notify them that Jordan had been shot by police, Green said in a statement on Saturday.

Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said charges are pending. Young remained hospitalized and in police custody as of Sunday.

We have made arrangements through his attorney for limited visitation while hes admitted at the hospital, said Steve Smith, a police spokesman.

Green questioned how long Young could be held without charges and said police havent provided a clear answer.

Young, 32, was shot on New Scotland Avenue near Dana Avenue in the early morning hours of Jan. 24. Police were in the area after being called to investigate a home invasion on Morris Street where the occupants were reportedly held at gunpoint.

Police found Young nearby when investigating that call. Body-worn camera footage revealed Young ran towards officers with a knife after holding the blade to a dogs throat and refusing to obey commands.

An officer shot him three times, a shooting Hawkins said was justified.

Youngs family, who have not made themselves available for interviews, have questioned additional elements of the official police narrative, including why he was stopped in the first place and why he would harm his dog, which they characterized as therapeutic.

Activists have issued a list of demands, including a requirement that all officers be equipped with Tasers and the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the shooting. A protest was held Sunday where Young was shot.

Young suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to family members, and his shooting has cast mental health and the need for alternative police responses into the spotlight.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

There have been several high-profile interactions in recent years that have led to the deaths of people experiencing mental health crises at the hands of police  including Daniel Prude in Rochester in 2020, Daniel Satre in Ballston Spa in 2014, and Donald "Dontay" Ivy in Albany in 2015.

As a result, police nationwide have gradually introduced reforms designed to reduce the use of deadly force, such as pairing officers with mental health crisis teams and mandating de-escalation training.

The changes are backed by activists, including Saratoga Black Lives Matter, which is also calling for Albany police to implement an emergency crisis response team that would be better suited to respond to mental health calls.

Rethinking those responses is also an action item identified by the Albany Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative, the panel created in 2020 as part of the state-mandated reform process.

Among the goals contained within the final plan is a pledge to develop alternative crisis response capability."

The blueprint also calls for the creation of enhanced Mobile Crisis Response and for police to develop specialty units within the department tasked with responding to people suffering mental health episodes.

Yet the reforms will take between three and five years to fully adopt, according to the blueprint's timeline.

Additionally, Hawkins last week also said in fast-moving situations, its unlikely officers can make snap judgements on a suspects mental health status, noting the entire altercation with Young unfolded in less than a minute.
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A fire Thursday morning in Hadley killed three pets, but the two adult residents escaped safely, according to the American Red Cross.

The fire was on Old Corinth Road.
Kia has recalled more than 4,10,000 vehicles in the US to rectify an issue that can prevent airbags from inflating during a crash.

Kia has recalled more than 4,10,000 vehicles in the United States to resolve an issue that can prevent airbags from inflating during a crash. The recall includes certain Forte small cars from 2017 and 2018 model years along with Sedona minivans and Soul small SUVs from 2017 through 2019. Among these, the electric model of Soul has also been included.

The South Korean automaker informed the airbag control cover can come in contact with a memory chip and can potentially damage the electrical circuit which can stop the airbags from inflating. Dealers have been asked to inspect the computer and either update the software or replace it. Owners of the faulty models will be informed through mail starting March 21.

(Also read | Kia Carens first-drive review: Sporty in parts, sober at large)

Kia stated in the documents that it posted to the US safety regulators that this issue came up in Korea in July last year. It has also added that it has received 13 customer complaints and 947 warranty claims, though no crashes or injuries have been reported due to the defect.

Also watch:

An earlier report stated Kia to be under scrutiny in the US due to incidents of engine failures and fires. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had reported incidents of fires and engine failures of Kia vehicles that were produced between 2011 and 2016. The South Korean company was ordered to pay $27 million in fines and was also directed to improve safety measures. However, while it denied the charges made against it, the automaker opted to avoid a protracted legal fight. The NHTSA also opened an engineering analysis for the company to keep a tab on the recalls that it made related to the engine fire issue. The body said it will check the efficacy of the recall that Kia carried out for the defective models.

(With inputs from AP)

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Businesses who breach competition law could be liable to a fine of 10 million under the new Competition Bill 2022.

The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD earlier this week received Government approval to publish the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 to give more powers to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

It will enhance the ability of the CCPC and ComReg to challenge anti-competitive practices by business and to protect consumers.

For the first time in Irish law, breaches of competition law can be enforced through administrative actions taken by competition authorities, with maximum fines of up to 10 million or 10% of total worldwide turnover, whichever is the greater.

"The vast majority of businesses do not engage in anti-competitive practices, but some do at the expense of consumers and other businesses particular newer and smaller ones. This ground-breaking new law will give our competition authorities the power to crack down on those rogue operators that do," Minister Varadkar said.

"Cartels, where they exist, will be broken up and companies abusing a dominant position can be suitably punished with heavy fines of up to 10% of global turnover. Its really good news for customers.

"These new powers will act as a big disincentive for those taking part in anti-competitive practices, which drive up costs, freeze out start-ups and smaller businesses and lead to bad quality products and poor services," Minister Varadkar said.

He said the Bill also enables greater cooperation between competition authorities across the EU, allowing them to challenge these practices on a cross-border basis.
Pune-based Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions has collaborated with China-based electric vehicle giant Aima Technology Group to co-design and develop electric two-wheelers as the domestic market grows. The company said that through this partnership it plans to aggressively ramp up the E2W business and build the capacity of up to 5-lakh units a year in the next two years.

The Chinese EV maker will assist Kinetic with design and support for the modification and rapid localisation of the models to suit requirements. Both the companies aim to launch at least three new models in the country in 2023 that will also include models from Aima's new advanced high-speed scooter platform. Kinetic already launched two electric scooters last year called Kinetic Zing and Kinetic Zoom.

(Also read | Komaki Ranger electric cruiser launched with over 200 km range: Key facts here)

The initial models that will be developed under the partnership will be marketed under the Kinetic brand. The company also added the partners have explored launching co-branded models in the future, including bringing new global brands to India. Within a year, Kinetic and Aima further plan to explore a joint venture where Kinetic will leverage its brand and production capabilities and Aima can leverage its technology, R&D and global outreach to expand massively, noted the company.

(Also read | Komaki Venice electric scooter to hit showroom tomorrow: Key facts to know)

Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder-CEO, Kinetic Green shared the company's vision to bring advanced, innovative yet affordable electric vehicles to the Indian mass market. We are delighted to partner with the world's largest and leading EV player, Aima, and are looking forward to working together with them," added Motwani. Su Yuhang, President, Aima Technology Group informed about India being a priority for global investment to push clean mobility forward. Together, we believe that we can co-develop the first-class product for Indian customers, and through localisation, we can gain a competitive advantage and become the market-leading force," conveyed Yuhang.

(With inputs with PTI)

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Quick call back . . .

A not-so-long-ago BBC sketch about "The Real Housewives Of Isis" is actually kind of funny and takes the edge off of more dire news from The Sunflower State . . .



Here's part of the story . . .



An American woman, originally from Kansas, has been arrested after organizing and leading an all-female military battalion on behalf of ISIS, the Justice Department said Saturday.

More . . .



Photos from a family blog called 4KansasKids show her and her children in the years they traveled between Kansas and Egypt, posing at the base of the pyramids in Egypt and playing in the snow in the U.S.



A 2004 article about homeschooling in the Lawrence Journal-World featured Fluke-Ekren and her children. She told the paper she pulled her kids from public school because she was dissatisfied with how her children were performing in public and private schools. Homeschooling allowed her to teach Arabic to her kids.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

Kansas woman who led all-female ISIS battalion faces federal charges, prosecutors say An American woman, originally from Kansas, has been arrested after organizing and leading an all-female military battalion on behalf of ISIS, the Justice Department said Saturday. Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, was first apprehended in Syria and transferred into the custody of the FBI Friday.

Feds: Kansas woman led all-female Islamic State battalion - POLITICO That affidavit from FBI Special Agent David Robins also alleges that Fluke-Ekren became leader of an Islamic State unit called "Khatiba Nusaybah" in the Syrian city of Raqqa in late 2016. The all-female unit was trained in the use of AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts.

Kansas woman accused of leading all-female battalion of Isis fighters and planning attack on US college A mother who lived in Kansas has been arrested on charges of being a member of Isis - and of having led an all-female battalion of militants trained in the use of AK 47s, grenades and suicide belts. Allison Fluke-Ekren was turned over to the FBI on Friday and is due to appear in court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Monday.

Former Kansas Teacher Outed as Alleged Boss of All-Female ISIS Battalion A former Kansas teacher who led an all-female Islamic State military battalion and plotted terror attacks on Americans has been nabbed in Syria, federal prosecutors said as they unsealed the criminal case late Friday.

American woman, a former Kansas resident, accused of leading all-female ISIS battalion An American woman has been charged with providing material support to terrorist organizations after spending years leading and training ISIS forces in Syria, the Department of Justice announced Saturday.

Developing . . .
Often this blog fields complaints that we talk too much about crime and given that we have a broad interest in local topics . . . That might be correct.



However . . .

We notice that local MSM has been exceptionally quiet about the KCMO murder count continuing along a record breaking pace during a bitter debate over police funding.



Moreover . . .

Kansas City fighting over politics, culture war and so-called "local control" whilst residents are getting killed is worth highlighting.

And that's why we share this news gathering tonight.

Here's the report following our unofficial count this evening . . .



Homicide 28th and Brooklyn

This evening around 6:45 PM officers were dispatched to the area of 28th and Brooklyn in regard to sound of shots. Upon arrival they found an adult male on the ground, in the park, who had been shot. EMS responded and pronounced him deceased. Preliminary information is that there was some type of altercation prior to the sound of shots.



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.

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More new via MSM . . .

1 killed in 28th Street, Brooklyn Avenue shooting Saturday night KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One person was killed in a shooting around 6:45 p.m. Saturday in the area of east 28th Street and Brooklyn Avenue. Kansas City, Missouri, police were dispatched to the area in regard to the sound of shots. Officers arrived and found an adult male suffering from gunshot wounds in the park.

Kansas City, Missouri police investigate homicide near E. 28th St. and Brooklyn Ave. SOURCE: KMBC Kansas City, Missouri police are investigating a homicide after a man was found fatally shot in a park Saturday evening.Officers were called to E. 28th Street and Brooklyn Avenue around 6:45 p.m. Saturday for gunfire. When they got there, they found a man who had been shot.

Developing . . .
For this morning the legacy of angel Lily inspires our peek at pop culture, community news and top headlines.



Check TKC Sunday news gathering . . .

Locals Keep The Faith Amid COVID

Inside Kansas City's overwhelmed hospitals, these chaplains try their best to offer connection With Kansas City hospitals caring for a record number of COVID patients, it's hard right now to address everyone's medical needs, let alone spiritual ones. Chaplains navigate health protocols and technological limitations, while still finding holiness "in places and circumstances most folks don't."

Drive Safe Kansas City Reminder

Woman killed after truck crashes into construction equipment KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- A woman has died after the truck she was driving crashed early Thursday morning. Police say 47-year-old Angela Mathis of Northmoor, Missouri died on Friday from injuries she sustained in Thursday's wreck. Officers responded to the area of NW 5th Terrace and N.

Deep Joco Upgrades

Olathe plans $20M upgrade for Black Bob Road OLATHE, Kan. - A city-county partnership could soon help alleviate congestion along Black Bob Road. On Tuesday, the Olathe City Council will consider entering into an agreement with Johnson County to make improvements to Black Bob Road. The project would expand Black Bob Road from two to four lanes between 159th Street to 167th Street.

Angel Hotness In Real Life

Lily Aldridge's Brunette Look That Fans Envy Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images The famous colorist Tracey Cunningham, who has worked with Jennifer Lopez and Khloe Kardashian, said Lily Aldridge's highlights are her most requested look (via People). She first created the look for the model when she had to go dark for a project, and Aldridge loved it so much that she kept requesting for it after.

Historic Clap Back

'SNL' Weekend Update agrees Biden era like FDR's: stock market woes, threat of war in Europe " Saturday Night Live" took aim at President Biden over the Russia-Ukraine crisis in its Weekend Update segment this Saturday, joking that Democrats were right about his presidency resembling Franklin Roosevelt's. Just as in the early 1930s, "The stock market is plummeting and there's a threat of a land war in Europe," co-anchor Colin Jost observed.

Beg Pardon MAGA?!?

Trump teases a presidential run and dangles pardons for January 6 rioters at Texas rally Former President Donald Trump on Saturday teased a 2024 presidential candidacy and said he would consider pardoning those who were charged in connection with the deadly January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol if he wins the White House again.

Desperate American Families Losing Faith In Prez Biden

'Disgusted with our government': Families frustrated after child tax credit expires When the payments stopped coming, a mother in Milwaukee had to decide between buying diapers and baby formula for her newborn or paying for the Wi-Fi her sons needed to attend online school.

Brits Attempt Brinkmanship

Britain considering major NATO deployment amid Ukraine crisis LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Britain is considering making a major NATO deployment as part of a plan to strengthen Europe's borders in response to Russia massing troops on the border with Ukraine, the government said on Saturday. Britain has said that any Russian incursion into Ukraine would be met with swift sanctions and would be devastating for both sides.

Vaxx Rips Families Apart

Parents are fighting over Covid vaccines and masks in divorce court Debates over Covid-19 protocols are also raging in another battlefield: divorce court. Parents with differing views on covid safety are fighting over everything from their kids' vaccines to in-person schooling.

COVID CRACKDOWN CONT'D

Living by the Code: In China, Covid-Era Controls May Outlast the Virus The police had warned Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer, not to go to Shanghai to visit the mother of a dissident. He went to the airport anyway. His phone's health code app - a digital pass indicating possible exposure to the coronavirus - was green, which meant he could travel.

Vital Police Conversation With Community News

221: KC Metro Crimestoppers On this week's episode of the Northeast Newscast, we're joined by Detective Christina Ludwig, Coordinator KC Metro Crimestoppers. The Crimestoppers, a service of the Kansas City Metro Crime Commission, allows people to report tips anonymously for a cash reward. Learn more about the Crimestoppers at kccrimestoppers.com, and read the Northeast News for a new collaboration.

Promo Probably Well-Meaning But Just A Bit Sus . . .

The Bridge Celebrates Black History Month 90.9 The Bridge is proud to celebrate the essential contributions of Black artists throughout the year, and will have special programming to honor of Black History Month in February.

Katie Horner Shares Team Spirit Weather Forecast

Partly cloudy, slightly chilly gameday Hide Transcript Show Transcript YESTERDAY. WE WERE IN THE MID-50S YESTERDAY, BUT WE'RE STILLOING G TO BE ABOVE NORMAL RIGHT NOW. IT IS 34 DEGREES. IKC IS REPORTING A CLEAR SKY. WE HAVE A NORTHWEST WIND AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.

Etta James - A Sunday Kind Of Love is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
Chinas annual auto sales managed to increase in 2021 after falling for three consecutive years. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that sales of the worlds biggest automotive market went up by 3.8% in 2021 from the previous year. Besides, new energy vehicle (NEV) segment and export business outpaced the overall market with best-ever sales results.

Most traditional Chinese automotive groups also had annual sales growth in the past year. Among the ten major groups, seven saw annual sales rise and five had double-digit growth. BYDs sales increased the most with a growth rate of up to 73.3%. But by annual total sales volume, SAIC Motor remained the biggest local automaker in China, while FAW Group and Dongfeng Motor Group were a distant second and third.

But only JAC Group and Changan Auto accomplished its annual sales target. In 2021, JAC Group tried to improve its product portfolio and better user experience which helped to stimulate market demand.

BYD was close to finishing the target of 750,000, which went viral on the internet but was not confirmed by the Shenzhen-based automaker. It was also reported that BYDs annual sales could have been 900,000 units, but the company can only deliver 750,000 vehicles at most because of production constraint.

Apart from the above three companies, Chery Holding and GAC Group had a respective completion rate of over 90% while the other five companies completion rate all surpassed 80%. COVID-19, worldwide automotive chip supply shortage and rising material prices were all influencing factors.

Explosive NEV sales

Driven by carbon neutrality and dual credit policy, Chinas NEV segment had explosive growth in 2021, with sales soaring 157.5% versus the previous year to over 3.52 million units.

In terms of annual NEV sales, SAIC Motor ranked first thanks to its business scale, followed by BYD, but the Shanghai-based automakers NEV sales share out of its total sales stood at 13.4%. Apart from SAIC and BYD, the other five automakers annual NEV sales were less than 150,000 units respectively.

BYD had the largest NEV sales share among those automakers. For the whole year, BYD sold 603,783 NEVs, including new energy commercial vehicles and accounting for 81.58% of its annual sales. From June of last year, its monthly NEV share had surpassed 80% for seven months in a row and set a record in December at 94.8%.

In the past year, BYD kept on expanding its product portfolio and improving its service system. At the end of August, the automaker commenced the delivery of the Dolphin, whose December sales climbed to 10,016. The Han EV and the Dolphin have become two main growth points for BYDs battery electric business. BYDs plug-in hybrid electric vehicle sales in 2021 surged 467.6% from a year ago.

JAC Group sold 134,118 battery electric passenger vehicles last year, representing a surge of 169% year over year and accounting for 25.58% out of its 2021 sales.

New export record

In 2021, Chinas vehicle export made a breakthrough for the annual export volume more than doubled to 2 million units compared with the previous year. That was the first time for the market to export over 2 million vehicles. The export of NEVs quadrupled to 310,000 vehicles last year.

Chery Holding, Changan Auto and Great Wall Motor all had greater increase than the overall market. Cherys annual export grew at a blistering pace, making the group champion of passenger vehicle export for nineteen consecutive years among local brands. In the past twelve months, Cherys monthly export volume surpassed 20,000 vehicles for eight times.

Great Wall Motor achieved outstanding performance in overseas markets as it is picking up its global expansion. After building a plant in Russia, the Baoding-based automaker also started its plant in Rayong, Thailand, which is making the Haval H6 HEV and the Haval Jolion HEV.

In South America, Great Wall Motor entered into agreement with Mercedes Benz in August, 2021 to buy a factory in Brazil. In January this year, the automaker held the handover ceremony of the Brazil factory and unveiled its local strategy. Expected to start operation in the second half of 2023, the plant will boast an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles. In the next 10 years, the Chinese SUV manufacturer plans to invest more than BRL10 billion (about RMB11.5 billion) there.

For 2022, many automotive groups aim to sell more cars. For example, BYDs annual sales target was set at 1.2 million units, representing a jump of 62% compared with last year. Chery Holding also expects its 2022 sales to jump at least 56% to 1.5 million units and strives for 2 million while its export goal is 500,000. Geely Auto wants to sell 24% more vehicles than last year and FAW Group forecasts a sales growth of 17% year over year.

But according to the latest forecast of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Chinas annual auto sales for this year may amount to 27.5 million units. That represents a year-on-year increase of 5.4%, much fewer than the above automakers respective growth. That means the market competition will be getting fiercer and fiercer.
(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
One of more than two dozen designated pick-up locations across Northwest Arkansas, the Fayetteville Public Library offered free iHealth at-home COVID-19 tests until the facility ran out, shortly after the Jan. 11 rollout of a statewide distribution program. Gov. Asa Hutchinson first announced the program providing 1.5 million free test kits to Arkansans on Dec. 30.
This week in Valley history: Two pit bulls attack a Walla Walla woman while onlookers do nothing to help, Feb. 1, 1983
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Sara Camden is the director of critical care and of the medical, surgical, telemetry unit at the Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston, Ore.
In January 1972, a group of Flagstaff community leaders, possessed by thespian proclivities, gathered in a subterranean bar  The Gopher Hole  to scheme. Barroom clatter curtained their conversation, and under the veil of spirited patrons, the histrionic conspirators plotted plots, concocted characters, developed stratagems of stage.

Their aim? To put on a play.

By July of that year, the dramaturgic confederates had enacted their designs. Notice of their program appeared in The Coconino Sun.

New Group To Perform Its First Stage Show read a headline squeezed next to an advertisement for Name Brand Jeans priced at $5.95. Below the headline, a couple hundred words expounded the details of the ploy: Two-act Broadway comedy, Coconino High School, $1.25 for adults, 75 cents for children. Thus announced, Theatrikos was born.

The first Theatrikos play was entitled What Did We Do Wrong? Hundreds of plays later, we may now retroactively rejoinder the question on behalf of that fledgling theater group. This year, Theatrikos celebrates its 50th anniversary, and a half-century of theater definitively answers that whatever the group has done wrong, it has done more right.

This first thing that Theatrikos did right was to find a home in downtown Flagstaff, but it took some time. Linda Sutera, who first volunteered with Theatrikos in 1983, remembers when the troupe was still nomadic.

We went back and forth, depending on the weather, Sutera said.

During the summers they performed in a vacant theater on the Northern Arizona University campus. Other times they staged shows in the Art Barn  a rustic and enigmatic space adjacent the Coconino Center for the Arts. In a pinch, they also played on the stage of Charleys bar, a floor above the basement space where the group was first conceived.

But in 1988, Theatrikos signed a $3,000, one-year lease on the building that would become the Doris Harper-White Playhouse and relinquished their status as nomads.

It was an act that would intertwine the group with a deeper tract of Flagstaffs history. The building dated back to 1923, when it was constructed as an Elks Lodge. In 1934, it was converted to a dance-hall-slash-furniture-warehouse. In 1945 it became the American Federation of Labor Union Hall, and then in 1970 it was transformed again into the Flagstaff Public Library. When the library moved out to expand, Theatrikos moved in.

And boy, did they move quickly. With a show scheduled to open in just over a week, it was all-hands-on-deck.

We had to come up to code with the ADA, Sutera said. So we had to make sure there were ramps with rails, we had to remodel the bathroom. We had temporary risers and folding chairs.

Sutera and a small army of volunteers managed to get the building up to snuff in time for them to open Rimers of Eldritch On Oct. 28, 1988.

The image of actors-turned-renovators sweating over a bathroom remodel is representative of the second thing that Theatrikos has done right: fostered a committed community.

This is no small feat. Theatrikos is built on the backs of volunteers and to this day every actor, director, usher and stage manager serves on a volunteer basis. They keep coming back because theyre getting something irreplaceable, said Jan Rominger, who has volunteered for the past 21 years.

It gives folks a great opportunity to learn and contribute, she said. Were building the theater while it builds us.

Mutual co-construction is no more evident than in the Theatrikids program, a youth and education oriented series of classes and performances spearheaded by Rominger during her time on the Theatrikos board of directors.

Its hands-on, interactive, Rominger said, Its great for kids who dont want to play video games; they can come in and push buttons on a soundboard.

In other words, Theatrikids is a liberated space for young thespians to explore theater.

That was certainly the case for Theatrikids alum AJ Maniglia, who joined Theatrikids when he was only 10 years old. At one point, he participated in a youth production of Romeo and Juliet that was unlike any theatrical experience he had had as a child.

It was so different, because as a kid in theater youre used to one show a year, and maybe a couple of lines, being around mostly grownups, he said. And now, suddenly you had so much more freedom and you had a huge role and, and it really felt like you were discovering the play with people your own age.

The difference for Maniglia came in the way that the Theatrikids program allowed young actors autonomy and didnt discount their potential on the basis of age.

I think that there's always a tendency to overlook theater from young actors, because they're young, he said. People have this mindset of, if a high-schooler is doing a play, it's just going to be high school. We were never treated that way. We were always treated as artists, and as creative individuals.

Now 25, Maniglia grew up in Theatrikids, had role models who graduated the program, became a role model himself, and now is old enough to see how the children who looked up to him have grown into role models for an even younger cohort.

The feeling of community that accompanies a play and a cast is pretty much unmatched, he said. Anytime I do a show, I look around at the group of strangers of the first rehearsal and think, 'How are we going to become a family? There's no way that's really going to work this time.' And without fail by the last show, every single time. It's a family.

Overcoming adversity

No discussion of the Theatrikos family would be complete without a mention of Doris Harper-White, who is arguably the spiritual mother of the entire theater group.

According to Sutera, who is one of the few remaining volunteers that knew Harper-White personally, she was the kind of person who never forgot a birthday. By the time Theatrikos had found a home in its downtown playhouse, Harper-White had already established herself as a pillar of the community.

She was just such a constant person involved in the theater and taught so many of us, said Sutera. She was such a welcoming, loving person. She drew you in and helped you blossom as an actor. She had way of getting the most out of people.

When Harper-White passed in 2009, grief rippled through the community. But thankfully, Harper-White lived to see Theatrikos name its playhouse after her in 2002.

So many times people don't get honors until they're gone, Sutera said. Im so glad that she had that honor, because she deserves it.

Unfortunately, the passing of Harper-White would be far from the last hardship faced by the Theatrikos community. The third thing that Theatrikos has done right is endure.

In 2019, 4,000 gallons of raw sewage diverted from a faulty sewer line into the playhouse basement, contaminating their costumes, set pieces, and more.

Everything had to be sent down to Phoenix to be zapped to ensure it was clean after having had fecal matter left on it, said John Propster, who had been directing a show when the flood forced the theater to cancel all programming. That was a big ordeal for months and months and months.

Following the flood, Theatrikos made the best of the situation by jumping on the opportunity to remodel the emptied theater. This included improvements to the basement and lobby.

We really fixed it up nicely, said Propster.

But before they could really break in the remodel, the country locked down for the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. As theaters across the globe went dark, Theatrikos held on thanks to an abundance of creativity, said Propster. Unconventional productions such as livestreams became a lifeline.

We just tried to keep the interest, tried to keep people aware that we were still surviving, Propster said.

In 2022, things are looking up, said Executive Director Chris Verrill.

Despite being dark for a year and a half, it appears we will survive the pandemic, he said. Knock on wood. I dont want to jinx it.

Superstition aside, Verrill is confident in the future of Theatrikos.

We are in the catbird seat, he said. Weve got 50 years of a successful track record. We have hundreds of volunteers, hundreds of thousands of patrons over the last five decades that have worked to get us where we're at. So now standing on their shoulders, we get to take Theatrikos to the next level.

To Verrill, that next level involves a myriad of projects that will expand Theatrikos reach and bottom line. In the near future he hopes to open an east side outpost to support Theatrikids. He has also been hard at work developing a short play called Route 66 to the Grand Canyon that can be performed regularly by a small cast for tourist audiences.

The play centers on characters Finneas Flag, a talking ponderosa pine, and Dunkel Donkey, grandson of Teddy Roosevelts Grand Canyon mule.

These two characters have wacky adventures as they make their way across Route 66 all the way to the Grand Canyon, Verrill explained.

Perhaps a little bit cheesy, an educational and easy to maintain play like this will allow Theatrikos to tap into tourism markets more effectively.

In the more immediate future, Theatrikos has another obstacle to address. Theyre hoping to renegotiate the playhouse lease to make sure that its favorable for their continued livelihood.

More than the money

Longtime board member Al White has made the new lease something of his personal project by working directly with the city to conceive of a lease agreement that can be applied specifically to nonprofits.

Our purpose is far beyond making money, he said. We need to make what it takes to keep us alive, but our real purpose is to serve some higher, greater use that involves all of us citizens and gives a benefit to all us citizens of Flag. So maybe there's a template or a model that they could utilize for all nonprofits.

This process of coming up with a new, nonprofit-specific lease has been taking time, White said, and pursuing it is something of a gamble.

Were hoping to see something that will come back, he said. That would make us forfeit the current lease we're under and go out to bid on the on the building. And we're willing to do that, because we're very confident that in terms of providing the service, no one could touch us at this point in time.

With 50 years built on humble beginnings down in the Gopher Hole, that confidence is well earned. Theater, as an art, has survived since time immemorial, and Theatrikos seems equipped to make a comparable run.

We are the anchor tenants downtown, Verrill said. People come to see our shows, they shop, the go out to eat. We are an economic driving force. And for 50 years, we've done well.

To celebrate, Theatrikos 50th season will include a lineup of audience favorites, and even a staged reading of the seminal play What Did We Do Wrong? Tickets are currently available at theatrikos.com.

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On June 3, 2019 the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra introduced Col. Larry H. Lang as its new executive director. Lang came to the symphony with a longstanding career leading numerous United States Air Force music organizations, culminating as the commander and artistic director of the United Air Force Band (The Band) in Washington D.C.

On January, 28, 2022 FSO announced Lang would be leaving to become executive director of the Amarillo Symphony. The move is one that will bring him and wife Donna closer to his grandkids, Lang said.

Lang will be replaced by Stephanie Stallings, who currently serves as the development manager for FSO.

"Since moving to Flagstaff six years ago, I've marveled at the artistry and commitment of the FSO's musicians," Stallings said. "Every concert leaves me inspired and hopeful. My past work as a board member and volunteer for FSO has been very rewarding, and now I'm thrilled to serve the organization in this new role."

Stallings experience in the arts stretches back the entirety of her career. Assistant professor of Arts and Cultural Management at Northern Arizona University for many years, Stallings has also worked as the managing director of Los Angeles arts nonprofit, Emerging Arts Leaders as well as for the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. She has a bachelors degree in piano performance, a doctorate in musicology and has lectured and taught at universities across the country.

Charles Latshaw, conductor at FSO, said he was more than confident in Stallings leadership.

[She] is a great choice for [FSO] because of her knowledge of and love for music and the music industry, he said.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, with the Omicron variant causing a surge in cases in Flagstaff and Coconino County, FSO seems to have come out on the other side. It was, in many ways, Lang who made such a triumph possible. Lang was with the symphony for some of its most challenging years, navigating the pandemic and all the cancellations and financial strain it brought with it, a legacy that will remain in the minds of Flagstaffs arts community.

Even throughout the COVID pandemic, Larry has helped grow our audience and strengthen our financial position, Tim Dodt, president of the FSO board of directors, said. He has also been an invaluable representative in our community, serving on several nonprofit boards and as a member of the Northern Arizona Leadership Alliance. He will be sorely missed.

Lang will join the Amarillo Symphony effective March 1 this year.

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Hasakeh, Syria, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Jan, 2022 ) :More than 330 people have been killed in heavy fighting since Islamic State group militants first attacked a prison in northeast Syria, a war monitor said on Sunday.

The IS fighters on January 20 launched their biggest assault in years on the Ghwayran prison in the Kurdish-controlled city of Hasakeh, aiming to free fellow jihadists, and dozens remained holed up inside on Sunday.

The death toll in fierce clashes since then rose to 332 as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) found over 50 more bodies overnight in prison buildings and nearby areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based group, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said that 246 jihadists, 79 Kurdish fighters and seven civilian had been killed so far in the IS assault and battles since.

"The newly discovered bodies were inside and outside the prison," Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Observatory, told AFP.

He said the death toll was likely to rise further "because there are dozens of people who are wounded, others who are still missing, and information about more casualties" on both sides.

The SDF announced they had recaptured the prison on Wednesday but intermittent clashes continued until Saturday between Kurdish fighters and jihadists near the jail.

On Saturday, an AFP correspondent saw a truck carrying away piles of bodies from an area near the prison, believed to be those of IS fighters. A bulldozer dumped more bodies onto the truck, which then headed to an unknown location.

Farhad Shami, who heads the SDF's media office, told AFP that the bodies would be buried in "remote, dedicated areas" under SDF control.

According to the SDF, around 3,500 inmates and IS attackers had surrendered to its forces since operations began to recapture the prison.

But Kurdish officials estimated that between 60 and 90 IS fighters were still holed up in the prison basement and ground floor.

Kurdish forces have repeatedly called for all IS fighters to surrender, while the Observatory said that around 20 of them had turned themselves in on Saturday.
Kyiv, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Jan, 2022 ) :Kyiv on Saturday urged the West to remain "vigilant and firm" in its talks with Russia, as US President Joe Biden announced a small troop deployment to eastern Europe amid fears Moscow could invade Ukraine.

Washington's top defence officials warned Friday the Kremlin had massed enough troops and hardware at the border to threaten the whole of Ukraine but called for further diplomatic efforts to avert a "horrific" conflict.

Western leaders are scrambling to defuse the crisis by reaching out to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while also trying to keep the pressure up by vowing unprecedented sanctions should he send in his forces.

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged his Western partners to avoid stirring "panic" over the massive Russian troop buildup, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on the need for de-escalation.

According to a Macron aide, Putin told the French leader in a call lasting more than an hour that he had "no offensive plans".

In Washington, Biden nevertheless said he would soon send a small number of US troops to bolster the NATO presence in eastern Europe as tensions remain heightened.

The United States already has tens of thousands of troops stationed across mostly Western Europe.

France said Saturday that it was planning to send hundreds of troops to eastern NATO ally Romania as part of a deployment first touted by Macron earlier this month.

- 'Undermine stability' - Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday issued a call for the West to remain "vigilant and firm in contacts with the Russian side" in a conversation with French counterpart Yves Le Drian.

The talks underlined the need to "refrain from steps that could fuel anxiety" in Ukrainian society and "undermine the financial stability" of the post-Soviet country, a Ukrainian statement said.

Le Drian is expected to visit Ukraine together with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on February 7-8 as part of a flurry of diplomacy.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to speak with Putin before heading to the region and add to the chorus of Western leaders urging him to back down.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is due in Kyiv on Tuesday to meet the president and prime minister.

Since October, Russia has amassed more than 100,000 combat troops and equipment, as well as support forces, along its frontier with Ukraine and more recently in Belarus, which borders Ukraine on the north.

Western officials say Russia has also mustered more air and sea assets in the region, creating a complex threat like none seen since the Cold War.

Moscow has demanded wide-ranging security guarantees, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.

The West has rejected Russia's key demands such as stopping new members join the alliance, but has laid down a raft of areas where it see room to negotiate with the Kremlin.

- Russia's concerns not addressed - To Macron, Putin made clear that the written responses from the West to his demands this week had fallen short of Russia's expectations, the Kremlin said.

"The US and NATO responses did not take into account Russia's fundamental concerns including preventing NATO's expansion," Putin said, according to the Kremlin's readout of the call.

He added that the West had ignored the "key question", that no country should strengthen its security at the expense of others, adding Russia would "carefully study" the responses, "after which it will decide on further actions".

Russia has also demanded a pullback of NATO forces deployed to eastern European and ex-Soviet countries that joined the alliance after the Cold War.

Ukraine has turned increasingly to the West since Moscow seized the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and began fuelling a separatist conflict in the east of the country that has cost over 13,000 lives.

In the face of Russia's latest buildup, some Western allies -- led by the US -- have stepped up deliveries of arms to Kyiv that could be used to ward off an attack.

On Friday, Ukrainian soldiers dressed in winter camouflage at a snowbound range in the far west of the country test fired new "tank killer" missiles sent by Britain.
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ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Jan, 2022 ) :Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the reported extra-judicial killing of five Kashmiris in Pulwama and Budgam in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), calling for international accountability of the Indian forces. "We also reiterate our call on the international community, including the United Nations, to hold India accountable for its gross and systematic human rights violations and crimes against humanity in IIOJK, without further delay," Foreign Office spokesperson said in a press release.

The spokesperson said, in their unabated reign of terror, the Indian occupation forces had martyred at least 23 Kashmiris in fake encounters and so-called cordon-and-search operations in the month of January alone.

Driven by the far-right extremist 'Hindutva' ideology that provoked and condoned genocide of Muslims, the Indian forces were relentlessly targeting the Kashmiris, especially youth, in the occupied territory. "The international community must act to stop this wanton oppression and persecution of the besieged Kashmiris under illegal occupation. We also reject and condemn the Indian officials' lies insinuating the killing of an alleged "Pakistani" resistance fighter," it was added.

The Indian occupation forces were known to kill innocent Kashmiris passing them off as "alleged militants", in the hope of getting monetary rewards or 'gallantry' medals.

The spokesperson further said Pakistan saluted the resilience of the Kashmiri people who continued to stand firm in their just and peaceful struggle for their legitimate right to self-determination as pledged to them by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

According to media reports, the Indian troops martyred four youth during cordon and search operation in Naira area of Pulwama district, one youth was martyred during operation in Chrar-i-Sharief area of Budgam.

The Indian occupational forces were involved in extrajudicial killings of innocent Kashmiris in IIOJK with impunity.

The Indian forces had intensified arbitrary detentions, night raids, coercion, harassment and humiliation of Kashmiris, and the extra-judicial killings in staged encounters and cordon-and-search-operations continue unabated.

Burial of the last remains of martyrs at unknown locations since April 2020, without the consent and presence of their families, was yet another abhorrent manifestation of the callous behaviour and moral bankruptcy of the BJP-RSS combine.
KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2022) Afghan radio station Hareem Zan in the province of Badakhshan in the country's north-east resumed work after closing due to fear of the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) last August, an employee told Sputnik.

The official reason for the shutdown given by the management at the time was financial trouble, but the real reason was fear of the Taliban, as the radio station had 11 female employees, the source said. Since the new provincial government did not ban women's voices on radio, the activity of Hareem Zan was resumed, according to the employee.

The Taliban banned earlier musical compositions and female voices on television and radio stations in Kandahar province.

The Taliban's swift ascension to power in Afghanistan occurred in mid-August, triggering an economic disarray and food shortages that push the country to the brink of a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of Afghans fled the country fearful of the Taliban, widespread violation of human rights, and the deprivation of women and girls of their freedoms.
SEOUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2022) The maximum speed of the intermediate-range ballistic missile that North Korea tested earlier on Sunday was estimated as Mach 16, or 16 times the speed of sound at takeoff, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, citing a military source.

Intelligence services of the United States and South Korea assume that the rocket is similar to the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile that North fired in November 2017, the source added.

Earlier in the day, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said that Pyongyang had launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea from North Korea's Jagang Province area. The missile flew approximately 800 km (497 miles) with a maximum altitude of 2,000 km (1,243 miles).

The US Indo-Pacific Command said that the launch posed no threat to the US and its allies.
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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2022) North Korea possibly tested a medium or long-range ballistic missile on Sunday, according to Japanese and South Korean reports.

On Sunday morning, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) that Pyongyang had launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) from North Korea's Jagang Province area.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters on Sunday that the suspected ballistic missile launched by Pyongyang flew 800 km (497 miles) reaching a maximum altitude of 2,000 km (1,243 miles), and fell outside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after its estimated 30-minute flight.

According to Yonhap, the South Korean military characterized the ballistic missile as "intermediate-range" and also said that it flew around 800 kilometers at an altitude of 2,000 kilometers.

The South Korean National Security Council characterized the missile launched by North Korea on Sunday as a "medium-range ballistic missile," Yonhap said in another update.

Matsuno said that the ballistic missile could have been medium- or above medium-range.

According to the Kyodo news agency, there have been no reports of any damages following the suspected launch, which, if officially confirmed, will be the seventh test carried out by North Korea this year.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2022) North Korea's latest missile test did not pose any immediate threat to the United States, the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said.

"We are aware of the DPRK's ballistic missile launch today and are consulting closely with the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan, as well as other regional allies and partners," INDOPACOM said in a statement.

According to the release, the US condemns such missile tests and calls on North Korea to refrain from further "destabilizing acts.

"

"While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or that of our allies, we will continue to monitor the situation," INDOPACOM emphasized.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters on Sunday that the suspected ballistic missile launched by Pyongyang flew 800 km (497 miles) on Sunday reaching a maximum altitude of 2,000 km (1,243 miles), and fell outside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after its estimated 30-minute flight.
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ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2022) Russia does not want war, and the western countries that impose it are just pursuing their selfish aspirations, Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said Sunday.

"We do not want war. And we do not need it at all. And those who impose it, especially from the West, they pursue their selfish fabrications," Patrushev told reporters.
ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2022) Remarks that Russia allegedly poses a threat to Ukraine are completely absurd, Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said Sunday.

"Currently, they say that Russia threatens Ukraine. Complete nonsense. There is no threat.

Ukrainians themselves, including officials, say that there is no threat," Patrushev told reporters.

The official added that the US is set to supply Ukraine with arms and is not concerned about possible losses.

"No, American officials state that there is a threat and that they are ready to fight, providing (Kiev) with weapons to the last Ukrainian. They do not care what losses each side will incur or not," Patrushev said.
LAFAYETTE COUNTY, Mo.  The Lafayette County Sheriffs Office is defending one of its jail employees for her decision to wear a red prom dress that featured the Confederate battle flag years before she began working for the agency.

Sgt. Samantha Bell, an employee with the jail division for the sheriffs office, wore a red shiny dress with a giant Confederate battle flag on her backside to her senior prom at Wellington-Napoleon High School in 2013.

Bell has been employed with the sheriffs office for the past five years. Lafayette County is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, about 200 miles west of St. Louis.

The Kansas City Star contacted the sheriffs office Thursday after receiving an anonymous tip raising concerns. Lafayette County Sheriff Kerrick Alumbaugh said the photograph was discussed with Bell.

Our employee advises she was in no way making a racial statement by wearing this dress. She was simply stating her southern heritage in memory of her deceased Grandmother, the sheriff said in an email Friday.

Bell did not reply to The Stars request for comment via Facebook message.

My daughters heritage and my heritage

The anonymous tipster claimed Bell was also in the process of becoming a sworn police officer through the Central Missouri Police Academy, a detail The Star was unable to independently verify Friday. The police academy is located at the University of Central Missouri.

In a statement, the police academy declined to identify any of its trainees, citing the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. But the law does not in fact prevent the academy from commenting on such matters.

Holly Pierce, Bells mother, said that she made the dress for her daughter. Pierce contended there was nothing racist about the symbol.

Im not going to stand out here and freeze to death having this discussion with you, she told a Star reporter from the driveway of her Mayview, Missouri, home on Friday morning. You guys really need to take this up with Sam (Bell) and go back and read your history.

For you to come on my property and accuse me of something that absolutely has nothing to do with that Confederate flag except for my daughters heritage and my heritage is absolutely wrong.

Flags history

In recent years, Confederate symbols and statues  which were largely erected after the Civil War during the Jim Crow era and into the civil rights movement  have started coming down. Mississippi removed the battle flag from its state flag in 2020 as several states reckoned with the imagery.

In his message to The Star, Sheriff Alumbaugh said the agency has never received any complaints or concerns of racial bias during Bells five years of employment there.

Lauren Bonds, legal director for the National Police Accountability Project, said it is important for law enforcement departments to do extensive background checks for past extremist or racist statements or posts.

I do definitely think that this is going to undermine the trust that folks may have in this particular officer, Bonds said.

She added that there is a fine line when it comes to disciplinary actions that can be taken against employees who have done things in the past, before they were employed.

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SEOUL/TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2022) North Korea fired one suspected ballistic missile from the Jagang Province area on Sunday and the missile landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone.

On Sunday morning, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) that Pyongyang had launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan).

In a later update, Yonhap said citing the South Korean military that the suspected ballistic missile was launched from North Korea's Jagang Province area.

Meanwhile, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters on Sunday that the suspected ballistic missile launched by Pyongyang flew 800 km (497 miles) reaching a maximum altitude of 2,000 km (1,243 miles), and fell outside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after its estimated 30-minute flight.

If officially confirmed, this will be the seventh test carried out by North Korea this year.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2022) US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley discussed the recent developments in the security situation in Eastern Europe with top Ukrainian military official Valerii Zaluzhnyi over phone, the Pentagon reported Saturday.

"The military leaders continued to exchange assessments of the evolving security environment in Eastern Europe. Ukraine has the right to be independent, to maintain territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Chairman reiterated the U.S. policy to continue to support an independent Ukraine and their goals, and our continued effort to enhance their ability to protect themselves," the official readout of the conversation said.

The Pentagon added that Ukraine plays a critical role in maintaining peace and stability in Europe.

On Friday, Milley claimed that Russia had amassed enough forces at the Ukrainian border to launch an attack at any moment, and called for continuing the search for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Moscow has repeatedly denied any intention to invade its neighbor, instead voicing concern over the growing NATO presence near its borders and militarization of Ukraine.
Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music -- including rare recordings from the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music.
Beijing officials said Sunday they sealed off several residential communities in the citys northern district after two cases of COVID-19 were found.

Residents in the Anzhenli neighborhood in Chaoyang district were sealed off on Saturday, and will not be allowed to leave their compound.

Beijing is on high alert as it prepares to host the Olympic Games opening on Friday.

While the cases are low compared to other countries in the region, China has double down on its zero-tolerance policy, which includes breaking the chain of transmission as soon as it is found.

The city is also setting up 19 points in the area to test residents every day until Friday, officials said at a briefing on the pandemic, according to state-backed Beijing News.

The Chinese capital reported a total of 12 cases of COVID-19 between 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, said Pang Xinghuo, the vice head of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control. All those cases came from people who were already under some kind of pandemic control measures.

The city conducted multiple rounds of testing for millions of residents this past week in Fengtai district, where some residential compounds were locked down.
Unknown gunmen have shot dead a Christian priest and wounded another in an attack in Pakistans northwestern city of Peshawar.



Police and local leaders of the minority community said the victims were leaving a city church following Sunday Mass when two men riding a motorcycle ambushed and opened fire on the priests vehicle.

Police identified the slain priest as Father William Siraj, who was 75.

Doctors said the wounded priest, Father Patrick Naeem, was being treated in a Peshawar hospital and described his condition as stable.

No one immediately took responsibility for the shooting.



Police officials said an operation to find and arrest the assailants was under way.



Christian leaders condemned the attack.



We demand justice and protection of Christians from the Government of Pakistan, tweeted educator and Bishop Azad Marshall, from the Church of Pakistan.

Members of the Christian community have previously been targeted in Peshawar.



The deadliest attack occurred in 2013 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a city church as hundreds of worshippers were leaving Sunday Mass. The assault killed at least 80 people and wounded 120 others.



Islamist militants in Pakistan have long made religious minorities, including Christians, one of their targets.



Christians represent about 2% of Pakistans population of around 220 million people, which is overwhelmingly Muslim.
"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 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.

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."
Myanmars military government is set to pass a new cybersecurity law that will ban the use of internet services, a move that has been condemned by digital rights activists and business groups.

The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since a coup by the military last February. A widespread grassroots movement has seen thousands refuse to accept military rule, with anti-coup communications and demonstrations now largely mobilized online.

But a draft bill released by the junta, if passed, would criminalize the use of virtual private networks and online gambling, carrying a punishment of one to three years imprisonment and fines of up to $2,800.

The first draft of the bill was released last year, but progress on the legislation slowed after substantial public outcry and industrywide criticism. The legislation is expected to become law next week.

"We are speculating the bill will actually be official within just a few days, it might come before the first of February," Ma Htike, a digital rights activist, told VOA.

People living in Myanmar rely heavily on internet access, especially social media platforms such as Facebook, for news, and many have struggled to get online since the junta took control of the countrys telecommunication regulators after the Feb. 1, 2021, coup. Major Norwegian telecommunication operator Telenor recently quit its operations inside the country because of the political situation.

The military regularly shuts down the internet, routinely blocks social media platforms and censors what information can be found online, all in the name of ensuring national "stability."

But political analyst Aung Thu Nyein describes the latest draft legislation as unusually severe.

"The leaked new communication law is the most draconian law restricting many freedoms and privacy of a person," he told VOA. "This law could be a major roadblock to technological development as well, such as prohibiting the use of digital coins and blockchain technology, etc.

"It is definitely for the purpose of oppression of freedom of speech and a tool for control," he said.

Junta-enforced regional internet blackouts make VPNs vital to accessing independent news online via private networks outside of the country.

According to Top10VPN, Myanmar went without internet access for 72 consecutive days from February to April of last year, driving demand for VPNs up by 7,200%. The report also says the shutdowns came at a cost, with Myanmar suffering nearly $3 billion in lost revenue, according to the indicators from the World Bank, The International Telecommunication Union, Eurostat and the U.S. Census.

Htike says most of Myanmar's citizens continue to struggle with the blackouts.

"There are still various locations that the mobile internet has not been available," she told VOA, adding that junta-backed regulators have scheduled price increases for internet subscriptions, which is likely to pose "a big obstacle" for most citizens in a country with typically low per capita incomes.

"[The] internet plays a pivot role to send information to all parts of the country, from cities to remote corners," said Aung Htun, a journalist for Burma VJ, an informal network of professional and citizen video journalists who pool footage. "Thats why the military tried to raise the data fees higher than previously."

In its attempts to control the flow of information, the Myanmar military has also cracked down on the countrys media. According to Reporting ASEAN, a monitoring group in Southeast Asia, 120 journalists have been arrested with 49 still detained and 16 convicted. The licenses of at least five media outlets have been revoked.

Aung Htun also says the looming internet restrictions under the new law will put people at increased risk of arrest in public, where the military sometimes randomly searches phones.

"Its getting more difficult to hide data in your phone. Its better to use simple ways; dont keep any important data in your phone," he said, adding that journalists must "stay low, and try to be in touch with your colleagues [only] by secure network."

Freedom House, a nonprofit research institute that ranks internet freedom by country on a scale in which 100 is "most free," placed Myanmar at 17 in 2021.

Ten foreign businesses and industry groups in Myanmar said in a joint letter they are "deeply concerned" over the latest draft of the cybersecurity law.

"If enforced, the current draft disrupts the free flow of information and directly impacts businesses abilities to operate legally and effectively in Myanmar," the statement read.

Htike said the new law could force customers to break the law in order to use basic business services.

"Myanmars economy really declined after the coup, but still small businesses have used social media and networks, but with this kind of [restriction] its going to be very difficult," she added.

Feb. 1 marks one year since the Myanmar military removed the countrys democratically elected government. To mark the anniversary, anti-coup activists have called for a silent strike, which leaves the streets of towns and cities across Myanmar deserted.

"Silent strikes are a good strategy for people to get involved," said Htike, who also warned that risks remain whether youre demonstrating in the streets or online.

Myanmars military routinely stops and searches people to check phones for evidence of VPN activity, such as whether the phone has Facebook access, which is impossible without a VPN.

They also surveil the web for digital anti-junta activity.

In a silent protest, Htike added, "it might be difficult for [the military] to do search and seizure [on empty streets], but [even] if people are active [only] online, they can [still] be targeted there."

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948, but most of its modern history has been under military rule.

After a brief period of civilian rule, the military in November 2020 began making unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud. On Feb. 1 of 2021, the military removed the democratically elected government and arrested leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, both of whom have since been sentenced to several jail terms.

Widespread opposition to military rule has resulted in thousands of arrests and at least 1,499 killings, according to the Thai-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday the Western military alliance has no intention of sending troops to Ukraine if Russia invades its former Soviet republic, but Moscow said it wants more clarity on exactly what security measures NATO does plan to implement in eastern Europe.

"We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to Ukraine...we are focusing on providing support," Stoltenberg told the BBC. "There is a difference between being a NATO member and being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine."

NATO has ramped up its military presence in member countries bordering Russia in fear of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine with Moscows massing of more than 100,000 troops and weaponry along Ukraines eastern border.

In the United States, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told the Fox News Sunday show that a Russian invasion could happen, really, at any time. Kirby said Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to add troops just across the border from Ukraine.

Watch related video by VOA's Arash Arabasadi:

U.S. President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have repeatedly warned they will impose swift and severe economic sanctions against Moscow in the event of an invasion.

Kirby rejected imposing sanctions ahead of a possible Russian invasion or naming which Russian financial institutions the West would target.

Once you try that, Kirby said, the deterrent effect is gone.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraines ambassador to the United States, told CBS Newss Face the Nation show that Ukraine wants sanctions imposed now against Russia, as well if Moscow invades.

We ask both, Markarova said. Russia is there. Russia illegally occupied Crimea. Russia illegally occupies together with their controlled people, parts of Donetsk and Luhansk territories, and they didn't change their behavior during the eight years. So yes, we believe the basis for sanctions is there.

The reason why Putin attacked us [in taking Crimea] is not because he wants Ukraine, or only Ukraine, Markarova said. The reason he attacked us is because we have chosen to be a democracy and we have the Euro-Atlantic and European aspirations.

Two key lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic chairman Robert Menendez and top Republican James Risch, told CNNs State of the Union show that they are close to reaching a bipartisan agreement on sanctions they said would crush Russia's economy if it attacks Ukraine.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on ABCs This Week show that the U.N. Security Council on Monday will press Russia to justify its massing of troops along the Ukraine border.

Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves," she said.

Despite some differences among NATO countries about how best to respond to a possible Russian attack on Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman Kirby said, Were confident NATO is going to stay united.

Russia, which annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014, says it has no plans to invade Ukraine again. But Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Sunday that Russia will ask the U.S.-led NATO and the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to clarify whether they intend to implement key security commitments.

We are sending an official request to our colleagues in (NATO) and the OSCE, urging them to explain how they intend to implement [their] commitment not to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others," Lavrov said on state television.

Putin said Friday that the U.S. and NATO had not addressed Moscow's main security demands in their standoff over Ukraine  that they would rule out possible Ukrainian membership in NATO and pull back troop deployments in eastern Europe -- but that Russia was ready for further diplomatic talks.

The West has said that ruling out Ukrainian membership in NATO and pulling back its presence in eastern Europe are not negotiable.

Lavrov said if the West does not intend to strengthen its security in countries near Russia, then they should explain why. This will be a key question in determining our future proposals, and then will report to Putin.

Britain considering major NATO deployment

Meanwhile, Britain said it is considering making a major new NATO deployment as part of its plan to strengthen Europe's borders abutting Russia, the government said Saturday.

Several countries, including the U.S., have shipped weapons to the Kyiv government to help it defend itself.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to visit the region this week and plans to speak to Putin by phone.

Johnson is considering doubling British troops in the Baltic countries and sending defensive weapons to Estonia, his office said.

The British leader said in a statement that the deployment "would send a clear message to the Kremlin that "we will not tolerate their destabilizing activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility."

"I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, ensuring we are able to support our NATO allies, he said.

Similarly, Biden said Friday, Ill be moving troops to eastern Europe and the NATO countries in the near term  not a lot. The Pentagon has placed 8,500 troops on heightened alert for potential deployment to Europe.
The Northern Irish city of Londonderry began commemorations Sunday of one of the darkest days in modern UK history when, 50 years ago, British troops without provocation killed 13 unarmed civil rights protesters.

The anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" comes with Northern Ireland's fragile peace destabilized by Brexit, and with families of the victims despondent over whether the soldiers involved will ever face trial.

Charlie Nash saw his 19-year-old cousin William Nash killed as members of the British Parachute Regiment fired more than 100 high-velocity rounds on January 30, 1972, at the demonstrators in Londonderry, known as Derry to pro-Irish nationalists.

"We thought there might be rioting, but nothing, nothing like what happened. We thought at first they were rubber bullets," Nash, now 73, told AFP.

"But then we saw Hugh Gilmour [one of six 17-year-old victims] lying dead. We couldn't take it in. Everyone was running," he said.

"It's important for the rest of the world to see what they done to us that day. But will we ever see justice? Never, especially not from Boris Johnson."

Amnesty?

The UK prime minister this week called Bloody Sunday a "tragic day in our history".

But his government is pushing legislation that critics say amounts to an amnesty for all killings during Northern Ireland's three decades of sectarian unrest, including by security forces.

Thirteen protesters died on Bloody Sunday, when the paratroopers opened fire through narrow streets and across open wasteland.

Some of the victims were shot in the back, or while on the ground, or while waving white handkerchiefs.

At the entrance to the city's Catholic Bogside area stands a wall that normally proclaims in large writing: "You are now entering Free Derry."

This weekend the mural says: "There is no British justice."



Several hundred people, including relatives of the victims, on Sunday retraced the fateful 1972 march, walking in somber silence under a leaden grey sky ahead of a late morning memorial service.

Children bearing white roses and portraits of the victims joined the poignant procession.

"I'm here to honor the people who were murdered by the British state who were trying to achieve their civil rights," said Michael Roach, 67, a Texan with Irish roots.

"There will be no justice until the paratroopers are held to justice for murder."

'Unjustifiable'

After an initial government report largely exonerated the paratroopers and authorities, a landmark 12-year inquiry running to 5,000 pages found in 2010 that the victims were unarmed and posed no threat, and that the soldiers' commander on the ground violated his orders.

"We in the inquiry came to the conclusion that the shootings were unjustified and unjustifiable," its chairman Mark Saville, a former judge and member of the UK House of Lords, told BBC radio on Saturday.

"And I do understand, people feel that in those circumstances justice has yet to be done," he said, while expressing concern that with the surviving soldiers now elderly, the government should have launched any prosecution "a very long time ago".

Then as now, Londonderry was a largely Catholic city. But housing, jobs and education were segregated in favor of the pro-British Protestant minority.

Simmering tensions over the inequality made it the cradle of the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland starting in the late 1960s, which finally ended with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

'Reckless'

The UK's divorce from the European Union has unsettled the fragile post-1998 consensus.

Protestant unionists want Johnson's government to scrap a protocol governing post-Brexit trade for Northern Ireland, which treats the province differently from the UK mainland (comprising England, Scotland and Wales).

The government, which is in protracted talks with the EU on the issue, is sympathetic to their demands.

Heading into regional elections in May, some nationalists hope that Brexit could help achieve what the Irish Republican Army (IRA) never did  a united Ireland, a century after the UK carved out a Protestant statelet in the north.

Sinn Fein, which was once the political wing of the IRA, is running ahead of the once dominant unionists in opinion polls.

"Northern Ireland finds itself again in the eye of a political storm where we appear to be collateral damage for a prime minister whose future is hanging in the balance," said professor Deirdre Heenan, a Londonderry resident who teaches social policy at Ulster University.

"The government's behavior around the peace process has been reckless in the extreme," she added.

Protestant hardliners have issued their own reminders of where they stand: leading up to the anniversary, Parachute Regiment flags have been flying in one unionist stronghold of Londonderry, to the revulsion of nationalists.

"How can they do that, this weekend of all weekends?" asked George Ryan, 61, a tour guide and local historian.
A woman made a call from a Billings motel room sometime in 2016. She called her family, telling them that over the past several days a man had forced her to be raped for money by other men in Billings, Missoula and Salt Lake City.

The man controlling her was Terrance Tyrell Edwards. In 2018, he was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Billings to 30 years in prison. The women and girls snared in Edwards sex trafficking scheme were from Montana, Washington and North Dakota. In bringing them to buyers across Montana, they passed through parking lots, hotels and other businesses. If anyone caught the signs that they were being trafficked and sold, nobody reported them.

In the years since Edwards conviction, the state Division of Criminal Investigation has assigned two full-time agents to a statewide human trafficking task force. Data from DCI showed that the Montana Department of Justice investigated only seven reports of human trafficking in 2015. Through 2021, DOJ tracked 68.

Their data makes it appear as though the crime has increased, but I would argue that is not the case at all. Its always been here. Whats increased is that we have more resources to investigate it, said Penny Ronning, co-founder of the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force and former city council member.

The United States Department of State estimates that as many as 24.5 million people worldwide are the victims of trafficking at any time. Although the victims circumstance can vary from girls and woman forced to perform sex acts in Montana to children exploited as domestic servants in Peru, the dynamic remains the same: someone is coerced by violence, threats or lies into doing something against their will. Between December 2007 and December 2020, the National Human Trafficking Hotline tracked nearly 74,000 trafficking reports.

While the Department of State reports that forced laborers make up roughly two thirds of all human trafficking victims, any data collected on human trafficking will be skewed. The quality of that data is hampered by gaps in information on victims, buyers and traffickers, leaving experts with a consistently incomplete picture. In the past several decades, strides have been made at the federal and local level to make that picture a little clearer. The U.S. Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, a boon to the legal infrastructure to prosecute sex trafficking.

As a volunteer, I would say that Ive been invested in fighting trafficking my whole life, but we didnt have any legal language about human trafficking until about 20 years ago, said Ronning, who in 2014 started volunteering as a childrens court advocate in Yellowstone County.

During her time as an advocate, she saw evidence of several disturbing episodes in the lives of some children she represented. They were trafficked for sex work while they were within the states foster care system. She sought help from both the Billings Police Department and Child and Family Services, both of which she said lacked the training and resources at the time to respond to a report of sex trafficking.

I struggled to find law enforcement or agencies that were meant to protect children to properly respond. It wasnt that they didnt want to, they just didnt have any training for it  What these kids were experiencing was so different from what I experienced growing up here," she said, adding it was eye opening for her to learn there were two sides to Billings.

Ronning said she was eventually put in touch with the FBI, and the information she gathered taught her that sex trafficking was a community problem that neither Billings nor any city could arrest its way out of. Unlike a robbery where a clear victim and perpetrator can be established through an investigation, she said, the crime of human trafficking has several layers involving the trafficker, the buyer and the victim.

Trafficking reports rising

The data published by DCI shows a stark increase in reports of human trafficking, but Ronning said the crime has always been present in Billings and Yellowstone County. She also believes that the latest figures are only a fraction of the real number of victims. The only time in recent history that cases of human trafficking have risen in the region, she said, was during the boom of the Bakken oil fields in 2008.

The energy boom brought thousands of men to western North Dakota, and their salaries fueled a rising demand in the human trafficking market in the surrounding region. In 2014 alone, according to a series by Forum News Service on the exploitation of women and girls in the towns outside of the oil fields, more than a dozen men in North Dakota were convicted for trying to buy sex with underage girls.

The oil fields and money that flowed out of them created a massive customer base for traffickers, FBI Special Agent Brandon Walter told the Gazette, and it also built a circuit for them to impose on those who they coerced. Walter, who has spent seven of his nearly 15 years with the bureau investigating human trafficking in Montana, echoed Ronning saying human trafficking, particularly those sold for sex, is not a crime on the rise, but an endemic crisis in the area.

Before, when I grew up in Billings and I was in high school and through grade school, I can remember human trafficking victims, but we called them prostitutes at that point, standing on Montana Avenue, he said.

Around the year 2014, Walter said, federal and state authorities began to target human trafficking in Montana. Not long after, they realized that they had a major problem on their hands. Many had experience in prosecuting illicit massage parlors in Billings, which has since led to local legislation curtailing businesses that offer sex acts under the guise of cheap massages available 24 hours a day. However, investigators found a separate criminal industry targeting vulnerable young women and girls, who in the digital age have vanished from Montana Avenue and reappeared on ads posted to websites offering escort services.

In contrast to the popular depiction of human trafficking in which a woman is physically kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, Walter said the cases that hes investigated involve a psychological kidnapping. Traffickers wade through social media and dating websites like Tinder in search of those who can be coerced. Theyll look for signs of prior abuse, issues with addiction or a woman whos raising a child alone and use that as leverage against them after presenting themselves as a potential partner.

Was she in a domestic violence relationship? Is she a single mother? Does she have an addiction I can feed? The pimp assesses those vulnerabilities on the first dateThen, and often times its on short notice, he says Were going to go to this motel. Theyre giving them five minutes, no time to really think about it Now, he converts to maybe taking over her social media account and says, Now Ive got all of your friends on Facebook. I can let them know what you did. Now youve got to keep working for me, he said.

Cases hard to build

Louis Gregory Venning pleaded guilty in November 2021 to coercing at least 15 women and girls into prostitution. All of the survivors were from Billings, and he trafficked them across the state and country over a period of eight years, according to documents filed in federal court. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years to life in prison. His sentencing is slated for March 2022. Walter said theres no doubt in his mind that at any given time in Billings commercial sex can be bought from a human trafficking victim.

The investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases is labor-intensive and can span years. Along with testimony from victims, prosecutors need to gather phone and financial records, ads posted online and metadata to trace a potential circuit. In one recent case, which was spearheaded by DCI, a man living in New Mexico coerced a woman and a 17-year-old girl into prostitution in New Mexico, Texas, North Dakota and Montana. Lavondrick Terelle Hogues is awaiting sentencing for aggravated promotion of prostitution in Yellowstone County District Court. The investigation into Hogues through his conviction in June 2021 spanned about five years.

In 2016, Ronning partnered with local attorney Stephanie Baucus to found the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force, a non-profit that combines data collection with advocacy to help prosecute human traffickers and assist their victims. During the course of the non-profits foundation, Ronning said she called roughly 100 different agencies to see if they would get involved. She also received input from numerous health care providers who said they had treated possible trafficking survivors, but did not have any information to confirm it.

Many didnt know how to identify or report itSo we had all of these people, especially teachers and medical professionals who either didnt know how to look for the signs of trafficking, didnt know what to do with that information or both, Ronning said.

Ronning estimates that shes hosted some 300 training sessions since the non-profit launched, and hundreds of organizations and agencies have partnered with the task force. The task force has also distributed between 50,000 and 60,000 cards detailing the signs of human trafficking and local tip lines. The signs include a younger woman with an older man claiming to be a relative, a woman or girl who seems physically abused, avoids eye contact or waits for permission to speak.

Targeting the buyers

With Gov. Greg Gianforte and state Attorney General Austin Knudsen announcing January in Montana to be recognized as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, both Ronning and Walter welcome more resources for law enforcement and victim services. However, key information is missing from DCI reports and indictments. The buyers, those fueling the human trafficking enterprise, are infrequently counted or named.

Lets start putting a spotlight on those who are paying to rape someone in an illicit massage business or parking lot or hotel room, because the crime is the same. Its still a rape. Theres no consent on the part of the victim, ever, Ronning said.

No consistent profile exists among the buyers that hes encountered, Walter said. Theyve included men still living in their parents basement paying with five and 10 dollar bills, line cooks at national food chains and businessmen driving $85,000 SUVs. All of them assumed that the woman who they paid for sex wanted to be there.

In reality, shes got a human trafficker watching her every move threatening her, saying hes going to kill her and her familyYou are engaged in raping someone, whether it be a child or adult when you are paying for commercial sex in Billings, said Walter, the FBI agent.

If you suspect human trafficking, call 911 in an emergency. In non-emergency situations call 1-833-406-STOP (1-833-406-7867) or reach an advocate via 406stop.com. If you see suspected traffickers, do not intervene, and remain at a safe distance. Take pictures of the trafficker, victim, and vehicle license plate if possible.

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North Korea launched an intermediate range ballistic missile early Sunday, according to South Koreas military, Pyongyangs longest-range missile test in over four years.

South Koreas military said the North Korean missile was launched at a steep angle from the northern province of Jagang  flying 800 kilometers but reaching a maximum altitude of about 2,000 kilometers.

Japans government, which also tracks North Koreas launches, provided similar figures, adding the missile flew for about 30 minutes.

Those statistics indicate a so-called lofted trajectory that can allow North Korea to test longer-range missiles without overflying their neighbors.

Many defense analysts said the test may have involved a missile such as the North's Hwasong-12, which has a range of 4,500 kilometers.

It matches pretty closely [with the Hwasong-12], Melissa Hanham, an affiliate with the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation, told VOA. Of course, we cant rule out something with a similar flight profile. Without any more info its a good bet.

North Korea typically does not announce its launches until its state-run newspapers are published the following morning.

If confirmed, it would be the longest-range missile North Korea has tested since 2017, when it launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles during the height of tensions between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump.

It is the 11th North Korean missile launched this month, setting a new monthly record.

In a statement, the U.S. militarys Indo-Pacific Command condemned the test and called for North Korea to refrain from further destabilizing acts.

In response to the latest launch, Japan and South Korea held urgent sessions of their national security councils.

In a statement, South Korean President Moon Jae-in condemned the launch as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The test, he said, takes North Korea a step closer toward making good on its threat to abandon its voluntary suspension of longer-range missile tests.

North Korea's missile frenzy appears at least partly aimed at pressuring the United States and South Korea amid an extended pause in nuclear talks. 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.
New York authorities have arrested two Long Island nurses who officials say made more than $1.5 million by forging COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Julie DeVuono, the owner of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare and her employee, Marissa Urraro, have been charged with felony forgery, authorities say. DeVuono was also charged with offering a false instrument for filing.

Officials say the two women entered the false information on the cards into New Yorks immunization database.

The Suffolk County district attorneys office said the women sold the fake cards for $220 for adults and $85 for children.

Officials say about $900,000 in cash was seized from DeVuonos home.

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealands prime minister, is in self-isolation until Tuesday after a possible COVID exposure on a flight to Auckland, officials said Saturday.

The prime minister is asymptomatic and is feeling well, her office said. She is scheduled to be tested for the virus Sunday.

Indias health ministry said Sunday that 234,281 people had tested positive for COVID in the previous 24-hour period.

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 daily cases of the coronavirus were reported in Russia for the first time Saturday as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads throughout the country. The governments coronavirus task force reported a record high 113,122 new cases, a sevenfold increase from earlier in January.
The Biden administration has proposed raising the fees on almost all nonimmigrant visas. While U.S. officials say the move is needed to better align visa prices with what it costs to provide them, critics worry that if the administration does not address visa wait times, the cost increase could mean even fewer travelers and students coming to the United States.

According to a Federal Register notice, the State Department expects the new prices to go into effect by September, and it is accepting comments on the proposed increases until February 28.

All of the fee increases are happening at a time when tourism and travel to the United States is already at an all-time low, and the State Department is imposing waits of six months to a year in many places for a tourist- or business-travel visa, David Bier, an immigration policy expert at the Cato Institute, told VOA.

State Department figures show the visas with the highest numbers of applications are tourism, business, and study.

A nonimmigrant visa allows the holder to travel as a tourist or live, work or study temporarily in the U.S. under certain conditions. Visa applications for tourism, B1 and B2, and student visas, F, M, J, will increase from $160 to $245, a 54% increase. While employment-based visas, H, L, O, P, Q and R, are going from $190 to $310, a 63% increase.

The most important thing is whether visas are issued promptly. If the administration increases costs, but theres not a vast improvement in service from the State Department, then the result will be far fewer travelers, Bier added.

U.S. airport traffic has fallen in recent years, counting both domestic and international travelers. According to the Transportation Security Administration, it screened a total of 1.1 million people on January 26. On the same date in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, that number was more than 2 million.

Promises

Addressing Americas immigration system was one of President Joe Bidens key campaign promises. On his first day in office, he unveiled the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, sweeping immigration reform legislation that included an eight-year path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., a plan to clear employment-based visa backlogs, and a plan to prevent dependents of employment-based visa holders from aging out of the system, among other changes.

But the legislation stalled in Congress and is largely viewed as all but dead.

Immigrants have done so much for America during the pandemic  as they have throughout our history. The country supports immigration reform. Congress should act, Biden said.

Immigration experts say that while Biden reversed many of his predecessor's policies often described as anti-immigration, a Trump administration executive order that limited legal immigration and the issuance of temporary work visas contributed to longer wait times for nonimmigrant visas.

Also, the State Department temporarily suspended routine visa services at all U.S. embassies and consulates in 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions. They are reopening under a phased resumption of visa services, but about a fourth are partly or fully closed, according to the Cato Institute.

U.S. consulates around the world are a major component of the immigration system, processing visas "that authorize travel to the United States, but many consulates remain closed, and the open ones are reporting record wait times  [more than one year] in dozens of locations, Bier wrote in a recent analysis.

A State Department official told VOA that U.S. embassies and consulates have online information on operating status and which services are currently offered.

According to Bier, in January most consulates reported waits of 202 days for a visa appointment for business travelers and tourists, up from 95 days in April 2021. For students and exchange visitors, the wait was about 38 days, up from 25 days about a year ago, and 62 days for everyone else, including skilled temporary workers, up from 40 days in April 2021.

Effect on students, workers

A State spokesperson explained that the departments consular operations are largely funded by fees for services and the proposed fee increase is to ensure the agency is fully recovering the costs of providing these services.

Visa fees charged by the Department are generally based on the cost of providing visa services and are determined after conducting a study of the cost of such service, the spokesperson told VOA by email. The assessment of the actual cost of service in combination with demand projections over many years determined the fees published in the proposed fee schedule.

Increased fees need to translate into better service, especially shorter wait times, which is particularly important for students, said Jill Welch, senior policy adviser to the Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

We're still evaluating the potential impact of the proposed rule on international student flows to the United States.  It's important for [the State Department] to have adequate resources to process visa applications, particularly for those students and scholars who are on tight timelines for obtaining their visas in order to arrive on time for the academic term, Welch said.

International students at U.S. colleges and universities contributed nearly $41 billion to the U.S. economy and supported 458,290 jobs in the 2018-19 academic year, according to a study by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. In the 2020-21 academic year, international students contributed $28.4 billion to the U.S. economy, a decline of nearly 27%, or $10.3 billion, largely because of the pandemic.

But not everyone believes higher visa costs will have a big impact.

Marcelo Barros, an international student career expert in Washington, told VOA that although the fee increase was unfortunate, it wouldn't stop people from coming to the U.S.

This is not going to have any meaningful impact on [student] enrollment or on [employment-based visas]. This will not have any meaningful impact on the desire of companies to hire talent outside the U.S., he said, adding that if travelers, students or high-skill workers want to come to the United States, they will pay the new fee.
Malawis government says is registering low numbers of teenagers taking the COVID-19 vaccine. This is largely because parents and guardians are reluctant to give consent to have their children get the shot.



Malawi started administering the Pfizer vaccine to children ages 12 to 17 on January 1st to help contain the spread of the coronavirus among children.

Vaccination of teens requires health care providers to seek consent from parents.

Statistics show that fewer than 4,000 children were vaccinated as of Saturday, a figure health authorities said was not impressive.



The low response is blamed on parents refusing to give consent to health workers.

Mailesi Mhango is the district coordinator for the Expanded Program on Immunization in the Ministry of Health.

She says reluctance is more prevalent for children who go to public or government schools, where none of the youngsters has so far been vaccinated.

For the privately owned schools, the response is better compared to government-run schools. I dont know why. But for private schools, at least there is a positive response; many schools are booking us. Can you come and vaccinate our learners? So, we are going to such schools and vaccinating them, she said.

Willy Malimba, the president of the Teachers Union of Malawi, says it is a non-starter to expect teenage students to get the COVID-19 shot in schools.

This time around, even when the government can decide to go to school to vaccinate learners, I am sure that school can be immediately closed because the learners, even the teachers will run away, unless they are fully sensitized. Otherwise, they are taking this issue as a negative issue because of the coming of this vaccine; it came with negatives, he said.

Malimba recounts incidents where students have run away from suspected providers of the vaccine.

Even myself I have been experiencing some situations whereby I was going to certain schools and when learners saw my car, they ran away and I was told from the head teachers that the learners are running away because they think that we are coming with the vaccine, he said.

Government statistics show that only about 7.3 % of about 20 million people in Malawi are fully vaccinated, far from the required 60% to reach herd immunity.

The low uptake is largely attributed to myths that link COVID-19 vaccine to infertility and allegations that the vaccine is the government's ploy to reduce the population.

In a statement Saturday, the co-chairperson for the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. Wilfred Chalamira Nkhoma, urged all parents and guardians to get their children aged 12 years and above inoculated.

He said doing so will protect these children from severe disease and hospitalization, even if they do become infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.

Some parents say they are not ready for that at the moment.

Lindiwe Mwale, a mother of three children, two of them teenagers, is among the parents concerned.

She spoke via a messaging application from her home in Chiwembe Township in Blantyre.

I am a parent who has vaccinated them before [with] other vaccines which are there, but for this one [COVID-19 vaccine] I really would not want to risk them by getting them vaccinated by a vaccine which is currently on trial. After all, the COVID-19 is not greatly affecting people of that age; many of them make it, she said.

Mwale, who is vaccinated, also says with a drop in cases in Malawi, from about 700 daily cases previously to now 80 cases as of Saturday, she feels the pandemic poses no threat that would warrant vaccination of her children.

Health authorities say they are now planning to meet the parents and teachers and educate them on the importance of having children vaccinated against COVID-19.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday the Western military alliance has no intention of sending troops to Ukraine if Russia invades its former Soviet republic, but Moscow said it wants more clarity on exactly what security measures NATO does plan to implement in eastern Europe.

"We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to Ukraine...we are focusing on providing support," Stoltenberg told the BBC. "There is a difference between being a NATO member and being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine."

NATO has ramped up its military presence in member countries bordering Russia in fear of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine with Moscows massing of more than 100,000 troops and weaponry along Ukraines eastern border.

In the United States, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told the Fox News Sunday show that a Russian invasion could happen, really, at any time. Kirby said Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to add troops just across the border from Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have repeatedly warned they will impose swift and severe economic sanctions against Moscow in the event of an invasion.

Kirby rejected imposing sanctions ahead of a possible Russian invasion or naming which Russian financial institutions the West would target.

Once you try that, Kirby said, the deterrent effect is gone.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraines ambassador to the United States, told CBS Newss Face the Nation show that Ukraine wants sanctions imposed now against Russia, as well if Moscow invades.

We ask both, Markarova said. Russia is there. Russia illegally occupied Crimea. Russia illegally occupies together with their controlled people, parts of Donetsk and Luhansk territories, and they didn't change their behavior during the eight years. So yes, we believe the basis for sanctions is there.

The reason why Putin attacked us [in taking Crimea] is not because he wants Ukraine, or only Ukraine, Markarova said. The reason he attacked us is because we have chosen to be a democracy and we have the Euro-Atlantic and European aspirations.

Two key lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic chairman Robert Menendez and top Republican James Risch, told CNNs State of the Union show that they are close to reaching a bipartisan agreement on sanctions they said would crush Russia's economy if it attacks Ukraine.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on ABCs This Week show that the U.N. Security Council on Monday will press Russia to justify its massing of troops along the Ukraine border.

Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves," she said.

Despite some differences among NATO countries about how best to respond to a possible Russian attack on Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman Kirby said, Were confident NATO is going to stay united.

Russia, which annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014, says it has no plans to invade Ukraine again. But Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Sunday that Russia will ask the U.S.-led NATO and the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to clarify whether they intend to implement key security commitments.

We are sending an official request to our colleagues in (NATO) and the OSCE, urging them to explain how they intend to implement [their] commitment not to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others," Lavrov said on state television.

Putin said Friday that the U.S. and NATO had not addressed Moscow's main security demands in their standoff over Ukraine  that they would rule out possible Ukrainian membership in NATO and pull back troop deployments in eastern Europe -- but that Russia was ready for further diplomatic talks.

The West has said that ruling out Ukrainian membership in NATO and pulling back its presence in eastern Europe are not negotiable.

Lavrov said if the West does not intend to strengthen its security in countries near Russia, then they should explain why. This will be a key question in determining our future proposals, and then will report to Putin.

Britain considering major NATO deployment

Meanwhile, Britain said it is considering making a major new NATO deployment as part of its plan to strengthen Europe's borders abutting Russia, the government said Saturday.

Several countries, including the U.S., have shipped weapons to the Kyiv government to help it defend itself.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to visit the region this week and plans to speak to Putin by phone.

Johnson is considering doubling British troops in the Baltic countries and sending defensive weapons to Estonia, his office said.

The British leader said in a statement that the deployment "would send a clear message to the Kremlin that "we will not tolerate their destabilizing activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility."

"I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, ensuring we are able to support our NATO allies, he said.

Similarly, Biden said Friday, Ill be moving troops to eastern Europe and the NATO countries in the near term  not a lot. The Pentagon has placed 8,500 troops on heightened alert for potential deployment to Europe.
Thokozani Khupe, who claims to be the new leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) has filed an urgent High Court application, seeking to compel the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Justice to disburse almost ZWL$150 million to her faction following a fallout with party president, Douglas Mwonzora.

In her founding affidavit filed at the High Court, Khupe argues that she is the legitimate leader of the MDC-T after Mwonzora allegedly expelled himself from the party when he informed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that he is in charge of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance.

She argues that her party participated in the 2018 general election and garnered 29.97% of the total votes cast and is entitled to ZWL$149 850 000.00 under the Political Parties (Finance) Act.

Khupe is seeking an order to stop the ministries of justice and finance from disbursing the money to the MDC-T faction led by Mwonzora.

She said the MDC-T, which participated in the general elections in 2018, is in terms of section 3 (2) of the Political Parties (Finances) Act (Chapter 2:11), 2nd Applicant (MDC-T) is entitled to ZWL $149,850,000.00. That the 1st Respondent (Mwonzora) automatically expelled himself from the membership of the 2nd Applicant (MDC-T) when he declared himself the president of a political outfit under the name and style of Movement of Democratic Change Alliance in a letter to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission dated 03rd January 2022.

I am a member and Acting President of the 2nd Applicant (MDC-T), being one of the founders of the 2nd Applicant (MDC-T) with the late Gibson Sibanda, Doctor Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, Mr. Lovemore Matongo, Professor Welshman Ncube and Mr. Tendai Biti to name a few back in 1999.

Khupe further claimed that she has stood against all odds to defend the MDC-Ts constitution.

But the MDC-T led by Mwonzora expelled Khupe on Friday at a National Council meeting.

Witness Dube, publicity and information secretary, said, "Khupe does not know what she is talking about. In fact, we have expelled her for violating the constitution many times and for making a ridiculous announcement that she has expelled Mwonzora.

"She has done so much damage to our party to the extent that she would report us to the police, the courts and everywhere she thought was convenient for her. We could not take it any longer. And as for this court case, it's just a big joke."

She said Mwonzora expelled himself from the party when he declared that he was the leader of the MDC Alliance.

l and 1st Respondent (Mwonzora) expelled members of the 2nd Applicant (MDC-T) who violated its constitution. Article 5.10 (a) of 2nd Applicants constitution clearly states that membership of the Party shall be terminated if, a member of the Party joins or supports a political party other than MDC (termination of membership in these circumstances shall be automatic)

She claimed that Mwonzora expelled himself from the party when he claimed that he was the leader of the MDC Alliance in the same manner he recalled parliamentarians, who aligned themselves with the same party then led by Nelso Chamisa.

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News in Italy: Mattarella becomes second most-voted president in Italian history.

Leaders in Italy and around the world welcomed the re-election of Italian president Sergio Mattarella who was returned to office last night in a landslide result.

Mattarella received 759 votes out of a total of 983 voters from the electoral college, far beyond the required quorum of 505, and more than the 665 he received when he was first elected in 2015.

This makes him the second most voted president after Sandro Pertini who received 832 votes in 1978.

The 80-year-old Mattarella was elected on the sixth day of voting, at the eighth ballot, just days before his seven-year term was due to end on 3 February.

His election came after party leaders convinced him to reconsider his retirement plans and accept a second mandate "for the stability" of Italy, amid a failure by lawmakers to agree on a compromise candidate for the office.

After the vote, the re-elected president made a very brief address, saying he felt a "sense of responsibility" to remain in office in light of the health and economic challenges facing the nation.

Mattarella, who had packed up his belongings and was ready to swap the Quirinal Palace for an apartment in Rome next week, added that the situation required "not shirking duty" which "must prevail over other personal choices".

"Splendid news"

Italy's premier Mario Draghi - who until days ago had been hotly tipped to become president but will now remain as prime minister - hailed the "splendid news for Italians", offering his gratitude to Mattarella for "his choice to support the very strong will of parliament to re-elect him for a second term."

Enrico Letta, leader of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) posted a picture of the pencil he used to vote for Mattarella in the final ballot, saying he would keep it as a "beautiful" souvenir, and said the result was a "victory for everyone."

Silvio Berlusconi, who withdrew his bid for presidency a week ago, praised Mattarella "from whom we know we are asking for a great sacrifice, but we also know that we can ask him in the higher interests of the country."

Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing Lega party, thanked Mattarella, underlining that he should "not be perceived as a stopgap president."

The only party leader expressly unhappy was Giorgia Meloni, of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia, who earlier in the day had expressed her incredulity that her ally in the centre-right bloc Salvini was proposing the re-election of Mattarella.

After the winning vote she posted a video of the sustained applause that greeted the result in the chamber, with the message: "MPs euphoric for not having changed anything and forcing Mattarella to another term. What are they celebrating? That their salary is safe".

Reaction from world leaders

News of Mattarella's election was welcomed by US president Joe Biden who said he looks forward to "continuing our efforts to further strengthen US-Italy ties, deepen the transatlantic partnership, and address common global challenges."

French president Emmanuel Macron posted a message in Italian to "dear Sergio", stating: "I know I can count on your commitment to ensure the friendship between our countries and this united, strong and prosperous Europe that we are building".

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, congratulated Mattarella in a tweet in Italian, saying: "Italy can always count on the EU."

Pope Francis extended his congratulations to the president for the high office "which he welcomed with a spirit of generous availability", assuring Mattarella of his prayers "so that he may continue to support the dear Italian people in building an ever more fraternal coexistence and encouraging them to face the future with hope."

Role of Italy's president

A largely ceremonial position, Italy's president plays a key role during times of political crisis and has the power to appoint a prime minister and give mandates to form a government.

The president's term of office is seven years, meaning that if Mattarella completes his second mandate - due to end in 2029 - he will be 87 years old.

It is unclear however if Mattarella intends to serve the full term, with some political commentators suggesting that he might step aside to make way for Draghi after elections in 2023.

Photo Il Manifesto
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The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court is ushering in a new era of judicial activism. But if it overturns the 1973 abortion-rights precedent Roe v. Wade, as it seems poised to do, the same majority is walking into a conceptual trap. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The case against Roe rests on nearly 50 years of conservative argument that the landmark decision was the culmination of a liberal generational failure to exercise judicial restraint, of creating constitutional rights unsupported by constitutional principles. Hence the contradiction: Todays conservative majority appears ready to issue an epoch-making decision endorsing restraint as it enters a period of aggressive activism.

Five justices can do whatever they think is right. Yet the history of Supreme Court activism indicates that todays conservative majority will have to labor mightily to explain away the contradiction and ward off the taint of being unprincipled and outcome-oriented.

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In two previous eras of major judicial activism, one libertarian-conservative, the other progressive-liberal, majorities offered coherent philosophical accounts of their reasoning. Todays conservative majority will find it harder to persuasively defend the logic of its activism once it has committed itself to restraint.

The Lochner Era

The first period of judicial activism arrived in the late 19th century and extended for four decades before ending in 1937. Its known in legal circles as the Lochner era, named for a 1905 case, Lochner v. New York, in which the court struck down a New York State law that limited bakers employment to 60 hours a week on health grounds. (All that flour acted like a bit like coal dust in the lungs.)

The libertarian-conservative majority, relying on the guarantees of due process and equal protection enshrined by the 14th Amendment, struck down progressive-era state laws regulating working conditions, hours and minimum wages. It also struck down federal legislation that sought to achieve similar policy goals, although the court used different constitutional arguments to do so.

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The basis for the majoritys Lochner jurisprudence has been so thoroughly discredited in the years since the Lochner era ended that it can be difficult to reconstruct the legal logic in a charitable way. But the Lochner courts libertarianism had a plausible basis in the history of the 14th Amendment.

In conjunction with the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, and the 15th Amendment, which enfranchised African-Americans, the 14th Amendment belongs to a historical moment when the Constitution was being changed to reverse the legacy of slavery. It prohibited states from denying equal protection of the laws, a provision that for the first time put the federal courts in charge of reviewing state legislation. And it said the states could not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Giving meaning to this phrase has been the most important, and most contentious, job of the Supreme Court for well over a century. Libertarians of the Lochner era reasoned that liberty must include at least those rights denied to enslaved people. One of the things enslaved persons cannot do is exercise control of their labor. From this starting point, the libertarians concluded that the liberty guaranteed by the 14th Amendment must include a right to form contracts in which one person agrees to provide labor in exchange for pay. Any restriction on that liberty of contract, the libertarians said, violated the due process clause.

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The Lochner-era libertarians didnt stop there. They recognized a range of other autonomy rights that they also believed were contained in the 14th Amendment guarantee of liberty. Justice James McReynolds put it this way in a 1923 case, Meyer v. Nebraska, that struck down a Nebraska law that prohibited the teaching of the German language to children. Liberty, he wrote:

Denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.

The list is remarkably coherent and remarkably ahead of its time. It encapsulates, albeit in embryonic form, the autonomy-based argument that would eventually be used to justify rights favored by liberals, such as same-sex marriage and reproductive freedom.

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The libertarian-conservative majority of the Lochner era offered a consistent theory of the meaning of the 14th Amendment as the bulwark of its judicial activism. Those justices had no taste for judicial restraint. They saw their job as defending the autonomy of the individual against the potential tyranny of the state. It didnt matter if the state was restricting bakers working hours or parents right to educate their children as they wanted. The Lochner-era majority struck down both kinds of laws.

A Theory of Restraint

Progressives hated Lochner jurisprudence, not because they didnt care about individual liberty, but because they considered the libertarianism to be a tool to reverse popular legislation they advocated. So, during the Lochner era, progressive legal thinkers began to develop a theory of judicial restraint.

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The essence of the judicial restraint position, classically formulated by Justice Felix Frankfurter, can be stated simply: In a democratic system, controversial and contentious issues of public policy are supposed to be resolved by majoritarian vote, not by nine unelected justices. Judicial activism is therefore counter-majoritarian, and conflicts with the constitutional structure that gives legislatures the power to legislate and judges the power to judge.

When President Franklin Roosevelts Supreme Court appointments formed a liberal majority, the first thing it did was to overturn Lochner and the body of jurisprudence that came with it. The courts reasoning rested on judicial restraint. Lochner-era activism, the court said, was mistaken and illegitimate. In consequence, progressive-liberal legislation could be passed without the court striking it down.

The conceptual trouble began as the liberal majority began to go activist itself  an extraordinary temptation when one side has the votes. If liberal justices, led by William O. Douglas, William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall, were to expand individual liberties using the 14th Amendment, how could they respond to the charge that they were violating the principle of judicial restraint used to sink Lochner-era jurisprudence?

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Many volumes have been written on the subject, and indeed it could be said that most of the constitutional theory of the 1960s through the 1990s was devoted to trying to find an answer.

The orthodox liberal version came to be this: There is a fundamental difference between using the 14th Amendment to protect economic rights, as the Lochner court did, and using it to protect individual rights to privacy and dignity, as the court began to do under Chief Justice Earl Warren. A right to contract, the reasoning went, is different from a right to control ones body.

The nature of that difference turns out to be tricky to delineate. Conservative justices, notably Antonin Scalia, made their careers by rejecting the distinction and repeating the judicial restraint arguments first made by liberals like Frankfurter in the Lochner era.

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Liberals, however, accepted it. They continued to insist that the Lochner-era jurisprudence was wrong while simultaneously believing that the liberal jurisprudence that produced Roe v. Wade is right. Its in the nature of orthodoxy that the relevant community of people come to believe something is true, even if they cant agree on how to rebut the arguments against it.

Regardless, the upshot was an extended era of liberal judicial activism that lasted roughly 50 years: from 1965, when the court announced a right to contraception, to 2015, when the justices discovered a right to gay marriage in 14th Amendment. Throughout that period, liberal constitutional orthodoxy was confident that it could reconcile its kind of activism with a rejection of the activism of the Lochner era.

Good Rights and Bad Ones

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Things will be even harder for todays conservatives. The contemporary conservative legal movement was born in reaction to the activism embodied in Roe v. Wade. Scalias version of the theory of judicial restraint became the orthodoxy of the influential Federalist Society, which says in its mission statement that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.(1)

Overturning Roe is therefore supposed to mark the triumph of judicial restraint: Felix Frankfurter rides again. The conservative justices opinions in the Mississippi abortion case they are to rule on this term will have to reflect that point of view.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh already foreshadowed it in oral arguments last month over the constitutionality of the Mississippi law that bans most abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. He said that where there is a values conflict between the interests of the mother and those of the fetus, the courts should not intervene on either side, but should leave the resolution to state legislatures, who speak for the people. The defining moment for the current conservative majority is thus going to be a decision that has been 50 years in the making as the culmination of judicial restraint.

Herein lies the conceptual trap. The rest of the conservative majoritys agenda is heavily activist. Conservative justices want to use the Constitution to undermine progressive regulation. They want to interpret the First Amendment to carve out automatic religious exemptions from neutral, general laws. Theyve already struck down major parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Almost none of their agenda can be reframed in terms of judicial restraint.

Unlike the challenge that faced liberals who had to distinguish Roe from Lochner, there is no obvious distinction at hand like the one between economic rights and personal autonomy rights. Todays conservatives remain committed to the idea that Lochner was wrongly decided. So they cant just turn back the clock and try to claim that economic rights are good and personal autonomy rights are bad.

One possible avenue conservatives could take would be to say that individual, personal autonomy rights are good after all  but that Roe was wrong because abortion is unique. The idea would be that, unlike contraception or the right to have sex with and marry whom you want, abortion entails harm to a third-party, namely the fetus. They could then claim that, where potential third-party harm exists, general libertarian principles do not dictate that the courts should intervene to protect individual rights. Perhaps the beginnings of this argument may be glimpsed in Kavanaughs emphasis on the competing interests of mother and fetus.

So far, I have not heard mainstream conservatives making this argument  probably because it would entail admitting that in general courts should follow libertarianism, an admission that would jettison the entire Scalia-Frankfurter argument for judicial restraint on which todays conservative legal movement was built. Without it or something like it, however, the conservative justices will be hard pressed to explain, conceptually if not politically, why they arent going to overturn the right to contraception or the right to same-sex marriage. If Roe is overturned, liberals will warn that such results are now jurisprudentially possible and maybe inevitable.

Of the current justices, only Clarence Thomas and perhaps Samuel Alito would be prepared to go that far. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a key statutory opinion extending workplace antidiscrimination law to gay and transgender people, signaling that hes unlikely to participate in such a radical revolution. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Gorsuchs opinion. At the oral arguments in the Mississippi case, Justice Amy Coney Barrett went out of her way to ask whether overturning Roe would endanger contraceptive rights or gay marriage, and seemed pleased when the answer from Mississippis lawyers was no.

Escape Hatch

The only other escape hatch might be to dodge the conflict between judicial activism and restraint by employing another of Scalias favorite analytic tools, originalism. A pure originalist holds that the original meaning of the Constitution is all that matters, regardless of precedents that the court may have set before. By that logic, Lochner and Roe fail for the same reason, namely that they dont correspond to what those who ratified the Constitution thought it would mean.

But that approach hits different and higher conceptual and practical roadblocks  like rejecting precedent itself, the foundation stone of constitutional law as practiced by the court. Occasionally Thomas sounds like he would be glad to do that, but no other justice has been prepared to go as far  yet.

What the future holds, then, is a conservative majority that is about to plant the flag of judicial restraint and then betray that cause on gun rights and a host of other topics.

Does it matter?

Cynics will say that interpretive ideology has never meant anything to the Supreme Court justices, and will not in the future. The problem with that cynical view is that it treats the entire body of Supreme Court jurisprudence, and the entire undertaking of constitutional interpretation, as vacuous.

If that were true, then the cynical critique would have to apply to liberal justices as well as conservative ones. It would follow that we do not need a Supreme Court at all. If constitutional jurisprudence is just naked preference, a result of votes alone, we might as well have legislatures do the job as justices. And if Supreme Court voting is merely preference, then there can be no basis to criticize conservatives for voting that way.

The truth is that liberals and conservatives both want the Supreme Courts interpretation of the Constitution to be principled. All those involved want the court to share their principles of interpretation and to reach the results that they prefer. Thats a far cry from asserting that the whole undertaking is devoid of principle.

So long as Americans argue about what the Constitution means, and what it should mean, they are making the case for sustaining justice under principles of law.

More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:

 What the Supreme Court Would Gain If It Reverses Roe v. Wade: Ramesh Ponnuru

 The Supreme Court Should Hold Its Fire on New York Gun Law: Bloomberg Editorial Board

 Once Again, the Most Important Supreme Court Term Ever: Stephen Carter

(1) The first part of this motto is a famous quotation from Marbury v. Madison, the 1803 case that established the Supreme Courts authority to interpret the Constitution. Not what it should be is the Federalist Societys own interpretive addition.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast Deep Background. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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As a new month comes into sight, so too does another meeting of the OPEC+ group of oil producers, who are seeking to balance the oil market by gradually adding back the supply they removed almost two years ago in response to the first wave of Covid-19. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight With one or two notable exceptions  the November gathering that saw the group refuse customers requests for a bigger-than-planned output increase being the most obvious  the virtual get-togethers have become almost routine, with the biggest surprises they have generated being their brevity.

Dont get me wrong, Im all in favor of a few unexciting meetings.

The group is expected to agree to add another 400,000 barrels a day to supply in March  they already have a similar increase agreed for February  but are likely to fall even further behind their target when it comes to actual production. Theyve been struggling to keep pace with their plans to increase supply since first adopting them. Actual increases have lagged behind the target in three of the five months so far.

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They got off to a poor start, adding just 94,000 barrels a day in August, thanks in large part to maintenance work that slashed production in Kazakhstan. Things picked up after that, but by the end of the year they had only added about 1.8 million barrels a day out of a pledged 2 million barrels.

That may not sound like a big deal. But timing is everything.

Septembers bigger-than-promised increase wasnt enough to offset the previous months shortfall, which has effectively rolled through the entire period. If you look at how much crude the group pumped in total between August and December, the shortfall against its pledged output is nearly 110 million barrels, almost enough to meet the combined consumption of Europes two biggest oil users  Germany and France  for a month.

OPEC+ production has been running at least 640,000 barrels a day below target since July.

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By December, the 19 countries with output targets collectively pumped 740,000 barrels a day less than they had pledged. And the gap is likely to widen again in January, and probably in February, too.

The biggest under-achiever in terms of keeping pace with allowed increases may come as a surprise  Russia. Of the 525,000 barrels a day that it was allowed to add to production between July and December, Russia added only 372,000 barrels. Nigeria is running a close second, having seen its production fall by 40,000 barrels a day over the 5-month period, when it should have increased by more than twice that amount.

The slowdown in Russian output growth brought its production below its OPEC+ target in December for only the second time since the cuts were introduced in May 2020. Does this reflect a newfound sense of responsibility? Or does it, as many suggest, indicate the country is struggling to add back the barrels it took off the market nearly two years ago?

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The jury is still out. We saw a similar slowdown in Russian output growth between April and June, only for production to resume its upward path from July. But now Russias oil companies are pumping much closer to their pre-pandemic peak output levels, the country has more wells operating than at any time since April 2020, and operators including Lukoil PJSC have said that they will soon use up all their spare capacity.

For many other OPEC+ countries, the outlook is clearer. They, just like their counterparts outside the group, have experienced a collapse in the investment needed to maintain production capacity, to say nothing of expenditure to boost it. As a result, most would be unable to reach pre-pandemic production levels even if all restrictions were removed.

So what will happen on Wednesday? In all likelihood, OPEC+ producers will agree to add another 400,000 barrels a day to supplies in March. We will continue to pretend to believe them. And their actual production will slip even further behind their goal.

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More from Bloomberg Opinion:

 Russias Oil Weapon Is More Potent Than Gas: Meghan OSullivan

 Coal Is Still Golden and Net Zero Is Far Away: Javier Blas

 Dude, Wheres My Oil? (And Why Is It So Expensive?): Julian Lee

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Julian Lee is an oil strategist for Bloomberg. Previously he worked as a senior analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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Fears of an imminent Russian incursion in Ukraine seem to have intensified in the past week or so. NATO allies have sent ships and fighter jets to back up Ukraine, while the U.S. has put 8,500 troops on standby and ordered families of all American staff at the U.S. Embassy to leave the country. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Its a tense situation. After the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the possibility of an invasion cannot be ruled out. If it does happen, Ukraine will need support from the rest of Europe and NATO. Ukraine has gradually upped its military spending since 2014, putting it almost on a par with Russias spending by share of GDP.

But Russia maintains one of the largest military forces in the world, and it holds every major advantage. By active personnel, Russias army is the fifth-largest in the world. By comparison, Ukraines army comes in at 22nd.

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Russias key demand is a halt to NATO expansion. Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked for guarantees that Ukraine will never be allowed to join the alliance, and demanded a withdrawal from eastern Europe. That, naturally, is a no-go for the allies. In response, James Stravridis suggests welcoming two other nations into NATO with open arms: Sweden and Finland. Late last year, the Russian foreign ministry indicated displeasure with the idea of either joining the alliance. Their membership would make clear to Putin that he does not hold a veto card when it comes to expanding the democratic alliance.

The media frenzy makes it seem like an invasion is inevitable. But what about another scenario in which de-escalation is more likely? Thats what Leonid Bershidsky lays out. In short, Putin set a bait trap for Georgia in 2018 to make a devastating first move and  given Ukraines rearming of its military  was perhaps rather hoping to spark something similar again. Instead, U.S. President Joe Biden has successfully turned the tables with a big publicity campaign, allowing Western arms supplies to move into Ukraine and landing a blow on Russias stocks and currency. With Putin now on the back foot, itd be advantageous for the Kremlin to wait out the crisis and therefore undermine U.S. credibility.

Andreas Kluth poses the theory that perhaps Putin deliberately created a crisis in which everything is possible at once. In the same way Schrodingers cat is both dead and alive, Putin is in permanent superposition of attacking and not attacking, infiltrating and not infiltrating, and has the worlds attention on him. That cant last forever, though.

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Meanwhile, the tensions are making waves elsewhere, too: Europes energy crisis. Europe imports approximately 40% of its gas from Russia, and if a war led to the loss of all those supplies, the region would be forced to take Draconian measures. Javier Blas warns that high gas prices are set to be a new trend, not a one-off. If youre feeling nice and secure in the U.S., consider this: Russia also has the ability to disrupt global oil markets, which would directly hit Americans. Meghan OSullivan explains that that option may have fewer downsides for Russia, and could be more easily disguised as an explosion on a pipeline or an environmental disaster.

So how should the West push back? As Bloombergs editorial board writes, unity is its most potent weapon. Andreas points out that Europe doesnt look that united right now, especially with Germanys preoccupation with dialogue. In fact, though the government is still dealing with the Partygate scandal, the U.K. looks like the adult in the room for once, after making an unusually clear-eyed diplomatic decision to deliver 2,000 state-of-the-art N-LAW anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, says Martin Ivens.

If the West can pull themselves together for long enough to make a coordinated response, the challenge will be to punish Putin in the language he understands best  through his wallet and those of his friends. Max Hastings argues that while economic sanctions against Russia as a country are right, theyre not sufficient: The only meaningful weapon is an assault upon the fortunes and lifestyles of the Kremlins gangster clique, held and invested around the world.

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Its hard to put a finger on where Russias murky offshore wealth is and who it belongs to, but at this point its safe to say theres a lot of it. One 2017 study suggested that Russias offshore wealth accounted for 54.5% of GDP.

One way to get to Russias wallet would be to cut it off from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or Swift, which is used to transfer money across borders or settle securities trades. The autocracys currency and economy that would seize up if it were denied access to Swift. But Timothy OBrien suggests that it may not be enough to get to Putin himself. As suggested by the reporting on the Pandora and Panama Papers, 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.

Thatd be tough. But itd be worth it.

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More Ukraine-Russia Reading

As the EUs only pre-eminent military power after Brexit, France has an opportunity to play a more productive role, says Lionel Laurent.

Putin is using history as a weapon in this campaign. Hal Brands notes that hes not the only autocrat doing so right now.

James Stavridis isnt scared of Putins pirate of the Caribbean ambitions.

More Data From Bloomberg Opinion

Were already fighting the worlds next global health emergency, says Therese Raphael.

Unexpected enthusiasm for electric vehicles has lithium in short supply. Liam Denning assures us that its probably not for long.

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Notes: To contact the author of this newsletter, email Lara Williams at lwilliams218@bloomberg.net.

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This is the Theme of the Week edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a digest of our top commentary published every Sunday. New subscribers to the newsletter can sign up here.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Lara Williams manages Bloomberg Opinions social media channels.

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The thick envelope that Ketanji Brown Jackson received in the mail in 2005, when she was a federal public defender in D.C., was like many others inmates had sent to her office: laden with stamps and stuffed with court filings and a plea for help. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight But this one was a personal appeal. It had been sent by her distant uncle, Thomas Brown Jr., inmate #15854-004, who was serving a life sentence in Florida for a nonviolent drug crime. He was sending documents he hoped his niece could use to get him out of federal prison.

Jackson, 51, is now a judge on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and a leading contender for President Biden to nominate to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who last week announced his plan to retire from the Supreme Court. She would be the first Black woman on the court if she were nominated and confirmed, and the first justice in decades with deep experience as a criminal defense attorney.

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Jacksons brush with her uncle and his prison sentence, which arose out of the nations war on drugs, adds to a set of life experiences that would distinguish her from previous justices. Brown was sentenced to life under a three strikes law. After a referral from Jackson, a powerhouse law firm took his case pro bono, and President Barack Obama years later commuted his sentence.

Civil rights groups and other liberal advocacy organizations have promoted Jackson for Bidens shortlist of Supreme Court contenders not only because of her gender and race  Biden has pledged to nominate a Black woman  but because of her varied personal and professional experience, particularly as a federal public defender. Nominees to the federal bench more often have worked as prosecutors and corporate lawyers.

As a public defender, Jackson represented people accused of an array of crimes who could not afford an attorney. Later, as an Obama appointee on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, she helped rewrite guidelines to reduce recommended penalties for drug-related offenses. And as a trial judge for eight years, she sentenced more than 100 people to prison.

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Jackson grew up in a high-achieving household in Miami. She was a high school debate champion and went on to attend Harvard University and then Harvard Law School.

She has not spoken publicly about her uncles case. Though news accounts have referenced her having an uncle whose life sentence was commuted, his identity, the details of his crimes and his direct appeal to Jackson  along with her response  have not been previously reported.

Jacksons chambers declined to comment for this article.

The following account is based on state and federal court records, clemency information and interviews with people familiar with Jacksons experiences at different points in her life. Some agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.

For Ketanji, the law isnt just an abstract set of concepts. Her familys experience does inform her awareness of the real impact the law has on peoples lives, said a friend and former colleague from the federal defenders office.

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By the time her uncle contacted her, that person said, she was an experienced attorney and already knew what has become a national consensus that the nations drug laws were overly harsh.

Jackson saw Brown, her fathers older brother, infrequently while growing up in the Miami area in the 1970s and 1980s, according to a person familiar with their interactions. The daughter of two teachers, Jackson spent more time with her mothers side of the family. Her mothers brother, Calvin Ross, rose through the ranks to become chief of the Miami police department. Her father studied law when Jackson was a young child and went on to become the local school boards attorney.

In 1976, when Jackson was 5, her uncles troubles began to surface in court records. Brown, then 37, was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm as well as possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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While that case was pending, Brown was standing outside a Miami laundromat as police approached. A man nearby handed something to Brown, who threw it to the ground, his defense attorney said, according to a transcript of court proceedings. Brown was arrested for alleged possession of heroin.

The latter charge was not pursued by prosecutors, but Brown pleaded guilty to the earlier gun and drug possession charges  both felonies  and was sentenced in state court to 18 months of probation.

Six years later, in 1982, Brown was back in court in the Miami area. This time, the charge was possession of at least 20 grams of cannabis, a felony at the time. Brown pleaded guilty in state court and was ordered to pay a fine of $1,500.

In 1989, when Jackson was a freshman at Harvard, Brown was 50 and mixed up in South Floridas notorious cocaine trade. On April 18, Brown pulled his El Camino up to a Miami home, unaware that five federal agents were staking out the house. Brown left a few minutes later with a black nylon gym bag, placing it on the passenger seat. The agents followed. They soon stopped Brown and found the gym bag filled with what federal authorities later said was 14 kilograms of cocaine, wrapped in duct tape, court records show.

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Brown was indicted on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to sell and conspiracy to commit that offense. Several months later, a jury in federal court found him guilty of the first of those crimes. A federal law that had recently taken effect ratcheted up punishments for repeat drug offenders, mandating life in prison in certain cases after a third drug offense.

U.S. District Judge Lenore C. Nesbitt rejected the argument from Browns attorney that his client should be sentenced under the old rules, which would have added 20 years for his two past drug offenses, according to a court transcript. The judge said she had no choice but to impose a life sentence because of those prior convictions. Browns punishment was upheld on appeal.

Jackson had not seen or heard from her uncle in more than a decade when Brown first called her at the federal defenders office in 2005, the person familiar with their interactions said. By then, Jackson had worked as a clerk for three judges, including Breyer at the Supreme Court. She had been in private practice in Boston and D.C. and spent two years as an assistant special counsel on the sentencing commission.

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Can you help me? Im in jail, Brown told Jackson in their first phone call, according to the person with knowledge of their interactions. Your dad tells me youre a public defender.

Jacksons former colleague and friend recalled talking with her about the stamp-laden envelope she received later from her uncle. Jackson felt sympathy for his situation, the former colleague said.

Jacksons office, however, represented only people convicted in federal court in D.C. Her uncle had exhausted his appeals in court, and she had no immediate options to recommend, the person familiar with their interactions said. In 2008, she referred him to a powerhouse private law firm, Wilmer Hale, after learning that attorneys there handled clemency cases free of charge.

In a statement to The Washington Post, Wilmer Hale said Jackson referred the case years before she became a federal judge. She had no further involvement in the matter.

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Browns push for clemency eventually overlapped with a national bipartisan effort to undo harsh mandatory sentences that had been imposed on nonviolent drug offenders.

The Obama administrations Justice Department played a key role in that effort by aggressively reviewing clemency petitions. In eight years, Obama commuted the sentences of more people than the past 12 presidents combined, with a focus on nonviolent drug offenders. More than 1,700 people had their sentences commuted.

Larry Kupers, the deputy pardon attorney at the Justice Department when Browns sentence was commuted, said it was not unusual during Obamas presidency for high-profile law firms to represent inmates seeking clemency.

At Obamas urging, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010, lowering some mandatory minimums for drug offenses. The law did not apply retroactively, but the Justice Department began encouraging federal inmates to petition to have their sentences commuted to fall more in line with what they would have been under the revised law.

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By 2014, the clemency initiative expanded to include efforts to address the worst of three-strike convictions, Kupers said.

Kupers said someone with Browns criminal background would have fallen squarely into the category of those the Justice Department saw as eligible for relief.

That same year, Wilmer Hale filed its petition on behalf of Brown, the firm said.

As the Justice Department was focusing on clemency for those already in prison, the U.S. Sentencing Commission  with Jackson as a member  was taking steps to adjust sentencing guidelines. That effort, too, had bipartisan support.

In 2014, as a vice chair of the commission, Jackson backed a proposal to make sentencing guidelines for most federal drug trafficking offenders less severe. Months later, the commission voted to apply the reductions retroactively, a move that expedited the release of tens of thousands from federal prisons.

It was probably the biggest decision the commission had ever made, said Rachel E. Barkow, who served with Jackson on the commission at the time.

The commissions actions were informed by five years of data that showed shorter sentences for crack-cocaine convictions resulted in lower recidivism, she said. The changes did not affect sentence enhancements under three-strikes laws, such as those Brown had received.

On. Nov. 22, 2016, two months before he left office, Obama commuted Browns life sentence along with those of 78 other drug offenders. Jackson learned about her uncles planned release when she looked up the public list of names, according to the person familiar with her interactions with Brown.

Jackson did not submit a letter or communicate with the Obama administration on her uncles behalf, the person said.

W. Neil Eggleston, Obamas White House counsel at the time, told The Post he had no recollection of Jackson contacting the White House.

Brown was 78 years old and in fragile health when he was released the next year. Jacksons parents saw him on one occasion in Florida, the person familiar with her interactions with Brown said.

Brown told them that he was moving to Georgia with a friend, the person said, and Jacksons parents had not heard from him since. He died in 2018, less than a year after his release, according to public records.

Alice Crites contributed to this report.

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Danny Hong shows where the water reached up to him during flooding in his basement apartment in the Queens borough of New York last September. (AP)

Researchers say individuals should respond to the hazard most pressing at the time and be prepared to move locations if necessary.
I was alarmed by a recent article in The Billings Gazette in which a blatantly misleading statement regarding nursing home reimbursement was attributed to DPHHS Director Adam Meier:

most nursing homes receive a large portion of funds from other sources.

I am a nursing home administrator who has been licensed in Montana since 1996. I have worked in for-profit, non-profit, privately-owned, community-owned, tribally-owned, county-owned, and state-owned facilities. The one thing they all have in common is an overwhelming dependence on Medicaid funding.

Another administration official  Ms. Smith  suggested that facilities could be helping themselves by doing more Medicare.

Both of these statements by the very state officials who oversee nursing home reimbursement show a complete lack of understanding of the funding sources for the care of our helpless elders.

While seeking ways to make long-term care a more sustainable model by identifying ways for the industry to be more profitable is an intriguing idea, about half of the nursing homes in Montana, are non-profit.

The state has received millions of dollars in COVID funding from the federal government, yet refuses to continue helping care for our helpless elders.

Kent Hanawalt

McLeod

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From Errol Flynn onwards, for nearly a century now, Australia has provided a rich seam of chisel-jawed hunks from which Hollywood studios have mined.

Over the years movie bosses have polished these rough diamonds  but not too much  into sparkling showbiz jewels and, for better or worse, created a pretty narrow definition of masculinity for the Australian man to aspire to.

Kodi Smit-McPhees character in The Power Of The Dog likes to make paper flowers. Credit:

But thanks to the extraordinary success and talents of one young, introverted, pale and whippet-thin Aussie actor Kodi Smit-McPhee, perhaps our expectations of what we look for in a leading man from Down Under is finally changing.

Smit-McPhee follows a well-worn path in Hollywood, with fellow Aussies exports George Lazenby, Rod Taylor, Peter Finch, Mel Gibson, Bryan Brown, Simon Baker, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe (yes, were claiming him), Heath Ledger, Sam Worthington, and of course, the Hemsworths: brothers Chris, Liam and Luke.
Award-winning actor Kat Stewart returns to our screens as lawyer Liz in the adult-comedy series Five Bedrooms, now in its third season, on Paramount+. Best known for playing the hyper-emotional Billie in Offspring and for her portrayal of Roberta Williams in Underbelly, Kat is looking at 2022 with plenty of hope. As well as returning to the TV spotlight, shell also star in Admissions, a new production from the Melbourne Theatre Company, which opens in March.

While she lost some work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Melbourne-based actor filled some of the void by hosting an ABC podcast, How Big Is My Trailer, while leading a simpler life gave the 49-year-old a new perspective on where she wants to go next.

Kat Stewart: I want to see women of my life experience represented. I want to work with great people and I dont want to slow down. Credit:Cameron Grayson

Youll soon be back on our screens in Five Bedrooms. What traits do you add to Lizs character with each season?

Im very fond of Liz. She is forward, selfish and completely consumed with her self-image and status. But she has great qualities, too. She is funny, loyal, intelligent, empathetic and self-aware. What the writers have loved to do with her from the get-go is to portray a woman who has played by the rules, aspired to be successful and set a benchmark for success and happiness. Then they have taken it all from her and unravelled her at every possible juncture. Theres always something new to explore with Liz.

Do you share any traits with her?

I see elements of myself in every character I play, its just about amplifying those elements for the role. In traffic, Roberta Williams might come out in me. If Ive had a couple of drinks, or Im feeling emotional, or protective of a family member, Billie from Offspring might come out. If Im on my best behaviour, or feeling a bit insecure, Liz might come out. Theyre all somewhere within me. Its helpful that I get to play these sorts of women because I live a relatively calm existence in real life and acting these traits out is quite cathartic.
NorthWestern Energy is currently engaging in purposeful and intentional harm to approximately 30 families on the south side of the Yellowstone River. The recent NWE debacles on the Madison River and the Denton fire were accidental. These two catastrophes were not intentional or purposeful by NWE.

Sacrifice zone is a term in environmental studies. Historically, polluters placed industrial plants near sacrifice zones, in the south often neighborhoods of color. These were people whom the corporations felt safe in harming their quality of life, air, water, and property values. In our case, we are seen as a blue collar neighborhood not worthy of maintaining our quality of life, our property values or our daily life on the Yellowstone River.

The proposed site is one-quarter to one-half mile from established homes, some passed through three generations. Montana is sparsely populated and the third-largest state in the lower 48. Countless other sites could be used by Northwestern if Montana needs a methane gas plant.

Residents impacted met with County Commissioner John Ostlund informally in December of 2021. He told us commissioners have been in discussions for five years with NWE regarding this site. Ostlund told us the commission is fully supportive of this methane plant and this site.

Citizens of Yellowstone County, citizens across Montana, please speak up and say, not in our county, not in our state, are we tolerating the purposeful and intentional harming of families and homes by NorthWestern or county commissioners when other sites are available.

Carol Blades

Laurel

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Smell, taste and flavour To understand whats going on you need to get your head around smell, taste and flavour. Smell is managed through cells and receptors in your nose. Taste is all about your tongue and its where you get sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Flavour is a combination of both with smell playing the dominant role. In my case I lost my smell but not my taste  my tongue was working but my nose wasnt. It was really weird. I could feel the burning chilli of a curry and get a sense of the saltiness of it but I couldnt tell you if it was vindaloo or rogan josh. How common is it and what causes it? Deakin Universitys Russell Keast says COVID-19s previously dominant strains, Alpha and Delta, caused a loss of smell and taste in somewhere between 40 and 90 per cent of cases.

The data is still patchy but the good news is that Omicron seems to be less likely to attack these senses with the rate down to between 5 per cent and 10 per cent. Research out of the United Kingdom suggests up to 13 per cent of people might have their smell and taste affected with Omicron. Unfortunately, as we know, Omicron is affecting many more people so there are likely thousands of Australians suddenly finding they cant taste their dinner or smell their partner. Keast says the way coronavirus has attacked smell and taste is quite unique and disconcerting for those affected. The reason its different to a blocked or runny nose you might get with a cold is that the coronavirus damages the cells that play crucial support roles for the receptors in your nose and on your tongue. A cold might just create a mucus barrier to the chemicals you want to smell rather than damaging the receptor support cells. Keast says that while smell is relatively fragile and can be affected by many things, the loss of taste is something particularly unusual about COVID-19.

Those who lose their sense of smell are suffering anosmia while those who find that once pleasant smells are now deeply unpleasant or altered have parosmia. Will it come back? The good news is, for the vast majority of people, that yes your sense will recover. The receptor support cells that the virus damages naturally regenerate  in fact they turn over about every two weeks under normal circumstances. This is why if you burn your tongue things recover after a little while. How long that takes varies. If you research this youll find a widely quoted figure suggesting that 90 per cent of people have smell and taste back within six months.

Keast estimates 75 per cent to 80 per cent of people recover their senses within four to five weeks. This was my experience too and I have to tell you that a month without your mouth sending lovely messages to your mind about the food youre eating is a long time. In the absence of smell and taste you need to concentrate on [making] the eating experience exciting rather than suffer a loss of appetite. Alexandra Stewart For an unlucky few  perhaps as many as 10 per cent  the problems linger much longer. When it comes back it may not come back as you want it, it can be quite distressing, he says. This is very much a developing field, Swedish scientists recently published a paper, that is yet to be peer-reviewed, pointing to long-term damage for a significant proportion of people who recover from COVID-19.

Is it serious? To be without taste or smell for a couple of weeks is disconcerting and can add to the misery of feeling sick and isolation but for those who have to live with it for longer there is real concern. It is not only about food. We are documenting people who are becoming malnourished, says Duika Burges Watson, from Britains University of Newcastle. Its not just food, its an altered experience of the world and experience of intimacy was a big issue. She says she has seen relationships on the brink because a person finds their partners smell completely repulsive.

There are also the obvious safety risks for people who do not pick up smells such as smoke or gas. On top of that, the loss of these senses can lead to serious mental health problems including depression and anxiety. What can you do about it? Most people will notice their senses returning gradually over weeks so its about trying to get through a few unpleasant weeks (see some eating tips below). In the vast majority of cases things will return to normal, you have just got to do what you can to get through the short term and hope it doesnt last too long, Keast says. Based on scientific evidence, Dr Burges Watson recommends smell training for those who suffer longer symptoms. You do this by repeatedly sniffing smells to reinforce your bodys interpretation of them.

The hand of Dr Clair Vandersteen wafts a tube of odours under the nose of a blindfolded patient, Gabriella Forgione, during tests in a hospital in Nice to help determine why she has been unable to smell or taste since she contracted COVID-19. Credit:AP But you have to stick with it, it doesnt happen overnight  you need to do it for several months, she says. Its a bit more complex than just sniffing. There are several charities and research bodies that help people with these issues such as AbScent, Monnell Centre and Stana which have additional resources on how to tackle the problem. The key thing is to find support from other people who are experiencing the same dislocation as you because long-term loss of smell and taste is a very, very serious issue, says Burges Watson. So I cant taste food, what should I eat?

Flavour combines smell  information from your nose  and taste  information from your tongue. Coronavirus can affect one or the other or both. In my case, with my tongue still telling me about spicy, sour, salty  curries were great. Fizzy, cold, bitter beer was a winner. Textures and temperature help too as the trigeminal nerve in your mouth should still become stimulated by temperatures and spice. Bring more to the plate Texture: Crunchy, sticky, crispy, chewy, crumbly, hard or suprising

Visually appealing: Make dishes look appetising, pretty and colourful

Flavourful: Use many layered ingredients for more complex tastes

Zing: Bring hot and cold to your mouth both using temperature or the ingredients (think chilli, wasabi, mint and cinnamon) Source: Centre for Cancer Nutrition Alexandra Stewart runs a business which, before the pandemic, was focused on helping cancer patients deal with the impacts of treatment on their sense of smell and taste.

Since then she has seen a huge spike in coronavirus-driven interest. She says the important thing is to lean in on all the other ways you experience food. Loading In the absence of smell and taste you need to concentrate on those more to make the eating experience exciting again rather than suffer a loss of appetite, she says. Things that really work are: planning your meal, planning to put in the different components rather than just trying your favourite foods. You have to try to construct a meal that has more interest in it. In the absence of taste, your brain is craving alternate forms of stimulation and feedback about food in the mouth. Really cold foods will do this, adding some crunch on top will help add extra texture. Toasted muesli or granola would work or popping candy.
Kirby Rappell, executive director of SuperRatings, says sustainable options used to often trail the returns of balanced options. However, in recent years, we have seen a shift, with sustainable balanced options performing competitively relative to standard balanced options, he says.

SuperRatings figures also show sustainable balanced super options outperformed balanced options over one and five years.

Super fund Hesta has seen an increase of 40 per cent in the number of members in its top-performing Sustainable Growth option over the past 12 months

The typical balanced ethical option produced an average annualised compound return of 11.5 per cent over the three years to the end of 2021, compared to 10.4 per cent for typical regular balanced options  where most workers have their super.

Industry super fund Hestas Sustainable Growth fund returned 11.7 per cent over the five years to the end of 2021. That puts it about one percentage point ahead of both the next best-performing ethical option and the best-performing balanced option.

Hesta manages $68 billion on behalf of 900,000 members, and incorporates responsible investment principles across all of its portfolios, but more so for its Sustainable Growth option.

In 2013, Hesta was one of the first super funds to exclude tobacco from all its investment options.

More than 80 per cent of Hesta members are women working in the healthcare, education and community services sectors. However, the fund is open to everyone, and it has seen a 40 per cent increase in the number of members in its Sustainable Growth option during the past 12 months.

Sonya Sawtell-Rickson, chief investment officer at Hesta, says it is wonderful, 20 years on from when the fund option was launched to have evidence that you can invest responsibly, for positive impact, and still generate strong returns.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size A gold coin donation is a small price to pay to browse the stalls at the local markets held in the picturesque town of Molong in the Central West of NSW. But the thousands of dollars raised by the Molong Advancement Group, a community organisation led by volunteers including Sue Wilde, has become a heavy burden since the closure of the towns Commonwealth Bank branch last year. Safety concerns: Sue Wilde, a volunteer with the Molong Advancement Group, is forced to drive to Orange to bank up to $3000 in cash raised from fundraising events. Credit:Nick Moir Wilde, the groups treasurer, is forced to drive to Orange to bank up to $3000 in cash raised from fundraising events. Its a big safety concern because coins are heavy, she says. You almost need a trolley to carry it. Its a lot of coins. Similar stories of inconvenience, hardship and safety concerns prompted the federal government to set up a taskforce last year to assess the impact of regional bank closures. Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows banks, building societies and credit unions closed 575 branches in regional Australia between June 2017 and June 2021.

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More bank branches have closed in the past six months, including the Westpac in Morisset in NSW and Wendouree in Victoria. ANZ also revealed plans to close branches in regional Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory in early 2022. Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar said in a press conference in Mildura that the point of the Regional Banking Taskforce is to come up with tangible expectations that we will be making clear to the banks on what regional communities expect. Sukkar said people in regional Australia should within reason have access to the banking services provided in major cities. The federal government had the option, Sukkar said, of forcing banks to act if we dont see a voluntary movement in the direction that this taskforce is really directing the banks. Yet the major banks and their lobby group, the Australian Banking Association, paint a sunny picture of customers embracing digital banking services and shunning over-the-counter transactions. A Commonwealth Bank statement says it welcomed the opportunity to work with the taskforce to continue to support regional communities. Our branches in regional Australia play an important role in delivering great service to our customers which is part of our commitment to maintain the largest bank branch network in the country.

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That view is not shared by Mary Mulhall, the president of the Molong RSL Club, who says the closure of bank branches was motivated by pure greed. When the bank announced their half-yearly profit I had a tear in my eye to think that the bank made all that profit and closed our bank, Mulhall says. Mary Mulhall, president of the Molong RSL Club, said the closure of bank branches was motivated by pure greed. Credit:Nick Moir The Commonwealth Bank had no loyalty to small regional towns and no consideration for the impact the closure makes on peoples lives, Mulhall says. An issues paper released by the taskforce says the closure of bank branches can affect the liveability of towns, especially for residents who are unable to use online banking. High transaction costs, inconvenience and extra travel time were among the other negative impacts identified by the taskforce. If a person or business is forced to travel to the next town to do their banking, they are likely to buy other goods and services in that town as well. Rural communities are not impressed by the taskforce, with the issues paper labelled quite insulting by Berrigan Shire Council, which also questioned whether it appreciates the financial, export-oriented commodity-based economic reality of regional and remote Australia.

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The southern Riverina councils submission says banks offered incentives to retain profitable clients after they closed a regional branch, while abandoning the elderly, the disabled, the illiterate and other vulnerable and disadvantaged community groups. SA and NT secretary of the Finance Sector Union Jason Hall says the taskforce was a cynical attempt to buy votes and curry favour with regional communities. The closure of bank branches and pushing customers into digital banking has become a major cost-saving strategy banks use to increase their already massive profits, he says. The closure of bank branches had a knock-on effect with people more likely to do their shopping in larger towns when they did their banking. A joint submission from consumer group CHOICE, financial counsellors and community legal centres called for a moratorium on regional bank branch closures, fee-free ATMs, more mobile banking services and specialist assistance for First Nations communities. Bank branch closures have created banking deserts in regional Australia, the submission says. Consumers, small business and community organisations are unable to conduct basic banking services in person, including establishing accounts, paying bills, depositing money or cashing cheques. A CHOICE survey of more than 6000 people found farmers forced to drive a five-hour round trip to access face-to-face banking services; older Australians having to pay a $3 fee every time they withdrew money; and people having to take time off work and losing income to conduct their banking.

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The submission also says the use of cash remained important in regional areas, especially places with poor internet, to pay tradespeople, maintain a float for small businesses and for the operation of churches and local community groups. With the rise in financial scams, there was a deep sense of worry and fear in the community about conducting banking online. NAB executive general manager of retail Krissie Jones says the banking giant was spending money on improving its digital platform. Whilst our physical branch presence is changing, we will still be there for our customers  just in different ways, she says. Jones says the banks branch network had an important role for more complex customer conversations and supporting customers with education on evolving digital channels. APRA data shows banks, building societies and credit unions cut the number of branches across Australia from 5816 in June 2017 to 4491 in June 2021. More than 400 branches in NSW were closed between 2017 and 2021, while the number of branches in Victoria dropped from 1389 to 1085 over the same four-year period.

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The government has not listened to the concerns I expressed and has refused to negotiate the terms of reference. The sanitisation of the inquiry in this way all but guarantees the government the positive view of history in relation to these events which suits its agenda, its view of the world and its immediate political interests, she said. The governments rush to judgment and sanitising of the terms of reference smacks of a political fix. What other reason dictates this Inquiry being done and dusted in this way, on these terms, before the start of the parliamentary year? The government also declined to assure me I will receive a complete copy of any report Dr Thom makes, which wholly ignores a specific recommendation of the Jenkins Report [into Parliaments workplace culture]. It will also allow for Mr Tudge to do precisely as he did after the Sparke Helmore report and claim he has been vindicated, whatever the report may say. This government did not listen to a single word I had to say...on issues affecting women, the more this government professes to change, the more it stays the same. Ms Miller also criticised the tight timeframe and January 28 deadline for the report to be completed, comparing it to the inquiry Dr Thom led into former High Court Justice Dyson Hedyon, which took nearly a year.

Last week, several colleagues of Mr Tudge, who asked not to be identified so they could speak freely, told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age they believed the former education minister would be able to return to the frontbench. I think he will and can almost certainly come back, one ministerial colleague said, expressing sentiments echoed by colleagues, I cant see how the allegations withstand the scrutiny of the process. He shouldnt have been with a staff member, but we knew that 12 months ago. Rachelle Miller and Alan Tudge arrive for the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House in 2017. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age asked the Prime Ministers Office if the report had been received on January 28, as scheduled, whether it would be released publicly and when a decision would be taken on Mr Tudges political future. A spokeswoman for the government said: the matter is still in progress.

Loading In response to Ms Millers claim that the inquiry was political, the spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister commissioned an independent inquiry. The inquiry is being conducted by independent investigator Dr Vivian Thom AM. Given the seriousness of the claims made by Ms Miller, its important these matters be considered fairly and expeditiously and completely independent from government. The fact that Ms Miller did not speak to Dr Thom complicates the situation. In a dozen letters and emails between Peter Gordon, Ms Millers lawyer, John Kunkel, Mr Morrisons chief of staff, Dr Thom and Matthew Blunn from the Australian Government Solicitors office  seen by The Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald  the roadblocks to Ms Millers participation were discussed at length. In the exchanges between Mr Blunn and Mr Gordon, the Government Solicitor argued Dr Thom could not investigate conduct that she determined might amount to a criminal offence and that Ms Miller would receive a complete copy of the report subject to any claim for confidentiality, privacy or privilege that might be asserted by a third party  conditions deemed unacceptable by Mr Gordon and Ms Miller.

Loading On January 5, Mr Gordon wrote that Ms Miller would formally withdraw, because of the concerns over the terms of reference. He also claimed the inquiry perpetuates key flaws that the Foster Review and Jenkins Reports [reports into workplace culture and harassment delivered in 2021] identified, being outdated and old-fashioned investigation processes, masked by self-serving claims for confidentiality and privilege which protect perpetrators to the detriment of victims. Mr Blunn rejected that assertion on January 7 and said Dr Thoms inquiry drew on the best practices recommended by the Jenkins and Foster reviews. He added that it is always open to Ms Miller to refer her allegations to the police but Ms Thom cannot make findings as to whether a factual matter is a breach of the criminal law. The Government Solicitor then asked for a meeting of representatives of Mr Tudge, Ms Miller and Dr Thom to thrash out the outstanding concerns  but Mr Gordon rejected the proposed fireside chat.
International fugitive Michael Menghong Gu fled the country 18 months ago, leaving behind some $350 million worth of debts owed by his iProsperity property empire, but the trappings of his former lavish lifestyle are still being sold off by receivers.

One of the best three-bedroom apartments in the luxury Opera Residences development at Circular Quay settled on Christmas Eve to a corporate entity controlled by Mr Gu and his associate Harry Zhouxiang Huang.

iProsperitys Michael Gu fled the country 18 months ago, leaving millions of dollars in debt. Credit:James Alcock

Records show it was purchased off-the-plan five years earlier for more than $6.4 million, back when Mr Gu was making his name as the founder of his financial advisory firm for wealthy Asian investors.

By 2018, iProsperity was one of the biggest players in the federal governments Significant Investor Visa program, with about $1.8 billion worth of real estate under its control, and Mr Gu looked every bit the successful businessman.
Food delivery riders and drivers must be paid under the same rules as other truck and van couriers, in a ruling by the industrial tribunal, though it only applies to workers who are employed rather than the contractor workforce of companies like Uber and Deliveroo.

It is a blow to the food delivery giant Menulog, which broke with the industry last year to declare it wanted to employ many of its riders, but argued it needed a new, dedicated set of pay rules to do so on a large scale.

The Fair Work Commission has ruled that employed food delivery riders should be paid like other transport workers. Credit:Rhett Wyman

Menulogs move followed a series of deaths in the broader industry and intense pressure from the unions and Labor, who argue the sectors reliance on independently contracted workers lack of a minimum wage and other benefits is exploitative.

Uber, Deliveroo and other platforms have consistently defended the contractor model, arguing riders prize it for the flexibility it allows them to accept or decline jobs.
Harrison Jozefowicz quit his job as a Chicago police officer and headed overseas soon after Russia invaded Ukraine. An Army veteran, he said h
North Dakota is getting a record $46.4 million from the federal government to help low-income residents cover heating costs this winter -- more than twice what the state gets in a typical year.

The Biden administration is distributing an additional $4.5 billion nationwide for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, according to The Associated Press. Cold-weather states are receiving the largest share.

The funding boost is part of last years $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan coronavirus relief package. It has more than doubled the normal funding level of the program nationally.

The money is for the fiscal year from October 2021 to September 2022. North Dakota's annual appropriation is $19.3 million, with an additional $27.1 million coming through the American Rescue Plan. It's the most the state has ever received for LIHEAP, according to the White House.

The program in addition to helping with heating bills also offers emergency assistance to avoid heating utility shut-offs, furnace repair and replacement services, and weatherization services. North Dakota's Department of Human Services is considering using the additional federal money this year to enhance home energy efficiency services statewide, according to Michele Gee, director of the agency's Economic Assistance Division.

The program overall last year helped about 12,800 North Dakota households, providing an average of $890 in assistance during the heating season.

"North Dakotas winters are harsh, and this year people are dealing with inflated home heating costs," Gee said in a statement to the Tribune, adding that "We encourage households that are struggling to pay their winter heating bills to apply at www.applyforhelp.nd.gov or through their local human service zone office or by contacting a Community Options office."

Outlooks from the National Weather Service, AccuWeather and The Old Farmer's Almanac all say the Northern Plains is likely to have a colder-than-normal winter due to the La Nina phenomenon -- a cooling of the waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean that influences weather in the continental U.S.

The La Nina is expected to peak in intensity this month, with the greatest impacts in February and March. Much of January has been marked by subzero cold.

Montana-Dakota Utilities has projected that customers who use natural gas to heat their homes could end up paying on average $170 more than usual this winter due to rising natural gas prices. MDU provides natural gas to about 115,000 customers in the state, including to homes in Bismarck and Mandan.

More information on LIHEAP including income eligibility figures is available at https://www.nd.gov/dhs/services/financialhelp/energyassist.html. North Dakota's program uses the highest qualifying income level allowed by federal regulations, according to Gee. To qualify, a household can earn up to 60% of the state median income, which equals $62,452 for a family of four.

Reach Blake Nicholson at 701-250-8266 or blake.nicholson@bismarcktribune.com.

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Former Carmel police officer Teddy Gauthier was given therapy dog by Hero Family Outreach on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (Source: FOX 59)
Students at Carter Traditional Elementary enter the school for the first time in two weeks Jan. 24, 2022, after JCPS used eight of its 10 nontraditional instruction days for COVID-19 absences.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell toured Frankfort's tornado disaster recovery center on Tuesday, urging support for tornado relief in Western Kentucky to continue.
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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 70%..

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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 70%.
Press Release

January 30, 2022 De Lima seeks to replace outdated Magna Carta for Public School Teachers with an updated and enhanced version Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima filed a measure seeking to promote, protect and uphold the rights of public teachers by instituting a revised Magna Carta for Public Teachers that can respond better to their present needs. De Lima, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, filed Proposed Senate Bill (SB) No. 2497 repealing for the purpose the antiquated Republic Act (RA) No. 4670, or the "Magna Carta for Public School Teachers." "Teaching is a noble yet thankless profession. The need to preserve the integrity of our educational institutions coincides with the need to ensure the protection of our teachers. This arguably begins by revisiting and revising a decades-old law that has failed to adequately respond to the changing of times," she said. While it may appear on paper that Filipino teachers are getting adequate support from the State in terms of financial resources, support services and infrastructure, De Lima noted a worsening "crisis in Philippine education," as earlier pointed out by observers. Several factors have already hinted at this worrisome trend in Philippine educational system, including a 2019 study revealing that Filipino students lagged behind other countries in the international assessment for Mathematics and Science for grade 4 student. A key insight from the said study implied that those tested mostly came from public schools, likewise noting that the crisis is further compounded by the fact that the Philippines doesn't invest on topnotch learning. "This is exemplified by the lack of computers and other tools in public schools despite being necessitated by the digital age, and also by a shortfall in the number of public school teachers," said De Lima. De Lima pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic further aggravated the educational situation as the Philippines became the last country in the world to reopen schools for in-person classes since the beginning of the health crisis in March 2020. "Teachers were not spared from this ordeal as inadequate government support led them having to use their own resources for school-related expenses, especially for distance learning needs like laptops, phones, printers, and internet connection," she said. "With an education system that is 'faulty to begin with, haphazardly implemented remote learning setup' resulted in overworked and underpaid teachers, on their own, to fend for themselves and to wiggle through the struggles," she added. De Lima further lamented how teachers living in remote areas are forced to travel for at least an hour on a daily basis for better internet signal, as they face intense workload, inaccessible internet, scarcity of gadgets and mounting paperwork as part of their perennial struggle which was made worse by the pandemic. Under proposed SB No. 2497, De Lima said teachers' salaries shall compare favorably with those paid in other occupations requiring equivalent or similar qualifications and training abilities and be properly graded so as to recognize the fact that certain positions require higher qualifications and greater responsibility than others. The salary scales of teachers, meanwhile, shall "provide for a gradual progression from a minimum to a maximum salary by means of regular increments, granted automatically after three (3) years." If passed into law the measure will ensure that "no teacher [will] be required to pay out of their personal finances for materials, facilities, services, or any other objects or activities necessary and related to the performance of their duties." In filing said measure, the lady Senator from Bicol underscored the need for people to admit that "only when we empower our teachers, will we strengthen our education system." Earlier, De Lima also stressed the importance of addressing the problems in our educational system for the betterment of our country's future. "Ang pagpapahalaga sa edukasyon ay pangangalaga sa kinabukasan ng ating bayan. "Democracies are only as strong as their voters. If we fail to educate our children properly, they will fall prey to the machinations of abusive politicians and foreign interests, and all the freedoms we fought for and achieved as a democratic Filipino nation will fade into extinction," she said.
According to U.S. media reports, since the second quarter of this year, Texas, from officials to the public, has been increasingly opposed to the Biden administration. When Biden took office, the "Three Fires" announced the 100-day epidemic prevention order, Texas Governor Abbott dared to take off his mask and broadcast the national live broadcast one month after the order was executed. Later, he received the acquiescence of the government. In support, Texas has founded more than one hundred non-governmental anti-epidemic, anti-mask, and anti-election bill modification organizations, and the locals often refuse to implement federal orders. This is already very common.

However, the iconic political event that really put Texas at risk of division was the "Parliamentary Escape" four months ago. At that time, two planes carrying more than 50 senior politicians suddenly landed at Washington Dulles International Airport at midnight. All the people on the planes were Democrats from Texas. They came to Biden for help. It turned out that the top Texas officials believed that last year's election was "unsafe." The Republican-controlled state legislature was amending the election law to shake the foundation of the Confederation and forcing the weaker Democrats to sign and agree. They did not dare to sign but couldn't stop the bill from being passed, so they all fled to Washington to file a complaint. Afterwards, the Texas Republican organization also claimed to go to Washington to arrest people but was interfered by Biden. The incident was regarded as a milestone in the "break" of Texas bipartisan politics.

Yesterday, a number of US newspapers published a piece of dangerous news: Texas Republican Senator Cruz recently publicly announced on the program that as long as the Biden administration achieves a result that "makes the United States hopeless," then Texas will It should immediately separate from the Union and become independent, but is not yet ready to abandon the United States. He also explained several conditions that "make the United States hopeless", including "they monopolized the Supreme Court seats, they turned Washington into a state, and they engaged in voter fraud", etc., and believed that Texas is a complete state. The most sober force in the United States, they can prevent the United States from sinking deeper and deeper.

In addition, Cruz also threatened: "If Texas becomes independent, then we will take away the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the military, and the oil. The high level understands the independent sentiment of every citizen very well." The truth is. In this way, in every anti-federal movement in Texas, officials are inseparable from behind-the-scenes operations; especially after the border situation deteriorated this year, they accelerated the pace of separation from the Biden administration. Now these people still have a chance to turn around, that is, next year's House of Commons elections and presidential elections three years later, which may give Cruz the last hope.

It is also worth mentioning that the public is worried about the US congressman's threats to move Texas towards a path of conditional independence. An anonymous person from a local political organization commented: I am very sure that if there is no other force uniting, as soon as we declare our separation from the United States, we will be attacked by Bidens army immediately, just like in 1860. He believed At present, Texas does not have the ability to "head-to-head" with the federal government, and it is impossible to secede from independence unless it is widely supported.
National Nurses Week is May 6 to May 12, an annual celebration that recognizes the critical role nurses perform in our hospitals and for our community. This year, we recognize our nurses for their continued commitment and unfailing dedication to our patients and their families, and for alway
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Vice reports that the Honolulu Police Department spent $150,000 on a Robot Dog from Boston Dynamics, plus $11 on a thermometer, to go around to encampments of unhoused people and take their temperatures to see if they might have COVID-19. I can't believe I just had to type that sentence out.

Honolulu's police department first drew national media attention when Civil Beat reported it had spent $150,045 in federal funds earmarked for pandemic relief on Spot. At a presentation to city council last year, Honolulu PD explained that Spot would be used to patrol the Keehi Lagoon Beach Park homeless encampment in the city and, more specifically, would be used to take the temperatures of unhoused people living in encampments as an initial COVID-19 screening.This means that people living in the encampment would have regular initial screenings not with a human but with a dog-shaped robot under the guise of keeping cops safe from homeless people who potentially had COVID-19.

What could possibly go wrong?

During a city council meeting, Honolulu Police Officer Mike Lambert reportedly claimed that the robot dogs would save the department between $117,000 and $242,760 in labor costs over just the first three months of using it. At least, as long as it doesn't rain too hard; the robot only has an Ingress protection rating of 54, which means you could probably kill it with a deluge of water.

Police Outsourcing Human Interaction With Homeless People to Boston Dynamics' Robot Dog [Matthew Gault / Vice]

Image: JJxFile / Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Out of the Past ... from the archives of The Winchester Star
OTTAWA - Many of the horn-honking demonstrators who brought Ottawa to a near standstill showed no signs of budging Sunday as parliamentarians, businesses and school administrators were left wondering when the usual rhythm of the frazzled national capital would resume.

Trucks are parked on Metcalfe Street as a rally against COVID-19 restrictions, which began as a cross-country convoy protesting a federal vaccine mandate for truckers, continues in Ottawa, on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - Many of the horn-honking demonstrators who brought Ottawa to a near standstill showed no signs of budging Sunday as parliamentarians, businesses and school administrators were left wondering when the usual rhythm of the frazzled national capital would resume.

Several criminal investigations are underway into actions  including the desecration of monuments  during the ongoing protest of government-imposed vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions, Ottawa police said Sunday.

A discordant symphony of truck horns blared across downtown as demonstrators wound up their second full day on local streets, but the effects of the protest were felt far beyond Parliament Hill.

Residents of the capital were again told to avoid travelling to the city centre as trucks snarled numerous roads. Several city bus routes were redirected to avoid the area around the Hill, and the nearby Rideau Centre shopping mall remained closed after shutting down early on Saturday.

The House of Commons is slated to resume sitting Monday morning, though many members had already planned to attend virtually to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Canada Unity, the primary group behind the truck convoy, said speeches would take place Monday at Confederation Park, just south of the parliamentary precinct.

The group's website also suggested the demonstrators planned to arrive at shopping centres en masse without masks to flout public health rules, throw loud block parties and pressure the media.

Ottawa police said Sunday they were working to enable those who wanted to leave the congested downtown to do so.

Truck driver Erik Mueller, who arrived Saturday from Alberta, wasn't going anywhere. He parked his rig on Wellington Street, just east of the Parliament Buildings, and hasnt moved since.

Mueller said he'll stay "as long as it takes" to get a response from the government.

"We have to do something, and if Ottawa is crazy right now for the next one or two weeks we have to do it," Mueller said, adding he believes the demonstrators have the support of local residents.

The protest has been "exceptionally disruptive" for people who live downtown, said Catherine McKenney, a city councillor who represents Ottawa's core.

Many residents resigned themselves to the overwhelming noise from honking trucks and road blockages, but by Sunday morning people were fed up, said McKenney, who fielded complaints about demonstrators urinating and defecating on lawns.

"I understand to a large extent why emergency services, police services both local and national, would not want to incite this crowd," McKenney said.

"However, at some point we need assurances that we're not going to allow our city and our downtown to be seized and to push out others and make people frightened to live and move about in their own neighbourhoods."

Mathieu Fleury, a city councillor who represents an area just east of Parliament Hill, tweeted that the people "intimidating our neighbours, blocking our streets, blaring noise & harassing our authorities & journalists have no place in our city. They must go."

Kevin McHale, executive director of the Sparks Street Business Improvement Association and Mall Authority, said congestion caused by the large trucks at the Ottawa protest could make it difficult for workers to get to downtown area shops on Monday.

"Were a block from Parliament Hill, its the national spot to protest," he said. "The difference this time is the trucks are occupying a fair bit of space."

There's a risk protest vehicles could interfere with supply trucks delivering goods businesses need to operate, which could force some to close, he added.

Protesters are typically encouraged to get a permit from the city before staging a demonstration in the capital, though its not mandatory as the right to peacefully demonstrate is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Such an application would allow the city to co-ordinate services and road closures, and give officials a sense of when the protest might end.

Canada Unity opted not to apply for a permit, leaving the city more or less in the dark as to the group's plans.

Ottawa police, meanwhile, said the force and city staff were very aware of complaints relating to parking, idling, noisemaking and other inappropriate behaviour.

"At this time, due to safety concerns, management of the protest and traffic must take precedence."

They said officers had avoided ticketing and towing vehicles in an attempt to stave off confrontations -- an effort they said had not been entirely successful.

Police said Sunday they were looking into desecration of the National War Memorial and the Terry Fox statue near Parliament Hill that took place a day earlier.

Protesters drew widespread condemnation for fastening an inverted Canadian flag and anti-vaccine sign to the sculpture of Fox, who braved illness to run cross-country to raise money for cancer research. A woman was also seen standing and cheering on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial.

Police said they were also investigating threatening behaviour toward officers, city workers and other individuals, as well as damage to a city vehicle.

The Ottawa force said it had investigative and evidence-gathering teams in place for the demonstration, and pegged the cost of policing the protest at $800,000 a day.

One truck flew a Confederate flag during Saturday's demonstration, while other protesters misappropriated the Star of David and brandished Nazi symbols and slogans. Their actions drew vehement disapproval from Jewish groups.

"The only way to get these toxic ideologies to crawl back under the rock they slipped out from is for all Canadians to roundly and unambiguously reject and condemn these symbols of hatred," said Andrea Freedman, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.

"The pernicious nature of antisemitism is that it morphs and becomes a convenient hook for all manner of grievance, real or imagined."

Deirdre Freiheit, president of Shepherds of Good Hope, said donations were pouring in after protesters allegedly harassed staff at an Ottawa soup kitchen.

The rally disrupted social services and blocked road access to their shelter, Freiheit said.

Several protesters showed up at the soup kitchen on Saturday and verbally abused staff and volunteers while demanding they be served, she said. Some protesters were given food to defuse the situation, but going forward meals will only be given to those who need them.

Since Shepherds of Good Hope tweeted about the incident, the organization has been overwhelmed with tens of thousands of dollars in donations, she added.

A large crowd gathered Sunday around a trailer parked in front of Parliament Hill to chant "Freedom" and listen to speeches decrying COVID-19 vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions.

Kathleen Biggar, one of the demonstrators, wondered what would happen Monday. She said she would not want this protest in her backyard, and was picking up trash left behind on streets.

She planned to leave after Sunday's events, saying she suspects that if the crowds stick around, conflict with local residents would only deepen.

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"I don't know the solution and that's probably the point we're all asking, where does this go?" Biggar said.

The demonstration was initially aimed at denouncing vaccine mandates for truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border, but the movement has morphed into a protest against a variety of COVID-19 restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

A memo being pushed by Canada Unity unlawfully demands Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and the Senate force federal and provincial governments to lift all COVID-19 restrictions, including vaccine mandates. It does not mention truckers, and was initially sent to the Senate and Simon on Dec. 11.

The vast majority of truck drivers are vaccinated. The Canadian Trucking Alliance has previously estimated about 10 per cent of drivers were affected when vaccinations became a requirement to cross the Canada-U.S. border earlier this month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2022.

--with files from Brett Bundale in Halifax.
Traffic at the main Canada-U.S. border crossing in Manitoba has been slowed by hundreds of trucks, many driven by protesters opposing the federal vaccine mandate for those crossing the border.

Traffic at the main Canada-U.S. border crossing in Manitoba has been slowed by hundreds of trucks, many driven by protesters opposing the federal vaccine mandate for those crossing the border.

Semi-trailers, trucks and cars, many waving Canadian flags, displaying signage critical of the federal government, COVID-19 regulations and vaccine mandates, held up traffic on Highway 75 for people looking to cross both north and south of the border.

Some honked as part of the protest, and others carried signage with slogans including, "Mandate freedom" and "Let all the people roll." RCMP officers were seen approaching the area.

Unvaccinated Canadian truckers who have crossed the border as part of the protest will not be able to re-enter the country without quarantining under the current mandate, which requires truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border be vaccinated.

A cross-Canada convoy, which drew thousands across the country, hit Winnipeg Tuesday and landed in Ottawa Saturday.
CALGARY - As widespread labour shortages force Canadian companies to re-evaluate their employee recruitment and retention practices, experts say pay transparency is increasingly in the spotlight.

A masked worker walks behind a hiring sign on his way into the Dover Cliffs long term care home in Port Dover, Ont., Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. As widespread labour shortages force Canadian companies to re-evaluate their employee recruitment and retention practices, experts say pay transparency is increasingly in the spotlight. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

CALGARY - As widespread labour shortages force Canadian companies to re-evaluate their employee recruitment and retention practices, experts say pay transparency is increasingly in the spotlight.

Outside of the public sector and unionized shops, salaries in North America have long been considered a private matter between employer and employee. Job postings generally don't disclose compensation, and the issue of money usually doesn't come up until the interview stage or even later.

But a growing number of advocates say that needs to change, in part to address problems of gender and racial equity, but also to keep talented employees in the workforce.

I have every intention of telling my kids years from now that there was once a time when youd apply for a job and have no idea what it paid," said Allison Venditti, founder of Moms at Work, a Canadian-based organization that advocates for women in the workforce. "And they will think thats ridiculous.

Moms At Work has launched an online job board, which requires all job postings to fully disclose the salary range for the position. Venditti said the job board is needed because pay transparency is one way to address society's wage gap problem.

"Women and people of colour are underpaid substantially. We know this," Venditti said. "We've been talking about the wage gap since forever and a day, and this is one of the fastest ways to help fix that."

Some jurisdictions are getting on board the pay transparency bandwagon. The state of Colorado already has a law that requires employers to clearly state salary ranges in all open job postings. A similar mandate will come into effect in New York City this spring.

Last year, the Canadian government passed the Pay Equity Act, which will eventually require all federally regulated workplaces with 100 employees or more to publicly disclose wage gap data for women, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

"It is something companies are going to have to start preparing for," said Laura Machan, recruitment partner at the Toronto office of LHH, a global human resources firm. "Partly because governments, both federal and provincial, are starting to require it and partly because its part of their ESG goals with their board, to be a better corporate citizen."

But the issue is a complicated one, Machan said. Many companies can't just start posting salary ranges without doing a lot of in-house work first.

"Imagine if one of your long-term, highly regarded employees saw a job posting for their job that was 10 per cent higher than what they make," she said. "I think there's a lot of work to do to ensure in-house pay frameworks are equitable before you get to the job posting part."

The non-profit organization FoodShare Toronto is one employer that already discloses salaries on its job postings. Katie German, FoodShare's director of advocacy and programs, said the organization has seen a steady uptick in job applicants since it adopted the policy.

"We actually have a policy that we don't negotiate on salary. But we're also a living wage employer, in that no one working here earns less than $24 an hour," German said.

"I think one reason many employers dont have pay transparency is because they know they pay too little. If youre embarrassed to post your salary range, thats a clear sign that you need to do better.

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Jen Aitchison of Sutton, Ont., said she quit a job in the insurance industry after finding out over after-work drinks that she made 30 per cent less than a male colleague who was newer to the organization than she was. The revelation made her feel disrespected and unappreciated.

"People say that 'oh, women are bad at negotiating,' but I don't think that's true," Aitchison said. "If people don't know what the table stakes are, then they just get taken advantage of by the corporation."

For her part, Aitchison believes there's a business case to be made for greater corporate transparency around compensation  especially now, as companies compete for talent amid widespread labour shortages.

"Companies need to know that eventually, that employee who's worked for them for 10 years is going to find out that Joe, the new guy, is making $20,000 more than she is. And she just may leave," Aitchison said.

"This notion many women have of 'I have to leave to get paid my value' is hurting organizations more than they know."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2022.
TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

The Imperial Oil logo is shown at the company's annual meeting in Calgary on April 28, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Imperial Oil earnings:

Imperial Oil is expected to release its latest quarterly results on Tuesday morning. The report will come against a backdrop of the highest oil prices in seven years.

Home sales:

Real estate boards for some of the country's largest cities are expected to release their sales figures for January this week. The Calgary board is scheduled for Tuesday, followed by Vancouver on Wednesday, Toronto on Thursday and Montreal on Friday.

GDP reading:

Statistics Canada will release gross domestic product by industry figures for November on Tuesday. The report will provide a picture of how the economy was faring going into the end of the year before the Omicron variant drove a surge in COVID-19 cases and prompted renewed public health restrictions.

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BCE results:

BCE Inc. will report its fourth-quarter financial results on Thursday before the start of trading. The parent company of Bell Canada and media companies that include CTV, TSN and radio stations is also expected to release its guidance for 2022.

Job numbers:

Statistics Canada will release its labour force survey for January on Friday. The report is expected to show a weakening in the job market due to the COVID-19 restrictions in large parts of the country that were prompted by the Omicron surge in cases.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE, TSX:IMO)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP)  Hundreds of people rallied in Serbia on Sunday to draw attention to the country's high air pollution and demand that authorities take action to improve air quality.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP)  Hundreds of people rallied in Serbia on Sunday to draw attention to the country's high air pollution and demand that authorities take action to improve air quality.

The protest in central Belgrade was the latest in a series of gatherings organized by increasingly visible environmental movement in the Balkan country.

Serbia  like much of the Western Balkans  is facing multiple environmental problems following decades of neglect. The problems include poor waste management, low air quality and polluted rivers. Weeks of road blockades drawing thousands of people recently forced authorities to scrap a project for lithium mining by the Rio Tinto company in western Serbia.

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Organizers of Sunday's event demanded that the government inform the public about the air quality index on national TV. They said bad air kills thousands of people each year in Serbia.

"Serbia has very dramatic problem with air pollution," said one of the organizers, Bojan Simsic. "We have the highest mortality in Europe and one of the highest ... in the world (from poor air quality)."

The protesters included families with small children. Some carried banners reading "Stop air pollution!" or "You are suffocating us!" They blocked traffic in a central street before marching toward the government headquarters.

Experts say the poor air quality in Belgrade is the result of using low-quality coal at nearby power plants, having thousands of polluting old cars in the capital and older systems for home heating. Serbia must fix its environmental troubles before it is able to join the European Union.

___

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HELSINKI (AP)  A powerful winter storm swept through northern Europe over the weekend, killing at least four people, destroying houses and cars, closing bridges and causing flooding and halting transport while leaving thousands of households without electricity.

The North Sea crashes into the Dagebull ferry terminal, in Dagebull, Germany, Sunday Jan. 30, 2022, during stormy weather. (Bodo Marks/dpa via AP)

HELSINKI (AP)  A powerful winter storm swept through northern Europe over the weekend, killing at least four people, destroying houses and cars, closing bridges and causing flooding and halting transport while leaving thousands of households without electricity.

Storm Malik was advancing in the Nordic region on Sunday, bringing strong gusts of wind, and extensive rain and snowfall in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Malik reached the Nordic region and northern Germany late Saturday after moving in from Britain where it caused havoc with material damage and transport chaos, hitting Scotland particularly bad.

A construction crane lay after crashing in central Malmo, Sweden, Sunday Jan. 30, 2022, after a powerful winter storm swept through northern Europe over the weekend. Storm Malik was advancing in the Nordic region on Sunday, bringing strong gusts of wind, and extensive rain and snowfall in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. (Johan Nilsson/TT via AP)

In the U.K., a 9-year-old boy in Staffordshire, England, and a 60-year-old woman in Scotland were killed Saturday by falling trees as strong winds battered northern parts of Britain.

Wind gusts of more than 100 mph (160 kph) have been reported in parts of Scotland, causing widespread disruption to transport and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said that while scores have had power reconnected, power disruptions will continue for many because another storm is due to hit the region on Sunday.

In Denmark, strong winds with heavy rain caused the temporary closure of several bridges on Saturday including the key Oeresund road and rail bridge connecting Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmo.

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Danish media reported that a 78-year-old woman died from severe injuries after falling in strong winds. In neighboring Germany, local media reported that a man was killed on Saturday after being hit by a billboard that was loosened by the storm.

Flooding in many parts of Denmark caused substantial material damage. Several traffic crashes caused by falling trees and flying debris were reported to police.

Southern parts of Sweden were badly hit, too, and thousands of households were without electricity by Sunday afternoon. Ferries to the Baltic Sea island of Gotland were canceled because of strong winds.

Severe damage to houses, cars and boats, among other things, were reported in Norway while heavy snowfall throughout Finland caused road crashes and disrupted bus and train traffic in parts of the country.

___

Sylvia Hui contributed to this report from London.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. worked Sunday to ramp up diplomatic and financial pressure on Russia over Ukraine, promising to put Moscow on the defensive at the U.N. Security Council as lawmakers on Capitol Hill said they were nearing agreement on the mother of all sanctions.

FILE In this handout photo released by The State Duma, The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. 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 Moscow's demands that NATO not expand and that the alliance refrain from deploying weapons that might threaten Russia. (The State Duma, The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation Press Service via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. worked Sunday to ramp up diplomatic and financial pressure on Russia over Ukraine, promising to put Moscow on the defensive at the U.N. Security Council as lawmakers on Capitol Hill said they were nearing agreement on the mother of all sanctions.

The American ambassador to the United Nations said the Security Council will press Russia hard in a Monday session to discuss its massing of troops near Ukraine and fears it is planning an invasion.

Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said of the U.S. and the other council members on ABCs This Week. Were going into the room prepared to listen to them, but were not going to be distracted by their propaganda.

Ukraines ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is bent on waging an attack on democracy, not just on a single country. Its a case that some senior foreign policy figures have urged President Joe Biden to make, including at the Security Council.

If Ukraine will be further attacked by Russia, of course they will not stop in Ukraine, Markarova said on CBSs Face the Nation.

Any formal action by the Security Council is extremely unlikely, given Russia's veto power and its ties with others on the council, including China. But the U.S. referral of Russia's troop buildup to the United Nations' most powerful body gives both sides a stage in their fight for global opinion.

FILE - Chairman Richard Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Texas's abortion law, Sept. 29, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP, File)

Russia's massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine has brought increasingly strong warnings from the West that Moscow intends to invade. Russia is demanding that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance, and to stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. NATO and the U.S. call those demands impossible.

The head of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Sunday rejected Western warnings about an invasion.

At this time, they're saying that Russia threatens Ukraine  that's completely ridiculous, he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass. We don't want war and we don't need it at all."

Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, countered that on Twitter, saying: If Russian officials are serious when they say they dont want a new war, Russia must continue diplomatic engagement and pull back military forces."

The United States and European countries say a Russian invasion would trigger heavy sanctions.

On Sunday, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, said that in the event of an attack, lawmakers want Russia to face the mother of all sanctions. That includes actions against Russian banks that could severely undermine the Russian economy and increased lethal aid to Ukraines military.

The sanctions under consideration would apparently be significantly stronger than those imposed after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Those penalties have been seen as ineffective.

FILE - U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Justin Muzinich, Ukraine Finance Minister Oksana Markarova and Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso, from left, wait for the start of the Paris Forum entitled "Sustainable Debt for Sustainable Growth" at Bercy economy ministry in Paris, May 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

Menendez also raised the prospect of imposing some punishments preemptively, before any invasion.

There are some sanctions that really could take place up front, because of what Russias already done  cyberattacks on Ukraine, false-flag operations, the efforts to undermine the Ukrainian government internally, the New Jersey Democrat said on CNN.

The desire to hit Russia harder financially over its moves on Ukraine has been a rare area of bipartisan agreement in Congress. But Republicans and Democrats have been divided over the timing of any new sanctions package.

Many GOP members are pushing for the U.S. to impose tough penalties immediately instead of waiting for Russia to send new troops into Ukraine. The Biden administration and many Democratic lawmakers argue that imposing sanctions now against Putin would remove any deterrent to invasion.

Sen. James Risch of Idaho, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN he is more than cautiously optimistic that Republicans and Democrats will be able to resolve their differences over the timing of sanctions.

Russia has long resented NATO's granting of membership to countries that were once part of the Soviet Union or were in its sphere of influence as members of the Warsaw Pact.

NATO has already come close to Ukraine. They also want to drag this country there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday, although everyone understands that Ukraine is not ready and could make no contribution to strengthening NATO security.

Ukraine has sought NATO membership for years, but any prospects of joining appear far off as the country struggles to find political stability and attack corruption.

Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and member of the Senate's Ukraine Caucus, suggested that Ukraine's backing off its NATO aspirations could expedite a diplomatic solution to the current crisis.

If Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "decides that the future membership, if there's to be one in NATO for Ukraine, and the question of the Russian occupation of Ukraine are two things to put on the table, I think we may move toward a solution to this," Durbin said on NBC.

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Ukraine has not shown signs of willingness to make concessions on potential alliance membership. It is not clear whether Durbin's suggestion has broader backing.

Lavrov also underlined Russia's contention that NATO expansion is a threat, saying the alliance has engaged in offensive actions outside its member countries.

It is difficult to call it defensive. Do not forget that they bombed Yugoslavia for almost three months, invaded Libya, violating the U.N. Security Council resolution, and how they behaved in Afghanistan, he said.

The U.S. and NATO have formally rejected Russia's demands about halting NATO expansion, though Washington outlined areas where discussions are possible, offering hope there could be a way to avoid war.

___

Heintz reported from Moscow.
RAYONG, Thailand (AP)  Favorable wind and sea conditions kept an oil slick away from beaches in eastern Thailand on Sunday, according to authorities, but concerns remained that the spillage may yet strike a popular resort island.

Workers carry out a cleanup operation on Mae Ramphueng Beach after a pipeline oil spill off the coast of Rayong province in eastern Thailand, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. Some 20-50 tons of oil are estimated to have leaked Tuesday night in the Gulf of Thailand from an undersea hose used to load tankers at an offshore mooring point owned by the Star Petroleum Refining Co. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

RAYONG, Thailand (AP)  Favorable wind and sea conditions kept an oil slick away from beaches in eastern Thailand on Sunday, according to authorities, but concerns remained that the spillage may yet strike a popular resort island.

Emergency workers in protective gear removed contaminated sand from the Mae Ramphueng beach in Rayong province, southeast of Bangkok, which was shut on Saturday.

Some 20-50 tons of oil are estimated to have leaked Tuesday night in the Gulf of Thailand from an undersea hose used to load tankers at an offshore mooring point owned by the Star Petroleum Refining Co.

The leak was stopped within hours, the company said.

Most of the oil slick was being pushed toward Koh Samet, a popular tourist island thats just beginning to recover from the coronavirus pandemic slump along with the rest of the country.

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Workers carry out a cleanup operation on Mae Ramphueng Beach after a pipeline oil spill off the coast of Rayong province in eastern Thailand, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. The governor of a province in eastern Thailand on Saturday declared a state of emergency after an oil slick washed up on a sand beach, shutting down restaurants and shops in a setback for the pandemic-hit tourism industry. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said authorities were taking steps to prevent it hitting the beaches there.

Aircraft have been dropping chemicals to disperse the oil and deploying floating booms to trap it so that it can be skimmed from the surface and removed.

I am very confident that for one we will be able to prevent the majority of the oil spill to ruin our natural resources, especially the corals, Varawut Silpa-archa told The Associated Press after surveying the Rayong beach.

Of course some of the corals will be damaged but the majority of it we will be able to save and we will be able to minimize the effects on the people, he said.

The beachside area is largely dependent on tourists. It has been suffering from the pandemic that has kept visitors away, and the spill will make recovery harder. The local fishing industry was also affected by the pollution.

Asked how long until he could declare the disaster over, Varawut said that visually it should be over within a week but environmentally it would last years.
The evening of Jan. 19 found Williamsville Mayor Deb Rogers far outside the village limits. She was speaking at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Lackawanna to a receptive audience  a gun-rights group whose members have grown increasingly critical of Covid-19 safety measures  following an introduction by WBEN talk show host Tom Bauerle.

The next night, Rogers was back in Williamsville, leading a special meeting of the Village Board as it voted to hire an attorney to fight a $300 fine levied by the Erie County Health Department over the village's failure to comply with the state and county mask mandate.

Williamsville Village Board decides to pay $300 fine for violating mask rule The board voted 3-2, with Trustees Eileen Torre and Christine L. Hunt and Deputy Mayor David F. Sherman giving approval to the resolution to pay the fine. Mayor Deb Rogers was joined by newly-appointed Trustee Matt Carson in voting no.

The decision, which drew cheers and protests in equal measure, was overturned four nights later. The board may have backtracked, but Rogers isn't backing down, even in the face of calls for her to resign.

"It absolutely is my responsibility to speak up on this," Rogers said in an interview before the fine was issued. "The only power we do have is our voices."

Before the pandemic hit, Rogers was a dedicated school and village volunteer, appointed by a Democrat as a Williamsville trustee. She won election to her board seat, and as mayor, without facing an opponent.

Divisive debate over mask mandate roils Williamsville The debate over facts and freedom and rights and restrictions that has roiled the nation since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has come to a one-square-mile community where complaining about traffic and parking used to rate as the biggest issue.

By late last year, however, Rogers began forcefully speaking out against mask and vaccine mandates in interviews.

"I think our Founding Fathers would be very proud of what the mayor is doing," Bauerle said during Monday's Village Board meeting.

Rogers says she is standing up for her constituents and she's continuing to do the work of the village. Some observers believe she's positioning herself for a run for higher office.

The debate has led to contentious discussion at Village Board meetings, as it has throughout the country, and the resignation of one trustee.

And residents say they don't know how long the divisions stirred up in this one-square-mile community of 5,300 will linger.

"It has been to the detriment of the village," said Mary Lowther, the village historian and a former Williamsville mayor. "Weve been held up to the entire Western New York as being this totally dysfunctional, biased, ridiculous, little village. And that isnt the reputation I want to see."

From volunteer to mayor

Rogers, a Johnstown, Pa., native, moved to Williamsville with her husband, Michael, in 2003.

She previously worked in human resources, but more recently volunteered at her children's schools, raised money for the Williamsville Branch Library and served on the Tree Board and other village committees.

When a Williamsville trustee resigned in March 2017, then-Mayor Brian J. Kulpa named Rogers to the vacant seat.

Williamsville Mayor DeLano won't run again; Trustee Rogers seeks post Williamsville Mayor Daniel O. DeLano Jr. is not seeking re-election, clearing the way for a challenger in Junes village elections. DeLano, who has held the job for 13 months, said he wont seek a full, four-year term because he wants to devote more time to his family and new work prospects. The only announced candidate for the post is

"I was proud to appoint Deb at that time," said Kulpa, citing her charisma and leadership.

That year, Rogers, a Republican, donated $75 to Kulpa, a Democrat, and his campaign for Amherst supervisor.

Rogers won election to a full trustee term, unopposed, in June 2017. After souring on Kulpa's replacement as mayor, Dan DeLano, Rogers decided to challenge him. But DeLano opted to step down and Rogers glided to election in June 2019.

In an interview shortly after taking office, Rogers told The Buffalo News she hoped to focus on improving the village's parks and its walkability and would seek out new ideas.

Nine months after that, the Covid-19 crisis hit.

Winning election was easy part for Williamsville's new mayor When youre a village trustee in Williamsville, population 5,235, its hard to hide from your constituents. I get stopped all the time, said Deborah L. Rogers, who is button-holed at Wegmans, school concerts and while walking her dog. Her profile gets even higher Monday, when she takes over as Williamsvilles mayor. The Johnstown, Pa., native worked in Pittsburgh and

She gave an interview to WBEN in November, framing her anti-mandate position as an effort to support the village's business district, prompting three other Williamsville trustees to issue their own statement in support of the county mask mandate.

A village divided

Things came to a head at the Dec. 13 Village Board meeting, which swiftly descended into acrimony.

Several weeks later, Trustee Matthew Etu resigned, citing the vitriol at that meeting and what he considered Rogers' role in fueling it. Etu issued a blistering resignation letter, while Rogers thanked him for his service.

The mayor appointed Matt Carson  an active village volunteer who works at the same company, Life Storage, as Rogers' husband  as Etu's replacement. Lowther and DeLano had written to the mayor offering to temporarily serve as trustee, but did not receive a response.

Williamsville trustee blasts 'toxic' mayor in resignation letter Matthew Etu said he is resigning effective immediately because of a toxic and destructive environment created by Williamsville Mayor Deborah Rogers.

"I think they're concentrating on issues that don't even pertain to us," DeLano said. "You're jumping into this national political garbage."

The rancor had eased by the Jan. 10 Village Board meeting, held on Rogers' 50th birthday, but the divisions remained. Most of the in-person attendees, including Rogers, declined to wear masks in violation of the state and county mandates. Numerous speakers praised the mayor for her advocacy.

Those joining through a Zoom connection largely defended the policy as a safety measure. Unbeknownst to those at the meeting, the audience included a county health sanitarian. The department fined the village $300, the first time Erie County acted against a municipality.

The fine outraged conservatives, including members of the 1791 Society, which has moved beyond its Second Amendment roots to general opposition to Covid-19 restrictions. The society has posted numerous items on its Facebook page showing support for Rogers and hosted her this month.

"We all owe Mayor Deb Rogers of Williamsville a debt of gratitude for standing up for our rights and the Constitution," Frank J. Panasuk, a society leader, wrote on Facebook.

Erie County fines Williamsville over village's refusal to enforce mask mandate County Executive Mark Poloncarz confirmed Tuesday that the village is the only local government to be formally sanctioned and fined $300 by the Erie County Health Department for actively and repeatedly flouting the mask-wearing rules.

One day after her speech to the society, Rogers and two allies on the Village Board voted to hire attorney Todd Aldinger to fight the county's $300 fine, over the objections of a group of protesters gathered outside Village Hall holding signs that read "Deb Rogers You Don't Represent Us" and "Fire Rogers."

Just four days later, however, one Rogers ally, Deputy Mayor Dave Sherman  himself a Rogers appointee to the board  abruptly reversed his decision and joined two other trustees in voting to pay the fine.

Sherman said he was swayed by hearing from village residents who didn't want to spend taxpayer dollars to fight the county fine. Rogers' supporters were dismayed.

"She appointed him deputy mayor and he stabbed her in the back," said Brian Rusk, the Amherst Republican chairman.

Rogers during Monday's board meeting said she recognizes the mask issue "has caused a great deal of tension in our village."

The village hasn't paid the fine yet, said Village Administrator Judy Kindron, noting that it is due Feb. 7.

Activist Rus Thompson had raised $1,310 from 29 donors through a "Help Williamsville" GoFundMe page to pay for Aldinger's services. Thompson said he's trying to return the money, but wants to use $300 of it to pay off the fine  preferably, he said, with 30,000 pennies  if the village is interested.

Is a higher office beckoning?

What's behind Rogers' anti-mandate campaign?

The mayor declined an interview request for this article.

But elected officials past and present say it appears Rogers is trying to position herself for a run for higher office.

"I don't think this was done for the benefit of village residents. Because it didn't benefit village residents. It was done I think to get publicity and to appeal to some of the right-wing people out there," Lowther said.

Rusk said he believes Rogers would be a fine candidate for a state Assembly seat, Amherst supervisor or a similar post. Amherst Republicans on Friday spread word about a "Patriots for Deb Rogers" fundraiser planned for next month at the VFW hall in Williamsville.

"She's a woman with a strong spine. She has courage," Rusk said.

She has support on social media, where someone unconnected to Rogers set up a "Love Mayor Deb" Facebook page that offers the opportunity to buy $24 T-shirts, $15 lawn signs and $3 bumper stickers.

Williamsville has seen controversy before  such as the debate during the 1970s over the future of the fire-scarred property that later became Glen Park or the vote in 2010 over whether to dissolve village government  and came through it intact.

The June Village Board election, when the seats held by Carson and Sherman are on the ballot, should prove illuminating.

Joan Elizabeth Seamans, a former trustee and owner of a photography business in Williamsville, on Monday called on Rogers to resign, saying it was the only way for the village to begin healing.

"I'm disappointed with her leadership and I'm also disappointed that this brought such negativity to the village," she said.

Rogers argues she's standing up against government overreach.

"I can't sit here and not say anything," she told The News earlier this month.

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OTTAWA - Global Affairs Canada says "non-essential" Canadian employees and their dependents from the embassy in Ukraine will be temporarily withdrawn amid concerns over a buildup of Russian troops along the country's borders.

OTTAWA - Global Affairs Canada says "non-essential" Canadian employees and their dependents from the embassy in Ukraine will be temporarily withdrawn amid concerns over a buildup of Russian troops along the country's borders.

A statement released Sunday says officials are monitoring the situation and their highest priority is the safety of Canadians, for whom the embassy remains open.

The move comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced supports for Ukraine last week, including expanding Canada's efforts to train the Ukrainian military and sending non-lethal military equipment, such as body armour.

Trudeau stressed at a news conference last Wednesday that "this is not a combat mission," but it's intended to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.

Russia has positioned about 100,000 troops along the border, raising fears across Europe and the NATO military alliance of an invasion, something Russia has denied.

The statement from Global Affairs says the team at the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv will be reinforced by officials with expertise in areas such as conflict management, democratic reform and consular services, helping to increase diplomatic capacity.

Much of the current standoff between Russia and NATO has revolved around Moscow's demand that Ukraine never be allowed into the transatlantic military alliance, which includes Canada, the United States and 28 European countries.

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The Kremlin has also demanded that NATO withdraw all its forces from the territory of member states that once belonged to the Soviet Union.

The alliance has rejected the demand, leading to fears of a new war in Europe.

With a $340-million commitment to extend Canada's training mission in Ukraine for three years, the prime minister said last week that he had 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.

Trudeau also committed $50 million in development and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, on top of a $120-million loan offered to help stabilize its economy.

NATO members are also in talks about bolstering the alliance's presence across eastern Europe as a further deterrent to war, with some allies such as France and Denmark having already announced additional commitments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2022.
The Gujarati community in Winnipeg prayed at an online vigil Saturday for the Indian family of four who froze to death last week trying to cross the border from Canada to the United States.

The Gujarati community in Winnipeg prayed at an online vigil Saturday for the Indian family of four who froze to death last week trying to cross the border from Canada to the United States.

Dignitaries sent their condolences, while Bhadresh Bhatt conducted the solemn ceremony.

He sang prayers for the family lost in a freezing farmers field.

"Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti," he told the mourners, who replied back with the same invocation of peace in the online video call platforms chat.

The village of Dingucha in the western state of Gujarat is mourning the loss of the Patel family  Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, 37; their daughter, Vihangi 11; and three-year-old son, Dharmik.

The community shut down Saturday to pay respects to the family who died on the frozen prairie half a world away.

The Winnipeg vigil, organized by the Gurajati Cultural Society of Manitoba, lasted about 45 minutes, with prayers sang by three.

An elderly woman took over from Bhatt, clapping between her sung prayers.

"Our community has been shaken for the last couple of weeks," Kirit Thakrar of the Hindu Society of Manitoba told the vigil.

"This is a very difficult loss for all of us."

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A man on the U.S. side of the border was arrested and charged with human smuggling. U.S. officials allege he is part of an organized human-smuggling enterprise.

U.S. court documents allege Steve Shand of Deltona, Fla., was driving a van with two Indian nationals just south of the border on Jan. 19.

The documents say five others from India were spotted soon after in the snow walking in the direction of the van. They told border officers that they had been walking for more than 11 hours in the freezing cold and that four others had become separated from the group overnight.

One man in the group also said he had paid a large amount of money to get a fake student visa in Canada and was expecting a ride to a relatives home in Chicago after he crossed the border, the documents say.

 with files from the Canadian Press

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
With the Omicron variant leaving many Manitobans sickened with COVID-19, a large minority are now questioning the effectiveness of vaccines.

With the Omicron variant leaving many Manitobans sickened with COVID-19, a large minority are now questioning the effectiveness of vaccines.

A Probe Research poll of 800 Manitoba adults found four out of 10 agree they are starting to lose confidence in the vaccine preventing people from getting sick. About eight in 10 Manitobans believe they have had COVID-19 or know someone who has had it.

Probe principal Curtis Brown says vaccine confidence changed when the latest virus variant arrived and quickly spread through the population.

"I think Omicron changed everything for Manitobans," said Brown on Friday.

"For nearly two years, the message has been get vaccinated as soon as possible and then with this latest strain many of those who were vaccinated did end up getting sick."

More than 2.7 million vaccinations have been administered to Manitobans with 85.6 per cent of the population with one dose, 79.3 per cent with a second, and 39.6 per cent with the booster.

Brown said its no surprise which groups are more likely to say they are losing confidence in the vaccine.

"Many of the same groups that were more likely to have ended up getting COVID, like younger adults and those with kids at home and BIPOC Manitobans, are also more likely to say their confidence is somewhat shaken in the idea that the vaccine will fully protect them from falling ill," he said.

The Manitobans with the most confidence are residents in central Winnipeg, people aged 55 and over, NDP and Liberal party supporters, and people with three doses of the vaccine.

University of Manitoba virologist Jason Kindrachuk said hes disappointed to hear that about 40 per cent of Manitobans feel this way, but he can understand why.

"Part was because of the messaging of what the vaccine can and cant do," said Kindrachuk.

"There was a hope the vaccines would be that final touch to end the pandemic. We do see exceptionally good protection from hospitalization and serious disease, but theres this other point  the protection from infection.

"Omicron has thrown a very large left turn in the road because its a variant with a unique ability to get around it."

But Kindrachuk said medical experts and public officials should realize the majority of people still believe in the effectiveness of the vaccines and build from there.

"We frankly have to be as adaptable as the virus," he said.

"I wish we could have done a better job of the cans and cants of what the vaccine can do so people know the limitations or the boundaries of the vaccine."

Meanwhile, Manitobans are evenly split on whether to punish people who decide not to be vaccinated with additional taxes.

The poll found while about three in 10 Manitobans strongly support introducing a levy, like the Quebec government has talked about and which some European countries have introduced, another three in 10 are strongly against the idea.

Overall, just over half of Manitobans are in favour of the idea.

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But, if such a measure went ahead, Manitobans are slightly more in favour of increasing taxes to pay for health care and offering a tax credit for vaccinated people than to put a direct surcharge on unvaccinated people who dont have a medical exemption.

Women, Winnipeggers, and older adults lead the way in favour of taxing the unvaccinated, while Manitobans with high school education or less, support the Progressive Conservatives, are evangelical Christians, or not vaccinated are most against the idea.

The poll of 800 Manitoba adults was taken through an online survey conducted between Jan. 19 to 26, using the companys proprietary panel supplemented with respondents from a large national panel provider.

No margin of error for an online panel survey can be given, but a random and representative sample of 800 adults would be accurate within plus or minus 3.5 per cent 19 times out of 20.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
A Winnipeg police officer shot a man who they say was assaulting another man outside Siloam Mission Friday night.

A Winnipeg police officer shot a man who they say was assaulting another man outside Siloam Mission Friday night.

When they arrived around 11:10 p.m. Friday, officers saw an assault ongoing and "encountered a non-compliant" suspect, police said Saturday afternoon.

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An officer shot the man, who is in his 20s. He was taken to hospital in stable but guarded condition.

The victim of the assault, who is in his 40s, was taken to hospital in unstable condition.

The Independent Investigation Unit, the civilian agency tasked with investigating critical police incidents and wrongdoing, has taken over the investigation, police said.

There was still a heavy police presence near Siloam Mission Saturday morning. A police cruiser car sat parked, surrounded by evidence markers.

Luke Thiessen, the homeless shelters communications manager, noted the violence wasnt directed at any staff or the people who use the shelter. Rather, the shooting just happened to occur in the shelters lot, he said.

The incident outside the homeless shelter was the first police shooting in Manitoba in 2022.
Life has thrown just about every curveball it could at Houston High School senior Althea Kappauf. But she has never stopped fighting back.

Her determination and will to succeed has resulted in her being nominated as the schools Above & Beyond student. It just shows how far she has come.

When Kappauf was 5 years old, she was adopted out of a house where she had to grow up fast. Her birth mother battled a drug addiction, which had a huge affect on Kappauf, especially at that young age.

There were times when I would try to wake my mom up in the morning and she was just passed out from a drug binge, and she wouldnt wake up and I thought she was dead, Kappauf said. And I was 3 years old, 2 years old, thinking Oh my God, my mom is dead, shes not waking up. I dont know what to do. It was really hard.

When Kappauf was young, her birth mother also had an abusive partner. That was really hard on me and my sister at the time, she recalled.

After being sent to foster care, things still werent clear for Kappauf. I remember I was in foster care, I would cry to my now adopted mom saying, Wheres my mom? Where is she? I want her. And I was 3 and I didnt really understand what was going on. She just had to tell me, Shes not coming back, and Shes sick and she cant take care of you, Kappauf said.

These events have stuck with her for a long time.

Ive had to go through a lot of therapy because it was really traumatic watching my mom being thrown down the stairs and seeing her bruises and having to take care of myself at such a young age because she couldnt, Kappauf said. I found out through therapy that I have PTSD and a lot of anxiety and depression.

However, if there is one thing that Kappauf has carried with her, it is a drive to make her own path.

I feel like its made me more determined as a person, and its made me like see that thats not the path I want to go down and to just keep fighting to make a better life so that I dont make the same mistakes as my parents did, Kappauf said.

Houston High guidance counselor Crystal Sobotta has known Kappauf for most of her life and has been proud of how much she has grown.

The one word that I think of when I think of Althea is resilient, Sobotta said. I just remember knowing getting to know her when she was much younger and some of the stories she shared about her childhood and struggles of just being kind of abandoned by her birth parents and the drug use that got in the way and then being adopted and still having some challenges along the way. And she just has become this wonderful young lady that is a leader.

Sobotta also spoke of Kappaufs friends, calling them a great support network, with Kappauf herself glowing about how much her friends have been able to help her.

Sobotta is also proud of how much Kappauf has opened up as shes grown up.

Recently shes wanted to help with planning some lessons for our advisory time at school, just open to sharing her thoughts and ideas. She used to be pretty shy and reserved and now shes just really blossomed and is sharing all her gifts and talents with our school and community, Sobotta said.

Kappauf did say that her shyness was something that she was definitely working on.

Sobotta added that she ever heard a teacher say anything negative about Althea. She also mentioned that Kappauf has been helping to input lesson plans for teachers that will better connect with students and would be more relevant than some of the systems that are used.

Sobotta reiterated how proud she was to see Kappauf come out of her shell, calling her an inspiration.

She has taken a difficult situation and looked beyond that to focus on her goals and work towards those using the support of others around her and just her own strength to keep going and rise above those challenges, Sobotta said. Thats why I think of her as just like a bright shining light. Shes always smiling and always just cheerful and adding her own flair wherever she goes.

As for her future, Kappauf intends to pursue a career as a social worker or a therapist. She plans on attending either Winona State University or University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

The main reason I want to be a social worker is so that I can help kids that go through the exact same thing as me realize theyre not alone in that like people understand what theyre going through, Kappauf said.

I really just thought this is the perfect thing for me just because it will almost be fulfilling in my life to help others like me. So its always really just been there for me and I just always wanted to help people like that.

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If youre lucky enough to live in the Winona area, youve got so many blessings.

From rivers, lakes and bluffs to exceptional health care and wonderful people, the quality of life is exceptional.

But if youve ever lived in a community that doesnt have easy access to higher education, you understand that Winonas campuses add a vibrancy  including the influence of the arts and culture  that sets our community apart.

And dont forget that campuses are economic drivers that provide a dynamic strength to our region.

Thats why the Legislature should approve the supplemental request for increased funding for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

Chancellor Devinder Malhotra told the Winona Daily News editorial board recently that the increase in funding is crucial to aiding Minnesota State campuses in providing Minnesota the talent it needs.

And with workforce shortages in health care, manufacturing and other critical sectors, he said the need for topflight graduates has never been more important to Minnesotas economic success.

There is a significant need to make needed investments to assure business and industry has the workforce it needs, Malhotra said.

Winona State University and Minnesota State College Southeast are part of the system of seven universities, 30 colleges and 54 campuses throughout our state.

Magic happens in these buildings as students, faculty and staff work together, he said.

The system serves about 340,000 students, and each year awards more than 37,000 degrees, certificates or diplomas.

Malhotra said that during the last budget cycle, Minnesota State received half the budget amount that it sought.

The good news is that our state has a marvelous opportunity to invest. The state has a projected budget surplus of $7.7 billion. Minnesota State is asking for .8% of that.

Thats $60 million  a small price to pay for boosting our workforce and supporting our higher education and quality of life.

Minnesota State is requesting:

$30 million for campus support to help defray increases in expenses. For Winona, that means $1.67 million for Winona State and nearly $400,000 for Southeast  a total of more than $2 million for the two campuses in our community.

$25 million to allow Minnesota State to freeze tuition  a student savings equal to 3.5% from the current year.

$2 million for workforce development initiatives  boosting programs to help make more graduates workforce ready.

$2 million for mental health services for students.

$1 million to help meet basic needs for provide emergency help for students.

Talk to any business person and youll hear the need for more skilled workers.

Malhotra said 75% of jobs today require some post-secondary credential.

More businesses are providing equipment and expertise to their local campuses, he said.

Our partnerships are no longer transactional, he said. Weve moved from transactional to transformational.

For instance, Minnesota State is working with the health care industry to quickly train 1,000 certified nursing assistants at no additional cost to students.

Minnesota State also will be seeking approval of its 2022 capital projects  $150 million for maintenance, $142.9 million for new projects  as part of the bonding bill,

Included for maintenance would be $3.9 million at Southeast for roof, heating-ventilation, air condition and electrical work and $7.7 million at WSU for roof, exterior work and HVAC work.

As for building projects, the Minnesota State bonding request includes $4.2 million in design work at Winona State for the Center for Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Engagement and Learning, which would replace Gildemeister and Watkins halls with a highly efficient gateway to campus; and $1.156 million in design work to increase space for exercise science.

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Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Indiana... Wabash River from Lafayette to Montezuma. White River at Elliston and Edwardsport. .Multiple rounds of rain over the last few days is bringing minor flooding along lower portions of the White River and upper portions of the Wabash River. Additional rainfall Thursday evening through Friday evening should keep portions of the White and Wabash above flood stage through the weekend. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize the dangers of flooding. 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 FROM THIS EVENING TO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is occurring and minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Wabash River at Lafayette. * WHEN...From this evening to early Saturday morning. * IMPACTS...At 12.0 feet, High water affects a few low river cabins and county roads. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 8:30 PM EDT Wednesday the stage was 11.2 feet. - Recent Activity...The maximum river stage in the 24 hours ending at 8:30 PM EDT Wednesday was 11.2 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise to a crest of 12.6 feet early tomorrow afternoon. It will then fall below flood stage Friday afternoon. - Flood stage is 11.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
A month into his fifth term, Mayor Byron W. Brown has three key cabinet positions to fill.

After Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood retires next month, Brown will appoint the fourth police commissioner to serve under him since 2006.

The Permits and Inspection Services Department will need a new leader after James Comerford retires in a month or so, after tying up loose ends, particularly a court case over a demolition permit for the historic but wind-damaged Great Northern grain elevator that preservationists are challenging.

And Brown will have to seat a new top attorney for the city's Law Department, where a number of assistant attorneys have also recently left.

Byron Lockwood to depart as Buffalo police commissioner in February Lockwood announced his departure at a police function on Friday. He had presided over the department since January 2018.

Police

It will be important for the next police commissioner "to continue the reforms that we started," said Common Council Majority Leader David A. Rivera, who represents the Niagara District.

Its probably one of the most important positions in city government, especially at a time where were experiencing tensions throughout the country and in the city," said Rivera, a retired Buffalo police officer.

Someone from within the department to replace Lockwood "could probably hit the ground running, he said.

"You could do a wider search, but I know that they have very qualified people working within the command staff," Rivera said. "They have deputy commissioners that are well prepared, people that have gone up through the ranks, that have taken civil service exams, that have institutional knowledge."

Picking from within "would do a great deal for the morale of the people that are there, that have worked their way up through the commands. Theyre going to face some of the same challenges that the former commissioner or current commissioner has faced," he said.

Things have improved," Rivera said of the Police Department, listing the duty-to-intervene law, tasers and body cameras as examples.

Preservationists to argue in court that grain elevator poses no danger because of solid design New schematic models created by a Buffalo preservation group show the Great Northern grain elevator thats slated for demolition is structurally sound and in no danger of collapsing.

Permits & Inspections

Comerford had planned to retire as permits and inspections commissioner at the end of last month, but remains on the job for now.

He agreed to stay on about a month or so longer "to see some things through," said city spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge. "Dont know how much longer hes got, but hes still here for a little bit."

A notable loose end is the historic Great Northern grain elevator court case.

Comerford signed an emergency demolition order for the grain elevator, which was damaged in a Dec. 11 windstorm that ripped a large hole in the north wall.

Archer Daniels Midland, the owner, which had sought permission to demolish the structure on three previous occasions, wants to tear it down. But preservationists are fighting the demolition in an ongoing court case.

With the emergence of City Halls get-tough policy on owners not maintaining their buildings, including historic structures, Brown should pick someone to occupy the position who can redefine the department, said Tim Tielman, executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture. The organization filed a lawsuit to stop the grain elevatior's demolition.

The person Brown picks should have a professional degree of some type, either as a licensed architect or a licensed engineer. That way, the person has to maintain his or her education to stay on top of research, materials and techniques, Tielman said.

In a lot of professions, theres a continuous education mandate," he said. "Its not only what your qualifications are at the moment of hiring or the moment you get your license or the moment you get your degree. In order to maintain that license, you have to get continually educated on the latest techniques, methods, things like that. So one would expect that of any city official whos running a department that deals with all kinds of things beyond plumbing and electric and things like that."

Corporation counsel

Brown has to replace Timothy Ball, who left his post as corporation counsel earlier this month to take a job at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

Ball was appointed by Brown and confirmed by the Common Council in 2012, and unanimously reconfirmed at least twice.

Senior Deputy Corporation Counsel Cavette Chambers is acting corporation counsel.

Several assistant corporation counsels have left since last fall for other jobs, some of whom handled high-profile cases. Their departures have left the department spread thin.

During a federal court hearing last month, U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss expressed concern about whether an assistant corporation counsel was getting enough help from others in the department to defend the city against a lawsuit asserting discriminatory policing in Buffalo. Assistant Corporation Counsel Robert E. Quinn told the judge that a colleague who was supposed to help him on the case left for a new job and hasn't been replaced.

But Quinn also described office teamwork. When he produced "hundreds of thousands of documents" at one point in the case, "our entire office was working on that production," he told the judge.

Lawyers for the other side asked the judge to sanction Quinn and asked for attorneys fees from the city for their work on court orders that the city did not comply with by agreed-upon deadlines. But sanctioning him, Quinn told the judge, isn't going to "make more attorneys appear out of nowhere."

"This is a big case for a one-person operation," Reiss said.

Other important cases are pending, too.

Rashied McDuffie, the lead prosecutor for Housing Court before he left earlier this month, represented the city in a case against the owner of deteriorating Cobblestone District buildings.

Jessica Lazarin, who left last month, was an assistant corporation counsel and director of the citys Office of New Americans. The office was created in 2015 to serve the citys growing refugee and immigrant communities and work with Buffalos four resettlement agencies, which have been pressed by the federal government to receive more Afghan evacuees.

Brown has said he expects to announce a new director in the coming weeks.

Whos staying?

Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff Elizabeth Betsey Ball said it is "a definitive yes" that she will stay in her role at City Hall.

Ball joined the Brown administration in 2015 and was campaign manager for Brown's re-election bid last year.

But Kevin Helfer, Brown's parking commissioner, has not said publicly one way or the other whether he intends to stay at City Hall.

As for the City Hall futures of other cabinet positions, "any staffing announcements will happen at the appropriate time," DeGeorge said.

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Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Indiana... Wabash River from Lafayette to Montezuma. White River at Elliston and Edwardsport. .Multiple rounds of rain over the last few days is bringing minor flooding along lower portions of the White River and upper portions of the Wabash River. Additional rainfall Thursday evening through Friday evening should keep portions of the White and Wabash above flood stage through the weekend. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize the dangers of flooding. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov/ind. This statement will be updated within the next 12 to 24 hours. && ...FLOOD WARNING REMAINS 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 8:45 PM EDT Wednesday the stage was 13.1 feet. - Forecast...The river will rise to 13.4 feet just after midnight tonight. 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 &&
Update Feb. 1

Update Jan. 31, 9:18 a.m.

Police detained a suspect; however, police did not identify the suspect.

Tupelo police is expected to release more information soon.

Original article below

TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA)  Police in Tupelo are looking into a Sunday morning shooting that sent a man to the hospital in critical condition.

Captain Chuck McDougald said someone called officers to an apartment in the 1300 block of Mitchell Road around 4:30 a.m.

When they showed up, they found the man with gunshot wounds.

An ambulance took him to the emergency room at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

McDougald did not release the man's name and did not reveal if police had an idea who shot the man.

You can call Crime Stoppers of Northeast Mississippi at 1-800-773-TIPS if you have information that could help police solve this case.
A battle over legal fees has erupted in the state courts between Ross M. Cellino Jr. and an attorney who recently took at least 70 clients with him when he left Cellinos law firm and started his own.

One of those clients, now represented by John W. Looney, was awarded $525,000 earlier this month in an automobile accident case.

Cellino  noting that the case began with the old Cellino & Barnes law firm  filed court papers asking for a share of that money. Also asking for a portion is the Barnes Firm, the firm founded by the late Stephen Barnes, Cellinos former partner at Cellino & Barnes.

In his court statement, Looney said he expects to receive one-third of the $525,000  which is $175,000  as a legal fee. He said he has done years of extensive, detailed work on the case.

He suggested that his new law firm should get 90% of the legal fees from the case and Cellinos firm, Cellino Law, should get 10%. Looney also suggested that the Barnes Firm should get a portion of Cellinos 10%.

Cellino maintains that Looney should receive no more than one percent of the fee, and the rest should go to Cellino Law and the Barnes Firm.

On Tuesday, Looney filed a statement with the court that included harsh criticism for his former boss, Cellino.

Looney accused Cellino of being obsessed with cash flow problems at his new law firm. Looney alleged that Cellino repeatedly pushed him and other lawyers to settle their personal injury cases to increase revenues for the firm.

Cellino denied Looneys allegations in a statement he sent to The Buffalo News on Friday.

We never, and I repeat, never settle a case for less than full value, Cellino said. We pride ourselves on doing what is best for our clients and fighting hard for them.

Looney said he left Cellino Law in November because he was upset over Cellinos anxiety and paranoia over revenues generated by the firm. He alleged that Cellinos sole concentration was on the money he was spending.

Ross Cellino's paranoia eventually morphed into outright panic. He would walk around the office to remind the attorneys to settle more cases, so he could advertise more, so the phone would ring more, Looney said in his sworn statement.

Ross Cellino expressed concern over money on a regular basis, often saying, I am having severe cash flow problems. I am not sure we are going to make it as a firm,  Looney said.

Looney said 79 of his former clients from Cellino & Barnes and Cellino Law decided to move their cases to Looneys new Buffalo firm. Cellino said the actual number was 70 cases.

Cellino and Gregory V. Pajak, managing attorney at Cellino Law, denied Looneys claims in a statement to The News and a statement that Pajak filed in the state court case.

Cellino accused Looney of a money grab and said Looney has sadly resorted to personal mud-slinging against Cellino Law and our personnel.

Mr. Looney has also suggested that I abandon any claim to the fees on the 70 cases that he took from my firm. He said that suggestion is outrageous.

Cellino said the dispute also affects the Barnes Firm and the estate of Stephen Barnes, which would also receive part of any legal fees generated by former Cellino & Barnes cases.

Steve and I spent years building our reputation to attract clients to our firm and Mr. Looney now wants to financially benefit by taking our files and unfairly sharing the fees, Cellino said.

Looney joined Cellinos new firm, Cellino Law, in the later part of 2020, after Cellinos breakup from Cellino & Barnes.

Two lawyers from the Barnes Firm  the firms president, Richard Barnes and John Murrett  also filed statements with the court, saying their firm is entitled to a portion of the legal fee.

The immediate dispute involves a legal fee of $175,000 but it could also affect how legal fees are split in at least 69 other personal injury cases that Looneys new law firm took when Looney left Cellino Law.

Those 69 or more cases began as Cellino & Barnes cases and are potentially worth millions in settlements and verdicts, according to attorneys involved in the dispute.

According to legal experts, there is nothing unusual about fee disputes between lawyers when multiple law firms have been involved in one case.

That happens all the time, and in the vast majority of cases, attorneys in this community are able to work things out among themselves, said Chris OBrien, an Amherst personal injury attorney for more than 30 years who has taught at the University at Buffalo School of Law.

But state Supreme Court Judge Catherine Nugent Panepinto will decide what happens in this case.

Cellino Law faces serious financial challenges, eliminates lawyers' salaries Serious financial problems have hit the Buffalo law firm that attorney Ross M. Cellino Jr. started last year after a messy breakup with his business partner, Stephen E. Barnes.

The News reported last June that Cellino Law was experiencing financial difficulties, and that Ross Cellino had cut salaries for attorneys at the firm and warned that as many as half the jobs at the firm might have to be eliminated.

In Fridays statement, Cellino said his law firm is one of the largest and strongest personal injury law firms in New York, adding that he expects it to grow .

The fee dispute involves the case of Carlisha Shaw, a Buffalo area woman who, according to court records, suffered a spinal injury when an Uber car she was riding in struck another vehicle in downtown Buffalo on July 7, 2017.

Shaw, a passenger in the car driven by Daniel Ghebrue, was awarded $525,000 on Jan. 14 by case arbitrator Daniel T. Cavarello. In a court document, Cavarello said he found that the Uber driver was negligent.

Cavarello said he would have awarded her $750,000, but he reduced that amount by 30% because Shaws injuries were made more severe by her failure to wear a seat belt.

The dispute is the latest chapter in the story of Cellino and Stephen Barnes, whose ubiquitous advertising campaigns made them two of the nations most successful and well-known personal injury lawyers.

At one time, according to court records, both Cellino and Barnes were individually making more than $1 million a month from the juggernaut law firm.

The breakup followed a bitterly fought court battle that began in 2017, when Cellino said he wanted to start his own firm with his two daughters and other attorneys.

When Cellino and Barnes started their own firms, the two new firms split up about 10,000 pending cases. They made an agreement to share future fees on a case-by-case basis.

Stephen Barnes and his niece, attorney Elizabeth D. Barnes, died in a plane crash in October 2020, just before the Barnes Firm and Cellino Law began operations.

His brother, Richard Barnes, and other lawyers have continued to operate the Barnes Firm since the tragedy.

Attorney Gerald T. Walsh, who represents Looney in the fee dispute, declined to comment on the case.

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When cryptocurrency companies started making their presence felt in Western New York, some economic development officials began expressing concern that while the businesses could make use of vacant industrial sites, they would also create environmental headaches, but not jobs.

Blockfusion is trying to put the lie to that belief.

Niagara Falls mayor says new moratorium allows city to shut down outdoor cryptocurrency complex At a special meeting, the City Council voted 4-1 in favor of a 180-day moratorium on any city approvals or permits for commercial data centers.

Around 58 people in December were working on our facility. We currently have over 20 positions open on our website. We are interviewing daily," CEO Alex Martini-Lo Manto said. "We cant hire fast enough."

Mayor Robert M. Restaino was impressed with what he heard in a recent meeting with Martini-Lo Manto.

He wanted to be a good contributor to the community by way of their industry and by way of their employment opportunities," Restaino said. "Im happy that theyre providing job opportunities ... hoping theyre job opportunities that our residents take advantage of."

Cryptocurrency firms search for WNY sites amid concerns of their economic development worth Cryptocurrency companies already have a footprint in Western New York  which some would like to enlarge.

The company's job count includes workers from six contractors who provided electrical, construction, security and other services for the plant conversion, but a company spokesman said about 20 are regular Blockfusion employees.

In October, under the name of North East Data, Blockfusion acquired the old Niagara Generation power plant on Frontier Avenue, although it had been working there since July 2019 on a planned data mining operation.

We came here in 2019, knowing from the very beginning that we wanted to grow this business organically, not by being a net taker, but a net contributor to the community we were coming in," Martini-Lo Manto said.

In cryptocurrency mining, a large array of supercomputers performs a long chain of complex calculations, needed to provide security for transactions in the digital currency.

The inventors of Bitcoin and another cryptocurrencies envisioned them as a store of value independent of currencies issued by governments, and as a means for people to make direct online payments without involving a bank or other third party.

Lawsuit challenges bitcoin mining project in North Tonawanda Three North Tonawanda residents and the Sierra Club filed suit Monday, attempting to overturn the city Planning Commission's approval of a bitcoin mining project.

Last month, Niagara Falls imposed a 180-day moratorium on approvals or permits for cryptocurrency businesses. At the time, Restaino said it allowed the city to shut down outdoor operations that hadn't received site plan approval.

That affected U.S. Bitcoin, which for the past year has been data mining inside and in front of the old DuPont plant on Buffalo Avenue.

Restaino said the city sent inspectors there and found code violations indoors and out.

The company's co-founder and chief operating officer, Asher Genoot, said U.S. Bitcoin remains in operation, but he said he couldn't fully disclose details. The cooling fans atop server stacks along the street still are spinning.

"We're working closely with the city inspectors and different departments to understand exactly where issues may be, and working toward solutions on all of them," said Genoot, whose company employs about a dozen people, plus others from outside contractors.

Niagara Falls Bitcoin site agrees to tone down the noise "It's zoned industrial, but we have a noise ordinance," said County Legislator Dennis F. Virtuoso, the city's former chief code enforcement officer.

The city's moratorium will be followed by an ordinance regulating data centers, Restaino said, although details haven't been determined.

"We want to work with the city in helping create those ordinances. We're in full support of them better understanding the industry and them creating ordinances they think work best for the community," Genoot said. "Hopefully, we'll be on the right side of history."

Were not opposed to regulation. What were opposed to is painting everybody with the same brush," said Kant Trivedi, Blockfusion's chief operating officer.

"Since Day One, weve been in Niagara Falls, weve been completely transparent with the city," Trivedi said. "What were doing is very different than some of the other folks locally who have been trying to stand up similar businesses.

He and Martini-Lo Manto have a quarter-century of experience in the data center and telecommunications fields. The Frontier Avenue site was designed to give them business options.

A lot of what weve done here foundationally is to make sure we can scale up," Trivedi said. "If we ever want to pivot and get into the traditional data center business, we have the core foundation to be able to do just that.

Blockfusion's plant consumes 10 megawatts of electricity to operate its arrays of high-powered computers, servers and cooling fans. Almost all of that power originates at the Niagara Power Project, the giant hydroelectric plant in Lewiston.

The heavy energy demands of data mining have drawn criticism from environmental groups and some politicians. The State Senate last year passed a bill for a statewide moratorium on data mining for cryptocurrency, but the Assembly didn't vote. The bill was reintroduced this year.

Restaino said he has alerted National Grid to the Niagara Falls moratorium on new data mining sites.

The Sierra Club, which filed a lawsuit trying to stop a data mining company from buying a natural gas-burning power plant in North Tonawanda to supply electricity to its computers, has been among the most active crypto critics.

Canadian cryptocurrency company plans to buy North Tonawanda power plant Because of the power demands connected with the large number of supercomputers needed for el

Ellen Banks of the Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter said using hydropower for data mining is "possibly slightly" better than burning fossil fuels, "but we do not approve of it."

"We have a great need for clean power such as from the Niagara Power Project to move forward with the electrification of our transportation and building sectors," Banks said. "Anything that's diverted from those changes is going to slow down electrification where it's needed, and thereby it's going to advance climate change."

"The controversy sometimes is manufactured," Martini-Lo Manto said.

I see a lot of people saying, Bitcoin mining in the world equals the consumption of power of Argentina,' " the Blockfusion CEO said.

This claim derives from a calculation by Cambridge University researchers in England that Bitcoin mining's worldwide power use would rank 30th in the world if Bitcoin were a country. Argentina is No. 30 in the standings of electrical use by countries.

"Bitcoin is not a country; its an industry," Martini-Lo Manto said. "I dont hear things like, If video games were a country ...  Video games consume more power than Bitcoin mining."

That claim appears to derive from a 2020 calculation of worldwide video game power use by a writer on the website medium.com.

The author figured that gamers' electricity use outstripped Bitcoin miners' by 46% as of November 2019, but he emphasized that his calculations had "potentially high error margins."

Be that as it may, Banks said the electricity used by crypto miners is power that can't be used for anything else.

"There's much greater need for hydropower and no compelling social need for cryptocurrency mining," Banks said. "The huge amount of power that it consumes is our problem."

"Whether that is being drawn from hydropower from Niagara Falls or power from a coal-fired power plant, it's pretty much all the same," said John Szalasny, a board member for the Sierra Club's Niagara Group and Atlantic Chapter. "If they use it, somebody else is not going to use it."

Martini-Lo Manto called the dispute between crypto miners and environmentalists "a false dichotomy."

"I havent met anyone specifically who would say, I am for global warming, or Im in favor of climate change, or I want more fires, more pollution. We are all environmentalists," Martini-Lo Manto said. "I have two young children, 3 and 5 years old. I want them to grow up in a world thats cleaner and safer."

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WASHINGTON  Erie County would be split among three congressional districts  not two, as it has been for two decades  under a reapportionment plan proposed Sunday by the State Legislature's Democratic majority.

One district, the 26th, would be Buffalo-based and similar to the current 26th District represented by Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat. But another district, the 24th, would stretch from Lewiston eastward all the way to Watertown and would include Lancaster, Clarence and other towns in eastern Erie County. And an expanded 23rd District in the Southern Tier would include southern Erie County  and would stretch from the Pennsylvania border on the west all the way to Broome County in the east.

While the Buffalo-based district would be largely Democratic, the other two districts including parts of Erie County consist largely of smaller communities and rural territory and are most likely to be represented by Republicans.

The new map, which must be approved by the State Legislature, poses a dilemma for Rep. Chris Jacobs, an Orchard Park Republican. His current district is more similar to the new 24th District to the north and east of metro Buffalo, but Jacobs' home is in the expanded Southern Tier district, which will be vacant because of the pending retirement of Rep. Tom Reed, a Corning Republican.

Jacobs could move into the new 24th District, but he moved to Orchard Park from Buffalo only two years ago when the current 27th District seat became vacant after the resignation of then-Rep. Chris Collins.

What's more, the new 24th is a gigantic and oddly-shaped district that combines parts of Western New York with points east that are utterly unlike metro Buffalo  such as Fort Drum near Watertown, the state's largest military base. While it would take more than 3 1/2 hours to drive from Lewiston in the district's west to Watertown in the district's northeast, the district dwindles at a point near Canandaigua where it appears to be only a few miles wide.

The proposed map ignores a scenario pushed by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the Hudson Valley Democrat who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In apparent hope of shrinking the number of Republican-leaning seats in the state to only three, Maloney last week proposed recreating the infamous "earmuff district," a gerrymandered district from the 2000s that linked parts of Buffalo and Rochester via a narrow corridor of land along Lake Ontario.

Competing maps released as redistricting panel splits along partisan lines The commission's divisions foreshadow the fact that the Democratic State Legislature is likely to take over the process.

Higgins and Rep. Joe Morelle, a Rochester-area Democrat, objected to that plan. And in the end, Higgins and Morelle  both former state assemblymen with friends in Albany  got their way.

Morelle would run for re-election in the new Rochester-based 25th District, which would be heavily Democratic and similar to his current district. The new 24th District would wrap around the Rochester-based district.

The new map appears to have four Republican-leaning seats: the two in Western New York, a massive one encompassing the North Country and including rural territory on three sides of the Capitol District, and one on Long Island.

GOP House candidate raises $107K for race in Southern Tier district that may disappear Joe Sempolinski of Canisteo is running for the 23rd District seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Reed, a Corning Republican.

Eight Republicans currently serve in the New York delegation, but Albany Democrats have been under pressure by their Washington counterparts to maximize the number of heavily Democratic seats in the remap to preserve the party's chances of retaining control of the House in this fall's election.

While the map doesn't go quite as far as Maloney wanted, it bolsters several seats into Democratic strongholds. For example, the Long Island seat now held by Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican candidate for governor, would go from a district that voted Republican by four points in the 2020 presidential election to one that voted Democratic by 11 points.

Those statistics come from Dave Wasserman, House editor of the Cook Political Report.

"This is a 22D-4R gerrymander  and a pretty effective one," Wasserman said on Twitter. "It's a brutal map for Rs."

New York to lose a congressional seat in 2022 If New York had counted just 89 more people in the census, Minnesota would have lost a seat and New York would have continued to have 27 members of the House.

The proposed map appears to pose a particular challenge for Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Utica-area Republican. Her district ended up being the one the legislature's map-drawers decided to eliminate as they trimmed the number of congressional districts in the state from 27 to 26, as they were required to do as a result of population changes in the 2020 census.

Tenney could chose to run in the new 22nd District, which will be vacant thanks to the pending retirement of Rep. John Katko, a Syracuse-area Republican. But the new 22nd District combines Syracuse and Ithaca and looks to be heavily Democratic.

Then again, Tenney could run in the new 19th District against Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Hudson Valley Democrat. But that district, which includes Utica and Binghamton, also appears to favor Democrats.

It's also possible that Tenney could decide to move to Western New York, given that either the Southern Tier district or the Lewiston-to-Watertown district will be vacant, depending on where Jacobs decides to run.

The heavily Democratic State Legislature plans to vote on the new congressional map later this week and is expected to pass it, but that may not be the end of this year's reapportionment battle.

Nicholas A. Langworthy, the state Republican chairman, said late Sunday that the party might sue to try to stop the Democrats' plan.

"For all of their phony protestations about transparency and fairness in elections, what theyre doing is textbook filthy, partisan gerrymandering that is clearly in violation of the New York State Constitution, and we are reviewing all of our legal options to protect the voices of millions of New Yorkers, Langworthy said.

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Willem Dafoe  one of the great modern character actors, who has eclipsed that label to become a Marvel villain and movie icon  hosts tonight's Saturday Night Live. Welcome, my Coneheads, to SNL in Review.

I am joined tonight by former SNL cast member Matthew Laurance, who worked with Dafoe on his first big movie gig  Streets of Fire, a weird, underrated '80s movie. (It's Walter Hill's follow-up to 48 Hours, and also features a young Rick Moranis.) Laurance both appeared in the movie and served as the film's acting coach: "One of the greatest things was watching Willem work. He was not well known but was an amazing theater actor. Just a fascinating, extraordinary actor."

He adds that off-set, Dafoe was "very funny, he has a great sense of humor, which is why I can't wait to see him host. And just warm, kind, funny, compassionate  just a great person. And he's scary as bleep in [Streets of Fire]!"

When asked what his his expectations are for tonight's episode, given that he's worked with Dafoe and is a fan, Laurance says: "I'd love to see him cut loose. And I have a feeling he will. I'm one of those people that loves most of Saturday Night Live now. I think some of the people on that show are as good as have ever been. I'm excited to see Willem, and what they give him to do. I'm sure there will be [the sketch] where he's the villain, obviously. He'll be as great at this as he is at everything else. Remember: He's a theater actor at his roots. He's done a ton of improv, which is valuable at SNL. Or when they're going over sketches, right at the first writers' meeting where everyone sits around and reads sketches, I know he'll have great ideas. He'll come up with things during rehearsals. That's what I'm looking forward to seeing. I hope they let him go crazy."

Willem Dafoe during his monologue on SNL.

Saturday Night Live/Youtube Willem Dafoe hosts 'Saturday Night Live'

Story continues

Of course, his work with Wes Anderson aside, four-time Oscar nominee Dafoe does not have a huge history of working in comedy, or even appearing on television. The kids in the hall can fact-check me, but  aside from some voice work on The Simpsons  this is among Dafoe's first opportunities to actually act on television aside from an early appearance on The Hitchhiker way back in 1986. (He also actually filmed an Adam McKay short film for SNL, "The Procedure," in the early 2000s.)

Laurance comments: "When I was watching last week with Will Forte, seeing Lorne there with Willem, that whole bit at the beginning, 'Actually, we wanted Willem to do the show,' my first thought was, 'I don't think I've ever seen Willem in this setting.' Jarring to see him standing there!"

Let's jump in!

Cold Open

Many of us saw James Austin Johnson again go viral this week with his impeccable Donald Trump impression on Seth Meyers. Well, tonight he's running point again in the cold open, this time with his commendable if slightly less transcendent work as Joe Biden.

Military and administration officials (including Kenan Thompson) are updating Biden on the situation in Ukraine. Ego Nwodim provides a timely joke about Tom Brady's retirement. They discuss disinformation efforts by Russia. Alex Moffat mentions Neil Young's decision to remove his music from Spotify over Joe Rogan. More meme humor from the show too  the tail is wagging the dog.

Biden decides to flame some TikTok dancers (Aristotle Athari) via his Finsta account, before getting confused over a pro-Russian commercial. Pete Davidson is sporting a beard  and a silly Russian accent  playing Aaron Rodgers in a fake State Farm commercial.

Chloe Fineman  the "face of Pantene's Conditioner Collective"(?)  plays Mikaela, a social media operative consulting on how to combat the disinformation efforts. Everyone has a role  you know, Sarah Squirm as a sexy nurse. The only thing lacking here is a Beck Bennett cameo. The proceedings conclude here with a very clunky group "Live from New York..."

Well, the sloppy writing here reeks of Colin Jost's Mad Lib approach to political cold opens. (Remember when SNL cold open premises were as simple as Adam Sandler serenading Santa on guitar?) Johnson continues to excel when given the opportunity  the question is, is SNL set up to let cast members really shine?

Monologue

New York City is where Dafoe started  he moved here when he was 21 and rented an apartment for $200. He comes from experimental theater, as Laurance notes, and jokes about his expressive face.

When he mentions his hometown of Appleton, Wisc., two Midwestern visitors played by Aidy Bryant and Mikey Day pop up. They won tickets to the show in the lottery. The payoff is a fun joke about Speed 2: Cruise Control, which is fun. They goad him into reviving his Wisconsin accent. Cute. He seems affable and nice.

I believe Mike DiCenzo and Jake Nordwind had a hand in writing this.

Tenant Meeting

It's the first tenant meeting of 2022, being led by Alex Moffat and Chloe Fineman. Punkie Johnson is a resident who is only there for the Munchkins. Sarah Sherman is upset her maintenance fee was raised by 12 dollars this month. She has fun, loud energy. Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner are also unhappy tenants. Mr. Fillmore (Willem Dafoe) wants to know, "What the hell happened to this city?" He recalls Iggy Pop puking on his face at CBGB back in the day. Oof, remember the school board meeting sketch from last October? Same template.

Nearly the entire cast gets in on the business. I hate these overstuffed, self-amusement parades. They do not click.

The crowd applauds at Pete Davidson saying: "Bad." For the second time in under 25 minutes, 37-year-old Kyle Mooney is playing a student. Kate McKinnon mugs.

Now I'm Up

This sketch lists all the various causes for waking up at around 3 a.m. It's cute and well done. Chris Redd is awakened after going to sleep playing Spotify Sleep, when a DoorDash commercial comes on. I love his vocals here. He stays up watching an infomercial hosted by Dafoe and Gardner.

Meanwhile, Kenan Thompson is dreaming when he's kicked by his wife and her sharp a-- toenail and now he's up, too

Then, just when Redd is about to fall asleep, he remembers something embarrassing he did back in high school.

This is super relatable  who hasn't laid awake in the middle of the night tortured by a vague embarrassing memory?

Dog Show

It's the Badminster Dog Show! I believe this sketch was originally planned to run during Paul Rudd's holiday episode last month. It's hard to top Best in Show, but I love seeing Willem Dafoe host something like this.

Shaky Dog Group is the first category, and it's a realistic breakdown of how dogs behave. The Netflix startup sound and spoken Spanish are among the anxieties of Melissa Villasenor's dog, Luna. Next up: Pigeon from the Mean Group. He once tripped an old lady on purpose. He wakes up owner Andrew Dismukes every morning by biting his ankles.

Blueberry from the Non-Walking Group once slid on a tile floor and it permanently made him insane. Gizmo from the Medical Group has many problems! "Tell us about his weird little penis!"

Embarrassing! I Married a Monkey with Tim Kazurinsky is the only acceptable use of live animals in sketch comedy, in my opinion.

Nugenix

Mikey Day meets Frank Thomas (Kenan Thompson) at a driving range. This is a spoof of Nugenix, the ever-present testosterone-boosting male hormone commercials that are always on TV.

Thomas asks him if he can still get hard. Doug Flutie (Kyle Mooney) then joins them and wonders the same thing. "Sir" Willem Dafoe is also there. They all know each other from "boner stuff" meetings.

Katy Perry performs 'When I'm Gone'

Eat me! Giant mushrooms straight out of Super Mario Bros! This dance-pop diddy is from DJ Alesso and Katy Perry, and it was released at the end of last year, coinciding with Perry's Las Vegas concert residency

Laurance is looking forward to this performance  more than his kids, in fact! "I'd be shocked if they've ever heard a Katy Perry song!" he says.

Weekend Update

Our friends Colin Jost and Michael Che are going hard on President Biden today  knocking him over the stock market and Ukraine. Some brutal, mean digs.

Two trend forecasters (Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang) drop by to discuss the most popular consumer habits. They reveal what's in for fashion trends ("shirt too big for body, hat too small for head, male cleavage") and out ("shiny shoe"). When it comes to men, dry calloused feet and doing the damn dishes are in, while movie posters as decor are out. Baby trends include small socks, being twins, and getting burped by a friend. But babies dumping in their pants and saying nothing is out. The duo wraps up their segment with one final out: Michael Che. This was inspired, if sometimes hard to follow.

Wow  a Full House joke, and a Lori Loughlin diss, just mere weeks after Bob Saget's death? Painful and cruel.

Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning shows up! He has morphed into a steady television presence since his retirement  you see him often in various commercials as a spokesman. Instead of watching last week's classic football playoffs (featuring one of the great quarterback match-ups of all time), he confesses he binged Emily in Paris instead.

Manning, of course, hosted SNL back in 2007. He's got great comedic timing. It's the circle of life  as Terry Bradshaw gets older, Manning will be a constant presence, to be sure. He will always stay true to himself. Thanks to Emily, he speaks love.

"Go to bed!" urges Che.

Beauty and the Beast

Remember when Pete Davidson smooched Kim Kardashian as Aladdin? Um, now he's Beast. He asks Belle (Chloe Fineman) if she's happy; she is getting used to it, but wants to see her father again. She gets her wish thanks to a magic mirror. Willem Dafoe then appears  he's alone, he's crazy. He's never had the place to himself before. Get the drift? He lights a bunch of candles, turns the pictures over. Finally, Dafoe gets an opportunity to "cut loose," which I suppose is good. This premise? "Sick stuff."

Now Kyle Mooney is playing Chip a child. For a third time tonight, he is playing way under his age range. This is a compulsion. (Dismukes, stop him.)

SNL loves its Disney parodies. Great costumes and production design. Kudos to the crew.

Please Don't Destroy  Martin's Friend

Connor is Martin's 10-year-old friend. He wants to pitch Colin Jost some Update jokes. I like this, but it seems to be in-studio flopping? "Don't be such a Jacob."

Martin's writing partners, John and Ben, want to know why he's hanging out with a 10-year-old? Because Martin was tired of only hanging out with his toxic work friends!

When dinner arrives, John steals Connor's rare porterhouse steak and begins choking. Connor steps in as Nickelback's "Hero" plays and saves him. Maybe John was wrong about Connor.

Katy Perry performs 'Never Really Over'

This is a standalone ballad Perry put out as a single way back in 2019. It's an ode to a dying relationship. Not for me.

Good Morning Columbus

Bowen Yang and Ego Nwodim are a great team  they're cohosting a morning talk show. Dr. Bloom (Dafoe) has a feel-good book he's promoting, Knowing Yourself. But due to a teleprompter miscue, Yang announces it's Blowing Yourself. Har-har. Get it? Do you get it? Okay, buckle up. There's a ton of sexual innuendo and puns. Gross.

This is the third sketch tonight putting Dafoe in a very cheeky, sexual situation  huh! Is this what he was given, or is this a little cheeky insight into his sense of humor? Like, we waited nearly 40 years to see him host, and he's teaching Mikey Day how to fellate his mic.

Remember, folks: "It's okay to suck. It's how we learn."

Office Song

A law firm is working an overnighter. Willem Dafoe is reentering the workforce, he's the new temp, Jeremiah, and in charge of ordering pizza. Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson begin playing music with their office supplies. Heidi Gardner starts to scat and Kyle Mooney busts out "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." It's organic and wonderful. Then Dafoe ruins it when he throws a chair out of the window. He thought it was going to sound cool and wanted to contribute to the impromptu performance. Chaos ensues.

Kent Sublette and Ailson Gates wrote this. My favorite sketch of the night.

Final Thoughts

Thank you to Matthew Laurance for his excellent commentary tonight!

What did you all think? Seemed to start off very slow, no? Did it squander Dafoe? Vote here or comment below!

How would *you* rate the Willem Dafoe SNL?  THE SNL in Review Experience (@SNLinReview) January 30, 2022

I also caught up with Siobhan Fallon Hogan who is "a huge fan of Willem's we share the honor of having worked with Lars von Trier." She is currently in Paris finishing the edit on her latest movie, Shelter in Solitude. She notes that von Trier treats his cast like family, with "no hierarchy or the Hollywood concept of above the line or below the line. Even though working on SNL is drastically different from working on a Lars von Trier film, there is still that same concept that the crew is equally as important as the cast."

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Hiventy, one of Frances leading post-production companies, is seeing rising demand across its range of services, including film processing, dubbing and subtitling, post-production, film restoration and BluRay mastering. It has operations in France, Poland, Singapore, Vietnam, Kenya and Nigeria.

Hiventy has one of the few film lab services in Europe. CEO Thierry Schindele says that there has been rising demand for the companys film processing services. Recent 35mm shoots processed by the group include Pablo Larrains Spencer, Wes Andersons Asteroid City, and Christophe Honores Le Lyceen, produced by Les Films Pelleas. Recent French films handled by Hiventy include Mia Hansen Loves One Beautiful Morning, Serge Bozons Don Juan, Lea Mysius The Five Devils and Pietro Marcellos The Flight.

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Schindele expects demand for film processing services to continue to rise. Hiventy is supplying film processing services for shoots across Europe. For example, Asteroid City was shot in Spain, and Spencer was shot on location in England and Germany.

Film processing is only a small part of Hiventys overall business. Fifty per cent of the groups revenue derives from subtitling and dubbing services for film and TV, with increasing demand from streaming platforms.

Schindele considers that Hiventy ranks amongst the top five suppliers of subtitling and dubbing services in Europe and expects continued growth for this market. Main clients include TF1, Arte, M6 and Netflix.

The provision of worldwide subtitling and dubbing services has been a key driver of its growth, for example it acquired Polish dubbing studio Mediadub in the late 2000s to accompany Canal Pus expansion into Poland and founded CMC in Vietnam in 2009, to accompany TV5 Mondes expansion into Far-East Asia.

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It was when it began providing services to Netflix, from around 2014 onwards, that the group had to restructure its entire operations. Netflix produces programming for worldwide release, says Schindele. This requires a massive increase in our subtitling and dubbing services and provision of the overall technical package. Before we only dubbed films and series when they were sold to a country.

The group provides post-production services for film and TV. Recent work includes French animated feature The Summit of the Gods, based on the Japanese manga series, and Irish animation feature Wolfwalkers.

Post-production on TV series include several projects for Netflix: Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan, Trial 4, Whats Up and Notre-Dame, the Fire Part.

Film restoration is another key area for Hiventy, for theatrical release, television distribution and BluRay. Recent titles restored by the group include the entire catalog of Marcel Pagnol (such as Marius, Fanny, Cesar, La femme du boulanger), titles from the Pathe catalog (including Patrice Lecontes Tango and Tandem), work for Studiocanal (including Joseph Loseys Mr. Klein) and films by Jacques Rivette and Krzysztof Kieslowski.

The group is also seeing rising demand for BluRay titles, and in 2021 worked on 176 titles, of which 112 were mastered in standard BluRay and 12 in Ultra-HD Blu-Ray.

Schindele is upbeat for the future: Weve been enjoying progressive rising demand for our services. There was significant downward pressure on prices between 2012 and 2019 and the pandemic has also caused significant disruptions. But now were seeing rising profitability and forecast solid growth.

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By Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate, is reaching out to Republicans to assure them they will have the chance to meet with President Joe Biden's nominee to the Supreme Court, he said on Sunday.

Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would conduct a confirmation hearing for Biden's eventual nominee to the top U.S. court, said he had already spoken with Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate Republican.

"I'm reaching out to the Republicans and saying the nominee will be available for you to get to know them," Durbin said on ABC's "This Week."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer https://www.reuters.com/world/us/liberal-us-supreme-court-justice-stephen-breyer-retire-media-reports-2022-01-26 announced on Thursday that he will retire after nearly three decades on the court. Biden said he plans by the end of February to nominate a Black woman https://www.reuters.com/world/us/retiring-us-justice-breyer-appear-with-biden-white-house-2022-01-27 to replace Breyer, a historic first that the Democratic president called "long overdue."

Collins, also speaking on ABC, said she appreciated Durbin's offer to make the eventual nominee available for an interview.

Potential nominees include Ketanji Brown Jackson https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-public-defender-jackson-among-possible-biden-supreme-court-picks-2022-01-26, a former Breyer law clerk confirmed by the Senate last June to serve on the influential U.S. Court of the Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Other potential nominees include Leondra Kruger https://www.reuters.com/world/us/potential-biden-supreme-court-pick-leondra-kruger-known-moderate-california-2022-01-26, one of the youngest justices ever appointed to the California Supreme Court, and U.S. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs.

Collins, who voted to confirm Jackson to the appeals court, said on Sunday that she would "certainly give her every consideration" if Jackson was nominated for the Supreme Court.

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Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and Judiciary Committee member, praised Childs on CBS's "Face the Nation" as a highly qualified candidate, but did not say whether he would vote in favor of her nomination.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Durbin said the speed to confirm a nominee would depend on whether the person had previously appeared before the Judiciary Committee for an appeals court nomination.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Chris Sanders)
Americans like to think of their nation as a beacon of freedom. And despite all the ways in which we have failed to live up to our self-image, above all the vast injustices that sprang from the original sin of slavery, freedom  not just free elections, but also freedom of speech and thought  has long been a key element of the American idea.

Now, however, freedom is under attack, on more fronts than many people realize. Everyone knows about the Big Lie, the refusal by a large majority of Republicans to accept the legitimacy of a lost election. But there are many other areas in which freedom is not just under assault but in retreat.

More: Rubio, Scott on wrong side of voting rights

DeSantis deception: Editorial: Gov. DeSantis' dogmatic approach to COVID pandemic risks lives

Lets talk, in particular, about the attack on education, especially but not only in Florida, which has become one of Americas leading laboratories of democratic erosion.

Republicans have made considerable political hay by denouncing the teaching of critical race theory; this strategy has succeeded even though most voters have no idea what that theory is and it isnt actually being taught in public schools. But the facts in this case dont matter, because denunciations of CRT are basically a cover for a much bigger agenda: an attempt to stop schools from teaching anything that makes right-wingers uncomfortable.

Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and in happier days.

I use that last word advisedly: Theres a bill advancing in the Florida Senate declaring that an individual should not be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race. That is, the criterion for what can be taught isnt Is it true? Is it supported by the scholarly consensus? but rather Does it make certain constituencies uncomfortable?

Anyone tempted to place an innocuous interpretation on this provision  maybe its just about not assigning collective guilt?  should read the text of the bill. Among other things, it cites as its two prime examples of things that must not happen in schools denial or minimization of the Holocaust, and the teaching of critical race theory  because suggesting that racism is embedded in American society (the bills definition of the theory) is just the same as denying that Hitler killed 6 million Jews.

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Whats really striking, however, is the idea that schools should be prohibited from teaching anything that causes discomfort among students and their parents. If you imagine that the effects of applying this principle would be limited to teaching about race relations, youre being utterly naive.

For one thing, racism is far from being the only disturbing topic in American history. Im sure that some students will find that the story of how we came to invade Iraq  or for that matter how we got involved in Vietnam  makes them uncomfortable. Ban those topics from the curriculum!

Then theres the teaching of science. Most high schools do teach the theory of evolution, but leading Republican politicians are either evasive or actively deny the scientific consensus, presumably reflecting the GOP bases discomfort with the concept. Once the Florida standard takes hold, how long will teaching of evolution survive?

Geology, by the way, has the same problem. I have been on nature tours where the guides refuse to talk about the origins of rock formations, saying that they have had problems with some religious guests.

Oh, and given the growing importance of anti-vaccination posturing as a badge of conservative allegiance, how long before basic epidemiology  maybe even the germ theory of disease  gets the critical race theory treatment?

And then theres economics, which these days is widely taught at the high school level. (Full disclosure: Many high schools use an adapted version of the principles text I co-author.) Given the long history of politically driven attempts to prevent the teaching of Keynesian economics, what do you think the Florida standard would do to teaching in my home field?

The point is that the smear campaign against critical race theory is almost certainly the start of an attempt to subject education in general to rule by the right-wing thought police, which will have dire effects far beyond the specific topic of racism.

And who will enforce the rules? State-sponsored vigilantes! Last month Ron DeSantis, Floridas governor, proposed a Stop Woke Act that would empower parents to sue school districts they claim teach critical race theory  and collect lawyer fees, a setup modeled on the bounties under Texas new anti-abortion law. Even the prospect of such lawsuits would have a chilling effect on teaching.

Did I mention that DeSantis also wants to create a special police force to investigate election fraud? Like the attacks on critical race theory, this is obviously an attempt to use a made-up issue  voter fraud is largely nonexistent  as an excuse for intimidation.

OK, Im sure that some people will say that Im making too much of these issues. But ask yourself: Has there been any point over, say, the past five years when warnings about right-wing extremism have proved overblown and those dismissing those warnings as alarmist have been right?

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman writes for The New York Times.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Commentary: Florida bill on "uncomfortable" teaching should be quashed
A group of Arizona health care workers and advocates is calling on the state to take urgent action in addressing a mounting number of COVID-19 infections and what they say is a collapsing health care system.

Top on their list: statewide vaccine and mask mandates, and a prohibition on large gatherings.

At least 1,100 Arizona health professionals, including physicians, nurses and caregivers, have signed an open letter to Gov. Doug Ducey, health care leaders and state and county officials asking for immediate action, including policy changes, in order to combat the latest omicron-fueled surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.

"Without immediate action and intervention, the impending omicron surge will cause many preventable deaths, for both patients infected with COVID-19 and those seeking care for nonCOVID life-threatening illnesses," the letter says.

On Friday the group held a virtual briefing with reporters, saying they want to use their collective voice to sound the alarm about an overburdened health care workforce and call for intervention into what's already a crisis situation in hospitals and other medical facilities across Arizona.

"Enough is enough. We demand action. It's not too late at this point in time to change course," Tucson family physician Dr. Cadey Harrel said during the briefing. "We are on the brink of collapse and we don't have a backup plan."

Ducey on Friday said that he had not yet seen the letter but will take it "under advisement."

There won't be any mandates, he added.

Fueled by the extremely contagious omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, case numbers in Arizona are rising quickly, and hospitals are straining under the weight of low staffing numbers and high patient demand.

On Friday, Arizona reported 14,888 new COVID-19 cases and 30 new known deaths.

Omicron: It's exceptionally contagious. Here's what to do if you test positive

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More people tested positive for COVID-19 in Arizona on Jan. 3 than any day previously during the pandemic, according to state data.

"Health care is completely different now than it was two years ago," Phoenix emergency room physician Dr. Kara Geren said during Friday's briefing. "We have more patients with fewer staff and resources."

Patients likely will face longer waits than usual until they see a nurse, until they are evaluated by a physician or advanced practice provider, and until they are able to get the tests and medications they need, Geren said.

"If you are admitted to the hospital you might spend days waiting in the emergency department for a bed on a hospital floor," she said. "If you require specialty care that can only be provided at a different hospital and require a transfer, you will wait days in the emergency department until the other hospital can take care of you."

Geren said if more patients were vaccinated, Arizona hospitals would not be so busy. It's frustrating, she said.

"Some believe we're the villains, when all we want to do is help patients," she said. "Things for health care workers are only getting worse. ... There are staff shortages throughout health care, including X-ray and CT technicians, behavioral health technicians, housekeeping, physicians, just to name a few."

More skilled health care workers are needed and so are policies that follow public health guidelines, she said.

"We used to have the resources to treat patients and rest and heal after a difficult day," she said. "Now we rush from one patient to another, with limited time to process."

Dr. Bradley Dreifuss, a Tucson emergency room physician, said he regularly sees patients who regret their decision not to follow public health guidance and they are particularly remorseful if their children get infected.

Banning large gatherings would prevent a lot of the problems he's seeing in families affected by COVID-19, he said.

"I'm having pediatric patients coming in with new seizure disorders after COVID," he said. "The Long COVID issue is something we have not addressed or quantified the cost of for society."

Long COVID refers to prolonged health problems following a COVID-19 infection.

Tucson-based epidemiologist Elizabeth Jacobs said that omicron has created a completely new COVID-19 situation in Arizona and that state leaders need to respond.

"This is an opportunity to pivot," she said. "It is clear from the data that we are getting hammered by omicron and that we need mitigation urgently."

Republic reporters Alison Steinbach and Ray Stern contributed to this article.

Reach the reporter at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or at 602-444-8369. Follow her on Twitter @stephanieinnes.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Enough is enough': AZ health care workers want action against omicron
Sen. Dick Durbin says Black women on Biden's likely list for Supreme Court seat are 'extraordinary' and must've gained success 'against great odds'

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

President Joe Biden has pledged to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Critics have slammed this plan as discrimination and "affirmative action."

Sen. Dick Durbin said he hopes those "critical of the president's selection aren't doing it for personal reasons."

Senate Majority Whip and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin on Sunday defended President Joe Biden's pledge to choose a Black woman to be his nominee to the Supreme Court.

"I would just say the bottom line is this in terms of African American women: If they have achieved the level of success in practice of law, in jurisprudence, they've done it against great odds. They're extraordinary people," the Illinois senator said Sunday during an interview on ABC's "This Week." "Usually the first of anything in the United States turns out to be extraordinary in their background and the same is true there."

Biden's promise during the 2020 presidential campaign has come under intense pressure and scrutiny after Justice Stephen Breyer, a member of the court's liberal wing, announced last week he is retiring.

All of the potential picks on Biden's reported shortlist are Black women.

Following the news of Breyer's planned retirement, Democrats immediately called on Biden to keep his promise.

"You promised us a Black woman on the Supreme Court. Let's see it happen," Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York tweeted.

Some Republicans and conservatives immediately decried Biden's plan, comparing it to affirmative action, an approach used in education, employment, and voting rights, among other areas, that considers race and/or gender as a key factor to counter the legacy of policies that openly discriminated against minorities or women.

Sen. Roger Wicker said Biden's Supreme Court pick will be a "beneficiary" of affirmative action. And former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley tweeted it "would be nice if Pres Biden chose a Supreme Court nominee who was best qualified without a race/gender litmus test."

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A Fox News panel slammed Biden's campaign pledge to nominate a Black woman as discrimination. Jonathan Turley, a Fox News contributor and constitutional-law professor at George Washington University, compared the president's promise to "race preferences in college admissions."

In response to these comments, Durbin said on Sunday that Biden's nominee would be an "extraordinary" addition to the court.

"They're all going to face the same close scrutiny," he said of a potential nominee. "This is a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, and I just hope that those who are critical of the president's selection aren't doing it for personal reasons."

Possible frontrunners for Biden's Supreme Court nominee, DC Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and federal court judge J. Michelle Childs are pictured. Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images; S. Todd Rogers/AP; Charles Dharapak/AP

Durbin also pointed out that "this is not the first time that a president has signaled what they're looking for in a nominee."

"I'd remind them to take a look back at history and recall that it was Ronald Reagan who announced that he was going to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, and he did, Sandra Day O'Connor. And it was Donald Trump who announced he was going to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a woman nominee as well," the senator said.

The White House also responded to Wicker's comment, saying in a statement to The Mississippi Free Press that President Biden's promise is "in line with the best traditions of both parties and our nation," noting the pledge from Reagan and Biden to nominate women and its historic nature.

The statement also highlighted Republican lawmakers praising barrier-breaking nominees. For instance, when Trump promised to place a woman, ultimately Justice Amy Coney Barrett, on the Supreme Court, Wicker backed Barrett, the statement noted.

"Senator Wicker said, 'I have five granddaughters, the oldest is 10. I think Justice Amy Coney Barrett will prove to be an inspiration to these five granddaughters and to my grown daughters.' We hope Senator Wicker will give President Biden's nominee the same consideration," The White House said.

A day after Breyer's announcement, Biden said he will nominate "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 added: "It's long overdue, in my view. I made that commitment during the campaign for President, and I will keep that commitment."

Republican Senator Susan Collins, who said Sunday she is open to whomever Biden nominated but criticized the president's handling of the vacancy.

"I would welcome the appointment of a Black female to the court," Collins said during an appearance on ABC News's "This Week," but called his approach "clumsy at best."

She said Biden's promise differed from pledges of his predecessors because it came while he was a candidate for president, adding "to the further perception that the court is a political institution like congress when it is not supposed to be."

Durbin on Sunday said he's spoken to Collins and is "hopeful" that the nominee will have bipartisan support.

"I'm reaching out to the Republicans and saying the nominee will be available for you to get to know them," he added.

Read the original article on Insider
CHICAGO  An $84 million plan to boost internet speeds at Chicago Public Schools has stalled again, officials say, because of red tape in securing construction permits from the city.

For several months, crews have been ripping up streets to build a new high-speed fiber network. Around 80 schools were supposed to be connected by Nov. 1 as part of the projects first phase, but that goal has been pushed to the first quarter of 2022.

The latest setback may mean more construction headaches for residents and more internet woes for students, who returned to school buildings for full-time, in-person learning in August and are due back from the winter break Monday.

Were running over 300 miles of fiber throughout the city, originally slated as a three-year project, Richard Burnson, CPS director of network services, told the Tribune. Were running a bit behind schedule, but continuing to push forward and have it wrapped up by 2023.

The new network is slated to reach about 570 Chicago schools and administrative buildings. Each school would connect to two of 11 hubs spaced across the city. If theres a problem with one of the connections, officials say high-speed internet would still be available.

Schools would have access to download speeds of 20 gigabits per second, Burnson said. When the project began, he said, elementary schools received 250 megabits of bandwidth. Now theyre at 500 megabits thanks to upgrades completed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most high schools each have access to one gigabit, though Burnson said CPS is completing an effort to upgrade the high schools to two gigs, and thats expected to wrap up by the end of (2021).

The nations third-largest school district, CPS has 421 elementary schools and 91 high schools. Burnson said CPS experienced few issues last spring with connectivity because the district welcomed students back to campuses in waves after months of remote learning. But most of CPSs 330,000 students have attended classes in person this fall, and technology tools such as Google Meet video sessions can tax a system.

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Were really excited about future-proofing our network with this new project, CPS Deputy Chief of Information and Technology Services Ed Wagner said. Weve seen, historically, schools have consumed more and more bandwidth each and every year that theyre in operation because of use of online tools for education. Skyline  as an example, our new digital curriculum  we do a lot of assessments online.

CPS explored its options for a network redesign in 2018. At the time, AT&T was providing service, with network facilities located in Elk Grove Village; at the downtown Thompson Center, a site the state of Illinois plans to sell; and at CPS headquarters in the Loop.

The district estimated then it spent $19.6 million in circuit costs, fees and services, with $14.9 million funded by the federal E-Rate program, which helps schools and libraries obtain affordable internet access.

Weve had some service challenges with AT&T, Wagner said. What we felt was, this (network project) was a better way of doing it to decrease our cost overall and allow for better resiliency and performance.

The Chicago Board of Education approved an agreement with Houston-based Netsync Network Solutions in 2019. The five-year deal, with two options to renew for five years each, is not to exceed $83.8 million. E-Rate is expected to cover about $70.4 million. The rest of the tab will be paid for with government grants and by the board, which is on the hook for no more than $9.8 million, according to the contract.

Burnson said the project price tag has not changed, despite the delays. A Netsync representative declined to comment to the Tribune and referred questions to CPS.

The first shovel broke ground in November 2020  more than a year after the board approved the Netsync agreement and months after the start of the COVID-19 crisis. Burnson said the district focused its efforts on transitioning to remote learning and ensuring students had devices to connect to the internet at home.

He said crews are now concentrating on building the core network infrastructure. CPS says the first connections will be its data centers in Elk Grove Village and at its headquarters, along with 63 elementary sites and 18 high schools. A few of these schools share a campus.

Burnson said up to 240 facilities are targeted for the second phase.

The first step for us to build the network is theres a series of core rings that need to be established. Theres a north, central and south ring connecting all of the 11 hub locations. So those 11 hub locations had to be part of phase one in order to build out that foundation for the network, he said. Selecting the other 70 sites that would be connected was based on our focus on building out on the South and West sides.

The hubs are located on the North Side at Garvy Elementary School, William C. Goudy Technology Academy and Theodore Roosevelt High School; on the West Side at Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School and John Spry Community School; in the South Loop at Jones College Prep; and on the South Side at Morgan Park High School, George Washington High School, Richardson Middle School, Wendell Phillips Academy High School and Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Paideia Academy.

Burnson said one of the greatest challenges has been securing construction permits. Requests that cover more than a million feet of fiber have been submitted, he said, with about a half-million feet approved.

There are more than two dozen members of the city Office of Underground Coordination, including Peoples Gas, ComEd and AT&T, that review proposals to determine if excavation work will affect their infrastructure.

If there is any change thats required by one of those organizations, you have to start the process over, so that way everyone is signed off on that final process, Burnson said. Weve been working with (the Chicago Department of Transportation) and other city agencies, and theyve been very supportive, but its still a very involved process to get the permits for the amount of work that were doing.

There have been some construction and street parking woes as well. Crews drill horizontally under the surface of the street to install pipework the fiber runs through. Burnson said some complaints have been lodged about the temporary patching thats put in place while the work is being completed.

There have been some quality issues that weve addressed with the aldermens office, as well as the subcontractors that are doing the actual construction work, he said. Were definitely working to make sure that any impact to citizens in the city are minimized as much as possible.

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Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, told WOOD-TV 8 Monday he will not be among GOP representatives to object to the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden's election victory.

Take a moment to think back to your Christmas Eve last month here in West Michigan. Chances are you were either enjoying time with family, attending a Christmas service, or engaging in other holiday traditions.

Yet, half a world away in Myanmar (Burma), many Christians spent the holiday season fleeing for their lives. On Christmas Eve, the Myanmar military set fire to over 35 civilians in their vehicles, including women and children, leaving their bodies burned beyond recognition. Two of the victims of the attack in Kayah State were humanitarian aid workers providing lifesaving nutrition support on behalf of the aid organization Save the Children. Both victims were new fathers.

Feb. 1 marks one year since the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. In that time, nearly 1,500 innocent people have been killed and over 11,000 democracy activists have been arrested.

Myanmars economy has ground to a halt because of the country wide civil disobedience movement. To overcome economic and financial challenges, the military is now relying on oil and natural gas revenues to fund its repression. About 50 percent of Myanmars foreign currency comes from natural gas revenues, with the military government expected to earn $1.5 billion from offshore and pipeline projects in 2021-22. These payments fuel the militarys barbaric atrocities and the continued operation of oil companies in Myanmar makes them complicit in human rights abuses.

Pressure from civil society organizations is an effective tool for identifying and exposing illicit flows of money that support tyrannical regimes like the one in Myanmar. Public disclosure of payment information allows activist groups to investigate and shame human rights abusing governments and the companies that support them.

Tha Zin Ooo Kayaw, with tears, yells chants as she and other protesters gather to protest the military coup in Myanmar, Saturday, March 20, 2021 on Monument Circle in Indianapolis.

Tragically, for the vulnerable people in Myanmar, Rep. Bill Huizenga has led a decades-long effort on behalf of oil interests to get rid of a valuable anti-corruption tool, Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Section 1504 requires oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose the payments they make to foreign governments. The transparency law was a vital tool to expose backroom deals in a notoriously corrupt industry and enabled communities to sustainably manage their resources.

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Section 1504 is critical to fighting the resource curse, the phenomena whereby people living in countries that are rich in natural resources are often among the worlds poorest. By gutting Section 1504, Huizenga has undermined anti-corruption efforts and peace processes around the world.

Ever the opportunistic politician, Bill Huizenga has conveniently ignored his past actions to stymie transparency in the extractive industry sector by voting for legislation like the Burma Act of 2021. The bill authorizes humanitarian assistance, support for the protection of human rights, and calls for transparency in Myanmars extractive industries.

I welcome Huizengas support for the Burma Act 2021, but does anyone else see the irony in a U.S. politician spending a decade shielding U.S. companies from transparency, while voting for legislation that tells an illegitimate military dictatorship that it must be transparent and address corruption?

In the political sphere there is often talk of American Exceptionalism, the idea that the U.S. is uniquely virtuous. This may comfort some Americans, but because of politicians like Bill Huizenga this ethical high ground is a myth.

It is exceptionally hypocritical that a U.S. politicians decade of work on the House Financial Services Committee has allowed Chevron to withhold details of how much it pays to the military government in Myanmar. It egregiously took Chevron nearly a year to stop paying hundreds of millions of dollars into bank accounts that are controlled by the military junta. While Huizenga shields Chevron and other oil interests, Myanmar burns.

Huizengas actions epitomize why so many in middle-America hold a collective disdain for Washington politics. In December I received an email from Huizengas communications team highlighting his support for the Burma Act. The fact that Huizenga has spent a decade undermining resource transparency and then emails constituents to score political points on an issue that he has worked to undermine is politics at its worst.

Many of my friends and former students in Myanmar are Chin, a predominantly Christian ethnic minority who live in western Myanmar. They have long faced repression, often having their churches destroyed and travel restrictions placed on preachers. If my friends in Myanmar are ever to have an opportunity to celebrate Christmas in peace, it will require that politicians like Bill Huizenga stop undoing critical anti-corruption and transparency legislation.

 Brendon Thomas is a resident of West Olive.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: My Take: Huizenga plays politics as Myanmar burns
Five months after becoming governor of New York, Kathy Hochul was reflecting a few days ago on how she approaches her new job  practically and symbolically.

Her decision to return the State of the State speech to the Assembly Chamber, for example, was no mere whim. It marked a clear break from the razzle-dazzle of The Andrew Cuomo Show in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center  and from most things Cuomo-esque.

Im not someone who is overconfident and arrogant about anything I do because I have to work through a process, Hochul said. The Legislature, from what I hear, is delighted with my new approach to state government  which is to treat them like real partners.

Hochul is emerging as a different kind of executive than her predecessor, who was often accused of strong-arming his way through the Albany labyrinth. Hochul has no problem embracing a new way.

In my first budget, everybody will be pressure testing me, she said last week in a video meeting with editors and reporters of The Buffalo News. I think people who are used to me know that Im pretty successful in getting the results I need without being combative or bullying. I know how to get things done.

The early approach appears to be working, since polls show the new governor not only surviving, but thriving. According to the Siena College Research Institute, 69% of Democrats in New York view her favorably, compared to 19% unfavorably. She also substantially leads Rep. Tom Suozzi of Nassau County and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in a Democratic primary contest.

It all leads Siena pollsters to place her in the catbird seat for the nomination.

Nevertheless, the shape of this years election is beginning to form, as the new governor is already attracting her share of pressure testing. Republicans label her as same old, same old when it comes to state spending. Souzzi, meanwhile, lambastes her daily about rising crime  especially in New York City.

Last week, the leading Republican candidate for the gubernatorial nomination, Rep. Lee Zeldin of Suffolk County, amplified an ever-louder attack.

Instead of pledging to take action to fix our states disastrous cashless bail law or provide judges with the discretion they need to do their jobs and keep our communities safe or fire District Attorneys who refuse to enforce the law like Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, Kathy Hochul doubles down on her obsessive pandering to her far-left base, Zeldin said.

Zeldin appears ready to shift the argument into high gear after that approach produced some GOP gains in the 2020 legislative races.

Suozzi turns the same idea on a fellow Democrat. Last week, he stood in front of the NYPDs 32nd Precinct in Harlem, not far from where two officers were murdered a few days ago, to make his point.

It is Governor Hochuls responsibility to persuade Democrats in the State legislature to fix bail reform, he said. She must lead. Thats what an executive does, and its high time she comes out of hiding to tell New Yorkers where she stands on the critical public safety issues facing our residents.

For the new governor, her main task lies in gaining passage of a proposed $216 billion budget, no small feat in New York, even with an all-Democratic Legislature. But this budget looms as more than a spending plan for the rookie governor. As the first upstater in over a century to hold the job, and as the first woman, much is at stake.

I have to prove an upstater can do this job. I also have to prove a woman can do this job, she said, especially in a rough and tumble place like New York.

It will be all part of the deal as she seeks to become the first female ever elected to the post. She thinks her Buffalo roots have suited her for the challenge.

That core toughness I cultivated in Western New York serves me well, she said. I have to put it to good use ... so no one questions if a woman can do the job.

Its an honor and a privilege that I never, ever take for granted.

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A Mexican gray wolf trots across the landscape. (Photo: Courtesy USFWS)

A young Mexican gray wolf recently thwarted in his search for a mate by Donald Trumps border wall has been shot, researchers have reported.

The 2-year-old male, known to scientists as Mr. Goodbar, is expected to live but will likely have all or part of his right hind leg amputated, according to a statement from the nonprofit conservation organization the Center for Biological Diversity.

An investigation has been launched to track Mr. Goodbars shooter. Mexican gray wolves are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The maximum penalty for violating the law is a year in jail and a $50,000 fine.

Mr. Goodbars painful experiences illustrate the inhospitable world weve created for Mexican gray wolves and other vulnerable animals, Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement provided to HuffPost. We hope the criminal who shot Mr. Goodbar will be brought to justice.

The endangered Mexican gray #wolf who spent five days trying to get around the border wall in New Mexico before turning back was found shot but alive Wednesday. Anyone with information should call 1-844-397-8477 or email fws_tips@fws.gov. https://t.co/p5pkVUuuSy  Center for Bio Div (@CenterForBioDiv) January 29, 2022

Mr. Goodbars injury was spotted during an annual count by helicopter of the Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

He was tranquilized with a dart fired from a helicopter and transported for treatment to the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo, the Center for Biological Diversity reported.

He made news earlier this month as the first tracked wolf to prove the Trump border wall is creating a problem for endangered species. Mr. Goodbar left his pack in eastern Arizona last year and roamed for months to strike out on his own to start his own family in new territory. He was finally stopped in southern New Mexico in late November  not by the challenges of the Chihuahuan Desert, but by Trumps 30-foot-high border barrier.

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The young wolf trotted along the wall for days, likely looking for an opening, which would have provided the possibility of mating with Mexican gray wolves on the other side of the border. But he finally turned back north again, and ended up close to his old territory.

The Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups are now battling to open up the border wall in priority areas identified as important for animals  not just wolves, but for pronghorn, cougars, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, bobcats, mule deer, kit fox and ringtail.

The reintroduced Mexican gray wolf population numbered some 186 in Arizona and New Mexico in the last count in 2020 (there were 30 across the border in Mexico).

This year, the tally will likely be higher, Robinson said. But the species risks extinction by inbreeding without more genetic diversity, which requires large swaths of unimpeded range for the animals to branch out.

These wolves are beautiful, intelligent, social animals that we should want to save just because of empathy, Robinson told HuffPost. And because we played a role in their decimation, we have an obligation to help them.

While the Mexican gray wolf remains listed as an endangered species under the law, the Trump administration dropped the classification for other wolves, triggering major hunts in some areas.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Photo Illustration by Kristen Hazzard/The Daily Beast/Getty

Australian mining tycoon Clive Palmer is unvaccinated, flush with cash, and giddily irritating huge swaths of the Aussie electorate, as the billionaire makes yet another run for officemirroring in some ways a very Trumpian playbook.

Palmer, who previously peddled anti-vax misinformation, has placed himself at the center of multiple controversies in recent months, exactly where he likes to be.

Like Trump, Palmer is all about EGO, the University of Western Australia emeritus professor Greg McCarthy wrote in an email to The Daily Beast.

Hes got this sort of ridiculousness about him as well, a bit like Boris Johnson, added Benjamin Reilly, also of UWA. You never know if anything that hes actually doing or saying is serious.

At the moment, Palmer is in the headlines over a defamation lawsuit he filed against the premier of Western Australia, who called him an enemy of the state.

Perhaps of greater importance: the billionaire announced this month that he will run for a Senate seat in Queensland in Australias upcoming elections, which are expected to take place in May. He also pledged to spend a record-breaking amount of money on the electoral cycle, upping his advertising blitz from 2019, when he reportedly blanketed the country with over $50 million in adsmore than both major parties combined.

Think about in the United States one of the Koch brothers running for president or something and outspending the Democrats and the Republicans, said Peter Chen, who teaches Australian politics at the University of Sydney. It's that sort of crazy money.

In some ways that cash was not well-spent. Palmers party, the United Australia Party, failed to win a single seat in 2019, but political analysts say he may have helped tip the election away from Labor, which had been expected to win.

I've saved Australia from an extra trillion dollars of taxes, he rejoiced at the time.

The spending marked a huge shift in our democracy, lamented Member of Parliament Patrick Gorman, a Labor Party representative, in an interview with The Daily Beast this week. To say that he's going to beat his own record at the 2022 election is something I think is really dangerous for the way Australian democracy works.

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A representative for Palmer did not reply to a request for comment.

Already, Palmers ad spending this cycle has been relentless, said Glenn Kefford, senior lecturer at the University of Queensland. His bright-yellow advertisements, featuring the slogan FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM, are ubiquitous in newspapers, on billboards, and on YouTubenot to mention the unsolicited mass text messages that have irritated constituents across the country.

There are mixed opinions about what Palmer is seeking to accomplish through his spending and public antics. Some analysts believe he is merely playing games, reveling in the attention and dysfunction.

How Billionaires Made the Ravages of the Pandemic Worse

As insight into his personality, Palmer reportedly once stated that he considers litigation a personal hobby. In 2019, his lawyers threatened to sue a YouTuber who called him Fatty McFuck Head and a dense Humpty Dumpty.

Other observers think Palmer is seizing an opportunity to rile up disenchanted voters in order to promote candidates less inclined to regulate his mining activity.

One of the most dangerous places to be in Australia is between Clive Palmer and his business interests. He is obsessed with money and obsessed with talking about his wealth, said Gorman. The billionaires behavior, he argued, is about preserving the business environment that is favorable for him and instilling fear in some people who are too scared to stand up to him.

Its not fully clear what odds Palmer faces of winning. He previously served in parliament from 2013 to 2016, though political scientists do not think he is likely to win again.

A December poll found that just 8 percent of Australians had a positive view of him, compared to 59 percent with a negative opinionrendering him the least likable politician in the country.

Palmer has generated negative press over numerous issues, including a scandal involving workers at his nickel refinery who were not paid entitlements for several years after the business liquidated in 2016. As of last year, he was also facing fraud charges related to political spending in the 2013 election.

Even if he loses, however, Palmers party could still pick up seats.

Thanks to the fact that our powerful upper house (Senate) is elected by proportional representation, Palmer doesnt need to be widely popular to win seats, said William Bowe, who publishes a blog about Aussie politics. A few seats in the Senate would give [his party] very great influence as a swing vote, since there is essentially no chance that either of the main parties will have a majority there.

Palmer nonetheless faces longer odds of acting as a spoiler than he did in 2019.

Like Trump, the billionaire has seized on wedge issues, including vaccines and lockdown restrictions. (He has even modified the former presidents catchphrases: Put Australia First and Make Australia Great!)

Yet those strategies may prove less potent Down Under, as the countrys compulsory voting laws make it harder to disenfranchise voters.

Politicians and political observers are also mixed on whether Palmer can replicate Trumps ascent. Both are boorish, extravagant, litigious and proudly unconcerned with political correctness, said Bowe, though he argued that Palmer has so far been confined to the fringes.

Peter Chen, from the University of Sydney, added that Palmer is not a fascist, while Donald Trump clearly was. Moreover, he said, the mining tycoon has had a far more consistent track record in business.

To Gorman, though, Palmer represents an even less restrained version of The Donald.

[Trump] at least had some people from the Republican Party thateven if he didnt want tohe was forced to listen to, he said. Clive Palmer just does whatever crazy thing he wants.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Luis Diaz is heading to Liverpool from Porto (Laurence Griffiths/PA) (PA Wire)

Jurgen Klopp is confident Luis Diaz will make a big impact at Liverpool after the club landed their top target in a deal worth an initial 37.5million.

Colombia forward Diaz has signed a long-term contract with the Reds understood by the PA news agency to run until 2027, after Porto accepted an offer which includes a potential extra 12.5million in add-ons.

The moment youve been waiting for



Luis Diaz is a RED  #VamosLuis pic.twitter.com/wl9koUlPgl  Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 30, 2022

The move is subject to obtaining international clearance and a work permit and, with the 25-year-old currently on international duty, he will not arrive on Merseyside until the end of next week at the earliest.

Manager Klopp told the clubs website: I could not be happier that weve been able to get this deal done and bring Luis to Liverpool.

I have always been a believer in only signing players in January if you would want to sign them in the summer, and thats very much the case with Luis.

He is an outstanding player and someone weve been tracking for a very long time.

Luis is a player we believe will make us better now and in the future. He is the player we really wanted.

Jurgen Klopp is pleased with Liverpools new signing (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)

Liverpool representatives travelled to South America to complete the deal ahead of Mondays transfer deadline after becoming aware of the interest of other clubs, including Tottenham.

Diaz was understood to have been the Anfield clubs prime summer target but they decided to make their move early.

He joins Liverpool after scoring scored 41 goals in 125 games for Porto following his move to Europe from Colombias Junior FC in the summer of 2019.

Diaz, who is due to play in a World Cup qualifier in Argentina on Tuesday, has also scored seven times in 31 appearances for his country.

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Diaz has already played at Anfield this season (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

Liverpool have twice viewed him at close quarters this season after they were drawn against Porto in the Champions League group stage.

Klopp added: We believe he has everything needed to fit into our way and adapt to the Premier League, both physically and mentally.

This team deserved to add quality and, when we played against Luis earlier this season, we saw what a danger he is, how fast he is and how his mentality was to help his team.

Diaz will freshen up Klopps forward line as his long-established front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane will all be 30 by this summer.

In a brief video clip released by Liverpool, Diaz said: Im really happy to sign for Liverpool.
Pulitizer Prize winner Kathleen Gallagher writes a column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Business section. You can read all of her columns here:

Work continues on the High-Performance Computing Data Center (HPCDC) Globe Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, in Mount Pleasant. Coming in at 100 feet tall, the globe will house Foxconn's Network Operations Center.

Fast-growing Generac continues to make the right moves with the addition of smart home products maker ecobee

Weve been needing a stronger and smarter effort to turn around the Great Erosion of the industrial Heartland. Generac Power Systems' acquisition of Toronto-based ecobee Inc. signifies a step in that direction. Read more here.

Will Rebecca Blank's successor as UW-Madison Chancellor help the university become a global innovation hub?

Will the Board of Regents bring in another administrative guru or will it seek out a leader who can finally unlock the potential we all know is there? Read more here.

Foxconn deal with Ohio's Lordstown Motors could be more empty promises

Weve been at the Foxconn party since May 2017 -- and I can assure you, the hangover isnt worth it. Read more here.

Chicago-based Tempus is valued at $8 billion. Why do investors think the company is worth so much?

Our region needs dream-big-and-play-bigger startups that risk wasting money but keep taking the moonshots. Read more here.

Shipping companies build up their efforts to respond to Uber. Will it work?

The industrial logistics and supply chain segment, a long-standing area of Midwest dominance, can compete against the latest moves by Big Tech into traditional business segments. Read more here.

Political mistakes, cheap shots scuttle a valuable venture capital plan

The states 2021-23 budget has no allocation to venture capital. Heres what went wrong. Read more here.

What's standing in the way of a larger Wisconsin wine industry?

If we can combine them with cooperation around developing regional data analytics tools, there may be something to this. Read more here.

What to do with the Foxconn site. Why settle for yesterdays business models?

Local governments that spent millions for roads and other site preparations are still stuck with a Foxconn problem. Will they take charge or kick the can down the road and hope for a miracle? Read more here.

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$300 jobless benefit isn't the problem  Wisconsin needs to focus on building a higher-tech, higher-wage economy

Pushing people back into work in low-wage jobs at hotels and restaurants isnt a long-term fix for our regions economic challenges. Read more here.

Billions of high tech innovation money is available. Why is the Midwest not fighting for some of the funds - and jobs?

Facing the biggest high-tech opportunity in decades, most of the Great Lakes regions Congressional delegation is reacting in a familiar way: By ignoring it. Read more here.

Why do schools like MIT excel in launching startups, while UWM and other area schools do so little?

The failure to commercialize our regions best research cedes wealth to (most often) the coasts and perpetuates the Midwests loss of technology-driven, high growth businesses. Read more here.

Amazon moves disrupt manufacturing. Rockwell, Emerson and other Midwest companies must pay attention.

Big contributors to our regions economy are facing a classic innovators dilemma: If they focus on disrupting themselves the way Amazon is, then they likely will kill their rich profit margins more quickly. Read more here.

It's time to stop waiting on Foxconn. Let's look at a semiconductor plant for the site.

Federal government interest and market openings are creating the best opportunity in this area since the 1980s when Austin, Texas, lured two key semiconductor consortia Microelectronics Computer and Technology Corp. (MCC) and Sematech  in a move that sparked local tech growth. Read more here.

Big Ten schools are falling behind when it comes to academic research. The winner? Wichita State.

An overwhelming majority of large research institutions in the Big Ten and other schools in the geographic region are falling behind their peers in other regions  and its hurting all of us. Read more here.

Congress encourages financial inequity and helped fuel the wild GameStop, Koss stock swings

This is about the majority of Americans who are losing while Wall Street has its way with our economy and our future. And its about Congress encouraging financial inequality. Read more here.

'Occupy Wall Street 2.0' attacks feeding trough of the financial services industry

Its Occupy Wall Street 2.0. A push that may not change the world immediately but will keep trying. Read more here.

Midwest auto industry must respond to Tesla

The Great Lakes region is North Americas most dominant auto industry cluster and Tesla Inc. is on a mission to disrupt it. Read more here.

Time to rethink Foxconn campus

Foxconn and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. appear to be on the brink of redoing the companys tax incentive plan, presumably to right-size the incentives to match Foxconns performance. Read more here.

Medical College, UW fail to deliver on promises to improve public health

The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare weaknesses in Wisconsins public health system and raised questions about the two organizations that received $600 million more than 15 years ago to improve it. Read more here.

Foxconn complex could pay off  but in a different way than the company promised

There is enough at stake to try to salvage the Foxconn project. If Foxconn developed an Industrial Supply Chain Center of Excellence here it would help the region develop its own technological capabilities. It would have a powerful long-term impact. Read more here.

Scott Brielmaier (right) teaches computer science at Hortonville High School, assisted by Erin Draheim (in back), a software engineer who lives in the community.

Indiana is far ahead of other Midwest states in crucial computer science training

In the last three years, Indiana has rocketed ahead of every other Midwestern state in the race to expand K-12 computer science education. Read more here.

Briggs & Stratton's company at 3300 N. 124th St. in Wauwatosa, Wis. on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. At one time the company employed thousands at four plants in the area. Now it's down to a few hundred people, and that's about to drop even further with the company moving production to a non-union plant in New York.

Briggs & Stratton board of directors focused on executives and themselves rather than investors

Now that Briggs & Stratton has changed hands, its time to tackle the elephant in the room: its board of directors. Read more here.

Briggs & Stratton, Generac are similar companies heading in different directions

Briggs & Stratton and Generac have headquarters just 20 miles apart. They operate in many of the same business lines, and are headed by executives who came from big accounting firms and worked their way up to the top job. But these companies current situations couldnt be more different. Read more here.

Kathleen Gallagher was a business reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Milwaukee Sentinel for 23 years. She was one of two reporters on the team that won a 2011 Pulitzer Prize for the One in a Billion series. Gallagher is now executive director of 5 Lakes Institute, a nonprofit working to grow the Great Lakes region's high technology entrepreneurial economy and culture. She can be reached at Kathleen@5lakesinstitute.org.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kathleen Gallagher: All of her Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columns
A conductor makes sure all is clear as the Amtrak Downeaster passenger train pulls out of the station, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Freeport, Maine. Twenty years after Amtrak's first Downeaster set off into darkness and uncertainty on a cold December morning, there's light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to passenger rail expansion projects thanks to the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill.

High-speed rail system idea on the right track

I totally agree with Cleve Ricksecker's guest column on trains. Ohio literally needs to get on board and change the mentality about traveling by train.

More: Ricksecker: Ohio must move past '1960s highway-only mentality' and embrace Amtrak service

I have fond memories of train trips.

My Athens ninth grade class took a memorable train trip to Washington, D.C., for a day of sightseeing for $19.

We took a bus to Parkersburg, West Va., and caught a train to Washington D.C.

We spent Saturday sightseeing in Washington, and Friday and Saturday night on the train.

In addition to the Washington, D.C., trip, my family would take a train to New Jersey to visit my grandparents. We also saw Nixon on the campaign trail make a whistle stop at the Athens train station.

A high-speed rail system would go a long way toward reducing travel time and wear and tear on cars.

Imagine being able to travel to Chicago by high-speed rail in about two hours see the Jackets play the Blackhawks or travel to Cleveland for a business meeting in about an hour.

Let's get on board with high-speed rail.

Jean W. Hoitsma, Columbus

Letter to the editor

More: How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

Train travel not only convenient and fast, but relaxing

I could not agree more with Cleve Rickseckers well-researched opinion on Ohios need for modern passenger train service. In addition to the long-discussed Cincinnati to Columbus to Cleveland train, think of the benefit of a train from Columbus to Chicago.

More: Greater Columbus Convention Center under consideration as Amtrak station site

A train to Midway airport and on to OHare and downtown Chicago would remove the anxiety of air connections. Even with todays trains, three hours to Chicago would be no longer than two hours at the airport plus the flight time. And would be a lot more relaxing.

Alan Weiler, Powell

School resource officers deter crime and help foster trust in police

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RE Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 25, "Can police in schools quell violence?": The headline and the narrative should have read, "Police in schools can quell violence," because that is precisely what they did as a result of their presence in schools located in high-crime neighborhoods prior to the George Floyd homicide in Minneapolis and the wrongheaded movement to defund and yes, denigrate police en masse.

More: As some Columbus parents seek school resource officers' return, here's what other districts do

As reported in the article, (some believe the) school resource officers were not only a deterrent to violence and crime in the Columbus Public Schools but also a mechanism to bridge some of the mistrust of police by the community by interacting with students and forming much-needed relationships.

More: Columbus high schools reopen without police officers for first time in 25 years

That little sarcastic tendency of mine wants to say, "Now, whoever could have foreseen the incredible uptick in violence in some Columbus Public Schools with the removal, i.e., the non-renewal, of their contract?," but instead I will simply lament the damage suffered by our youth due to misdirected anger at all police by some adults.

Jim Viney, Canal Winchester

Thomas Suddes' 'watchdog eye' sees issues worth paying attention to

Thomas Suddes

Thanks very much to The Columbus Dispatch and Thomas Suddes for keeping us informed about critical state government issues ("Lawmaker antics prove Supreme Court should end get-a-long, go-a-long") such as the upcoming Ohio Supreme Court elections.

More: Suddes: General Assemblys antics show why Supreme Court should end 'get-along, go-along'

His watchdog eye gives historical and up-to-the minute reporting on issues we should all be paying attention to.

Susan B. West, Athens

Kevin Necessary Bengals cartoon

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Letters: How would Amtrak train service benefit Columbus?
Jan. 29AUGUSTA  Enrollment in Maine public schools has only marginally rebounded this year following a 4% decline in 2020, indicating that most students who left during the pandemic have not returned.

The sharp decline in enrollment  the basis for determining state funding to school districts  has pushed the Department of Education to propose modifications to its funding formula for the second year in a row to protect school districts from significant subsidiary losses due to diminished enrollment.

"Even a small change in enrollment of students can throw that very delicate system off balance," Commissioner of Education Pender Makin said.

Her team created multiple scenarios to evaluate how different adjustments to the formula would affect school funding across the state.

Although there are more students in 2021 than 2020, more adjustments to the formula were necessary this year because it is driven by a two-year average. Funding for the current school year was calculated to include 2019's higher enrollment numbers, whereas this year's calculation considers two low-enrollment years.

"This year, you can imagine the perfect storm," Makin said. "Fewer students being averaged into the formula and the property values having so greatly increased. It could have set up a pretty bleak picture" had the state not proposed adjustments to the funding formula.

Even as enrollments remain low, Makin recognizes that many costs to school districts, especially staffing and operational fees, have remained the same, if not grown, as a result of inflation.

"At the end of the day, schools are not going to be firing teachers," she said, referring to the preliminary funding amounts which were sent to school administrators in January.

Still, some school districts are facing difficult decisions as they consider their anticipated state subsidy, with one Franklin County district having already voted to reconfigure its schools this fall.

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"It's different in every district," Makin said. "There are, sadly, every year winners and losers. We found a solution that had more winners and fewer losers. And where there are losses, they are able to be explained by forces other than COVID impact."

From the fall of 2019 to 2020, Maine public school enrollment fell by 4.4%, from 180,336 to 172,474 students. There are only 684 more students enrolled in 2021 compared to 2020, a 0.4% increase. Counts remain just under 4% lower than in 2019.

Makin said she was gratified to see that many of those increases were seen in lower grade levels, including kindergarten and prekindergarten, which saw the greatest decreases in 2020.

Enrollment in Maine public schools was declining long before the pandemic, dropping by an average of 0.41% each year between 2012 and 2019. But as schools moved to hybrid and remote learning, many parents turned to alternative methods of education, including home schooling, online charter schools, and private schools.

As public school enrollment fell, home schooling boomed. According to data from the DOE, there were 53% more home-schooled students in 2021 (10,332) than in 2019 (6,763), an increase of 3,569. In 2021, there were 14% fewer home-schooled students than in 2020 (12,085), indicating high retention.

Some parents who reenrolled their children in public school this year did so reluctantly and later expressed regret, pointing to pandemic mitigation policies and disruptions caused by quarantines. Other parents said the pandemic gave them the opportunity to home-school, and they don't plan on sending their children back.

Adjustments to the state funding formula won't take into account every factor that has changed significantly during the pandemic. Property valuation, which rose by 6% statewide last year and 5% the previous year, is a critical part of the formula which will remain unaltered.

Between 2007 and 2020, property values rose, on average, 1.8% each year in comparison.

Makin said changes in property value, which are used to help determine the extent to which each community can pay for the overall cost of local school districts, are considered normal fluctuations. Still, she acknowledged that rises in property values do not necessarily correlate to an increase in available community funds.

On Jan. 21, the Strong-based Maine School Administrative District 58 directors voted to reconfigure their schools, changing one of three elementary schools into a middle school, in anticipation of a second year of reduced state funding.

This was one of five options offered to the board. Another proposal suggested closing Mt. Abram High School and sending students to Mt. Blue High School in Farmington instead.

MSAD 58 received nearly half a million dollars less in state subsidies for 2021-22 than the previous school year, leading the district to draw from federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund to pay 15 of its staff members this year.

Reconfiguring the school will allow the district to cut costs and minimize its losses in the state funding formula, especially as enrollment is expected to continue declining, according to a community letter written by Superintendent Todd Sanders.

"In order to not have schools be funded based on an artificially low scenario, we have adjusted the formula in a way that we think is equitable and does the most good and the least harm," Makin said, clarifying, "I don't think it does any harm. It just helps some more and others have those additional factors that we can't adjust for."

Declining public school enrollment is not the only funding factor the state adjusted for. After offering free meals for all students beginning in 2020 with the help of federal emergency funds, school districts have collected far fewer free and reduced-price meal forms from parents.

These forms are used to track the number of disadvantaged students in each district. Districts with large numbers of disadvantaged students receive additional funding from the state.

"That's a measure that's very important to our state's educational funding, both from federal government and it's reflected again, in the state funding formula. There's an additional ... subsidy for every one student who is enumerated within the disadvantaged count," Makin said.
NEW YORK  A wind-whipped snowstorm pummeled the five boroughs on a frosty New York weekend, with whipping winds wreaking havoc on local airports Saturday as some New Yorkers grabbed shovels and others frolicked in the snow.

Its pretty big, said Andrew Chan, 43, who was playing with his children at Madison Square Park as the snow continued to fall around midday. This one seems unexpected.

His daughter Kara, just 7, gave the falling snow a 1-to-10 rating of 100.

On the other end of the snow spectrum was Akil Demmin, 37, who was shoveling away outside his Brooklyn home.

I hate cleaning up snow, but you got to do what you got to do, said the Canarsie resident. Its freezing out here. As soon as I finish up, Im going to get back in the crib, get some hot chocolate and warm up.

Coney Island reported 11 inches of snow throughout the day, as did Howard Beach in Queens, according to the National Weather Service. Nearly 10 inches fell in parts of Staten Island, and 7.5 inches were reported in Central Park.

On Long Island, a Suffolk County airport was blanketed with nearly 2 feet as the NWS reported blizzard conditions.

Mayor Eric Adams took a tour of the boroughs as the wintry weather continued, pausing only for a quick break to shovel the snow outside his Brooklyn home. He also flashed a thumbs-up while riding inside a city Sanitation Department truck.

Be careful, bundle up, Adams advised his chilly constituents. Its a good day to stay home if you dont have to go out.

The citys chief executive joked that he intends to put a list together on the citys website of great places to go sledding.

After the snow, temperatures were expected to drop to 14 degrees overnight  with a possible wind chill of minus 5 degrees into Sunday, the NWS said.

The deep freeze was expected to continue through least Tuesday, complicating the wintry cleanup, said Gov. Kathy Hochul. Overnight temperatures into Monday morning were expected to bottom out at about 18 degrees.

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Hochul told a Midtown news conference that officials expected the snowfall buffeted by 50 miles per hour winds to dissipate by Saturday morning but the snow instead lingered into the afternoon.

Long Island residents were hit a lot harder as the blizzard pounded the area. By late afternoon, 16 inches had fallen in parts of Nassau County while the Long Island MacArthur Airport in Suffolk County was buried under more than 22 inches, the weather service reported.

Hochul, speaking as 1,800 plows cleared roads across the state, described Winter Storm Kenan a classic Noreaster.

This is a very serious storm, she said. It could be life threatening. But weve prepared for this.

Con Ed reported only 580 power outages across the city by Saturday evening despite the frigid winter weather that left Brooklyn store owner Tyrone Peters a cold and lonely man.

Its dead today, said Peters, owner of the Ideal Magic 99Cent store. A regular Saturday is people just coming in and out, in and out, in and out. But today is like one person every 10, 20 minutes.

The disappointed Peters, 45, said he arrived early to shovel the sidewalk in hopes of customers stocking up on rock salt or other items  only to find few buyers.

I dont like the snow, he said. I hate it. Im a summer guy. I just cant bear the cold, its too much.

Pizza delivery worker Miguel Meija, 26, dutifully schlepped pies past the Empire State Building, with drivers locking up their brakes as he crossed 34th St.

This storm is normal, he said, glumly noting the bad weather led to only slightly bigger tips. Every year its like this.

But Ella Jewell, 26, who kept her Javanese pup Juno bundled up in her jacket as she took photos in Madison Square Park, was thrilled.

Its cold, and a lot of snow, said the three-year Manhattan resident. Im from Tennessee, so its a little crazy for me but I love it.

In an interview on 1010 WINS-AM, Adams said the city was handling the storm very well.

It is just a well oiled machine with city employees, he said. They know what to do know and they know the plays we must call. Through our combined efforts we are going to ride this storm as smoothly as possible.

Adams praised the efforts of city workers out in the cold and snow.

We have the tools and we have the personnel and manpower, he said. Theyre professionals and my goal is to just give support to those men and women on the front line that want to make sure tax payers are getting their moneys worth to get things done in the right way.

The storm shut down city ferry service and forced cancellation of 76% of the flights at JFK Airport, while all departures from Newark Liberty International Airport were canceled Saturday morning.

Flights both in and out of LaGuardia Airport also were stymied, though MTA CEO Janno Lieber said bus and train lines in the city were nearly fully operational.

Almost every station is (open), he said during Hochuls press conference. We suspended temporarily the last stretch to the Rockaways, but otherwise the system is in full gear.

The Long Island railroad and several MetroNorth lines were suspended, but were expected to reopen once the storm moves away and the shovels come out.

Hochul, who fondly remembered shoveling her neighbors homes as a child after big storms, plans to give Adams some tips on shoveling when she gets the chance.

You dont shovel with your hands, she advised. You shovel with your knees.



(The New York Daily News' Jessica Schladebeck contributed to this story.)


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Yakima County Commissioners said they are still discussing how a new state law governing the composition of health boards will be implemented locally.
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Not only was it a lie  yet another lie  but one steeped in racism and potentially lethal. In that, of course, its only what anyone who has been paying attention has come to expect from Donald Trump. This time, he was slandering New York, and New Yorkers  in particular, its leading Republicans  need to call him on it.

So far, they arent.

Speaking to an audience in Arizona this month, Trump told this vile whopper:

The left is now rationing life-saving therapeutics based on race, discriminating against and denigrating, just denigrating white people to determine who lives and who dies. If youre white, you dont get the vaccine, or if youre white you dont get therapeutics, he said. In fact, in New York State, if youre white, you have to go to the back of the line to get medical help. Think of it. If youre white you go right to the back of the line.

It was a lie, sprung from racism, but one that some people in Arizona and even New York might believe. Worse, it was a racist lie that could cost some people their lives if they wrongly believe they could be denied treatment for Covid-19 because of their race.

More than 150 years after the Civil War and nearly 60 years after passage of the Civil Rights Act, race remains a trouble spot in our national life. Yet Trump, caring only about his own interests, is trying to throw the country back decades. Countering it requires men and women of good character to speak up in defense of the country. Republicans, especially, need to counter the damage Trump is inflicting. Trumpists wont listen to anyone else.

Maybe theyre hoping no one will notice  or that New Yorkers and others will write it off as more vomitus from the ex-president they havent the guts to cross. Thats not good enough.

New York Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy should be outraged. If he is, hes doing it quietly. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New Yorks North Country is also silent. Yet, as No. 3 Republican House leader, she has clout. Rep. Lee Zeldin of eastern Long Island wants to be governor. He should care enough about New Yorks reputation to speak up. Reps. Chris Jacobs of Orchard Park and Tom Reed of Corning should be bold enough to tell this easy truth.

We know  even easy truths are hard for Republicans where Trump is concerned. But these people are supposed to be leaders. This is a moment to prove it.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
The past week was discouraging for the increasing number of Americans concerned about maintaining the integrity of elections.

Thats because of the way leaders of both parties have exacerbated, by word and deed, both the substance and perception of current federal and state voting problems.

The only current bright spot is the possibility that lawmakers will yet act in one key area  to prevent a repetition of last Januarys near disaster when supporters of Donald Trump tried to prevent congressional certification of the 2020 election results.

That action is long overdue. But it wont fully compensate for the ways the current situation is being made worse, not better. Here are three recent examples:

The Senates refusal to act on two far-ranging election reform bills passed earlier by the House: the Freedom to Vote Act, providing uniform online registration, curbs on congressional gerrymandering and voting guidelines for the states, and the bill named for civil rights icon John Lewis, restoring the Voting Rights Acts federal review powers prematurely terminated by the Supreme Court.

The main onus here is on Senate Republicans who refused to consider any aspects of the measure. But the situation was hardly helped by the resistance of moderate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to rules changes to facilitate action they claimed to favor.

President Joe Bidens unfortunate comments questioning the integrity of the 2022 elections if Congress fails to pass the two election reform measures. The White House later withdrew them but given Trumps repeated questioning of the 2020 elections fairness, the last thing Americans need is for the leaders of both parties  admittedly for different reasons  casting broad doubt about election integrity.

Their reasons are parallel, though different. Trumps unproven contentions of fraud, which have undermined GOP confidence in the voting system, stem mainly from objections to expanding voting, largely through relaxing absentee ballot rules. Bidens concerns stem from the federal failure to curb state restrictions that critics contend would reduce voting by minorities.

One negative impact of the new Texas election law was evident when several large counties rejected hundreds of applications for mail ballots on technical grounds like failure to include proper ID numbers. It prompted 10 Texas House members to urge the Justice Department to monitor the situation.

This is exactly the kind of problem Democratic opponents warned about when the new laws were passed. Both the new restrictions  and the secretary of states audit under pressure from Trump  are aimed at large metropolitan counties where increased minority populations have swelled Democratic turnouts.

Interestingly, both blocked Senate voting bills are popular with the public. Morning Consult polling in Politicos Playbook showed a majority favor the broader measures key provisions: expanding same-day registration, early voting, and voting by mail; automatic voter registration; prohibiting partisan gerrymandering; and making Election Day a federal holiday.

Similarly, a poll last fall by Navigator Research, a project of several progressive political organizations, showed that more than two-thirds back the voting rights bill, including half of Republicans.

Unfortunately, majority public support doesnt mean majority Senate support, where the Republicans 50% represents well under half of the American people.

Meanwhile, members of both parties are showing increased interest in amending the flawed 1887 Electoral Count Act.

They hope to prevent a repetition of what happened last January when Trump sought to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to ignore some state electoral vote certificates, a rampaging mob overran the marble halls of Congress, and dozens of Republican lawmakers signed onto Trumps false claims of election fraud in seeking to prevent Congress form certifying Bidens victory.

One goal would be to make clear that, in presiding over the joint session that counts the electoral votes, the vice presidents role is totally ceremonial.

Trump and his allies argued (but Pence rejected) that the vice president has discretion in deciding any challenged electoral votes. In fact, its up to the House and Senate members themselves.

Another useful change would be to amend the provision allowing the objections of a single senator and a single representative to force a debate and vote on accepting a states electoral votes. Members of both parties have taken advantage of that provision in recent certification sessions.

It should be strengthened to require objections from a substantial portion of members, perhaps one third of both the Senate and the House. Last year, only a handful of senators joined a majority of House Republicans in forcing debates and votes on the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Another useful change would limit challenges to situations with at least two legitimate claims to a states electors. In their zeal to overturn the popular results, the Trump campaign apparently drafted fraudulent statements from GOP electors in seven states, contending that Trump carried those states when in fact he lost.

Both Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have expressed openness recently toward doing something. Most importantly, a bipartisan group headed by Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins is working on the issue, raising hopes any revision could attract the 60 Senate votes needed to pass.

Still, even if Congress fixes this ambiguous law, public confidence in the nations electoral system will remain in doubt if party leaders continue to question it.
We cant find much of anything good to say about the 22-month siege weve all endured under COVID.

But fair is fair. And for all the people who accuse us of not presenting both sides on our opinion page, well grudgingly give this pandemic one grain of credit:

Its made the Yakima Valleys internet connectivity issues a top priority.

Weve all seen the problem firsthand. Few of us had even heard of Zoom two years ago, but now most of us grit our teeth and scowl at the mere mention of the name.

Since the pandemic hit, many of us have struggled to work remotely from our dining rooms or tried to help our kids keep up with schoolwork and somehow still stay connected to any sort of social life.

But in many Valley homes, internet access is downright lousy. Were simply not as wired as many other communities.

There are a lot of people that weve seen leave our college because they simply cannot deal with the frustration of trying to access all of the education materials that were providing online, Yakima Valley Colleges vice president for instruction, Jennifer Ernst, told the Yakima Herald-Republic the other day.

And seniors trying to connect with their doctors via the internet? Dont even get us started.

With so much of our lives now being conducted online, its become obvious to anyone who didnt realize it before: Our Valley has lagged behind most of the rest of the country for years when it comes to internet access and speed.

Look at Wi-Fi service on Yakama Nation lands, for example. Just 28% of the reservation even has access  and nearly everyone else there puts up with exasperatingly slow speeds. Its not a whole lot better in other far reaches of the county, either.

You cant blame internet providers. Setting up service of any sort  let alone high-speed access  is no cakewalk. Its expensive, complicated and it involves miles of red tape.

Still, lack of viable internet access hampers education and puts businesses at a competitive disadvantage  not counting local glass companies that might have seen a recent uptick in projects involving frustrated computer users hurling laptops or phones through windows.

But a new coalition of public officials from local health, education and government entities is attacking the problem head-on. The group got together last week for a connectivity summit organized by the Yakima Valley Broadband Action Team.

The groups goal is to identify the most pressing concerns about the lack of high-speed internet access, and then figure out ways to get the money theyll need to help solve the problems.

Theyre focusing on grants and going after a share of the $100 million set aside for broadband development in Washington state in the recently passed federal infrastructure bill.

The federal money, included in a bill that President Joe Biden has already signed, will be distributed to communities that can demonstrate a need for better broadband and can show that they have specific plans for how to use the funds.

The broadband coalitions work is a giant step in meeting those requirements.

Meantime, a dozen local public school districts are already in line for $88 million worth of urgently needed broadband funding through the federal American Rescue Plan  including more than $1.3 million for the Yakima School District alone, nearly $588,000 for Wapato, and about $472,000 for Mabton.

It all adds up to a lot of potential help for local students, workers and patients.

After years of waiting (and aggravating hours of watching for our home computers to connect), these are truly encouraging steps.
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At the Tata Car Showroom on Ujjain-Agar Road on January 25, two miscreants got into a ruckus with a car in the name of taking it for a test drive. However, due to the safety features of the car, the accused left it in Veerasavarkar Colony and it was returned to the company. Agar Road is the address of the showroom of Sanghi Brothers where the incident occurred. The showroom executive allowed the two buyers to test drive the Tata Altroz before making a purchase.

After completing all the formalities for the test drive, the accused and executive of the showroom, Vishnu Goyal, left for the test drive on Bhairavgad Road. After walking some distance, the young man driving noticed that there was something wrong in the car and asked Vishnu to check it. As soon as Vishnu got out of the car, both accused flew off with the car. The dealership was immediately informed. After this, a police complaint was filed with Chimanganj Mandi Police.

On the morning of January 26, someone told the police that the car was parked in Veer Savarkar Nagar during the investigation. Afterward, the police and employees of the company went to retrieve the car. However, both accused fled the scene. The incident was also captured on CCTV. There is a video showing both accused doing observations in the car showroom.

Read also: Yamaha launches updated YZF-25 motorcycle in two new colour options

Ragini Shahi, the company's regional manager, said that cars are now being equipped with more safety features. When the accused took the car, he must have stopped it somewhere after starting it with a push button. Since the sensor key for the car was with Vishnu at the time, the thieves could not start it again, so they fled after keeping the car in Veer Savarkar Nagar.

SI Karan Kunwal from Chimanganj Mandi police station confirmed that the car stolen in the incident has been confiscated. The names of those who fled with the car have been revealed. This matter will be disclosed soon by the police.

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An Air New Zealand aircraft Boeing 787-9, had to be diverted to Hong Kong. The diversion had to b made because there were suspicions of a cracking windshield inflight. The Dreamliner took off from Christchurch and was heading towards Guangzhou while operating to NZ1082.

The pilots feared the windscreen had a crack and requested an emergency landing in Hong Kong, according to Hong Kong's The Standard. The jet was over the South China Sea and approaching Hong Kong when it began to stray from its typical flight path. The operational Dreamliner, ZK-NZH, was travelling at 41,000 feet to the west of the Philippines when it began to gently fall about 5,000 feet. As the plane approached Hong Kong, it plummeted to 22,000 feet and began circling over the water south of the city.

According to the Standard, Hong Kong ATC dispatched emergency personnel to the runway. ZK-NZH, on the other hand, landed successfully on runway 07R with no injuries to anyone on board. The Dreamliner is still in Hong Kong twenty-four hours after arriving.

Read also: Watch: Tata-owned Air India's pilot calls the first flight a "historic moment"

As per the reports the flight was carrying more than 24 tonnes of Cargo. The reports add that Air New Zealand is waiting for a replacement window coming from Boeing in Singapore. The flight ZK-NZH is supposed to return to Auckland after the repairs are done.

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According to aviation industry sources, Vistara has cancelled and rescheduled a significant number of its February flights during the last few days. In recent days, many of the affected passengers have expressed their difficulty getting in touch with Vistara customer service on social media.

Nonetheless, the spokesperson for Vistara told PTI that the airline is adjusting "capacity to demand" due to the "volatility" in the Indian aviation market caused by the COVID-19 wave and the resulting restrictions from the states.

During the last 48 hours, ISRO scientist Shibasish Prusty has tweeted that his flight from Delhi to Bhubaneswar has been canceled and that Vistara's customer care number has been busy.

Read also: Want to experience Tata's Maharaja experience on Air India? Board these flights

Vistara has cancelled another passenger's flight for Delhi-Kolkata for February 12 and unresponsive customer service representatives are answering his calls. This report comes from Arpit Singh Khurana on Twitter.

Cancer patient Pronab Kumar Mandal said on Saturday that he will need chemotherapy on February 9, but Vistara canceled his flight from Kolkata to Mumbai on February 8. Throughout the last two days, Mandal said he has been trying to contact the airline.

According to Mohammed Dawood, his Delhi-Kolkata flight for February 10 has been canceled without any option for rescheduling. "Now, fare cost is double and your customer service is extremely unhelpful, even the call doesn't get connected," he told. The airline has not responded to his calls, tweets, emails, and tweets since Sunday afternoon, he tweeted.

Sanjit Kumar Das, a Vistara passenger, said on Sunday afternoon that his Bhubaneswar-Delhi flight has been cancelled and he has attempted to reach customer service "without any luck".

Vistara spokesperson told PTI about the rescheduling and cancellation of February flights, "After a sharp decline in demand for air travel, due to the surge in COVID-19 numbers and restrictions imposed by various state governments, we are observing a marginal increase in traffic in February compared to the previous month."

The spokesperson also added, "However, in view of the volatility, we continue to closely monitor the situation and adjust capacity to demand."

The airline is offering to waive the change fee for one-time rescheduling on all direct bookings with travel until March 31 in order to minimize customers' inconvenience, the spokesperson explained. They do not include tickets booked through travel agents like MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Cleartrip, etc.

According to a spokesperson, "We are also assisting the impacted customers with rescheduling, refunds etc., as applicable. We have also advised and empowered our travel agent partners to extend support to customers, as and when required."

With inputs from PTI

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What the papers say  December 8 (PA) (PA Archive)

Saturdays papers feature stories on the pandemic, a royal development and more Colston controversy.

The Daily Mail runs an exclusive interview with alleged Jeffrey Epstein victim Carolyn Andriano. Ms Andriano, who testified against Ghislaine Maxwell last month, said Virginia Giuffre told her in 2001 that she slept with the Duke of York

The Financial Times features comments from two former pensions ministers pressuring Chancellor Rishi Sunak to revisit his decision last year to suspend the triple lock on annual state pension increases.

Just published: Front page of the FTWeekend, UK edition, for Saturday-Sunday 8/9 January pic.twitter.com/54oggmQS5a  Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) January 7, 2022

The Times has splashed Admiral Sir Tony Radakins first interview as head of the armed forces on its front page, with the senior Navy officer warning of the threat of Russia destroying underwater communication cables.

TIMES: New defence chief warns of Russian threat at sea #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/UpNLqAf5Q6  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) January 7, 2022

The Independent reports on accusations that the attorney general Suella Braverman is playing politics by suggesting she may refer the Colston statue case to the Court of Appeal, taking issue with a jury verdict that cleared protestors of criminal damage.

Story continues

INDEPENDENT DIGITAL: Ministers playing games with law on Colston case #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/VFFUJ0IYO6  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) January 7, 2022

The Guardian adds lawyers are concerned by the fact Ms Braverman did not specify a point of law she was concerned about in the case.

Guardian front page, Saturday 8 January: Lawyers sound alarm at Tory 'meddling' over Colston case pic.twitter.com/o2R6OnnVob  The Guardian (@guardian) January 7, 2022

The Daily Express reports UK households have saved up 1.7 trillion during the pandemic due to worries over rising bills.

Tomorrow's front page: Fearful Britons sitting on cash pile of 1.7 trillion#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/2wSfSekIZF  Daily Express (@Daily_Express) January 7, 2022

The Daily Telegraph leads with the JCVI decision that there is no immediate need to introduce a fourth jab.

The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:



'Fourth jabs won't be necessary, say experts'#TomorrowsPapersToday



Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/dqccu3Rlk4  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 7, 2022

The Daily Mirror reports the travel industry is experiencing a bookings boom as restrictions for the fully vaccinated are eased.

The i says record numbers of workers left the NHS in 2021, with the ongoing pandemic mounting continuing pressure on health workers.

I WEEKEND: NHS exodus: medics leave en masse after grim two years #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/SmtLfA8C4v  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) January 7, 2022

The Sun reports television star Denise van Outen has broken up with her fiance over a cheating scandal.

THE SUN: EXCLUSIVE: Denise ditches phone sex fiance #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/4bNUNYEeQ6  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) January 7, 2022

And the Daily Star says broadcaster Eamon Holmes hopes to cure his back pain with a magical stick.
A landmark event took place in the history of Air India as it returned home to the Tata Group after 69 years. Tata acquired 100 percent stake in Air India on January 27, and completed a full circle.

Hopes are high as all eyes are on the Tata Group to change the fortune of the airlines. So if you are ready to experience the famed maharaja experience the Tata way, then pack your bags to board on below mentioned flights.

The enhanced services will be initially offered in flights AI864 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI687 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI945 (Mumbai-Abu Dhabi) and AI639 (Mumbai-Bengaluru), flights. Apart from these, these services will also be served on Mumbai-Newark flight and five Mumbai-Delhi flights. Soon, Tata will extend these services to other international and domestic flights.

Read also: Air New Zealand 787 makes diverted landing due to cracked windscreen

What exact changes can be expected from the Tata Group to be implemented? Heres a list:

Smart and well-groomed cabin crew members

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.

Better on-time performance of flights

Since on-time performance is extremely important, all endeavors will have to be made by the crew members to ensure that the doors are closed 10 minutes before the flight's departure.

Calling passengers as "guests"

The employees have been told by the Tata Group that there will be a change in "image, attitude and perception" of Air India, they said. Cabin crew members have been instructed to address all passengers as "guests" and cabin crew supervisors will have to ensure safety and service standards provided to the guests, they noted.

Enhanced in-flight meal service

Enhanced meal service will be provided to passengers in selected flights in the initial days post the takeover. This enhanced meal service will be expanded to passengers in all Air India flights in a phased manner.

Consolidated network

Air India is India's biggest international airliner and now has over 200 aircraft and over 80 domestic and international destinations. The group now 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.

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New Delhi: Online travel platform Easemy Trip on Sunday reported an 83.8 per cent jump in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 40.42 crore in the third quarter ended on December 31, 2021.

The company had posted a profit after tax of Rs 22 crore in the same period last fiscal, the company said in a statement.

Gross bookings revenue (GBR) in the period under review stood at Rs 1,293 crore as compared to Rs 783 crore in the year-ago quarter, up by 65 per cent, it added.

Air segment booking grew 49 per cent and hotel nights booking grew by 144 per cent during the quarter.

Commenting on the performance, Easemy Trip Co-Founder Prashant Pitti said despite the challenges posed by the second and third wave of the pandemic, the company continued to deliver robust growth in one of the most disruptive periods for the travel and tourism industry.

"This was possible due to the increase in operational efficiencies and our model of working on lean cost of operations," he added.

On the outlook, Pitti said, "We are now extremely bullish about the strong pent- up demand in the travel industry."

He further said, "We will continue to strengthen on all fronts and are confident that our continued focus on financial and operational efficiency will help us to achieve sustainable business growth in the coming quarters as well."

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India will take on West Indies in three ODIs and an equal number of T20Is from February 6. The action begins with ODIs, with the first game to be played at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.

India's new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma will finally take charge of the team. He missed the ODIs in South Africa due to injury and the upcoming series will be his first assignment as the full-time captain of India's white-ball teams.

There is a strong possibility that Rishabh Pant will be named the vice-captain for the first ODI. KL Rahul was named the vice-captain for the South Africa tour and with Rohit missing, he led the team. However, the result was not too sweet as the team lost 0-3 to the Proteas.

But Rahul is missing the first ODI and as a result, Pant could be given the charge. This development has been confirmed by a BCCI source.

"See, its a matter of just a match as KL will join in from the 2nd game. Both Shikhar and Rishabh could be able deputies. Rishabh as a wicketkeeper anyway has a lot of say in captaincy decisions for reviews and field setting. If they feel the need of a vice-captain, either of them can fill in the shoes, a top BCCI official told InsideSport.

All eyes will also be on Virat Kohli, who will be playing, for the first time, under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. His fans are hoping for another version of Kohli as he enters a third phase of his India career. His farewell was not too nice and Kohli would be itching to shut the noise and also get to his 71st international ton, which is pending for a long time now.
New Delhi: The government should look at according priority status to the healthcare segment while increasing the public expenditure on the sector to at least 3 per cent of the GDP in the upcoming Union Budget.

As per the leading healthcare providers in the country in the private sector, the government should also consider continuation of tax incentives, upgradation of medical facilities in smaller towns and skilling of workforce in the Budget.

"The government had rightly placed health and well-being as the first of the six pillars in the Union Budget 2021 and the focus must continue in 2022 too. Firstly, the outlay for healthcare infrastructure to be increased further...Facilities in tier 2-3 towns need to be equipped with diagnosis centres, ventilators, ICUs, critical care facilities and oxygen plants," Fortis Healthcare MD and CEO Ashutosh Raghuvanshi noted.

There is an urgent need to allocate a separate budget for a national campaign around preventive health, testing and screening as these are key to reducing the overall disease burden in India, he added.

"Healthcare should be accorded priority status so that the sector can derive benefit from the GST transition and providers and healthcare service delivery institutions can avail loans at lower rates and extended tenure. It is also essential that the government reduces duty and cess for critical care and life saving equipment and drugs to reduce costs for both providers and patients," Raghuvanshi said.

Apollo Hospitals Group Executive Vice Chairperson Preetha Reddy said the immediate priorities must include taking up public expenditure on health to at least 3 per cent of GDP, a concerted thrust on encouraging investments that bridge gaps in infrastructure and resources and also efforts to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies.

"These actions are pivotal building blocks of an Atmanirbhar healthcare ecosystem. Also, more than ever before, at this point in time, the people of India are looking to the Union Budget 2022-23 to chart a transformational course in nurturing good health for all and also to be able to access best in class healthcare at all times," she stated.

Apollo Hospitals Group Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy said that the pandemic has shown the potential of India to become a global centre for R&D in drugs and vaccines.

"Tax incentives should also be extended to R&D as this would encourage further innovation in healthcare. Another key area that the budget needs to address is skilling of healthcare workers. This will help to address the manpower challenge that we face and bring India up to par with the recommended ratio in terms of trained doctors and nurses," she added.

Asia Healthcare Holdings Executive Chairman Vishal Bali said the multiple waves of the pandemic have exposed India's demand supply gap in healthcare across infrastructure, people, technology.

"Budget' 2022 must remain focused on increased allocation to the healthcare sector and fast track the bridging of the gap. Public healthcare spending on healthcare needs urgent reform and a clear allocation of 2.5 per cent of GDP in real terms and not under consolidation of allocations to various schemes and departments related to health and sanitation," he noted.

Park Group of Hospitals Managing Director Ankit Gupta said incentives should be provided to the private sector to establish Covid care centres.

A medical innovation fund should be set up to provide capital to companies promoting digital healthcare infrastructure, he added.

Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals Founder & Director Suchin Bajaj said with the pandemic still around, the focus should be on increasing the healthcare budget.

Elaborating further, Pfizer India CFO Milind Patil noted: "We hope the government will rationalise the GST rates, in order to enable the reduced cost of treatments for patients.

Since it is planning to merge the GST rates of 12 per cent and 18 per cent, the pharmaceutical products a majority of which are charged at 12 per cent, while some are charged at 5 per cent should be taxed at a single merit rate of 5 per cent."

This will reduce the burden of healthcare costs on the middle-income group and help improve affordability, he added. Also Read: Bank Holidays in February: Banks to remain shut for 12 days next month, check important dates

Venus Remedies President (Global Critical Care) Saransh Chaudhary noted that all the material procured by pharma firms for R&D purposes should be exempted from customs duty and GST. Also Read: How to check if Rs 500 note is real or fake? Follow RBIs 17-point checklist to check authenticity

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New Delhi: Indias healthcare sector needs a shot in the arm. The last two years have been extremely challenging for healthcare - exposing its vulnerabilities and at the same time showcasing how rollout of successful healthcare programs can prove to be a saviour. A case in point is achieving the historic feat of administering 1.5 billion Covid vaccines in January 2022 by leveraging technology to organise and streamline access to Covid vaccines.

As Covid moves from a pandemic phase to endemic, there is hope for an increased thrust and spending on the healthcare sector to at least 2.5% of the GDP this year from 1.8% to build and upgrade medical infrastructure, improve healthcare funding and train healthcare workers.

Building public-private healthcare models and investment in Digital Health, including telemedicine, will be key in implementing this as well making healthcare accessible to all, specially providing care to regions with short supply of doctors.

To ease the burden on hospitals, the Union Budget should incentivise digital health models which enable out-of-hospital care, telemedicine, remote monitoring and home care. This can be done by encouraging healthcare startups in these areas via tax breaks and investment.

A healthcare innovation fund should also be set up to provide capital to companies building digital healthcare infrastructure. There are already numerous startups in the digital health space building health records, providing doctor teleconsultations and utilising artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide detailed reports to patients regarding medical conditions and treatment. Increased allocation in the Union Budget for promotion of telemedicine, home-based healthcare and national digital health mission implementation will definitely help in building a strong healthcare ecosystem in the country.

However at the same time, this needs to be accompanied with a thrust on training and upgradation of medical infrastructure.

The shortage of skilled healthcare workers was evident during the Covid pandemic. There is a need for capacity building, training and skilling for manpower to provide quality care to patients. This is not just at medical facilities. Increasingly, especially elders and the vulnerable parts of the population, will be seeking home healthcare services, driving demand for skilled healthcare workers. There should be a focus in the upcoming Union Budget on incorporating elder care in our primary health systems.

There is also a definite need for more public private partnership (models) to increase healthcare capacity and care. This would include local manufacturing of PPEs, healthcare equipment and devices. Initiatives that encourage local technology-driven innovations in the field of medical devices are critical.

India has ambitions to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and steps towards building a robust healthcare infrastructure and consequently a healthier and more productive population will definitely help in getting us there.

By Atul Gandhi, Founder- Seva at Home
New Delhi: Five terrorists including a top self-styled commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit were killed in two separate overnight encounters in Pulwama and Budgam districts of the Kashmir valley, the officials informed on Sunday (January 30).

Here is all you need to know about this big story:

1. a joint press conference IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, and GoC of the army's Victor Force, Major General Prashant Srivastava informed that gunfights broke out on Saturday in Pulwama and Budgam districts after the security forces received specific inputs about the presence of terrorists.

2. Four JeM terrorists were killed in the encounter in Naira area of Pulwama, while one ultra of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed in Chrar-i-Sharief area of the central Kashmir's Budgam district, officials said. One AK56 rifle was recovered from the encounter site in Budgam.

3. JeM chief Zahid Wani along with one Pakistani terrorist identified as Kafeel and two others were killed in Pulwama.

4. Zahid Wani was a top commander of the Jaish. His brother was involved in the Ban Plaza attack (in Jammu) and is in jail. Wani was active since 2017, involved in several killings, recruitment. After the killing of Sameer Dar, he became the district commander of JeM. In fact, he was the Jaish chief of the whole valley. It was a good operation and I want to congratulate the security forces, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar was quoted as saying by PTI.

5. GoC Victor Force said the Pulwama operation was a part of the series of human intelligence-based operations that have been carried out in the jurisdiction of the Army's 15 Corps in the past few months.

6. "With this success, we have taken a very important step in neutralising the threat of JeM in this area. With the neutralising of Wani, we have eliminated one of the masterminds of various IED attacks that have taken place over the years since 2017," Maj Gen Srivastava said. He further said that Wani was involved in "extensive recruitment" of young boys into militancy. GoC Victor Force added, "He (Wani) misled them to their untimely death and caused a lot of anguish to the families and the people who are residing in this area. His elimination will provide a lot of relief to the residents of the district and indeed in the entire J-K."

7. IGP Kumar said the owner of the house at Naira Pulwama where the encounter took place, will be booked under UAPA.

8. Kumar exclaimed that it was for the first time that the number of terrorists has dropped below 200.

9. In the month of January, 11 encounters have taken place across the Kashmir Valley. And in these operations, 21 terrorists have been killed so far. Out of these killed terrorists, 8 are said to be foreigners mostly belonging to Pakistan.

10. Earlier security forces in Kashmir Valley had said that their focus for the year 2022 will be killing all foreign terrorists in the Kashmir Valley. They believe these foreign terrorists are responsible for the recruitment of youth into the terror outfits and training them.

(With inputs from Idrees Lone and PTI)

Live TV
Baghdad: Six militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group were killed on Saturday, including an IS local leader, in an airstrike in Iraq`s eastern province of Diyala, a security source has said.

Based on intelligence reports, the Iraqi warplanes carried out an airstrike on an IS position in the Udheim area in the northern part of Diyala province, Xinhua news agency quoted Colonel Ehab Mohammed from the Iraqi army as saying.

The airstrike killed six IS militants, including a local IS leader, Mohammed said.

The provinces that the IS militants had previously controlled have witnessed their intense activities during the past months, despite repeated military operations to hunt them down.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the Iraqi forces defeated the IS in 2017. However, IS remnants have since melted into urban centres, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.

Live TV
New Delhi: On the occasion of Martyrs Day, which marks Mahatma Gandhis death anniversary, Union Minister Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (January 30) unveiled a mural of Gandhi Ji at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Gujarat`s Ahmedabad city.

Images by news agency show, Shah unveiling the mural and weaving Charkha, an inseparable symbol of Gandhi Jis Swadesi campaign.

Gujarat | Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveils the mural of Mahatma Gandhi at the Sabarmati Riverfront, Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/etSDIAtbbs  ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2022

Taking to Twitter, Home Minister`s Office (HMO) made the announcement regarding the event on Saturday.

"Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will unveil the Mural of Mahatma Gandhi Ji at the Sabarmati Riverfront, Ahmedabad Gujarat t 10 am on January 30," HMO tweeted.

India observes `Shaheed Divas` or Martyrs` Day on January 30 and March 23 to pay homage to the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for their motherland.

The Day is observed every year on January 30 to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and to honour his contribution to the freedom of the country.

On January 30, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse at Gandhi Smriti in Birla house.

On the occasion of Martyr`s Day, the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, the CDS of India and the three Service Chiefs gather at the Samadhi at Raj Ghat Memorial.

According to the directions of the central government, two minutes of silence is observed in all states and Union Territories on January 30.

Live TV
New Delhi: A 14-year-old boy was apprehended on Saturday (January 30, 2022) in connection with an incident where a woman was allegedly abducted, gangraped and paraded by her attackers in east Delhi's Kasturba Nagar, officials said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said the last accused in the case, a 14-year-old juvenile involved in the alleged sexual assault of the woman, was apprehended on Saturday.

All accused (eight women, three minor boys and a man) named in the FIR have been nabbed, he added.

An auto-rickshaw used for the abduction of the victim has also been seized, the DCP said.

A 10-member special investigation team (SIT) under an ACP rank officer has been formed for speedy and proper investigation of the crime, Sathiyasundaram said.

On Wednesday, a woman was allegedly abducted, gangraped and paraded on the streets of Kasturba Nagar by the accused. Her hair was chopped, face blackened and a shoe garlanded around her neck.

Earlier, police had said the preliminary investigation indicated that 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 blamed the victim (woman) for it. The family alleged that it was because of her that the boy took the extreme step. To exact revenge on her, the family members allegedly abducted her. They wanted to teach her a lesson," a senior police official had said.

In her complaint to the police, the woman alleged that she was abducted by the family members, 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 had said.

Live TV
Agra: Union minister Smriti Irani said the Congress party was "missing" before the elections and is also "missing" now as it has "accepted" defeat in the polls.

The Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development was in Agra for a door-to-door campaign for BJP candidates.

She took a dig at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi's 'Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon' campaign, while also indirectly attacking Rahul Gandhi, "Priyanka is indicating there is a boy at home, who cannot fight."

She said the BJP government is coming to power again as people are supporting it. "The SP, Congress, BSP are furious due to the support of the people to the BJP."

"The Congress party was missing before the election and also missing during the UP elections. They have accepted the defeat," she told reporters.

Irani said she has seen concern among people that "some criminals sheltered by the SP have threatened people, party workers and society in some constituencies".

She said that after the result of the election, the BJP government will act strictly against criminals as the current government has done through its five-year rule.

The BJP government is committed to women's safety and would remain so in the future too. "And because of that the candidates of the party, representatives and party workers are getting support and blessings from the sisters."

Live TV
This is a CIDR22 paper by Pat Helland. It is a long paper at 18 pages, followed by 12 pages of appendix. Since he wrote such a long paper, I won't apologize for writing a long review.



This is a Pat Helland paper, so it is full of Hellandisms. Pat's papers are always remarkable, distinct. There is a lot of wisdom in them. So, in case there could be any doubt about this, let me preface this review by saying that I learn a lot from Pat's papers, and I am grateful to Pat for teaching me and the community.





Problem and scope

Jitter refers to probabilistic response times, message latencies in networks. In big data processing systems it is easy to deal with jitter by retrying stragglers, in fact this has been suggested in the MapReduce paper.

But the same approach does not apply to databases, where we don't have the same idempotency affordances. Databases should be transactionally correct!



The paper presents a hypothetical design (meaning this is not implemented). The design explores techniques to dampen application visible jitter in a database system running in a cloud datacenter where most of the servers are responsive. The goal of the paper is not to define a super-scalable SQL system, but to scale to tens of servers with predictable response time while running in a largely unpredictable environment.



The design further restricts the question to transactions using snapshot isolation. Snapshot isolation transactions can do independent changes to the database as long as there are no conflicting updates and each transaction sees only snapshot reads. The question then becomes, can these two things be accomplished without stalling behind jittery servers?



In distributed systems, even (especially?) when you forget the question, quorums are the answer. This design also leverages quorums right and left to solve the jitter problem. If all but the recent data is kept in shared storage in the cloud and we can read it without jittering (thanks to quorums), and that already solves the jitter-free snapshot reads (with respect to a past/old time) aspect of snapshot isolation. Let's jump into the architecture to see where else it uses quorums. Answer, almost everywhere.



Then we will discuss the other pieces of the puzzle, seniority timestamps (hybrid logical clocks really) generated via synchronized clocks, and confluence to deal with partially-ordered updates.





Architecture





In this architecture, five different types of servers do different jobs. (That's too much for my taste, and I will discuss about this after introducing these.) Work happens by generating new record-versions and reading the correct record-versions for snapshot reads.



Worker servers are database servers. Incoming DB-connections feed in SQL requests. Execution, reads, and updates happen in worker servers. Workers log to their own log in shared storage.



Coordinator servers help avoid conflicting updates as transactions commit and help locate recent changes for snapshot reads.



Data storage servers hold replicas of data files with DB data.



Log storage servers hold replicas of the log extents used for appending to the logs.



As data ages, it migrates to a key-value store in shared storage implemented as an LSM (Log Structured Merge System). The catalog maps key-ranges to stored data and its location in shared-storage. Catalog servers track metadata for workers, log-storage and data-storage. They manage worker's log extents and replicas.





In this decoupled transactions database architecture, each record update creates a new record-version that layers atop earlier record-versions and is visible to transactions with later snapshot times. Record-versions older than a few minutes or so are in shared storage and are visible to all database servers in the database. Recent record-versions are found within the worker performing the transaction that created them. Snapshot read semantics are provided by reading the latest record-version that committed prior to the readers snapshot time.



Whereabouts of recent updates are obtained from coordinators at the beginning of each transaction. Each whereabouts entry describes a possible recent update made by a worker-server. Coordinators provide guidance to locate recent record-versions within worker server(s).



Tables are implemented by creating record-versions with unique primary keys for each row by concatenating Table-ID for the table, and the SQL defined unique primary-key comprising an ordered set of the table's columns. Finding record-versions for a snapshot is described but I was unable to get a clear picture of how this works as Sections 2.3 to 2.7 were not easy to follow.





This is of course first cut architecture figure. The paper identifies many risks for jitter in this architecture.



Risk #1: Worker to coordinator

Risk #2: Workers appending to their log

Risk #3: Workers reading data-files

Risk #4: Worker to catalog

Risk #5: Asking other workers for recent record-versions

Risk #6: Reading a slow worker's log to side-step it. If a worker can't respond about its recent updates, we look in its log. This, too, has risks of jitter we must avoid.



The solution? Quorum the shit out of each component. Here is the updated diagram. Note that coordinator, catalog, and log storage subsystems are all quorumed.





Discussion about the architecture

Here is what I think about the architecture.



Workers are a good idea for horizontally scaling the compute. Coordinator (coordinator quorum) is a good idea to manage the transaction disputes.



The thing I don't like is having separate data storage servers, log storage servers, and catalog servers? The dual nature of recent data versus old data complicates the design unnecessarily. Most recent data is in workers and workers learn this from coordinators and talk to other workers to get them when needed? This workers-to-workers communication is a source of bottleneck, and also a big jitter risk due to a worker being unavailable. (The paper tries to address this, but I don't buy the arguments, and will discuss why at the end.)



Why not just use learner servers implemented as a distributed key-value store which we can partition (via distributed hash tables) for horizontal scaling. That will simplify the architecture significantly. Just put a durable distributed journal before hitting these learners. (Delos work is just one example. Note that it is also implemented via quorums at loglet level.)



Another advantage of the journal approach is that it is more scalable for reading. Quorum reads do not scale. Reading from majority (if you define quorum as majority as in most work) of nodes keeps the load on each node (fine majority, but at limit we cannot overrun the capacity of single node which majority quorums intersect). You can beat this limit by dividing the shard smaller, but that also gets cumbersome and has costs. Instead journal approach helps here, you can read from one node and scale the reads better. Many systems use this approach.





Seniority: a disorderly order

Ok, moving on to the other pieces of the puzzle: Seniority.

The paper says: "Happened before is always jittery! Messages between servers flow through single servers. Each server may possibly jitter." I don't get this, actually. It would be nice to explain the perceived problem in more detail. Using happened before (e.g., via vector clocks) you can have causal-consistency in an available manner.



The paper says: "Seniority of transactions can be jitter-free!" While Section 3 keeps the reader in the dark about what this "seniority" might be, finally in Section 4 it is defined as follows: "Seniority in our system comes from transactions and their commit time. Commit time is a logical time that advances without jitter and without any special hardware in servers or the network. Worker servers and coordinator servers have their own clocks that may be out of sync. Logical time is calculated at each server based on the time from their own clocks along with an adjustment to align the servers local clock to the system-wide logical time. Logical time is monotonic."



This sounds similar to hybrid logical clocks. While the paper calls this loosely synchronized clocks, at some point it is revealed that the precision is not that loose, and may not be available in many deployments. "Decoupled transactions needs less precision, perhaps 10s to 100s of microseconds."



The transaction commit time is the same as the permission-to-commit logical time. It is written in the transactions commit record. This becomes the transactions seniority. Seniority uses quorum to know a fuzzy beginning and a fuzzy retirement of items in the system. Transactions are partially ordered by seniority. Requests arriving too late are rejected. To commit: workers guess a transaction's seniority and coordinators confirm that seniority.



Clock skew does not cause incorrect behavior. Partial order is guaranteed by messages that happened before each other. When coordinators' logical times have large skew, some coordinators may receive requests for operations too late. The operation still may become complete-quorum if Q of N coordinator process it on time. Either the N coordinators' jitter resistance tolerates this or the worker is forced to select a time farther in the future, impacting the latency of operations. For this reason, the decoupled transactions database behaves best when the coordinators have a small skew between their logical times.







Confluence: adding clarity to fuzzy quorums

"Quorum is awesome : It's fast even when servers jitter.

Quorum is also awful : It's messy, fuzzy, and jumbled."





Here the paper double-clicks on the second part. Quorums can show some surprising results. Subsytem quorum-servers may see weird things: Quorum-servers each see only some of the successful operations. Subsystem clients (inside workers) may see weird things: Servers may give very different answers to an operation (because they've seen different things). There is a need to cope with intermittently included operations, and confluence comes to the rescue.



Confluence (using seniority) is the lynchpin of this design. Quorum avoids jitter but creates a jumbled execution. Confluence (via seniority) resolves the confusion of the jumbled execution. Three tricks are used to build confluent operations:

Disjoint: If two operations have nothing to do with each other, they are reorderable.

Sent by a single client

Some intrinsic partial order



Quorum confluent solutions understand does not exist. Items can be retired using their seniority. As far as I can understand this is just the low-watermark idea. As quorum-clients and quorum-servers track retirement age, retired items can be reclaimed.





Discussion about seniority and confluence



Distributed systems community have been doing this for a while now. This type of doing transactions has been very popular after the TAPIR paper, "Building Consistent Transactions with Inconsistent Replication (SOSP'15)". There have been several followup work (Google Scholar shows 180+ citations) to the TAPIR idea where the data is first replicated to a quorum of replicas for durable multiversion storage (timestamped with loosely synchronized clocks), and order is derived from the quorums nodes post facto. Using low watermark for retiring things have been also explored in depth in these work.



The paper does not cite the TAPIR work. Pat has not followed up with distributed systems literature on this, but it is great that he is coming to the same conclusions coming from databases side.





Flipping FLP and Paxos comparison discussion

The paper discusses about how this architecture can sidestep Fischer-Lynch-Patterson(FLP) impossibility result and avoid drawbacks of Paxos. I will, of course, take issue with these.



Pat finishes his presentation with this line. "I don't agree with consensus: total order is brittle -> partial order provides more robust solutions."



Consensus/Paxos doesn't mean total order. It just means durable consistent decision on something. Partial order is OK in many Paxos variants, going as far back as to the Generalized Paxos paper in 2004.



It is also possible to have client-side (opportunistic leader single decree) Paxos consensus+commit protocol for implementing those workers. Paxos doesn't prescribe going with the same stable leader. Not at all.



Now let's move on to the flipping FLP discussion.



The paper says: "While FLP, the Fischer-Lynch-Patterson Impossibility Result remains undeniably true, we can build systems that sidestep the problem. FLP assumes that all visibility into the server is via direct messaging. For cases, like database worker-servers, where the server must log its progress to a replicated log before responding, we can see the health of the server by looking at its log. The log uses quorum and we can check its progress without jitter. We can deterministically know if a server is sick or dead in an asynchronous network."



This is simply assuming the issue affects only F out of N nodes. FLP asynchrony window does not work like that. It is also hard to make a practical case for that since "Network is [not] reliable" as Bailis and Kingsbury argue in detail. FLP asynchrony window talks about that worse case windows when normal message latencies on network channels don't apply.





The paper says: "Paxos ensures a single new value is agreed across a quorum of servers. This is a linear order of new values. Paxos is safe because any new agreed value will be seen by all participants. It is not live since agreeing on a new value cannot be guaranteed in bounded time. Paxos leverages quorum and confluence but does so in a jittery fashion. Confluence comes from the order of proposals within the Paxos algorithm. Paxos uses both quorum and confluence but makes a different tradeoff than we do here. We choose to have fuzzy state transitions as items come into existence and retire. Paxos chooses to have crisp and clear transitions to new values at the expense of introducing liveness challenges."



Paxos is live outside a full asynchrony window that may occasionally occur in any distributed system. I am assuming the paper says Paxos is not live, because of the leader dueling under that transitory asynhrony window in FLP. Even in that fully asynchronous period, it is possible that probabilistic single leader may sneak in and finish. It is just not guaranteed. In that fully asynchronous window, nothing can be guaranteed anyways. The decoupled transactions architecture explained here is bound by the same laws of distributed systems in this asynchronous window.



FLP does not apply to atomic storage, but is this just atomic storage? There is some learning that needs to happen to solve the transaction commit problem, and that requires consensus. So this cannot escape what FLP incurs on Paxos. You will be bitten. The question is where will you get bitten?



I think in this architecture it is the worker. The worker is doing the learning and closing the deal. This is still consensus and governed by FLP, asynchronous impossibility. Worker may die, they may not figure it out for sometime, and they start it again at another worker, and transaction happens. The paper acknowledges this and says: If the worker jitters, kill the worker, fence & repair log, read record. How do you detect if it jitters in an asynch system? What is the cut-off point to detect this? Let me repeat that, in asynchronous system how do you identify the slow worker, what is the cut-off point to detect this? This is where the FLP rears its head again. Maybe some of this progress argument is also swept to clock synchronization, that is just relegating the problem to another level of indirection. FLP is still there in that asynchronous window. In that window, you are under FLP jurisdiction. Absolutely the same deal with Paxos! Gray failure for the leader in Paxos is just transposed to the gray failure in worker problem. (As I mentioned above many Paxos variants don't use a stable leader, but use clients/workers in a leaderless/opportunistic manner in leader role. This makes the transposition much clearer.)


Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 29)  The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded eight "very weak" phreatomagmatic bursts at Taal Volcano on Saturday.

Phivolcs said the bursts - which happened between 1:18 p.m. and 9:57 p.m. - lasted for only 10 seconds to two minutes.

Volcanic plumes measuring 400 to 900 meters tall were also detected by thermal cameras around the Taal Lake, according to Phivolcs.

Taal remains under Alert Level 2, which means gas-driven explosions and emission of volcanic gas can happen, and may affect areas within the volcano.

Human activities in Taal Lake and in the volcano's main crater are also still prohibited.

Phivolcs said the volcano located in Batangas tallied daily average of 10,668 tonnes of sulfur dioxide emission this year. The highest so far was last Jan. 27 with 18,705 tonnes.

The agency, however, added there were no volcanic earthquakes recorded since Dec. 19 last year.

"Taal Volcano Island has been deflating since October 2021, based on continuous GPS monitoring," Phivolcs said.
New Delhi: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday (January 30) said that farmers will observe "Betrayal Day" on Monday over farm issues.

The national spokesperson of BKU, an influential north Indian farmers' union, said that the protest was withdrawn on the basis of a letter of promises by the Central government on December 9 but those remain unfulfilled.

"A nation-wide 'Betrayal Day' will be observed on January 31 because of government's betrayal to farmers. The movement was suspended on the basis of a letter given by the government on December 9 but those promises have not been fulfilled, Tikait said in a tweet in Hindi.

Talking to ANI, Tikait said the Centre should fulfill their promise on MSP, adding that they should also revoke cases against farmers registered during the year-long protest.

Farmers began their protest at Delhi borders under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) in November 2020 over the main demand of withdrawal of three contentious farm laws introduced by the BJP-led Centre, along with a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) of crops.

In November 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the withdrawal of the contentious farm laws. Farmers had called off the protests after the Government of India on December 9 had sent a formal letter to the agitators, with promises of forming a committee on MSP and withdrawing cases against them immediately. "As far as the matter of compensation is concerned, UP and Haryana have given in-principle consent," the letter had read.

(With agency inputs)

Live TV
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (January 30) sharpened attack on Congress and said the party only sees the poll-bound coastal state as 'Gandhi Parivaar ka Goa'.

Addressing a public meeting in Goas Ponda, Amit Shah said that for the Gandhi family, Goa is just a vacation spot.

BJP brought development to Goa. For Gandhi family, Goa is just a vacation spot. We raised state's budget from 432 Cr (2013-14) to 2,567 Cr (Yr 2021). Ex-CM Digambar Kamat did nothing on infrastructure development. We did what we promised, ANI quoted the Home Minister as saying.

He added, Goans need to choose between BJP's 'Golden Goa' and Congress's 'Gandhi parivar ka Goa'.

For BJP Goa means 'Golden Goa'. But for Congress, it means 'Gandhi Parivaar ka Goa'. They just need a vacation spot: Union Home Minister & BJP Amit Shah in Goa  ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2022

Shah said that the development of small states is Narendra Modi government's priority, adding that it can happen only if there is stability.

Launching an attack against the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for contesting the upcoming Goa polls, Shah said, These parties cannot form a government here. It is only the BJP that can do so. Unless there is political stability, there can be no development.

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi, the Union minister said the Congress MP suffered from "Modi-phobia".

Shah is on a one-day visit to Goa where he will address several public meetings and participate in a door-to-door campaign.

Shah was welcomed at the Dabolim airport by BJP's Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadanavis, Union minister Shripad Naik, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and others.

After his arrival, the senior BJP leader visited Sai Baba temple at Borim village in South Goa.

Goa | Home Minister & senior BJP leader Amit Shah offers prayers at Sai Baba Temple in Borim Goa CM Pramod Sawant also present with him pic.twitter.com/5ffS1nG4BY  ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2022

In Ponda, Shah was campaigning for party candidate and former Goa CM Ravi Naik, who had recently joined the BJP from the Congress.

After his door-to-door campaign in Sanvordem constituency, Shah would address a public meeting there and later he will address a public meeting in Vasco.

BJP has fielded its candidates in all the 40 Goa Assembly constituencies. Election to Goas 40 Assembly seats will take place on February 14 in a single phase.

(With agency inputs)

Live TV
New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India is fighting the new wave of Covid with "great success" and asserted that the people's trust on indigenous vaccines was "our strength".

In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' radio broadcast, Modi said, "Now the cases of corona infection have also started decreasing, this is a very positive sign."

It is a matter of pride that till now about four-and-a-half crore children have been administered the first dose of coronavirus vaccine, he said.

"This means that about 60 per cent of youth in the age group of 15 to 18 years have got their vaccines within three to four weeks. This will not only protect our youth but will also help them to continue with their studies," he said.

Another good thing is that within 20 days, one crore people have taken the precaution dose as well, Modi said.

"This trust of our people on the indigenous vaccines is our great strength," the prime minister said.

He asserted that India is fighting the new wave of coronavirus with "great success". "People should be safe, the pace of economic activities of the country should be maintained -- this is the wish of every person in the country," Modi said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi congratulated fellow citizens for this "momentous feat" of full vaccination of 75 per cent of all adults and said he is proud of all those who are making the inoculation drive a success.

Tagging a tweet by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in which he stated that India has achieved its goal of vaccinating 75 per cent adult population against Covid, the prime minister said, "75% of all adults are fully vaccinated. Congratulations to our fellow citizens for this momentous feat."

"Proud of all those who are making our vaccination drive a success," he tweeted.

Live TV
New Delhi: India recorded 2,34,281 new Covid-19 cases, 893 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total death toll to 4,94,091, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health on Sunday (January 30, 2022). The active cases stand at 18,84,937.

India reports 2,34,281 new #COVID19 cases, 893 deaths and 3,52,784 recoveries in the last 24 hours Active case: 18,84,937(4.59%)

Daily positivity rate: 14.50% Total Vaccination : 1,65,70,60,692 pic.twitter.com/wVB1BpLeOW  ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2022

A decrease of 1,19,396 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The country also recorded 3,52,784 recoveries today, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,87,13,494.

The active cases comprise 4.59 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate stands at 94.21 per cent.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 14.50 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 16.40 per cent, according to the ministry.

Additionally, the cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive have exceeded 165.70 crore.

"More than 75% of the eligible population in the country is fully vaccinated," said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

More than 75% of the eligible population in the country is fully vaccinated: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya pic.twitter.com/9XuZLqReCd  ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2022

Kerala contributes most cases

Kerala logged 50,812 new infections and eight COVID-19-related deaths on Saturday, taking the infection count to 59,31,945 and the death toll to 53,191. According to the health department, 47,649 persons recuperated from the disease, pushing the number of total cured to 55,41,834.

Covid-19 review meeting

Meanwhile, Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday held Covid-19 review meeting with five eastern states and asked them to remain vigilant despite a decline in active coronavirus cases.

As per the official release, state health ministers, principal secretaries/ additional chief secretaries and information commissioners of Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal were present in the meeting.

While the active cases in most of the states and the positivity rate have shown a fall in the last two weeks, we still need to be vigilant and not lower our guard," Mandaviya said in the meeting.

It is important to analyse at the state level the proportion of vaccinated and unvaccinated of the hospitalised cases, the deaths and those on ventilators and oxygen support," he added.

Live TV
Srinagar: A total of five Pakistan terrorists of the active militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM), including JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani, have been killed in dual encounters in Pulwamas Naira region and Budgam, announced IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar.

Terming it a big success, Kashmir Police took to Twitter to inform about the encounters.

05 #terrorists of #Pakistan sponsored proscribed #terror outfits LeT & JeM killed in dual #encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani & a Pakistani terrorist among the killed. Big #success for us: IGP Kashmir@JmuKmrPolice  Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) January 30, 2022

05 terrorists of Pakistan sponsored proscribed terror outfits LeT & JeM killed in dual encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani & a Pakistani terrorist were among the killed. Big success for us: IGP Kashmir, the tweet read.

Out of the encounters, 4 terrorists of JeM were killed in the Pulwama encounter including top JEM commander Zahid Wani while a search operation for another Pakistani terrorist is on.

In Budgam, the security personnel successfully neutralized one Pakistani terrorist.

One local terrorist affiliated to LeT was killed in Budgam. An AK 56 rifle has also been recovered in the operation, said IGP Kashmir.

An encounter has broken out between security forces and terrorists in the Charar-i-Sharief area of Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, said local police." Encounter has started at Charar-i-Sharief area of Budgam. Police and security forces are on the job," tweeted Kashmir Zone Police

In the month of January alone, 11 encounters have taken place and security forces managed to kill 21 terrorists including 8 foreigners.

This apart, security forces arrested 9 active terrorists alive and 17 terrorists' associates.

However, in all last 9 operations, 7 security personnel also got injured.

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New Delhi: With Assembly elections around the corner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday (January 30) released the list of all 60 candidates for Manipur.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has been fielded from Heingang Assembly constituency. Out of the 60 candidates, only three women have been given tickets Nemcha Kipgen from Kangpokpi, S.S. Olish from Chandel and Soraisam Kebi Devi from Naoriyapakhanglakpa.

Union minister and Manipur election in-charge Bhupender Yadav with state in-charge Sambit Patra released the BJP candidates list in Delhi. "Mostly those who have long association and worked for a long time with the party in Manipur have been given tickets. Only two sitting MLAs have been replaced with new faces," Yadav was quoted as saying by IANS.

Three former IAS officers Dinganglung Gangmei (Dipu) from Nungba, Yengkhom Surchandra Singh from Kakching and Raghumani Singh from Uripok will also contest the upcoming polls.

BJP announces candidates for all 60 Assembly seats in Manipur, CM N Biren Singh to contest from Heingang constituency (File photo) pic.twitter.com/XF0HoESeye  ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2022

Election to 60-member Manipur assembly will be held in two phases on February 27 in 38 assembly constituencies and on March 3 in the remaining 22 seats.

In the 2017 Assembly election, the BJP had bagged only 21 seats and managed to form the government with the support of smaller parties and independent MLAs. While Congress which had emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats, failed to form the government.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has banned exit polls for five states Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur that will witness elections in the coming days. The publishing of exit polls has been prohibited from 7.00 am on February 10 to 6.30 pm on March 7.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Amid a continuous decline in the Covid-19 cases in the state, the Tamil Nadu government decided to relax several Covid-related curbs including the Sunday lockdown and night curfew.

Tamil Nadu government eased Covid-19 restrictions and announced that schools from classes 1-12 and colleges will also reopen in the state from February 1.

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.

According to a detailed order passed by the Tamil Nadu government, the following are the new guidelines:

- After the review meeting on Thursday, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that there will be no night curfew from January 28.

- The government also decided that there would not be a complete lockdown on Sunday (January 30).

- 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, the government said.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu on Saturday added 24,418 to the list of Covid infections and they included four infected returnees from overseas. This pushed the tally to 33,03,702 till date as the state continued to report a decline in new Covid-19 cases.

As many as 46 people succumbed to the contagion in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 37,506 till date, the Health Department said. Recoveries eclipsed new cases with 27,885 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, a bulletin said.

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New Delhi: India and Oman are set to take defence ties to next level with a number of high profile visits, including by Secretary-General of Omani Defence ministry Mohammed Nasser Al Zaabi, who will be in India from January 30 to February 3.

During his visit, Al Zaabi will co-chair the 10th Joint Military Cooperation Committee (JMMC) with Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar. JMMC is the top forum of engagement between India and Oman in the field of defence and gives a framework to defence exchanges between the two sides. The last JMCC was held in Oman in 2018.

The engagement that is taking place after a gap of 3 years largely due to the Covid crisis, the 10th JMCC is expected to evaluate the ongoing defence exchanges and provide a roadmap for further strengthening defence ties. The visit has been long pending, and the Indian side has been working so that it can happen soon.

Zaabi during India visit will call on Indian Defence minister Rajnath Singh. It is understood that he will also be given an overview of the Indian defence production industry for possibilities of procurement and joint production of Defence equipment.

Secretary-General Zaabi's visit kick starts a month of intensive defence exchanges with Oman. February will see high profile defence engagements, which includes visits of the Chief of Oman's Air force, Chief of Oman's royal Navy, staff talks between the Indian Navy and Commander of Royal Navy of Oman (CRNO).

The visits of the Naval and Air Force Chiefs of Oman are taking place after a gap of 5 years and is expected to enable a high level of re-engagement between the forces of the two sides.

February also witnesses a bilateral Air Force exercise in Jodhpur between India and Oman Air force. The annual bilateral air exercise this year will see the participation of over 150 personnel from Oman.

Oman is Indias closest defence partner in the Gulf region and an important anchor for Indias defence and strategic interests. Defence exchanges are a part of a framework MOU that was renewed in 2021.

Oman is the only country in the Gulf region with which all 3 services of the Indian armed forces conduct regular bilateral exercises and staff talks. The west Asian also provides critical operational support to Indian naval deployments in the Arabian sea for anti-piracy missions. The country also actively participates in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS).

Defence cooperation has emerged as a key pillar of the India-Oman strategic partnership. Other the number of engagements in Defence, training is a key component. Omani forces regular take part in training courses in India both at professional as well as higher command levels. The same stands true for Indian armed forces who take part in the Staff and Command courses conducted at NDC, Oman.

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New Delhi: Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday (January 30) demanded that a privilege motion be moved against Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw for deliberately misleading the House on Pegasus issue."

In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Chowdhury referred to the report in New York Times which claimed that the Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the "centerpieces" of a roughly USD 2-billion deal of "sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear" between India and Israel in 2017.

The Congress MP said the central government, on the floor of the House, always maintained that it had nothing to do with Pegasus and that it never bought the spyware from the NSO Group.

He alleged that the Modi government "lied to the Supreme Court when it was directly questioned about the purchase and deployment of Pegasus".

Leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury writes to Speaker Om Birla & "demand that a privilege motion may be initiated against Minister of Information Technology for deliberately misleading the House on Pegasus issue." pic.twitter.com/aoLhyqHGZh  ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2022

The Congress leader further said that in a sworn affidavit, the government unequivocally denied "any and all" of the allegations against it on the Pegasus issue.

"In light of the latest revelations by New York Times, it appears that the Modi government has misled Parliament and the Supreme Court and lied to the people of India, the letter read.

Chowdhury asked the LS Speaker to initiate a privilege motion against the IT minister. "In view of the above, I demand that a privilege motion may be initiated against the Minister of Information Technology for deliberately misleading the House on the Pegasus issue.

After NYTs report, Congress has been targetting the central government over the Pegasus issue which had rocked the Monsoon session of the Parliament last year.

The government had earlier all denied the allegations that it used Pegasus spyware to snoop on political leaders, journalists, judges and civil society activists.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (January 30, 2022) addressed the nation through his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat' and urged everyone to visit National War Memorial.

In his first 'Mann Ki Baat' address of 2022, the Prime Minister said that India is celebrating 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' this year and that many people have written letters to him saying that Amar Jawan Jyoti stands as an internal flame of India's martyrs who gave their life for the nation.

"Some letters which I have received from the 'Jawans' in the Indian Armed Forces emphasise the importance of 'Amar Jawan Jyoti' and the significance it holds in the lives of our martyrs and their families," he said.

"I urge everyone to try and visit the National War Memorial with their family. You will feel a special kind of energy and inspiration," PM Modi said.

Here are the highlights from PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat address:

PM Modi talked about the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and said that the 30th of January reminds us of the teachings of Bapu.

He also talked about the 2022 Republic Day celebrations and expressed that the display of the nation's valour and strength, which we witnessed on Rajpath in Delhi, filled everyone with pride and enthusiasm.

PM said that in the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the country is re-establishing its national symbols through these efforts.

He spoke on corruption and said that it hollows the country like a termite. "Where duty is felt, Duty is paramount, corruption cannot even think of entering there," he said while responding to a postcard he received.

The Prime Minister said that India has been the sacred land of education and knowledge. He also talked about Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Rabindranath Tagore, Maharaja Gaikwad, Ambedkar and Shri Aurobindo.

He said that love for nature and compassion for every living being is India's culture as well as innate nature. "A glimpse of these Sanskaras of ours was seen recently when a tigress left the world in Pench Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh. People used to call this tigress collared tigress," the PM expressed.

He also talked about Covid-19 and said that India is fighting the new wave with great success. "It is also a matter of pride that till now about four and a half crore children have been administered the dose of Corona vaccine. This means that about 60% of youth in the age group of 15 to 18 years have got their vaccines within three to four weeks," he stated.

PM Modi said that the vaccination of children will not only protect them but will also help them to continue with their studies.

He also asked the citizens to not forget the 'Swachhta Abhiyan', Vocal for Local mantra and the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign.

PM Modi also said that we should accelerate the campaign against single-use plastic

The Mann ki Baat is the Prime Minister's monthly radio address, which is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat.

PM Shri @narendramodi pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his Punyatithi. pic.twitter.com/BlxO2nwaew  BJP (@BJP4India) January 30, 2022

Taking to Twitter on Mahatma Gandhi's 74th death anniversary, PM expressed that it is our collective endeavour to further popularise his noble ideals.

Remembering Bapu on his Punya Tithi. It is our collective endeavour to further popularise his noble ideals. Today, on Martyrs Day, paying homage to all the greats who courageously safeguarded our nation. Their service and bravery will always be remembered.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 30, 2022

Gandhi was shot dead on this day in 1948 by Nathuram Godse.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 29)  The Philippine Postal Corporation will release commemorative Year of the Tiger stamps in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

In a statement on Sunday, PHLPost said the launch will be held in Seascape Village, Pasay City on Jan. 31 at 4 p.m.

"We firmly believe that this Year of the Tiger, which is the symbol of courage and strength, will propel us to greater heights as the Post Office gears up to modernize its systems, innovate its products and services and immortalize the rich history, culture, talents and achievement of Filipinos around the world," Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio said.

The stamps, souvenir sheets and other items will be available starting Jan. 31 at the Manila Central Post Office.
New Delhi: As India on Sunday (January 30) remembered Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to the Father of the Nation at Raj Ghat in New Delhi.

Remembering Bapu on his Punya Tithi. It is our collective endeavour to further popularise his noble ideals. Today, on Martyrs Day, paying homage to all the greats who courageously safeguarded our nation. Their service and bravery will always be remembered.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 30, 2022

"Remembering Bapu on his Punya Tithi. It is our collective endeavour to further popularise his noble ideals," Modi tweeted.

"Today, on Martyrs' Day, paying homage to all the greats who courageously safeguarded our nation. Their service and bravery will always be remembered," he said.

Delhi | President Ram Nath Kovind lays a wreath at Rajghat as the nation observes the death anniversary of #MahatmaGandhi pic.twitter.com/9XVB1ZuArf  ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2022

Delhi | Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat on his death anniversary pic.twitter.com/u4oTZLWKgk

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also reached Delhis Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible but in the end, they always fall. Think of it always. - Mahatma Gandhi pic.twitter.com/3EOG59IljW  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 30, 2022

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible but in the end, they always fall. Think of it always, wrote Gandhi with images of him at Raj ghat.

Apart from Modi and Kovind, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also paid homage to the leader.

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948. His death anniversary is observed as Martyrs' Day.

An interfaith prayer was held at Raj Ghat and Gandhi's favourite devotional songs were rendered to mark the 74th death anniversary of the father of the nation.

A gun salute was given at the memorial where school students and people from different walks of life gathered to pay respects to Bapu.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation in the 85th episode of his monthly radio programme `Mann Ki Baat` on Sunday (January 30, 2022). PM Modi will address the nation at 11:30. This will be the first edition of the year.

"This month`s Mann Ki Baat, which will take place on the 30th, will begin at 11:30 am after observing the remembrances to Gandhi Ji on his Punya Tithi," said Prime Minister`s Office (PMO) in a release.

The first episode of this year`s Mann Ki Baat will be broadcasted today. Special preparations have been made by the Bharatiya Janata Party to make people listen to it at different places across the country.

The prime ministers address comes on Martyrs` day which is observed on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to honour his contribution towards the freedom struggle of the country.

"Mann ki Baat" is the Prime Minister`s monthly radio address, which is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month. The programme will be broadcast on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan and also on AIR News and mobile app.

In the last edition of PM Modis "Mann ki Baat", which was aired on December 26, the prime minister spoke on many topics including Coronavirus.

Earlier, the Prime Minister had called citizens to share their views for this edition of `Mann ki Baat`.

"On the 30th of this month, the first #MannKiBaat of 2022 will take place. I am sure you have lots to share in terms of inspiring life stories and topics. Share them on @mygovindia or the NaMo App. Record your message by dialling 1800-11-7800," PM Modi said in a tweet.

The first episode of the programme was broadcast on October 3, 2014.In his last episode of Mann Ki Baat, which was broadcast on December 26, the Prime Minister with an aim to encourage people to follow the `Swachh Bharat` initiative had said that the resolve of cleanliness will be fulfilled only with discipline, awareness and dedication.

(With ANI inputs)

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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will lay the foundation stone of an Amar Jawan Jyoti on Thursday (February 3) that will be instated in Chhattisgarhs Raipur, announced chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.

According to an official statement, Amar Jawan Jyoti will be constructed on the premises of the 4th Battalion, Chhattisgarh Armed Forces Mana, Raipur.

The flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will continue to be lit in honour of the martyrs. He will perform `Bhoomi poojan' (ground-breaking ceremony) for the memorial on February 3."

Congress party has a history of sacrifices and had many great leaders who sacrificed their everything for the service of the nation.

The party knows how to honour sacrifices. Our history has been a witness that any society which does not honour its martyrs, does not preserve the memories of their sacrifices, insults their signs, that society is destroyed" said Baghel.

Wall of fame

A wall with names of Martyrs, a memorial tower and a VVIP platform will also be set up at Amar Jawan Jyoti in Chhattisgarh. The wall will be constructed with brown marble with the names of Martyrs engraved on the same.

This crescent-shaped wall will be about 25 feet high having a length of about 100 feet, and the thickness of this wall will be 3 feet.

The memorial tower will be set up of sandstone, brown white marble granite in front of a crescent-shaped wall. A memento will be made on its top.

Amar Jawan Jyoti, Delhi

In the year 1972, the first female Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi lit the Amar Jawan Jyoti in New Delhi in honour of the martyred brave soldiers of the country.

However, earlier this month, the Modi government has merged the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame with the one at the National War Memorial.

"The eternal flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate was visible to the visitors and instilled in them a sense of pride and gratitude towards the martyrs of the country, Baghel said.

Expressing his dissatisfaction over the centre`s move of shifting Amar Jawan Jyoti, Baghel said that it has hurt his sentiments, but now the flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be lit in the honor of the martyrs in Raipur as well.

"We will honour the martyrdom of the sons of Chhattisgarh who sacrificed their lives for the country by joining uniformed services, as well as the brave hearts of the country who sacrificed their lives in Chhattisgarh through `Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti`," the Chief Minister said.

Rifle and helmet will be in the form of insignia on the base in front of the memorial tower. The flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be lit in front of this symbol which will be ignited 24 hours by fuel supply through underground pipelines.

A fort-like two-storey building will be constructed just in front of the memorial tower, the length of the base of which will be 150 feet and the width will be 90 feet. The height of this building will be 40 feet.

The Chief Minister expressed hope that soon Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be established as a place of pride for the country.

(With agency inputs)

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Imphal: Angry BJP workers of Manipur on Sunday burnt effigies of Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the state unit president Sharda Devi as well as flags, even as they ransacked local offices and shouted slogans against the ruling party's list of assembly poll candidates which featured defectors from the Congress ignoring many loyalists.

Security was beefed up at all BJP offices throughout the state following the violence which erupted after the candidate list was announced, official sources said.

Several BJP leaders including those who were aspirants for party tickets but were left out to accommodate recent defectors also resigned from the primary membership of the party.

Angry workers at Sagolband, Kakching, Moirang, Keisamthong assembly constituencies burnt party flags, pamphlets, ransacked local offices, and shouted slogans to show their dissent.

At Thanga, workers burnt effigies of the chief minister and the state BJP president, after former Trinamool Cong MLA T Robindro who had won in 2017 elections but later joined the saffron party was selected to contest the polls.

Former minister Nimaichand Luwang and first-time aspirant Thangjam Arunkumar who had sought BJP tickets for Wangkhem and Wangkhei assembly segments respectively tendered their resignation from the primary membership of the party. Thangjam later joined the JD(U).

BJP activists claimed all members of Khangabok Mandal tendered mass resignation citing "recent award of BJP ticket to a party newbie," neglecting a leader who had "sacrificed for BJP for almost two decades".

At Sagolband, protesters berated the BJP leadership for giving a ticket to former Congress MLA RK Imo who had joined the party in November last year, claiming their candidate and his workers who had been supporting the BJP for 10 years were overlooked.

Meanwhile, SSB personnel in full riot gear and state security forces are maintaining vigil at the BJP head office, Thambal Sanglen, at the centre of Imphal town.

ALSO READ: BJP names all 60 candidates, Manipur CM Biren Singh to fight from Heingang constituency

The Bhartiya Janata Party which managed to form a government in 2017 despite having just 21 seats compared to Congress's 28 by joining hands with two local parties, NPP and NPF, says it is looking to win two-thirds of the seats in the elections to be held in two phases on February 27 and March 3.

It will be contesting all 60 seats as Naga People's Front (NPF) has fallen out with it, while it has decided not to enter into any pre-poll alliance with the National People's Party (NPP) with which it also has an alliance in Meghalaya.

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New Delhi: In a tit-for-tat response to Bharatiya Janata Partys Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanaths remarks pertaining to giving tickets to criminals and offenders, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the BJP has, so far, fielded 99 candidates with a criminal history for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections.

"The BJP is short of hitting a century. They have given tickets to 99 criminals," said Yadav said in a tweet on Sunday.

    :

                    99      !  Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) January 30, 2022

The war of words between the SP and BJP has been rapidly escalating on the issue of criminals contesting the elections in the assembly polls.

While the BJP has been accusing Akhilesh Yadav and his party of patronising persons with criminal backgrounds, Akhilesh has returned the fire by demanding to know the number and status of cases against the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said during his tours in the state that if the SP comes to power, there will be a reign of criminals in the state.

In an apparent dig at Uttar Pradeshs law and order situation under SP, Shah said that ever since Yogi came into power, the criminals of the state are either in jail or in Samajwadi Party.

Yogi Adityanath, meanwhile has said that when he returns to power after the Assembly elections, he would continue with his bulldozer policies against criminals.

Uttar Pradesh will go to poll in seven phases from February 10 to March 10. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

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New Delhi: The Tripura government decided to reopen all educational institutions including schools and colleges from Monday (January 31).

Tripura Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Sunday (January 30) said the decision was taken after consulting the directors of the state health and education departments to compensate for the learning losses and mental wellness of the students.

Schools from pre-primary to higher secondary schools, colleges and universities will reopen in the state from Monday. The educational institutions were shut from January 15 till January 30 in view of the spike in coronavirus infection in Tripura.

The state education minister told reporters that as schools had been closed for the most part of the last two years, the students could not meet their friends and also suffered learning losses. "The UNICEF recently observed that keeping schools closed is way higher than dangers of keeping them open. The World Bank has also cautioned that the students had suffered a lot and mental health of students had broken down, PTI quoted Nath as saying.

The minister added that all educational institutions would adhere to appropriate COVID-19 behaviour.

Earlier on Saturday, the Joint Secretary to the Government of Tripura, Chandni Chandran, IAS in a memorandum had said that the School Education department has reviewed the Covid-19 situation across Tripura."All schools and Madrassas in the state (Pre-primary to Class 12) are hereby allowed to function normally with strict maintenance of COVID appropriate behaviour from January 31. This order shall be applicable to all Government (including TTAADC), and un-aided private schools and madrassas", the order had read.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: As part of its digital outreach, the BJP has deployed around 10 lakh workers with smartphones across Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Assembly polls to be held between February 10 and March 7.

Five to six workers with smartphones have been deployed at each polling booth of Uttar Pradesh. The saffron party has also formed its IT and social media teams at the block level in the poll-bound state.

A well-placed source in the BJP said that these 10 lakh workers with smartphones will reach out to each and every voter in their respective areas.

"We have formed a 21-member booth committee at each polling station. Among these, a minimum of five members have smartphones, which has been made mandatory so that all the information reaches the ground at the booth level," he said.

There are 1,74,351 polling booths in the state, an increase of 18.49 per cent from the 2017 Assembly polls.

Another party leader said that with a minimum of five members at each booth with smartphones, there are over 10 lakh BJP workers prepared to reach out to the voters with digital content across the state.

"We have formed a team of five to six volunteers at each polling booth. Our volunteers are ensuring our digital presence among each voter at every polling booth. These workers, part of booth committees, work in coordination with the `Panna Pramukhs` (head of each page of the voter list)," sources said.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has banned physical rallies and roadshows till January 31, with some relaxation for the first and second phases of polling.

Another senior leader said that the BJP has formed a team for IT and social media campaign at the block level in all the 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh to digitally reach out to the voters amid the restrictions put in place by the poll panel.

"Our IT and social media structure is such that Uttar Pradesh BJP has a robust team of social media and IT volunteers at every level in each district of Uttar Pradesh. In addition, we have five workers with smartphones at each polling booth we can take all the information and content to the people through them," Shashi Kumar, Social Media Co-convenor of Uttar Pradesh BJP, told IANS.

For digital dissemination of information, the party has formed groups and has pages on all social media platforms. The party is reaching out to voters with information through WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.

As the Election Commission of India (ECI) has banned rallies and roadshows, the BJP is now planning to intensify information sharing through 1.75 lakh WhatsApp groups created at the booth level. The party also uses Facebook to share campaign content.

"We have created more than 1.75 lakh WhatsApp groups of a minimum of 50 persons at the booth level. Similarly, we are connecting with the people through Telegram, Facebook and Twitter. We have over 50 lakh views on our Telegram platform," said a source in the BJP.

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Prayagraj: Saints at the Dharma Sansad in the ongoing Magh Mela in Prayagraj have demanded that India should be declared a Hindu Rashtra, Subhash Chandra Bose should be named as the first Prime Minister of the country and capital punishment for conversion should be treated as treason.

The saints also said that `patriotic` Muslims were part of the family and a decision to intensify their `homecoming` campaign would continue.

The chief guest of the sammelan, Sumeru Peethadheeshwar, Jagadguru Swami Narendranand Saraswati, said: "The government may not declare India as a Hindu nation, but all Hindus should start writing and terming the country a Hindu Rashtra. By doing so, the government would be compelled to declare the country a Hindu nation.

"Islamic jihad is a big threat to humanity and the world. To crush it, the policy of China will have to be adopted and it can be stopped by imposing sanctions as China has done. `Sanatani` are the target of everyone and for this, it is necessary that the system of equal education and equal justice is implemented in the country."

He also demanded that there is a need to end the government takeover of Hindu monasteries and temples.

"If monasteries and temples are being acquired by the government, then mosques and churches should also be acquired," he added.

Jagadguru said that "Muslims are not a minority and action should be taken to withdraw their minority status".

"The life of revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev should be included in the curriculum of schools. Provision should be made for capital punishment by keeping conversion in the category of treason," he added.

Mahamandaleshwar Annapurna Bharti of Niranjani Akhara said that "when religious leaders spoke some words for their safety in Haridwar`s Dharma Sansad, they were put in jail. It was said that this has hurt the sentiments of the people of a particular religion, but when Tauqeer Raza gathered a crowd of 20,000 in Bareilly and spewed poison against Sanatan Dharma, no action was taken. Did it not hurt our sentiments? Owaisi`s threatening video is released but no action has been taken".

She appealed to the saints and devotees present in the Mela to write a letter to the government for the release of Mahamandaleshwar Narasimhanand Yeti and Jitendra Narain Singh Tyagi (former name Wasim Rizvi).

Shakti Peethadhishwar Swami Lalitananda said that every child is a Hindu by birth. "Later, his rituals changed. We have left our culture only then others are adopting it."

Swami Anand Swarup said that at the time of the partition of the country, there were nine crore Muslims, but today their population is about 40 crore. He alleged that there is pressure to stop Sant Sammelan.

Swami Sindhu Sagar said that Hindus have no hatred towards Muslims and Muslims like Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam are respected.

Mahamandaleshwar Yatindranand Giri, who presided over the sammelan, said that Lord Krishna was born in jail. "If the doors of the jail are opening for the saints, then understand that we have succeeded in our objective. Most of the Muslims of India are Hindus and were forced to convert. The blood of Hindus and Muslims is one".

An appeal was also made to the Hindus to be united by being free from the shackles of caste and class.

Jagadguru Swami Narendranand Saraswati said: "There can be no father of the nation. There can be the son of the nation, but not the father of the nation.

The first Prime Minister of the country was Subhash Chandra Bose, his leadership was accepted by many countries. In such a situation, he should be declared the first Prime Minister of the country. Historians have presented wrong facts before the countrymen, due to which today`s generation is confused."

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New Delhi: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar paid a surprise inspection visit to the offices of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Office (GMDA) in the late hours of Saturday (January 29)

Images released by news agency ANI shows the BJP leader inspecting the official site and interacting with the Municipal corporation employees.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar visits the offices of Gurugram Municipal Corporation & Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority, for a surprise inspection pic.twitter.com/WJDHSThL6B  ANI (@ANI) January 29, 2022

As per IANS, the CM went to the control room of the MCG and inquired about the sweeping machine and the employees deployed for cleanliness in the city at night During his visit.

He also examined the duty roster.

"At the MCG office, he asked the staff present in the control room how many employees should be on duty at this time, how many sweeping machines are installed, and how they are being monitored," said an official.

An MCG employee informed the CM that 13 machines are running for cleanliness in Gurugram city and road cleaning work starts at 10 p.m.

Khattar also spoke to the MCG Commissioner over the phone and inquired about cleanliness and duty roster.

After visiting the MCG office, the CM went to the GMDA office in Sector 44 here.

At the GMDA office, Khattar inspected the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) and collected information about the operations of the command centre from the employees.

"Around 200 CCTV cameras are under the command of the centre, which detected 32 theft vehicles on Saturday itself. Soon face-recognition facilities of suspicious persons will be started in this command centre," Khattar told reporters.

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Chandigarh: "Who picked Rahul Gandhi's pocket at Sri Harmandir Sahib," former Union Minister and SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal asked on Saturday, prompting the Congress to hit back, asking her not to spread false news.

Gandhi, who was on a day's visit to Punjab on Wednesday, had also visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar, where several party candidates fighting the February 20 assembly polls, paid obeisance.

The Congress leader was, among others, accompanied by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Deputy CMs Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and O P Soni, and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu while visiting the Sikh shrine.

            ,     ! pic.twitter.com/b0XhnAMrC0  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 27, 2022

Gandhi, later that evening, also visited Jalandhar where he addressed a virtual rally.

"Who picked @ Rahul Gandhi's pocket at Sri Harmandir Sahib? @CharanjitChanni? @sherryontopp? (Navjot Sidhu) or @Sukhjinder_INC (Dy CM Randhawa)? These were the only three people allowed by Z-security to get near him. Or is it just one more attempt to bring bad name to our holiest shrine, after the 'be-adbi' (sacrilege) incidents," asked Harsimrat Kaur.

She, however, did not give any other details about the alleged incident.

Who picked @RahulGandhi's pocket at Sri Harmandir Sahib?@CHARANJITCHANNI? @sherryontopp? or @Sukhjinder_INC? These were the only 3 persons allowed by Z-security to get near him. Or is it just one more attempt to bring bad name to our holiest shrine, after the 'be-adbi' incidents?  Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) January 29, 2022

Hitting back at Harsimrat Kaur, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala retweeted her post and said that spreading such false news is sacrilegious when nothing like that has happened.

Surjewala, in a tweet in Hindi, said political differences apart, she must show responsibility and maturity.

Surjewala also took a jibe at her, saying that being part of the Narendra Modi cabinet and giving approval to the farm ordinances was like cutting the pockets of hard-working farmers.

Harsimrat Kaur was the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries before she resigned in September 2020 over the contentious farm laws.

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BSF Recruitment 2022: The Border Security Force (BSF) has announced various Constable (Tradesman) vacancies and has invited applications from eligible candidates.

A detailed notification has also been released on BSF's official website at https://rectt.bsf.gov.in, according to which, the recruitment process will comprise of Physical Standard Test (PST), Physical Efficiency Test (PET), Documentation, Trade Test, Written Examination and Detailed Medical Examination (DME).

Border Security Force Recruitment 2022: Vacancy details?

Male: 2,651 posts

Female: 137 posts

BSF Recruitment 2022: Age limit?

A candidate needs to be between 18 to 23 years as on August 1, 2021.

BSF Recruitment 2022: Salary details?

The recruitment will be done in the Pay Matrix Level-3, Pay scale Rs 21,700-69,100 of 7th CPC (Revised Pay Structure). The candidate will also receive other allowances as admissible to Central Government employees from time to time. In addition, ration allowance, medical assistance, free accommodation, free leave pass, etc will also be granted which are admissible to BSF employees.

BSF Recruitment 2022: Last date?

The facility for submission of online applications on BSF's website https://rectt.bsf.gov.in will close on March 1 (11:59 PM).

Please note that only an ONLINE application is to be submitted by a candidate. No other mode for submission of application will be accepted. The candidates are also advised to exercise due diligence at the time of filling out their application form.

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New Delhi: "Caught in the crossfire" over the rail exams, NTPC, the country's largest power producer has written to the Railways to rename its Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) tests organised by the Railway Board.

The Railway exams have been in the news for the last week over large-scale protests over certain irregularities in its screening process.

The abbreviation of the exams which is the same as the one used for the power producer has been widely used to refer to the controversial test during the reportage on the issue.

"This is with reference to the recent protest in some parts of the country with respect to Railway Recruitment Board Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC RRB) exam of Indian Railways," a letter from NTPC (the power corporation) states.

"While we are confident that the Railways is taking all necessary steps to address the situation, we just wish to bring to your notice that NTPC Limited has inadvertently been caught in the crossfire. The media has been using the abbreviated form NTPC, which gives the impression that the exams are linked to India's largest power producer," the NTPC said.

"This, you would agree, is also hurting our reputation," it pointed out.

It further requested that the full form of the tests be used by the national transporter.

"Use full form of the Railway Recruitment Scheme in your press releases/ statements so that this misconception is not carried on creating the wrong impression amongst the users of social media and also public at large," the NTPC said.

"We would therefore urge you to kindly rename these exams so that no confusion is created in future," it said.

Since the protests, the Railways has suspended this exam along with the Level 1 tests and have formed a committee to look into the grievances of the aspirants.

ALSO READ | Railway Recruitment: Why are students protesting over RRB-NTPC result?

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New Delhi: Actress Urmila Matondkar began her career as a child artist with films like Karm and Masoom. Unlike many others, that actress also managed to be a successful actress after growing-up. Her film Rangeela that also starred Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff is considered a cult and has given hit songs like Hai Rama. The actress now turned politician however reveals that she was not appreciated for her acting skills in the film and her performance was simply dismissed as sex-appeal.

Post Rangeela, people said that everything I did was about sex appeal and nothing to do with acting, she told Times of India.

Urmila said portraying sexy is also acting and continued, How can the song, Hai Rama, happen without a person being a performer? Is doing a tear-jerking scene only acting? Appearing sexy also demands acting. I was not playing Miss Nothing in the film. My character of the girl-next-door transforms through each song of the film, which the critics didnt understand.

The actress said despite the success of the film not a single decent word was written about her performance.

Someday, Id love to take their names and what all they called me. Even after being part of such a huge hit, forget awards, I didnt have a decent word written about me. My clothes, my hair everything was given credit but me, she said.

Despite lack of recognition, Urmila said being in front of the camera is a spiritual experience for her.

Girls who gave 13 flops, girls who were said to look like boys with nothing woman-like about them, girls who did double meaning songs with heroes were considered actors. But for me, being in front of the camera was a spiritual experience. To have Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar sing for me was by itself a victory. I didnt need awards, she shared.

Known for films like Judaai, Satya, Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, Bhoot and Ek Hasina Thi Urmila Matondkar had joined politics with the Indian National Congress Party in 2019. She quit the party after five months of joining and later got a ticket from the Shiv Sena.
New Delhi: Bank deposits are not yielding appropriate profits. In such a case, there is a particular LIC plan that is proven to be very advantageous; under this scheme, a good return of up to one crore can be taken after paying four premiums. Shiromani Scheme is the name of this LIC scheme, and it offers a fair return on investment.

The beneficiary of the LIC Life Shiromani Plan (L Ic Jeevan Shiromani Plan) is one with the finest disease coverage. This plan's duration has been set to a maximum of four levels. These are the ages of 14, 16, 18, and 20. The policyholder's age must be at least 18 years old and no more than 55 years old. This plan's minimum assured value is Rs 1 crore.

Deposits must be made for a period of four years, during which the policyholder receives debt and survival benefits. On the completion of the 10th and 12th year of a 14-year policy, 30% of the Basic Sum Assured is paid, 35% on the completion of 14 years after the 12th year on a 16-year policy, 40% on the completion of 14th and 16th year of an 18-year palsy, and 45 Taka Basic Sum Insured is paid on the completion of 16th and 18th year of a 20-year palsy.

Documents for the Jeevan Shiromani LIC (LIC) plan must be submitted to the palsy section. The person with palsy must supply identification, proof of date of birth, proof of address, a photograph of the person with palsy, and bank account information.

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New Delhi: Grand finale of Salman Khan hosted Bigg Boss 15 will take place today evening (January 30). However, speculations of contestant Nishant Bhat, being out of the finale race are doing the rounds. As per a promo released by Colors TV, ex-Bigg Boss winners Shweta Tiwari (Season 4), Urvashi Dholakia (Season 6), Gauahar Khan (Season 7), Gautam Gulati (Season 8) and Rubina Dilaik (Season 14) will enter the house and offer contestants to take Rs 10 lakh and opt out of the finale race. While, in the promo, we do not see who among the contestants takes up the offer, but according to various fan pages Nishant walks away with the briefcase.

However, there has been no confirmation on this news and we will have to wait for todays Grand Finale episode to know the truth.

Nishant Bhat, has been touted as one of the most entertaining contestants this season. He was also the runner-up of Karan Johar's first season of Bigg Boss OTT that aired on Voot Select. In that season, Pratik Sehajpal took the offer of getting direct entry into Salman Khan hosted Bigg Boss 15 and walked away with the briefcase. Divya Agarwal emerged as the winner of the Bigg Boss OTT. Apart from Nishant and Pratik, Shamita Shetty also entered Bigg Boss 15 after her stint in Bigg Boss OTT. Neha Bhasin and Raqesh Bapat, who had participated in Bigg Boss OTT, had entered Bigg Boss 15 as wild card contestants.

Currently, Karan Kundrra, Tejasswi Prakash, Pratik Sehajpal, Shamita Shetty and Nishant Bhat are part of the top five fighting for the coveted trophy and cash prize of Rs 50 lakhs.
New York: Winter storm Kenan is bringing heavy snow and wind gusts to New York City and surrounding areas.

New York City is expected to receive 8 to 12 inches of total snowfall from Friday evening to early Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a forecast issued by the National Weather Service.

Suffolk and Nassau counties are being hit hardest with 7 to 11 inches of snowfall as of Saturday morning and another 5 to 12 inches expected, said New York Governor Kathy Hochul at a press briefing near noon on Saturday.

New York City recorded 4 inches of snowfall so far with another 4-7 inches expected before 3 p.m. on Saturday, said Hochul.

Earlier, Hochul declared a state of emergency effective on Friday evening due to heavy snowfall expected downstate.

Snowfall at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and the Central Park all exceeded 5 inches in the last 12 hours, said a tweet from the National Weather Service at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

As many as 460 flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport were canceled accounting for 80 percent of the total, according to travel information platform flightaware.com.

Meanwhile, 90 per cent of flights from Newark Liberty International Airport and 97 per cent of flights from LaGuardia Airport were cancelled, translating into 322 and 279 flights, respectively.

The flights to the three airports were also cancelled in a similar fashion.

"Due to snow conditions, roads and surfaces may be slippery. New Yorkers are advised to refrain from unnecessary travel," said New York City Emergency Management on its social media account.

New Yorkers are urged to use mass transit if they must travel. However, ferry service in New York City is suspended until further notice while Long Island Rail Road service was suspended overnight as a precaution.

A blizzard warning is in effect for Suffolk county on the Long Island and New London county of Connecticut with strong gusts up to 60 miles per hour, said the National Weather Service.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30)  The Department of Health on Sunday said 16,953 more people nationwide fell ill with COVID-19, bringing the case tally to 3,545,680.

According to the DOH, 16,647 (98%) of the new infections occurred within the last 14 days. Western Visayas was the top contributing region with 2,000 cases (12%), followed by Metro Manila with 1,967 (12%), and Calabarzon with 1,871 (11%).

The department also confirmed 27,638 new survivors and 20 more fatalities, which raised the recovery count to 3,288,925 and the death toll to 53,891.

Of the newly announced deaths, the DOH said 16 transpired this month while four were from July to October last year and were encoded late.

The country's active cases fell to 5.7% or 202,864 of the total, from Saturdays 6.1% or over 213,000.

The bulletin showed that 186,550 of the currently sick are mild cases, 11,277 are asymptomatic, 3,176 are moderate, 1,534 are severe, and 327 are critical.

It also detailed that 56,078 coronavirus tests were reported on Jan. 28, with a positivity rate of 31.4%. This means nearly 1 in 3 people tested were found infected with COVID-19.

The DOH said only one testing laboratory didnt submit data on time. It added that this facility contributed around 0.03% of samples tested and of positive results over the last two weeks.

After final validation, the department reclassified as deaths eight cases it earlier recorded as recoveries. It also removed 69 duplicate entries from its data.
(CNN)  The US Navy has been granted a permit to discharge up to five million gallons of treated water a day from its Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage facility after that water was contaminated by a petroleum leak that sickened military families and children in Hawaii.

Statements from the Hawaii Department of Health and the Navy on Friday said the permit will allow the removal of contamination from the freshwater aquifer under the storage facility.

The fuel facility sits 100 feet above the Red Hill aquifer, which supplies drinking water to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and other parts of Hawaii. Nearly 1 million people on Oahu rely on it for water, according to the Hawaii Board of Water Supply.

On November 28, the Navy shut down its Red Hill well after reports of people on base suffering nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and skin-related problems.

Testing revealed petroleum hydrocarbons and vapors in the water, the Navy said. US Pacific Fleet Deputy Commander Rear Adm. Blake Converse later confirmed a petroleum leak was the cause.

"When pumping begins, up to 5 million gallons a day of water will be pumped from the Red Hill Shaft," the Navy said in an email to CNN.

"Water will pass through a granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration system, where it will be closely monitored and tested to ensure it does not pose a threat to human health or the environment, before discharging into Halawa Stream."

The permit was approved by the Interagency Drinking Water Systems Team (IDWST), a coalition of the Hawaii Department of Health, the US Environmental Protection Agency, Hawaii Department of Health, US Navy, and US Army. It requires that water be tested at "each step of the treatment process," and that the operation stop if levels are not in accordance with DOH's requirements.

IDWST said the plan will reduce contamination, protect plants and wildlife and set the groundwork to understand how the groundwater was contaminated.

In early December, the Navy discovered contamination at the Red Hill Shaft. Honolulu's Board of Water Supply (BWS) later shut down the Halawa Shaft, Oahu's largest water source, after the Navy said it had found "a likely source of the contamination."

At the time, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday called the situation "completely and totally unacceptable."

CNN reached out to the governor's office regarding the permit but has not received a response.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Navy to drain millions of gallons of water daily after Hawaii fuel leak"
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvanias Democratic Party committee members deadlocked Saturday in suburban Harrisburg on a vote to endorse in the partys hotly contested primary race for U.S. Senate, giving Conor Lamb by far the most votes, but not enough for the party's backing.

Winning an endorsement was a high hurdle to clear, two-thirds of the party's roughly 350 committee members.

Lamb, a third-term congressman from suburban Pittsburgh, came closest, with 60%, after working for months to win over committee members.

Lamb had called each committee member multiple times, his campaign said, and sent them mail pieces, including one that crowed that he "beat the Trump machine three times.

The wide-open race for the battleground-state seat being vacated by two-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is expected to be one of the nations premier Senate contests this year.

The Democratic field features John Fetterman, the states lieutenant governor, plus Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia. The Republican field is notable for three wealthy and well-connected candidates moving from blue states to run in Pennsylvania.

In his speech to the hotel ballroom of mask-wearing committee members, Lamb told them that his endorsement would put fear into the hearts of Republicans because of his experience winning three congressional races on politically dicey turf for Democrats.

The primary election is May 17.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

HARRISBURG  Pennsylvanias Democratic Party committee members will meet Saturday in suburban Harrisburg to vote on whether to endorse in the partys hotly contested primary race for U.S. Senate.

Winning an endorsement is a high hurdle to clear, two-thirds of the party's roughly 350 committee members.

Conor Lamb, a third-term congressman from suburban Pittsburgh, is considered the favorite to clear that bar, if anybody does.

Lamb's campaign has worked for months to win over committee members. Lamb has called each committee member multiple times, his campaign said, and sent them mail pieces, including one that crowed that he "beat the Trump machine three times.

The wide-open race for the battleground-state seat being vacated by two-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is expected to be one of the nations premier Senate contests this year.

The Democratic field features John Fetterman, the states lieutenant governor, plus Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia. The Republican field is notable for three wealthy and well-connected candidates moving from blue states to run in Pennsylvania.

Lamb already has the unanimous endorsement of the party's 56-member Latino Caucus.

Its chair, David Rodriguez, said caucus members concluded that Lamb is the best candidate to win November's election.

Lamb, he said, has been calling caucus members since last summer, while the other candidates only began reaching out in the past couple weeks.

The primary election is May 17.

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Editor's Note: This story originally ran as part of a historical series in 2019 in The Sentinel.

Childrens Lake in Boiling Springs has been used as a recreation spot for centuries. As far back as 1875, a local man named Robert Wise operated a paddle wheel steam launch to carry people on pleasure rides. But when the man-made lake was built in the 1750s, a much more practical purpose was in-mind  power.

The lake was formed after the springs were dammed to power the enormous bellows for the furnace of an iron works that stood south of the lake and operated on both sides of the Yellow Breeches Creek. It was called the Carlisle Iron Works.

The white and stone building with a red roof that stands on the south end of the lake dates back to about 1784, when it was constructed as a grist mill to produce food for workers at the iron works. The mill was originally a two-story stone structure with walls three feet thick. It was powered by water from a dam on the Yellow Breeches at Island Grove that was carried over by a race.

When the Confederate army invaded Cumberland County during the Civil War in 1863, some Rebel troops came to the Boiling Springs Mill in search of supplies. At the time, 250 bushels of wheat, 600 bushels corn and 30 barrels of family flour were being stored in the mill, which was owned by Cary Ahls. The troops took all of it, and compelled David Whitcomb, who was renting the mill, to run it for them. After the war, Ahls petitioned the state for reimbursement of his losses, which amounted to $1,450, and was paid his claims.

Photographs show that the third and fourth floors were added by 1875. After a major fire in 1896, the structure was repaired and renovated to its current condition. Jared C. Bucher bought the mill at a sheriffs sale in 1886. The dormer windows were added by the Buchers in the 1930s when the building was converted to apartments. The mill remained in the possession of the Bucher family until 1971, and today its address is 111 Bucher Hill Road. Several people reside in the apartments.

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With the state embroiled in controversy over systemic racism in schools, a lawsuit against Albemarle County Public Schools could make the area a battleground.

The lawsuit targets Albemarle County schools plan to eliminate racism and close long-standing achievement gaps among student groups. Five Albemarle families allege that the divisions anti-racism policy discriminates against students and creates a culture of hostility in schools. The complaint comes as Gov. Glenn Youngkins administration focuses more critically on steps school divisions have taken to address inequities.

Several legal and education scholars said they see the lawsuit as part of a broader national movement against critical race theory, which opponents have used to describe explicit discussions and lessons regarding systemic racism. That movement, they said, was a response to the 2020 protests over racial injustice and the efforts to advance racial equality. They also see ties to the state-sanctioned effort to block integration, known as Massive Resistance.

[In Virginia], weve seen this movie before, said Jamel K. Donnor, an associate professor of education at William & Mary. When theres progress, when theres socio-cultural racial change, theres this pushback and theres this blowback from those who have a vested interest in the status quo at the expense of those who have been historically and traditionally excluded or subordinated.

In Virginia, the push against teaching about racial inequities took center stage in the recent governors race and has been a focus of Youngkins administration, which has sought to ban the teaching of inherently divisive concepts.

There is a difference between critical race theory and anti-racism education, educators say. The way opponents have described critical race theory is wrong, said Janel George, the director of Georgetown Universitys Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic.

There has been this conflation of critical race theory as being associated with anything related to race, she said.

George said critical race theory is a legal theory and an approach to examining the role of law in furthering racial inequality. George has studied the potential of legislative interventions to eradicate racial inequalities in education.

It is not a discrete body of thought, if you will. It is an approach, she said, adding that it usually takes graduate students a semester to understand the foundations driving the theory. Its purposefully complex.

Albemarle County schools has said critical race theory is not part of its curriculum, a claim disputed by Ryan Bangert, senior counsel and vice president of legal strategy of Alliance for Defending Freedom, who is representing the families in the lawsuit.

Parents started publicly decrying the divisions anti-racism policy for its purported connection to critical race theory near the end of last school year. Those arguments culminated in the lawsuit filed last month, which cited anti-racism lessons piloted at a county middle school, book purchases and training for teachers, among other examples.

The principle that the lawsuit is really standing on is that our public schools should never promote race-based divisions, Bangert said. Unfortunately, thats what the school system is doing.

The suit is one of several filed across the country that challenge lessons about racism and efforts to advance racial equity in public schools.

The Arizona-based Alliance for Defending Freedom is a national nonprofit that seeks to defend religious liberty and parental rights, among other issues, according to its website. In Virginia, ADF has been involved in lawsuits regarding a teachers First Amendment rights and has challenged the Virginia law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The parents suing the Albemarle County district are Carlos and Tatiana Ibanez, Matthew and Marie Mierzejewski, Kemal and Margaret Gokturk, Erin and Trent D. Taliaferro and Melissa Riley. Their children were identified by initials only. Through ADF, they declined to comment.

Other parents who spoke at recent School Board meetings and who have weighed in on an open letter, said commitment to anti-racism should be non-negotiable.

This policy was developed by ACPS students, and we endorse their valuable work and are disgusted by the lawsuits devaluing of this landmark policy, said Amanda Moxham, an Albemarle parent and member of the Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County.

The school division was officially served with the lawsuit earlier this month. The division has not yet filed a response to the complaint, and a hearing hasnt been scheduled, according to county court records.

Responding to these cases in public rather than in the courtroom serves no useful purpose, said Phil Giaramita, spokesman for Albemarle County schools.

A plan to improve

The policy at the center of the Albemarle lawsuit was adopted in 2019 as a way to improve academic outcomes for students who have historically lagged behind their white, more affluent peers.

The policy, which was drafted by students, broke down that task into five categories  policy communication; leadership and administration; curriculum and instruction; professional learning and training; and policy enforcement. Division staff identified 27 different things to carry out under those categories and have been working to implement the different provisions since late 2019. Some of those tasks include examining bias in curriculum, alternative discipline programs and changing how students are recommended for advanced classes.

George said Albemarle Countys anti-racism policy is laudable in that students drafted the document, especially in their call for curriculum and instructional materials to reflect cultural and racial diversity.

Data show that students who are able to see themselves reflected in the curriculum, to see their culture reflected in the curriculum, perform better, George said. So thinking about what contributes to inequality and outcomes, it is partially the exclusion of the stories and histories of people of color.

Mary Bauer, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union-Virginia, said lawsuits such as the one filed against Albemarle County Public Schools and the broader campaign do a disservice to students.

Its part of this larger trend of censorship in schools, said Bauer. It is our view that students have a right to learn and talk about race and to receive an accurate and inclusive education, and lawsuits like this are ill-conceived and really do a disservice to kids of all kinds.

Youngkins first executive order after taking office in January banned the teaching of inherently divisive concepts, including critical race theory. He later established an email address, helpeducation@governor.virginia.gov, where families could share tips regarding inherently divisive practices in schools. That email address was blasted by state education groups, including the Virginia Education Association, which called it a divisive distraction designed to intimidate educators.

A state senate bill that would have codified that order into state law was killed in committee this week. Meanwhile, House Bill 781, sponsored by Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart, would eliminate the jobs of equity or diversity directors in schools, and the teaching of divisive concepts such as that capitalism, free markets, free industry, and other related economic systems are inherently racist, among other provisions. No hearing has been scheduled on that bill.

The new Massive Resistance

George said the lawsuit and actions taken to restrict the purported teaching of critical race theory reflect tactics used to block school integration in the 1950s.

In 1956, following the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Virginia lawmakers moved to defund integrated school systems. Gov. Thomas B. Stanley shut down schools for five months, including two in Charlottesville, to prevent integration. The collection of laws known as Massive Resistance were adopted in 1956 and struck down as unconstitutional in 1959.

Virginia has been the battleground, said George.

George wrote recently that a direct line can be drawn from Massive Resistance to the current anti-race equity instruction efforts.

This focus on critical race theory is new but its some of the very same old tactics that have been invoked before, George said. I know this sounds dramatic, but its maintenance of white supremacy.

Bills to ban critical race theory and teaching about race would revoke funding for districts and penalize teachers, both tactics used during Massive Resistance, George said. The Virginia House bill would make a violation of its provisions a class 4 misdemeanor

This is why the law is significant, George said. They are using the legal system to wage these campaigns and using the school system to be the site of these campaigns.

To George, whats at stake is the future of the U.S. public education system.

If we dont prepare students, who can engage in critical thinking, who can relate to people of backgrounds different from themselves, who can make decisions for themselves about what is right or what is wrong, I really fear that we are betraying the purpose of public education, she said.

Bauer, with the ACLU, echoed that.

What does that do for those kids to say, we dont want them to even hear this and we dont want them to have to grapple with painful lessons from our history, she said. Where does that leave us as a society of kids who cant learn true stories?

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Chief: Man with hostage fatally shot by Denton police at East McKinney apartments

Jeff Woo / Jeff Woo/DRC Denton Police Chief Frank Dixon speaks to reporters during a press conference on a shooting at The Vibe Apartment Homes on Saturday morning.

A man died Saturday morning after he was shot at The Vibe Apartment Homes by Denton police, who say he had a woman physically restrained while he was holding a knife to her body.

Denton Police Department Chief Frank Dixon addressed the shooting at a media briefing at the apartment complex early Saturday morning. He said a call came in at about 1:30 a.m. from a man saying he was going to kill himself and get it over with because of problems he was having with a woman.

The first officers arrived on scene at the complex in the 1600 block of East McKinney Street at about 1:35 a.m., Dixon said, and made contact with the man. Police described him as a white man in his late 20s who had his arm gripped around a womans neck while holding a knife to her body. One officer tried to speak with him, Dixon said, while several other officers arrived on the scene due to the hostage situation.

Dixon said attempts to negotiate went on for five or six minutes, with words exchanged between the man and the officer. As the talking went on, he said, the man raised his knife up to the woman almost in a stabbing motion several times.

At one point, as the knife was being raised, we had one officer fire one round from his patrol rifle, striking the subject in his upper torso, Dixon said.

Police Department spokesperson Amy Cunningham clarified after the briefing that the shot was fired at 1:43 a.m. Dixon said the man fell and officers moved up to remove the woman, who was uninjured, from the area. He said the man continued to hold the knife after he dropped to the ground, and that officers used a Taser as they approached him because he was still crouched and the knife was still very visible in his hands.

Officers then recovered the knife, rolled the man over and called for paramedics, Dixon said. He was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead a short time later. No officers were injured.

Were not going to be releasing his name because we want to make sure that his next of kin has been notified prior to that happening, Dixon said.

Dixon said the Texas Rangers had already arrived to start conducting an initial investigation into the shooting, while the Police Department will be conducting its own internal investigation for any policy violations.

Dixon did not identify the officer who fired the shot, but described him as a white man who has been with the Denton Police Department for about two and a half years. A news release later stated he is a three-year veteran of the department. He will be placed on administrative leave, pending both investigations.

Dixon said several details of the initial incident are still being investigated, including the relationship between the woman and the man and if they were residents of the apartment complex.

No police officer wants to come to work and have to take a human life, Dixon said. Unfortunately, sometimes, you have to take a life to save a life, which is what happened in this instance.
A man has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly stabbing his girlfriend to death at a motel in Denver last weekend.

Israel Casarez, 49, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Dina Casias, 54, according to the Denver District Attorney's Office.

The charges stem from an incident where officers were sent to the Western Hills Motel at 5035 W. Colfax Ave. after several nature unknown calls were made. A nature unknown call is when there is a known incident, however, the caller is unclear about the situation, police said.

One caller told 911 dispatchers there was a man with a knife breaking windows. The dispatcher also noted there were screams coming from multiple parties during the call, according to the arrest affidavit.

Responding officers went to the motel room in question and saw a broken window to the left of the room's door. A mattress was standing up against the side of the window and obscured their view inside the room, according to the arrest affidavit.

Officers managed to move the mattress by reaching through the broken window and then observed blood in several places along the walls of the room and saw Casarez holding a large knife.

They entered the room and while taking Casarez into custody, found Casias under the mattress. Paramedics were called into the room and pronounced her dead on-scene. Police said she had been stabbed several times.

Casarez is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 18.
Three men were killed and two others were injured in separate shootings on Saturday night, according to the Denver Police Department.

Officers were sent to the 7-Eleven at 1000 E. Colfax Ave. just before 8 p.m. for reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found two men suffering from gunshot wounds, said Ana Munoz, a spokeswoman for the department.

One of the men died at the scene while the other was taken to a hospital, where he later was pronounced dead, Munoz said.

Detectives were investigating what led up to the shooting and were trying to develop information about a possible suspect. As of Sunday morning, there was no word of an arrest.

Around 8:45 p.m., officers were sent to the 5700 block of North Danube Street for reports of a drive-by shooting.

Officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital.

Two other men who were shot took themselves to a hospital. Munoz said their injuries were not life threatening.

Police are asking anyone with information about either incident to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
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A series of decisions determined the end of Anna Marie Garduno's life.

There was the decision to place her on a ventilator. It was Nov. 16, a week since she was diagnosed with COVID-19, five days since she was admitted to Evans Army Community Hospital. It was 78 years to the day since she'd been born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, to a homemaker and a railroad worker.

This decision was thrown on her daughter, Sheryl Abeyta, as it has been and will continue to be thrown onto countless other children and families. Abeyta felt rushed: It was morning when the hospital called and told her Anna Marie  she went by Lorraine  could die, her oxygen levels had fallen so low. They needed direction. Abeyta told them she had to think.

She'd just been with her mom the night before. Garduno was in a chair and talking. Her speech was labored, but she was still talking. That was maybe 12 hours ago.

"How could she turn so quickly?" Abeyta wondered.

Two hours after the first call, the hospital called again. Abeyta relented, grappled with this call coming on Garduno's birthday. She was outgoing, an Army wife during Vietnam, a mother hen to her two children and a frequent hostess for the other wives. She still sang the Everly Brothers at karaoke every Thursday. And somehow, now, she was unable to breathe on her own.

Abeyta wonders  will always wonder  if she should've waited. She didn't know at the time, but more time would pass before the anesthesiologist arrived to sedate Garduno. Could her mother have held on another day? Could Abeyta have held off for a few more hours, so she could've gone to see her mom, to try to talk to her? If Abeyta had seen her, maybe she could've said, "See, look. She's sitting up, just like she was last night. She's OK."

"It was her birthday, and if I didn't put her on a ventilator and she died, that would be awful," Abeyta said. "But if I did put her on the ventilator, was that depriving her of one more day on oxygen and letting her talk to me one more time?"

There was Garduno's decision to not get vaccinated, despite Abeyta's urging. Garduno had strong phobias, and she worried about the side effects  her companion had chills and a fever after getting his vaccine. Garduno had gotten her flu shot in mid-October. If she'd received her COVID vaccine then, too, she would've gotten her second dose that same week she was hospitalized.

Back in early September, the family gathered in Abeyta's backyard for her daughter's birthday. Over Papa Murphy's pizza and cake, Abeyta told Garduno to get vaccinated. Her mom had taken the pandemic seriously: She'd masked up, she played bingo in her car, she briefly stopped going to the 11 o'clock Saturday Mass. Her mother's friends would later tell Abeyta they urged her mom to get vaccinated, too.

Two weeks after Garduno was intubated, the hospital called again and laid another decision at Abeyta's feet. There had been some positive signs in the two weeks since Garduno had been intubated, hope that had bolstered Abeyta. Her ex-mother-in-law had been on a ventilator, and when the doctors removed it, she drew breath again.

But Garduno wasn't getting better. Did her daughter want to keep her on the ventilator? Abeyta went back to the hospital on Nov. 28. She'd arranged for a Catholic priest to come and perform last rites. Her mom's hands were strapped down, to prevent her from pulling out the tubes pumping air into her lungs.

The next day, Abeyta and her daughter, bedecked in protective gear, stood on either side of Garduno's bed. Abeyta could see her reflection in the window, could see the doctors and the nurses and the machines, her mom and her daughter.

"Was this us?" she wondered. "Is this happening? Or is it a dream?"

By 9:30 p.m., the providers had taken Garduno off the ventilator. Abeyta tried to absorb what was happening, looked at her reflection again. She hoped her mother would breathe on her own. If she couldn't, then at least let her hear them saying goodbye.

There are more decisions now, bringing the others into sharper relief. What should she do with her parents' brick house in Security-Widefield, the one her dad, Larry, bought back in the '70s, where her mom would sit and watch the neighborhood from the living room window and where her dad would work in the woodshop. What does she do with her parents' classic cars, the 1970 Chevelle Super Sport and the '71 Lincoln Continental?

How should she process this grief? December was hard. Her mom loved to celebrate holidays, but she spent Thanksgiving on a ventilator and Christmas came too late. For weeks, Abeyta was numb, in a daze, going through the motions, all of those inadequate euphemisms for living while shattered. She ground her teeth so hard she cracked a tooth.

Abeyta's trying not to be angry, but she is. She's angry at the doctors for not giving her more time to see her mom before they intubated her. She's angry at the stress placed on the health care system. If her mom had gotten sick in the summer, would she still be here?

Her father died eight years ago, and now she was an orphan.

"I lost part of my heart when my dad died," she said, "and the rest of my heart when my mom died."

She's frustrated, and reeling, and grieving. But she's beginning to shift her eyes forward. She has a family around her, a granddaughter. Garduno had lived a full life: She was a dancer, a lover of Mexican music and food, an active Catholic, a protective mother who followed her husband's military career across the world. She twirled and sang up until she got sick.

Those were decisions, too.
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Contrary to what we Baby Boomers have been told, getting old aint the problem.

Being old is the problem.

However, as Ralph Kramden said on The Honeymooners, Acting young aint what keeps you young, but if you have some memoriessome good memoriesof when you were young, thats what keeps you young.

Part of Boomers old-age situation is self-inflicted: Watching commercials during classic western movies/TV shows is painful.

Endlessly, somebody, i.e. Joe Namath, J. J. Walker, animatedly tries to convince us to call or visit GoMedicare.com.

Day-in/day-out, were all but shamed into sending monthly donations to benefit children with cancer, displaced elderly Holocaust survivors and mistreated dogs/elephants, all worthy, but saddening causes.

Hmmm.

We can get peace of mind, Chris Berman says, at CarShield.com.

Then there are CarGurus, IdentityIQ.com, Life Alert, GoLo, Publishers Clearing House, Noom, Lume, bentcarrot.com, Moonpod.com, and OurTime.com, among a growing list of peace/love suppliers, including a rejuvenated Martha Stewart currently hawking PrettyLitter.com.

Hmmm.

Typical westerns, as recently mentioned here, showing interiors of Studebaker and Conestoga covered wagons, are baffling.

Saw one Conestoga on Wagon Train, between midnight and day last week, where the wagons commodious interior featured separate single beds for three feverish younguns and a full-size bedstead for one ailing adult, with room to spare for caregiver, visitors and belongins.

Speaking of commodious, nary a wagon, one-horse open-shay, saloon, shurfs/marshals office and/or Delmonicos in the dusty old West featured a place to, well, go.

And based on the amount of beans, cowpokes, buffalo/bounty hunters and settlers on the Oregon, Chisolm, Santa Fe, Californee, Lockhart, Texas, and other dusty trails, mustve needed to go!

Lockhart, Texas?

Thats near San Antone, where former Enterprise Ledger editor and author Kyle Tex Mooty homesteads now, newspapering for Dana Garrett, son of one-time Ledger owner Floyd Garrett.

Small world.

Inside the House of Adams Big Moroccan Theater, at vintage western trails end, pioneers on horseback, on foot and/or in wagons, seeking homes on the range, where buffalo roamed and deer and antelope played, hoping to find a place where never was heard a discouraging word, settled.

Boy howdy, pardner, Fox Fleming could sell every place described like that today, as Americans and the world are seeking peace of mind inside a place where  the sky is not cloudy all day 

Its difficult finding something positive in these changing times that prove life aint all honeysuckle and catfish.

Sooo, while we anxiously wait for all versions of the coronavirus to soon become memories, reading the following stolen borrowed words can help pass time:

 Americans are entitled to make their own decisions, but their employers, health insurers, and fellow citizens are not required to accommodate them 

Countless people never know when they have it made, so as R. Kramden said, If the shoe fits, take it off.

Coffee County native and former Alabama governor Big Jim Folsom once explained,  it didnt matter what you say so long as you tell the truth and you are sincere.

Hmmm.

Somebody said, What you dont count cant hurt you.

And Broderick Crawford, as Dan Mathews on Highway Patrol, advised, Remember, theres a mathematical formula. You take what you dont wanna believeadd it to what you hafta believe. You come up with amazing answers.

10-4 
Following al.coms report on ticketing practices in Brookside, a small Jefferson County town along Interstate 22 northeast of Birmingham, fallout has been swift, most recently with the legislator representing the area, state Rep. Juandalynn Givan, calling for the resignations of the mayor, prosecutor and municipal judge.

Thats a broad and premature demand, even considering the snowballing allegations suggesting that Brookside has operated a traffic trap, with more than half of the towns revenue coming from traffic fines.

The towns police chief, Mike Jones, has already resigned, and multiple investigations are in the works, including a state audit. Meanwhile, the mayor, Mike Bryan, and prosecutor, Mark Parnell, have issued statements with the hope of acquitting themselves of responsibility; Bryan, who took office in November, said he inherited the situation, while Parnell explained that many cases never cross his desk.

If the accusations are determined as true, then its fair to demand the resignations of those in charge of the city and its municipal justice system. Givans umbrage and that of Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, who vowed to get to the bottom of the matter, are certainly warranted, as is the interest of other lawmakers.

Missing from the initial response is Attorney General Steve Marshall, who should be leading the probe into the allegations.

Regardless of how the investigations pan out, the controversy presents lawmakers with an opportunity to mitigate the possibility of a similar situation occurring elsewhere in the state. Brookside Police are accused of patrolling Interstate 22 and issuing citations there. Bryan said he ordered officers to stop patrolling the interstate on Dec. 15, except to respond to emergencies.

Lawmakers should review jurisdictional guidelines to prevent municipal police from creating the perception of a speed trap with excessive patrols along nearby interstates. Doing so would help ensure a towns police force is focusing on safety and order within the town theyre expected to protect and serve.
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Younger people may find it difficult to believe but there was a time, before the advent of Reagan, when Republican political figures were embarrassed to be caught in a lie, let alone lie continuously for political gain.

In 1960, America was making U-2 flights over Russia. The Russians finally were able to shoot one down and the pilot was captured. President Eisenhower was unaware the pilot was captured and he denied ordering the flight. Ike lied in the interest of our national security, not for political gain. President Nixon was associated with some scandals and was forced to leave office once his lies were made public. He had the decency to be contrite and apologize for his actions.

Of course, Reagan changed all that. He not only made it OK to lie but promoted lying for political gain. He said his "voodoo economics" would be good for the long-term financial well-being of America. Instead, he tripled the debt in only eight years. Lying wasn't the only thing Reagan was (in)famous for. He also made it OK to hate poor people, especially single mothers, while giving welfare to the rich. Recall his myth about the welfare mother driving a new car? He made it OK to commit treason by selling weapons to our enemies. And, he made it OK for corrupt political figures, such as Reagan and Gingrich, to be in bed with corrupt religious figures, such as Cal Thomas and Jerry Falwell.

Of course, Traitor Trump has built on Reagan's lies, telling 25,000+ and the BIG LIE about the 2020 election being stolen. His lies made us vulnerable to the coronavirus, which has infected 71 million and killed 850,000. Of course, he's had lots of help from Alabama Republicans.

Carl Hess

Ozark
Work to begin on airport, major airports to get upgrades

An aircraft approaches to land at Con Dao Airport, southern Vietnam, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Anh

Work is set to begin on an airport in Quang Tri this year, while Tan Son Nhat, Dien Bien, Con Dao and Dong Hoi airports are set for major upgrades.

A public-private-partnership is set to begin building the first airport in the central province of Quang Tri in April. The projects estimated cost is over 5.82 trillion ($257 million).

Located in Gio Linh District, the 265-hectare domestic airport will have a capacity of one million passengers a year and handle 3,100 tons of cargo. It will be able to accommodate aircraft like Airbus A321, Boeing 787 and Airbus A350.

Currently, people wanting to reach Quang Tri have to fly to Thua Thien-Hue or Quang Binh province, both about 100km away.

The new airport is expected to drive socio-political-economic development in Quang Tri Province, a Vietnam War battlefield, and bolster national defense in the central region.

T3 terminal

Construction of the T3 terminal at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC will begin this year. The project, costing VND10.99 trillion ($482.6 million), is expected to be completed in 37 months.

Lai Xuan Thanh, chairman of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the project investor, said they were waiting for land to be handed over by competent authorities.

The domestic terminal, with a capacity of 20 million passengers a year, is expected to relieve the current overload on T1.

Tan Son Nhat, Vietnams largest airport, has been overloaded for many years. The airport has been serving 36 million passengers a year since 2017, well above its designed capacity of 25 million passengers per year by 2020.

Runway expansion, new taxiway

Work began January 22 on a project to upgrade the Dien Bien Airport in northern Vietnam.

The upgrade includes expansion of the airports runway and construction of a new 15-meter-wide taxiway. Its apron will be expanded to accommodate bigger aircraft, including three Airbus A320, A321 or equivalents and one ATR72.

The passenger terminal will be expanded to serve 500,000 passengers from the current capacity of 300,000.

The project, invested in by the ACV, has a total investment outlay of VND1.5 trillion (over $65 million). It is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of next year.

Provincial authorities expect the airport expansion to attract more businesses to invest in the local tourism and commerce industries.

The Dien Bien Airport in the eponymous province, 500 kilometers to the west of Hanoi, was originally a military airport built in 1954.

Wider runway, three new taxiways

Upgrade work on the Con Dao Airport in the eponymous tourist island in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is expected to begin this year at a cost of VND2.3 trillion.

The upgrade, approved by the transport ministry last year, will increase its capacity from 400,000 to two million passengers a year by 2030. It will also enable the airport to handle large jet aircraft.

The existing 1,830-meter-long runway's width will be increased from 30 to 45 meters to receive large jets like A319neo and A320neo. At present, it can only handle ATR72 turboprop aircraft with a capacity of 72-78 passengers, resulting in expensive air tickets.

A parallel taxiway and three new taxiways will be built to connect with the runway.

The upgrade will also include construction of a new apron for eight aircraft, a new air traffic control tower on the east side of the passenger terminal, a synchronous airport beacon system and a landing gear system to operate flights at night.

The Con Dao Airport was first built by the French in the 20th century and upgraded in 2003 for commercial use. At present, it is closed at night because it does not have a runway lighting system.

New terminal

Another major upgrade to begin this year is to build the T2 passenger terminal at the Dong Hoi Airport in the central province of Quang Binh, home to UNESCO heritage site Phong Nha-Ke Bang and worlds largest cave Son Doong.

The ACV had submitted a proposal to build the T2 terminal on an area of 1.1 hectares, a parking lot in front of the terminal and other ancillary works.

The project requires a total investment of VND1.2 trillion.

The T2 terminal will serve three million passengers a year when complete.

The current passenger terminal at Dong Hoi has a designed capacity of half million passengers a year while the number of customers passing through the airport reached 539,908 million people in 2019. In 2020, around 487,746 million passengers traveled through the airport despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Russian tourists are welcomed at Cam Ranh Airport in Khanh Hoa Province on December 26, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Xuan Ngoc

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has backed the travel industry in proposing that tourism resumes fully from March 31 instead of the early May it had previously planned.

In a proposal submitted to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh Saturday, the ministry said this would be an appropriate time for full tourism reopening as Vietnam would have completed its booster shot vaccination campaign to facilitate herd immunity.

"If the country is slow in reopening, it would lose its opportunity to attract foreign tourists as many regional countries have already restarted their international tourism," the ministry noted.

Earlier, the ministry had planned the full tourism reopening from May 1, but major airlines and travel firms called for an earlier reopening, fearing that the industry would miss out on recovery opportunities.

Eleven airlines and travel firms last week petitioned the government to announce by early February the timeline for fully reopening the country to foreign tourists.

With borders closed, the number of foreign arrivals plunged by 96 percent last year, and the effects on the hospitality and tourism industries were predictable.

In November the government started allowing foreign tourists in under a vaccine passport program. So far, 8,500 foreign arrivals have been welcomed under the program with several pre-set conditions and constraints, half of them Vietnamese overseas coming to see their relatives.

Under the program, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, and Binh Dinh provinces and HCMC and Da Nang City are the only localities foreign tourists can visit.
People take part in a Paris march in 2018 to pay tribute to Vanesa Campos. Photo by AFP

A French court on Saturday (Jan 29) sentenced two Egyptian men to 22 years in jail for the murder of a transgender prostitute in a trial that has highlighted rising violence against sex workers in France.

Vanesa Campos, a 36-year-old from Peru, was fatally shot in the chest in August 2018 in the Bois de Boulogne, a vast wooded park west of Paris that has long been a prostitution zone once night falls.

Police quickly focused on a group of around a dozen men of Egyptian origin, who had staged what prosecutors called a "punitive expedition" against Campos and others who had denounced repeated robberies and assaults against sex workers and their clients by armed gangs.

The Paris court found Mahmoud Kadri, 24, and Karim Ibrahim, 29, guilty of "gang murder", charges they have repeatedly denied, instead both blaming each other.

Earlier on Saturday, at the end of a trial that began Jan 11, both expressed sorrow for what had happened.

"I apologise for everything that happened. I'm so sorry," the Arabic-speaking Kadri said through an interpreter before bursting into tears.

Before deliberations began, Ibrahim told the court in French that he was "so sorry for all that".

The prosecution had recommended on Thursday that Kadri be sentenced to 20 years in jail. He has denied claims from his fellow accused that he shot and killed Campos on the night of Aug 16-17, 2018.

The prosecution recommended 15 years in prison for Ibrahim, accusing him of complicity to murder.

Dangerous job

Just a month before her death, Campos was among a group who hired a guard to protect them while working among dense trees with no public lighting.

The assailants were armed with tear gas, tree branches, a knife, a stun gun, and a pistol that had been stolen a week earlier from a police car while the officer was with a sex worker.

Six other men, aged 23 to 34, were also sentenced.

One of them was handed six years in jail for violence that led to an unintended death.

Four more received varying sentences of up to six years in prison for taking part in the assault.

The sixth was to be jailed for five years for stealing the pistol.

Campos' mother and sister, who live in Peru, are civil plaintiffs in the case along with six of her former colleagues, the bodyguard, the Acceptess-T transgender advocacy association and the Mouvement du Nid prostitute support group.

Acceptess-T in particular argues that increased violence against sex workers stems from a 2016 law making it illegal to buy sex in France but not to sell it, shifting the criminal responsibility to clients who can be fined if caught.

While some groups say the law helps protect women from trafficking and exploitation by discouraging prostitution, many sex workers say it has made their jobs more dangerous and deprived them of income.
Harry and Meghan voice concern to Spotify about Covid-19 misinformation

Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have expressed their concern to Spotify about Covid-19 misinformation on its platform and are committed to continuing to work with the company, a spokesperson for their Archewell foundation said on Sunday.

Singer-songwriters Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are removing their music fromSpotify in protest that the popular streaming service has allowed the airing of misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. Harry and Meghan signed a series of corporate deals, including to produce and host podcasts for Spotify, as part of their efforts to make a living following their split with Britain's royal family announced in 2020.

"Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day. Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform," the spokesperson said. "We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis. We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does."

Spotify has previously said it worked to balance "both safety for listeners and freedom for creators' and had removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid-19 in accordance with its 'detailed content policies.'"

Young objected to his music being played on the same platform as Joe Rogan's top-rated postcast 'The Joe Rogan Experience'. Rogan has stirred controversy with his views on the pandemic, government mandates and vaccines to control the spread of the coronavirus. Earlier this month, 270 scientists and medical professionals signed a letter urging Spotify to take action against Rogan, accusing him of spreading falsehoods on the podcast.
Late into the night, as has become a common sight in Zepu, a town in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Shanlulin night market is bustling with activity.

Abulimit Mehmet's restaurant, opened just two months ago, was crowded with regular and new patrons waiting for a taste of his specialties, particularly spicy chicken and roasted pigeon.

About 200 km away, factories were working at full capacity in an industrial park, where the hum of machines, just like the buzz of the Shanlulin market, merged into the perpetual rumble of China's economic engines.

Guided by Xiconomics, Chinese President Xi Jinping's economic philosophy, China has managed to achieve a robust recovery while effectively containing COVID-19, and thus inject an urgently needed dose of stability and certainty into the struggling world economy.

Hard-won Balance

Last year, in defiance of the great impact of the coronavirus pandemic, China recorded an 8.1-percent growth year on year, outpacing other major economies.

The strong performance resulted, to a large extent, from Beijing's coordinated approach to pandemic response and economic development, which features what is known as a dynamic zero-case policy.

In face of a scourge like COVID-19, no response measures come without any cost. Chinese policymakers believe that saving people's lives outweighs anything else, and also serves as a prerequisite for completely defeating the virus and reviving the economy.

If China were to follow the model of "coexistence with the virus," it would be reporting "hundreds of thousands" of daily new cases "even in a highly underestimated outbreak scenario and under the most optimistic assumptions," according to a study of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The resulting impact on people's lives and economic development would be hard to imagine.

"We should always put people and their lives first, and care about the life, value and dignity of every individual," Xi said at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly last year.

"We need to both follow routine, targeted COVID-19 protocols and take emergency response measures, and both carry out epidemic control and promote economic and social development," he added, expounding China's holistic approach.

The strong domestic measures China has taken to control COVID-19 for the past two years have provided a solid basis to revitalize its economy, said Lawrence Loh, director of the Center for Governance and Sustainability at National University of Singapore.

Official data show that with economic vitality being boosted, more than 28.87 million market entities were newly established last year, marking a year-on-year increase of 15.4 percent, and including tens of thousands of foreign-funded businesses.

"China's high productivity, sophisticated industrial supply chains, and massive domestic market mean that China has and will remain attractive to FDI (foreign direct investment)," said Tommy Wu, a lead economist at Oxford Economics, an Oxford-headquartered think tank.

In the Shanlulin market, Mehmet said he could intuitively feel the warmth of the economic environment. "Business is getting better," he told Xinhua. "I'm thinking about adding some new dishes to the menu."

Global Growth Engine

The economic warmth felt by the Xinjiang restaurant owner is actually being observed by many China watchers across the world.

"COVID has created an uncertain world, and therefore any country or supplier which can remove the clouds of uncertainty with the sunlight of certainty is to be welcomed and supported," said John McLean, chair of the Institute of Directors for the City of London.

With its economic engines roaring, China has played a major role in stabilizing and energizing global growth. Unfazed by the undercurrents of isolationism and protectionism, it continues to expand high-standard opening-up and promote international cooperation.

China's foreign trade reached 6.14 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021, up 21.4 percent year on year and crossing the 6-trillion-dollar threshold for the first time. Exports rose 21.2 percent, while imports went up 21.5 percent.

In the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, electrical appliance manufacturer Midea Group produces 47 percent of the world's magnetron, securing the pandemic-battered global supply chain for microwave producers such as Panasonic and Bosch.

"Amid the spread of the coronavirus, China is demonstrating abilities to rapidly restore business activities and economic growth," said Yana Leksyutina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University. "With a high rate of economic recovery, China has become a driver of global economic growth."

It will remain so in the time to come. Addressing the opening ceremony of the fourth China International Import Expo in November, Xi stressed that China will not change its resolve to open wider at a high standard, will not change its determination to share development opportunities with the rest of the world, and will not change its commitment to an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.

"China stands ready to work with all countries to build an open world economy," he said, "so that the spring breeze of openness will bring warmth to all parts of the world."

(Xinhua writers Chen Nuo in Xinjiang, Huang Zemin in London, Shi Hao in Moscow and Wu Tao in Guangdong also contributed to the story.)
At a semiconductor technology research lab in HCM City (Photo: VNA)

Following the recovery from the end of 2021 after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many foreign-invested enterprises have stabilised and expanded their production and business activities. Thus, disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) also saw a positive increase of 6.8 percent to surpass 1.61 billion USD during the first month of this year, FIA said in its report.

According to the report, up to 103 new foreign-invested projects were licensed with a total registered capital of nearly 388 million USD, up 119.1 percent year-on-year in terms of the number of projects but down 70.7 percent in value.

Although registered investment capital decreased compared to the same period last year due to a lack of large-scale projects, an increase in the number of new investment projects showed the confidence of foreign investors in the country's investment environment, FIA said.

Meanwhile, 71 operating projects were allowed to raise their capital by 1.27 billion USD, up 54.3 percent in project number and nearly triple the level of capital seen in the same month last year.

Capital contributions and share purchases by foreign investors stood at 443.5 million USD, up two times over the last year's corresponding month.

Among 15 sectors receiving FDI in the first month, processing and manufacturing took the lead with over 1.2 billion USD, accounting for 58.9 percent of the total FDI. Real estate came next with 472 million USD or equivalent to 22.5 percent. Administrative sectors and supporting services; wholesale and retail were the runners-up with over 221 million USD and 52.5 million USD, respectively.

As per the data, Singapore led 33 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with total investment capital of nearly 666 million USD, making up nearly 31.7 percent of the total FDI registered in the country.

The Republic of Korea ranked second with over 481 million USD, up five times year-on-year or equivalent to 30 percent of the total FDI. Mainland China came third with nearly 451 million USD, down 27 percent or 21.5 percent.

The capital city attracted the highest amount of FDI, with over 448 million USD, 29.9 times higher than last January, making up 21.3 percent of the total. The central province of Nghe An came second with 400 million USD or 19 percent thanks to two existing projects increasing their levels of capital. It was followed by Bac Ninh, Long An and Phu Tho./.
Marcio Pochmann, Director of Lula Institute, Brazil

Guo Cunhai, Special Research Fellow of the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, Director of Division of Society and Culture, Institute of Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Xiao Lianbing, Secretary-General of International Exchange, Cooperation and Communication Center of Guangming Daily

On January 19, a health worker vaccinates an indigenous person with Chinese COVID-19 vaccine in Tabatinga, Masun State, Brazil. Xinhua News Agency

On July 18, people walk on Paulista Street in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Xinhua News Agency

Giving up Cooperation, a Serious "Decadent Strategic Signal"

Xiao Lianbing: Dear Mr. Pochmann and Mr. Guo, what do you think of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world, especially on Brazil and Latin America?

Pochmann: Many countries in the world are facing the problem of vulnerability, and the pandemic has aggravated the vulnerability of these countries to some extent. For most Latin American countries, of course, except a few of them, this worldwide health crisis has further affected the "new extractivism" within the international division of labor. It does not benefit but complicates the recovery of the economic vitality of these countries. Data show that the pandemic has more or less affected global technology, society, and the environment. However, it should be noted that compared with other Latin American countries, Brazil has unique development potential. For example, in terms of environmental diversity, the freshwater resources in the Amazon region of Brazil account for 10% of all available fresh surface water of the world. In addition, the area of tropical rain forests there accounts for 20% of the global total, which absorbs 15% of global carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to 50% of the total fossil fuel emissions in Europe. As we all know, the sustainability of the environment has gradually become a new passport to social justice and the development of advanced technology in the 21st century, which also provides an opportunity for Brazil and other Latin American countries to jointly build a better future after the pandemic.

Guo Cunhai: The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has brought profound influences on humanity. The shortage of financial and medical resources makes developing countries more seriously affected. The pandemic has put an end to Brazil's economic growth for three consecutive years. In 2020, its GDP dropped by 4.1%, amounting to the biggest annual decline of Brazil's economy in 30 years. The pandemic has also impinged on commodity price, employment, and manufacturing in Brazil. Latin America has become the worst-hit area by COVID-19pandemic in the world. At the moment, vaccination has eased the spread of the pandemic, but pandemic prevention and control in Latin America still doesn't look promising as mutant viruses are raging in many countries. The pandemic not only brings economic challenges, but also evokes reflection by Latin American countries and their thinking of future changes: the ravages of COVID-19 have fully exposed the lack of digital infrastructure in Latin America. Therefore, it is urgent to accelerate the development of the digital economy to meet the challenges of economic growth in the post-pandemic era.

Xiao Lianbing: How do you understand the differences and commonalities in the responses of countries around the world in this anti-pandemic campaign?

Pochmann: Since 2020, COVID-19 has been spreading all over the world. The international struggle against the pandemic requires the whole world to battle against it together. However, there is no clear and organized "central command" to lead people in the fight, especially to open up some possibilities for countries with fewer resources to fight the pandemic. Both the weaknesses exposed in many countries and the unsatisfactory quarantine measures of some richer countries prove that China's national response is successful. As far as Brazil is concerned, the federal government's actions have brought Brazil a series of internal and external crises, which may even affect its further cooperation with China. In contrast, many actions taken by China are in line with the most basic principles of safeguarding public health and global governance consistency. We should have combated COVID-19 technically and cooperatively, but the battle against it turns out to be politicized. Giving up the basic principle of cooperation is a very serious signal of decadent strategy. Facing the common enemy of humanity, China is positive, affirming the multilateral global governance. Brazil is expected to join the great cause soon to build a better world.

Guo Cunhai: Facing the pandemic, countries all over the world have implemented different policies conforming to their conditions. The pandemic broke out relatively late in Latin America, and most Latin American countries took active measures correspondingly in the early stage, such as implementing strict social quarantine measures, which achieved remarkable results. However, the high cost and the informal economy of Latin America have brought great challenges to the continuous implementation of social quarantine measures. Therefore, some countries have relaxed their compulsory policies and even had large-scale demonstrations and protests. These unfavorable factors have limited the effective implementation of the scientific anti-pandemic policy to a certain extent. The anti-pandemic policies of various countries have shown a common rule: the countries that united to take scientific measures to fight the pandemic have curbed the spread of the virus to some extent, while those that politicized COVID-19 and even ignored people's lives have failed to bring it under control because they didn't reach a consensus on anti-pandemic and had no continuity in their policies.

Xiao Lianbing: How do you view the factors of national governance in a global anti-pandemic campaign and the direction of national governance in the post-pandemic era?

Pochmann: In my opinion, China has become a model for all countries, in terms of both national decision-making and the standardization of the early warning mechanism to curb the spread of the pandemic. China's national governance is based on its national conditions, its characteristics, and the international environment. It is worth mentioning that China's diplomatic activities together with its increasing international influence have effectively promoted the development of China, a populous country, and its people, thus forming its development characteristics. Facing the global adversities brought by neoliberalism and global challenges, President Xi's experience in governing the country has attracted much attention. This is because the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic calls for profound technological changes and balance among strengthening democracy, promoting sustainable development, improving public welfare, and ensuring the full employment.

Guo Cunhai: The COVID-19 pandemic can be said to be a touchstone of countries national governance capacities, showing their strength and weakness when dealing with major public health emergencies. Although the pandemic is not over yet, countries have begun to reflect on it and learn lessons from it. In the post-pandemic era, all countries are supposed to devote themselves to promoting the modernization of their national governance system and national governance capacity, which will also be the direction and trend of national governance. It means that in terms of national governance, countries should attach greater importance to the accessibility and supply of high-quality public services, diversify governance structure and improve collaborative governance capacity. This major public health emergency has also exposed the problems in certain developing countries, such as backward digital infrastructure and lack of digital governance capacity, which are indispensable for the modernization of national governance capability. At the moment, the ever-changing and increasingly complex governance challenges require all countries to strengthen cultural exchanges and learn the experience in national governance from each other immediately, to improve their ability to cope with major public events collaboratively.

Eurasia's Rise by Co-constructing the Belt and Road Initiative

Xiao Lianbing: After the outbreak of the pandemic, Chinese President Xi has repeatedly advocated fighting the pandemic and promoting the construction of a Community of Shared Future for Mankind jointly with the international community. What is your opinion on this?

Pochmann: Tracking data on the changes in infection rate and mortality in Brazil shows that COVID-19 spreads more widely among non-white and poor populations. The short supply of vaccines all over the world has largely exposed the problem of global private oligopoly and government policy. All these have blocked access to good treatment, and once again highlighted the inequality existing since ancient times. These universal and global problems call for a holistic response. The Community of Shared Future for Mankind concept put forward by President Xi is well accepted for it focuses on the overall situation of the world and looks forward to the future.

Guo Cunhai: The rapid spread of the pandemic in the world has become a major public health event, which once again shows that today's world has formed a community of shared future with highly integrated interests and intertwined responsibilities. It is a new challenge and a new topic brought by globalization, which needs immediate response with new thinking. President Xi put forward the concept of building a Community of Shared Future for Mankind in due course. Under its guidance, China has taken comprehensive, thorough, and strict prevention and control measures after the outbreak of the pandemic, which is responsible for both the Chinese people and people across the world. China has always released open and transparent information on the COVID-19 pandemic, actively shared anti-pandemic experience, cooperated in research and development of antiviral drugs and vaccines, and assisted other countries and regions as much as it could. By doing so, China witnessed with other countries in the world the manifestation of the concept of Community of Shared Future for Mankind in fighting the pandemic. To defeat COVID-19, we have two magic weapons - science and unity. The COVID-19 pandemic is a scientific problem, so it needs to be tackled with scientific methods and spirits.

Xiao Lianbing: What do you think will the Belt and Road initiative bring to Brazil, Latin America and even the world?

Pochmann: The world is facing an important change in the past 250 years, and its center of activity is shifting from the West to the East. The pioneering work of the Belt and Road initiative makes Eurasia rise in the world. Unlike "the Marshall Plan" after World War II, President Xi's initiative can promote peace and prosperity in Brazil and other South American countries. Therefore, the revival of Asia and Europe is the most important change in the world in the past 250 years, and the East has become a new source and center that can provide an impetus for global modernization. In today's new multipolar world, a strong China is crucial to the desired benign balance. In this sense, it is necessary to conduct a series of long-term strategic dialogues after the pandemic.

Guo Cunhai: China has truly seen that in the era of globalization, the economy of each country and the world is highly integrated with a mutual stake, thus forming a community of shared future. The concept of Community of Shared Future for Mankind is a Chinese solution to global problems, and the Belt and Road initiative is the concrete practice of the solution. The principle of consultation, contribution, and shared benefits the Belt and Road initiative advocates, and the Silk Road spirit of peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and win-win outcomes are concrete manifestations of the Community of Shared Future for Mankind. The Belt and Road initiative has become an important component and beneficial supplement of global governance by integrating China's development with that of the world to help developing countries with China's practice, experience and wisdom.

Xiao Lianbing: What are the developmental advantages of Latin American countries in the post pandemic era? What about the main challenges?

Pochmann: The new digital era has replaced the agricultural and industrial eras, which has posed a challenge that requires countries to update their governance philosophy and practices around the challenges of human development. On the one hand, the power of large private multinational corporations affects the governance system among countries, requiring effective rules in global governance; on the other hand, the leap of technology promotes the development of a new economy, but often unevenly, sometimes even affects the sustainable development of the environment. So, as China indicates in its 14th Five-Year Plan, in the post pandemic world, intelligent learning is no longer repetition of the "former norm" before the pandemic. For Latin American countries, expanding production chains with higher added value and creating vitality and new sustainable environmental wealth is important in their regional development. As the two largest developing economies in the eastern and western hemispheres, China and Brazil should consistently enhance their relations to achieve peace and prosperity in South America in the future.

Guo Cunhai: The public health crisis caused by COVID-19 has exposed a series of problems in Latin American countries. Historically, single economic structure and severe informal employment restrict the economic and social development of the countries. Moreover, the lack of digital infrastructure hinders Latin American countries transition to high-quality development in the future. In the post pandemic era, they need to do their utmost to optimize economic structure, expand formal employment with related protective measures, and improve public services to dramatically change the negative situation. Strengthening the construction of digital infrastructure and focusing on the development of green economy and the digital economy is the key to getting rid of the historical burden and developing faster for Latin American countries in the post pandemic era, which is not only their main challenge but the key to bringing their late-developing advantages into full play. However, they still have a long way to go in the modernization of national governance capacity. People's mistrust of public institutions and the lack of consensus among political parties and social organizations in the face of major public crises have exposed the weakness of their national governance capacity.

Time to Promote and Deepen the Role of BRICS Countries

Xiao Lianbing: Lula Institute is very concerned about issues such as poverty, inequality, development, and cooperation. How do you evaluate China's efforts and achievements in poverty alleviation?

Pochmann: Former President Lula did much for the Brazilian people during his two presidential terms. He has succeeded in deepening the unique internal combination of democracy, economic growth, and social inclusion, and in solving many historical problems such as unemployment, hunger, poverty, and inequality, which have won international recognition. China has been admired for its wisdom and achievements in its practice and experience in governing the country. Of course, it has also been widely accepted by the international community. In addition to the spontaneity of the market, the good vision of poverty alleviation also depends on the determination of the government to pursue its goals, the national plan for the participation process, and the evaluation of the outcomes. Lula Institute will strive to strengthen the relationship with Chinese think tanks to enhance mutual understanding and cultural exchange. Meanwhile, it also provides a platform for the exchange of development experience between them to overcome the five major problems of modern society: resource scarcity, disease, ignorance, misery, and laziness.

Guo Cunhai: All governments that are responsible for and serve the people regard poverty alleviation as an important policy goal. This is why the Lula administration took the Zero Hunger Program as an important policy, and the Lula Institute has always focused on poverty, employment, and inequality. In China, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee has always placed poverty alleviation in a prominent position in governing the country and launched a "people's campaign" to alleviate poverty. In the past eight years, the CPC Central Committee has continuously innovated the poverty alleviation mechanism, put forward the concept of taking targeted measures to help people lift themselves out of poverty, created the Chinese governance model of poverty reduction, and made great achievements. According to World Bank International Poverty Standards, the people China has lifted above poverty line accounted for more than 70% of the global total of the same period. China achieved a decade ahead of schedule the poverty reduction goal of Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, making a significant contribution to global poverty reduction. Its significance in the world is far from that. While alleviating poverty at home, China has actively carried out international cooperation in poverty reduction, taken the initiative to assume its international responsibility, and shared its fruits of development with people of all countries.

Xiao Lianbing: Some Western countries regard the rise of China as a threat. What do you think of the argument and the future international order?

Pochmann: Since the end of the Cold War, the world has not completely gotten rid of wars and conflicts yet. Between 1991 and 2017, there were 72 military interventions. In the first half of 2021, nearly 10 countries were involved in wars. China has a great vision now and expects to build a world of economic prosperity, social equity, and environmentally sustainable development. Above all, China expects a world of peace, for peace, and stability is the basis of development. Further equitable development is also an effective means to solve conflicts and polarization. There is no doubt that a strong China and a strong Brazil will make great contributions to world peace. For this reason, I have always taken a positive attitude towards the initiatives aimed at common development, such as the establishment of the BRICS cooperation mechanism, which helps to build a new and powerful world. But this does not mean weakening the multilateral international governance institutions established after the Second World War. On the contrary, we need countries, especially developing countries, to jointly safeguard the current multilateralism. Strengthening the world order based on the Charter of the United Nations is more important than ever before.

Guo Cunhai: Facing the rise of China's economic status, Western countries have constantly played up the "China threat theory" for a long time. This is outdated Cold War thinking and a zero-sum game theory. On the contrary, China has always adhered to peaceful development and solemnly promised the world that a developed China will not pose any threat to any country; no matter how well China develops, it will never seek hegemony or expansionist goals. In terms of foreign relations, China adheres to the democratization of international relations and insists that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, be equal members of the international community and that the fate of the world must be jointly decided by the people of all countries. This is the essence of multilateralism. To safeguard and practice multilateralism, we must act according to law and rules, that is, international law and the UN Charter, to ensure stable and just international rules and international order. The so-called "rules-based international order" advocated by a few countries is complete "pseudo multilateralism", which will only undermine the authority and effectiveness of multilateral institutions. Xiao Lianbing: In the post pandemic era, what do you think about the BRICS cooperation mechanism?

Pochmann: It is proved that the bold initiative of establishing a BRICS cooperation mechanism is extremely feasible. It has great prospects in seeking and implementing the expansion of the so-called "Global South". The integration and all-around cooperation of the five countries have made it possible for the development of many other countries and achieved much. Despite the difficulties and obstacles, it is time to strengthen and deepen the role of BRICS countries in the post pandemic world. We also look forward to further strengthening the relationship between Brazil and China. Lula Institute hopes to actively participate in cooperation projects with China and promote the friendly development of China-Brazil relations, to strengthen and deepen BRICS cooperation and confront global development challenges.

Guo Cunhai: As a major innovation in the mechanism of South-South Cooperation, the BRICS mechanism leads the South-South Cooperation and has great development potential. Given the economic size and influence of the BRICS countries, its mechanism has become the most important and dynamic component of the South-South Cooperation mechanism, greatly enhancing the voice and power of developing countries in the global governance system. The "BRICS+" model proposed by China, as the largest economy among the BRICS countries, is an innovation of cooperation mechanism conducive to expanding and deepening the South-South Cooperation. In the post pandemic era, as leading developing countries, BRICS countries should unite and cooperate especially in the fields of scientific and technological innovation, health care, environmental protection, poverty alleviation, and knowledge sharing.

Xiao Lianbing: Tackling climate change is a major issue of global concern. What do you think of China-Brazil cooperation in this field?

Pochmann: Ecological transformation is no longer the wish of forestry scholars and people in primitive forest communities. Instead it has gradually become a new frontier of national development. The current technological progress has laid a special foundation for the process of production system restructuring, making the new way of economic development and its fair redistribution adapt to the process. In addition, the reorganization of international labor division has freed people's good life from dependence on the "new extractivism" that destroyed the environment, and promoted the progress of energy matrix and sustainable production and consumption standards, which are not unfamiliar to the new generation. Brazil and China are not only partners in trade, but in addressing global climate challenges as well. They cooperate in many aspects of addressing climate change. It is believed that those countries first starting the industrial revolution need to participate in the financing of the ecological transformation, rather than set obstacles to world industrial development. After all, their industrial revolution has given rise to pollution for centuries. Meanwhile, we should recognize that the production and consumption patterns commonly adopted by rich countries are not conducive to the sustainable development of the environment. They need to establish some projects to promote the development of social equity and advanced technology.

Guo Cunhai: Addressing the great challenge of global climate change requires the joint participation and governance of all countries to form an effective global cooperation mechanism. For years, China has always been an active participant, a staunch defender, and an important leader in the multilateral process of addressing global climate change. China's commitment to reaching the "carbon emission peak" by 2030 and "carbon neutrality" by 2030 demonstrates China's responsibility to actively participate in global climate governance and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind. As a big developing country with huge economic volume and global influence, Brazil shares a common voice and interests with China on the global climate governance agenda. Both countries maintain communication on the climate change process, support each other through South-South Cooperation, and firmly uphold principles such as "fairness, shared but differentiated responsibility and respective capability", whether bilaterally or multilaterally of "the BRICS Countries" or "the basic four countries" to safeguard the unity and common interests of developing countries.

Assisted by the Bureau of International Cooperation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the paper is translated by Li Lihui and Ren Haitao from the Department of Translation of School of Foreign Studies of Hebei Normal University.

Editor: WXY
RTHK: Pleas for justice 50 years on from 'Bloody Sunday'

Ireland on Sunday called for Britain to ensure justice for the families of 13 peaceful protesters shot dead by its soldiers on "Bloody Sunday" in 1972 as thousands marked the 50th anniversary of one of the defining days of the Northern Ireland conflict.

The British government in 2010 apologised for the "unjustified and unjustifiable" killings of 13 Catholic civil rights protesters by British soldiers in Londonderry, also known as Derry, on January 30, 1972  and of a 14th who died later of his wounds.

But none of those responsible for the shootings have been convicted and last July British prosecutors announced that the only British soldier charged with murder will not face trial  a decision that is being challenged by relatives.

"There should be a route to justice," Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told state broadcaster RTE after laying a wreath and meeting with relatives of the victims.

"As somebody said, our children were buried 50 years ago but we still haven't laid them to rest ... because we don't have justice," he said.

Coveney reiterated the Irish government's opposition to a proposal by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government to halt all prosecutions of soldiers and militants in a bid to draw a line under the conflict  a move that angered relatives and has been rejected by all the main local political parties.

"We absolutely cannot and will not support that approach," he said.

Relatives holding white roses and photographs of those killed led thousands of people in retracing route of the 1972 march.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin looked on as the names of each of the victims were read out at a memorial.

"The full process of the courts and of justice should be deployed," Martin told journalists after the ceremony.

No member of the British government attended the events, but Johnson in a Twitter post on Saturday described Bloody Sunday as "one of the darkest days of the Troubles" and said Britain must learn from the past. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2022-01-30. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Al-Azhar condemned Friday terrorist attack on a mosque in Afghanistans capital Kabul that left dozens of worshippers dead and injured.
Amnesty International on Wednesday accused a powerful Libyan armed group of abuses against migrants and Tripoli residents.
The Biden administration has begun expelling Cubans and Nicaraguans to Mexico under pandemic-related powers to deny migrants a chance to seek asylum, expanding use of the rule even as it publicly says it has been trying to unwind it, officials said Wednesday.
Egyptian film critic Ahmed Shawky was chosen last week to head the jury of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) competition at the 75th Cannes International Film Festival.
Lebanon's foreign minister headed to Kuwait Saturday to deliver answers to a list of policy suggestions made to the country by Persian Gulf nations in an attempt to end an impasse between both sides.

Ahead of his departure, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib made it clear that Lebanon will not disarm the Iran-funded Hezbollah group, one of 10 confidence-building measures requested from Beirut.

Relations between impoverished Lebanon and the wealthy Gulf states are at their lowest levels in decades, a crisis triggered late last year when a Lebanese politician spoke critically of the Saudi-led war against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen.

Following Information Minister George Kordahi comments, Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Beirut and banned all Lebanese imports, affecting hundreds of businesses and cutting off hundreds of millions in foreign currency flows to Lebanon. Several Arab countries followed Saudi Arabia's step.

Bouhabib will attend an Arab foreign ministers meeting in Kuwait on Sunday during which he will hand his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah official responses to the Gulf nations' suggestions. Al-Sabah had delivered them personally to Beirut earlier this month.

``I am not going to hand over Hezbollah's weapons nor end Hezbollah's existence. This is out of the question in Lebanon,'' Bouhabib told satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera, calling the group a ``Lebanese party par excellence'' that is active in the government but does not dominate politics in Lebanon.

``We hope to have excellent relations as in the past'' with Gulf nations, Bouhabib said, adding that Lebanon had suggestions for solving problems between the two sides, but without elaborating.

The list handed over by Kuwait's foreign minister and circulated in Lebanese media included implementing U.S. Security Council resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon. Major anti-corruption reforms should be implemented as well, all verbal or real attacks on Gulf nations should cease.

Bouhabib said Lebanon respects international resolutions, but added that time was needed for some.

Kordahi, who made his comments before taking his post, resigned in December, but the move did not lead to improved relations between the two sides.

The crisis goes deeper than Kordahi's comments aired in late October, however. It is rooted in Saudi Arabia's uneasiness over the rising influence of Iran in the region, including in Lebanon, once a traditional Saudi ally and recipient of financial assistance from the oil-rich kingdom.

In the weeks that followed Kordahi's resignation, tensions between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia continued to rise.

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Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry reiterated Egypts "unwavering" stance on rejecting any interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries, and backing the security and stability of Arab Gulf countries.

The security and stability of Gulf countries and Egypt are "inextricably tied", Shoukry said during a meeting with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad Al-Nasser Al-Sabah on Saturday on sidelines of the 156th consultative meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

Minister Al-Sabah expressed his country's appreciation of Egypts role in the region, saying Cairo is "a main pillar for supporting security and stability in the region," a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry read.

He also praised the "tangible" development boom in Egypt, stressing support "for all that preserves Egypt's security and stability, and achieves the interests of both countries and their aspiration towards further prosperity and development."

Shoukry asserted the need to promote bilateral ties between Egypt and Kuwait, voicing Egypt's hope to host the 13th session of the joint ministerial committee  tasked with promoting cooperation means  this year, the statement added.

Egypt's top diplomat encouraged the Kuwaiti side to benefit from the current favorable investment climate in light of the Egyptian economic reform programme and the development ventures nationwide.

The meeting also touched upon the latest regional challenges and issues of common interest, including the situation in Lebanon.

Kuwait is hosting the current session of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level, which will kick off on Sunday under its presidency.

The Arab foreign ministers are set to hold several meetings on a host of current Arab issues and topics.

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A Cairo criminal court issued on Sunday a preliminary death sentence to 10 defendants - including a former health ministry spokesperson - for forming armed groups to carry out hostile attacks in Cairo and Giza against police personnel and vandalise public properties and facilities, including power towers.

The court is seeking the non-binding opinion of Egypts Grand Mufti on the preliminary death sentences, per the countrys Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Public Prosecutions investigation said the defendants led between the period of 14 August 2013 and 2 February 2015 a group that was founded in violation of the law with the purpose of disrupting the constitution and the states laws, hindering the functioning of the states institutions, assaulting the personal freedom of citizens, and harming national unity and social peace.

Those sentenced on Sunday include Yehia Moussa, the former health ministry spokesperson, who is accused of co-orchestrating the assassination of former prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat in 2015.

Moussa left for Turkey on the heels of the ouster of late Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, with media reports stating recently that Turkish authorities have prevented him from leaving the country, as Ankara seeks to restore ties with Cairo after years of deterioration.

The court is set to issue its final verdict on 19 June.

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The United States and Britain on Sunday flagged new and "devastating" economic sanctions against Russia, as Washington and its NATO allies step up efforts to deter any invasion of Ukraine.

Fears of an imminent invasion have grown in recent days, despite denials from Moscow and pleas from Ukraine's president to avoid stirring "panic" over the massive Russian military build-up on the border.

In Washington, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said it was crucial that the United States send a powerful message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that any such aggression would come at a very high cost.

"We cannot have a Munich moment again," Senator Bob Menendez said on CNN. "Putin will not stop with Ukraine."

He indicated some penalties could be levied over actions Russia has already taken in Ukraine, including cyberattacks, but that "the devastating sanctions that ultimately would crush Russia" would come if Moscow were to invade.

US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland said the White House is working closely with the Senate and that any sanctions measures would be "very well aligned" with those coming from European allies.

Putin "will feel it acutely, as will the Russian people," she said.

In London, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain would unveil sanctions legislation next week targeting "a much wider variety" of Russian economic targets.

"There will be nowhere to hide for Putin's oligarchs," Truss told Sky News.

Analysts say an array of sanctions hitting Russian banks and financial institutions would not only affect daily life throughout Russia but could roil major economies in Europe and elsewhere.

Carrots and Sticks

Western leaders are continuing to pursue a carrot-and-sticks approach, stepping up military assistance to Ukraine but also undertaking a full-court diplomatic effort to defuse the crisis.

Britain is preparing to offer NATO a "major" deployment of troops, weapons, warships and jets, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Saturday. At the same time, he is expected to speak with Putin next week.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday welcomed the increased military support from Britain while also endorsing London's "diplomatic initiative."

Russia has repeatedly denied posing a threat to the onetime Soviet republic and said Sunday it wants "respectful" dealings with Washington.

"We want good, equal, mutually respectful relations with the United States, like with every country in the world," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian TV.

He added, however, that Russia does not want to remain in a position "where our security is infringed daily."

Citing NATO's presence near its eastern border, Russia has put forward security demands to Washington and the US-led military alliance.

They include a guarantee that NATO will not admit new members, in particular Ukraine, and that the United States will not establish new military bases in ex-Soviet countries.

Russia has also demanded a pullback of NATO forces deployed to eastern European and ex-Soviet countries that joined the alliance after the Cold War.

'We Can't Afford To Panic'

In the face of the Russian build-up, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the West to tone down the rhetoric.

That plea, from a country also eager for Western support -- particularly since Moscow seized Crimea in 2014 and began fueling a deadly separatist conflict in the east of the country -- has led to some raised eyebrows in Washington.

Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova tried to reassure Americans on Sunday, telling CBS that Ukraine is "grateful for the United States," but that after eight years of living with a constant threat from Russia, "we cannot afford to panic."

Kyiv's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged Russia in a tweet to pull back its forces and "continue diplomatic engagement" if it is "serious" about de-escalating tensions.

Amid the ongoing intensive diplomatic contacts, Putin is likely to speak with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to Nuland, and held a call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.

Senior officials from France, Germany, and Poland are expected to visit Ukraine in the coming days. Canada's Defence Minister Anita Anand arrived there Sunday.

Weeks of diplomatic efforts had led to Washington and NATO presenting Moscow with a written response to its security demands.

Russia said the replies, which were not made public, did not address its main concerns but it did not rule out further talks.

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Nearly 60 "terrorists" have been killed in Burkina Faso by local forces assisted by French forces deployed in the country, France's military said on Sunday, as a bloody insurgency rages.

"On four occasions between January 16 and January 23, 2022, groups of terrorists were located, identified, and neutralized by Burkinabe forces and by (foreign) units... in total, nearly 60 terrorists were taken out," the French military said in a statement.

Burkina Faso has been struggling with jihadist attacks since 2015 when militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group began mounting cross-border raids from Mali.

More than 2,000 people have died, according to a toll compiled by AFP.

The national emergency aid agency says that 1.5 million people, nearly two-thirds of them children, were internally displaced as of November 30, 2021.

The country's security forces are poorly equipped to face a ruthless and highly mobile foe, adept at carrying out hit-and-run raids aboard motorbikes and pickup trucks.

On November 14, a force described as numbering several hundred men attacked a police base at Inata near the Malian border, killing 57 people, including 53 gendarmes.

On December 23, 41 people were killed when a convoy of traders was ambushed near Ouahigouya, also near the Malian frontier.

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Nanny, a supernatural thriller about an undocumented immigrant working for a wealthy New York family, won the Sundance film festival's top prize on Friday.

Starring Anna Diop and Michelle Monaghan, Nikyatu Jusu's debut feature portrays the sacrifices Senegalese nanny Aisha makes to leave her home country and young son behind in order to build a new life.

"In America in particular, we haven't seen enough films that truly reflect the disproportionate level of Black and brown women... domestic workers that keep this country afloat," Jusu told a virtual panel at the festival.

"I wanted to center women who typically are on the periphery of other women's stories," said Jusu, a first-generation American whose family is from Sierra Leone.

Diop, the film's star who is also known for television series "Titans," was born in Senegal and moved to the United States as a child.

The movie, which taps into the horror genre and African folklore as well as issues of race and motherhood, does not yet have a release date.

Sundance, which celebrates independent cinema, was forced to go virtual for a second year running by the surge in Covid-19 cases across the United States driven by the Omicron variant.

The Robert Redford-founded festival usually takes place in the mountains of the western US state of Utah.

The festival's documentary prize went to "The Exiles," in which filmmaker Christine Choy tracks down three exiled dissidents from China's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The separate audience prize for best drama went to "Cha Cha Real Smooth," starring Dakota Johnson as an older, engaged woman who strikes up a flirtatious relationship with a directionless recent graduate -- played by writer-director Cooper Raiff.

The film was bought by Apple TV+ during the festival for a reported $15 million -- the largest deal so far at this year's event.

And "Navalny," a secretive new fly-on-the-wall documentary about top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, which was added to the festival line-up at the last minute, won the audience documentary prize.

Director Daniel Roher said he wanted the film to spark "global outrage and outcry" over Navalny's imprisonment.

The film, which airs on CNN and HBO Max later this year, follows the Russian opposition leader -- as well as his family and aides -- during the five months he spent in Germany recovering from poisoning in late 2020 and early 2021.

"I want every single human being on the planet Earth to know the name Alexei Navalny," said Roher.

"I want that name to be associated with a grotesque injustice being perpetrated by the Russian state against a man who survived a murder attempt and then was arrested for merely surviving."

Among the films screened in the festival that ended Sunday are three Arab films; Sirens by Rita Baghdadi, Warsha by Dania Bdeir, and Your Dark Hair, Ihsan by Tala Hadid.

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Acting Minister of Health Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar called for administering booster coronavirus vaccine shots to workers in Egypts tourism sector in the near future, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Abdel-Ghaffar made the remarks during a meeting with the health ministers aides and heads of health directorates in the various governorates.

During the meeting, Abdel-Ghaffar also affirmed coordinating with the education ministry to vaccinate the rest of students in schools during the second semester, the statement said. Students are scheduled to start the second semester of the current academic year on 19 February.

The governorates of Beheira and Giza accounted for the largest share of children aged 12-18 who have received the coronavirus vaccine, Abdel-Ghaffar said.

Egypt is currently using the Pfizer vaccine to inoculate children in this age range and is studying lowering the minimum age to five-years-old.

Starting in November, Egypt expanded its vaccination campaign to schools, allowing students who might not otherwise receive the shot to be vaccinated.

Since it started its campaign in January last year, Egypt has completely vaccinated over 25.7 million people and provided booster shots to 615,876 people, according to the health ministry late on Saturday.

Egypt has seen a surge in coronavirus cases, setting a new record in the daily infections for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday since the start of the outbreak in the country in February 2020.

Earlier this month, Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din confirmed that the highly infectious coronavirus variant Omicron is responsible for the vast majority of cases in Egypt.

Vaccinating tourism workers

In June last year, Egypt announced the full vaccination of staff working in key industries across both the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates, two of the countrys tourism hotspots.

In August, the health ministry also planned to complete the vaccination of tourism workers in Upper Egypts Luxor and Aswan by the end of the month.

This came as part of the measures Egypt has taken to recover tourism sector revenues, which are a key source of foreign currency and account for around 15 percent of Egypt's GDP.

Tourism revenues in Egypt bounced back in 2021 to the pre-pandemic levels, exceeding $13 billion, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ghada Shalaby told Reuters last week.

The tourism sector in Egypt was hit hard by the pandemic in 2020 in light of the temporary suspension of international travel and other preventive restrictions.

According to the tourism ministry early last year, the number of tourists visiting Egypt declined by over 70 percent in 2020, with revenues dropping to around EGP 4 billion from EGP 13 billion in 2019.

The recovery of the tourism sector has been reinforced as Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh cities received in August their first flights coming from Moscow after they had been suspended for almost six years. Russian tourists used to account for the majority of Red Sea tourism in Egypt.

The number of Russian tourists arriving to the Red Sea resorts since the resumption of direct flights has reached around 680,000 tourists, tourism expert Essam Ali told media in December.

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Kuwait suspended flights to Iraq for a week starting Sunday citing security fears after a rocket attack targeted Baghdad international airport. Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, announced an attacker had been apprehended.

Kuwait Airways, the country's main carrier, said in a statement Saturday that flights to Iraq were temporarily suspended based on instructions from the Kuwaiti Civil Aviation Authority due to "current conditions."

Six rockets struck the Baghdad airport last week damaging two commercial planes belonging to Iraqi Airways, the main national airline. The incident marked an escalation in rocket and drone attacks often targeting the U.S. and its allies, as well as Iraqi government institutions. The attacks have been blamed on Iran-backed militia groups.

Iraqi authorities said in a statement late Saturday they had apprehended a person allegedly behind the airport attack. The individual was arrested at a checkpoint near the northern province of Kirkuk en route to Irbil in the Kurdish-run semi-autonomous region. The statement provided no further details.

Following the attack, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi urged the international community not to impose restrictions on travel to Iraq, while Iraqi Airways said the attack didn't cause any disruptions and flights would continue.

Separately, Iraq's military said late Saturday it had killed nine Islamic State group militants suspected of staging a deadly ambush in the northern province of Diyala. The gunmen stormed an army barracks before dawn while the soldiers slept inside and killed 11.

The militants were killed with three F-16 airstrikes, with more operations planned to root out sleeper cells, Iraq's military said.

Iraq is witnessing an uptick in IS-related attacks. Militants have long exploited the security vacuum across a band of disputed territory in northern Iraq.

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The Arab League called on the international community Sunday to put serious and real pressure on Israeli occupation forces to stop the aggression, repressive practices, and daily violations of the most basic rights of the Palestinian people within the Green Line and throughout the occupied Arab territories, KUNA reported.

The call was made in a statement issued by the Leagues General Secretariat, (Palestine and the occupied Arab territories affairs), marking Solidarity Day with the Palestinian People inside the 1948 borders.

The League stressed the need to compel Israeli forces to stop settlement operations, confiscation, Judaization, desecration of Islamic and Christian sanctities, the practice of racial discrimination policy, and the imposition of racist laws that affect the rights of Palestinians within the Green Line.

The League noted that "the Palestinians inside are an authentic part of the Palestinian Arab people, and they are with their brothers in every inch of the land of Palestine in the face of brutal aggression with the policies and practices of settlement, ethnic cleansing and apartheid."

The League also called on the United Nations and the Human Rights Council to assume their responsibilities towards the cause of pain to Palestinians and the injustice and grave violations they are subjected to, which violates their basic rights guaranteed by law, charters, and international legitimacy, and the need to expose, condemn and confront Israeli violations.

The statement added that the Arab League, considering the systematic targeting of Palestinians by military force, reaffirms its full support for the rights of the Palestinian people inside 1948 and for their struggle and continuous defense of their land, rights, and living in their homeland and on their land, cities, villages, and desert.

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North Korea on Sunday tested its most powerful missile since 2017, ramping up the firepower for its record-breaking seventh launch this month as Seoul warned nuclear and long-range tests could be next.

Pyongyang has never test-fired this many missiles in a calendar month before and last week threatened to abandon a nearly five-year-long self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range and nuclear weapons, blaming US "hostile" policy for forcing its hand.

With peace talks with Washington stalled, North Korea has doubled down on leader Kim Jong Un's vow to modernise the regime's armed forces, flexing Pyongyang's military muscles despite biting international sanctions.

South Korea said Sunday that North Korea appeared to be following a "similar pattern" to 2017 -- when tensions were last at breaking point on the peninsula -- warning Pyongyang could soon restart nuclear and intercontinental missile tests.

North Korea "has come close to destroying the moratorium declaration", South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said in a statement following an emergency meeting of Seoul's National Security Council.

South Korea's military said Sunday it had "detected an intermediate-range ballistic missile fired at a lofted angle eastward towards the East Sea".

The missile was estimated to have hit a maximum altitude of 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) and flown around 800 kilometres for half an hour, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

A lofted trajectory involves missiles being fired at a high angle instead of out to their full range.

"North Korea did similar tests with its emerging medium and long-range missile technology in 2017," tweeted Chad O'Carroll of specialist website NK News.

"So this would imply today's test involves one of those missile types, or potentially something new. In other words, a big deal."

The last time Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range missile was the Hwasong-12 in 2017, which analysts said at the time was powerful enough to put the US territory of Guam in range.

Japan's top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said Sunday that the ballistic missile "was one with intermediate-range or longer range".

The United States condemned the launch, with a State Department spokesperson saying it was a "clear violation" of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told ABC's "This Week" programme the launch was "provocative", adding the US was "absolutely open to a diplomatic engagement without preconditions".

"Our goal is to end the threatening actions that the DPRK is taking against their neighbours," she said.

'Time is ripe' -

Pyongyang has tested hypersonic missiles twice this month, as well as carrying out four launches of short-range ballistic and cruise missiles.

Washington imposed fresh sanctions over the tests, prompting Pyongyang to vow a "stronger and certain" response to any attempt to rein it in.

Last week, leader Kim was photographed by state media inspecting an "important" munitions factory that produces "a major weapon system".

"Kim has been withholding his appetite for testing and provocations," Soo Kim, an analyst at the RAND Corporation, told AFP.

Now, however, "the time is ripe, and North Korea's continued missile firing will only throw another wrench into Washington's already high plate of foreign policy challenges", she added.

The frenzy of missiles aims to remind the world that "the Kim regime hears external discussions of its domestic weaknesses", said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University.

"It wants to remind Washington and Seoul that trying to topple it would be too costly."

The string of launches in 2022 comes at a delicate time in the region, with Kim's sole major ally China set to host the Winter Olympics next month and South Korea gearing up for a presidential election in March.

Domestically, North Korea is preparing to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the birth of late leader Kim Jong Il in February, as well as the 110th birthday of founder Kim Il Sung in April.

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has condemned North Korea's latest missile launch, saying it violates Security Council resolutions, Kyodo News Agency reported.

Condemning the latest missile launch, the Japanese prime minister said it "violated UN Security Council resolutions."

"We strongly condemned it and lodged a strong protest" with North Korea, Kishida told reporters in Tokyo.

The US military's Indo-Pacific Command condemned the launch and urged North Korea to "refrain from further destabilizing acts."

The command said in a statement it will continue to monitor the situation and that US commitment to the defense of allies Japan and South Korea "remains ironclad."

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Editors Guild of India

PRESS STATEMENT

January 30th, 2022

The Editors Guild of India notes with deep concern, the claims made in the recent investigative report by the New York Times, that in 2017 the Indian and Israeli governments had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion  with Pegasus and a missile system as the centerpieces.

The claims in the NYT are in stark contrast to the stance of the Government of India, which has been and continues to be vague and non-committal in its response to these extremely serious allegations that whether they purchased the spyware, and more disturbingly, if it was used against Indian citizens, including journalists and civil society members.

The Guild has written to the committee headed by Justice Raveendran, which was instituted by the Honble Supreme Court of India to inquire into and investigate the use of Pegasus spyware against Indian citizens, to take cognisance of the claims made in these reports, and seek responses on affidavit from the Government of India, the CAG, as well as the Secretaries of all the possible ministries that may have been involved with claimed purchase of the spyware.

Earlier, in November 2021, the Guild had written a detailed letter to the committee with suggestions, amongst others, regarding the procedures for the inquiry to be done by the committee as well as suggestions with respect to witnesses and evidence to be examined by the committee. The Guild had also offered assistance in any manner to the Committee.

The letters sent to Justice Raveendran and the technical committee members are being attached with this statement.

The Guild reiterates its consistent stance that the proceedings of the Committee be kept open to public at large so that there is complete transparency with respect to the witnesses being called as well as their responses.

Thanks and regards,

Seema Mustafa, President

Sanjay Kapoor, General Secretary

Anant Nath, Treasurer
On the occasion of the 73rd Republic Day of India, the Indian ambassador highlighted the remarkable development of relations between India and Egypt in the fields of diplomacy, trade and defence.

At a ceremony for the occasion this past Wednesday, Ambassador of India to Egypt Ajit Gupte and his wife Mrs. Priti Gupte welcomed their Egyptian friends and members of the Indian community in Egypt, who were keen to attend despite the exceptionally cold weather.

##

Ambassador Gupte addressed the guests, saying on 26 January in 1950, our nations idealism and convictions took shape in the Constitution of India. The framers of our Constitution gave us a sovereign, democratic republic and pledged to secure justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for all citizens. In the last seven decades, India has grown into a vibrant, diverse, and dynamic democracy respected across the world.

The event was attended by a number of high-ranging Egyptian officials including the assistant minister of defence, a member of parliament, the secretary-general of Cairos Chamber of Commerce, and several senior figures from the foreign ministry.

A number of foreign and Arab ambassadors, together with defence attaches of France, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Greece, Argentina, Italy and the UK were also present.

In the face of the continued challenge posted by the COVID-19 pandemic to the world, the ambassador praised Indias response, saying they are the largest producer of vaccines in the world and have already administered 1,640 million doses. More than 92 percent of Indians have received at least one shot, while over 70 percent are fully vaccinated, he added

India firmly believes in its global commitment and it is essential that vaccines be equally distributed across the world to end the pandemic. In keeping with our ancient principle of Vasudev Kutumbhakam (the whole world is one family), India has provided 110 million vaccine [doses] to countries abroad.

At the recent COP26 Summit at Glasgow in November 2021, Indias prime minister committed to supplying five billion vaccine doses in 2022, Gupte added.

In addition to vaccines, India has acted as the pharmacy of the world by providing testing, PPE and life-saving medicines at low cost to over 150 countries, helping to save innumerable lives, Ambassador Gupte explained further.

Despite the pandemic, the Indian ambassador said 2021 witnessed remarkable momentum in the development of bilateral relations between India and Egypt, adding that the two countries foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2021 where they were able to revive several bilateral mechanisms, particularly those related to trade.

I am happy that our bilateral trade has expanded by 80 percent and is likely to reach a record high this year. Egypts exports to India have doubled between April-October 2021 and reached $1.94 billion. India has emerged as the largest export destination for Egypt in this period. Indias exports have also grown by 63 percent in this period to amount to $1.86 billion.

Bilateral cooperation also extended to the defence sector, according to the ambassador, including a visit by the commander of the Indian Air Force in November 2021, where he met with his Egyptian counterpart during the first ever joint air exercise between the two countries.

This came on the heels of an earlier visit in September by the Indian frigate INS Tabar to the Egypian naval port in Alexandria, which undertook joint exercises with the Egyptian Navy, Gupte pointed out.

In November 2021, over 10 Indian companies participated in the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) 2021 and showcased their state-of-the-art defence systems. The growing cooperation between India and Egypt in defence is testament to the trust and mutual understanding between the two countries, he added

The ambassador highlighted Indias rapid economic recovery despite the pandemic, saying the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 9.5 percent 2021-2022 and 7.8 percent the following year.

Talking about his countrys commitment to fighting climate change and promoting renewable energy, the ambassador drew attention to the fact that India ranks fourth in the world in installed renewable energy capacity, adding that India has also encouraged countries to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), which already has 81 members, including Egypt.

Gupte emphasised Indias awareness of the many challenges facing the global order from climate change, terrorism, inequality and increased polarisation to more regional issues of poverty, hunger, civil wars and conflict.

India firmly believes in peaceful resolution of disputes through talks and negotiations, respecting every countrys sovereignty and independence. These challenges must be faced collectively as a common threat to humanity, the ambassador concluded.

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KYODO NEWS - Jan 30, 2022 - 10:29 | All, Japan, World

Japan was the top requestor to Twitter Inc. to have online posts removed in the first half of 2021, making up 43 percent of all legal demands received from across the world during the period, the company said in a recent report.

The latest biannual transparency report by the U.S. social media giant showed court orders and other formal demands from governmental entities and lawyers representing individuals to remove content totaled 43,387 between January and June last year, with 18,518 of them coming from Japan.

The report said 93 percent of the requests from Japan were primarily related to laws concerning narcotics and drug control, obscenity, or financial-linked crimes.

The number of legal demands from Japan increased by 11 percent in the first six months from the second half of 2020, it said.

The country, the second-largest market for Twitter after the United States, was also the world's top requestor in both the first and second halves of 2020.

A total of 95 percent of the demands came from Japan and four other countries -- Russia, Turkey, India and South Korea, according to the report.

Russia, which came second after Japan, comprised 25 percent of global legal demands, with 71 percent of them pertaining to its laws prohibiting the promotion of suicide.

Russia was followed by Turkey, which accounted for 13 percent of the total.

Legal demands are made when tweets violate local laws, among other cases. Twitter reviews the demands before deciding whether to comply.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 30, 2022 - 14:50 | All, World, Japan

North Korea on Sunday fired what appears to be the longest-range ballistic missile since 2017, as South Korean President Moon Jae In criticized Pyongyang as moving closer to scrapping its moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

The missile traveled about 800 kilometers to the Sea of Japan for 30 minutes and reached an altitude of 2,000 km, according to South Korea's military and the Japanese government. It marked the seventh round of missile launches by North Korea this month.

South Korea's military said the launch, which occurred at around 7:52 a.m. from Jagang Province, involved an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which Pyongyang has not tested since 2017.

The missile may have been medium- or long-range, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters in Tokyo, suggesting the missile could reach the entire Japanese archipelago and the U.S. territory of Guam in the western Pacific.

The missile apparently flew at a lofted trajectory, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said, indicating it was launched at an angle to reach a high altitude but limiting its flight distance.

Moon, speaking at a meeting of the National Security Council over which he presided, condemned the launch as a challenge to international efforts to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Moon urged North Korea to stop creating tension and respond to international calls for dialogue.

The development came after North Korean state media suggested Jan. 20 that the country may resume nuclear and ICBM tests it has suspended since 2018, when the North's leader Kim Jong Un was engaged in summit diplomacy with then U.S. President Donald Trump.

Condemning the latest missile launch, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said it "violated U.N. Security Council resolutions."

"We strongly condemned it and lodged a strong protest" with North Korea, Kishida told reporters in Tokyo.

The U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command condemned the launch and urged North Korea to "refrain from further destabilizing acts."

The command said in a statement it will continue to monitor the situation and that U.S. commitment to the defense of allies Japan and South Korea "remains ironclad."

Senior Japanese and U.S. officials held phone talks and affirmed close coordination bilaterally and trilaterally with South Korea over North Korea, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Takehiro Funakoshi, director general of the ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for North Korea, shared the assessment that Pyongyang's latest launch was more "intensive" than other missile tests it carried out earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Matsuno, Japan's top government spokesman, said the missile appears to have splashed down outside the country's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan, and that there was no immediate report of damage to ships or aircraft in the area.

Kishida convened an NSC meeting and instructed his government to provide information to the public swiftly and accurately, check the safety of vessels and planes, and respond to any unexpected developments.

Related coverage:

North Korea says it has test-fired cruise missiles reaching 1,800 km

North Korea hints at resuming nuclear, ICBM tests to counter U.S.

North Korea says it test-fired tactical guided missiles on Jan. 17
ROME, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- A southern Italian city that up to now was known for environmental woes tied to one of Europe's largest steel smelters will soon be the home to a new off-shore wind plant that will provide enough clean energy for about 18,500 families.

The plant, based in Taranto, a coastal city on the heel of Italy's boot-shaped peninsula, is nearing completion. The so-called "Taranto Off-Shore Project" will include ten turbines producing 3 megawatts of power each.

The 30-megawatt total for the project, which will be completed in part with Chinese equipment supplier Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd., will provide electrical power to around 18,500 families with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Approved in June 2016, the project will be part of a broader wave of projects that, according to WWF-Italia renewable energy analyst Massimiliano Varriale, will eventually produce at least 17,000 megawatts of power nationally.

Varriale told Xinhua that at 30 megawatts, the project is relatively small, and with fixed-position wind turbines, it is not part of the trend toward floating turbines that allow the energy generating facility to be placed much further from the shore, where it would not be visible and where the wind that generates the power is more reliable.

But he said the project is still significant as part of a broader trend that could help shape Italian public opinion that has sometimes been skeptical of wind power, while also reducing the need for dirtier fuels.

A spokesman for the city of Taranto told Xinhua the city is "enthusiastic" about the project that could help renew its image.

Taranto remains best known for the former Ilva steel plant, one of Europe's largest smelters by capacity. After years of environmental issues, the plant, now known as the Acciaierie di Taranto (Taranto Steelworks), is working to decarbonize and otherwise reduce its environmental impact.

According to media reports, the participation of Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd. is important because previous supplier was unable to supply the turbines the project needed. 
File photo shows Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar attending a Nepal-India delegation-level meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 21, 2019. (Photo by Sunil Sharma/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday sent a message of sympathy to Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

In his message, Wang said that upon learning of Jaishankar's infection with COVID-19, he would like to extend sincere sympathy to him and wish him a speedy recovery.

Noting that China and India have helped each other and overcome difficulties together since the outbreak of COVID-19, Wang said that he stands ready to work with Jaishankar to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and promote the healthy development of bilateral relations. 
Photo taken on Jan. 29, 2022 shows the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Jan. 29, 2022 shows the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

Military vehicles are seen during the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 29, 2022. Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

A helicopter is seen during the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 29, 2022. Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

Soldiers participate in the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 29, 2022. Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

Soldiers participate in the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 29, 2022. Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

Soldiers participate in the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 29, 2022. Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

Soldiers participate in the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 29, 2022. Interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended the closing ceremony of the joint tactical exercise "Arab Gulf Security 3" on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)
Rescuers work at the site of a traffic accident on the highway nearing Tuxtla Gutierrez, capital of southern Chiapas state, Mexico, Dec. 9, 2021.(Xinhua/Carlos Diaz)

Neftali Guillen, regional commander of the state civil protection department, said eight men and four women were killed in the accident, and two of them were minors.

MEXICO CITY, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people were killed and 11 injured when a passenger van crashed in the Mexican state of Jalisco on Saturday, local authorities reported.

The Jalisco Civil Protection and Fire Department said on Twitter that the vehicle was transporting tourist personnel and overturned at kilometer 35 of the Leon-Aguascalientes highway in the municipality of Lagos de Moreno.

Neftali Guillen, regional commander of the state civil protection department, said eight men and four women were killed in the accident, and two of them were minors.

In a video released by the department, Guillen said that the accident had not caused the closure of any sections of the highway but he recommended extreme caution when driving through the area until the investigation into the accident is complete.

Jalisco registered 1,015 deaths due to traffic accidents last year, and it ranks third in Mexico for traffic fatalities. 
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- A hand grenade attack in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Sunday left at least 16 people injured, including two policemen, local media and police said.

According to police in the area, an unknown miscreant threw a hand grenade at a market area of Jaffarabad district in the province and fled the scene, injuring 16 people on the spot.

Following the attack, police, security forces and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital in the district.

At least five among the wounded were said to be in critical condition, police said quoting hospital sources.

Police and security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. 
New Delhi:

Odisha Secondary School Teacher Eligibility Test, OSSTET 2019 notification has been released by Board of Secondary Education, BSE Odisha. The candidates who are interested in applying for the teaching jobs in various state schools are required to qualify the examination. For the convenience of the students, we have mentioned the important dates here:

Start of Online Application December 7, 2019 - Noon (12:00 pm)

Last date to pay fees, fill online application Midnight, December 16, 2019

Admit Card Release To be notified

Date of Examination To be notified Online applications for OSSTET 2019 would commence from 12 noon on December 7, 2019. Online applications for OSSTET 2019 would commence from 12 noon on December 7, 2019.

All Indian citizens who have the requisite academic qualifications can appear for the examination. The candidates must note that there is no age limit for OSSTET examination. However, candidates must also be able to read and write Odia. The language eligibility requires the candidates to have either passed Odia at HSC level from BSE Odisha or any of the other state boards or CBSE, ICSE with Odia as first, second or third language.

Candidates applying for language teachers like Hindi, Sanskrit, Telugu, Urdu, etc., who have passed the Odia till Class 7 level of BSE Odisha would be allowed to appear for the examination. For subject wise eligibility requirement, please check the OSSTET 2019 Official Notification provided here.
Lucknow:

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said abrogation of Article 370 provisions in Jammu and Kashmir is a tribute to Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.

He claimed that Congress leaders were jealous of Ambedkar's talent because of which they never paid heed to him.

Addressing people at an event organised here on the death anniversary of Ambedkar, Adityanath said post-Independence, many promises were made for the welfare of the most deprived section of society, but no work was done with honesty.

"If the work would have been done, the social disparity would have been eradicated to a considerable extent by now. Actually those who made promises had no intention to fulfill them," he said, adding that "those who insulted the Constitution are fighting for their own survival today".

"Despite the warnings of Baba Saheb, they (the Congress) added Article 370 to the Constitution in 1952. As expected, this article became the cause of separatism. Finally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured Ambedkar by abrogating Article 370. It's a tribute to him," the chief minister said.

"Congress leaders were jealous of Ambedkar's talent that's why they never paid heed to him," he claimed.

Adityanath said the actual work in the interest of poor has been done by PM Modi.

"We want to build a memorial dedicated to Ambedkar where programmes related to him could be organised," he said.

Ambedkar died on December 6, 1956. His death anniversary is observed as "Mahaparinirvan Diwas" across the country.

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Vienna:

The powerful OPEC group of oil producers and its allies reached a deal Friday to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day in a bid to stem prices which have been under pressure from abundant reserves and weak global economic growth.

Friday's so-called OPEC+ meeting included Russia, the world's second-largest oil producer and not a member of the cartel. It ended with a deal for a cut effective as of January 1 which sets an output target 1.7 million barrels per day lower than October 2018 levels, with Saudi Arabia and Russia making almost half the additional reductions between them.

In a surprise move, the bloc also announced that several participating countries, "mainly Saudi Arabia", would make additional voluntary cuts bringing the overall cut to more than 2.1 million barrels per day. World oil prices surged in response, with US benchmark WTI and its European counterpart Brent both rising two per cent in an initial reaction before settling down at levels around 1.3 per cent higher on the day in the late European afternoon.

On Thursday, a meeting of OPEC ministers had run late into the evening without a deal. Saudi Oil Minister Prince Abdelaziz Ben Salman, who was at his first meeting in the post, said first-day talks lasting six hours saw delegations "labouring...until 11 o'clock in the evening, squashing their heads, squeezing their brains" in search of an agreement.

Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadban told reporters Friday that "what will happen during the first quarter (of 2020) will be assessed during an extraordinary meeting" of OPEC and its partners in early March. He held out the prospect that the cuts could even be extended until the end of 2020 but that it was "too early to say now".

Earlier, Prince Abdulaziz hinted at Saudi irritation that not all countries have been sticking to the production quotas agreed under the current deal. While Saudi Arabia has voluntarily pumped below its quota other producers -- including Russia, Iraq and Nigeria -- had been exceeding theirs.

"Like religion, if you are a believer you have to practice, without practice you are a non-believer," Prince Abdulaziz said, stressing the importance of "further conformity" if OPEC were to achieve its goals. Analyst David Madden at Markets.com said that "the usual infighting of OPEC continues, as the Saudis call for greater compliance with the group target, while the likes of Iraq have been overproducing".

Saudi Arabia in particular has an interest in underpinning crude prices in the wake of its initial public offer (IPO) of shares in state-owned oil giant Aramco. The group, which alone accounts for around 10 per cent of the world's crude oil, said Thursday it had raised USD 25.6 billion in the world's biggest stock sale ever.

The IPO puts Aramco's total value at USD 1.7 trillion, well ahead of Apple. Despite the glitzy headlines, OPEC remains under pressure from factors that include a trade war that has curbed the oil-thirsty Chinese economy, and weak activity across Europe.

Meanwhile, oil production in the United States, which became the world's biggest producer in 2018, Brazil and Canada are at record levels, and Norway plans to increase its production as well. For the second day in a row the meeting was accompanied by a protest from climate change activists on Friday. Around a hundred people marched to OPEC's headquarters with banners demanding "Keep it in the ground" and representations of humanity and nature standing on blocks of ice in mock gallows.

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met former Union Minister Arun Shourie in Pune and enquired about his health. PM Modi took to Twitter and wrote, In Pune, I met former Union Minister Arun Shourie Ji. Enquired about his health and had a wonderful interaction with him. We pray for his long and healthy life.

In Pune, I met former Union Minister Arun Shourie Ji. Enquired about his health and had a wonderful interaction with him.



We pray for his long and healthy life. pic.twitter.com/arjXSUoirf  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 8, 2019

Former Union minister Arun Shourie sustained a brain injury after he fainted and fell near his home in Lavasa and was admitted to a private hospital here in Maharashtra, a doctor said on Monday. Shourie (78) fell near his bungalow in Lavasa, a hill city some 60 kilometres from here, while out on a walk on Sunday night, leaving him bleeding and unconscious, he said.

As it was a free fall, he received an injury on the back of his head. He was initially rushed to a hospital in Hinjewadi (on Punes outskirts) and later shifted to Ruby Hall Clinic late Sunday night, said the hospitals neurosurgeon, Dr Sachin Gandhi, who is treating the former BJP leader. Due to the fall, there is an internal injury and swelling in the brain and he is currently in the ICU. He is, however, completely stable, responding (to treatment) and taking food.

As of now there is no abnormality due to the injury, Dr Gandhi added. He said, in medical terms, Shouries condition is called cerebral concussion with brain hemorrhage and it happened due to the injury caused by the free fall after he fainted. In CT (computed tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans, the bleeding and swelling inside his head is visible but he is improving, he said.

The journalist-turned-politicians family members are with him at the hospital. Shourie, a former BJP Rajya Sabha member, was Union minister for communications, information technology and disinvestment in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government during 1999-2004.

A prolific writer and Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, he also served as an economist with the World Bank during 1967-1978. Shourie, who is based in New Delhi, held the post of editor of The Indian Express during his decades-long career in journalism.

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Durg/ Kottayam:

A 27-year-old Mumbai-based dancer, hired for performing at a wedding, was allegedly raped by three men in Chhattisgarh's Durg district, the police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Ahiwara Road near Kumhari town on the night of December 4, they said. A case was registered against Kamlesh, Raj and Kabir for allegedly raping the woman, while one Sonu Kumar was booked for criminal conspiracy for allegedly helping them, said an official of Supela police station. Of the accused, Kamlesh and Raj were arrested on Thursday, he said.

As per the woman's complaint, Kumar had invited her to perform at a wedding, and she arrived at Bhilai in Durg district on November 28. After the event was over on December 3, she was to leave for Mumbai on December 4, the police official said.

On the evening of December 4, Kamlesh, Raj and Kabir offered to drop her at Raipur in a car. They allegedly stopped the car at secluded place on Ahiwara Road and raped her. Later they drove her to Raipur, the complaint said.

The woman managed to reach Bhilai late on the same night, and lodged a case against them at Supela police station. Efforts were on to arrest Kabir and Kumar, the police official added.

In a separate incident, a 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped at her home in Kanjirappally in Kottayam district, police said on Friday. The accused was on the run and efforts were on to nab him, the cop said, but declined to give more details.

The incident occurred on Thursday evening when the girl was alone at her home after returning from school. The accused reached her home at 4.30 PM, introducing himself as her brother's friend and asked for water to drink. He then forced his way broke into the house and raped the girl, police said. The girl, an eighth standard student, is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital, they said.

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New Delhi:

On Friday, when Satish Chaudhary woke up at 4 am to meditate, his entire family was deep asleep. Nobody would have suspected what the 62-year-old retired teacher would do next. What happened in next one hour changed the fate of this family living in a 2BHK flat in Delhis Rohini area. Instead of much-desired calm, Chaudhary felt disturbed. He walked up to the bedroom of his grandchildren, where his wife and daughter-in-law were also sleeping. He bolted the door from inside. He took out the big kitchen knife and started stabbing his wife and daughter-in-law. Chaudharys wife Snehlata manged to free herself from his grip, ruched to get out of the room and called her younger son, who was sleeping in another room. Saurabh Chaudhary, 30, woke up and ran towards his mother. He froze the moment he entered the room.

There was blood everywhere and his father was standing on the bed stabbing his sister-in-law Pragya Chaudhary. Saurabh tried saving his mother and bhabhi. Injured, he took the children  one-year-old boy and 19-year-old girl  out of the room. Satish Chaudhary attacked his younger son also but the 30-year-old overpowered him and locked him up in the same room. Pragya Chaudhary and her mother-in-law Snehlata Chaudhary died in the knife attack. Satish Chaudhary has been arrested.

According to an Indian Express report, the man was unhappy as his family was planning to shift to a new apartment in Gurugram and leave him in the Rohini flat. Pragya was wife of his elder son Gaurav Chaudhary, who worked at IBM, Singapore. His younger son Saurabh worked at SAP, Bengaluru and had reached Delhi just a day before the incident. While the neighbours described Chaudhry as cranky, cynical and frustrated man, the younger son also said that his fathers behaviour had forced the family to move out.

Saurabh told police that his father used to suspect his mother of having extra-marital affair since his was a kid. He later started questioning his bahu Pragya also. The accused would live a lonely life. He never took meals with his family and used to order food from outside.

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New Delhi:

One person killed and six others were injured in a blast on Saturday in Lahore. The blast took place inside a bakery in Lahores Township area, said officials.

All the injured along with the body of deceased were rushed to the local Jinnah Hospital. As per the statement released by the spokesperson of the Punjab counterterrorism department, the blast took place at about 7:50 pm (local time).

The deceased, who is reported to be a technician, was repairing a refrigerator when the blast took place, reports Pakistan Today.

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New Delhi:

On the day a girl was chased, set on fire in Unnao, BJP leader from Parliamentary constituency was busy in tweeting a birthday wish to Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a rape accused in a separate case. After much furore, Sakshi Maharaj has now deleted the birthday post. Ironically, Sakshi Maharajs tweet came just hours after he had denounced the attack on the girl in another case, in which the alleged rapists had poured kerosene on the survivor after coming out on bail. The lawmaker from Unnao posted a birthday message in Hindi on his official Twitter handle, with his own photo, on Thursday. But now the birthday post is missing from his Twitter feed.

"The Unnao incident is really unfortunate. I have used all my power so that the investigation is done and the accused get punishment. The accused in such heinous crimes should get capital punishment," he was quoted as saying by ANI on that day.

In October, the CBI filed a chargesheet against former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his associates for criminal conspiracy and intimidation but dropped murder charges against them in the Unnao rape victim accident case in which two aunts of the girl were killed, officials said. The CBI in its FIR had booked Sengar and nine others under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and criminal intimidation.

In its chargesheet filed before a special CBI court in Lucknow, the agency charged Sengar and all others named accused in the FIR under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation.

Sengar is accused of raping a girl at his residence in Unnao in 2017. The victim was 17 years of age at the time of the incident. A case was registered after she tried to immolate herself outside the residence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in April last year.

A day after the self-immolation bid, her father died in police custody. After the Supreme Court took notice of the letter written by the victim's family, expressing apprehensions over their security, Sengar was shifted to the Tihar Jail in Delhi and the victim was sent to AIIMS, New Delhi, for better treatment.

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New Delhi:

Delhi Commission For Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal on Friday said the Hyderabad encounter would send out a strong message, but rued that there were still thousands of rape victims, awaiting justice. Four accused of raping and murdering of a 25-year-old woman Hyderabad veterinarian were killed in an alleged exchange of fire with police in the morning.

Maliwal, whose hunger strike entered the fourth day on Friday, said it is obvious that the police will resort to an encounter if the rapists were trying to run away. Now if the rapists were trying to run away, police obviously will have to do an encounter. That is exactly why we are appealing to the Centre to create a strong system in the country where rapists, especially in such serious cases, are given death penalty within six months after following all due court processes, she said.

Stressing that there should be certainty and swiftness in punishment in all cases, she said one does not know the circumstances which led to the killings of the four accused of raping the Hyderabad veterinary doctor.

Whether they were actually trying to run away or the police was so fed up thinking that while we have caught the culprits, it will take several years to punish them... Maybe they were angry and they did not want them to live off taxpayers money, she said.

She said there are thousands of Nirbhayas (a name coined by Indian media to refer to rape victims), who are still awaiting justice.

At the end of the day, there will be a strong message and people will feel justice was done. We want this country to run through a system, she said.

The four men were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the 25-year-old woman by smothering her and later burning her body. The police said that when they were at the crime scene, the accused atttacked them and snached their weapons. The incident triggered country-wide outrage with thousands of people across the country protesting against the case.

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New Delhi :

The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested the owner of the Anaj Mandi factory, where a massive fire claimed at least 43 lives in the wee hours. Rehan, who owns the factory, was on the run after the tragic incident occurred. According to news agency ANI, the police have registered a case against him under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

A massive fire swept through a factory in Anaj Mandi area of north Delhi on Sunday morning, leaving more than 40 people dead and many others injured, police said. The latest reports put the toll at 43. The death toll is likely to climb as many of the injured have suffered grievous injuries.

According to officials, the building did not have fire clearance from Delhi Fire Service or any other safety tools. Also, teh factory was operating in residential area. Rehan has been charged with causing death due to negligence.

The Delhi government has also ordered a probe into the fire incident in Anaj Mandi area and sought a detailed report within seven days. Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot directed district magistrate (central) to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within seven days. During his visit to the site, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

Also Read | Delhi Fire: 'Hero' Fireman Hailed For Saving 11 People Trapped In Anaj Mandi Building

The blame game has started over the tragic fire incident in Delhi, which killed at least 43 people, with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) questioning the role of BJP-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that it was MCDs duty to shut the factory that was running illegally.

"If a factory was operating illegally at a house, then it was responsibility of Municipal Corporation of Delhi to shut it. How did MCD allow the factory to run? Delhi Fire Service has clarified that it didn't give a no objection certificate to the factory," Singh said.
Amritsar :

A man whose family operated a wholesale business of soft drinks in Amritsar allegedly faked his own murder after eliminating someone else for loan waiver and insurance money, police said on Saturday. The Tarn Taran police said Anoop Singh did this to have financial gains over Rs 1 crore. He was charged with murdering a homeless man and destroying evidence, police said, adding that his brother Karandeep Singh and domestic help Karan, alias Kaka, had been arrested for the planning, preparation and execution of the murder plot, a Punjab Police spokesperson said in a release here.

Further, the role of other family members, including Anoop Singhs father, is being investigated, he said. The Harike SHO on December 5 had received information that a charred body was lying on the Harike-Patti road.

A car with a registration number of Punjab was found parked next to the body. On the examination of the body, it was concluded that it was burned after pouring oil, the spokesperson said. Aadhaar, PAN and ATM cards with some photos were recovered from the scene.

A bottle of oil was also recovered from the car, he said. Anoops father Tarlok Singh was informed about the incident, who identified the body as that of his son. The body was, thereafter, sent to the local Civil Hospital for a post-mortem. Further, based on the statement of Tarlok Singh, a murder case was registered on December 5.

The spokesperson of the Punjab Police said during thorough investigation, Karandeep revealed that Anoop and Karan had brought a homeless migrant, Babba, with them to the Harike-Patti road. Thereafter, both Anoop and Karan stabbed Babba with a sharp-edged weapon and then burnt the body by pouring oil on it, he said.

Karandeep Singh revealed that he was following the car in his Jeep to assist in the escape of Anoop Singh and his accomplice Karan after the commission of the crime, the spokesperson said. Investigation revealed that a business partner of Anoop Singh, who is based in Haryana, had offered shelter to the accused.

He is being questioned for further details. Anoop Singh and Kaka were arrested by a police party from Tohana in Fatehabad of Haryana, he said.

The spokesperson said the accused had taken loans amounting to Rs 75 lakh, which could have been waived as a result of his death. He also had a life insurance cover of Rs 36 lakh besides other policies, which would have resulted in financial gains exceeding Rs 1 crore.
Kolkata:

Slamming the Centre over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and its proposal for a pan-India NRC, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that both were against the basic principles of the Constitution. She said she would support the Bill, expected to be tabled in Lok Sabha next week, if citizenship is given to each and every refugee, irrespective of their religion.

Claiming that at least 30 people have committed suicide in the state due to panic over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) being implemented in Bengal, Banerjee said, in a secular country like India, citizenship can never be accorded on the basis of religion.

Criticising the Center for failing to control price rise and tackle slowdown, the chief minister said the BJP government has failed to revive the economic situation and is busy conducting mock fights of "Hindustan and Pakistan".

Members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who come from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan facing persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship when the proposed amendments to the six-decade-old Citizenship Act come into effect.

According to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the new law, however, will not be applicable in the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime areas and those tribal regions which are governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

Both the NRC and the CAB are being used to divert attention of people from the ongoing economic slowdown in the country, Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, said while addressing a party rally in Kolkata.

"The NRC and the CAB are both two sides of the same coin. Will oppose them tooth and nail," she said.

The CAB was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier this year but lapsed.

"You (BJP) can pass CAB in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as you have majority, but we will not accept it and oppose it till the end. I would ask all political parties to oppose it.

There can't be differentiation on the basis of religion. India is a secular country," she said.

Hitting out at the "inflitrator" jibe of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Banerjee wondered whether all the governments elected so far are "illegal".

"You are calling Muslims infiltrators, if it is so, then since Independence so many governments have been formed both at states and Centre, with votes of all the communities, will you now declare those governments as illegal too?" she asked.

"In 2014 and 2019, the BJP won the elections and they also got votes of all the communities. So is the BJP government also illegal as they have also got votes of so-called infiltrators," she said.

Banerjee also took shots at the Centre over steep price rise of onions.

"Prices of onions are skyrocketing but they are busy in Hindustan-Pakistan fights. Will that yield onions for people? It is astounding that the finance minister stands up in the House and says she does not eat onions. Whose subject is price rise? It's the Centre's responsibility," Banerjee said while addressing the annual 'Sanhati Dibas' rally at Mayo Road in the heart of the city.

"The economy of the country is in a slump. The country will go bankrupt in the future. People will go bankrupt," she

said.

"People's money is no longer safe. If you keep your savings at home, they will usurp it in the name of demonetisation. If you keep your money in the bank, there is no guarantee for its safety," Banerjee said.
By Trend

New realities emerged in the region following the historic victory of the Azerbaijani army in the 2020 second Karabakh war under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Trend reports.

One of the most important realities is the creation of Zangazur corridor. Azerbaijan is already intensively working on the creation of the corridor, and Fuzuli International Airport, which was commissioned in the shortest time, is the corridors integral part.

The Zangazur corridor will provide direct land communication with Nakhchivan, as well as between China and Southern Europe along the East-West transport corridor.

How does the world perceive the realities of the Zangazur corridor?

On January 25, a delegation headed by Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Rostam Ghasemi visited Azerbaijan. Within the framework of the Iranian minister's visit, the foundation of a new road bridge across Astarachay between Iran and Azerbaijan was laid, and other official meetings were also held. One of the highlights of the visit was the visit of the Iranian delegation to Zangilan, liberated from Armenian occupation in the second Karabakh war.

The Iranian delegation got acquainted with the transport infrastructure facilities being built within the framework of the Zangazur corridor. Ghasemi said that Iranian companies are interested in participating in the reconstruction and restoration of the liberated territories and the implementation of investment projects.

In other words, its obvious that Iran already accepts the reality of the Zangazur corridor and is interested in it. Moreover, two countries in the region - Russia and Turkey are also interested in launch of this corridor, and, of course, Turkey has openly and clearly expressed its support for the creation of the Zangazur corridor, as well as on other issues.

On December 14 last year, in Brussels, President Ilham Aliyev met with President of the European Council Charles Michel and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

The statements made after the meeting clearly showed that the realities created by Azerbaijan in the region are also accepted by the European Union. The EU, according to its statement, also agreed that Azerbaijan's proposals are acceptable to the European Union.

Besides, it was confirmed at the meeting that the Zangazur corridor will include a railway and a highway.

At present, thanks to the efforts of the Azerbaijani government and President Ilham Aliyev, the term "Zangazur corridor" has firmly entered the international lexicon. President Ilham Aliyev uses it in almost all his interviews and speeches. Foreign journalists also use this term when asking questions.

Thus, the world has already accepted the reality of the Zangazur corridor, which will unite the entire Turkic world and completely change the transit significance of our country, as well as the geo-economic landscape of the region.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
New Delhi:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack against PM Modi over growing incidences of violence in the country. While addressing a rally in Kerala's Sultan Bathery, Rahul Gandhi said that there is a reason for the breakdown of institutional structures, a reason that people are taking law into their own hands. It is because the man who is running this country believes in violence and indiscriminate power.

"Violence against minority communities, hatred being spread against them. Violence against Dalits, thrashing them, cutting off their arms. Atrocities against Tribals, snatching their land. There is a reason for this dramatic increase in violence," Rahul Gandhi said.

Earlier Rahul Gandhi also took a jibe at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman over the issue of onion prices, saying none asked her what she eats, but people wanted to know why the economy was struggling. On Wednesday when asked by an MP if she ate onions, the prices of which had skyrocketed in the country, Sitharaman had told the Parliament: "I belong to a family which does not eat onion and garlic." Speaking at a leadership meet of the Congress, Gandhi said: "Nobody is asking you whether you eat onions. You are the FM and we are asking why the economy is struggling.

Even if you ask the poorest person you will get a sensible response," he added. The Congress MP from Wayanad alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi had destroyed India's greatest strength, its economy. "We believe in the voice of our people but Narendra Modi believes in his own. He did not ask any shopkeeper about demonetisation, he did not ask farmers or anyone about it.

He destroyed Indias greatest strength, its economy. He did the same with GST. Now you look at how the ridiculous the situation is?" Gandhi asked.

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New Delhi:

BSP chief Mayawati on Saturday urged the Supreme Court to take suo moto cognizance of the growing incidents of crime against women and direct the Centre to take prompt steps for effectively checking them. Launching a scathing attack on the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, she said incidents of rape, murder and molestation are taking place all over the country, but in UP, such cases have been "excessive".

"It is a matter of deep regret that during the past some years, especially since the BJP government has come to power, women are not safe. This is not the only incident, in UP I said it yesterday also that there is not a day when there is not an incident of rape and murder, attempt to rape or molestation," Mayawati said at a press conference here.

"They are taking place all over the country but in UP, such cases have been excessive. My party believes that till the state governments do not deal with the criminal elements promptly and sternly they cannot be checked," she said.

Mayawati's remarks came after the death of Unnao rape victim in a Delhi hospital. The 23-year-old woman was set afire by five men, including her two alleged rapists, on Thursday morning when she was going to Rae Bareli to attend a court hearing in the case filed by her.

One of the two men accused of raping her last year was granted bail about 10 days ago. The other man had been on the run. All the five men involved in the Thursday attack have been arrested.

"If the Supreme Court take note of the growing cases of crime against women on its own and direct the Centre to take action, I think then it (Centre) would come into action mode," the BSP chief said.

"Parliament is in session and the Central government need to take cognizance of these cases and frame strict law for controlling it, but the Centre does not seem to be in action mode. My party wants the Supreme Court to take it seriously. First Hyderabad and now in Unnao , such cases have been taking place continuously," she said.

The BSP president asked the UP government to ensure "proper justice" to the family of Unnao rape victim.

The death of the 23-year-old woman is extremely painful and the BSP is with the victim's family in this hour of grief, she said in a tweet in Hindi.

"The UP government should take special initiative soon to provide proper justice to the victim's family. This is the demand of justice and people."

"To prevent such traumatic incidents all over the country, including in UP, state governments should create fear of law among people and in view of the incidents, the Centre should also make a law to ensure strict punishment by hanging to death within a stipulated time-frame," Mayawati said in another tweet.

The BSP chief said she has sought time from UP Governor Anandiben Patel and will urge her to ask the state government to ensure justice to the family. "I want to request the governor of the state to discharge her constitutional duty and take action," she added.

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New Delhi:

Law has done its duty, said Cyberabad Police Commissioner CV Sajjanar during the crucial press conference elaborating about the sequence of events in the sensational encounter of four accused in the Hyderabad veterinary doctors rape and murder case. As against the initial reports, Sajjanar said that the encounter took place between 5:30 am and 6:30 am. The Telangana Police also said its personnel had resorted to "retaliatory" firing after two of the accused in the rape and murder of a woman veterinarian opened fire at police after snatching weapons from them this morning.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner CV Sajjanar told reporters here that one of the accused, Mohammed Arif, was the first to open fire, even as the police team that took them to the crime scene were attacked with stones and sticks.

The snatched weapons were in "unlocked" position, he added. On NHRC taking cognizance of encounter, Sajjanar said, We will answer to whoever takes cognizance, the state govt, NHRC, to all concerned. We suspect that the accused were also involved in many other cases in Karnataka, investigation is on, he further said.

In 2008 also, Sajjanar had taken the accused in acid attack case to the scene of crime to recreate the sequence of events. The police at that time had claimed that the accused tried to attack with crude bombs. In retaliation and self-defence, the cops resorted to firing and gunned down the accused on the spot. Soon, Sajjanar became the hero of the town and people hailed him as encounter cop. According to a report by Rediff, the Warangal students had distributed sweets in college after the encounter.

The Friday incident took place around 6.30 am when the accused were taken to the site of the offence for reconstruction of the scene of the crime as part of the investigation, a senior police official said. "They (accused) snatched weapons from police and fired on police and tried to escape... police fired in retaliation in which the four accused died," a senior police official told PTI.
New Delhi:

The Delhi government on Sunday ordered a probe into the fire incident in Anaj Mandi area here and sought a detailed report within seven days. Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot directed district magistrate (central) to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within seven days. During his visit to the site, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

The fire incident in a three-storey building has claimed more than 40 lives and injured more than 50 people, most of them labourers.

Kejriwal also announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to be given to families of those dead and Rs 1 lakh each to those injured. The expense of medical treatment of those injured to be borne by the government.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal: It is a very sad incident. I have ordered a magisterial inquiry into it. Compensation Rs 10 lakhs each to be given to families of those dead and Rs 1 lakh each to those injured. The expense of medical treatment of those injured to be borne by the govt. pic.twitter.com/JytAD9iMOj  ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2019

The Prime Minister's Office also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to tragic fire in Delhi. PM Modi has also approved Rs 50,000 each for those seriously injured in the fire.

Earlier, Kejriwal described the fire incident as tragic and said firemen were doing their best.

"V v tragic news. Rescue operations going on. Firemen doing their best. Injured are being taken to hospitals," the chief minister said in a tweet.

BJP MP from North East Delhi, Manoj Tiwari also visited the fire incident site. He said that BJP would provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to families of those who have lost their lives and Rs 25,000 to the injured.

BJP MP from North East Delhi, Manoj Tiwari visits Delhi fire incident site,says,"It's a sad incident. As per initial info,fire broke out due to short circuit.BJP will provide financial assistance of Rs5 lakhs each to families of those who have lost their lives&Rs25000 to injured" pic.twitter.com/yl0XQ2YvGr  ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2019

The massive fire swept through a factory in Anaj Mandi area of north Delhi on Sunday morning, leaving more than 40 labourers dead and many others injured, police said. The death toll is likely to climb as many of the injured have suffered grievous injuries, according to fire and police officials.

A total of 59 people were inside the factory operating from a residential area when the blaze broke out, they said. The fire was reported at 5:22 AM following which 30 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Chaotic scenes were witnesed at the site of the fire incident with relatives and locals rushing to the area. Many people trapped inside were rescued and rushed to RML Hospital, LNJP and Hindu Rao Hospital, fire officials said.
New Delhi:

The rape victim from Unnao, who was airlifted to Delhi and admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital, died of cardiac arrest on Friday night, the hospital said. "She suffered the cardiac arrest at 11.10 pm and we tried to resuscitate her, but she could not survive, and at 11.40 pm, she died," Dr Shalabh Kumar, HOD (burns and plastic) at the Safdarjung Hospital, said.

She was extremely critical and was put on ventilator, with 95 per cent burn injuries. The Delhi Traffic Police on Thursday provided a "green corridor" for hindrance-free movement of the ambulance carrying her from the airport to the hospital.

The rape victim suffered severe burns after five men, including two of the rape accused, allegedly set her on fire while she was on her way to court, the police said. One of the two men accused of raping her last year was granted bail 10 days back.

The other man had been on the run. All the five men involved in Thursday morning's attack were arrested within hours and the victim airlifted in the evening from the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital in Lucknow to Delhi.

Earlier in the day, the five accused were produced before a court in Unnao and remanded in 14-day judicial custody. All the five accused were produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Virat Saxena amid tight security and were sent to Unnao jail under judicial custody, said Inspector Ajay Kumar Tripathi, the in-charge of Bihar police station, where the burning case was registered.

Unnao Additional Superintendent of Police BK Pandey said efforts will be made to take them in police remand for custodial interrogation and gather evidence in the case.

The police had arrested the two rape accused, Shivam and Shubham, and their three accomplices in setting the girl aflame on the basis of the victim's statement.

In her statement to Sub Divisional Magistrate Dayashankar Pathak, the victim had said she was abducted and raped by Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi in December 2018 and the trial of the case is going on in a Raebareli court.

She said she was going to Raebareli to pursue the case, but when she reached Gaura turn, Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai along with Shivam and Shubham, armed with knives and lathis attacked her and set her on fire.

The rape victim who suffered serious burns was airlifted to Delhi hospital, where her condition was stated to be critical.

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New Delhi:

As news of the fire spread, family members of those who were working in the factory in Delhi's Anaj Mandi area rushed to the city hospitals to find out the whereabouts of their loved ones, only to be left disappointed. Relatives were seen roaming the corridors of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital where the rescued persons were brought but were unable to get any information.

A massive fire ripped through the factory in Anaj Mandi area of north Delhi on Sunday morning, leaving 43 people, mostly labourers, dead and many others injured, police said.

Mohammad Taj Ahmed (40), one of those who was at the LNJP Hospital to look for his father-in-law Jasimmuddin (56), and brother-in-law Faisaq Khan (25), said he learnt in the morning about the duo being trapped in the blaze.

"They worked in a garment factory in the Anaj Mandi area. I went to Anaj Mandi but couldn't find my relatives due to police restrictions and ongoing rescue operation. Then I rushed to LNJP but the police and the hospital staff have not told me anything," he said.

Ahmed said the last time he spoke to his family members was at 3 pm but now no one is taking his calls.

Mohammad Asif said his cousin brothers, Imran (32) and Ikram (35), who were working in a factory to manufacture carry bags, were injured in the blaze. Imran and Ikram belong to Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh.

"I live in Bhajanpura and I got a call from Moradabad around 6 am that my cousins have been injured. I rushed to Anaj Mandi but couldn't find them amid heavy police deployment. Police told us they were taken to hospital, which hospital I don't know. We looked for them here (LNJP), have not been able to confirm if they have been brought here," he said.

There were others too who hoped that their loved ones could have survived the massive blaze.

"My brother, Naveen (18) works in a handbag manufacturing unit in the Anaj Mandi area. I got a call from his friends informing that he has been injured in the incident. I have no clue which hospital he has been taken to," Manoj (23) said.
New Delhi:

Amid tensions between Pyongyang and Washington over nuclear negotiations, North Korea on Sunday conducted a very important test at its Sohae satellite launch site. A very important test was carried out at the Sohae Satellite Launch on December 7th, 2019, a spokesman for the Norths National Academy of Science said. The result of the latest test will have an important effect on changing the strategic status of North Korea, the spokesman said in a statement carried by the KCNA news agency.

The KCNA report did not specify what was tested, but the site has previously been used to launch rockets into space as well as test missile engines, news agency Reuters reported.

On Thursday, the North's vice foreign minister warned of returning to a war of words with the US, threatening to resume referring to Trump as a "dotard" - Pyongyang's nickname for the US leader at the height of tensions in 2017.

The comments came a day after it warned that if the US used military force against the North it would take "prompt corresponding actions at any level".

At the recent NATO summit, Trump boasted about Washington's "most powerful military", adding: "Hopefully, we don't have to use it, but if we do, we'll use it. If we have to, we'll do it."

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he would be surprised if North Korea acted hostilely, hours after the countrys ambassador to the UN said denuclearization will not be discussed in negotiations with the US.

Trumps remarks came in response to a question after North Koreas ambassador to the UN Kim Song said that denuclearization is off the table in talks with the US.

We do not need to have lengthy talks with the US now, and the denuclearization is already gone out of the negotiation table, Kim Song said in a statement on Saturday.

Hours later, when reporters asked Trump as to how does he plan on re-engaging North Korea in the negotiations, he said, Well see about North Korea. Id be surprised if North Korea acted hostiley [sic].

I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un. I think we both want to keep it that way. He knows I have an election coming up. I dont think he wants to interfere with that. But well have to see, he said.

Trump said that he has a good relationship with the North Korean leader. Hes somebody that Ive gotten along with very well for three years, and hes gotten along with me very well. So well see how it goes. But I really dont think he wants to interfere with the election, he said.

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New Delhi:

Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts facing the gallows in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, has asked that the mercy plea in his name be withdrawn as he never authorised it. The convict claimed that the mercy plea sent to President Ram Nath Kovind by Union Home Ministry wasn't signed and authorized by him. The development comes a day after the victim's mother wrote to the president seeking dismissal of the clemency petition. Seeking to draw a parallel between the two cases, Nirbhaya's parents also said unlike them, the family of the deceased veterinary would not have to wait for justice.

In a letter written to Kovind, Nirbhaya's mother said the petition filed by one of the convicts, Vinay Sharma, "deliberately tries to avoid the execution of the death sentence and hamper the dissemination of justice".

"Almost seven years have lapsed since then. The trauma, pain and agony suffered by the applicant (mother) is unbearable and the wait for justice is getting longer and longer," the letter, sent through her lawyer, said.

The Union Home Ministry has sent to President Ram Nath Kovind the recommendation of the Delhi government rejecting the mercy plea of one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape-murder case, sources said on Friday.

The Home Ministry has also recommended in the file rejection of the mercy petition of one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape-and-murder case, an official said.

Nirbhaya was gang-raped on December 16, 2012. She later succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Singapore. The brutality of the rape had rocked the nation leading to massive protests. Supreme Court on December 12, 2018, dismissed a PIL seeking direction to the Centre to execute the death penalty awarded to four convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay and Akshay -- in the case.

The victim's family, too, has been pressing for speedy justice and execution of the convicts. A Delhi court had recently directed the Tihar Jail authorities to produce the four convicts next Friday so that they can inform the court about the status of their petitions.

The court was hearing a plea by the victim's parents who have sought a direction to the jail authorities to expedite the execution of the convicts. The plea said the victim's parents approached the court since the convicts had exhausted all legal remedies.

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New Delhi:

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday shared a video of him driving the Toyota hybrid car that doesnt run on petrol or diesel but echo friendly Hydrogen fuel. The transport minister also urged automobile manufacturers to produce eco-friendly vehicles that can utilise agro-based fuel.

Speaking at Toyotas EV Vehicle Technologies Demonstration and Experiential Driving (Hybrid, Electric and Hydrogen Vehicles) in New Delhi, he said that agro-based fuel will not only help in reducing environmental pollution but also has potential to increase farmers income.

Gadkar said that air pollution was one of the major challenges that the country was facing at the moment, hence, automakers should focus on alternative fuel vehicles, towards achieving a greener and safer mobility ecosystem in the country.

"Hydrogen fuel is the eco-friendly alternative to petrol and diesel, which would fuel a more sustainable tomorrow. Happy to ride the hybrid cars of Toyota, this will prove to be a milestone in our fight against global warming," Gadkari wrote on Twitter along with a video of him driving the Toyota Hybrid car.

Hydrogen fuel is the eco-friendly alternative to petrol and diesel, which would fuel a more sustainable tomorrow. Happy to ride the hybrid cars of Toyota, this will prove to be a milestone in our fight against global warming. pic.twitter.com/dcdkNAEC7p  Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) December 6, 2019

On electronic toll collection, Gadkari said that more than 50 per cent transactions at toll plazas on national highways are already taking place through FASTags. The minister called for switching over to FASTags so that vehicular movement at NHAI toll plazas becomes faster and smooth. He also reiterated that the FASTags can be obtained free of cost up to December 15 as announced by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

(With PTI inputs)
Washington:

A member of the Saudi Air Force training to be a pilot opened fire in a classroom building at a US naval Station with a handgun, killing three people and injuring eight others before being shot dead by police with officials investigating whether the shooting was an act of terrorism. The gunman in the deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida on Friday was a second lieutenant in the Saudi Arabian military and was undergoing training to be a pilot.

He started his training in August 2017 as part of a three-year programme. He was taking classes in basic aviation, initial pilot training and English, a US military official told CNN. Officials are looking into whether the shooting was terror-related as a possible motive.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist media, identified the shooter as Mohammed al-Shamrani, and said that prior to opening fire he condemned America as a "nation of evil" in an online manifesto on Twitter, according to media reports.

"I'm against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil." "I'm not against you for just being American, I don't hate you because your freedoms, I hate you because every day you supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity," he wrote.

The ABC News reported that the Twitter account that posted the manifesto -- which also condemned US support for Israel and included a quote from Al-Qaeda's deceased leader Osama bin Laden -- has been suspended.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman telephoned Trump to denounce the shooting and said the perpetrator of the "heinous crime" does not represent the Saudi people, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

President Donald Trump expressed shock and grief at the incident and said he was personally monitoring the situation at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, that employs more than 16,000 military personnel and 7,400 civilians.

"King Salman of Saudi Arabia just called to express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies to the families and friends of the warriors who were killed and wounded in the attack that took place in Pensacola, Florida," Trump said in a tweet Friday afternoon.

"The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people," Trump said in his tweet.

According to local law enforcement officials, it all started around 6.50 am on Friday when reports of a gunfire at the naval base came and two county sheriff deputies rushed to the scene.

The two deputies were injured in the exchange of fire. While one received a gunshot in the arm, the other was hit in his leg. Six other people were also injured.

Police said shooting took place in a two-floor classroom building at the base.

The shooter used a Glock 9mm handgun that had been purchased locally, according to local media reports. He was killed after the two deputies exchanged gunfire with him.

The FBI is leading the investigation, as authorities did not rule out the possibility of it being a terrorist attack.

It was the second shooting at a Navy base this week. On Wednesday a US sailor killed two civilian employees and injured another before killing himself at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii.

"Saddened to hear of the horrible shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola & continuing to monitor the situation. Praying for the victims & their families & we commend the first responders for their swift action in taking down the shooter & getting those on base to safety," Vice President Mike Pence tweeted.

"This is a dark day for a very great place," said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B Modly described this as a "crime against all of us".

"Our entire Navy and Marine Corps team is struck and deeply saddened by the attacks within our own naval family over the past several days, at Little Creek, Virginia last week, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Wednesday, and today in Pensacola, Florida. These acts are crimes against all of us, he said.

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By Trend

The meetings with parents and relatives of the Azerbaijani servicemen are temporarily prohibited taking into account that the number of COVID-19 cases has recently increased in Azerbaijan, Trend reports with reference to the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry.

According to the message, parents and relatives of military personnel are advised not to visit military units, in particular, not to attend the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for February 6 to protect the health of military personnel and prevent the risk of contracting the disease.

"We urge our citizens to understand the measures which are used in our army and strictly observe the quarantine rules," the ministry said.
New Delhi:

The CBI has booked Allahabad High Court judge Justice S N Shukla in a corruption case for allegedly favouring a medical college and carried out searches at his Lucknow residence, officials said on Friday. Along with Justice Shri Narain Shukla of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, the agency has named IM Quddusi, a retired judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, Bhagwan Prasad Yadav and Palash Yadav of the Prasad Education Trust, the trust and private persons Bhavna Pandey and Sudhir Giri in the case, they said.

"...it is revealed that Justice Shri Narayan Shukla...abused his official position and entered into criminal conspiracy...and obtained illegal gratification in order to obtain pecuniary advantage for BP Yadav and Palash Yadav of Prasad Education trust...," CBI has alleged in the FIR.

The CBI has alleged that Justice Shukla received illegal gratification from Justice (Retd) Quddusi and B P Yadav, chairman of Prasad Education Trust which runs a medical college in Lucknow, for getting a favourable order to prevent delisting from counselling sessions for admitting students in 2017.

The case is triggered from a preliminary enquiry registered by the agency on September 8, 2017 based on source-based information about the alleged misconduct of Justice Shukla, they said. The CBI registered fresh FIR against Justice Shukla on December 4, 2019 after getting a nod from the then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in July this year.

The agency had informed the CJI about the preliminary enquiry against the judge and others which was registered on the advice of the previous CJI Dipak Misra when the matter regarding the alleged misconduct by the judge was brought to his knowledge.

The CBI also placed before the CJI a brief note on the preliminary inquiry along with the chronological chart while seeking permission for initiating a regular case for investigation. An official of the Supreme Court had said this is for the first time that a permission has been granted to register case against a sitting high court judge.

The clearance for FIR against Justice Shukla came months after the apex court, in its administrative side, had taken away judicial work from him. Justice Shukla joined Allahabad High Court on October 5, 2005 and is scheduled to retire on July 17, 2020, according to the High Court website.

The former CJIs decision to allow the probe agency to proceed against a serving high court judge assumed significance in the wake of its earlier direction in the K Veeraswamy case in which it had prevented any investigating agency from lodging an FIR without first showing the evidence to the CJI for permission to investigate the judge.

The CBI has booked the accused under section 120B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the officials added. After the filing of the FIR, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started searches at seven locations in Lucknow, Meerut and Delhi, they said.

It is alleged that the Centre had debarred Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences from admitting students due to sub-standard facilities and non-fulfilment of the required criteria in May, 2017, along with 46 other medical colleges, also debarred on similar grounds, the officials said. The trust challenged the decision before the Supreme Court through a writ petition, they added.

Subsequently a conspiracy was hatched by those named in the FIR and the petition was withdrawn with the courts permission. Another writ petition was filed before the Lucknow bench of the high court on August 24, 2017, the officials said.

The agency has alleged that BP Yadav, Chairman of the trust, Justice (retd) Quddusi, Pandey and Giri entered into criminal conspiracy to obtain a favourable order from Justice Shukla by corrupt and illegal means.

As part of the conspiracy, the trust withdrew writ from the Supreme Court and was filed before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on August 24, 2017 challenging the order of the union health ministry, the CBI alleged. Quddusi and Yadav allegedly met Justice Shukla in the morning of August 25, 2017 and handed over the alleged bribe, CBI FIR said.

On the same day, matter was heard and the Bench of Justice Shukla and Virender Kumar-II to not delist the college from counselling till next date August 31, 2017. The Medical Council of India challenged the order on August 28, 2017 which was heard by the then Chief Justice of India and two other judges.

The court directed that bank guarantee shall not be encahsed and also that petition filed before the High Court shall be deemed to have been disposed off. Yadav then pursued with Justice (Retd) Quddusi for return of illegal gratification paid to him, a part of which was returned.

The CBI had registered similar FIR in the matter on September 19, 2017 in which it had booked the former Judge Quddusi, Bhawana Pandey, Bhagwan Prasad Yadav and others for alleged attempt to bribe a senior functionary in the same matter. They were arrested in the matter.

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New Delhi:

A shooter was killed on Friday after opening fire at a US naval base in Florida and killing at least two people, police and military officials said. Escambia County Sheriff's Office said in a message on Twitter it could "confirm there is no longer an active shooter on NAS Pensacola. The shooter is confirmed dead." Naval Air Station Pensacola was put on lockdown, with the US Navy on Twitter reporting "one additional fatality."

In a later tweet, it said "a second victim has been confirmed deceased."

The Pensacola News Journal said two people suffered critical injuries and a third non-critical wounds.

"There's probably been 100 or so various law enforcement vehicles" rushing through opposing traffic towards the base, Jeff Bergosh, a county commissioner who is a contractor at the facility, told the newspaper.

White House press secretary Judd Deere said President Donald Trump "has been briefed on the shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station... and is monitoring the situation."

Broadcaster WEAR showed footage of an injured person being wheeled into a hospital, while the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said its agents had responded to the incident at the base and "a search of buildings is being conducted."

The naval air station hosts 16,000 military personnel and more than 7,000 civilians, and is home to a flight demonstration squadron.

It is an early training center for naval pilots, and is known as the "cradle of Naval aviation."

Though relatively rare, military facilities have not been left untouched by the United States' epidemic of mass shootings.

On Wednesday, a US sailor fatally shot two people and wounded a third at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii before taking his own life.

One witness from that attack told local media he was sitting at his computer when he heard shots fired and rushed to the window, where he saw three victims on the ground.

In July 2015, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez carried out an attack at two military installations in the state of Tennessee that killed four Marines and a sailor, with the FBI concluding that the violence was inspired by a "foreign terrorist group."

Two years earlier, Aaron Alexis killed 12 people and wounded eight others at the Washington Navy Yard, just two miles (three kilometers) from the US Capitol building, before being shot dead by officers.

Four years before that, Major Nidal Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others at Fort Hood.

He was considered a "lone wolf" who supported terror network Al-Qaeda.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday rushed to Unnao to meet the family of the rape victim who succumbed to severe burns in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital. The Congress general secretary has left for Unnao to meet the family and extend condolences to them, Congress sources said. The 23-year-old rape victim was set ablaze by five people, including two who are accused of raping her, on Thursday morning. She had suffered 90 per cent burns and was airlifted to Safdarjung Hospital where she lost the battle for her life late Friday night.

The family members have expressed deep sorrow that they could not save their daughter's life even though she wanted to live and see to it that the offenders get justice.

The victim's father was categorical in saying that he demands justice on the lines the Hyderabad case. "I want to see the accused persons being chased and shot dead," he said. "I do not want money or any other kind of help. I want to see that the accused are chased and shot dead like the Hyderabad encounter or hanged to death."

When asked if anyone had come forward to ensure them justice, he said neither any MLA nor official has tried to help them.

"The accused persons had used money power to deny justice to us. My case was not lodged and it was only after the court's directive that it was registered," he said.

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Qalandar Ebad, Taliban's acting Health Minister, has urged Afghans across the province to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as part of a concerted attempt to curb the virus's spread.

According to mwdia sources, Ebad said in a video message on Saturday that safeguarding oneself is one of the Islamic religion's duty, and that the vaccination is the most efficient strategy to combat Covid-19.

"Fortunately, Afghanistan has imported millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccinations, which are currently available in hospitals throughout all 34 provinces," stated the acting Health Minister. Although the Covid-19 situation in Afghanistan is not as terrible as it once was, he added that people should be attentive and take precautionary measures since the epidemic is still present.

The Ministry had earlier said that 21,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccination were being administered daily across Afghanistan. The World Health Organization reports that a total of 5,081,064 vaccine doses have been administered to date. Afghanistan has reported a total of 161,290 coronavirus infections and 7,405 deaths since the pandemic began in early 2020.

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The song 'Dil Pe Zakhm' which was recently released by Bhushan Kumar's T series, is being loved by the people. Gurmeet Choudhary, Arjun Bijlani and Kashika Kapoor are also seen in the music video of the song. In this song, sung by Jubin Nautiyal, people are busy praising Kashika's beauty. The special thing is that the actress of this song has appeared in nude makeup as the director of the music video, Ashish Panda, believed that Kashika did not need make-up. The song was shot in Nepal in cold weather.

According to media reports, director Ashish Panda says- 'Kashika is an actress who is fully following in the footsteps of direct, she has actually given her 100 per cent in every shot. Despite the cold temperature, she has completed her scene without any hesitation, seeing this dedication of her towards work, we have all been very impressed with her. She is one of those actresses who doesn't need makeup, she looked very beautiful even without any makeup.'

Where Kashika believes in this regard- 'Shooting in cold weather was a big challenge and sometimes I have to wear 3 jackets continuously. Ashish sir has been such an inspiring person who is also being inspired by me in every possible way.' Continuing with her point, Kashika continues- 'Many times when I used to reach the sets Ashish sir refuses to make up the makeup artist, he used to say that she doesn't need it. He also gave me space to improve. I'm so grateful to have worked with such wonderful people.' According to media reports, Dil Pe Zakhm produced by Bhushan Kumar, the song has been sung by Jubin Nautiyal and written by Manoj Muntashir. Ashish Panda has directed the track, while Rochak Kohli has given music. The song has also been released on T-Series' YouTube channel on January 28.

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Moeed Yusuf, Pakistan's National Security Adviser, arrived in Kabul on Saturday and met with Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban government's Acting Foreign Minister. The conference takes place amid tensions between the Taliban and Islamabad over the Durand Line, which sets the Afghan-Pakistan boundary.

"Our National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf is in Kabul with an interministerial team," the Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan stated in a tweet on Saturday. In the tweet, Khan said, "Had a productive discussion with Acting Foreign Minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi to kick off the tour." According to the Taliban, the Durand Line "has separated one nation on both sides," which the Islamic organization "does not want."

Pakistan wants to fence the border to keep track of Pashtuns who live between the Durand Line and the Pakistani border. Previously, the Taliban military attempted to prevent the Pakistani military from establishing barbed-wire walls and outposts along the Durand Line in Nangahar Province. So far, no formal engagement has taken place on the topic, although Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has stated that the problem will be resolved diplomatically with the Taliban.

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Actress Raveena Tandon has always been a part of the headlines. Raveena is an actress whose discussions range from Bollywood to Pakistan. Not only this, Raveena was said to be the favourite actress of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at that time. That is why during the Kargil war, some of the witty soldiers decided to send him some bombs with her name as a gift. Every few years, pictures of bombs keep going viral on social media. It shows a big green bomb which reads "Raveena Tandon to Nawaz Sharif". After years Raveena has talked about this episode.

Talking to a website at the Tension Not Twitter Space session, Raveena took a refreshing pacifist attitude towards the incident. "I saw it much later. However, I would advise the whole world that if love and talk can lead to a conversation over anything, please do it. The colour of the blood is red here and borrowed. No mother should feel proud of losing her son or daughters. If I have to stand there [defending the border] to defend my country, give me the gun in my hand, I will stand there (give me a gun and I will stand there). '

During this time Raveena also told about her thoughts of joining politics. She said the kind of challenges she faced as a female actor in Bollywood, she got support from her family and a lot more. Talking about work with this, Raveena was last seen in the Netflix series Aranyak. Talking about upcoming films, soon she will be seen in KGF Chapter 2 alongside Yash and Sanjay Dutt.

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In the midst of rising geopolitical tensions, the foreign ministry announced Saturday that three personnel will be sent to the South Korean Embassy in Ukraine to create contingency preparations for Korean people in the country.

The decision was made after Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong met virtually with the heads of South Korea's diplomatic missions in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries the day before, amid rising tensions between Moscow and Kyiv.

The Korean embassy in Ukraine also intends to hold discussions with Korean citizens and businesses, as well as update information on modes of transportation and land evacuation routes on its website. South Koreans in Ukraine have been encouraged to flee to safer areas in the near future, but international flights continue to operate normally from seven airports in six cities.

Around 440 Koreans are now residing in Ukraine, most of them are based in Kyiv, the capital, and other cities in the country's interior. The ministry encouraged Korean nationals in 15 southern, eastern, and northern areas of Ukraine to leave the country as soon as possible due to the increasing possibility of Russian military intervention earlier this week.

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The Taliban said on Saturday that operations at 27 civilian and military airports that were stopped after the fall of the Afghan regime led by Ashraf Ghani have restarted. "Most of these airports had no difficulties; only a few airports, such as Khwaja Rawash, Kandahar, and Khost, experienced problems," Latifullah Hakimi, the head of the military and civil regulatory body, was reported as saying by the media.

"We separated the five components into two parts, one military and the other civilian," Hakimi said, "since it is no longer essential, and here is one government, where there were before (multiple) governments."

According to Hakimi, three military airports are now operational: Bagram in Parwan, Shurab in Helmand, and Shindand Airport in Herat. "Services are provided normally from Afghanistan's airports, flights operate normally, especially from Kabul airport, foreign and domestic flights are taking place," said Imamuddin Ahmadi, spokesman for the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. "Military flights from military airfields as well as parts of Kabul airport are being used for military, logistical, and other flights," he added.

Meanwhile, political analysts believe that resuming activity on the country's airfields, particularly military airfields, is critical for carrying out special military operations and providing support to civilians in emergency circumstances, according to Afghan media. "In the current circumstances," said Mohammad Qasem Wafayeezada, former chairman of the ACAA, "the first step that should be made today is to separate military and civilian activity in the airfields."

This comes as the Islamic Emirate, Turkey, and Qatar are negotiating in Doha over some parts of the operation of Afghan airports. They haven't come to a final agreement yet. On August 15, last year, the Taliban took control of Kabul, and the nation has since been hammered by mounting economic, humanitarian, and political crises.

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Mammoet, a global market leader in engineered heavy lifting and transport, said it had teamed up with leading crane service provider Aertssen Machinery Services (AMS) for the installation of design elements at the Infinity Bridge in Dubai.

Built by Besix Construct, a Middle Eastern subsidiary of a Belgian company Besix, the Infinity Bridge (formerly Al Shindagha bridge) is distinguished by its unique architectural design inspired by the concept of infinity.

It is a distinct landmark that promises to be a showcase of Dubais architectural advancements worldwide.

Nearly 40 steel segments of its infinity arch, weighing up to 130 tonnes, needed to be installed over the Dubai creek and above the bridge deck, which could not support a suitably sized crane. Therefore, the installation of the segments could only be performed by cranes operating from the creeks banks, said the statement from Mammoet.

To achieve this, the duo deployed the powerful Demag lattice boom crawler cranes: Aertssen with its CC 3800, positioned at the northern side of the creek and Mammoet with its CC 8800-1, positioned on the southern bank.

The Infinity Bridge is 300 m long, 22 m wide and sits 15.5 m high above the water level. Its infinity arch rises higher; some 42 m above the creek.

As a result of this, the mid bridge segments would require tandem lifts by two cranes positioned on opposite banks of the creek and with a working radius of 140m.

These tandem lifts were performed with the CC 8800-1 handling the majority of the weight  in fact, it could position segments on the opposite side of the bridge, thanks to its main boom length and a large lifting radius.

The entire operation was completed over a period of six months, with the last piece of the infinity arch was installed in May this year, said a top official.

"Working in partnership with Aertssen, we provided equipment with sufficient capacity and reach, along with specialist engineering to support the operation of the CC 8800-1 to maximise the overall utilisation and its capacity," stated Somnath Bhattacharjee, Crane Operations Manager for Mammoets UAE Branch.

"Each lift required an extraordinary level of precision as the tolerances for joining the segments were a matter of millimeters. But when you have the right machines and a great team, all goes smoothly," he added.

The AED394-million ($105 million) Infinity Bridge project is part of Dubais Road and Transport Authoritys Shindagha Corridor Improvement project, which covers a 13km-long road network.

The bridge, which was recently opened, can accommodate 24,000 vehicles per hour in both directions and features a combined three-metre-wide track for pedestrians and cyclists.-TradeArabia News Service
Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to Brian and Charles, a quirky and heartfelt comedy about an unlikely friendship that debuted to rave reviews this week at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film centers on Brian, a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who builds unconventional contraptions that rarely work. He soon sets out on his biggest project yet  spending three days to turn a washing machine and various spare parts into Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and has an obsession with cabbages.

More from Variety

Polygons Oli Welsh praised the films warmth and tenderness while Thrillists Esther Zuckerman wrote that the movie is adorably whimsical and downright touching.

Director Jim Archer developed the film with Film4, which co-funded the production, and the BFI, which awarded funds from the National Lottery. It is based on a short film that Archer created and written by David Earl and Chris Hayward and produced by Rupert Majendie for Mr Box Productions. The executive producers are Damian Jones, Mary Burke for the BFI, and Lauren Dark and Ollie Madden for Film4.

Commented Majendie and director Jim Archer: We have been so blown away by the reaction to the film from the Sundance audience and also want to say a huge thank you to the amazing teams at Film4, BFI & Bankside. They have all been amazing in their support of this little movie. We are incredibly excited to have found a partner in Focus who truly get this story and are as passionate about it as we are. We are still a little worried that they will wake up and realise theyve just bought a film about a walking washing machine, but the ink is dry now so its too late!

Wait. What? retorted Focus president of production & acquisitions Kiska Higgs.

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Focus Features will distribute the film domestically and Universal Pictures will distribute internationally. Film4 will retain free TV rights to the film in the United Kingdom. Archer is represented by Independent Talent Group.

Brian and Charles stars David Earl, Chris Hayward, Louise Brealey, Jamie Michie and Nina Sosanya. This marks Archers feature directorial debut. He started out by shooting comedy sketches with friends before writing and directing several short films, culminating in winning gold at the Young Director Awards in Cannes for the short film version of Brian and Charles.

The sale was handled by Bankside Films with Joe Toto and Carlen Johnson on behalf of Focus Features.

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Acquisition to open up ANZ as a new client market

Addition of 1,100+ domain experts and 4 delivery centers in Philippines

BANGALORE, India, January 30, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd. (HGS) (Listed on NSE & BSE, India) has announced that its subsidiary, HGS International Mauritius, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% equity stake in Diversify Offshore Staffing Solutions Pty Ltd. (Diversify), Australia. The transaction is expected to close within the next few days.

Diversify is an Australian enterprise, providing value-added BPM services, with delivery operations in Philippines. It provides differentiated consumer engagement solutions to its impressive roster of over 50 clients, 70% of whom are in the Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) region and the others in the US. It has had a robust CAGR of 39% over the last 5 years despite the recent pandemic. For year ending 30th June 2022, it is expected to report revenues of around AUD 26.5 million. It is a profitable business and this acquisition will be margin accretive to HGS.

With the acquisition of Diversify, HGS will open up ANZ as a new market, with the addition of a significant number of clients from that region. It will also supplement its portfolio in the US. While most of its current offshore footprint is in the Philippines, this will open up the gates for ANZ offshoring to HGS Indian operations. It bolsters HGS portfolio of back-office and non-voice business in domains like Digital Marketing, Finance & Accounts, IT services, etc. Combining these two organizations brings in synergies to improve the profitability of the operations. The complementarity of time zones between Australia and North America is expected to improve the asset utilization for HGS.

"We are very excited to welcome the 1,100+ employees of Diversify into the HGS family. We expect robust business synergies to be generated by this acquisition. ANZ is a very attractive market for high-growth, value-added and margin-accretive businesses. As a result of this partnership, a large number of experienced domain experts in verticals such as professional services, retail, and telecommunications will soon become a part of HGS. This also expands our footprint in Philippines with 4 new delivery centers," said Partha Desarkar, Executive Director and Group CEO, HGS.

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He added, "Today, Australian firms are increasing their digitalization efforts to become more competitive, develop new ways of digital-led customer engagement, while enabling remote working models. We believe our foray into ANZ through this acquisition provides a huge opportunity for HGS to cater to the digital needs of Diversifys clients through our solutions in analytics, automation, AI, and Cloud Telephony."

"The partnership with a global organization like HGS provides the resources to us and paves the way to drive significantly higher levels of growth. It enhances our brand promise of delivering the most innovative, value-added, and efficient solutions to our clients. We are excited about the partnership with the opportunities it offers and will continue to work with our clients to improve their business," said Angela Vidler, Managing Director of Diversify.

About Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS)

A global leader in optimizing the customer experience lifecycle, digital transformation, and business process management, HGS is helping its clients become more competitive every day. HGS combines automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence with deep domain expertise focusing on digital customer experiences, back-office processing, contact centers, and HRO solutions. Part of the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate Hinduja Group, HGS takes a "globally local" approach. Post the Healthcare divestment, HGS has around 18,800 employees across 34 delivery centers in six countries, making a difference to some of the worlds leading brands across verticals. For the year ended March 31, 2021, HGS had revenues of Rs. 55,889 million (US$ 753.9 million). Visit https://hgs.cx to learn how HGS transforms customer experiences and builds businesses for the future.

About Diversify Offshore Staffing Solutions Pty Ltd.

Diversify is an Australian owned offshore solutions provider, working with medium, large, and listed businesses to provide access to digitally-empowered global workforces in Manila, Philippines. We help companies fulfill their business objectives through the implementation of highly successfully offshoring strategies. With over 1,100 staff servicing clients in Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Europe, we are committed to partnering with the fastest-growing companies in the world to build, develop, and nurture outstanding offshore teams that will drive their business growth.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220129005022/en/

Contacts

Thanuja B M

Hinduja Global Solutions Limited

Tel: +91 80 4643 1000

thanuja.megharaj@teamhgs.com
Malaysian firms facing U.S. bans over forced labour summoned by ministry A general view of the Sime Darby Plantation headquarters in Petaling Jaya

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's Human Resources Ministry said on Sunday it would call in all companies facing U.S. import bans over suspected forced labour practices to discuss immediate action to address the allegations.

Malaysian factories, which include major suppliers of palm oil and medical gloves, have been under increased scrutiny over allegations of abuse of migrant workers, who make up a significant part of the country's manufacturing workforce.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Friday it would bar imports from disposable glove maker YTY Group based on information indicating that the firm used forced labour, the seventh such ban on a Malaysian company in two years.

The agency also determined that Malaysian palm oil producer Sime Darby Plantation Bhd uses forced labour in its operations and that the company's goods were subject to seizure.

Malaysian Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan said on Sunday he would meet with all firms facing import bans in the United States, along with two glove makers - WRP Asia Pacific and Top Glove Corp. - that had seen their bans lifted by the CBP.

"The approaches implemented by these two companies can be used as guidelines and improvements for other firms," Saravanan said in a statement.

Saravanan said he had also ordered an immediate inquiry into the allegations by the Ministry of Human Resources and Department of Labour, and warned of stern action against companies that failed to improve their practices.

The minister had acknowledged that forced labour allegations against Malaysian firms had affected investors' confidence in the country.

Malaysia last year announced a National Action Plan on Forced Labour to eliminate abusive practices such as debt bondage, unhygienic dormitories for workers, and excessive overtime, by 2030.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
Bitcoin (BTC) held above $37,000 on Friday and was up about 3% over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, some alternative cryptocurrencies began to stabilize after a volatile week.

Analysts were also looking for signs of a possible bounce in equity markets, which could encourage crypto buying. So far, some traders appear to be on the sidelines in both traditional and crypto markets. The S&P 500 is roughly flat over the past week, compared with a 1% gain in BTC and a 3% drop in ETH over the same period.

"Investors continue to withdraw from U.S. stocks amid the expected tightening of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy," Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at FxPro, wrote in an email to CoinDesk.

If selling continues, more investors could start to reduce their positions on risky assets, and cryptocurrencies may be hit first, according to Kuptsikevich. That means a short-term price bounce could be limited.

Further, given macroeconomic headwinds, some analysts are concerned about a coming "crypto winter," similar to what occurred in 2017-2018. But it appears that winter is already here, especially given the nearly 40% drop in BTC from its all-time high of close to $69,000 in November.

Latest prices

Bitcoin (BTC): $37696, +5.55%

Ether (ETH): $2517, +7.51%

S&P 500 daily close: $4432, +2.43%

Gold: $1790 per troy ounce, 0.17%

Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 1.78%





Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.

Systemic risk in crypto markets?

The recent underperformance in some altcoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens indicates heightened risk in crypto markets. And when uncertainty is high, some traders tend to rotate into bitcoin, which is deemed to be less risky in the crypto market.

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CoinDesk DeFi Index is trending lower. (CoinDesk)

The CoinDesk markets team has covered the sharp sell-offs across various tokens over the past two weeks, which could keep some crypto buyers on the sidelines. Here is a rundown of risks we identified.

Tokens related to Wonderland developer plunged:

In the past 24 hours, Popsicle Finances ICE fell as much as 22%, Wonderlands TIME fell 15%, and Abracadabras SPELL dropped 15%. These are tokens created by Daniele Sestagalli, who gained a cult following in recent months thanks to his community-centric approach toward crypto projects. His protocols were worth billions of dollars at their peak, but those fortunes have since faded away, CoinDesk's Shaurya Malwa reported.

A falling out between two startup projects on Cardano:

On Wednesday, CoinDesk's Lyllah Ledesma wrote about the SundaeSwap debacle that left CardStarter users with steep losses. The conflict is between CardStarter, which describes itself as a "decentralized accelerator" for startup projects focused on Cardano, and SundaeSwap, a decentralized exchange built on the Cardano platform.

And then, there's potential contagion risk in Terra's UST stablecoin:

LUNA, Terras native token, was down as much as 10% during the past 24 hours due to yet another scandal. LUNA is on Abracadabra, a DeFi lending platform run by Sestagalli. LUNA was partly created for issuing stablecoins. The reserves of Terra-based lending and borrowing protocol Anchor, which offers a supposedly industry-beating benchmark deposit rate of around 20%, are also sliding fast as a result of the crypto market crash. Read more here.

Terras UST stablecoin was thrown into flux because the tokens used to leverage some stablecoins related to Sestagalli are in a mess. Some observers following the asset peg saga are worried UST and MIM could serve as a contagion that destabilizes other pools on Curve, CoinDesk's Andrew Thurman reported.

Altcoin roundup

Sandbox (SAND) Announces $50,000,000 accelerator fund: Popular gaming crypto The Sandbox (SAND) is partnering with a global venture company to open a fund for developing metaverse startups. According to a news release, SAND has committed $50 million to Hong Kong-based accelerator company Brinc for The Sandbox Metaverse Accelerator Program, which will invest $250,000 in 100 new metaverse altcoins. Read more here.

ChainLink Capital targets $100M in assets for two crypto funds: Crypto-focused venture capital fund ChainLink Capital Management has set a target to reach $100 million of assets under management each for its Luna and Ama funds this year, general partner Andrew Hoppin told CoinDesk in an interview. The funds had about $30 million and $13 million under management, respectively, at the end of last year. Read more here.

FriesDAO wants to start a crypto-crowdfunded fast-food franchise: The crypto group plans to buy a fast-food restaurant following ConstitutionDAOs lets buy (and govern) a real-world asset with crowdfunded tokens playbook. Read more here.

Relevant news

Other markets

Digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day higher.

Largest gainers:

Largest losers:

There were no losers in the CoinDesk 20 on Friday.

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.
State leaders and health experts are weighing a counterintuitive school Covid strategy: Less testing and contact tracing.

Utahs legislature suspended school testing requirements this month after high Covid rates strained the states system. Omicrons quick spread left Vermont officials abandoning their onetime school test-and-trace program, while Massachusetts officials strongly encouraged schools to give up a diagnostics program endorsed by federal officials.

The approaches conflict with White House plans. President Joe Bidens administration is promoting school Test To Stay programs to keep exposed students inside classrooms, and the federal government said it would begin delivering millions of rapid tests to schools this month.

But the Omicron variant has challenged schools to keep pace. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling states to narrow requests for rapid tests under the White House initiative, all while some authorities simply begin to rethink school testing and contact tracing.

Our testing infrastructure was not there, it was broken, said Hilario "Larry" Chavez, superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools, of his decision to close New Mexicos capital city system for several days earlier this month.

The CDC said it has urged states to prioritize a small number of school districts for rapid test requests under the White House initiative  and focus on places where quick tests would help students return to school immediately, keep them in classes and assist government-endorsed testing programs for exposed children touted by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

While falling case counts are starting to bring East Coast states relief from the testing strain, schools elsewhere are still struggling with the Omicron surge. Curtailing school testing, cutting back contact tracing or rationing resources are now in play to free up staff and concentrate on the actively sick.

Testing, contact tracing and quarantining in the face of so many infections are likely to have little or no impact whatsoever, said Ali Mokdad, a former CDC official who is now a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washingtons Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

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Testing of asymptomatic individuals may put a lot of pressure, impose labor shortages and cause disruption in our schools. The main strategy, right now, should really be to manage our hospitals, he said.

The debate is unfolding as the White House encourages schools to layer testing programs atop proven protections: vaccinations, masks, social distancing and ventilation.

Testing is a challenging endeavor in schools, Mary Wall, a senior White House Covid-19 response policy adviser, said this month during a government-sponsored call on testing with education officials. It takes a good amount of setup to make sure that you have all the requisite pieces in play. But we think that with support, like the support that the federal government has provided, we really do think that it's become much easier for schools to do testing.

A promising idea

Test-to-stay programs try to limit student quarantines with frequent tests and contact tracing. Children exposed to infected classmates can remain at school, typically as long as they're asymptomatic, wear masks and regularly test negative. The concept was taking hold before the CDC embraced the practice in mid-December.

It was a promising idea. The Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation, concluded such testing programs could help schools stay open if they planned to avoid supply shortages and logistical problems. Then Omicrons surge exposed problems.

When the numbers started to come down from the holiday surge, that's when we instituted Test to Stay, because we knew it would have far exceeded our capacity during that surge, said Joseph Ricca, the superintendent of the White Plains Public Schools system just north of New York City. In terms of the identified number of cases, it would've absolutely overwhelmed us.

New guidance from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia notes many schools are overburdened with unfeasible and unsustainable contact tracing and testing programs, and suggests schools halt required weekly testing for students and school workers who arent showing symptoms.

Schools back in session and tests are now in better supply in Santa Fe. But Chavez said his staff is struggling to trace cases, even as National Guard and state employees will soon assist overtaxed classrooms.

Anytime you have a positive test, on campus or off, you have to perform contact tracing. That could take a day, it could take an hour, it could take a week or two, Chavez said. When you add that onto the testing requirement, it's a lot to ask of any school district.

In Massachusetts, Republican Gov. Charlie Bakers administration wants schools to abandon a test and stay program the state helped pioneer last summer in favor of a new plan to scrap contact tracing and concentrate on finding symptomatic people with help from rapid tests taken at home instead of school. Vermont is taking a similar approach with a test at home effort that scales back the use of sweeping, laboratory-based virus tests.

Meanwhile, the CDC said its evaluating whether tests done at home can play a role in Test to Stay programs  to determine if and how K-12 schools should monitor at-home test results.

High demand persists

School testing is still in high demand. More than 25 states peppered the CDC with requests for supplies and information about the White House plan to dedicate a combined 10 million lab-based PCR and rapid antigen tests to the nations K-12 schools each month, barely a week after the administration first unveiled the program.

Cardona also set out guidance this month for school officials who are looking to secure tests.

The Abbott pharmaceutical giant started shipping batches of rapid tests earmarked under that initiative directly to schools earlier this month, according to the CDC. Those were expected to start arriving within the past week, the agency said, though its unclear how many have actually been delivered.

The Department of Health and Human Services would not disclose how many rapid tests had been distributed to schools under the latest White House plan, nor would the department identify which states were receiving them. Instead, a spokesperson said HHS will share more information as tests reach schools in the coming weeks.

The CDC acknowledges testing programs sheer demand on resources means the idea might not work for every school. At a minimum, the agency recommends schools that are testing concentrate on unvaccinated teachers and staff  and on students who arent fully vaccinated when community transmission of the virus is at moderate, substantial or high levels.

When resources are constrained, we need to prioritize who we test, said Leah Perkinson, the pandemic manager for the Rockefeller Foundation, which has collaborated with the Education Department and CDC to expand the countrys school testing programs.

That has to be a risk-based prioritization. If you know there are more vulnerable students, like students with disabilities who are immunocompromised, they are priority populations for testing when supply is limited.

For now, schools will likely have to double down on virus-busting measures known to help limit outbreaks and stretch whatever testing resources they have on hand to comply with White House demands to remain open.

We can talk about the fact that we should've had rapid tests a long time ago, said Yvonne Maldonado, chair of the Committee on Infectious Diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics and a professor of epidemiology at Stanford University.

That ship has sailed, she said. In the meantime, we know the principle of the way this virus works. Inherently, it's in your mouth and nose. So the more you keep your mouth and nose away from other people's mouth and nose, the more you're going to prevent outbreaks. We can't let perfect be the enemy of good.
ADRIAN  A Clinton mans prison sentence length was clarified Friday, after a judge, attorneys and a probation agent put their math skills to the test in interpreting how a minimum sentence was expressed in a plea agreement.

Corey James Rochowiak also found out he could be responsible for all of the $5,450 in restitution. Lenawee County Circuit Judge Anna Marie Anzalone ordered him to pay when she sentenced him in September.

Rochowiak, 35, pleaded no contest as charged to five felonies: conspiracy to commit assault with intent to murder, armed robbery and first-degree home invasion and solicitation of armed robbery and first-degree home invasion. The plea agreement cut short a trial after witnesses, including Rochowiaks wife and other co-defendants, explained the events that led to two men breaking into a Raisin Township house in the middle of the night and assaulting the homeowner before stealing money and running out after confronted by a woman who was staying there.

The plea agreement was unusual, as it called for Rochowiaks minimum sentence to be 9.7 years. Typically, a sentence is expressed in months or years in whole numbers without decimals. Anzalone said Friday during a hearing, for the sentencing, her staff calculated 9.7 years to mean 116 months, or 108 months for the 9 years plus 8 months for the seven-tenths of a year.

When she issued her sentence, Anzalone ordered Rochowiak to serve a minimum of 116 months and a maximum of 40 years in prison on the two most serious charges, conspiracy to commit assault with intent to murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

During the hearing Friday, in conversation between Anzalone; Rochowiaks appellate attorney, John Ujlaky; and the Lenawee County Prosecutors Offices appellate attorney, Jennifer Bruggeman, it appeared there was confusion over whether the decimal in the plea agreement was supposed to reflect the number of months  9 years, 7 months  or seven-tenths of a year, which is 8.4 months, when multiplying 12 months by 0.7.

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Ujlaky said the information in the Michigan Department of Corrections Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS) says Rochowiaks sentence is 9 years, 8 months.

OTIS does not count down the amount of time left in a sentence. It states the sentence terms as ordered by the court.

Probation agent Thomas Moore said from the Department of Corrections standpoint, Rochowiaks sentence is 9 years, 8 months.

Anzalone at one point said she would change the sentence to 9 years, 7 months, but after speaking to her staff and reviewing transcripts from previous proceedings, she said 9.7 years is 9 years, 8 months.

Bruggeman said she wanted to stick to the terms of the agreement, which was expressed as 9.7 years, not 9 years, 7 months.

Which is why I believe my office did the 116 months to make it clear, Anzalone said. Otherwise, it would be a change of sentence and not in agreement with the (plea agreement). Im going to leave it at 116 months.

She said they had all "learned a valuable lesson" about calculating time for the Department of Corrections.

On restitution, Ujlaky said Rochowiak told him his wife, Jamie Tia-Marie Wright-Rochowiak, when she was sentenced, was ordered to pay one-fifth of the total amount rather than joint and several, like he was. A joint-and-several order means any one of the defendants could be responsible for all of the restitution if the others do not pay.

There are three other defendants in the case. None of the them have been sentenced. Two have other cases pending and the third is scheduled to be sentenced in March.

Wright-Rochowiak, 29, was sentenced by Lenawee County Circuit Judge Michael R. Olsaver. Her probation agent, Sarah Teske, told Lenawee County Circuit Judge Michael R. Olsaver at the time the court clerks office has had difficulty keeping track of payments when they were paid joint and severally.

Moore said he was not aware of any changes in how restitution is ordered.

Anzalone said Friday she orders co-defendants to pay joint and severally and did not change her original order for Rochowiak. She suggested the prosecutors office could file a motion to change Wright-Rochowiak's restitution order.

When there is restitution, we recommend the total amount that is being requested in the (presentence investigation report) and then follow the courts order, Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz said in an email.

He said courts statewide handle restitution in different ways.

 We follow the Judges orders on wording and distribution, he wrote. If ordered to split, then we split; if ordered joint and several, we should process it that way.

The attorneys and Rochowiak all appeared by video. Rochowiak is a prisoner at Ernest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights, according to OTIS.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Sentence, restitution in violent break-in in Raisin Township clarified
BEIJING, Jan. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The first Dehua "Master IP+" product launch and business matching event recently kicked off in the China ceramics e-commerce logistics park in Dehua county of east China's Fujian Province.

Exhibits shown at the first Dehua "Master IP+" product launch and business matching event

By introducing more than 300 ceramics products for the Year of the Tiger, this very first event of the newly-opened logistics park set the tone for building a "Mater IP+" business mode while enriching Dehua ceramics namecard with cultural heritage and added value.

Dehua, a ceramics manufacturing powerhouse in China, exports over 70 percent of its ceramic products to over 190 countries and regions worldwide. It was dubbed the "World Ceramics City" by the World Crafts Council in 2015.

It is noted that the output value of Dehua ceramics exceeded 45 billion yuan in 2021, with brand value reaching 108.6 billion yuan.

Traditionally well-known for white porcelain, Dehua country has been actively pushing forward industrial upgrades and transformation along with brand building for improved market competitiveness and international recognition and influence.

The county government has released series of measures such as giving support for ceramics related shows and exhibitions, ceramic design and technique competitions, exploring marketing channels, as well as developing ceramic cultural and creative products.

Eyeing on the goal of "small county with large e-commerce vision and whole business ecology", Dehua county is also working on building and improving the service platform for artistic ceramics, hosting product fairs and new product launch while helping to bridge masters and enterprises.

See the original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/326300.html

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xinhua-silk-road-fujian-dehua-speeds-up-ceramics-brand-building-with-business-events-and-policy-kit-301471169.html

SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road
The Atlanta Braves are playing the Mets in New York. Its the bottom of the eighth, and Atlanta is behind 4 to 3. The Mets refuse to take the field because of a disputed ruling in the previous inning. Absurd, you say. You cant just change the rules and refuse to take the field.

Yet that is what happened when then-Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell blocked consideration of President Barack Obamas pick, Merrick Garland, to replace Antonin Scalia in 2016. For 10 months, until the next presidential election, McConnell refused to take the field. He reshaped the rules and the institution relating to the nomination of a Supreme Court judge.

McConnells justification was nominees should not be confirmed during an election year. Yet, four years later, McConnell rammed through the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett days before President Joe Bidens election. Rules and tradition be damned. Power takes precedent seems to be McConnells guiding light.

McConnell and his Republican colleagues have already packed the court. Its time for the Democrats to add four justices to counter the injustice exacted by the conservative right. It is not difficult to imagine that had Democrats maneuvered in a like manner, Republicans would be pushing for a modification of the Supreme Court. They would be right to do so because the process was dishonorable.

The urgency to act now is even more evident because McConnell says it is highly unlikely that he will let Biden fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2024 if the GOP wins back the Senate in 2022. He would again dishonor the court and the constitution to suit his bias.

McConnell, in effect, believes it is his right to bend the rules to expand the conservative advantage of the court regardless of what it does to the institution. Given McConnells statement, it is not a stretch to assume that there is a reasonable possibility the courts make-up could soon be seven conservative and two liberal-leaning justices.

Should the court be expanded by the Democrats, McConnell will be at the forefront of those opposing an expansion while hypocritically ignoring his contribution to the courts current veneer of illegitimacy.

Expanding the court is closer to unpacking it. To illustrate the one-sidedness of the make-up of the current Supreme Court, examine the age of the past three appointees, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. With an average age of 52, their total time serving could easily exceed 100 years.

The longevity advantage conservatives hold is not the main issue, however. It is a procedure in which tradition and fairness were trashed, leaving a patina of underhandedness and bias that hangs over the court.

Expanding the Supreme Court now would help remove that stain. It could also work to improve trust in the court, currently missing, if done well. In a Gallup poll, only 40 percent of Americans approved of the courts actions this past September. This is a new low that dates to the year 2000.

The analogy to a bending of the rules and tradition of baseball may seem far out to some. But it is very likely that we would not stand for such an action in baseball, a far less critical entity than the Supreme Court. That fact makes it crucial that we not stand for the egregious behavior of Sen. Mitch McConnell and the Republican party in packing the Supreme Court.

Unpacking the court and modifying the nomination and ratification process need to be taken to avoid such corruption in the future.

Robert Pawlicki is a retired psychologist and a frequent contributor to the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Kuwait-based low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways said its share was upgraded today (January 16) to the Premier Market of Boursa Kuwait, after exceeding the minimum requirements for liquidity and market capitalization in the two previous consecutive years.

Jazeera is the only listed company to receive an upgrade.

It has announced an ambitious growth plan to increase its fleet from 17 aircraft today to over 35 by 2025 to support its network expansion.

Chairman Marwan Boodai expressed delight at seeing Jazeera Airways listed among the largest Kuwaiti companies at Boursa Kuwait.

"As the only company at Boursa Kuwait to offer investors access to the growing travel and aviation sector, the upgrade confirms the success of the companys strategy and business model which positively contributes to the local economy," he noted.

At the end of 2021, the airline had completed an order with Airbus for 28 new aircraft: twenty A320neos and eight A321neos. The order is valued in excess of $3.3 billion at list prices.

Boodai attributed Jazeeras continued growth to its team of experienced professionals who have been successful at overcoming regional and global challenges over the past years.

"As we continue to move forward, the Board and Executive Management remain focused at creating value investment opportunities that attract local and foreign investors," he stated.

In 2020, Jazeeras liquidity exceeded the minimum requirement of KD216.0 thousand by Boursa Kuwait, reaching KD 235.5 thousand. In 2021, the companys liquidity reached KD402.8 thousand, exceeding the KD281.0 thousand benchmark set by Boursa Kuwait for the year.

As for the market capitalization, Jazeeras market capitalization stood at KD157.3 million in 2020, twice the minimum requirement of KD78 million for companies listed on the Premier Market at Boursa Kuwait.

In 2021, the companys market capitalization increased to KD283.8 million, over four times the minimum requirement by Boursa Kuwait.-TradeArabia News Service
Everyone seems to have a view about Critical Race Theory in our schools and the topic of racism in general. Yet the topic of race, racial relations and racism in America is about as complex a topic that we have.

A Racism 101 primer would help people get clear on where they stand, where others stand, where disagreements exist, and where common ground, if any, can be found.

Three different parts of this topic need attention.

First, there is the issue about whether the topic of racism should be analyzed from an individual or societal point of view. If you say the former, then you believe that racism can only arise because individuals of their own free will commit racist acts; if you say the latter, then you believe that racism can be systemic in our society and individuals who commit racist acts are part of an entire system of racism toward Blacks and other racial minorities.

Second, there is the issue about whether you are talking about our criminal justice system or our distributive justice system. This is basically a subject matter distinction. We have a criminal justice system that involves our court system, our police forces, and state and federal offices and departments that deal with criminal law. The distributive justice system, on the other hand, deals with how income, wealth, power and other social goods are distributed by the market and by governments.

Third, when you are thinking about racism, you can be thinking about what if anything causes individuals or societies overall to be racist: this is largely an empirical, causal (social science) question; or you can be thinking about your moral judgments about who is guilty of racist conduct and what actions or practices or social institutions are needed to treat Blacks or other ethnic minorities in a just way.

Liberals and conservatives appeal to different concepts when they are taking a stand. (Democratic socialists go beyond what liberals say.) Consider the area of crime.

The conservative will most likely say that the high crime rate in Black ghettos is due to Black men who lack a moral center because they were raised in fatherless homes. There is no racism toward these, largely young, Black men; instead, the conservative says they are morally askew and should be punished for their crimes. The liberal will most likely say that there is systemic racism in the society overall, which includes both police brutality in the criminal justice system and a system of distributive justice that is biased against Black families and serves the interest of middle- and especially upper-class white families.

The liberals take the side of society in the individual vs. society issue and they say both the criminal justice system and the distributive justice system are unfair to Blacks. The conservatives take the side of the individual in the individual vs. society issue and they say that, for Blacks, the criminal justice system and the distributive justice system are essentially fair.

The conservatives may believe that the distributive justice system is unfair to white working-class and middle-class Americans, and Black working-class and middle-class Americans, because liberals have created too many expensive entitlement programs. But this problem, the conservatives, would say, has nothing to do with racism.

Most conservatives do acknowledge that America has a racist past. They believe, however, that since the major social and economic programs of the 1970s, especially affirmative action in schools and the workplace, that most of the injustice has been eliminated.

Regarding the causal/normative issue: The liberals see a history of unfairness toward Blacks, which is caused largely by societal institutions that have racist features. The conservatives see this history of racism, but they believe societal institutions today are, as a rule, just. Still, they will usually acknowledge select individual cases of racist actions, including, for example, the atrocious murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Abery by racist white police officers and racist white men who claimed they were taking the law in their own hands.

Racism 101 says to use your yellow highlighter to highlight where others or you yourself stand on the three issues of individual vs. societal, criminal justice system vs. distributive justice system, and causal vs. normative arguments. In this way, you will at least know where you stand, where they stand, where you disagree, and where you agree or could come to agree.

Dave Anderson taught ethics and political philosophy at five colleges and universities in the Northeast, Midwest and South and is editor of Leveraging: A Political, Economic, and Societal Framework (Springer, 2014).
Gov. GLENN Youngkin is dangling lots of shiny words before people eager to flex their new-found parental rights and throw open Virginias doors to charter schools.

In a Jan. 26 proclamation, for example, he sprinkles words and phrases like high quality, innovation and merit based to sell charter schools to Virginians. He also whines a bit. North Carolina, he says, has almost 200 charter schools. We should, too.

Hes insinuating that education in the Tarheel State is better because of them. But is it?

To answer that question, we must first understand that charter schools are public schools unshackled. Each year, the state awards a certain number of dollars for every student that a public school enrolls. If you choose to send your child to a charter school, that money travels with the student to the charter school.

Sounds like a great deal. The parents choose the best fit for their child, and the state picks up the tab. Traditional public schools, however, lose critical funding when the kids assigned to them go elsewhere. This can lead to cuts in programming, staff and support services for the students who remain behind.

Charter defenders will say thats for the better. If a school isnt meeting its students needs, they shouldnt be required to stay. Fair enough, but are the students moving to a better school? Answering that question gets tricky.

According to the 2020 Annual Charter Schools Report made to North Carolinas general assembly, 47 out of about 200 charter schools (23.5 percent) were designated as low performing or continually low performing.

How does that compare with the states traditional public schools? According to Public Schools First North Carolina, of the states 2,523 traditional public schools between 2018 and 2019, about 27 percent failed to meet or exceed expectations for progress on state exams.

Sounds like progress. But these high-level numbers tell only part of the story. Are these charter schools doing better because they offer superior teaching methods, or because they attract better students?

A report by the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) found that while North Carolina charter schools have shown improvement in test scores among their students, the gains have far more to do with selection than with the quality of the programs they offer.

In other words, charter schools are given more flexibility than traditional public schools over which students theyre going to teach. They also have more flexibility to expel kids, who then return to traditional public schools.

In North Carolina, as time has progressed, this has led to more racial segregation, and to more middle-class students flowing into charter schools. So the gains, arguably, arent because the charters are doing a better job teaching, but because they have students who enter better equipped to learn.

The issue of whether charters are better than traditional public schools, then, isnt immediately clear.

There are other questions surrounding charter schools, such as parental rights. In North Carolina, these schools are not governed by a citizens elected school boarda key parent feedback loop for school performance. Charter schools also dont have to follow state curricula, or hire certified teachers, or make their financial records or student disciplinary procedures public.

There are legitimate debates about the pros and cons of the exceptions charter schools receive in North Carolina, but these should serve as a stark reminder that charter schools are not as transparent in many important areas as traditional public schools. So before dashing into this experiment, the governor, and all of us, need to take a breath and ask some basic questions.

1. How do we measure whether these charter schools are successful?

2. How can we ensure that opening charters doesnt unnecessarily harm traditional public schools, which will continue to educate the vast majority of students? (In North Carolina, only 8 percent of students attend charter schools.)

3. How much say in a charter schools operation will parents really have?

4. Who is minding the groups that oversee the charter schoolsthe charter authorizers?

These are not simple questions.

Virginias residents deserve answers, not just a proclamation that points to our good neighbor to the south that effectively says: They have them, so we should have them, too.
A report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the UN Security Council reportedly accuses the fundamentalist Taliban of dozens of revenge killings since the Taliban swept into control of much of Afghanistan in August.

Reuters news agency on January 30 cited a copy it obtained of the report, which cites declining conditions since a Taliban-led government arose in September.

In it, Guterres also urges the Security Council to back a restructuring of the UN's effort to alleviate the situation and the establishment of a new human rights monitoring unit for Afghanistan.

It is the latest dire warning from the international community about humanitarian and other mounting crises for Afghanistan's 39 million people

"An entire complex social and economic system is shutting down," Guterres reportedly warned.

Taliban fighters were accused of widespread evictions and revenge killings when they captured most of Afghanistan as local security troops and police collapsed and international backers fled the country.

Since then, the report alleges, the UN mission "continues to receive credible allegations of killings, enforced disappearances, and other violations" against former Afghan officials, security troops, and individuals who cooperated with the departed U.S.-led military contingent.

Such revenge attacks have taken place despite a Taliban declaration of a general amnesty, it notes.

Guterres cites credible reports that more than 100 individuals have been killed, in most cases by the Taliban or their allies, since August 15.

The UN secretary-general also says there are credible allegations of extrajudicial killings of at least 50 people suspected of being members of a local affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

With reporting by Reuters
One priest from a Christian church in northwest Pakistan has been killed and another injured after their car was ambushed by unknown militants in the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province on January 30.

Police and hospital officials said William Siraj died and Patrick Naeem was in stable condition after the attack on their vehicle near the Gulbahar police station in Peshawar.

Siraj serves a parish in Peshawar.

An investigation is under way to find the attackers.

The U.S. State Department put Muslim-majority Pakistan on its list of "countries of particular concern" for religious freedom violations in 2019 in an assessment rejected by Islamabad.

Christians make up 1.27 percent of Pakistans population of 208 million, according to the 2017 census.

The attack on the priests comes two weeks after a Muslim religious scholar, Sheikh Abdul Hamid, was shot dead in the same city.

Two days later, at least three policemen were injured in a hand-grenade attack in Peshawar.

No one claimed responsibility for either attack.

But the banned Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, has stepped up attacks since refusing in December to extend a monthlong cease-fire with Islamabad amid peace talks.
In line with its continued mission to digitally transform trade and logistics in Abu Dhabi, Maqta Gateway, the digital arm of AD Ports Group, has unveiled a new inspection and clearance module as part of its Advanced Trade and Logistics Platform (ATLP).

Inaugurated in May 2020 by His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, under the supervision of the Department of Economic Development, the Advanced Trade and Logistics Platform (ATLP) is an innovative single-window solution designed to unify trade and logistics services across Abu Dhabi, including sea, land, air, industrial and free zones.

Integrating directly with Abu Dhabi Customs online services, regulatory authorities, as well as supporting free zone, bonded warehouse, and e-commerce operations, the new inspection and clearance module will not only enable traders to oversee their end-to-end cargo clearance via ATLP but will also enhance related processes in line with the initiatives facilitating trade in the emirate and the UAE as per global requirements and standards, a statement said.

ATLPs new module will dramatically improve information sharing through the implementation of a centralised registration process. It also helps streamline customs procedures by adopting an advanced electronic declaration mechanism, whereby goods can be pre-notified by submitting an electronic customs declaration document. In addition to streamlining administrative processes through a single optimised interface that allows all involved parties to share, review, and process trade data.

The integration of the platform with other regulatory authorities such as border control agencies will ensure smoother cross-border operations. Simplifying and enhancing the flow of information exchanged will dramatically shorten import, transit, and export lead-times of goods, lessen instances of overlapping controls and duplication of work, as well as significantly lower operational and administrative costs.

Rashed Abdulkarim Al Blooshi, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) / Head of Logistics Sector Development Committee in Abu Dhabi, said: The unveiling of Maqta Gateways inspection and clearance module as part of ATLP is an instrumental development that aligns directly with the leaderships vision to transform the UAE into a regional and global hub for trade underscored by a robust, reliable, and innovation-powered sustainable economy.

In an era where digital transformation is having a tremendous impact on how customers, businesses, and government organisations interact, and engage with each other, ATLP is boldly linking nations trade and logistics industries together and providing new solutions to improve and foster a more competitive digital trade environment.

To date, ATLPs Inspection and Clearance Module and related services have recorded over 500,000 transactions and now facilitate more than 80 percent of Abu Dhabis customs clearances. In addition, over 50 million transactions were completed via ATLP an innovative single-window solution designed to

unify trade and logistics services across Abu Dhabi, including sea, land, air, industrial and free zones.

Dr. Mohamed Abdelhameed Al Askar, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, stressed the importance of the new inspection and clearance module, pointing out that the partnership between the Authority and government entities reflects the digital governments vision of realizing the concept of the invisible government, providing government services that are proactive and personalized with minimal requirements. In that sense, the Invisible Government concept means that all service procedures are completed by private sector service providers and the final result is delivered to customers by harnessing modern digital technologies to save time and effort for customers, which contributes to creating new government experiences and developing new and innovative ways to provide services to customers in accordance with the best international practices.

Al Askar, added: As part of efforts to accelerate the implementation of the invisible governments strategic directions, the Abu Dhabi Customs "Invisible Customs" initiative was launched within the Abu Dhabi Government Services Ecosystem TAMM. The new initiative aims to integrate government efforts to create more digital solutions and services to facilitate the lives of citizens, residents and business communities across Abu Dhabi, and further strengthen Abu Dhabis position as a regional and global leader in digital government. The services of the General Administration of Customs on the ATLP platform are a true example of implementing the concept of "invisible governments".

Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori, Director-General of General Administration of Customs - Abu Dhabi, said: The official launch of the online customs inspection and clearance services via Maqta Gateways ATLP falls in line with our ambitious strategy aimed at facilitating a complete transformation that will create an invisible customs ecosystem able to provide comprehensive, smart, innovative and world-class customs solutions, which will enhance the experience of customers, investors, and traders, while also keeping pace with the UAEs strategic vision for the next 50 years.

The General Administration of Customs  Abu Dhabi seeks to widen the channels of services provided to users by launching the inspection and clearance services on ATLP. The new services will aid in achieving higher levels of efficiency in facilitating the smooth movement of cargo in and out of Abu Dhabi, as well as improving how we interact with our partner government authorities, free zone operators, and traders. Interlinking with ATLP is delivering clients a complete, secure, and high-level customs service experience, all through an easy-to-use, reliable single-window interface.

Dr Noura Al Dhaheri, Head of Digital Cluster at AD Ports Group and CEO of Maqta Gateway, said: As the latest step in our continuing efforts to digitalise trade across the region, ATLPs new inspection and clearance module marks a key juncture in the countrys ongoing efforts to modernise the movement of goods in and out of the country.

In addition to providing the tools to streamline processes and enhance transparency across the entire value chain for all parties involved, ATLP is enabling users to better manage their business operations and achieve new levels of efficiency that will make them more competitive within their respective markets.

The latest addition of our ATLP solution falls in line with the leaderships vision to realise a fully integrated logistics ecosystem that will elevate Abu Dhabis ranking as a global trade hub powered by global best practices and innovation.

The final part of the latest announcement includes the introduction of Free Zone and Bonded Warehouse processes, as part of ATLP.

The new modules features include improved services across the cargo journey, reduced congestion at

all border points, lessened security risks, cost-effective operational costs, as well as compliance with best global regulatory and industry practices.

Incorporating global best practices aimed at facilitating trade while simultaneously simplifying Free Zone processes without compromising border control effectiveness, ATLPs newest enhancements will streamline clearance processes, inspections, movement of goods between transport hubs and between the various economic zones, while also supporting Abu Dhabis burgeoning e-commerce business with new qualitative and distinctive privileges. --TradeArabia News Service
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Colorado securities regulators have filed a $19 million fraud suit against a troubled Colorado water company, charging that it misled investors and sold shares in subsidiaries illegally.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 10 in Denver District Court, alleges that Denver-based Two Rivers Water & Farming LLC failed to properly register its stock sales as required by law and misappropriated money.

The Two Rivers subsidiaries, including GrowCO, Inc. and TR Capital Partners, among others, were described to investors as cannabis businesses that planned to build high-tech greenhouses for growing hemp.

In court filings, however, the state securities commission alleges that only one $5 million greenhouse in southern Colorado was ever built, and that other funds raised were misappropriated.

In a Jan. 18 response to the states suit, former Two Rivers officers denied the states allegations, saying that in several instances cited by the state, the securities werent required to be registered and that during certain periods between 2014 and 2019, the defendants werent responsible for Two Rivers actions because they were not officers at the time.

The defendants, including John McKowen, Jan McCaffrey, George McCafffrey, Wayne Harding, Edward Wallick, Richard WiWi and Kirsty Cameron, asked that the states suit be dismissed.

Neither Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan, or Martin Berliner, the attorney representing the Two Rivers defendants, responded to requests for comment.

A message left at Two Rivers Denver office for current CEO Greg Harrington was not returned.

Two Rivers Water & Farming is listed under the symbol TURV on the Over The Counter (OTC) index. Unlike major stock exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange, OTC stocks arent closely regulated, nor are they required to provide as much financial information to investors.

TURV stock is listed as an OTC security on the website OTC Markets, but is flagged with warnings, in part because it has failed to file the required financial reports for several years.

In 2020, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) moved to foreclose on land and water rights in the Arkansas Valley owned by Two Rivers to satisfy $1.4 million in delinquent loan payments and dam repair bills.

Last August, however, Two Rivers paid the state $161,000 to cover the late payments, causing the state to stop foreclosure proceedings, according to Kirk Russell, who oversees the CWCBs loan program.

When they came to us (in 2012) and desired to get ag land back into production, we thought it was a great idea, Russell said. But the organization was just a bad one to start with.

How many people still own shares in the company isnt clear. Its stock has traded for as little as 12 cents a share to more than 70 cents a share. In various debt offerings since 2012, the company has issued millions of shares of stock, often using them as collateral for loans from investors.

Chris Scott is a tax attorney and a Two Rivers shareholder. He, along with 55 other investors, is suing Two Rivers in a separate suit. He said its not clear what will happen as a result of the Colorado Securities Commissions action. But he said he would like to see a new management team installed at the company.

The only reason I invested was because people I formerly trusted told me what a great deal this was going to be, he said.

Two Rivers next payment to the state is due March 1, Russell said. If that payment is missed, the CWCB has said it will resume legal proceedings against the company.

Jerd Smith is editor of Fresh Water News. She can be reached at 720-398-6474, via email at jerd@wateredco.org or @jerd_smith.

Fresh Water News is an independent, nonpartisan news initiative of Water Education Colorado. WEco is funded by multiple donors. Our editorial policy and donor list can be viewed at wateredco.org.
Susanne Arens thought the vacant lot next to a McDonald's restaurant in a Rockrimmon shopping center was the perfect place to build a new car wash. Springs native Jerry Golden grew up admiring the Cragmor neighborhood near the Colorado Springs Country Club and four years ago, bought a home there. Bob Syme was hired to engineer and rebuild Interstate 25 at Woodmen Road. All three ended up confronting Colorado Springs' past as a coal town - a mostly forgotten era that left an underground network of large tunnels and caverns that, today, threaten thousands of landowners decades after the last mine was boarded up.
Sabic Agri-Nutrients Company, a public joint-stock company owned 50.1% by Sabic, has signed a share purchase agreement with the ETC Group (ETG) to acquire a 49% stake in the ETG Inputs Holdco Limited (EIHL) for $320 million.



The agreement is based on cash-free, debt-free and changes in the working capital adjustment that will be determined at transaction completion.



The agreement is part of Sabic Agri-Nutrients Company strategy to integrate the value chain and include the blending and distribution of agri-nutrients in the global markets and move closer to farmers and end-customers, benefitting from EIHLs presence across Sub Saharan Africa through distribution and blending of fertilizers, seeds, and crop protection items. EIHL owns more than 350 distribution centres across Africa.



With its network of agents and agronomists, EIHL positioned itself to cater to commercial and farmer requirements across Africa.



This move will help us expand our footprint taking advantage of growth opportunities to keep up with expected developments and to position the Company as a leading player in the global agri-nutrients industry with the best-in-class capabilities in manufacturing, operation, planning, marketing, sales, supply chain, technology and research, and aftermarket services, said Abdulrahman Shamsaddin, Sabic Agri-Nutrients Company CEO.



We are extremely proud to welcome Sabic AN as our partner and look forward to creating a sustainable impact across our markets. We are dedicated to addressing food shortage and providing quality products to increase farmers yields and optimize their earnings. We are delighted to have found a partner that has the same drive and passion to support our vision, said Ashish Lakhotia, CEO of EIHL.



Sabic launched Sabic Agri-Nutrients Company in 2020 with a vision to be the national champion and a global leader in the agri-nutrients industry and maintain the momentum of support for Saudi Vision 2030.



The new company adopts a distinct operating model that focuses on a number of pillars to ensure sustainable growth and offer more differentiated agri-nutrients solutions. The focus areas include a more effective agri-nutrients business strategy, fully focused research and development programs, sales and supply chain and talent attraction and development.  TradeArabia News Service
MANILA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 16,953 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,545,680.

The DOH said 20 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the total death toll to 53,891. Of the 20 deaths, the DOH noted that 16 died this month, and the rest in previous months.

According to the DOH, the number of active cases dropped to 202,864 from Saturday's 213,587.

The DOH added that the country's positivity rate also dipped to 31.4 percent from 33.3 percent the previous day.

Despite the high case count, the COVID-19 restrictions in Metro Manila, home to over 13 million people, will be eased on Feb. 1.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the capital region will be placed under Alert Level 2 on a scale of 5 from Tuesday to Feb. 15.

Metro Manila has been under strict Alert Level 3 since early this month when cases spiked due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 fueling a fourth virus wave.

Health authorities said the surge peaked in mid-January.

On Friday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Metro Manila is at "moderate risk" for COVID-19 after the average daily cases in the capital region dropped 67 percent compared to the previous week.

Aside from Metro Manila, Nograles said seven provinces across the archipelago will also revert to Alert Level 2.

Alert Level 2 means that establishments such as restaurants can operate at 50 percent to 70 percent capacity for fully vaccinated people, depending on whether their operations are indoors or outdoors.

Government agencies in these areas will be fully operational with up to 80 percent workforce.

The DOH said that cases in the central and southern Philippines are increasing. Over 90 areas across the country will be placed under Alert Level 3 until Feb. 15 due to rising infections and hospital admissions.

Amid the ebbing fourth coronavirus wave, the Philippines will allow fully vaccinated foreign tourists from 157 visa-free countries and areas to enter next month, the first time since the outbreak of the virus.

Fully vaccinated returning Filipinos and foreigners will not be required to go through mandatory quarantine if they have negative RT-PCR results within 48 hours before departure from countries or areas of origin.

The Philippines closed its borders to foreign tourists when it imposed a hard lockdown for the first time in March 2020. Only returning Filipinos and foreigners with special visas have been permitted to enter.

The Philippines has seen four COVID-19 waves since the pandemic began. The country reported the highest single-day tally on Jan. 15, with 39,004 new cases.

The Philippines, which has around 110 million population, has tested more than 25 million people for COVID-19 since the disease emerged. 
dnata, a leading global air and travel services provider, is establishing its new US headquarters in Orlandos Lake Nona, a smart and connected community contiguous to Orlando International Airport (MCO).



The state-of-the-art office will support the companys US operation that provides a range of ground, passenger, and cargo handling services to more than 60 airlines at 26 airports across the country. The new headquarters is expected to open in 2022.



Our new, high-tech headquarters will ensure the continued efficiency of our U.S. operation and support our customer-oriented team of more than 3,000 aviation professionals throughout the nation, said David Barker, dnatas Divisional Senior Vice President for Airport Operations. Were excited for the opportunity to collaborate with other like-minded aviation innovators in Lake Nona while being minutes from MCO.



A key component of Orlandos aerotropolis, an airport-centric economic development region that harnesses the opportunities aerospace (airport/spaceport) can bring to a region, Lake Nona is attracting the worlds top aviation companies to collaborate in its innovative business environment. dnata joins fellow industry leaders Simcom Aviation and Training and BBA Aviation/Signature Flight Support, which also have headquarters in Lake Nona, and Lilium, which is building the countrys first vertiport network with a hub in Lake Nona.



Located in Lake Nona Town Center, the dnata headquarters will take up the entire top floor and assume the naming rights for Lake Nonas newest Class-A office building located at 13495 Veterans Way. The office features the latest smart building technology including predictive-tinting windows from View. The fifth-floor space will house 50 dnata USA employees with room to grow.



Employees include the executive team, functional heads, and all support functions such as payroll, finance, analytics, equipment, procurement, IT, and safety/training. The headquarters will also feature dnatas Training Centre of Excellence which will be used for leadership training.



dnatas investment in a new, cutting-edge headquarters further positions Lake Nona as the preeminent destination for forward-thinking companies focused on the future of transportation, said Tavistock Managing Director Ben Weaver. We couldnt be more excited that the home base for dnatas robust US operation will be here in Lake Nona.



dnata USAs customer-oriented team of more than 3,000 aviation professionals assist more than 18 million passengers, ensure the smooth operations of 60,000 flights, and handle 500,000 tons of cargo annually.  TradeArabia News Service
Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute in Denver and hosts The Devils Advocate with Jon Caldara on Colorado Public Television Channel 12.
We hold cops accountable. Now how about the rest of the justice system? | Vince Bzdek
Manure gives your life nourishment, and you can grow beautiful flowers from the crap, Kaylee Ciavarelli laughed as she watched the youngest of her four children, Love LaVida Ciavarelli, playing on the floor.

Ciavarelli, a hairstylist who lives in Mason City, said she was seven months pregnant with Love, when she was physically abused by her then-spouse. She said the incident took place in front of her two-year-old child.

Ciavarelli said she had a flashback to her 20s, when this type of abuse had happened before and she had stayed in the relationship. She told herself she would never go through that again, nor would she subject her family to it.

This time, Ciavarelli left.

I told my daughters Jaylen and DaLaila that day, youre gonna see me fall, youre gonna see me crying, youre gonna see me in bed, youre gonna see me a hot mess,'" Ciavarelli said. "'Im gonna do this on my own. Were gonna be self-sufficient, and Im going to get up from this and be better off, Ciavarelli said. I wanted to show them, you dont have to stay.

When speaking to the police to press charges against her spouse, Ciavarelli said they were helpful in connecting her with resources like United Way of North Central Iowa and Crisis Intervention.

However, when doctors were unable to detect her unborn daughters heartbeat for a few days following the assault, Ciavarelli said she found herself upset to learn that domestic abuse charges did not extend to protect a fetus.

A few months after Love was born, the baby was found to have a skull deformity. Tests are ongoing to determine whether the abnormality is genetic, or the result of the assault.

In the state of Iowa, there is no charge that applies to abuse of the unborn, unless physical injury is proven or loss of the pregnancy can be traced to the incident. Not everyone is going to do all that work (to press charges), Ciavarelli said. A lot of people are scared of (their abusers); its a lot of trauma to relive and people just want to move on.

Ciavarelli wants to do more than just press charges against her abuser. She wants to change the law.

She is currently working to write Loves Law, a bill which would add an additional criminal charge against someone who assaults a pregnant person, regardless of whether the assailant knows about the pregnancy, even if no injury comes to the unborn infant.

Ciavarelli said she is applying for 501(c)3 status for her organization, Loves Law to Protect Unborn Victims of Violence, which will sponsor Loves Law upon achieving nonprofit status, as well as provide a resource to pregnant domestic abuse survivors. Another charitable project of Ciavarellis, Dola Dolls: To Love Through Dementia, which sends baby dolls to nursing homes for dementia patients, will be housed under the same nonprofit.

Ciavarelli said she currently speaks at events for Crisis Intervention, at Agape Christian Family Church, and to anybody else who may need to hear her story, and works to empower other women.

In an effort to raise awareness and money for her organization, Ciavarelli is hosting a public fundraiser at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at Mason City Brewing. She and her friend Angelina Perez, who works with United Way of North Central Iowa, will be available to chat with anyone who might have questions about becoming involved in the cause, or who might need assistance of their own.

Ciavarelli remembers the help she was given after her abuse.

When things went down (the assault), people in the community put boxes of diapers on the porch, wipesmoney in my mailbox, she said. People took care of us, and I dont even know who most of them are.

Since then, Ciavarelli has spent a lot of time volunteering in the community and with church activities. If you go out in the community and help, it comes back to you, she said.

Eventually, shed also like to start speaking at schools, encouraging young people to use their voices to make change.

If you want to make change, you have to just do it, is her motto, and she hopes to inspire others to take those words to heart.

Gretchen Burnette is a Weeklies Editor and Daily Reporter at the Globe Gazette. You can reach her by phone at 641.421.0523 or at Gretchen.Burnette@GlobeGazette.com

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Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has launched its brand-new Food For Future Summit and Expo in association with Expo 2020 Dubais Food, Agriculture and Livelihoods Week.



Running from February 23-24 at Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Food For Future Summit & Expo will be co-located with the Global Agtech Innovation Expo to form a powerhouse of industry innovation and progression.



Hosted by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO) as strategic partners, the Food For Future Summit& Expo will reinforce the UAEs National Food Security Strategy and galvanise all sectors of the agriculture and food supply chains to create a sustainable food ecosystem for all.



Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said: We are proud to host the Food For Future Summit & Expo that brings together like-minded stakeholders from around the world to explore innovative ways of advancing the global transition to sustainable food systems.



The event aligns with the UAEs holistic approach to food security, as reflected in the National Food Security Strategy 2051, and provides an ideal platform to showcase state-of-the-art agricultural solutions that address the critical water-food-energy nexus. We are pleased to join forces with FAO once again, and are confident that its support will add significant value to the event.



Key focus sectors will include AI& Nutrition; IoT, cloud solutions, UAV, robotics and drones, automation, adaptive irrigation, grow lighting, data management, supply chain management, climate-smart agriculture, food loss and waste, controlled environment, ICT in agriculture, mechanisation, organic agriculture, precision agriculture, biotechnology, soil plant health, saltwater agriculture, renewable energy and water management.



Nurturing the global agritech start-up ecosystem



The multi-faceted event will engage the end-to-end food and agriculture ecosystem of producers, tech providers, suppliers and consumers, through an exhibition, partner workshops - including technical training organised by the ICBA (International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture) on plant biotechnology, GIS technologies and modeling and biosalineagri-tech - investor platforms, startup programmes, a food security leadership exchange symposium, and community engagement. The Summit will also host the UAE Food Technology Challenge and the regions first dedicated Agri-Tech food contest for startups, the Mena Agri-Food Tech Challenge, organised in partnership with Thought for Food.



With anticipated participation from a raft of organisations and start-ups from over50 countries, the first-of-its-kind event has already garnered C-suite support from industry leaders.



Food insecurity remains a critical issue which has been increasing over the past six years; it now affects one quarter of the worlds population, said Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President, Events Management, DWTC.



In response, a paradigm shift is underway in global food production and the world is turning to the agritech sector for innovative solutions. Just recently, the UAE, Jordan and the Netherlands issued a joint call to work together on food, water and energy security by strengthening critical resources.



A recent 2022 trends forecast by the International Food Information Council said consumers in urban areas will turn to vertical agriculture in their efforts to promote sustainability, nutrition and food security. The trend is growing at hyper-speed and the inaugural Food For Future Summit and Global Agtech Innovation Expo will highlight the urgency of the challenge and explore the harvest of business opportunities that will emerge as the global agritech sector grows in value, Trixie LohMirmand added.



The Food For Future Summit& Expo and Global Agtech Innovation Expo will bring the worlds agriculture and food supply industries to the heart of the Mena region, where the vertical farming sector alone has grown to a market value of $1.2 billion. Mena countries are ramping up agritech initiatives, with Saudi Arabia investing US$665 million in local agriculture and farming; United States and UAE are partnering on Agriculture Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate ,an initiative to increase investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation from 2021-2025; Abu Dhabi is launching a $270 million accelerator program to position the emirate as a global centre for agricultural desert innovation; Egypt is investing $2.1 billion in food security projects; and Kuwaits Wafra Inc. is investing $100 million in the Pure Harvest agritech startup.



"There have never been more opportunities to improve the world through food and agriculture. The Food For Future Summit &Expo and Global Agtech Innovation Expo will highlight the latest in global food and agriculture technology across the value chain, from seed to sale. The exhibition will be accentuated with live discussions by international corporate innovators, farmers, and policymakers. Now is the time to share ideas and make plans for our collective food-secure future, said Henry Gordon-Smith, Founder & CEO of Agritecture, and an internationally recognised sustainability strategist and agritech consultant renowned for his focus on urban agriculture, water issues, and emerging technologies.



The Summits Leadership Exchange Symposium is intended to become an annual platform for world leaders, experts, and innovators to deliver collaborative, concerted programmes, and policy responses to major food security challenges. It will comprise 130 hours of high impact discussion across 50 sessions delivered by 150 speakers, 70% of whom are making their regional debut.



The exhibition will spotlight global front-runners in innovation and technology across agriculture 4.0, crop production, livestock, farming and health, as well as aquaculture - slated as the fastest-growing sector in the food animal industry, which is expected to hit $275 billion by 2025. Confirmed participants include NEOM, ADM, Nestle and Siemens.



The Food For Future Summit & and Global Agtech Innovation Expo will be part of the Dubai Exhibition Centres Food, Agriculture and Livelihoods Week, which runs from February 20-26 next year to focus discussion on localised solutions for food, nutrition, and farming challenges, and explore how to feed a growing population while living in harmony with the planet.  TradeArabia News Service
Prairie Ridge Integrated Behavioral Healthcare is asking community members to help provide socks to those in need in North Iowa.

Prairie Ridge Drop-In Centers Winter Sock Drive will collect socks to be distributed to people in transition at the new downtown Drop-In Center as well as area homeless shelters.

Please consider donating new socks for children and adults now through Feb. 18, all sizes are needed.

Sock donations can be dropped off at 112 Second St. SE on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. or at the Prairie Ridge main campus at 320 N. Eisenhower Ave. in Mason City on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Socks can also be purchased on Prairie Ridges Amazon Charity List and shipped directly to Prairie Ridge here: PrairieRidge.gives/SockDrive.

For more information call the Prairie Ridge Drop-In Center at 641-243-7298 or go to PrairieRidge.net/SockDrive.

Prairie Ridge is a private, non-profit corporation offering a wide range of substance use and behavioral health treatment. It offers assistance and treatment for individuals with a variety of mental health concerns, including substance use, trauma, depression, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia and more.

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With extremely high rates of COVID-19 plaguing the Dan River Region, cases among students and staff members continue to grow in educational facilities.

Figures dipped for a week after winter weather forced schools to either close or switch to a virtual mode. Now they have rebounded.

As of Saturday, there were 57 active cases of the illness caused by the novel coronavirus in Pittsylvania County Schools, a dashboard showed. A total of 47 students were infected with the highest numbers centered at Chatham High School.

County schools have adopted the five-day shortened isolation and quarantine guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The system requires students who test positive for COVID-19 to wear a mask when the return to school days six through 10.

Pittsylvania County Schools also are following an executive order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to allow parents to opt-out of mask mandates for schools. The order set off several legal challenges and sent a scramble for school districts to clarify positions on masking.

This decision was made with School Board awareness, Pittsylvania County Schools Superintendent Mark Jones told the Register & Bee via email Wednesday. The Pittsylvania County School Board met before the executive order was issued on Jan. 15, the same day Youngkin took office.

The new policy started Jan. 24 in Pittsylvania County. Masks are still required on school buses, Jones said in a statement. Also, all school employees must continue to wear face coverings.

By unanimous vote, the Danville School Board decided Thursday night to continue the masking mandate for city schools. There, 21 active cases are reported with 16 students infected. The highest number  five  is at George Washington High School.

Children represent the least vaccinated demographic in the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District. Health department data shows only 7% of 5- to 11-year-olds are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. For 12- to 15-year-olds, 31% are fully vaccinated and slightly more than one-third of 16- to 17-year-olds have received the proper doses.

On Friday, there were 27 individuals in isolation at Averett University, its online dashboard shows. Three outbreaks have been reported on campus since students returned earlier this month. After the Virginia Department of Health changed its definitions, three cases must be linked to a single setting to be declared an outbreak.

As the pandemic continues to evolve, so can our campus mitigation efforts, Cassie Jones, a spokesperson for Averett University, told the Register & Bee last week. We continue to update our campus regularly with reminders and changes.

Of the 63 cases reported at Averett since Jan. 3, 31 are Averett-linked, the dashboard shows.

Danville Community College has reported three cases involving two employees and one student this month. In all three situations, the health department determined there no exposures on campus.

The regions positivity rate  43% in Danville and 44% in Pittsylvania County  remains high, according to the CDC. The rate calculates the positive results against all tests administered and  along with overall infections  is used to put a local pulse on the pandemic. The CDC views any rate above 5% to indicate the virus is spreading uncontrolled in a community.

With the exception of only six, every locality in the United States is classified in the highest risk category for COVID-19, based on the CDCs four-tier system. The federal agency strongly recommends residents wear face coverings at indoor public settings.

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.
Caswell County Parish has become the first organization to receive the B.R. Ashby, M.D. Award for Outstanding Community Service by Danville Regional Foundation twice.

The $50,000 general operating grant honors community service in Dan River Region by a nonprofit group based on success in helping families and individuals overcome significant challenges, a foundation news release stated.

Caswell Parish received the very first Ashby Award in 2010 and they continue to be the primary source of emergency food and utilities assistance in Caswell County, said Clark Casteel, president and CEO of Danville Regional Foundation. They have served thousands through their programs which include food distribution, utility assistance, backpack programs and a thrift store. DRF is proud to present the 2022 B.R. Ashby, M.D. Award for Outstanding Community Service to Caswell Parish.

Last year, the organization in Caswell County, North Carolina, received more than 9,000 pounds of donated food which was distributed through 7,435 pantry visits, the release stated. In addition, 150 children were served throughout the community with a backpack program and 239 households received utility assistance.

Caswell Parish also operates the Two Hearts Thrift Store which supports programs but also provides low cost, gently used merchandise for anyone who visits.

Caswell Parish is honored to receive the Ashby Award for the second time, said Nell Page, volunteer co-director of Caswell Parish. Our mission is to minister to our neighbors in the most tangible way possible, by meeting their physical needs of clothing, food or utility assistance. If we can remove one worry from their mind, then we have achieved that mission.

Its a perfect timing for the $50,000, said Jane Thompson, volunteer co-director of Caswell Parish.

We have run out of pantry space and cold food storage, Thompson explained. Sometimes we cant accept refrigerated food offered by Second Harvest because we dont have the cooler space.

They will be able to use the money  and other funds already raised  to expand the pantry area and buy an additional cooler.

The foundation established the award in 2009 in appreciation of the leadership of Dr. B.R. Ashby, a founding board member and first chairperson of the foundation. Nominations for nonprofit organizations were accepted from within the foundations service area that includes the Danville and Pittsylvania County and Caswell County, North Carolina.

Past recipients of this award include Grace & Main Fellowship/Third Chance Ministries (2021), Just Kids Child Development Center, Inc. (2020), Danville Speech and Hearing Center (2019), Pittsylvania County Community Action (2018), Caswell Family Medical Center (2017), Danville Cancer Association (2016), Gods Storehouse (2015), the Northern Pittsylvania County Food Center (2014), Danville Life Saving and First Aid Crew (2013), Gods Pit Crew (2012), Danville Church-Based Tutorial Program (2011) and Caswell Parish (2010).

Since its establishment in 2005, the foundation has committed more than $160 million through more than 500 grants.

For more information visit www.drfonline.org.
HIGH POINT  About 160 people shared their perspectives about how poverty affects people in the community at the Greater High Point Food Alliances sixth annual Food Security Summit on Friday.

In particular, participants in the virtual event exchanged ideas of ways to work together to help lift others lives to prevent hunger.

Carl Vierling, executive director of the alliance, said food insecurity is just the tip of the iceberg because the real issue is poverty. Addressing poverty is the alliances most important effort, he said.

Really, the answers dont lie in Washington or Raleigh. The answers lie in our own community, in our own neighborhoods, Vierling said. This is a conversation we have been looking forward to for over two years because we think its so important.

Economic hardship experienced across the state is more pronounced and wrenching than known, according to keynote speaker Gene Nichol, who is considered a leading authority on poverty. The chasm of need statewide far exceeds anything generous folks working against the odds can supply, said Nichol, who has been working in low-income communities in North Carolina for the past 15 years.

That gap is getting worse year after year, month after month, no matter what might be proclaimed, Nichol said. That gap between what can be provided and the need that exists gets larger, not smaller.

About one in five North Carolina children live below the federal poverty threshold, which is about $25,000 a year for a family of four, Nichol said. That is the 10th highest state rate in the nation. One in 10 of North Carolina children live in extreme poverty, or $12,500 a year for a family of four, Nichol said. Children of color are impoverished at three times the rate of white children.

Nichol noted mothers and older siblings who skip meals because of not having enough food. He repeated comments he heard in recent months from nonprofit leaders across the state, including the lack of support from many policymakers whose lives dont include the experience of low-income families. Child poverty often gets passed on to the next generation, Nichol said.

Students whose families are struggling often dont tell their stories, but teachers can observe and talk with them about their needs. That was the view of Hector Gomez, a native of Colombia who has been teaching Spanish at Penn-Griffin School for the Arts for 15 years. He shared stories of two anonymous students he had seen since the pandemic started.

The first student was a ninth grader making good grades whose grades and attendance sharply fell when the pandemic started. While Gomez volunteered to deliver food boxes to families, he was stunned when that student opened the door.

It was a surprise, but at that moment I understood why he was failing, because there was no food in the house, Gomez said.

Another student often sat quietly in the back of the class. When Gomez noticed him limping, the boy said one of his shoes was broken. After the student walked into the classroom and stapled his shoe back together, Gomez noticed it had been stapled more than once.

I dont know his agony. I just know hes here doing his best, Gomez said. Maybe his family spends their money on food but dont have enough to spend on shoes. We need to listen to their stories. We need to talk to them. Look for the voice of the people. Stories are strong. Listen to their needs.

Jerry Mingo, president of the Burns Hill Community Association, spoke about how poverty affects seniors in the community.

We are struggling with rising health care, housing costs and lack of transportation, inadequate nutrition and diminishing savings, Mingo said. Poverty becomes a physical and psychological condition, not just an economic one.

In addition, seniors with deteriorating health and ability to pay may end up losing their housing.
DANVILLE, Va.  Danville police officer Chris Agee was one of the most courageous people Krystin Kirk ever met.

Before the 48-year-old Agee died of cancer Sunday, he was at peace with his impending departure from this life, Kirk, Agees fiance, said during an interview Tuesday.

To get handed a sentence like he did, he was peaceful and calm about it, Kirk told the Danville Register & Bee. It just amazed me. He was just so strong. He was one of the bravest people Ive ever met in my life.

Agee had been a police officer for about 16-17 years, with the last three or four years spent patrolling the streets for the Danville Police Department.

For police officer TyQuan Graves, who has been with the department for almost a year, Agee was not only his partner but an inspiration.

We became really close the past two years, Graves said Tuesday. He was one of my influences to becoming a police officer.

Graves had spent a year doing ride-alongs with officers before joining the department. During that time, Agee encouraged him to become an officer but also reminded him what he would be getting himself into, Graves recalled.

He was one of my biggest cheerleaders, Graves recalled, adding that his first full shift as an officer was spent with Agee.

From an early age, Agee was a hard worker who knew what he wanted out of life, said his mother, Kathy Agee.

He went to work when he was 16, Agee said, adding that he knew then he wanted to be a police officer.

She remembered telling him not to start finding a job so early, that he had the rest of his life to work.

He said he wanted to have something in life, she recalled.

Even as a young child, he was curious about how things worked.

He was full of energy, she said. He started taking everything apart trying to figure it out, how it was put together.

He also loved computers and cars, she recalled.

Agee, who grew up in Martinsville, worked at Kroger for his first job and was made a supervisor in just a few months, Kathy said.

He was also the youngest person to be hired as part of security at Tultex, the former textile manufacturer in Martinsville.

He started riding along with members of the police department in Martinsville while in his teens, his mother said.

Achieving the dream

When he couldnt get hired in law enforcement in Henry County, Agee took a job performing inspections at nursing homes. He traveled  as part of his occupation  to Maryland as well as locations in Virginia, including Newport News. Thats where he finally achieved his dream of becoming a police officer about 17 years ago, Kathy said.

He applied for the position with the police department there and thats when they hired him, she said.

After 13 years with Newport News, Chris Agee came back home to the area to become a Danville police officer.

He loved, loved the people at Danville, Kathy Agee said. He really felt like the people were his family.

Danville Police Chief Scott Booth recalled Chriss dedication to the city and its people.

He wanted to be a part of the community and wanted to get behind whats going on to make this community better, Booth said Tuesday. Chris had a love for the community.

Chris had a servant-leaders heart, Booth said, adding that he was always impressed with him. He was soft-spoken, confident, and very smart when he talked about what his profession meant to him and other members of the department, Booth said.

Its certainly going to be a loss, he said of the void left by Chriss absence.

Booth, who hired Chris, said he wanted to come back home.

He certainly was an asset, Booth said. He was an important member of our family and this community and we were very lucky to get to have him with us at the time he was part of us.

Meeting

As for Kirk, she met Chris after she asked him to come inspect a nursing home unit while she was a unit manager in Charlottesville.

He came and was very helpful, she recalled. He asked me out to dinner.

She was wary at first, but ended up enjoying talking to him during their first date, which was a group date, Kirk said. They had been together for about 16 years, she said.

During his last days, friends would come visit Chris and they would be crying, she said. But Chris would be the one who would provide comfort and think of others, she said.

He would say, Its just in Gods hands, its not in my hands. Whats going on in your life? Kirk recalled.

Before Chris became ill, he and Kirk would go on adventures.

We did so many things, she said. We took trips and we went on this amazing vacation for 10 days a couple of years ago, and it was the best thing in the whole world.

They covered destinations including New York, Colorado and Los Angeles. They spend less than $1,000 on the whole journey, including air fare and lodging, which entailed Airbnbs, she said.

We never really bought souvenirs, she said. We went to museums and we would find the best pizza in town. Chris could find the cheapest deals.

The couple wanted to travel to Nova Scotia, but the COVID-19 pandemic stalled their plans, Kirk said.

On the job

On the job, Chris would give pointers to Graves to help him out with his reports, provide information to help him with a case. He also helped Graves while he was at the academy, Graves said.

He was a smart guy, Graves said. He knew his job.

The two partners would have dinner together. It was a good time to talk shop during off-hours.

We would just talk about the job, Graves said. Chris was someone to debrief with, he added.

Chris was tough as nails. He never showed any kind of weakness.

He became ill in June, Kathy Agee said, adding that doctors had failed to find the cancer.

They kept doing COVID tests, Kathy said. He just got weaker and weaker and sicker and sicker.

However, about a year and a half ago, he went to doctors after seeing blood in his stool, she said. A colon specialist, or proctologist, in Martinsville told him he was too young to have colon cancer, Kathy said.

She said his insurance company would not cover the cost of a colonoscopy.

Last September, after he knew he had cancer, Chris was told by doctors at Duke University Medical Center the procedure would have saved his life at the time.

Chris is gone and it makes me mad and sad, his mother said. This doctor could have saved him.

Kirk recalled Chriss last moments at home with her in Axton.

He said, You know Im going to die tonight, right? Kirk said, adding that he told her he loved her.

Twenty minutes later, he was gone.
GREENSBORO  Two concert tours coming to Guilford County this week will take Boomer audiences down a musical memory lane.

Rock band The Beach Boys will sing Thursday at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts.

Their 1960s songs of summer, surfing, cars and romance remind audiences that warmer days, beaches and vacations are just a few months away.

Then on Saturday in High Point, John Ford Coley and Jim Stafford will play their 1970s hits and more at the High Point Theatre.

Coley came to fame as one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. They gained stardom with 1976s, Id Really Love to See You Tonight. It led to six Top 20 hits. Stafford is known for 70s songs such as Spiders & Snakes and My Girl Bill.

They will give audiences what they want: their top songs of yesteryear, perhaps with a newer song or two.

If people come to see me, theyre going to go down memory lane, Coley said last week from his home in Franklin, Tenn. They want to hear a lot of the songs that they remembered back during that time period.

During two hours of music that displays their harmonies and arrangements, the Beach Boys draw on some 300 to 400 songs in their catalog.

They plan to perform hits including California Girls, I Get Around, Fun, Fun, Fun, Surfin U.S.A., Good Vibrations and Kokomo.

They love to hear our hits, Beach Boys co-founder Mike Love said in a phone interview last week from his Lake Tahoe home. And we always try to deliver what they hope for and expect.

Im not one of these performers who doesnt want to do anything except our new album, Love said. Ive heard of people doing that, but that disappoints a heck of a lot of people. Maybe their favorite song was something you did years ago, and why not do it?

Perhaps the Beach Boys shows most popular song is Kokomo, which hit No. 1 on the charts in 1988. Crowds join to sing the chorus, Love said.

His son, Christian Love, sings God Only Knows, a song that Paul McCartney and others consider their favorite. Carl Wilson had sung it on their Pet Sounds album.

About to turn 81 in March, Love co-founded the Beach Boys nearly 61 years ago with his cousins Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine.

Dennis and Carl are now deceased. Brian Wilson and Mike Love dont get along, and Brian Wilson and Jardine dont tour with the band. Love and Brian Wilson havent toured together since the Beach Boys 2012 reunion tour.

Following Carl Wilsons death in 1998, the band members and their corporation granted Love an exclusive license to tour under the Beach Boys name.

He performs with Bruce Johnston, who has played with the band since 1965 (except for a six-year break); son Christian; John Cowsill, who performed with his siblings 1960s band The Cowsills; musical director Scott Totten, Brian Eichenberger, Tim Bonhomme, Keith Hubacher and Randy Leago.

Thursdays concert is expected to feature another famous face: John Stamos.

The stage and screen actor and musician starred in the ABC sitcom Full House and TV medical dramas.

Stamos frequently performs on drums and guitar in Beach Boys concerts.

He tells me that he used to bicycle by my parents house in Cypress, California, and look in the window and see the gold albums on the wall, Love said.

They met years later. When Stamos came to Beach Boys shows, Love said, I noticed how the girls screamed for him and I said, Whoa, get him up on stage. As it turns out, before he was an actor on TV, he was a drummer in a little three-piece band.

Love says that he still enjoys touring and performing.

The people who started with us in the 60s are now in their 60s, 70s or even 80s, Love said. Its really fascinating that multiple generations can turn out to see your shows. We have fans who are young kids, who are just getting aware of music, and then we have their parents and grandparents.

The Beach Boys will play several venues this month. They are in Virginia this week before the Tanger Center concert, and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Sunday.

From March 25 to 27, they will perform on a cruise between Miami and the Bahamas with acts such as The Temptations, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees and Yacht Rock Revue.

Traveling to perform has become easier since the Beach Boys began touring in 1962.

When we first started out, we had a station wagon and a U-Haul and we would set up and break down our own equipment and do four sets a night, Love said.

Nowadays, the production is so much better  the lights, the sound, even the transportation, he said. They and the crew arrive on tour buses, the crew sets up equipment, and the group does a quick rehearsal.

Aside from Beach Boys hits, they perform a few of Loves songs from his solo albums  including Beatle George Harrisons Here Comes the Sun and Pisces Brothers that Love wrote.

A concert ticket includes a download of his solo album, 12 Sides of Summer, released in 2019.

Here Comes the Sun reminds Love of spending time with The Beatles in India in 1968.

He became a student of transcendental meditation that year under Maharishi Manesh Yogi, then later a teacher. He meditates daily.

It hasnt been all smooth sailing.

Love is often criticized because of his history of conflicts with the band.

Many of Loves contributions to the groups hits werent recognized until the 1990s, when he sued Brian Wilson for writing credits on 35 songs.

In 2016, he wrote the memoir Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy, where he said he addressed inaccuracies that had been said about him.

Thats been more than 20 years ago, he said about the lawsuit. I dealt with it in the book. Its pretty much rectified.

When people ask Love how does everything that he does, he cites transcendental meditation.

That trip to India and learning transcendental meditation has been a huge help in giving me the energy and clarity and the ability to eliminate fatigue and tension and accentuate the positive, Love said.

He focuses his stage energy on the music.

Its a pretty wonderful thing that something we started 60 years ago, we still get the chance to do what we love to do, which is music, he said.

For audiences, that sounds like fun, fun, fun.

Contact Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane at 336-373-5204 and follow @dawndkaneNR on Twitter.

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GREENSBORO  Early last week, Joe Davis drove to the old building and paid his respects.

I think it was Monday. And I just parked to watch some of the demolition going on there, Davis said of the old Womens Hospital on Green Valley Drive.

I just really jotted down just some notes from, you know, the 33 years that I was in that building, said Davis, director of supply chain operations for Cone Health acute care hospitals.

He recalled the effort put into naming the 134-bed facility, the states first free-standing womens care hospital.

And the choice of decor, the colors, the artwork, and even the curtains.

The original patient rooms, we had matching curtains and comforters and we had a handheld blower in every room  that was back in 1990, when we opened the doors.

As news of the demolition spread, social media channels lit up with people  employees, volunteers and patients  sharing stories of their experiences there.

And while new memories are being made at the Womens and Childrens Center at Moses Cone Hospital, which opened in February 2020 and replaced Womens Hospital, theres a certain nostalgia with the loss of the old hospital.

Many Greensboro residents were born or gave birth there. They saw their children, grandchildren and siblings born there. More than 150,000 births in all, Cone Health said.

The building is brick and mortar, but its like if you were to see your old house, a house that you grew up in, and you saw it torn down, said Jenny Clapp, who worked in nursing there for 18 years.

Youre not there, your family is somewhere else  but wow, what memories you had in that house, said Clapp, a maternal newborn clinical nurse specialist for Cone Health.

Ron Rodo Robinson, who moved to Los Angeles last year, said in an email that he was crestfallen when he heard the building was being demolished.

I hate to even think about the building where all five of my kids were born will no longer exist, Robinson said. It was always a symbol of the worthiness of life each time I would pass it.

He praised the hospitals staff, recalling the day his wife, Mary  who had suffered a miscarriage the previous year  gave birth to their son Grant in August 2011.

That day was made more memorable by the great staff at Womens Hospital  it was like they were part of the family, he said.

Karen Puryear of Rocky Point said in an email that she went to work at the hospital in 1980  when it was owned by Humana  after graduating with a bachelors degree in nursing from East Carolina University.

It was where I learned all about what it means to be a Registered Nurse, she said in the email. I worked with some of the best people, took care of some of the best people, and launched my career as an RN of some 40 plus years now.

The building may be going away but, the memories I have there are forever! she said.

Both Davis and Clapp recalled the many activities the hospitals staff arranged to help not only the patients, but their families.

Davis remembered the three-hour Daddy Boot Camp, during which fathers-to-be learned practical skills, like how to hold a newborn and change a diaper.

In the 17 years I participated with that we probably ran through there about 5,000 to 6,000 dads, he said. It was just a great program.

The hospital also held annual reunions for families who endured the difficult journey of having a premature baby. The event gave them the opportunity to reunite with one another and the doctors, nurses and support staff who assisted them along the way.

It would be so amazing, Davis said. You would have 2-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 10-year-olds who came back ... because we were celebrating them for just their journey.

Clapp also recalled hosting baby showers at the hospital for patients staying weeks or even months with very high-risk pregnancies and who couldnt attend these events as originally planned.

There were visits from Santa, and the Easter Bunny knew how to get into the hospital and leave surprises for the children.

Their rooms in that building werent just hospital rooms for those long stays, she said. They became the familys home away from home to bring some normalcy to the other children and family members.

One poignant memory involves some babies who were stillborn or died shortly after birth. In 20 cases, the parents didnt claim the childs body or arrange for a funeral home to take its remains.

Donald Conrad, who was the hospitals director of admissions, arranged for memorial services and interment at Westminster Cemetery for these babies, Clapp said.

A statue of an angel and a plaque dedicated to their memory was placed on the hospitals grounds.

It was our way of saying that they were important, and that they werent forgotten, she said. I think speaks volumes of the people that work there and how deeply we felt our responsibility.

Different responsibilities came about for Cone Health staff with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and a flood of patients to area hospitals.

In April 2020, the hospital system converted the recently shuttered building into a coronavirus-only field hospital for people needing ventilators and intensive care.

It was renamed the Cone Health Green Valley Campus and the conversion received international acclaim from health officials.

The move provided an unexpected bonus chapter for the old hospital, which was already part of a land swap with Deep River Partners. The Greensboro-based real estate developer agreed to postpone the deal given the circumstances of the pandemic.

We understood the importance of a COVID-19 hospital, Lowell Easter of Deep River Partners said in a news release in September announcing the property swap had been finalized.

Before completely closing last year in March, hospital staff treated more than 4,700 patients with the highly contagious disease.

We were just so proud and humbled when it didnt sit there empty and immediately became inhabited by the folks who needed it so desperately when the COVID outbreak occurred, Clapp said.

During this period, Clapp recalled seeing hearses arriving at the building while she waited in a long line to get a drive-thru COVID-19 test  which ultimately was negative.

To know I used to work in that building helping to deliver babies, and seeing the hearses from area funeral homes pull into the back of the building to pick up bodies. That was sort of jarring, she said.

Still, the building always held the gamut of emotions life brings.

One thing about that building is that it is a place where lives were changed, Clapp said.

It signaled hope and loss and joy and grief. But it was always a change. Everyone was changed when they were in that building, she said.

And so it was a really special sacred space for many, many people.

What's next? Demolition of Women's Hospital should be complete by the end of March, according to David Deatherage, vice president of D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. Steve Shavitz of Deep River Partners, which now owns the 10-acre site, said on Thursday the company is still "months away" from deciding exactly what to do with the property. However, the land swap agreement with Cone Health precludes it from being developed as medical space, he said.

Contact Kenwyn Caranna at 336-373-7082 and follow @kcaranna on Twitter.

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DMCC, the flagship free zone and Government of Dubai authority on commodities trade and enterprise, has announced the full list of industry-leading speakers set to take centre stage at its flagship diamond event, the Dubai Diamond Conference (DDC).

The DDC will be held physically, welcoming the global diamond industry to Atlantis, The Palm on February 21.

Now in its fifth edition, the DDC will be held under the theme of The Future of Diamonds, with industry titans Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers, and Sergey Ivanov, CEO of Alrosa, set to address the audience in Dubai.

As outlined in the newly announced agenda, this years event will focus on the current opportunities and challenges within the sector, and how global diamond businesses can help shape the future of the industrys growth. As well as a physical event in Dubai, the event will be livestreamed to an international audience.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, said: Dubai is the fastest growing Diamond hub in the world. From a position of virtually no diamond trade in 2000, Dubai has become a major trading center and leader in the industry.

He added: I am personally looking forward to engaging with our friends from major diamond centres around the world in Dubai, collaborating to ensure the future of the industry. This is going to be one of the industrys most exciting and impactful events in recent years, and you can feel the excitement from the market.

Throughout the week of DDC, a series of high-level meetings and industry events will be taking place in Dubai as part of Dubai Diamond Week, beginning with a board meeting of the World Diamond Council on February 20. The DDC Gala dinner and Jewellery World Awards, hosted jointly with Informa Markets, will recognise significant contributions to the development of the global diamond and jewellery industry on February 21.

The new Jewellery Gems and Technology (JGT) Dubai  a major new B2B trade show  will run at the Dubai World Trade Center from February 22 to 24. The week will wrap up with the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and International Diamond Manufacturers holding their presidents meeting in Almas Tower on February 24 and 25. - TradeArabia News Service
I was a senior in college when I learned a gay man helped save the world.

True story.

Even after years of history lessons about World War II, I was well into my 20s before hearing of Alan Turing, the man most credited with creating the algorithms that enabled the Allies to crack the Enigma code used by the Nazis in World War II.

Before the Turing-led discovery, German submarines were able to find and destroy Allied ships in the Atlantic, crippling efforts to get much-needed supplies to Europe. In the first three months of 1942 alone, German subs sank more than 100 ships off the coast of North America and in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

And yet, instead of Turing being celebrated at the end of the war, this mathematician was arrested for gross indecency under anti-homosexuality laws and ultimately was given a choice between prison or hormonal chemical castration. Publicly outed and persecuted, he died by cyanide poisoning at 41 and was all but erased from the history books.

During the dont ask, dont tell debate of the Clinton era, I often wondered how many members of Congress knew how important a gay man working for British intelligence had been to the Allies success in Normandy. Perhaps they would have been less hostile to gays and lesbians in the modern military.

Britons have redeemed the memory of Alan Turing in recent decades. Today the historical record credits him as crucial to the Allies victory in World War II, and calls him the father of computer science.

But some Americans have picked up the eraser.

Two weeks ago, Republican legislators in Florida advanced HB 1557  affectionately dubbed the dont say gay bill  which would ban discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity in schools, effectively erasing LGBTQ history, culture and people from the classroom.

It would appear that Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida Republicans want to make Turings little-known story a complete unknown under the guise of protecting the children. As if Florida schoolchildren had no sexual orientation until they were handed a cap and gown at graduation, and as if ignorance of history could turn people straight. Such a law would be ludicrous in many ways, even making it hard for teachers to talk about Pete Buttigieg, should he run for president again.

And yet we shouldnt put it past DeSantis to sign this bill. Last June, as the five-year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando approached, the governor vetoed funding for mental health programs for survivors of the attack. He also declared June 12 to be Pulse Remembrance Day to honor the 49 people who were killed that night in 2016.

Hypocrisy has been a hallmark of American government ever since the founders branded a nation full of enslaved people as the land of the free. DeSantis is so committed to revisionist history for political gain that he stood in front of a room of Cuban American activists and called Cubas communism the original cancer of the Western Hemisphere  you know, as opposed to colonization, genocide or the transatlantic slave trade.

Perhaps backers of the dont say gay bill believe that if you stop teachers from talking about LGBTQ people, then eventually the public wont remember events like the Pulse shooting. Thats how the race massacres in Tulsa and Wilmington were swept under the rug until the murder of George Floyd.

After all, the attempt to erase Alan Turing worked for decades, as gay people continued to be marginalized and persecuted in the U.K. even though one of their own had thwarted the Nazis and laid the foundation for modern life.

Therein lies the danger in efforts like dont say gay and the Republicans nationwide war on critical race theory, which examines how policies such as redlining perpetuate systemic racism.

DeSantis banned CRT from being taught in Floridas public schools last year, not that it was part of the state curriculum in the first place. Last month he announced the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (Stop W.O.K.E.) Act, which would allow parents to sue the school district if they so much as smell a lesson plan about systemic racism coming from their childs backpack.

The hypocrisy grows ever more astounding. DeSantis said: We wont allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other, as if he were somehow protecting Florida tax dollars while introducing a law that would force school districts to settle lawsuits. The governor also somehow managed to invoke the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while introducing a bill that discourages teachers from talking about his work.

We dont have to let the governor get away with pretending to defend the truth or American values.

Whether its the long arc of systemic racism, or the mere existence of gay people, telling the truth about our history isnt a political statement. Denying our history is.
During the past week, the Arab newspapers reported on the Syrian Democratic Forces' control of Al-Sina'a prison, in addition to the situation in Libya, in addition to the Sudanese issue.

SDF takes full control of al-Sina'a prison in al-Hasakah

On the Syrian issue, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said: "The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by an international coalition led by the United States of America, announced complete control of the Al-Sinaa prison, which witnessed an armed rebellion over the past week."

The Commander-in-Chief of the forces, Mazloum Abdi, said, "Our forces repeated history, inflicted a new defeat, and thwarted the plans of ISIS, its supporters, and its beneficiaries in the battle of al-Hasakah prison," at a time when a military official said that they released all the SDF hostages, and more than 1,500 fighters surrendered. They participated in the armed insurrection.

In front of the prison gate on the northern side, more than 1,500 fighters and militants who participated in the armed rebellion and violence witnessed in this prison, which includes 5,000 extremists over the past week, surrendered, and a joint US-British patrol participated and imposed strict security control. The gate with the flight of warplanes and F16 planes in the sky of the prison, and the elements came out from inside the prison dormitories and cells and sections located on the north and western side, some of them were walking on crutches, others were bandaged with their wounds, and many of them hid their faces, amid a heavy security tightening from the Internal Security Forces And anti-terror forces and large military reinforcements for the SDF.

Farhad Shami, the official spokesman for the forces, announced the end of the military operations after 8 days of violent battles, and said in a press conference held in front of the prison gate: The (Hammer of Peoples) military and security campaign culminated in the complete control of the prison in Hasaka by our forces and the surrender of all (ISIS) elements participants in the insurrection, noting that the qualitative operations led by the fighters forced the surrender of those who adhered to bearing arms until the end. accurate raid; The dormitories where they were holed up were targeted.

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ANHA
" " Grief is a powerful emotion that's tied up with loss, loneliness, guilt and other feelings that can be suddenly overwhelming at times. johnhain/Needpix

On a recent gray, drizzly afternoon, I found myself with a McMansion-size case of cabin fever and a hankering for the wind in my hair, regardless of the weather. Coronavirus be damned. So I laced up my boots, snapped on my fanny pack containing pandemic essentials, grabbed my raincoat and high-tailed it to a nearby state park.

Moving my body blissfully through the misty rain on a trail I'd hiked a thousand times, I felt high on the sweet endorphin rush of well-being and at one with the great I Am. Where the trail meets the lake, a man was squatted on the shore fishing, and as I put on my face mask to say a muffled, "hello," the sun peeked out, dappling the water with sparkles of light that glinted off the side of his rusty, bobbing bait pail, which I noticed was emblazoned with the fading words, "Old Pal Minnow Bucket."

Then out of nowhere it hit: A roaring freight train of abject sadness crashed into me, leaving the bits of me that weren't pulverized vibrating with heartache, loneliness and a cavernous sense of loss.

Buried under the wreckage of grief, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. The landscape around me had morphed into a cacophonous blur. Bawling and completely deflated, I sat down against a tree, feeling utterly suffocated by affliction. After about 30 minutes that felt more like eternity, the amplified sensations subsided, leaving me mentally agitated, physically drained and spiritually bone dry.

What was it that had temporarily knocked me off my feet?

I had been blindsided with a STUG  a sudden (or subsequent) temporary upsurge of grief.

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What Is a STUG?

"A STUG is essentially an overwhelming and almost incapacitating feeling of grief that comes out of nowhere," says Laura Silverman, LCSW and owner of Sweetgrass Integrative Counseling and Therapy in Atlanta, Georgia. "It can occur at any time, including many years after a loss. But it is most experienced during the first year of grief."

Dr. Therese Rando, a psychotherapist and grief counselor, coined the term STUG in the early 1990s. Rando likened the STUG experience after the death of a loved one to waves coming in and out from the ocean  occasionally a tsunami comes along and rips our feet out from under us.

Silverman shares from her own experience. "Five years after the loss of my mother, I found myself sitting on my staircase one night, sobbing, convinced that I had forgotten to say goodbye to my mother. My husband and son had to remind me that I was with her at the end, planned the funeral and did her eulogy. It took several minutes for me to calm down and to recall the events."

"The problem with a STUG," says Silverman, "is that when we are experiencing one, it feels like it is all there is. That it will never end. In that sense it is very scary. A STUG can also leave us feeling completely alone because it is extremely hard to describe to another person how we are feeling. Because a grief attack tends to come out of the blue and is so consuming, it appears to be disproportionate to what is happening in the moment. This can leave people around us baffled and unable to help. STUG is often accompanied with feelings of confusion, loneliness, deep sadness, regret and more. It is often experienced as sobbing, numbness, inability to think and physical pain. It comes with such strength that people often describe it as hitting a wall or having a boulder land on them. Some have described feeling like they are not themselves during a STUG, leaving them feeling untethered from everything they understand about themselves, about their world, and even about their relationship to God or the Universe."

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The Cycle of Grief

A STUG is profoundly linked to the connection or relationship we shared with our deceased love one. So the annual cycle of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and the change of seasons may magnify our grief. Likewise, retirement, graduations, the birth of a child, weddings  events where our loved one is profoundly absent  may activate painful emotions. Less predictably, our senses may be ignited out of thin air by a particular song, scent, food or film our loved one enjoyed. In my case, I was STUGGED on a random day in the middle of the woods by an old minnow bucket exactly like the one my dad (who died 14 years ago) had that my brother (who died 18 months ago) and I used to play with as kids. Go figure.

"Nothing happens in a vacuum," notes Silverman. "The nature of the relationship we had with the person we are grieving, the nature of their death, and how we were taught to express our feelings all impact our grief experience. All of this combines to create a painful stew of longing, shame, guilt, loneliness and heartbreak. So, a STUG may be driven by many layers of unresolved issues with our loved one. It may be driven by feelings of helplessness at being able to prevent their death or suffering. It can be the result of pent up emotions that had no place to go."

"Powerful feelings experienced during a STUG can leave one feeling completely exhausted and depleted. It is important to take care of the physical self by drinking water, removing oneself from noise and activity, and breathing with special focus on the exhale. Once calm, it may be helpful to talk with someone or simply sit with someone. I encourage clients to find something that sounds, tastes, looks, or feels pleasant and engage with it. That can be as simple as looking at the blue sky, listening to the wind in the trees or drinking a cup of warm tea."

"As unpleasant as a STUG is, it's important to note that it is temporary. It will pass even though it can feel like it is going to go on forever," says Silverman. "The fact that you've had a STUG doesn't necessarily mean that it will recur. What it does mean is that you had one, got through it, and now know you can handle it if it happens again."

We live in disquieting times on many fronts, as millions of people in communities across the globe are coping with a multitude of threadbare emotions, including grief. Silverman says it's important to find a meditative or prayer practice that lends itself to sensing connection to others. "We are not alone. We are connected to every other soul on the planet ... and none of us have lived our lives without experiencing grief and handling hard stuff. If you are reading this article, you made it through. So, you can do hard. You, we, can get through hard times  and this moment in history  together."
That Moscow Mule youre drinking may have a little more kick to it than you first thought.

Research that was completed by Carroll College students and faculty and published in a national journal found the copper mug traditionally used to serve the popular drink could leach copper into the beverage beyond federal standards.

Nine students and two faculty members made the cover of the January/February edition of Environmental Health magazine with their research titled "Quantifying the rate at which copper leaches from a copper drinking vessel into simulated beverages under conditions of consumer use."

Caroline R. Pharr and John G. Rowley, both associate professors of chemistry at Carroll, headed up the project which enlisted the help of chemistry students.

The research found that copper leaching into the drink was found to be significant and exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards of 1.3 parts per million for drinking water within 27 minutes at room temperature. They also note the problem can be mitigated by serving the Moscow Mule in a copper mug lined with stainless steel to avoid direct contact of the acidic liquid with the copper surface, as stipulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

The Moscow Mule, which contains ginger beer, lime juice and vodka, was listed on thrillist.com in 2018 as the most popular cocktail in not only Montana, a state rich with copper history, but also in Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico and New York. This list was compiled by using Google search data.

The idea for the Carroll College research was sparked when someone at Pharrs home was drinking a Moscow Mule and asked about the potential dangers of sipping from the copper mug.

I thought we can look into that, Pharr said Friday.

She said later that it seemed like a simple question, but it was really cool chemistry.

Rowley and Pharr said while there have been warnings about Moscow Mules and copper mugs in the past, the Carroll study, which took about two years, is the first to offer quantitative numbers. And, for the first time, it provides solid numbers to the public to make an assessment.

Their paper says that according to the World Health Organization, a safe consumption of copper is 10 milligrams a day. A person would need to drink 30 Moscow Mules in 24 hours to hit that number.

Given this information, acute copper toxicity from consumption of Moscow Mules in one sitting is unlikely, they wrote.

For the purposes of the study, vodka was replaced with 200 proof ethanol diluted to the appropriate concentration.

We quantified the copper concentration using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), they wrote. The rate of copper leaching into the Moscow Mule cocktail was found to be significant and accumulated copper concentration exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for drinking water within 27 minutes (World Health Organization, 2004), they wrote.

The Carroll team said the article in the Journal of Environmental Health provides an intriguing and relevant example to environmental health professionals and the public of a potentially hazardous substance that is common and at the same time extremely easy to avoid."

Our study presents a clear alternative for environmental health professionals and the public, as fortunately copper mugs lined with stainless steel or other chemically inert materials are widely available for a similar cost, they wrote.

The paper notes there is much lore as to why the drink is served in a copper mug, adding that some folks claim the taste is enhanced by a copper vessel.

The issue has surfaced elsewhere. In 2017, the state of Iowa announced it had adopted the federal Food and Drug Administrations Model Food Code, which prohibits copper from coming into direct contact with foods that have a pH below 6.0. The pH level is a measure of how acidic/basic water is.

The pH of a traditional Moscow Mule is well below 6.0. This means that copper mugs that have a copper interior may not be used with this beverage, the state of Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division said in July 2017. However, copper mugs lined on the interior with another metal, such as nickel or stainless steel, are allowed to be used and are widely available.

A Montana bar, liquor store and copper mug vendor contacted for this story could not immediately be reached or declined to comment for this story. However, the Montana Tavern Association, posted a pic of the cover of the Environmental Health article on its Facebook page, with a link to the story, underneath the words "Uh-oh!"

Carroll students who participated include Dain Adams, Isabelle Gray, Erin Hanson, Gunnar Hilborn, Victoria Kong, Emma Patello, Stephen Schmidt, Dimtry Shulga and Monika Weber.

Weber, a 2017 graduate and coauthor, said in a news release she felt lucky to have worked on the project.

The skills and experience I gained from the chemistry program shaped me into the chemist I am today, and allowed me to excel in my current role as a chemist at a metals testing lab, she said.

Rowley said Carroll is unique in that it provides research experience for students and allows for mentoring of undergraduates to solve real world problems.

John Cech, president of Carroll College, said the project is an example of Carrolls motto of Not for school, but for life.

This commitment to providing transformative student experiences gives our graduates a clear advantage when applying to the competitive pre-professional programs they enter after graduating from Carroll College, he said, adding the college has an 80% acceptance rate in medical schools and 100% acceptance rate to chemistry graduate schools.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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In 2020, health officials reported the first known case in which the new coronavirus was spread from one person to another in the United States. The World Health Organization declared the virus outbreak, which had reached more than a dozen countries, to be a global emergency. Russia ordered the closure of its 2,600-mile-long land border with China in an effort to limit the spread of the virus. President Donald Trump described the handful of U.S. cases of the virus as a very little problem and said those people were recuperating successfully. The State Department advised U.S. citizens against traveling to China.

In 2021, Californias coronavirus death toll passed 40,000 as the states steepest surge of cases begins to taper. Members of a World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic visited a second hospital in the Chinese city of Wuhan that had treated early COVID-19 patients.
DECATUR  Police said they had a confidential source wear a wire and carry out a series of controlled buys before arresting a Decatur methamphetamine dealer.

The 41-year-old man was taken into custody Jan. 7 in the wake of a report from the State Police Crime Lab which said the 8 grams of suspected meth bought from him Aug. 9 and Sept. 2 checked out as being the genuine drug.

A sworn affidavit signed by Detective Jonathan Jones with the Decatur Police Street Crimes Unit said police attention had focused on the man in August after becoming aware he was a meth dealer.

Jones said police got a judge to sign off on the use of an eavesdropping device which the confidential source wore while conducting drug buys from the man. Jones said the source met with the man at prearranged locations and bought the drugs  handed over immediately afterward to monitoring detectives  using cash provided by the police.

The man was booked on preliminary charge of possession of meth with intent to deliver. A check of Macon County Jail records Sunday showed the man remains in custody with bail set at $40,000, meaning he must post a bond of $4,000 to be freed.

Police report the man has previous convictions for burglary and criminal damage and has pending cases involving harassment and threats to kill and multiple violations of an order of protection.

All preliminary charges are subject to review by the state's attorneys office.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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A news release from Illinois State Police stated that Terieica L. Smith, 44, of Decatur, was driving a gray 2017 Toyota Camry on eastbound Interstate 72 late Friday night. At approximately 11:49 p.m., for an unknown reason, the vehicle drove off the right side of the roadway near milepost 105 and struck a tree, according to ISP.
DECATUR  Police said an argument over gang affiliations led to a Decatur man suffering a cut bottom lip and bruising after he was punched in the face.

Sgt. Brian Earles with the Decatur Police Department said the 32-year-old victim, who was interviewed around 4 a.m. Saturday at his home, said he had earlier gotten into a heated argument with his assailant at a city bar.

Earles said the man told police he had then gone out to smoke a cigarette when his assailant followed him outside. The suspect seemed to think the victim was smirking at him and punched him in the face with a closed fist, added Earles.

The assailant is being sought on a charge of battery.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
In breaking dinosaur news, Dwayne The Rock Johnson does not own a T. rex skull worth $32 million, Washington state can finally name its official dino, and a creature dubbed the living fortress had a lot going against it.

I know what the skeptics are saying:

Sure, Scott, as the former bureau chief of the Monkey Action News team, you were considered an expert at alerting the public to simian hijinks, but why should we trust you to deliver earth-shaking dinosaur news?

Its because I love dinosaurs. Not in a weird way like frolicking in a cheap motel room with someone from an internet chat site who agreed to don a dinosaur suit, but in an innocent, childlike way.

I was 5 years old, sitting on the floor in front of the TV on a Saturday morning with a bowl of Froot Loops when appeared what I now consider the greatest dinosaur movie of all time: Valley of Gwangi.

The movie had it all: Cowboys battling dinosaurs; a tiny horse called El Diablo that can fit in the palm of a hand; and a rampaging Allosaurus named Gwangi who fights a circus elephant to the death.

I learned later this film was not a documentary.

But it instilled a love for dinosaurs that I carry with me to this day. So, skeptics, if there are any left at this point, that is why I should be trusted to deliver earth-shaking dinosaur news. Like this:

Hes the Rock, but thats no fossil. Dwayne The Rock Johnson, the former wrestler who became the worlds greatest actor who looks exactly the same in every single role, shook up the world of paleontology when he appeared on a virtual ESPN interview with the skull of a T. rex in the background.

I got a T. rex skull, yes, Johnson told hosts Peyton and Eli Manning. Thats Stan. So as a matter of fact, Stan is the most complete T. rex skull ever found by a paleontologist  a young paleontologist  and his name was Stan, so this T. rex head was named after him. Pretty cool and badass, isnt it?

It is pretty cool and badass, especially since in 2020 an anonymous buyer purchased a T. rex skeleton nicknamed Stan for $31.8 million at an auction.

The Rock eventually came clean. His skull is a replica, not the real Stan.

That makes me wonder if Hulk Hogan is lying about the Megalodon in his swimming pool.

At least they can agree on something this important. According to MYNorthwest, the effort to make the Suciasaurus rex Washingtons official state dinosaur  which has failed in the past  now has bipartisan support and could be successful after reintroduced as part of the 2022 session.

Lawmakers from both parties were finally able to reach across the aisle without fear that a Suciasaurus rex would bite off their hands.

The article said 12 states currently have official dinosaurs. Not among them is the following creature.

Sure, but he had a nice personality. The fossil of Struthiosaurus austriacus was first discovered in Austria and has been in the collection of the Institute for Paleontology in Vienna since the 1800, according to a CNN article.

Scientists recently examining the fossil determined the creature, sometimes called the living fortress due to his armorlike outside, was lonesome, sluggish and hard of hearing.

On a side note, if you are trying to convince someone on an internet chat site to frolic with you in a cheap motel room while wearing a dinosaur costume, do not describe yourself as lonesome, sluggish and hard of hearing.

And that is all the breaking dinosaur news fit or unfit to print.

Scott Hollifield is editor/GM of The McDowell News in Marion, North Carolina, and a humor columnist. Contact him at rhollifield@mcdowellnews.com.
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).












You can only imagine.

There was fear, of course, but also pain and a feeling of suffocation. Surely, there was a sense of embarrassment when clothes were lost and bodily smells were unavoidable. Outrage, too, that was surely present, but you can only imagine. If youre compelled to know, read these two great new books about the ships of the Middle Passage.

Not long ago, the news was buzzing with a very unexpected discovery: The remains of the Clotilda, an 160-year-old ship, were discovered in Alabama waters, half-burned but in good enough shape for its discoverers to know what it was and the importance it held ...

The Last Slave Ship by Ben Raines (Simon & Schuster, $26.00) begins the tale of those ruins in 1860, when more than five decades had passed since the importation of slaves from Africa had become illegal. Still, Timothy Meaher was a betting man. Meaher wagered that he could somehow send the Clotilda across the ocean, and back with human cargo, without getting caught. History, of course, didnt allow that.

But this isnt just a tale of a white man and a ship. Its also a story of warfare, the capture of 110 people and their sale in Africa by a king who showed no mercy and who almost recaptured the slaves-to-be to resell them. Its a story of peril and politics, and it extends to the descendants of the captain and his cargo today.

The Last Slave Ship is an action-packed, whip-smart true account thats filled with science, history and compassion. Readers will devour it.

A nice companion to the Raines book is The Black Joke by A.E. Rooks.

In the time between Napoleons fall in France and the very height of Queen Victorias reign in England, the Black Joke sailed the Atlantic on behalf of England to end the slave trade  not just in Great Britain, but on both sides of the ocean.

Until its capture by the Royal Navy in 1827, the Black Joke was a notoriously fast slave ship that shuttled humans from Africa to parts elsewhere. The Brits knew exactly what to do with it once they had possession of the ship: They recycled it, making the Black Joke into an important part of their anti-slavery fleet and a speedy way to capture slaving vessels and free the people aboard them.

Like The Last Slave Ship, The Black Joke is full of action and heroism, but in a different way: The former includes the recovery of an important bit of U.S. history, while the latter is a wider story, both in scope and geography. Readers will be happy (and very well-informed) to read one, then the other, in quick succession.

Once youve done that, you may want more information, so check with your favorite bookseller or librarian. They have many more stories of slave ships at their fingertips, including first-hand accounts from many points of view. All you have to do is ask, and youll find more similar books than you can imagine.
BRISTOL, Va.  After its downtown lease was canceled in August 2021 because the building was sold, Bristol Ballet has begun a series of renovations that will transform the building that used to be Athens Steak House into its new home.

Michele Plescia, artistic director of Bristol Ballet, is excited to start a new chapter. But shes also aware that the new building is in desperate need of repair, and the renovations will come at a cost, at a time that is not ideal.

This could not be a worse time to do something like this. I mean, we are excited, but on the other hand, with the pandemic and the chain supply issues and the cost of materials doubling and tripling, were gonna have to raise a lot of money, Plescia said. Were looking at a minimum of $500,000, probably more to get all of it done.

Want to help?  You can contribute to Bristol Ballets capital campaign, Raising the Barre, by contacting Moira Frazier at mfrazier@bristolballet.org or calling 276-669-6051. You can also get involved in the Buy a Brick fundraiser, through which individuals or businesses can have their names inscribed on a brick that will go into the renovated building for $150.  The Bristol Ballets next production will be Cinderella, which is set to take place May 14 at the Paramount Theatre.

The new location, at 330 Buford St. in Bristol, Virginia, is one level and totals about 10,000 square feet.

Karen Tillison, a member of the Bristol Ballet board, sees the abrupt end to the lease as a blessing in disguise. She said shes excited that the organization will finally have a place of its own to call home.

Im excited, first of all, this building will finally be a building that the Bristol Ballet after 74 years, that we will own. You know, its a huge step, because for 74 years they (we) rented or leased property, Tillison said.

History

Bristol Ballet, a nonprofit dance school and performance company, was founded in 1948 by Constance Hardinge, who moved to the Tri-Cities region from New York to work as a substitute dancing instructor at Sullins College, which closed in 1976. She quickly fell in love with the area.

Under Hardinges guidance, the organization became one of the nations most respected regional dance companies. Tillison, who was one of Hardinges students as a young girl, remembers her as caring yet demanding.

Discipline is definitely something she instilled in us, and we respected her, and you just didnt misbehave or cut up or laugh or joke around. I mean, she wasnt mean at all, Tillison said. She always respected her students, but you just knew you had a place to be, and you were there to learn.

Hardinge died in 1992, but her legacy lives on through her students. Some have gone on to achieve great things in the world of ballet, while others applied that discipline she taught to their everyday lives.

Joey Jackson, 73, who was a student in 1961, went on to have a career as a biology professor and dance instructor at Sullins College. He recalled a meeting between his mother and Hardinge during which they arranged a deal for him and a friend to attend classes.

He summed up the three lessons that Hardinge drilled into him.

She offered to give us classes for free if we would help out around the studio, you know, sweeping the floors and doing odd jobs, so we did it, Jackson wrote in an email to the Bristol Herald Courier. Work hard, pay attention to detail and sit up straight!

In 2004, Plescia, who was also Hardinges student, returned to Bristol to take on the role of artistic director. She has been in charge ever since. Tillison believes the legacy of Hardinge lives on through Plescia and what she teaches her students today.

I think Michelle really exhibits and took from Miss Hardinge, Tillison said. Were lucky to have her, and I hope that when, I dont know when she plans to retire, but I hope whoever replaces her that well be as fortunate to have someone to carry on her legacy and Miss Hardinges legacy as well because, you know, I just feel like that she learned a lot from Miss Hardinge.  Therefore, I think that that legacy continues.

Today

The age range of the students is children as young as 3 years old to adults over 40. Currently, there are 80 students enrolled, a drop from the pre-pandemic total that was closer to 100.

Bristol Ballet has performed The Nutcracker every year since 1966. However, due to COVID, the organization had to get creative to continue the tradition.

Emerson Gillispie, 15, who was cast in the leading role of Clara in the 2021 performance at the Paramount Center in December, remembers what it was like to film their performance of the show in 2020 and take ballet through Zoom calls. She now has a newfound appreciation for their studio space.

The adrenaline wasnt as much as it was, as it would normally be. If you mess up during a live performance, you can just carry on, but if you kind of like messed up in the other take, you have another one, Gillespie said. Zoom, it was just so discouraging. I felt like there was just like nothing there, and then as soon as we were back in the studio, it was just, it was so good. I think I had a newer appreciation for the space and  just being there in general because  it was taken from us. We just had nothing else to do. We were just at home, and we were stuck in these little spaces to do anything, and it was just awful.

Gillespie spoke about the hours of practice she and her fellow dancers put in on a weekly basis and how it has taken some time to get accustomed to Bristol Ballets new home.

It just depends on really the role and depending if its The Nutcracker season or not, cause (during) Nutcracker season on Saturdays Im there from 9 to 5.  On regular weeks, Im usually there from like 4 to 5, Gillespie said. At first, I was kind of hesitant about it (the new Bristol Ballet studio), but every day it just becomes more and more like home.

Renovations

Currently, Bristol Ballet is operating out of a temporary studio on one side of the building. Much of the energy is going toward dismantling the old material in the building.

A big part of the plan is the creation of three dance studios with the dining room of the restaurant being converted into the main studio, which will make the parking lot by that dining area the main entrance. Plescia is happy that there will now be three studios.

Were thrilled though because weve always only had two, so well have at least one more, she said. So we can offer more classes and do more outreach to the community.

What used to be the kitchen will be converted into administrative offices, as well as a waiting area for the kids and what used to be the Athens Steak House office will become the ballets sewing room.

An important change will be replacing all the floors in the studio rooms with cushioned floors that Plescia explained are necessary for the safety of the dancers.

This is Pergo on top of concrete. So, we need to do something to have, its called a sprung floor, so, theres a little bit of give when they jump, and its not so hard on the joints and the bones, Plescia said.

Bristol Ballet has kicked off a capital campaign called Raising the Barre. To start the first phase of renovations, the organization needs $50,000 to $100,000 in donations because a total of $300,000 is needed.

There is also a Buy a Brick campaign through which individuals can pay $150 to have their name written on a brick that will go into the renovated building.

The time frame for the renovations will be based on the amount of time it takes to raise the funds to complete the two phases of construction and how long it takes Burwil to get the materials. The total amount needed to complete both phases is $500,000. However, that number could change due to supply chain issues and the rise in costs due to COVID.

Those at Bristol Ballet hope to start the first phase renovations in the next year.

Plescia said she is grateful to the Bristol Ballet community for their efforts in helping make their new space a home where students can thrive and grow.

Thank goodness for our parents. Weve got several parents who have pretty much adopted us. They helped clean this place, and it was in dire need of a good cleaning because it hadnt been operational in five years, Plescia said. The community is really important to us, and thats who we serve. We serve children and students in the community and then audience members. We want people to, not just to come see the shows because we have one, but to experience the art and usually that has a blossoming effect.

Burwil Construction is handling the renovations, which will be done in two phases. This means that at some point, as renovations take off, Plescia and her students will have to relocate once more from their current temporary studio space to another space in the building. While giving a tour of the building last week, Plescia described what she imagines their new home will look like in the future.

This is the main dining room (of the Athens Steak House), and what we want to do is pick out all the middle support beams and relocate all the ducts and electrical, so itll be a nice wide open space. This will be our main studio.  Were so excited.

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Ann Arbor, Mich. -

Jake Bonnay claimed first place earning the floor title, while Evan Kriley notched a season-high on pommel horse to win the title. Taylor Christopulos rounded out the events claiming the vault title for Nebraska. Despite the loss, the Huskers claimed three of six event titles, noting that NU did not compete in the all-around.claimed first place earning the floor title, whilenotched a season-high on pommel horse to win the title.rounded out the events claiming the vault title for Nebraska.

Rotation One

Jake Bonnay fueled the Huskers notching a 14.45 and earned a first place finish. Charlie Giles starts off the rotation notching a 13.50, followed closely by freshman Chris Hiser who claimed a career-high score of 13.45. Sophomore Taylor Christopulos then added a score of 13.70, while junior Sam Phillips rounded out the event with 11.90. NU finished with a team score of 67.300. Nebraska started off the Big Ten matchup on floor, posting an overall team score of 68.750. Seniorfueled the Huskers notching a 14.45 and earned a first place finish.starts off the rotation notching a 13.50, followed closely by freshmanwho claimed a career-high score of 13.45. Sophomorethen added a score of 13.70, while juniorrounded out the event with 11.90. NU finished with a team score of 67.300.

The Wolverines competed head-to-head with the Huskers earning 68.750.

Rotation Two

Evan Kriley , notching an impressive 14.00 and finishing in first. Cooper Giles earned a 13.25 and finished in fourth. Sophomore Yanni Chronopoulos notched a career-high score of 13.15, while Khalil Jackson finished with a 11.75. Charlie Giles rounded out the rotation with 11.50. The Huskers went on to compete on pommel horse, led by Senior, notching an impressive 14.00 and finishing in first.earned a 13.25 and finished in fourth. Sophomorenotched a career-high score of 13.15, whilefinished with a 11.75.rounded out the rotation with 11.50.

NU moved into the third rotation behind 130.950-133.750.

Rotation Three

Dylan LeClair earned a career-high score of 13.45. Yanni Chronopoulos followed behind scoring a 13.45, while Junior Moritz Mueller earned a career-high of 13.20. Junior Liam Doherty-Herwitz notched a score of 13.10, while Sam Phillips anchored the rotation with a 12.90. Nebraska moved to still rings whereearned a career-high score of 13.45.followed behind scoring a 13.45, while Juniorearned a career-high of 13.20. Juniornotched a score of 13.10, whileanchored the rotation with a 12.90.

Sophomore Javier Alfonso earned the event title for the Wolverines notching a 14.35 on rings.

Rotation Four

Taylor Christopulos led NU on the fourth rotation earning the vault title after scoring a 14.65. Liam Doherty-Herwitz and Charlie Giles both followed closely behind notching a score of 14.30 respectively. Donte McKinney earned a career-high score of 14.00. Charlie Giles rounded out the lineup with a score of 14.30 led NU on the fourth rotation earning the vault title after scoring a 14.65.andboth followed closely behind notching a score of 14.30 respectively.earned a career-high score of 14.00.rounded out the lineup with a score of 14.30

Nebraska went into the fifth rotation behind 268.150-273.550.

Rotation Five

Dylan LeClair paved the way for the Huskers on parallel bars earning an impressive score of 14.25, a career-high. Right behind, team captain Dillan King notched a 13.80, while Yanni Chronopoulos scored a career-high 13.25. Jake Bonnay and Evan Kriley finished with a 13.40 and 13.10 respectively. Seniorpaved the way for the Huskers on parallel bars earning an impressive score of 14.25, a career-high. Right behind, team captainnotched a 13.80, whilescored a career-high 13.25.andfinished with a 13.40 and 13.10 respectively.

The Big Red transitioned into the final rotation behind 335.950-345.300.

Rotation Six

Taylor Christopulos led the way for the Big Red after earning a career-high of 13.70 and finished in third. Jake Bonnay and Donte McKinney both finished in fifth with a score of 13.40 respectively. Dillan King notched a 12.85, while Sam Phillips finished with a 10.75. On their final rotation, NU finished on high bar with an overall team score of 400.050. Sophomoreled the way for the Big Red after earning a career-high of 13.70 and finished in third.andboth finished in fifth with a score of 13.40 respectively.notched a 12.85, whilefinished with a 10.75.

The Huskers fell to the Wolverines 400.050-409.100.

Up Next

The Huskers return to competition for another Big Ten matchup at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb. on Saturday Feb. 5 against Penn State starting at 6:30 p.m. CT.

The Nebraska men's gymnastics team fell to Michigan on Saturday afternoon 400.050-409.100.NU went into the fourth rotation behind 197.050-203.750.
Naomi Judd died Saturday at age 76. Here are some of the entertainers, leaders, athletes and other notable people we've lost so far this year.
RALEIGH  Do you think felons should lose their right to vote? If so, do you think they should be able to regain that right after getting out of prison or should they have to wait until they complete any probation or parole requirement that follows prison? Or do you think a felony conviction should forever block someone from participating in elections?

Wherever you may stand on these questions, you dont stand alone. Opinions vary.

According to a 2018 YouGov survey, 24% of Americans think felons should be able to vote even while they are incarcerated, while 38% think they should be able to vote when they complete their prison sentences and 63% think they should be able to when theyre no longer on probation or parole. That leaves some 37% who are either unsure about the issue or think that felons should never be able to vote.

For decades, North Carolina adhered to the policy that happened to have the broadest public support. The state stripped those convicted of felonies of the right to vote and allowed them to regain that right after completing their full sentences, including probation and parole.

In 2019, a group of felons, assisted by several left-wing organizations and attorneys, sued to overturn the policy as a violation of the North Carolina constitution. The plaintiffs didnt claim that taking away the voting rights of felons was inherently unconstitutional. That would have been silly. No person adjudged guilty of a felony, the constitution states in Article 6, Section 2, shall be permitted to vote unless that person shall first be restored to the rights of citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.

Rather, the plaintiffs argued that felons should regain their voting rights as soon as they get out of prison, even if they remain under some kind of post-release supervision.

Otherwise, felons who lack financial resources are excluded from the franchise longer than those who can pay the fees and restitution required under probation. Thats a violation of equal protection, say the plaintiffs.

Last August, a panel of three Superior Court judges agreed, at least in part.

They struck down the statute in question and ordered the state to restore the right to vote to some 56,000 felons who are out of prison but still on probation or parole.

A month later, however, the North Carolina Court of Appeals stayed that decision until the case can be fully argued. The Supreme Court declined to remove the stay. So, for now, the original policy stands.

I freely admit that to say North Carolinas original policy enjoys broad support among the general public is not to say it is necessarily wise or constitutional. Ours is not a system of government by opinion survey. It isnt even a majority-always-rules system of government, although some politicians and activists like to claim otherwise when it suits their purpose.

Why do we have constitutionally protected rights and procedures in the first place? Because majorities can be just as tyrannical as minorities or autocracies.

Still, not all disputes, even about basic civil rights such as voting, can or should be settled by lawyers and judges in a courtroom. How long should the polls stay open on Election Day? What rules should govern those who wish to vote early, or by absentee ballot? And, as in this case, what is the proper balance between maximizing participation in elections and requiring that participants shoulder basic responsibilities of citizenship, which include registering to vote in the proper place within a reasonable time and  need this be said  obeying the criminal laws of our state and nation?

These questions do not have simple, obvious answers. For instance, any set of voting rules may affect people somewhat differently based on location, work status or other characteristics. The tradeoffs involved ought to be hashed out through conversation and compromise in a public, deliberative process.

In other words, they are the kind of questions properly answered by legislation, not litigation.

John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member and author of the novel Mountain Folk, a historical fantasy set during the American Revolution (FolkloreCycle.com).
CHICAGO  A Chicago man convicted of a 2003 murder has been granted a new trial, years after his twin brother stepped forward and confessed to the crime.

Kevin Dugar was granted bond Tuesday and assigned to a residential transition facility. Cook County authorities must decide whether to put him on trial again or drop charges.

"This case is in a very different situation than it was 20 years ago," said attorney Ron Safer, who hopes the case is dropped. "Everybody knows much more about it."

In 2013, a decade after the homicide, Dugar's identical twin, Karl Smith, wrote a letter, saying he was the one who fired into a group of people, killing one and injuring another. Smith is serving decades in prison for other crimes.

A judge in 2018 said Smith wasn't credible and refused to throw out Dugar's conviction and 54-year prison sentence. Prosecutors said Smith had nothing to lose by speaking up for his brother.

But the Illinois Court of Appeals in 2021 overturned that decision, an opinion that led to Dugar's eventual release.

The brothers dressed alike until eighth grade and had impersonated each other for years, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2018 when they both appeared in court. They have different last names because Smith took his mother's maiden name.

Dugar long maintained his innocence and had turned down a plea deal that would have carried an 11-year prison sentence, far short of his subsequent 54-year term.

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SPRINGFIELD  A Sangamon County judge is considering a motion to block Illinois schools from requiring people to wear face masks in classes and excluding students and staff from school buildings if theyve had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow heard oral arguments last week in a class action lawsuit against 145 school districts that was filed last year by Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore, who has unsuccessfully challenged the states COVID-19 mitigation measures in several other lawsuits.

In September, DeVore filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to permit students to continue in-person learning in school.

Attorney General Kwame Raouls office is defending the districts and the Illinois Education Association, along with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, has entered the case as intervenors on behalf of the teachers they represent.

The cases were originally filed individually in several Illinois counties but were later consolidated into Sangamon County Circuit Court.

At issue is whether school districts are violating state law by implementing orders from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and guidelines from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education to impose certain mitigation measures in order to hold in-person instruction.

Those measures include requirements that all students, staff and visitors wear face coverings in school buildings, that students and staff be excluded from buildings if they test positive for COVID-19 or have been in close contact with someone else who has, and that school personnel be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.

In the suit, DeVore argues that exclusions amount to a kind of quarantine and that under the Department of Public Health Act, schools cannot exclude students for public health concerns without their parents consent or a quarantine order from a public health department.

He also argues that schools have no legal authority to require vaccinations or the wearing of masks unless a public health department has issued a quarantine order.

* * *

PAID LEAVE IN SCHOOLS: Gov. Pritzker on Monday vetoed a bill that would have provided paid administrative leave for public school and university employees who miss work due to COVID-19-related issues and instead negotiated compromise legislation that would provide such leave to only those who are fully vaccinated.

Vaccines are a vital tool in preventing the deadly effects of COVID-19, and those who take the steps to be fully vaccinated against this virus are doing their part to keep everyone safe, Pritzker said in his veto message. They deserve to be able to take the time they need to respond to the ongoing devastating impacts the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have on them and their families.

House Bill 2778 passed the General Assembly during the fall veto session with wide bipartisan majorities, 53-1 in the Senate and 92-23 in the House.

It would have provided paid leave for any employee, including support staff and contractors, who missed work because they or someone in their household contracted COVID-19, if they or a family member was forced to stay home because theyd been in close contact with someone who had tested positive, or if they could not work because the school building was closed due to COVID-19.

To be eligible, however, the bill provided that the employee must either have been vaccinated or participated in the COVID-19 testing program provided by the district.

In September, Pritzker issued an executive order requiring school personnel to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. But his veto action Monday means that those who choose not to be vaccinated will not be eligible for paid administrative leave.

Since that bill passed, however, Pritzker said he has been negotiating with teachers unions and other groups to negotiate a different package with a stronger vaccine requirement.

Under that initiative, which still needs legislative approval, public school and university employees would receive paid administrative leave if they are fully vaccinated and they or their child is required to be excluded from school because of a positive COVID-19 test or have been in close contact with someone who has a confirmed case of COVID-19.

* * *

LAWMAKERS, GOVERNOR RETURNING TO CAPITOL: 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, Jan. 27, 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.

Lawmakers are scheduled to meet Tuesday through Thursday next week, Feb. 1-3.

At a separate event in Chicago on Thursday, Gov. 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.

* * *

DCFS: An emergency housing facility at the center of 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.

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.

* * *

PRISONER REVIEW BOARD: A bill was introduced in the Illinois House on Thursday, revamping the Prisoner Review Board, the board that decides whether those convicted of felonies will be freed and the conditions they will face if they are released from prison.

The goal of the new legislation, HB 5126, is to increase transparency, require a certain number of board members to have a law enforcement background and imprint victim rights on the boards mission statement, according to House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, who sponsored the bill.

Durkin said the recent release of a cop killer, a murder-rapist and a child killer underscored the need for this legislation.

These are just three specific cases, horrible cases, but they tell you everything you need to know, Durkin said during a virtual news conference. In each one of these cases a victim or their family publicly stated their strenuous opposition to the parole of each one of these.

Some major points of the HB 5126 include:

 Requires five members of the 12-member Prisoner Review Board to have experience as police officers or a prosecutor.

 Broadcasts via live stream Prisoner Review Board hearings.

 Makes clemency recommendations to the governors office public.

 Requires a two-thirds vote for parole for those convicted of first-degree murder. Currently, the vote must be a simple majority voting for parole.

 Authorizes testimony from one representative of the person under parole consideration, one member of law enforcement from the county where the person was convicted, and one member of the victims family at the parole hearings.

 Makes the decision of the governor in parole cases subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

 Requires the Prisoner Review Board to notify victims in writing when an application for clemency has been made within a week of the filing of the application. If the victims fail to file a statement 30 days before the clemency hearing date, a second notice should be sent to the victim. A victim will receive a 45-day extension to provide a statement if they request it, and that time must elapse before the board can hold the hearing.

* * *

ETHICS REFORMS: Demanding what they call common sense ethics reform, Senate Republicans plan to take action in addressing unethical behavior by elected public officials.

Upon introducing the ethics reforms package, Senate Republicans called for the legislative inspector general position to be filled through an independent search committee. Republicans said Democrats need to end the political games and hire a legislative watchdog.

It is not OK to have the legislative inspector generals seat empty, and it is not OK for the majority party to play political games with an issue as important as legislative ethics, and it is not OK for legislators to think they can police themselves, Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles, said during a virtual news conference Thursday.

The position has been vacant since LIG Carol Pope left the position on Jan. 6. Since exiting, a 45-day countdown started to find an interim LIG but the commission is currently at an impasse. If the position is still vacant in six months, the Illinois auditor general will choose the next LIG.

Republicans also filed legislation to increase LIGs power that would allow the person in that position the ability to subpoena lawmakers and make the Ethics Commission meetings open to the public.

To address the shortcomings Republicans felt were not properly addressed in the last reform bill, Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, introduced Senate Bill 3636, which takes meaningful action to address corruption within the state government. The legislation would build on SB 539, which was passed in 2021.

Senate Bill 3636 would prevent spouses and other close family living with a General Assembly member from engaging in lobbying if they accept compensation, and prevent legislators from negotiating for employment with lobbying entities while holding public office.

Under last years bill, a six-month revolving door provision banned legislators from lobbying until six months after leaving office. The new provision in SB 3636 would extend the ban to 12 months.

The bill would also allow the attorney general to expand the authority of a statewide grand jury to investigate, indict, and prosecute public corruption cases, and give states attorneys power to investigate corruption of public officials.

* * *

SUPREME COURT CASE: 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.

Michael Dorf, attorney for the 25th Ward committee, however, argued that public corruption investigations are, by definition, directly tied to an officeholders official duties, so attorney fees should be considered an allowable use.

* * *

HOMEOWNERS ASSISTANCE: Beginning this spring, the Illinois Housing Development Authority will start accepting applications for homeowners experiencing financial hardship.

The Illinois Emergency Homeowner Assistance Fund overseen by IHDA is a federally-funded program that is dedicated to assist Illinois homeowners that have struggled to pay their mortgage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I know weve been waiting for these funds for a while and its really been a holdup from the U.S. Treasury (of) being able to get this money out the door, House Housing Committee Chair Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, said during a hearing Wednesday.

Funded through the American Rescue Plan Act that passed Congress in March 2021, $387 million will be available through the emergency assistance fund for homeowners.

The ARPA funds provided assistance for rent and utilities, as well as $387 million for the soon-to-launch mortgage assistance program.

Homeowners will be able to apply for a grant of up to $30,000 that will eliminate or reduce arrearages associated with homeownership.

Funds can also be used to prevent mortgage delinquencies and defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services and displacement of homeowners experiencing financial hardship after Jan. 21, 2020.

Homeowners must contact their mortgage servicer or a housing counseling agency to ask for help and then, depending on the outcome, can apply for assistance through IHDA.

* * *

ABORTION ACCESS: Hoping to make abortion care more accessible, a facility near St. Louis is set to be the first of its kind in providing financial assistance for travel-related costs.

A Regional Logistics Center was opened Friday, Jan. 21, in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Fairview Heights. Using private funds, the center will pay for travel and lodging arrangements and connect patients to resources and support organizations in all 50 states.

Together, we are breaking down the silos anti-abortion politicians have created, and proving that  with innovation and determination  we can secure a future with abortion access, Yamelsie Rodriguez, president of St. Louis Planned Parenthood, said during an opening event Friday.

Rodriguez said the RLC will be operated by Planned Parenthood and the Granite City-based Hope Clinic for Women in response to more restrictive abortion laws in other states and to the lack of access for women in rural areas.

Planned Parenthood and Hope Clinic have been planning for the center since 2019, when Gov. Pritzker signed the Reproductive Health Act which guarantees that reproductive health, including abortion, is a fundamental right in Illinois.

The idea that were protecting those rights with the Reproductive Health Act in the state is vital, Pritzker said.

Since a soft opening in December, the center has provided 138 rides and flights and housed dozens of women in need of overnight stays.

Rodriguez is projecting an additional 14,000 women from conservative states are likely to travel to the region for abortion care if Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide, is overturned.

* * *

LAW ENFORCEMENT: Police chiefs and sheriffs told a panel of state lawmakers Friday, Jan. 21, that they need more resources and support from the public and the General Assembly to combat a rising rate of violent crime in Illinois. Some said they dont feel they are getting that now, especially in light of recently-enacted criminal justice reforms.

There are members in policing that believe that the community should have nothing to say about what we do in our profession, Hazel Crest Police Chief Mitchell Davis said. Conversely, there are members in the community that want nothing to do with police officers of any kind. All sides are entitled to feel the way that they feel. But until we are able to work together in spite of our differences, we will never fully reach our potential in equitably addressing the concerns of public safety and violence in all communities.

Davis spoke during a hearing of the House Public Safety and Violence Prevention Task Force, a group that House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, formed in September to develop a collaborative approach to the violence crisis.

Welch formed the task force as Chicago and many other cities were experiencing their most violent year in decades. Chicago alone had some 800 murders during the year, the most in the past quarter century.

The panel is co-chaired by Reps. LaShawn K. Ford and Frances Ann Hurley, both Chicago Democrats.

The increase in violent crime has come just after the General Assembly enacted a sweeping criminal justice reform package known as the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T Act that included, among other things, the scheduled elimination of cash bail in Illinois beginning next year.

When that law takes effect Jan. 1, 2023, courts will still be able to detain people they believe pose a risk to public safety, but those who are not detained will be released on conditions other than posting bond.

Lemont Police Chief Marc Maton said public criticism of policing in general has led to officers being less willing to take aggressive actions to stop crime.

Our cops aren't laying down, he said. They see the media, proposed legislation and community commentary, and they think that this is the role that's expected of them, and that the community wants a less aggressive approach to policing and is asking for this model of policing.

Springfield Police Chief Kenny Winslow said his department has been losing officers who get trained in Illinois but later move to work in other states that they perceive to be more supportive of law enforcement.

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First in flight to future of flight: Its a catchy 60,000-foot vision for the local and state officials touting Boom Supersonics commitment to invest $500 million in a Triad superfactory and create at least 1,761 jobs by 2030.

But amid the celebratory mood and hearty fist bumps for landing the project at Piedmont Triad International Airport, there was the faint whiff of skepticism present.

During the announcement of the project on Wednesday, economic and elected officials were posed, whether subtly or directly, with a key question:

Is Boom too good to be true?

Construction of the aviation facility is slated to begin later this year, with the takeoff of Booms first commercial flight projected for 2029. Officials have dedicated about $116.2 million in local and state incentives to the company.

Boom is widely seen as a promising aircraft manufacturer  though still one without a proven product.

The last major venture into civilian supersonic flight, the Concorde, lasted from 1976-2003. Concorde, developed jointly by the British and French governments, offered a 3 -hour flight from New York City to London at an average flight cost of $9,000, which made it a symbol of speed and luxury.

However. an Air France jet crash on July 25, 2000, after takeoff from Paris, killed all 109 individuals on board and four on the ground. After flights were grounded for more than a year, the Concorde never recovered from the fatal crash.

A state Commerce Department report on the Boom project determined the operational hub could bolster the North Carolina economy by $32.3 billion over the 20 years of the states $87.2 million Job Development Investment grant agreement.

Gov. Roy Cooper addressed the uncertainty Wednesday, expressing confidence in both Boom and Toyota Motor North America, which announced a similar job commitment in December for an electric vehicle battery plant at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite near Liberty.

We feel good about the fact that this company has a lot of orders already, Cooper said of Boom. Boom said its order book, including purchases and options, stands at 70 aircraft. That includes United Airlines, Japan Airlines and the U.S. Air Force.

Seeing companies around the globe that have invested in (Boom), believing it has a great future, it made us feel secure, Cooper said. We feel it will be a success.

Cooper said he was not surprised that Boom chose PTI Airport and the Triad given their reputation for advanced manufacturing.

This will be so different from the Concorde because they are taking advantage of this new, sustainable technology, Cooper said.

We are now getting in on the cutting edge with Boom, just as we are with the EV batteries with Toyota.

The Boom commitment to PTI Airport comes as the aviation industry enters a growth mode as it begins to put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, said John H. Boyd, founder and principal with global site-selection firm The Boyd Co. of Boca Raton, Fla.

Boom has the potential to be a transformative project for the Triad, not unlike what the Pratt & Whitney (manufacturing) win for Asheville will mean for Western North Carolina, Boyd said. Pratt & Whitney, a division of Raytheon Technologies Corp., pledged in October 2020 to create 800 jobs and spend $650 million on capital investment by 2027 on a 1-million-square-foot, high-tech engine turbine airfoil production facility in Asheville.

It is important to note that with Boom and Honda operating in the market, the Triad will be in an enviable position to attract additional aerospace industry investment and jobs in the months and years ahead, Boyd said.

Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, said the selection of PTI Airport for the operational hub is a significant step forward in bringing sustainable supersonic air travel to passengers and airlines.

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.

Why Boom Supersonic?

An accompanying question: Why does the promise of resurrecting trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific supersonic flight lie with a private manufacturer just seven years old, rather than global giants Airbus and Boeing?

The best answer for Airbus is that the company is currently not interested in supersonic aircraft.

In June, Airbus executives said in a media presentation that they do not plan to prioritize supersonic planes.

SimplyFlying.com quoted Phillppe Munn, Airbus executive vice president for programs and service, as saying when you fight for the next generation (of aircraft), zero emissions, and so on, you make it part of your priority and part of your DNA.

Supersonic is not one of those priorities (at Airbus). Thats my only comment.

Meanwhile, Boeings plans to invest in supersonic aircraft manufacturer Aerion ended when Aerion was shut down in May after 17 years of research and development toward a Mach 1.4, 10-passenger supersonic business jet failed to yield a proven product.

Meanwhile, Boom was featured in a Nov. 21 segment on CBS 60 Minutes that focused on the potential for private airplane manufacturers to revive supersonic passenger travel.

It also has been cited in recent months in similar supersonic travel reports by BBC, CNN, Fortune, New York Times, Reuters, The Economist and Washington Post.

Latest estimates by Boeing indicate that there are well over 900 airplanes today that are over 25 years old, Boyd said.

By the mid-2020s, more than 500 airplanes a year will reach 25 years of age, fueling a robust retirement wave. Over 40% of the new airplanes will be needed to cover replacement alone.

Some of this new demand will be met in the supersonic arena by companies like Boom.

Notable partners

Booms stature in the airline industry gained a major boost in June when it reached an agreement with United Airlines to produce 15 Overture airplanes by 2029 with an option for another 35.

The deal for the 15 Overtures is valued at $3 billion, according to BusinessInsider.com. The agreement is contingent on Overture meeting Uniteds demanding safety, operating and sustainability requirements.

Booms vision for the future of commercial aviation, combined with the industrys most robust route network in the world, will give business and leisure travelers access to a stellar flight experience, United chief executive Scott Kirby said in June.

In addition, Boom has said it is working with the U.S. Air Force for government applications of Overture. XB-1, a demonstrator aircraft, rolled out in 2020.

The company said Jan. 11 that it has expanded its Strategic Funding Increase contract with the U.S. Air Force. The contract is valued at up to $60 million and involves the Air Forces innovation arm, AFWERX, and its AFVentures division. Those entities are focused on accelerating commercial technologies.

Cooper said he is encouraged by the sustainable, clean-energy efforts of Boom for air flight and Toyota for passenger electric vehicles.

The Toyota plant means our state will play a significant role in the future of cars and trucks, Cooper said.

With Boom, were launching the future of flight ... connect the world at record speed with the least damage to our environment.

As we emerge from this pandemic, as we battle climate change, as we reap the prosperity at the cutting edge of the clean energy economy, North Carolina is ready to soar.

Aerotropolis puzzle piece

Local and state economic and elected officials view Boom as a key piece toward fulfilling the potential of a decades-old Triad aerotropolis dream.

Most companies with operations near an aerotropolis tend to make or distribute time-sensitive products or services, such as pharmaceutical, apparel, health-care and perishable-products.

This announcement by Boom Supersonic is decades in the making and further positions the Carolina Core as the premier transportation technology hub in the country, said Stan Kelly, who is stepping down in May as Piedmont Triad Partnership president.

Our aviation and aerospace assets are key differentiators of the Carolina Core and are driving growth throughout the region. Companies like Collins Aerospace, Honda Aircraft Co. and HAECO Americas employ thousands in innovative design, maintenance and manufacturing jobs.

These jobs pay higher-than-average manufacturing wages and raise the economic prosperity of the region.

Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University, said it is reasonable to project a supplier and other indirect job creation equal or exceeding the potential Boom workforce.

There are two multiplier effects  one from suppliers, and the other from the jobs created by the spending of the new income in the region, Walden said.

Boyd said Boom could solidify  along with the Toyota Motor North America electric vehicle battery plant at the Greensboro-Randolph megasite  the Triads reputation as a national and international advanced-manufacturing hub.

The significant advancement in batteries, electric motors and other systems now found in electric cars  as well as hundreds of millions of dollars already in aviation applications  have brought electric technology much closer to commercial take-off after years of research, Boyd said.

By 2035, investment bank UBS estimates that the aviation industry will be 25% hybrid or fully electric. The move to electric will address fuel costs, which are one of the largest, most variable airline expenses, representing between 12% and 20% of total expenses.

Boyd said that while the electric battery focus is understandably on the Toyota plant, Boyd said battery technology is the key to electric commercial aviation as it is in the auto industry.

Large commercial aircraft likely arent going electric anytime soon, but aviation giant Airbus is considering going hybrid for a next-generation passenger jet.

With Boom and Toyota on their way, Boyd said the Triad may find itself as a national player in the nascent EV industry  both on the ground and in the air.

Marriage of convenience

Its not surprising that Boom and PTI found each other.

Boom officials determined during its two-year search for the superfactory site would not lend itself economically to leasing space at a major international airport on the East or West Coast.

The cost of doing business, particularly attracting production workers, research and development specialist, and engineers, would be significant higher than the average annual wage of $68,792 projected at the PTI facility.

Many of those major metro airports are focused primarily, if not foremost, on passenger and commercial services, rather than aviation manufacturing, maintenance and repair operations such as at PTI.

Kathy Savitt, Booms president and chief business officer, said she understands the sentiment of Boom wanting to be a big fish in a small pond, whether at PTI or finalists Greenville, S.C., or Jacksonville, Fla.

Yet, she stressed that Greensboro and the Triad checked all the boxes of its search criteria, which company officials thought would be a really tall order for anyone to be able to accomplish.

Those criteria included a location with an excellent talent pool, good schools and a strong infrastructure. A place where our employees would enjoy a high quality of life.

We need to be close to the coast (a 30-minute subsonic flight for Overture) for supersonic testing which happens over water.

Most of all, Savitt said, we wanted to find a community who wanted to share our passion for our supersonic future.

It became clear that the Piedmont Triad was absolutely the best place, Savitt said.

Boom demonstrated an awareness of the Triads aviation heritage during its wrap-up presentation video in which it featured a nice tip-of-the-hat recognition of Thomas Davis founding of Piedmont Airlines in 1948 being a connector to the Boom superfactory.

Mark Owens, president and chief executive of Greater Winston-Salem Inc., called the Boom plant a regional win for a regional effort.

Thats why we work so closely with our neighboring communities, the Piedmont Triad Partnership and with the Carolina Core to showcase the quality of talent, location and lifestyle here.

Owens said there will be a sizable jobs spillover into Forsyth that could include Boom suppliers being based at Smith Reynolds Airport.

When you are talking about bringing in 1,700 to 2,400 new jobs, that workforce is likely to come from everywhere in the region, Owens said.

We already have a rich aviation talent pipeline with Forsyth Technical Community Colleges Mazie S. Woodruff Aviation Technology Lab, an aviation academy through Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, and other technology and advanced manufacturing career paths through our educational institutions.

These career pathways will help supply employers, including Boom Supersonic, and many others with qualified talent for tomorrows jobs, Owens said.

Reward over risk

Kevin Baker, PTIs executive director, doesnt buy the high-risk part of the skepticism about Boom.

The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority will be leasing the 65-acre property to Boom, so if the manufacturer fails to take flight it wont be able to take the state-funded 400,000-square-foot hanger with them.

Baker said in that scenario, which he believes is unlikely, the authority would have a major infrastructure asset to market to another aviation company.

The $106 million in state-funded infrastructure improvements will advance the development of the airports 1,000-acre megasite.

Baker said that its safe to say that most of the airports being considered by Boom were of similar size and workforce demographics.

The competition was more like this airport than large international airports, Baker said.

Baker said the airport authority decided about 10 years to embrace its role as an economic engine and employment center beyond just the FedEx cargo sorting hub while maintaining a relevant passenger service.

We recognized that (the aviation) industry had already chosen to come here given we had FedEx, HondaJet and Cessna, Baker said.

Its an area that clearly has a lot of assets that are good for these manufacturing companies, so it is clearly a big part of our future.

We still want to make sure we take care of passengers, Baker said. Thats our core business, moving people from place to place.

Baker made a point of saying that Boom represents the culmination of decades worth of the airport authority and PTI executives envisioning what aviation could look like at the airport.

This doesnt happen without the efforts that began 50 years ago, Baker said before rattling off influential officials such as Stanley Frank, Henry Issacson, Steve Showfety, and Bakers predecessor, Ted Johnson.

You cant do something like this five years out, Baker said.

They had the foresight to buy that land. Without that land, this isnt happening.

Will Overture fly from PTI?

Theres certainly a reality that if/when Overture is available for passengers in 2029 that the airlines serving PTI would not offer supersonic service here.

Both Cooper and Savitt said they expect Overture flights would be affordable to the average passenger, rather than a luxury for the rich and famous.

Boom expects Overture aircraft could serve at least 500 existing international flights.

Savitt said the airport authority would need to put in the infrastructure to make it attractive and profitable for airlines to provide supersonic flights here.

Baker said PTIs runways are capable of handling supersonic arrivals and departures.

We recognize that the airlines mostly using this supersonic aircraft will be those on major metros on the coast, Baker said.

We hope they will fly out of here. Id love to take a direct flight to Paris.

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Patience  as has been the case with most major Triad economic-development projects  will be required for residents who want a high-paying job at Boom Supersonic.

The company said Wednesday it plans to begin hiring in 2023 after the construction of its $500 million superfactory reaches certain thresholds.

The facility will feature manufacturing, assembly, testing and distribution operations.

Construction of the 400,000-square-foot facility is slated to begin later this year on a 65-acre property at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The first Overture jet is expected to go into commercial airline service in 2029.

Kathy Savitt, Booms president and chief business officer, said its too early to begin unveiling hiring plans beyond the commitment to 1,761 jobs by 2030 and at least 2,400 jobs by 2032. The average annual wage is estimated at about $68,000.

Its not all that dissimilar to the hiring patterns of Caterpillar Inc., Dell Inc., Egger Wood Products, FedEx Corp., Gildan Activewear Inc., Herbalife Nutrition Ltd., Honda Aircraft Co. and Sturm, Ruger & Co., many of which  outside the closed Dell plant  remain in constant hiring mode.

Savitt said the goal is to have a mixture of as many local hires as possible, while also searching nationwide for key positions that cant be filled. Those will include production, assemblers, research and development, and engineers.

Were going to leverage the great workforce thats here. It was one of the significant factors we took into consideration when we selected this site, Savitt said.

Triad residents willing to move temporarily to the Denver suburbs could get a head start on a local job. Boom currently lists 31 openings on the careers link at its website.

Savitt said the first significant boost to the local workforce will come from offering more than 200 apprenticeship and internships, potentially as early as 2023 and through 2032. Those opportunities will be posted on the careers link.

Savitt said the apprenticeships and internships are specifically meant for students who attend universities, community colleges or technical schools anywhere in North Carolina.

We earnestly believe that students will want to work for Boom, Levitt said.

Kevin Baker, PTIs executive director, said that with an average $52,000 household income within a 35-mile radius of the airport, it will be one person bringing that much home (from Boom) rather than both adults in the household.

The message is that these arent just going to be a bunch of jobs here, but a bunch of good-paying jobs, Baker said.

Baker said that if/when Boom reaches its initial goal of 1,761 workers, it would boost the total PTI campus workforce to more than 10,000 given its current level of about 8,600.

Combined, were already the fifth-largest employer sector in the Triad, Baker said.

Gov. Roy Cooper expressed confidence that Boom, along with Toyota Motor North Americas electric-vehicle battery plant at the Greensboro-Randolph megasite, will inspire students and young adults to pursue advanced manufacturing training.

We have to make sure we can supply the educated, diverse workforce that these companies need, and they believe we can, Cooper said.

We know there are labor shortages in a number of areas.

By creating these new, better-paying jobs, the supply chains will follow, and that will, in turn, help create the ecosystem we need to sustain these projects, Cooper said.

Will suppliers come?

With Boom taking just 65 of the 1,000 available acres for economic development at PTI, there should be ample room for suppliers to locate next or near the superfactory.

Baker said that PTI and the airport authority are restricted in terms of recruitment in that the Federal Aviation Administration requires that airport land be used by tenants who need to be on an airport.

We could not locate a distribution center for a retailer, or an auto manufacturer, etc.

Baker expects that suppliers who are vertically integrated into the Boom assembly process, like wing box manufacturer, empennage (an arrangement of stabilizing surfaces at the tail of an aircraft) and fuselage could be co-located with the final assembly, while many wont need to be on the airport at all.

Supplier discussions are the companys thing, not ours.

Yet, theres an understandable level of skepticism about how many suppliers actually will open operations here to serve Boom.

When the Dell Inc. desktop-assembly plant was at a similar celebratory stage of its announcement, there were two extensive reports released in 2004 that estimated between 4,500 and 6,500 supplier and other indirect jobs would be created to serve the $110 million plant.

However, only about 500 ever emerged, and most of those were distribution jobs embedded in the plant which closed in 2010.

After citing discussions with Rolls-Royce about Overtures propulsion system, Savitt expressed that Booms supply chain will cross all aspects of our program.

This important supply chain is going to converge right here in the Triad.

Cooper said that while landing the Boom and Toyota projects are high-profile economic win for the Triad, the region has been benefiting in recent years from quietly amassing companies in the advanced-manufacturing and aeronautics areas.

All of it shows this area has a significant future ahead of it.

Paradigm shift

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines called Boom a paradigm shift for the Triad given not only the manufacturers job and capital-investment commitment, but also the companies that will come here as suppliers and service providers.

I believe we may look back 10 years from now and say that this was the day that we stopped talking about what we can be, and actually became what we are today.

Site-selection expert John H. Boyd, founder and principal of The Boyd Co. Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., said he has no doubts that the Triad can supply the labor resources to Boom.

As an example, Boyd harkened back  without malevolent intent  to the early 1990s and what proved to be a game-changing missed manufacturing opportunity for the Triad.

A doubting Thomas can only look at the experience of BMW in Spartanburg, S.C. in 1992, Boyd said.

At the time, there was no precedent for auto production in South Carolina, and its ability to supply the necessary labor was very much in question.

When asked by a newspaper reporter about whether BMW had made a strategic mistake, Boyd said he responded by saying staffing the plant would be no problem for BMW given the fact that hourly workers do relocate for the kind of jobs offered by the auto industry given its wages, benefits and security, along with the low cost of living in Greenville/Spartanburg area.

Fast-forward 30 years and BMW in Spartanburg has a workforce exceeding 11,000 that builds about 1,500 BMWs every day.

The current facility represents an investment of $10.6 billion that includes two massive body shops, two paint shops, two assembly halls and an elaborate logistics operation, Boyd said. The plant ships finished cars to more than 125 countries around the world.

I see a similar playbook for Boom here in the Triad.

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Scene outside Danville Court in Crofton after officers fatally shot a man who had injured an officer, according to police. Officers had responded to a domestic altercation. (Amy Davis)

Anne Arundel County police shot and killed a man in a Crofton home Sunday morning after an altercation that left an officer seriously wounded, the department said.

At about 4 a.m., officers were called to the townhouse in the 900 block of Danville Court. A woman told 911 dispatchers that her adult son had assaulted her and was not letting her leave the home, Anne Arundel Police spokeswoman Lt. Jacklyn Davis said.

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When officers arrived, they knocked on the locked front door, but there was no answer. The woman, who was still on the phone with dispatchers, asked that the officers force entry because she couldnt get to the front door, Davis said.

Officers then entered a locked third-floor bedroom, and located the woman and her son. When officers asked the man to get on the ground, he complied, but when officers attempted to handcuff him, he fought back, Davis said.

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Officers used a Taser in an attempt to subdue the man, Davis said, but it was ineffective. During the struggle, an officer was injured. That officer fired his gun at the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The officer was transported to an area trauma center, where he was in serious condition Sunday morning, Davis said.

These are certainly tough calls that we respond to, and officers are thrust into situations where they have to make critical decisions, oftentimes very split-second decisions, that they have to live with for the rest of their lives, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad said at the scene Sunday morning.

Under a law that took effect in October that covers all deadly uses of force by officers across the state, the Maryland Attorney Generals Office, with the help of Maryland State Police, will investigate the shooting.

Our role in this investigation is to piece together exactly what happened, from the time the 911 call was received until our office was notified, said Thomas Lester, spokesman for the attorney generals independent investigations division.

Lester and Davis declined to answer questions about whether the man was armed, how many shots were fired in the residence and how many officers entered.

Officials from that attorney generals office will review officers body camera footage from the incident, and will release it within 14 days, Lester said, so long as there are no technical difficulties and the impacted family has had time to review it.

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Sunday morning, residents, mainly walking dogs, traipsed through the snow-covered neighborhood.

Sarah McCoy, 45, who was out with her dog Rudy, said she awoke at about 4:30 a.m. and saw police lights flashing through her window.

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I dont think it makes the neighborhood any less safe or any scarier, she said of the incident. This stuff can happen anywhere.

Jewel Crumbley, 22, walked to the crime scene from her home nearby after hearing about the incident. Crumbley said she studies criminal justice at Penn State University but came home for the weekend. She originally moved to the neighborhood when she was about 7 years old.

She recalled that in 2009, a teen was beaten to death in the neighborhood. The teen, Christopher Jones, was riding his bike on nearby Nantucket Drive when he was assaulted by several other teens with ties to a local gang.

There hasnt been anything else thats like crazy thats happened, so this is kind of shocking for me, Crumbley said.
Spirit Gum Theatre Company returns to the indoor stage for the first time in a while with their production of Chiara Atiks comedy Bump.

Atik, a prolific playwright and magazine writer, wrote Bump. It was produced off-Broadway in 2018.

Overall, the publishers description of the play says it spans time and space in an effort to grapple with the mystery and the miracle of maternity.

Spirit Gums Bump features Luis Molina, Ashley Pearson, Celeste Cervantes (as the Vasquez family) plus Janice Lovett, Autumn Martin, Reed Prevatte, Lauren Rahill, Lee Knapp, Bethany Schultz, AlexAndriA Grace Porter-Phelps, Emily Emerson and Rebecca Mills. Knapp is also the productions stage manager.

Teresa Prevatte is directing her second play for Spirit Gum. Her first was a one-person show, Every Brilliant Thing.

Bump has a cast of 12 who live in three separate worlds, Prevatte said. So, in that way, it is a new experience for me as a director.

Prevatte said that, when company member Sarah Jenkins contacted her about directing the show, I was inclined to say yes right away since working with Spirit Gum is always such a joy. The script is clever, engaging and hopeful  and it also provides an opportunity for representation of Latinx stories and talent.

She describes the play as one with unexpected humor.

Bump is about pregnancy and childbirth, connection and loss, inspiration and innovation, she said. It draws on three different stories.

The first focuses on the Vasquez family, based on the true story of Jorge Odon, a car mechanic who invented a birthing device in his garage. The next is a message board on which pregnant women connect, vent and share their experience of pregnancy. The third is about a young woman giving birth in colonial times with the assistance of a midwife.

The thing that I found surprising is that, even though the play is about childbirth and the invention of a medical device, it is very funny, Prevatte said.

Luis Molina plays Luis Vasquez, the mechanic, husband and father. This is my first time acting with Spirit Gum and any other productions.

For his first role, Molina says the most interesting thing about my character is, I know how to do mechanic work and that makes it easier to understand his character, Luis. Ive been studying and reading a lot, which is a challenge when you dont have too much free time. But Im so excited to be part of this.

Molina is working with experienced actor Ashley Pearson, who has performed in about 50 shows across the Triad over the past 13 years, including playing Vanda in Spirit Gums Venus in Fur in 2018. She plays Luis wife, Maria.

With this character in particular, Pearson said, Im playing a mother even though I myself do not have children. So, I rely on my own relationship with my mom  also a Hispanic woman named Maria  and work to build a relationship with Celeste, who plays my daughter. In general, with characters, I try to find their motivations, their goals and their nuances to hopefully bring them to life.

Celeste Cervantes, also a first-timer with Spirit Gum, plays pregnant daughter Claudia Vasquez as her first major stage role.

What I find most interesting is Claudias relationship with her dad, Cervantes said, because it is so similar to my own. My dad, much like Luis character, has out-of-the-blue inventions that come from the love and care he has for those around him. Sometimes we might find the ways our parents try to stay involved in our lives silly or overbearing, but playing Claudia and listening to Luis lines has made me realize it is all out of love.

Ive also looked back at my own interactions with my parents and where I tried to make a case for doing things the untraditional way, she said.

I think Bump is such a fun look at different stories of being pregnant, motherhood, and how some things remain the same over time while we still enter new ages and trends, or come up with new inventions, Pearson said. Theres a lot of humor, truth and rawness to this show, with a great ensemble cast.
Two alumni and current and former faculty of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts have connections to the Sundance Film Festival, which runs through today. The festival is virtual from Park City, Utah.

Audiences can see some of the Sundance offerings today at Aperture Cinema in Winston-Salem.

Two other alumni have a film screening at the alternative Slamdance Film Festival, running through Feb. 6, also in a virtual format.

To have a film screen at Sundance or Slamdance is a true achievement, said UNCSA School of Filmmaking Dean Deborah LaVine. Both festivals have championed independent filmmakers since their inception, and Sundance is now recognized as one of the most important film festivals in the world. It has immense film industry support and notoriety.

Slamdance has stayed true to its roots of guerrilla filmmaking, said LaVine, who is a respected working director, producer and award-winning independent filmmaker.

At Sundance, UNCSA School of Drama alumnus William Bednar-Carter (15) is one of the principal cast members of The Cathedral, in the NEXT category, which includes bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling.

The film is an impressionistic account of the familial relationships of Jesse Damrosh, which define a typical, middle-class American existence.

School of Filmmaking alumnus Zach Seivers (06) is the supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer on Sirens, which is screening in the world cinema documentary competition. The film is about Slave to Sirens, the first and only all-woman thrash metal band in the Middle East.

Current School of Filmmaking adjunct faculty member Ilana Coleman is the writer/producer of Dos Estaciones, in the world cinema dramatic competition. The film portrays iron-willed businesswoman Maria Garcia, who is fighting the impending collapse of her tequila factory in Mexicos Jalisco highlands. Coleman teaches producing at UNCSA.

Former School of Filmmaking faculty member Ramin Bahrani is the director and screenwriter of 2nd Chance, in the premieres category. The film details the rise and fall of bankrupt pizzeria owner Richard Davis, who invented the modern-day bulletproof vest. To prove that it worked, he shot himself 192 times.

At Slamdance, which is dedicated to fostering a community for independent emerging artists, School of Filmmaking alumnus Micah Vassau (13) is the director/screenwriter of From Water Comes Melon in the narrative shorts category. Vassau and fellow Filmmaking alumnus Ian McClerin (12) are producers of the film, which details what happens when Mother Natures ice cream melts and the last watermelon washes ashore, forcing a woman to choose between love or inescapable doom.

Hosted by the Sundance Institute, the Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the U.S.
Tax season opened Jan. 24 and many people will be looking for someone to prepare their taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service recommends carefully choosing your tax preparer.

An example from last October of the damage an unscrupulous tax preparer can do. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of North Carolina, a Charlotte tax preparer named Andrivia Wells, 54, was convicted of tax fraud that had been going on for several years.

This is from Wells sentencing hearing on Oct. 21:

Between 2013 and 2017, Wells prepared, or caused to be prepared, more than 6,000 tax returns that falsely claimed more than $3 million in refunds. Wells and Rush Tax Service received over $1.2 million in fees from her clients. The tax preparation fees were taken directly from the clients tax refunds and in many cases the clients were unaware of how much they were being charged, which was frequently more than $500.

Wells was sentenced to 70 months in prison, one year of court supervision and ordered to pay $3,373,595 in restitution.

People like Wells are the the reason the IRS warns people to be cautious about the person they hire to prepare their taxes.

Cheryl L. Parker, the public information officer for IRS-Criminal Investigations, Charlotte Field Office, sent this information:

Choose a tax preparer wisely. Look for a preparer who is available year-round. Check references, ask questions, find out the fees involved prior to engagement, ask for a printed copy prior to submission to the IRS and a common practice for a return preparer is to review the various sections of the return with you.

Ask your tax preparer for their IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). All paid preparers are required to have one.

Dont use a ghost preparer. They wont sign a tax return they prepare for you.

Dont fall victim to tax preparers promises of large refunds. Taxpayers must pay their fair share of taxes.

Dont sign a blank tax return. Taxpayers are ultimately responsible for what appears on tax returns filed with the IRS.

Make sure you receive your refund. Your refund should be deposited into your bank account, not your tax preparers.

The IRS will not call you threatening legal action. If you receive a call like this, hang up.

Dont respond to text messages, emails or social media posts claiming to be the IRS. They may contain malware that could compromise your personal information.

Dont click links or open attachments in unsolicited emails or text messages about your tax return. These messages are fraudulent.

Protect your personal and financial information. Never provide this information in response to unsolicited text messages, emails or social media posts claiming to be the IRS.

This years deadline for filing taxes is April 18. The later date is because of the Emancipation Day holiday in Washington, DC.

If you request an extension, you will have until Oct. 17 to file your taxes. If you owe taxes, they still have to be paid by April 18.

For more information about taxes go to www.IRS.gov or for North Carolina taxes www.NCDOR.gov.

Email: AskSAM@wsjournal.com Write: Ask SAM, 418 N. Marshall St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101

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On the morning her son died, Donna Faye Kiger fixed his lunch  a promise she made in the last conversation she would ever have with him.

John Mark Hendrick, 32, was starting a new job with a painting company, and Kiger said she wanted to make sure her oldest child had enough food to make it through the day.

It would be hours before she would learn that two Davidson County sheriffs deputies had shot her son to death, shortly after the mother and son last spoke on the morning of March 26, 2020. The shooting happened after a car chase, in which Hendrick was a passenger, that crossed three different counties and lasted several hours.

The deputies  Barry Lee Bartrug III and Matthew Jacob Shelton  said they had no choice but to use deadly force. They allege that the driver, Charles Justin Boothe, Hendrick and another passenger, Deven McKay Mathis, failed to follow commands and that Boothe made a movement toward the deputies.

Kiger filed a lawsuit on Aug. 27, 2020 in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of North Carolina against Bartrug and Shelton. Late last year, the lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount of money.

A month after the suit was filed, Garry Frank, the district attorney for Davidson County, cleared the deputies, concluding that their use of force was not excessive, and sought indictments against Boothe, the driver in the chase, for first-degree murder and other charges.

Under what is known as the felony murder rule, prosecutors allege Boothe is responsible for Hendricks death because he committed another felony  assaulting the two deputies with his car  when Hendrick was killed. Under the felony murder rule, Boothe could be found guilty of murder, even though he didnt fire the gun that killed Hendrick.

Kiger said the settlement isnt enough. She wants the deputies, who are now back on active duty with the Davidson County Sheriffs Office, to be held accountable in the criminal justice system.

He didnt do anything wrong that day, Kiger said about her son, who was the oldest of her four children. He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Nine seconds

Kiger said she talked to her son for the last time sometime after 12:30 a.m. on March 26, 2020. She told him she would take him lunch  the roast she had cooked for dinner the night before and some drinks.

According to authorities and to the lawsuit, Hendrick was in the front passenger seat of a car Boothe was driving at 2 a.m. that morning.

Mathis was in the back seat. Boothe had just dropped off Mathis girlfriend at her house, and the three men were on Lewisville-Clemmons Road near Peace Haven Road in Clemmons. As the light turned from green to yellow, Boothe accelerated and ran through the intersection.

The car Boothe was driving was also stolen, according to arrest warrants for Boothe.

A Forsyth County sheriffs deputy tried to pull Boothe over for running through the light, but Boothe would not stop, the lawsuit said. The deputy gave chase, driving just above the speed limit, the lawsuit said.

Hendrick and Mathis begged Boothe to stop, the lawsuit said. Boothe refused, telling them he wasnt going back to prison. So the chase went through Forsyth County, with other deputies joining in.

Boothe soon entered Guilford County, where deputies there took over the chase, but as Boothe drove into Thomasville in Davidson County, Guilford County deputies decided it wasnt worth it to continue a chase into another county over a traffic issue, John Vermitsky, one of Kigers attorneys, said.

According to the lawsuit, Hendrick and Mathis were essentially hostages. They had both called 911, asking deputies to back off so they could get out. Boothe also called 911, saying he would let Hendrick and Mathis out if officers would stop chasing him, the lawsuit said.

As the chase entered Lexington, Davidson County sheriffs deputies did what is known as a pit maneuver where they crashed into Boothes car and then blocked it in, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges that Defendants Bartrug and Shelton exited their patrol vehicles and immediately began firing on the vehicle driven by Boothe, firing at least three to six shots into the passenger side of the vehicle.

All of these vehicle shots were fired towards the passenger seat, with one striking Hendrick in the forehead, killing him instantly, the lawsuit said. No warning was given before firing the deadly shots, nor was any attempt taken to avoid targeting the passengers who were clearly kept in the vehicle against their will. Instead the force was deliberately used against Hendrick, killing him and seizing the vehicle.

Kiger said she listened to the 911 calls. According to the calls she heard, the deputies never gave any commands and they started shooting within nine seconds.

The lawsuit alleged that Hendrick was maliciously executed.

Kiger said that when she finally heard from Davidson County Sheriff Ritchie Simmons about what happened to her son, he told her that they were playing a cat and mouse game with deputies, referring to Boothe, Hendrick and Mathis.

Simmons declined to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit. The shooting was not captured on body-cameras or dash cameras. The only body-camera footage came from Forsyth County sheriffs deputies who came to the scene after the shooting.

At the time of the shooting, the Davidson County Sheriffs Office did not have body or dash cameras. Simmons said there was no money for them until a $125,000 federal grant came through months after the shooting. The county had to provide matching funds. The department now has 62 body cameras for deputies who work at the jail and on patrol and who work in the departments Traffic and Criminal Enforcement Division. The department has 10 dash cameras. The department has 161 sworn officers.

The Winston-Salem Journal made a public request to County Attorney Chuck Frye for the 911 calls. Frye said in an email on Jan. 19 that he had received the request. In an email on Thursday, Frye cited state law in saying that there are certain circumstances where public records can be withheld, such as the pending criminal charges against Boothe. He said he had asked the Davidson County Sheriffs Office about its position on releasing the 911 calls. Frye did not provide any updates on the 911 calls on Friday.

Vermitsky said what stood out to him was that once the chase entered Davidson County, there was an immense escalation of the situation. The deputies had all the information they needed to get Boothe later; instead, they chased after the three men over a traffic infraction, Vermitsky said.

Frank, the district attorney, said he reviewed the SBI report and concluded that the deputies use of force was not excessive.

My review of the SBI report indicated that the conduct of the officers didnt merit any criminal charges in my opinion, he said.

Patrick Flanagan, attorney for the deputies, reiterated that the SBI investigated and turned over its report to Frank, who did not pursue any criminal charges against the deputies. He declined further comment.

Both deputies claimed what is known as qualified immunity, a legal concept created by the courts that shields law-enforcement officers from civil liability in most cases. Qualified immunity, Vermitsky said, represents a high legal bar because in many cases, the officers cant be held liable unless the court has previously ruled on the same set of facts.

If there has not been a court case with the same set of facts, the officers are not on notice, he said. The law just says they can do it and you get one free pass.

According to an October 2021 Washington Post analysis, at least 35 state bills seeking to end qualified immunity have failed.

The settlement, Vermitsky said, represented a small amount of justice for Kiger.

Unfortunately, all we have in civil systems is money, he said. We cant force reforms. I was glad that some measure of accountability was taken through force by the settlement happening ...This was about getting some small measure of justice.

Everything went dark It would take hours before Kiger found out what happened to her son on March 26, 2020. At noon that day, she got a call from someone asking if she had talked to her son. That person told her that her son had been involved with something. Kiger said she started making some calls. She called hospitals and the local jail. She called her son. (tncms-asset)6bc50705-af04-5580-920f-6543132998fa[5](/tncms-asset) When she called Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, she said she was told her son was there having a procedure. Kiger said she and her husband drove up to Winston-Salem, where they were told Hendrick wasnt there. She wasnt allowed in the hospital because of the hospitals COVID-19 safety protocols. Then one of her daughters called and told her that there had been a shooting. One of the security guards came out, and she told him what she had heard. The security guard took her to a different part of the hospital. Someone called her and told her that her son had been shot. The security guard was able to confirm it to her husband and her ex-husband, Hendricks father. They were told Hendrick was at Lexington Memorial Hospital. Everything around me just went dark, Kiger said. I could see everybody but I couldnt see anybody. I just fell to my knees and screamed. Kiger is holding onto the memory of her son.(tncms-asset)5922f897-c950-59e3-87b6-b38cfeffb34e[6](/tncms-asset) Hendrick was the oldest of four children  two sons and two daughters. And they were all close, Kiger said. Hendrick grew up in Winston-Salem and attended Parkland High School. He went to Forsyth Technical Community College to try to attain a GED. He didnt finish but he was about to start a new job at a painting company. He was very family oriented, Kiger said. We were all just really close. Thats why she woke up early on March 26, 2020 to fix her son some lunch for his first day on the job he never got a chance to get to. Thats why, she said, she is continuing to push for justice for her son. She wants the deputies who shot her son in prison. She said she wants accountability. Vermitsky said Kiger wants a fair investigation and a fair prosecution. Theyve taken a part of my heart away, Kiger said. Its just a piece of me thats missing that will never be whole again, that will never be put back together again.(tncms-asset)8530296b-af47-5148-ab9b-ebc4f74b4f0f[7](/tncms-asset) rong>

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You might call them sore losers, but that doesnt adequately describe the depths of the disappointment felt by some supporters of former President Trump. Nor does their disappointment justify the extreme and dishonest actions taken by some in response to his 2020 electoral loss.

No, were not talking about the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Were talking about the Republicans who created fake documents  meticulously created forgeries of official government documents, notarized with state seals  declaring that Trump won the election, which they then submitted to federal authorities, apparently as part of a wider plot to steal the election from Joe Biden.

The forgeries were first uncovered in March 2021 by American Oversight, a D.C.-based watchdog group, and have been further unveiled by the U.S. House select committee investigating the insurrection. Those involved in the plot include  at this point  Republicans in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Some were elected officials.

The first to be discovered were in Wisconsin. While the actual electors were being assigned inside the state capitol in Madison, a group of Republicans held a fake ceremony with unauthorized electors, casting phony votes for Trump. They then forged the official paperwork and sent it to the U.S. Senate and the National Archives.

They, and the participants in the other six states, were obviously working under someone elses coordination. The phony documents they created were nearly identical, right down to their matching fonts, formats and phrasing.

And the documents fit a scheme proposed by Trump lawyer John Eastman, who suggested filing competing slates of electors that would justify Vice President Mike Pences refusal to certify the election results.

Some, like the Trump supporters in Pennsylvania and New Mexico, added qualifiers to their documents, saying that they might eventually become true electors. That may have saved them from prosecution.

But the signatories in other states literally described themselves as the duly elected and qualified electors.

This is election fraud.

Under state law, I think clearly you have forgery of a public record, which is a 14-year offense, and election law forgery, which is a five-year offense, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told MSNBC. Both she and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas have referred the matter to the Justice Department.

Then theres the House committee, which Friday announced that it had subpoenaed 14 people tied to the plot. We want to look at the fraudulent activity that was contained in the preparation of these fake Electoral College certificates, panel member Rep. Jamie Raskin told Politico. And then we want to look to see to what extent this was part of a comprehensive plan to overthrow the 2020 election.

The wider plan includes outrageous and evidence-free claims of voter fraud that have fooled millions, pressuring and threatening election officials in several states, and, oh yes, a physical attack on the Capitol building in D.C., which led to several deaths and multiple injuries of Capitol Police officers.

If nothing else, this revelation increases the justification for the House investigation.

We cant fully express the degree to which Trumps denial of the facts, however unpleasant his followers may find those facts, has contributed to the nations anxious sense of division. Even if these forgeries were nothing but hopeful role-playing, they denote a sour inability to accept the truth that Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro describes as purposefully damaging to our democracy. In addition, judging by the results of recent elections in Maryland, California, Washington state and now Florida, refusal to concede elections is now just standard operating procedure for Republican politicians, no matter how obvious their loss.

This is good for the nation?

The dishonesty and sense of entitlement required to feel justified in forging official documents to favor a failed political candidate should disqualify every guilty participant from holding any government office ever again.

Is this the end result of the MAGA movement  a hostile, conspiracy-laden takeover of government against the will of the majority? Is this desire what motivates the Republican legislators who are trying to win by voter suppression and extreme gerrymandering? How is this kind of election manipulation and steamrolling over the very concepts of fairness and truth supposed to make America great?

These tactics will make us, instead, a banana republic. This cannot be Americas future.
A credible fear

Ive not seen enough reporting in the Journal or anywhere else about the connection between the Jan. 6 insurrection and Christian nationalism.

As constitutional lawyer Andrew Seidel recently wrote, The mob didnt hide who they were. The insurrectionists made it brazenly clear that they were attacking the Capitol in order to overturn an election in the name of Jesus, Trump and their god. One attacker carried a Christian flag into the Senate before rifling through senators desks, and others claimed the Senate chambers for Jesus.

Seidels claim is verified by many pictures of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists carrying Christian symbols and signs promoting Christian nationalism.

I realize its a touchy subject, and certainly not every Christian would agree with what transpired that day. Those who do agree are probably in the minority.

But theres an overlap. Its significant and its important. It probably relates to the ties between former President Trump and evangelicals.

Ive heard Christian moralists express their fear that Muslims want to overthrow the U.S. government. Many of those who marched in Charlottesville think that Jews control the government.

Those are paranoid, baseless fears. But if Christians organized themselves into a mob and attacked the Capitol to claim this nation in the name of Jesus  thats a very credible fear. It requires the attention of news organizations.

William B. Perry

Winston-Salem

Boom or bust?

Dont count on the Boom Supersonic airplane being a success  they mostly have a pretty picture of an aircraft and a good fundraising arm (Boom Supersonic commits to PTI, Jan. 27). Is it mainly a boomdoggle?

This is in no way analogous to HondaJet based on existing technology. It took two governments (France and Britain) to develop the SST.

Its commercial viability is also questionable. The Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 already cruise at Mach 0.85 to 0.89.

Robert L. Dixon

Winston-Salem

Early conclusion

Get these Republicans. Already concluding that theres no Black female candidate in the legal profession who is actually qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.

Howard Greene

Winston-Salem

Far enough

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has promised that if Republicans win the House in 2022  which very well could happen  and he becomes House speaker  which is less likely but still could happen  he will spend the next two years seeking revenge and punishing Democrats ... for conducting a legal investigation.

That thought will probably delight some of your readers. But theres a difference between holding someone accountable because they did something wrong and punishing someone for no reason but spite. The second is what McCarthy promises.

And now former House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich says that members of the House select committee could face jail time if Republicans regain the majority. He cant identify a law they broke, so he speaks vaguely about running over peoples civil liberties  for using the subpoena power they legally possess.

Rational people should reject politicians who says publicly that their intent is revenge for a legal investigation.

Yes, were divided and theres no easy way to end the division. But weve sunk far enough. Putting more Republicans in power will not fix anything. It will increase the likelihood of further injustice, violence and civil war.

No one should think that they or their children would be immune to the results of such a development. It would affect all of us.

Eddie Garfield

Winston-Salem

Marxism in America

Whats wrong with Marxism?

Id like to know. Ive read about it a bit, enough to understand that its a serious enough economic philosophy to have influenced supporters of other economic philosophies. It recognizes the role and value of the worker  a concept to which not many had paid attention before Karl Marx brought it to light.

Marxism is on the side of working people rather than on the side of corporate executives. That doesnt sound so bad to me.

Its easy to be against something you dont understand when people you like are against it.

I see similar criticisms of critical race theory. Were supposed to just understand that its bad because its Marxism. Now opposition to CRT is being used to silence education about racism in America.

People used to say that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Marxist, but even Republican legislators quote him now. At least one day a year.

Trey Fisher

Winston-Salem
BAYARD  Tonia Verbeck has always had an eye for antique and vintage items and a heart for local businesses. So five years ago, she decided to put together what is now known as the Heirloom Market in Bayard.

I started with more vintage and antique items  just buying up from auctions and garage sales, and it got to the point where my husbands like, Whats your plan here with all this stuff? I dont know. I like it, but I dont really have room for it, Verbeck said. But another huge part is handmade  its really important to me to support, I think its just an amazing thing to be a small business supporting other small businesses within your business.

The biennial market began in a barn on a farm near Bridgeport. Verbeck gathered many of her antiques to sell and invited various vendors to partake as well. Since that first farmyard experience, the market has grown not only into a 70-vendor market, but also its own storefront in downtown Bayard.

My idea behind it was pop-up style, so I never really anticipated it being a Monday through Saturday kind of storefront, she said. My thought was maybe just once a month, open up  so kind of similar to what we were doing with the markets, but on like a monthly (basis), a little more often. But again, not a weekly storefront  not like a traditional storefront I should say.

The pop-up idea didnt quite stick, however, thanks to the pandemic, Verbeck said.

Then COVID hit, and so that prevented us from even opening up our doors. Originally, we were set to open in March of 2020, and (we) had our big grand opening and everything lined up and (we were) devastated when that all hit, she said. So, we held out till the end of May and had a grand opening at that point. And, it was obvious that I couldnt ask people to flock in here once a month, because compared to the markets, you know, we were getting a pretty good flow (of traffic). And so, I, at that point, made the decision to open up on Friday and Saturday every weekend.

That weekly opening quickly turned into a daily one. The Heirloom Market Mercantile, which the storefront is called, now has Monday through Saturday hours.

It wasnt long that Verbeck decided to expand once again.

We were entering the summer of 2020, and that was kind of the first time that people were just revving to get out. We were seeing so many people flocking to the Midwest  from I mean, the amount of people Ive had in here from New York, LA, Chicago, I mean, its wild, she said. They are all just trying to get out, and theyre coming to the Midwest and just seeing what were all about, just hitting the road. And so, these travelers would come through and theyd ask, Wheres there to get a cup of coffee or bite to eat? And originally, my back porch of my building was just utilized for storage, and so it got me thinking, I could maybe swing that. So, then we added on the coffee shop.

The coffee shop in the back of the building, called The Vault, has filled one more need in the small community of Bayard, Verbeck said; even though she often gets questions about how her handful of businesses can thrive in such a small market.

I think its surprising to a lot of people that it is going well. I think the other benefit to where were at and just kind of what people are used to in the Panhandle is you have to drive to go to just about anything, she said. Its a good in between sort of place.

Verbeck attributes a lot of her success also to the fact that shes already established herself in the community with the biennial spring and fall markets, which she still hosts in downtown Bayard.

Without kind of having the markets and having that kind of familiarity with my customers  I dont know  would it have been as successful? Im not sure. But, just people knowing that we did that and had been doing it for quite some time, and with each market, its continued to grow, she said. I really believe had I not had the markets and the reputation and the building from starting that, maybe it would have taken a little bit longer to get the business off the ground and running.

For Verbeck, its not just been about providing a place to shop in Bayard; its been about providing an experience.

I think the shoppers that have come to the market, they just, theyre looking for an experience, right? So, they want to come, they want to shop, they want to eat, drink, she said. And so, its kind of provided a place to be able  like a destination to be able to do all of that.

Verbecks hope is to one day see small-town Bayard have a flourishing downtown atmosphere, like the one she has in her storefront and at her markets. If more businesses might open up next to hers, she said she could see Bayard becoming another Panhandle destination.

Id love to see this town just full of other shops for people to make the trip here and just be able to make a whole day out of it, she said. Thats my dream.

The Heirloom Market Mercantile, located at 401 Main St. in Bayard, is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Vault coffee shop is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Star-Herald.

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A grand jury has completed the reviews of the deaths of eight inmates, half of whom had COVID-19, and found no criminal wrongdoing.

Three of the men  David Fredrick Munsey, Robert Lewis and Jaime Rivera Jr.  had refused the vaccine when the prison offered it, according to transcripts filed recently in the Lancaster County District Court.

Nebraska State Patrol Investigator Amanda DeFreece said Munsey, 59, declined vaccination on July 15, and died of COVID-19 less than a month later, Aug. 12, at Bryan West in Lincoln.

He had just started serving a 12- to 24-year sentence out of Box Butte County on child pornography charges.

State Patrol Investigator Henry Dimitroff said Lewis, 61, initially declined, too, then asked for the vaccine after he tested positive, which by then was too late.

Lewis spent three days on a ventilator at Bryan West before he died Sept. 10.

He had been serving a two- to three-year sentence out of Platte County for possession of methamphetamine and attempted possession of a deadly weapon, and had been eligible for parole in August.

Jaime Rivera Jr., 38, who was serving 20 to 30 years for attempted sexual assault of a child, died at Bryan West the same day as Lewis.

Dimitroff said Rivera ended up on a ventilator with pneumonia and respiratory failure due to an underlying condition brought on by COVID-19.

DeFreece said a fourth inmate, 40-year-old William Lassek Jr., was admitted to the hospital eight days after testing positive at the prison, previously called the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center, and ended up on a ventilator. He died there Aug. 12.

Lassek was serving 70 years to life in connection to a murder in Douglas County.

In addition to the COVID-19 related deaths, the grand jury also reviewed the deaths of three other prison inmates and one county jail inmate, all of whom had health issues, including:

* Michael Kirchhoff, 58, who died of a brain aneurysm, suddenly collapsing on the yard at the Nebraska State Penitentiary on May 22. Prison workers attempted CPR but couldn't save him. He had been serving a 10- to 12-year sentence out of Lancaster County for possession of methamphetamine, with a habitual criminal enhancement.

* Patrick Russell, 64, who had lung cancer and died April 25 at the hospital. He was serving a sentence of 110-126 years for first-degree murder in Douglas County.

* Xavier Valentine, 22, who had been diagnosed earlier in the year with an inoperable brain tumor and died Aug. 18 at the hospital. He had been serving a 10- to 30-year sentence out of Douglas County for second-degree assault and a gun charge.

* Nuha Farid, 51, who died at the hospital Sept. 13. Lancaster County Sheriff's Investigator Jeremy Schwarz said Farid had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer before going into custody at the Lancaster County Department of Corrections. He was awaiting sentencing for an armed robbery at a gas station in Lincoln.

The grand jury heard the cases on Nov. 30, and a transcript of its findings later was filed with the court. Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Dan Zieg said the panel reviewed a total of 35 deaths of people in law enforcement custody last year, which was double a "normal" year.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSpilger

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It's no secret school districts across the country are experiencing a shortage of workers, from teachers and substitutes to custodians and bus drivers.

But schools are also facing a less-talked-about scarcity in another key position: superintendents.

Mike Richie, a superintendent and consultant with the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, said as much when he presented the Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education with a list of finalists for its superintendent opening last Tuesday.

Only 20 candidates ultimately applied for the superintendent job at LPS, which opened last fall when Steve Joel announced he would retire at the end of the school year.

But like he told board members Tuesday, he is still pleased with the slate of four finalists HYA put before the board.

"What we're seeing is the quantity number is down, but the quality is pretty darn good," Richie told the Journal Star on Thursday. "So in the past we maybe have got 50 to 60 applicants, and we would not have had a better slate. We're very pleased with our slate."

The shortage of candidates is perhaps not so much about the number of qualified applicants as it is the vast amount of openings across the country.

According to Richie, there are more than 570 superintendent openings currently in the U.S., which HYA lists on its website even if it is not representing the school district.

One of the openings is just down the street: Millard Public Schools is currently conducting its own search after Superintendent Jim Suftin announced his intentions to retire.

"Just in Nebraska, you got Millard; you got two very competitive districts that are fighting for a superintendent," Richie said.

The pandemic and national rhetoric have a lot do with it as well, said Richie, who has seen the effects firsthand as the interim superintendent of the Tomorrow River school district in Amherst, Wisconsin. That, in turn, may have convinced older leaders to opt for retirement sooner rather than later.

"Superintendents are getting beat up every day," he said. "It makes your decision a lot easier to retire."

Twenty-seven candidates initially applied for the LPS job, but seven either didn't turn in the necessary paperwork or dropped out of the race.

That left HYA and the school board with 20 applications to sort through. HYA narrowed down that list to four this week, although board members looked at each candidate and ultimately had the final say.

The finalists are:

* Paul Gausman, superintendent for Sioux City Community Schools in Iowa.

* Peter Licata, a regional superintendent of the Palm Beach County school district in Boca Raton, Florida.

* 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. Wilson also served as superintendent in Oakland and Washington, D.C.

Board Vice President Don Mayhew has been involved in three superintendent searches at LPS and was president of the board when it hired Joel.

While he said he is pleased with the finalists, he echoed Richie in acknowledging that there were simply fewer candidates this time around.

"Between the pandemic and other things that are going on at the national stage right now, I think a career in education is more challenging perhaps than it used to be," he said.

Board President Connie Duncan surmised that superintendents are simply staying in their districts for the time being with the pandemic still disrupting the educational landscape.

While there is indeed a shortage in candidates, the number who applied this time around is not much different than what LPS has seen in the past.

When Susan Gourley retired in 2009, 27 applied for the job. And when Phil Schoo retired in 2004, Kathy Danek, the only board member other than Mayhew to oversee three superintendent hirings, remembers there being nearly 80 who showed initial interest, but only 23 ended up filing the paperwork, the Journal Star reported.

Danek is impressed with the list, which includes three superintendents with Nebraska ties  Wilson, Gausman and Thompson  and someone from outside the Midwest in Licata.

"Some (candidates) just rose to the top a lot quicker," Danek said.

The search is a process she and her colleagues take seriously: One of the most important jobs of a board member, Danek said, is to hire and evaluate the superintendent, and Duncan added the process has been "sound" since the beginning.

"This has got to be the most perfect search; otherwise I can't go to bed at night," she said.

Board members will interview the four finalists next week: Wilson and Licata on Tuesday and Gausman and Thompson on Friday. Each candidate will also meet with various small groups  like students, parents and staff  during the day and will tour the city and possibly some schools, Richie said.

The public will get a chance to hear from the finalists at board presentations at 7:30 p.m. each night. The meetings will take place at LPS district office and will be livestreamed at LPS.org, YouTube and LNKTV. There will be no public comment, but feedback can be provided online.

Contact the writer at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @zach_hammack

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Thousands of Nebraskans against abortion gathered on the steps of the Capitol on Saturday for the 48th annual Walk for Life.

The event, organized by Nebraska Right to Life, comes just weeks after state Sen. Julie Slama proposed an anti-abortion bill that would make all abortions illegal in Nebraska if physicians can detect a heartbeat. Sen. Megan Hunt has introduced two bills that would expand abortion access in response.

Slama spoke at the event along with other Nebraska politicians including U.S. Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Don Bacon, U.S. Sens Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse, Lt. Gov. Mike Foley and several other state senators. The speakers expressed hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold a Mississippi law that would ban abortion after 15 weeks.

During arguments in December, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court indicated that it would uphold the law, and may even overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that established a nationwide right to abortion, The Associated Press reported. A decision isnt expected before June.

Participants marched from the Capitol to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Union, where they were greeted by keynote speaker Ashley Bratcher, who starred in the movie "Unplanned" and has been an anti-abortion advocate since.

During her time on set for "Unplanned," a movie about a Planned Parenthood director becoming an anti-abortion activist, Bratcher found out that her own mother was moments away from having an abortion when she was pregnant with her.

This changed everything for Bratcher.

In preparation for her role, Bratcher starting doing research on the procedure, which pushed her to advocate against abortion even more.

"Not only do I have this personal experience, but in doing research for the role and seeing what happens during that procedure, it honestly wrecked me," Bratcher said. "It made me so convicted to speak up against it and educate other people."

Now, Bratcher travels across the country to speak at anti-abortion events.

Im superexcited about how pro-life Nebraska is," she said. "I think its awesome that you legislators are able to speak up and speak out and have the support of the state."

Bratcher wasn't the only one in attendance with whose mother considered abortion. Lexi Kelly, who was among the several thousand attendees, said she had a similar story.

"I stand for the pro-life movement and believe that everyone deserves the chance to live," she said. "My mom considered having an abortion when she was pregnant with me. I wouldnt be here if she hadn't changed her mind. It really hits home."

Sandy Danek, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, also spoke at the event.

"We passionately believe in not only protecting the child in the womb, but helping those women who are in an unplanned pregnancy. We know from some of the women that have suffered abortion that it is not a good option  physically and emotionally," she said.

A small group of counterprotesters chanted and held signs in opposition to those participating in the Walk for Life.

Among them was Megan Stump, who has attended the march in counterprotest for 5 years.

"We're here to stand up for the rights of women," Stump said. "We need to keep fighting the good fight and stand up for women. To be silent is to stand aside and let it keep going. We can't do that."

Reach the writer at jebbers@journalstar.com

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During the Vietnam War, printed daily on the front page in many of the major newspapers, was the grim statistic of those who were killed in action. I am beginning to think The Baltimore Sun should publish the grim statistic, daily on the front page, of the number of homicides that have been committed as a running tally (Husband of a Baltimore Police lieutenant was on the phone with his son in college when fatally shot Tuesday, family says, Jan. 26).

Have we become so accustomed to the killings that these numbers sometimes do not make the paper or are embedded so deeply as to be overlooked? Statistics are usually forgettable, but presented daily they would be an eye opener. Here is an example: As of Jan. 25, there were 31 homicides in Baltimore in 2022. To me, that is shocking.

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Elizabeth A Migliara, Owings Mills

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RACINE  Sit. Stay. Brunch!

Uptown Racine is the home of a new restaurant for humans and their pets, Unleashed Uptown.

The vision, according to business partners and co-owners Kristina Campbell and Joanna Luebke, is for customers to be able to bring their pets and share brunch together at 1501 Washington Ave.

With separate meals, of course.

For now, Unleashed is at The Branch at 1501, another one of Campbell and Luebkes ventures in the corridor.

Customers order their pets treats online and pick them up at the Collective Roots drive-thru window  the same site where Esperanza Coffee Collective and Dragon Pit BBQ are housed.

In the near future, the pair would like to have a brick-and-mortar location of their own in Uptown to fulfill their vision of sharing an adorable meal with a furry friend. In the meantime, theyre cooking up their treats and testing the waters at The Branch.

Embarking

The idea for the pet brunch came from Campbells son; he wanted to start a dog treat business and donate the proceeds to local humane societies. He is obsessed with dogs, she said.

He was just really excited about it, Campbell said.

With all of our businesses, we always try to do something with our kids, Luebke said, sitting alongside Campbell in Rooted, 1436 Washington Ave., a plant shop that is another of their business ventures.

Luebke added: So literally, like (Kristinas) daughter could run this plant store, my son, they could do it. And theyre 6 years old.

The company offers a handful of brunch treats, including maple bacon pancakes topped with peach; pumpkin and sausage waffles with blueberries; and a peanut butter donut with cinnamon and banana glaze.

Luebke and Campbell cook the treats with all natural ingredients and no added sugars to minimize the sugar rushes that lead to what pet owners know as the zoomies.

Because that would be a terrible business model, to have all of your dogs sugared up, and theyre all gaining weight and being unhealthy, Luebke said with a laugh.

Upon pickup, the treats are frozen, which is an added benefit so that pets dont scarf them down right away. But they can also be popped in the toaster, Campbell said.

Like a human waffle, she added.

Which begged the question: Are the treats safe for humans, too?

Yes, Campbell said. Everything is made with natural ingredients. It just may not taste good.

Plans for future

Unleashed will carry out Campbells sons wish of donating money to animal shelters and organizations. The co-owners plan to collaborate with local organizations to invite kids and teens with special needs to help make and serve pet treats for the restaurant when it opens.

If we can help kids or young adults with special needs with jobs, that would be amazing. And baking and selling is something they can do, Luebke said.

Campbells daughter, who has special needs, expressed her excitement with the company early on as the pair baked up different recipes. Every day, she has asked to come help us, Luebke said.

Samples of Unleashed treats are given out at the Collective Roots drive-thru. Since opening, the co-owners said they have had a positive response.

Its been wonderful. People are so excited, Luebke said. First, theyre like, A dog brunch? Then, the second they understood it, its been nothing but love.

The pair are planning to host pop-up events with Unleashed in the summer. Until then, they aim to get the word out about their new business and stay dedicated to revitalizing Uptown.

Breathing life into Uptown is something Campbell and Luebke have spoken about before, as with Rooted.

Were hoping that people come and enjoy what we bring to (Uptown), Campbell said. I dont know if theres places  maybe in California  that do (a pet brunch). But we just like to come up with unique things and give people an experience.

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RACINE  A Racine man allegedly crashed into a parked car and launched into the air during police chase, told officers he smoked high quality blunts before driving.

Clayton T. Sims, 36, of the 3600 block of Clairmont Street, was charged with felony counts of possession of a firearm by outstate felon and second degree recklessly endangering safety and two misdemeanor counts of bail jumping.

According to a criminal complaint:

At 1:50 a.m. on Thursday, a deputy was monitoring traffic in the area of Lathrop and Taylor Avenues when he saw a car going 75 mph in a 30 mph zone. The car failed to stop at a 4-way stop sign and the deputy initiated his lights and sirens to stop the car.

The car continued to speed on by at around 80 mph before crashing into a parked car and launched into the air, hitting another car and eventually coming to rest on its side. Two cars sustained major damage and two other cars sustained minor damage.

The driver was identified as Sims and he complained of pain to his chest and was removed by rescue crews. He denied drinking but said he smoked high quality blunts at noon and 6 p.m. that day. Deputies found an extended magazine for a gun within the crash debris that came from the car Sims was driving.

Sims was given a $5,000 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Friday. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 2 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show.

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WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil has announced the nomination of 15 high school students from Wisconsins 1st Congressional District for appointments to attend U.S. Service Academies.

Each year it is an honor to nominate Wisconsin students to serve our nation at a U.S. Service Academy. The nomination process recognizes the character, leadership and academic achievements of Wisconsin high school students eager to serve our country, and I am proud to nominate 15 students to our nations service academies.

Part of the U.S. Service Academy application process is obtaining a nomination from an authorized nominating source, such as a member of Congress. Acceptance to the academies is highly competitive. Receiving a nomination is the important first step, however, the actual appointment to a service academy is determined by each academy itself. Appointments for Wisconsins 1st Congressional District will be announced at a later date.

Among the 15 students nominated by Steil were these from Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties:

William Allen of Trevor has been nominated for appointment to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Summer Peterson of Burlington has been nominated for appointment to the Air Force Academy and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Nathaniel Rafe of Lake Geneva has been nominated for appointment to the Military Academy.

Nicolas Ruffolo of Kenosha has been nominated for appointment to the Naval Academy.

Tyler Schoolcraft of Kenosha has been nominated for appointment to the Air Force Academy.

Devin Stoltenberg of Racine has been nominated for appointment to the Military Academy and the Naval Academy.

Mia Walker of Kenosha has been nominated for appointment to the Naval Academy.

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More than three months later, hes still in jail in Racine. The state says there is no room for him at any one of the facilities to which he was supposed to have been transferred months ago.

Tamir Williams, 34, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the Aug. 28 shooting death of Andre Sandoval, 21, outside of Angels Beauty Salon, 2221 Durand Ave., Mount Pleasant.

According to police investigation, Sandoval allegedly refused to pay for a haircut and, when he left the salon, Williams allegedly followed him out and shot him.

Williams was found not competent to stand trial in October. The reviewing doctor felt the defendant could gain competency with treatment.

As of Friday, Williams was still sitting in the Racine County Jail, where hes been since the day of the shooting, having never been transported to a more appropriate facility by the Department of Health Services.A DHS spokesperson said that she could not comment on Williams case specifically, but added that the departments facilities are operating at capacity for inpatient services, indicating that there is no room in its facilities to take in Williams.

Staffing shortages

As at other care centers across the country, facilities that serve those with disabilities and those with mental illness experienced severe labor shortages even before the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020. Recent outbreaks in COVID cases, led by the delta and omicron variants of the coronavirus, have made the situation worse.

In early December, the Wisconsin National Guard sent 60 members to shore up staff in four facilities: Mendota Mental Health Institute, Winnebago Mental Health Institute, Southern Wisconsin Center and Central Wisconsin Center. Joe Trovato, a spokesman for the Wisconsin National Guard, said that was the first time the National Guard had ever been dispatched to assist mental health facilities.

Williams was supposed to be transported to MMHI, one of two psychiatric hospitals operated by DHS. MMHI provides services for male defendants with court-ordered competency evaluations and later treatment. The facility also treats defendants who have been found not guilty by reason of mental illness.

While we cannot speak to any person or specific situation ... we can tell you that we are required to treat mental health referrals from the criminal justice system and is coordinated by the county of that court, Jennifer Miller, the DHS spokesperson, said in an email. These referrals include competency to stand trial evaluations, competency restoration, and care and treatment for people found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

There has been unprecedented growth in these referrals. We are using all available space at our facilities to serve these patients.

What happened to the asylums? And should we bring them back? | Part 1 of series For people having mental health crises, theres often no place for them to go. Thats why they end up in jail so often  more often than they end up getting actual, long-term help.

Since the mid-20th century, the U.S. has repeatedly disinvested in long-term mental health care facilities, leading to the current shortage being faced, thus overloading jails and other incarceration facilities with inmates who have severe mental illness.

Our challenges are not unique, Miller said. Many states are struggling to meet the increased demand for mental health referrals from the criminal justice system.

Competency

A person is deemed competent to stand trial when they are able to understand the proceedings, the charges against them and to participate in their own defense.

Being ruled not competent to stand trial is different than being ruled not guilty by reason of mental defect, or NGI.

In an NGI case, the defendants mental state at the time of the offense is closely examined as is their ability to tell right from wrong.

But with a competency issue, the doctor must determine whether the defendant is likely to regain competency with treatment, in which case the trial will resume after the defendant has received the appropriate treatment and is deemed competent.

If a defendant is unlikely to regain competency, the court may pursue a number of options, including in Wisconsin a Chapter 51 commitment. The introduction to Chapter 51 of state statutes reads It is the policy of the state to assure the provision of a full range of treatment and rehabilitation services in the state for all mental disorders and developmental disabilities and for mental illness, alcoholism and other drug abuse. There shall be a unified system of prevention of such conditions and provision of services which will assure all people in need of care access to the least restrictive treatment alternative appropriate to their needs, and movement through all treatment components to assure continuity of care, within the limits of available state and federal funds and of county funds required to be appropriated to match state funds. To protect personal liberties, no person who can be treated adequately outside of a hospital, institution or other inpatient facility may be involuntarily treated in such a facility.

Adam Rogan of The Journal Times and Emily Hamer of Lee Newspapers contributed reporting to this article.

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Beloit police are investigating the citys second homicide in less than three days after a woman was found outside stabbed to death Saturday morning, Chief Andre Sayles said.

During a news conference Saturday afternoon, Sayles said theres nothing that suggests the two homicides are connected.

The man suspected of committing the first homicide  a domestic violence incident that turned into a fatal shooting Wednesday afternoon  was arrested Thursday. No one had been taken into custody in connection with the stabbing.

Police responded to a report of a woman with stab wounds in the 1400 block of Clary Street about 7:10 a.m., Sayles said.

Officers found the woman outside of a home and started a homicide investigation, Sayles said. He declined to say whether the woman was still alive when officers arrived. Sayles said the department is waiting to release that information until autopsy results come back.

As of Saturday afternoon, Sayles said officers had not yet identified the woman.

Once her identity is released, Sayles said, detectives are going to need the communitys help on this one. Officers need to know who the woman was with, whom she had close ties to and any other information that could help. Police do not know whether the homicide was targeted or random, nor whether one or multiple people were involved in the killing.

Its very unfortunate that we have so many people in this city that are walking around doing cowardly acts of violence to our residents, Sayles said. We want that to stop.

Police are working with neighbors to find any potential surveillance footage of the homicide.

Residents can submit anonymous tips online at go.madison.com/beloit-tip.

The two killings within 72 hours are also the first two homicides of the year in Beloit.

Anthony D. Richmond, 34, of Beloit, is tentatively charged with first-degree homicide related to domestic violence and possessing a stolen firearm for the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old woman on Wednesday.

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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.

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Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
More than two years after the first cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed, people are exhausted by the coronavirus pandemic, ready for all this to end. When  if ever  is it realistic to expect SARS-CoV-2 will recede from the headlines and daily life?

Thats the unspoken question beneath the surface of many of The Conversations articles about COVID-19. None of our authors can see the future, but many do have expertise that offers insights about whats reasonable to expect. Here are four such stories from our archive. Written by historians and scientists, they each suggest a way to think about whats at the end of the pandemic tunnel  and paths to get there.

1. Past pandemics are not a perfect prediction

Almost as soon as it hit, people were trying to figure out how the COVID-19 pandemic would proceed. It was tempting to look for clues in the course of the 1918 flu pandemic that killed as many as 50 million people worldwide. Could the waves of disease seen in the 1900s provide a road map for what could be expected a century later?

Daily deaths from COVID-19 were declining in the U.S. when historian Mari Webel and virologist Megan Culler Freeman from University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences cautioned against reading too much into how things had gone for people generations ago.

It was so tempting to superimpose a timeline of flu surges on the modern calendar to get even a blurry forecast of what the coronavirus might have in store for us. Scanning the historical record is one way to draw our own lives into focus and perspective, wrote Webel and Culler Freeman. Unfortunately, the end of influenza in summer 1919 does not portend the end of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020.

And for reasons ranging from biology to demographics to politics, that is one prediction that most certainly came true.

2. Calling it over before its really over

While the 1918 flu pandemic wasnt an exact template for how the coronavirus would sweep the world, the earlier pandemic provided plenty of parallels when it came to human behavior.

University of Michigan historian J. Alexander Navarro described how in the early 20th century Americans essentially quit on effective social distancing precautions when they got fed up with living constrained lives. Sound familiar?

As case numbers declined, People clamored to return to their normal lives. Businesses pressed officials to be allowed to reopen, Navarro wrote. Believing the pandemic was over, state and local authorities began rescinding public health edicts.

With the burden of public health resting on individual choices, additional waves of flu crashed over the population. Some amount of wishful thinking, along with a premature return to normal, was likely to blame. Peoples choices can affect whether an infectious disease outbreak ends or drags on.

3. Once a virus comes, it never really leaves

Infectious diseases are as old as humanity. Pointing to examples such as malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy and measles, Rutgers University  Newark historian Nukhet Varlik wrote, Once added to the repertoire of pathogens that affect human societies, most infectious diseases are here to stay. Only smallpox has been completely eradicated, thanks to an intense global vaccination campaign.

Varliks own research has focused on plague, a bacterial disease thats caused at least three pandemics in the past 5,000 years  including the 14th centurys Black Death  along with many more localized outbreaks over the years. Outbreaks wound down based on factors like changes in temperature, humidity and the availability of hosts, vectors and a sufficient number of susceptible individuals, Varlik wrote. Some societies recovered relatively quickly from their losses caused by the Black Death. Others never did.

The responsible bacterium, Yersinia pestis, is still with us today.

4. The endemic endgame

A post-pandemic world may still have COVID-19 in it. Many researchers suspect that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus will become endemic, meaning its always around, with some level of constant ongoing transmission. The viruses that cause the flu and the common cold, for instance, are endemic.

Sara Sawyer, Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero and Cody Warren, a team of virologists and immunologists from the University of Colorado Boulder, wrote that SARS-CoV-2 might hit the sweet spot for a virus to become endemic by being just the right degree of transmissible: Generally speaking, viruses that are highly contagious, meaning that they spread really well from one person to the next, may never die out on their own because they are so good at finding new people to infect.

[More than 140,000 readers get one of The Conversations informative newsletters. Join the list today.]

SARS-CoV-2 spreads easily through the air. Even people who arent experiencing any symptoms can pass the coronavirus to others. These factors, along with todays heavily interconnected global society, make it unlikely COVID-19 is going away completely anytime soon.

For now, these scholars write, the best we can likely hope for is stabilized rates of SARS-CoV-2 that settle down into predictable patterns, like flu season. If you want to help hurry things along toward this end stage, do what you can to make yourself an inhospitable host for the coronavirus  most notably, keep up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccinations.

Editors note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversations archives.

___
Forty-six years after it began, the Pizza King business has been even busier since it moved from its original location to its new one in the former Clason Buick GMC showroom at 2915 East Ave. S., owner Terry Mach says.

In 2013, the Clason auto dealership moved next door to the former Ray Hutson Chevrolet building, where it remains in business.

Pizza King first opened in December 1975 at 2929 South Ave. on the South Side of La Crosse. Mach began working there in March 1976 and he bought the business in 1978.

Mach had to move his business because its original building will be razed to make way for one of three traffic roundabouts that will be part of this years South Avenue reconstruction project.

Pizza King opened Dec. 2 in its new location, with the same menu, telephone number and hours as it had before. It sells pizzas, submarine sandwiches, wrap sandwiches, gyros, appetizers and salads.

Eventually we will have limited inside seating (something Pizza King didnt have its previous location), but we will still primarily be a carry-out restaurant, Mach said. We are still waiting for tables and chairs. They are back-ordered from the supplier, and I dont know when they will be in. Total seating capacity will be 26 once they arrive.

Mach said he is grateful for the help that Brickl Brothers (the general contractor for the new locations remodeling) provided with the layout and design of Pizza Kings new location, and for the work that La Crosse Sign Co. did.

Mach said he also is grateful for his staff, many of which have worked at Pizza King for many years. I couldnt have done it without them, he said.

Improvements at the new location are better (traffic) access for customers, and much more space for us to work in, Mach said.

We have been busy all through COVID, but since moving to the new location even busier than ever before, which has been challenging to handle, Mach said. We definitely need some more part-time people to join Pizza Kings roster of employees.

Pizza King has 17 employees, including Mach; his brother, Steve Mach; and Terrys sons, Allan, Ray and Ken Mach. We could use another four part-time people at this point, Mach said.

Business has been better than ever before since many people are doing more carry-out instead of dine-in, Mach said. We truly appreciate each and every one of our loyal customers.

Pizza accounts for about three-fourths of Pizza Kings total sales, Mach estimated. Baked pizzas account for about 60 percent of sales, and unbaked pizzas account for the other 40 percent, he said.

Sausage and pepperoni is Pizza Kings biggest-selling pizza variety. Its most popular specialty pizza is the King Special, made with Italian sausage or beef, pepperoni, onions, green peppers, green or black olives, fresh or canned mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.

Some of Pizza Kings most popular sandwiches are the traditional gyros; the ham, turkey, bacon and Swiss sub; and the Italian sub made with salami, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.

I feel that people have been supportive of Pizza King all these years because we have always tried to be consistent and provide the best possible food for a reasonable price, Mach said. And I purposely stay away from trends and just offer the same quality products using the same recipes year after year.

Most Pizza King customers live or work on the citys South Side. However, we really serve the greater La Crosse area, with people coming from Minnesota, Iowa and small towns all around the city, Mach said. I attribute this to us offering our unbaked pizza option.

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The embattled head of Alaskas statewide child abuse forensic clinic  who also left the University of Wisconsin under a cloud of controversy  will soon resign, Providence Alaska Medical Center said.

Alaska CARES medical directors Dr. Barbara Knox has chosen to pursue other opportunities and will be resigning, Providence spokesman Mikal Canfield said in a written statement. The final day for Knox, who asked to resign, will be April 1, Canfield said.

Knox did not respond to a request for an interview.

Her resignation comes days after the Anchorage Daily News and Wisconsin Watch published the story of Emily and Justin Acker, a Fairbanks-area military family who said Knox misdiagnosed their newborn daughters brain injuries as abuse, leading them to lose custody of their two children for most of a year.

The Tribune published the story last Sunday.

Experts hired by the Ackers found Knoxs diagnosis of abusive head trauma was wrong and ignored Izabels serious birth injuries. A forensic psychologist found Emily Acker no danger to her children  and a judge agreed.

It wasnt the first time Knoxs medical judgment and workplace behavior had been scrutinized. In November, Providence said it had launched an investigation into Alaska CARES after a wave of departures that included every member of the medical staff other than Knox. At the time, Providence said it was aware of increasing concerns about the workplace environment of the clinic.

Former clinic employees said they had made dozens of complaints over the course of months to Providence management about what they described as bullying and unprofessional behavior by Knox, with no response.

Providence declined to answer questions about the outcome or findings of the investigation, citing the confidentiality of personnel records.

Before becoming medical director of Alaska CARES in 2019, Knox left her position leading the Child Protection Program at American Family Childrens Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, after being placed on paid leave while the university investigated allegations shed intimidated and bullied colleagues who disagreed with her. Knoxs parting settlement agreement, uncovered by Wisconsin Watch, meant future employers, like Providence, and medical credentialing boards didnt know the details of why she had left the UW.

After Wisconsin Watch told the story of a Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, family wrongly accused by Knox of child abuse in early 2020, numerous families and caregivers came forward to share similar stories.

Wisconsin Watch and the Anchorage Daily News found at least a dozen instances in which Knoxs diagnoses of abuse were later rejected by child welfare authorities, the courts, law enforcement or other doctors. Some parents lost custody of their children at least temporarily, and multiple caregivers and parents were criminally charged on the strength of Knoxs testimony.

If her resignation is a cover-up from Providence to allow her to leave quietly like she did in Wisconsin, then they need to be held accountable for allowing the possibility that this will occur to more families in more states in the future, Emily Acker said in a text message.

In an opinion column published by Wisconsin Watch, former Alaska CARES forensic nurse examiner Sarah Wood said Knox repeatedly said with 99.9% certainty her medical diagnosis was the correct one, eliminating any other options. She often shopped from her long list of colleagues in the Lower 48 until she got her confirmation, discrediting and mocking those who disagreed or questioned.

Wisconsin Watchs coverage included the story of Stacy Hartje, who spent eight years and $250,000 to clear her name after being wrongly charged with abusing a boy at her home day care in Mauston.

Reading all the stories of so many shes accused and hurt just makes my blood boil, Hartje said.

Hartjes lawyer, Stephen Meyer, said Knoxs resignation does not solve the problems she created.

Asked Meyer: Who gives back those portions of peoples lives that she took?

This story was a collaboration between Wisconsin Watch and the Anchorage Daily News. The Fund for Investigative Journalism provided financial support. The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.

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Since the start of Damaris Rau's seven-year tenure as superintendent of the largest and most economically disadvantaged school district in Lancaster County, she has pushed educators to improve PSSA scores, increase graduation rates and address inequities.

Rau, a Brooklyn, New York, native with nearly 40 years of experience in education, will retire from the School District of Lancaster in July. She sat down with the LNP | LancasterOnline to discuss the successes and challenges she faced, including in implementing an equity team and an initiative to improve student reading levels.

Guided by the belief that education is a gateway out of poverty, Rau fought for fair funding for her students. As Rau closes her career, a decision looms in a 2014 lawsuit over whether Pennsylvanias public-school funding formula should be changed. Though the suit predates Raus tenure in Lancaster, she recently testified in Commonwealth Court on the ways in which a lack of funding shortchanges Lancaster students.

A positive outcome could mean $30 million more a year for the district.

By the Numbers For the 2020-21 school year 87% of the 10,384 students enrolled at SDL came from low-income families,according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

In this interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, Rau stressed that she isnt quite done making changes and spoke freely about the impacts of COVID-19 on Lancaster County superintendents, as well as what goals remain unaccomplished.

[Click here to watch a livestream roundtable with Rau and other Lancaster County superintendents in April 2020 about the early impact of COVID on shut-down schools.]

What drew you into education, and what kept you coming back year after year?

I was a foster-care child, and that foster-care agency constantly emphasized the importance of education.  When I went to college and volunteered in a classroom, that's when I got that aha moment, that Oh, I want to be a teacher

What made me continue is that I believe that education can get children out of poverty.  Oftentimes when there are poor students, people may not have high expectations of them. I wanted to serve as a role model to show kids, especially poor kids and kids of color, that it doesn't matter where you come from, that you can go on to be successful in life, but you need your education in order to do that.

What was one persistent challenge facing the School District of Lancaster that you were unable to change but really wanted to?

Right now, the focus has been on funding, on getting equitable funding for children. We are close to that decision. Hopefully, the trial will end on a positive note for the school districts and the children.

That really has been the one thing that has been consistent across my seven years is always fighting for equity, so participating in the funding trial is just one of the strategies in order to achieve equity.

In 2021, you introduced a Theory of Action, with a goal of 55% of students in grades K-2 reading at grade level by June 30 and going up to 62.7% after the 2024-25 school year, and with similar goals for middle school and high school. What's the percentage of students reading at grade level now, and do you anticipate hitting that goal before you leave? Are you on track?

Do I anticipate getting them on track to achieve those goals? Yes, I do.

We want to do everything.  But if you continue to do everything, you're not going to necessarily master certain areas. We believe that if we really focus on early childhood and develop those foundation skills, that those kids will grow up being more proficient in reading, math and all areas.

One of the things I'm most proud of is our [high school] dual-enrollment program. When I first got here, there were about 20 kids who were taking college courses while in high school. Now there are over 250 kids taking college courses while they're in high school. We pay for that. We do that because we really believe that if a child takes a college course while in high school, it gives them that sense of, I can do this. It builds your confidence  so the Theory of Action for high school is to make sure that all kids, especially kids of color, are taking those high-level courses.

[Editors note: Data provided by SDOL shows 56.1% of kindergarteners, 39.4% of first-graders and 46.7% of second-graders were reading at or above grade level in 2021.]

Another thing you wanted to improve in your time here was PSSA scores. What ways did you succeed with that, and what can still be done or still needs to be done?

There's still a lot of work to be done in that area. It's one of the things that I feel I will be leaving this district unfinished. We have made gains, especially in reading. Part of those gains came about because we changed our reading  We started with this independent reading where kids could choose the books they want to read  I think that really has helped inspire more kids to be hooked on reading 

Math continues to be a big problem, and we're trying to figure out what's the disconnect between elementary math and when they go to middle school.  There's a couple of reasons. We're looking at the academic parts, but I also think partly it's the social development part. You're just becoming a teenager, you're just exploring your true self, and so kids at that middle school age, we need to treat them as sixth-graders not as kids getting ready for high school. You're in sixth grade, you're learning to be a sixth-grader. You shouldn't be learning what it means to be a ninth-grader. You're not there yet psychologically, developmentally. 

You also wanted to see graduation rates go up and, looking at the data, it looks like it stayed around 80% from the time you started to now.

It has gone up. It has gone down recently, I believe, because of the pandemic. It's gone down nationally.  We know that when we were in virtual school, kids were not interested in doing virtual school. There were a lot of social-emotional things that were happening with kids, especially teenagers, whose development really is around developing social skills with friends and figuring out who they are.

We also found a lot of kids were going to work full-time to help their families during the pandemic  many of our kids, especially our poorest kids, ended up working many more hours than they should have been  so we are working on reaching out to every single one of those kids to help them graduate because I really believe graduation from high school is the minimum that kids should have 

I think we've been doing a really good job until this pandemic hit, in terms of graduation. And that was not for lack of trying 

[Editors note: Data provided by SDOL shows the graduation rate for McCaskey High School was 89.02% in 2016-17, the first year provided. It decreased in 2017-18 to 82.95% and spiked to 86.77% in 2018-19 then decreased to 84.68% in 2019-20 and 83.9% in 2020-21.]

How did the equity design team you developed [in 2018] address racial biases in the School District of Lancaster, and what work do they still have to do?

The equity steering committee started several years ago. What we did is we conducted a lot of focus groups.  We asked them, Why do you think our students, particularly our Black male students, are not performing at the same level as their peers? What came out from all of those focus groups was that people needed education on what culturally responsive instruction looked like and what diversity is and what's inclusion, and why those things are important. 

That equity design team decided that we needed to do something about this. We wrote up a request for proposals for training staff all across the whole district on equity and inclusion  that is aligned with how we are redoing our curriculum to make sure that all of our students are represented in books that they read, for instance. And, that when were teaching science, were talking about scientists of color as well and that when were reading stories its around topics that interest students around equity and social justice.

Weve done a lot of work. We're really proud of that. Where we are right now is at the end to ensure that equity remains a focus area in the district, and that is through writing a policy. When you have a policy that says equity is important, it sends a message to the community and to our students and staff that equity is important and were going to be looking for equitable opportunities

We're creating what we're calling an equity scorecard. We're looking at our data. We're saying OK, let's look at, for instance, dual enrollment for college credit: How many of our students of color are participating? 

We will be looking at our data around teachers and other staff of color. We know that the research says that when students see people who look like them in positions of authority, like teachers, that that is a good role model for them. We want to make sure that we are consistently working on that, trying to get more and more people of color to become teachers. 

[Editors note: According to Kelly Burkholder, coordinator of community relations for the district, of the districts 10,190 students: 62% are Hispanic, 16% are Black, 12% are Caucasian, and 10% are Asian or other. A total of 71 countries are represented in the district and 57 different native languages are spoken.]

What successes and challenges did you face in implementing more technology in schools, and how did COVID impact that?

Before COVID, we had a five-year technology plan. And I believe we were in year two at that time. So that meant that sixth grade had one-on-one devices, seventh grade had them, and we were ready to go to eighth grade. we never anticipated having a one-on-one program for elementary students.

When COVID hit, our kids were behind so many other school districts in our county and in the Commonwealth We had to order devices, and the rest of the world was ordering devices too. We couldn't get them on a timely basis so we had to take all of the devices we had in the elementary school and we just started giving them out to secondary students who didn't have devices

[A year in the School District of Lancaster: A superintendent fought to supercharge learning. She didn't plan on COVID.]

Now, all of our kids K-12 have a one-on-one device. We went from a plan of a five-year technology rollout to an immediate rollout once COVID hit, but one of the challenges was that for many of our students, they were not accustomed to working on iPads.  That was particularly true for children with significant disabilities who receive special-education services. Working on an iPad was not giving them the type of instruction they needed to be successful. The other kids that this really hurt were our students who didn't speak English. We have 500 refugee families in our community. We also have 20% of our students who are not proficient in English.

We had tons and tons of teachers and parents and just everyone going to children's homes, teaching them how to use the iPad to access their learning.  It was one of the important reasons that we had to bring children back as soon as we could, as soon as it was safe.

One of the things that we're proud of that we did for those kids and for others.  we created hubs in our schools with children who didn't have someone to help them access it because of the language. They could come and work in our schools, and we had volunteers, teachers and support staff volunteering, helping kids. We had kids who didn't have internet access come to our hubs. We also worked with our partners like The Mix and the Boys and Girls clubs  enabling kids to do their work there.

You recently testified in the fair-funding trial for public schools. What could a better allocation of funds to public schools like the School District of Lancaster do for students?

One of the things we want to do  hopefully we win this lawsuit  is we want to reduce class sizes.  When you have children who are coming from poverty, they're facing obstacles that your more affluent children may never face. Many of our children  don't have books at home unless we provide it, and it's really important for children, especially even before they get to school, that they are read to and that they hear stories. That's how kids develop language. We know that when a lot of our students come to us as kindergarteners, they don't have that academic language that other kids might have  so reducing class sizes would really help those kids get the attention they need from teachers and support staff 

Another big area that we have looked at is our transportation.  For high schoolers, you don't get a bus to take you to school unless you live more than 2 miles away  Part of the reason is because we just don't have enough funds, and what that does to poor districts like SDoL is it forces us to triage. We have a certain amount of money that is insufficient to get the kids everything that they really need to do well in school.

We have to look at the money and say  Where can we make the greatest impact with the money that we have, knowing that there will be other areas such as transportation that we can't fund the way we want to fund it. ...

What do you want to get done before you leave in July?

I want to make sure that equity policy is complete because it tells everyone that equity, access, inclusion is important and that we're going to look at all areas through an equity lens 

The other thing I want to get done is hiring a director of equity. There has to be someone, besides the superintendent, who is really looking at the different areas of the organization and ensuring that equity is part of that lens 

The other one is I want to make sure we follow through on is the Theory of Action work that we've been doing 

Youve spent upwards of 40 years in education. Whats next for you - do you plan to fully stay out of education, are you going to do something else?

I really havent made any plans. I just want to kind of recharge my battery. But, what I can say is I will always be an advocate for children and for fair funding and for equity. I will always do that, wherever I am.

Why are you retiring now - did COVID burnout have anything to do with that?

So, I dont know if Id call it burnout but, definitely COVID had to do with it. But, other things, too. I had a good friend who passed away, and he talked about enjoying your life while you still were healthy and while you could enjoy other things because when youre a superintendent or a principal, teacher, theres a stress that you live with.

Weve had more teachers retire than ever. Nationally, theres the big resignation thing going on. And, the same thing could be said for superintendents. Theres a large number of superintendents who are retiring because it is really, really stressful. We were often forced to make medical decisions that we were not ready to make but we had to make them 

It was really stressful to see how the pandemic impacted our students and our staff.  we really take that to heart when students and staff are suffering. 

I hope  fingers crossed  that we are moving out of the pandemic and that the coronavirus will become more like the flu.  Im hopeful the worst has happened already and that things will get better. Yeah, the pandemic definitely played a role in making the job much more difficult, but I also want to be able to enjoy some time as a retiree while Im still healthy.
When: School District of Lancaster school board meeting, Jan. 18.

What happened: The school district reported gains and losses in learning since COVID-19 closed schools in March 2020. Elementary and middle school test scores have gone down in all subjects, while high school science and math saw strong gains.

Quotable: What we have found is that students, because of the interruption in their education, because of the pandemic, were not able to finish their learning, Superintendent Damaris Rau told board members during a presentation about the state of the district.

Background: Students took standardized tests in September 2021 rather than last spring, Rau said, to allow them more recovery time from school closures and lost learning. The state Department of Education allowed all districts to waive testing for the end of the 2020 academic school year.

Test scores: Elementary school proficiency in English language arts dropped to 28% in September from 41% in 2019, the last full year students attended school. Math dropped to 14% proficiency compared with 28% in 2019. Science decreased from 63% to 48% for the same period.

Middle school: English language arts proficiency went from 34% in 2019 to 22% this year. Math scores decreased to 5% this year, compared with 12% in 2019. Science dropped from 26% to 16% mastery during that same period.

High school: English language arts proficiency dropped from 49% in 2019 to 26% in September. Math scores, however, steadily rose from 39% in 2018 to 48% in September. Science scores also went up from 35% mastery in 2018 to 58% in September.

Whats next: The district will test students again in the spring.

Graduation rate: The districts graduation rate has dipped less than 1%. That number dropped to 83.7% of students in 2021, down from 84.7% in 2020.

Tax talk: Board members approved a resolution that says the district will not ask for an exception to raise real estate taxes beyond the districts maximum tax rate index of 4.8% set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Upcoming meeting: The school board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 1 as a committee of the whole. The public can view meetings and register to comment on the district website.
A few months ago, I was back home in Lancaster County visiting my parents. My wife and I decided to run some errands and drive around the county.

As we drove past the Lime Spring Square shopping center on Rohrerstown Road, she exclaimed, This looks like Cherry Hill.

She was referencing the megasuburban town of Cherry Hill, New Jersey  home of the infamous Cherry Hill Mall  where she grew up and which is close to where we now live.

I grew up here in Lancaster County, graduated from Penn Manor High School and left after graduation to attend Temple University. After living in Philadelphia and now living in the Philadelphia suburbs (on the New Jersey side), I have developed a greater appreciation of the unique and charming landscape of this county. When my wife mentioned its resemblance to Cherry Hill, it struck a chord in me. My saddened response was that only six years ago, the Rohrerstown Road shopping center that looks like it was plucked from Cherry Hill was idyllic farmland.

Each time I come home to visit my parents, I see a new development in the works, or a new For Sale sign touting the availability of open farmland for development. This rapid change in landscape has been happening too quickly in the short course of my life.

Losing ground

Between 2002 and 2015, according to county planners, 7,288 acres were developed in this countys urban growth areas  areas specifically designated for development to contain urban sprawl.

In a 2018 LNP | LancasterOnline article, Jeff Hawkes reported that land in Lancaster County was being consumed at a rate averaging 561 acres a year. If land consumption continues at that rate, the growth areas will run out of buildable land in about 50 years.

That is a staggering thought.

Of course, the nonprofit Lancaster Farmland Trust is working to preserve farms to keep them safe from development, and Lancaster Conservancy has preserved natural lands. But commercial and residential development remains a threat to farmland here.

The report Lancaster County: Buildable Lands, 2015  2040, prepared by the Lancaster County Planning Commission, stated that 99,526 acres of land fit within urban growth areas. In 2017, when that report was published, only 27,821 acres  or 28%  of urban growth area land remained to be developed.

Unfortunately, not all development is taking place in those designated urban growth areas.

Open fields, lush forests, fertile soil and pure streams are what put Lancaster County on the map for years. Farmland and Amish culture are promoted on the county tourism site DiscoverLancaster.com. On that website, youre hit with images and messaging that tout the beauty of Lancaster County.

My question is this: If the beauty of this county is so coveted, why are we covering so much of it with concrete?

Sadly, a Washington Post travel column last week urged travelers seeking Pennsylvania Dutch tranquility to spurn crowded Lancaster County for Berks County instead. Since the 1985 film Witness, which drew many tourists here, Lancaster County has struggled to protect its Amish and Mennonite residents and its achingly beautiful landscape, the article states, noting that Lancaster is surrounded today by its own mini-Beltway.

Not only is the development of Lancaster County a hindrance to its unique selling proposition, but the negative effects on the local ecosystems are troubling, too. The increase in housing developments and commercial centers results in loss of natural habitats, watershed degradation, decreased carbon sequestration and increased traffic congestion (which leads to greater increases in carbon dioxide levels).

Thoughtful growth

My dad told me that when he was growing up in Manor Township, he would camp out in the field behind his farmhouse and hunt pheasants each year because they were so abundant. I grew up on that same farm and cannot recall seeing a single wild pheasant in my entire life. The introduction of urban sprawl has pushed out native wildlife species such as wild pheasants.

Not only that, with urban sprawl comes nonnative landscaping, which introduces nonnative invasive species that rapidly spread and outcompete the native plants that are needed to provide food and shelter for native wildlife.

Ive vented at length, so let me be sympathetic. I understand why this development is happening. Lancaster County remains a wonderful place to live; it has great schools, beautiful landscapes and open land for new housing. With the introduction of new populations comes increased tax revenues, consumer spending that stimulates the local economy, increased home values and more diversity. However, we need to be smart.

Lancaster County has a comprehensive plan for growth called Places 2040. But its growth management goals need buy-in from the municipal officials who green-light zoning ordinances and development.

As citizens who love Lancaster County, we need to stand up to developers and local government officials and let them know that development, when it happens, needs to be thoughtful  and future generations must be kept in mind. We need high-density housing, sustainable architecture and community planning, and landscaping with native plants.

As I read through the Lancaster County: Buildable Lands, 2015  2040 report, I happened on these lines that state: Lancaster County residents have made it clear that they dont want to see business as usual. Instead, they want to see an even greater focus on preserving farmland and natural lands, and keeping urban places more vibrant. Clearly, public opinion favors the protection of farmland and wildlife areas.

Land preservation is one topic that bridges political parties. Liberal tree-huggers can unite with conservative hunters over preservation and conservation. As an evangelical Christian, I know I take seriously the Lords command to serve as careful stewards of the land.

We have one Earth and one Lancaster County. So lets work together to make sure this land does not turn into another Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Trust me, I live there. We only need one.

Nick Charles is a manager of strategic initiatives at Comcast in Philadelphia. He was born and raised in Manor Township, where he developed his passion for land conservation and the outdoors.
As kids trying to figure out how to become adults, we dont realize sometimes how precious and fleeting time is  at least not until our senior year rolls around.

Nobody wants to admit it, but one day very soon, the kids in the Class of 2022 will have to grow up and move on.

And when we do, theres going to be a lot to deal with.

In a June 2021 column for The New York Times, Lisa Damour wrote: In the more than two decades Ive spent as a psychologist working with adolescents, I have never seen teenagers so worn down at the end of an academic year as they are right now.

Were still worn down.

In the midst of all the usual emotional and psychological difficulties of our senior year, were also dealing with the third academic year of a pandemic.

An October 2021 article by Moriah Balingit in The Washington Post added this: For students already facing challenges in school, the shutdowns and virtual learning often made things worse. Some students stopped showing up altogether, or did so infrequently.

With all the stress of the past few years, its not surprising that more high school students have found themselves in distress and have considered dropping out.

According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Students who drop out of high school may experience poor health and premature death. Individuals who do not graduate high school are more likely to self-report overall poor health.

Theres also the anxiety of wondering what lies ahead. Should we pursue college and a mountain of debt? Or should we opt for an immediate career in some entry-level position?

In an article on the website Inside Higher Ed this month, Maria Carrasco writes: College enrollment by the high school Class of 2020 showed an unprecedented decline of between four and 10 percentage points, depending on the area of study.

As if all that werent troubling enough, Americas current economic instability also poses a threat to our futures, especially for a bunch of young adults who have little to no guaranteed income.

Between all the fears and realities of the pandemic, college debt, and Americas volatile economy and job market, its more difficult than ever to know what we want to do with our lives.

But, honestly, the hardest part about graduating from high school isnt the plethora of terrifying statistics about our current situation. The toughest part is trying to find some meaningful closure to the past 13 years of our lives in the public school system.

We have to say goodbye to all the people weve grown up with, and all we can do is hope that everyone finds what theyre looking for in the future.

None of us can predict what the future might look like. Thats what makes leaving high school so hard; we have to let go of the past to find a way forward into the future.

And I think theres only one solution to that: You tell the people you love that you love them, and hope that the rest will follow. The hardships of graduating will eventually fade away, because you know no matter how old you get, theyll always love you, too.

And maybe thats the extraordinary part of being a kid in this pandemic generation. Many of us have learned what a lot of adults still havent figured out. A college education wont make or break us. Our jobs wont define us. Our value isnt determined by being part of Americas economy.

The things that matter arent things at all. Theyre people. And relationships. And the love and humanity that unite us.

Noah Darling is in the 12th grade at Garden Spot High School.
THE ISSUE: James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens  Lancasters best-known politicians of the 19th century  have never been treated equally in their adopted home, Jack Brubaker wrote in The Scribbler column in the Jan. 23 Sunday LNP. Brubaker described how Buchanan, despite being regularly ranked at or near the bottom of U.S. presidents by historians, is central to magnificent local tourist attraction Wheatland and has a statue in Buchanan Park. Stevens  whose legacy includes being a fierce opponent of slavery and crusader for public education  has a local statue, too, but it wasnt erected until 2008. Meanwhile, as Brubaker notes, builders of the Lancaster County Convention Center destroyed the rear half of U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens home and office years ago. LancasterHistory is finally preparing to restore whats left.

Its long past time to give Stevens a bigger spotlight in Lancaster County.

Local history should focus more on The Old Commoner and his virtuous deeds than it does on the 15th president  who was, quite frankly, terrible. And well just leave it at that.

We applaud Brubakers idea of reviving an old proposal to name the intersection of South Queen and Vine streets in Lancaster city Stevens Square. Doing so could be just the start of giving Stevens the long-overdue recognition he deserves.

That intersection is also the location of the future Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Historic Site being developed by LancasterHistory. (Smith managed Stevens household and was a successful Black businesswoman in Lancaster.)

When it all comes together, that area of Lancaster city could serve as a springboard for making sure that history-focused tourists leave here impressed by Stevens legacy in Pennsylvania and national politics.

We arent alone in appreciating Brubakers idea. Heres what some commenters wrote on the LNP | LancasterOnline Facebook page:

 Old Thad SHOULD be remembered. It is the Old Commoner who best represents the spirit of our county and our Republican party.

 We truly need to honor Thaddeus Stevens more. ... Its past time that this leader for equality and public education be recognized in Lancaster, not just at Stevens College.

That would be Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, where the Stevens statue went up in 2008. At least that one did go up.

As Brubaker notes, Three other initiatives to erect Stevens statues over the years have fizzled. Among the initiatives that failed was an attempt to erect a statue of Stevens in Harrisburg in the early 20th century.

Given the timing, its surprising that the Harrisburg monument was even attempted. The early 20th century was an unfairly tumultuous time for Stevens legacy.

Ross Hetrick, president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society in Gettysburg, explained to Brubaker the primary reason that Stevens was not properly memorialized in the United States following his death in 1868.

(His) enemies  the people who wanted to destroy the country and preserve slavery  were more determined to demonize Stevens as a part of the Lost Cause propaganda effort to distort the historic record of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Hetrick said.

Hollywood didnt help Stevens legacy, either.

The notorious and racist  but wildly popular and influential  1915 film The Birth of a Nation essentially featured Stevens as its antagonist.

We write essentially, because the character clearly based on Stevens in D.W. Griffiths movie is named Austin Stoneman.

Great films need great villains, and other than the nameless black freedmen portrayed in the film, no candidate seemed more outwardly fit to assume the role than Thaddeus Stevens, historian Josh Zietz wrote in a 2015 article for Politico Magazine titled How an Infamous Movie Revived the Confederacy.

In truth, Stevens was a giant in U.S. history. Unfazed by those who sought to demonize him, he not only championed the passage of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States, but he fought for the passage of the 14th Amendment, which made all persons born or naturalized in the United States citizens of this nation and so equal under law.

Now is the time to reinforce Stevens true history and legacy. And what better place to do so than Lancaster?

Brubaker believes the time is right, too.

In recent years, efforts to promote the discredited Lost Cause have faltered as the bitter truth of the terrible toll of slavery and racism has become ever more clear, he wrote in last Sundays column. At the same time, Stevens star is slowly rising as his passionate dedication to equality has become more widely recognized.

We regularly quote and recognize Stevens in our editorials, because the principles he sought to uphold in the 19th century ring truer than ever today. Two examples:

 Voting to impeach President Andrew Johnson in the U.S. House of Representatives in February 1868, just six months before his own death, Stevens commented on the magnitude of the moment: We are to protect or to destroy the liberty and happiness of a mighty people, and to take care that they progress in civilization and defend themselves against every kind of tyranny. ... The God of our fathers, who inspired them with the thought of universal freedom, will hold us responsible for the noble institutions which they projected and expected us to carry out.

 And we wrote in a 2019 editorial that Stevens had little patience for those who, as he put it, are willing to educate their own children, but not their neighbors children. In an April 1835 speech that saved the Pennsylvania Free Schools Act of 1834 from repeal, Stevens called for the blessing of education to be carried home to the poorest child of the poorest inhabitant of your mountains so that even he may be prepared to act well his part in this land of freemen.

So lets push for the creation of Stevens Square. And look forward to the LancasterHistory historic site at that location.

We shouldnt let those initiatives be the end, either. They should be only the beginning of weaving this great Americans story deeper into the fabric of the Lancaster County he once called home.
UK to offer major NATO deployment amid Ukraine crisis

The United Kingdom is considering a major NATO deployment in a plan to strengthen Europes borders amid rising Russian hostility towards Ukraine, after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to the countrys border.

The UK has said that any Russian incursion into Ukraine would be met with swift sanctions and would be devastating for both sides.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to visit the region next week, and is also expected to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone.

This package would send a clear message to the Kremlin  we will not tolerate their destabilising activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility, Johnson said in a statement late on Saturday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the new offer could double the number of UK troops deployed in Eastern Europe.

The offer could double the number of UK troops in eastern Europe and see defensive weapons sent to Estonia, Johnsons office said. There are about 1,150 UK troops in the region at the moment.

I have ordered our Armed Forces to prepare to deploy across Europe next week, ensuring we are able to support our NATO allies, Johnson said.

Officials will finalise the details of the offer at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, this week, with ministers discussing the military options on Monday. The head of the armed forces will brief the UK cabinet on the situation in Ukraine the following day.

With Russian troops massed on the border with Ukraine, tensions have risen, and relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated to their lowest point since the Cold War.

Russia has also sent more troops to the frontier with Belarus, which lies to the north of Ukraine, as it steps up demands for wide-ranging security guarantees, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.

Amid criticism that his government  under intense pressure at home over a series of scandals  has not been doing enough, Johnson will make a second trip to meet NATO counterparts early next month, his office said.

Johnsons foreign and defence ministers will also go to Moscow for talks with their Russian counterparts in coming days, with the aim of improving relations and de-escalating tensions.

The UK is also expected to announce the toughening of its sanctions regime on Russia in parliament on Monday to target strategic and financial interests.

Ukraine has turned increasingly westwards since Moscow seized Crimea in 2014 and began fuelling a separatist conflict in the east of the country that has led to the deaths of more than 13,000 people.

On Saturday, Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged western countries to remain vigilant and firm in talks with Moscow.

Source: Al Jazeera
Mas

 Copyright 2017 Grupo Editorial La Verdad.

Todos los derechos reservados.




United States Army officer Khallid Shabazz is one of a very small number of American military chaplains who are Muslim. Colonel Shabazz is also the highest-level Muslim chaplain in the U.S. military, says the Army Times newspaper.

Although he has had great success, Shabazz has faced many difficulties in his life.

Highest ranking Muslim chaplain in U.S. military

A chaplain is a person who performs religious services and gives help and guidance to people.

Shabazz serves as command chaplain for U.S. Army Central, the command responsible for land operations in the Middle East.

With his position as a colonel, Shabazz is now responsible for tens of thousands of soldiers and supervises other chaplains. Like all military chaplains, he has to be ready to deal with soldiers of all religions.

The majority of my job is counseling about domestic issues or other kinds of difficulties and only one percent of my job is actual religious counseling, Shabazz explained.

Still, in order to better understand Christian soldiers who make up the majority of the military, Shabazz continued to study Christianity. He even got a doctorate in Christian theology from North Texas Theological Seminary.

Shabazz became a Muslim as a young man. He believes his experience with both religions has helped to make him a better chaplain.

Difficult past

Shabazz has had success despite difficult times in the past.

As a child, Shabazz was sexually abused by a family friend  an experience, he said, that left him an angry young man.

When he first went to college, he said, he became friendly with the wrong crowd. He began drinking alcohol and partying and often found himself in violent disagreements. It was during one of these drunken fights that he was beaten and shot in the back.

He survived but decided to put his studies on hold. He went back to Louisiana, his home state. The only job he could find was as a cleaner at a large store.

With few choices available to him, Shabazz joined the military.

It was there he first read The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

I found a lot to inspire me in his story, said Shabazz. He added, I wanted to be educated and to stand for something bigger than myself. So I decided to become like Malcolm.

Shabazzs new identity as a Muslim came in the early 1990s. The change was not received well by all. He faced discrimination from other soldiers and the displeasure of his Christian family. He was ready to quit the military.

Then he met with an Army chaplain. The officer persuaded Shabazz not only to stay in the army but to become a chaplain himself.

Shabazz became a chaplain in 1998, having studied Arabic in Jordan along the way. He also earned two master's degrees at universities in Connecticut and California.

Shabazz says there are five Muslim chaplains in the army, three in the Air Force, and one in the Navy.

Shabazz added there is more work to be done. Unlike other faiths, Shabazz said, he has not met any Muslim chaplain assistants  officers who help chaplains in their work.

But, he said, Its easier today to be a Muslim soldier in the army than when I began.

Im John Russell.

Joseph Hammond reported on this story for Religion News Service. The Associated Press distributed the story. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. _____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

chaplain  n. a religious leader who performs services for a military group (such as the army)

inspire  v. to make (someone) want to do something : to give (someone) an idea about what to do or create

counseling -- n. advice and support that is given to people to help them deal with problems, make important decisions, etc.

domestic -- adj. relating to or involving someone's home or family

theology  n. the study of religious faith, practice, and experience
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.
The Ugandan dictator Gen. Yoweri Museveni has been in power for 36 years now.

The very warm relationships between Italy & Ugandan dictatorship

Authors: Dr N. Schoonderwoerd & J. Kat

January 23, 2022

This report investigates weapons and related products that are used in Uganda to suppress the Ugandan population. Especially during the election period of the Presidential Elections Many of these weapon systems were in use, especially during the election period that culminated in the Presidential Elections of Jan. 14, 2021. The violence and rigging of the elections is described in the 222-page report Rigged. https://uvote.nup-uganda.com/rigged/Rigged.pdf

The information in this report is based on publicly available information on the internet. However, theres likely a considerable amount of weapons export that cannot be found on the internet.

On the website Trading Economics we only find the tip of the iceberg.





In the remainder we will focus on specific military systems.

Ammunition

According to the OEC there are considerable Ammunition sales from Italy to Uganda.

Helicopters

Italy has sold at least five police helicopters to Uganda. Source 1: https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/uganda-police-procures-two-more-helicopters-and-a-fixed-wing-aircraft Source 2 below

A helicopter was used to take Bobi Wine in 2018 from Arua to an unknown prison where he was tortured. In the examples below it is shown how helicopters are used to intimidate opposition. The left picture shows a Police helicopter above Bobi Wines house where a peaceful gathering was being held of the National Unity Platform (NUP), which he leads. The right image shows a helicopter above NUP headquarters.





Police forces in Uganda are notorious for their violence against the population. The helicopters were supplied by the Italian company Finmeccanica/Augusta-Westland

The image below shows typical abuse of Ugandan citizens by the police.





Italian training

The following article deals with the cooperation between Italy and Ugandas vicious police force that routinely abuses human rights: https://www.upf.go.ug/italian-police-delegation-carabinieri-visit-uganda/

The photo shows a former Ugandan police commander Gen. Kale Kayihura signing a cooperation agreement with an Italian officer. Kayihura was later sanctioned, on Sept. 13, 2019 by the U.S. government which imposed a travel ban on the Ugandan. He was sanctioned for leading forces that engaged in serious human rights abuse and for corruption.

On Twitter, Italys Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was proud of the training provided to Ugandas vicious police force.





Those lessons on Riot control came in handy on November 18 and 19, 2020 when more than 100 unarmed protesters and bystanders were killed by Ugandan security forces after they protested the violent arrest of Bobi Wine, their candidate in Ugandas Presidential election. The photo below shows Ugandas armed forces marching; the same forces deployed to brutalize civilians by the regime of dictator Gen. Yoweri Museveni, in power for 36 years now.





The image below shows security forces intercepting Bobi Wine, surrounding him and disrupting his Presidential campaign. They often fired on his entourage, and injured some of his aides and even journalists accompanying him. Makes one wonder what kind of training Italy and other countries provided.

Diplomatic support of the Museveni family

As part of standard protocol an ambassador speaks with the President of the country where he is accredited, and in this case Ugandas Gen. Yoweri Museveni. But its not normal when the envoy meets with the son of the president, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is the leader of the most feared security force in the country, the Special Forces Command (SFC). The SFC are the prime force in the ongoing campaign of kidnappings, torture, and summary executions of suspected supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP). Formal complaints on behalf of victims, detailing the atrocities, have been filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC). Recently, the SFC was involved in the Dec. 28 arrest and torture of novelist and PEN International 2021 Writer of Courage honoree Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. Another notorious state agency is the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI). The U.S. government sanctioned its commander Gen. Abel Kandiho on Dec. 7, 2021, also imposing travel bans. He was accused of personally participating in the abuses, including sexual torture, and the killings.





The regime of Gen. Museveni is trying to position the extremely unpopular son of Museveni (less than 5% of Ugandans think hes fit for the presidency) as a credible presidential candidate. After 6 fraudulent elections and 2 illegitimate changes of the constitution this is the final blow to democracy in Uganda. Italy should not support dictators trying to establish a de-facto monarchy.

Also on other occasions the Italian ambassador has shown his support for the Museveni family regime. On the left photo below hes meeting the wife of Museveni to discuss Climate Change. But shes the minister of Education, so he met the wrong minister. Uganda is planning to build the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, a disaster for the Ugandan environment and contributing to climate change. On the photo right he was the first to congratulate Museveni after fraudulently winning the election.











Also he retweeted an anonymous NRM propagandist account that often expresses anti-gay opinions. Although hes active on Twitter, he has never spoken about the human rights situation in Uganda.

Italian head of EU delegation shows bias

Attilio Pacifici, the head of the EU delegation in Kampala, has also shown bias towards the Museveni regime. Directly after the very violent elections (according to HRW) he told the press he was impressed how well organised the elections were. This statement had to be withdrawn, because EU observers were refused access to Uganda and elections were actually chaotic and fraudulent.





Later, he indirectly accused the opposition of spreading fake news, but it was actually a government related newspaper New Vision that published the hoax. The governing NRM party was so happy about Pacificis remark, that they posted a tweet.









Conclusion

Considerable amounts of weapons are exported from Italy to Uganda. Whether these exports are connected to the very friendly attitude and implicit support of the Gen. Museveni dynasty cannot be proven at this stage but should be investigated.
This article was originally published by CalMatters. It was reproduced with permission from CalMatters.

Julie Cart joined CalMatters as a projects and environment reporter in 2016 after a long career at the Los Angeles Times, where she held many positions: sportswriter, national correspondent and environment reporter. In 2009 she and colleague Bettina Boxall won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for their series on wildfires in the West.
Intels decision to build two semiconductor factories northeast of Columbus, Ohio, was disappointing news for Racine County and southeastern Wisconsin in the short run but perhaps reassuring for the region in the longer term.

Its also a tangible, $20 billion sign that the onshoring of semiconductor production  critical to all kinds of digital products as well as national defense  is underway.

Observers suspected Intel had all but made up its mind to expand in Ohio when Wisconsin entered the picture with sites in Racine and Kenosha counties, where ample land, utility access, water and sewer infrastructure and transportation options were available. The company made at least three visits to the Racine County community of Mount Pleasant starting in mid-2021, where an existing Tax Incremental Development district established with Foxconn in mind remains in place.

Foxconn is a growing factor in southeastern Wisconsin. The Taiwan-based company qualified for about $30 million in state tax credits in December 2021 due to a combination of jobs created (579) and capital investment during the year. Its still unclear where Foxconn will leave its footprint over time, but consumer electronics is likely to be involved in some steps.

That brings the conversation back to semiconductor chips, which are used in central processing units that run personal computers as well as automobiles, mobile phones, televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, solar cells and much more. Silicon, germanium and gallium arsenide are the most common materials used to manufacture chips, which conduct electricity more than an insulator but less than a pure conductor. There are four basic kinds of chips, and theyre basically all in short supply right now.

Why? Demand grew 17% between 2019 and 2021 alone, existing factories are running at capacity, inventories are low and the leading producers are mostly outside the United States, with China, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines high on the list. With shipping vessels lining up outside western ports, the supply chain is stretched.

Meanwhile, vehicle producers and their suppliers are shifting to electric models and the batteries that power them while scrambling to find semiconductors to power traditional vehicles. If you have wondered why car prices, new and used, are so high, semiconductor shortages are a big part of it.

Its alarming, really, the situation were in as a country, and how urgently we need to move to increase our domestic capacity, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters last week.

What does it mean for southeastern Wisconsin? Some of the auxiliary jobs planned by Intel could still wind up there; other chip producers may take notice of regional assets; Foxconn will likely need a more reliable supply over time; the Chicago-to-Milwaukee corridor eases transport to and from manufacturing sites; there are strong engineering and computer science schools in the region; and local governments have demonstrated their willingness to work with inquiring companies.

Racine County and Mount Pleasant are a leading example, but so is the city of Kenosha, where the Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood would transform 107 acres that were once the site of a Chrysler Motors engine plant. It was a barren, uptown brownfield for more than 10 years but is now owned by the city and cleaned up for redevelopment.

As of the fall of 2021, Kenosha had 6.6 million square feet of high-bay, industrial space under construction  including 2.2 million square feet of spec space.

The United States has long been a leader in the design of semiconductor chips, but ceded its production capacity over time, in part because it was tough to compete with low-cost countries. About 12% of chips sold worldwide were made in the United States in 2019, according to a recent report in Wired magazine, down from 37% in 1990.

Intels decision to build in Columbus, within reach of automotive producers in all directions, makes sense in many ways. Still, the companys long look at southeastern Wisconsin may pay dividends over time.

Tom Still is the president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Email: tstill@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.
Wisconsin native and author Carrie Voigt Schonhoff says theres a poem for everyone in her latest volume of poetry, The End of the Beginning, published in November. The poems in her book touch on nature, relationships and everyday experiences relatable to many readers. She will read from The End of the Beginning during an event at the Sun Prairie Public Library later this spring.

Q: Talk to me a little about your background. Where do you live in Wisconsin?

A: I grew up in Cedarburg and I went to UW-Oshkosh. I majored in journalism and worked at the newspaper (The Advance-Titan) and really enjoyed it. When I graduated from college, it was challenging to find a journalism career so I went to work for a printing company based in Chicago. I moved to Dallas and back to Waterloo in 2000. I married my husband that year and he worked and lived in Waterloo. Ive been here ever since 2000. My husband passed away in 2012. I have two children, Austin, 16, who is at Waterloo High School, and Sydney, 19, who attends Edgewood College. Sydney also is the artist for the cover of The End of the Beginning.

Q: Have you always enjoyed writing?

A: I have worked for an insurance company, QBE Insurance based out of Sun Prairie, for 18-plus years and its been very fulfilling. When I was younger, I loved writing. I went to college and enjoyed writing at the newspaper. After college, I really didnt pursue any writing until around 2011. My first book of poetry, The Liminal Space, came out in 2019.

Q: What are some aspects of your writing process?

A: I work with an editor, Simon Van Booy. Hes an author (Night Came With Many Stars) and lives in New York. We talk once a month and he helps me edit. I self-publish with a printer in Washington state called Gorham Printing. My editor said, I want you to have a book that illustrates your emotional journey. When The Liminal Space was released, I didnt expect the impact it would have on people. Writing is now a passion of mine and I do feel like the poems create an amazing connection with other people.

Q: When was your second book, The End of the Beginning, published?

A: November 2021.

Q: And now youre writing your third book. Will it also be poetry?

A: Yes, I think it will be poetry as Ive already started writing new poems. Im just used to that format. Someone told me the other day that each of these poems could be a novel. I would love to someday explore writing other types of books, even childrens poetry.

Q: How did you come to write poetry?

A: Before I published my books, Id just write for myself. In 2011, I had reconnected with a friend and that really helped remind me that I was a writer. When we are married and have kids, we kind of lose track of what we like to do as parents because were so focused on keeping everything going, mainly for others. Its a classic example of me deciding that this is something I would like to do or pursue for myself.

Q: Im wondering if you could talk to me about the title, End of the Beginning, and what that represents.

A: There is a poem, at the end, called End of the Beginning. The first book of poetry I wrote was The Liminal Space, indicating I was in a space before transformation. And now Im in a new place. Its a new chapter for me and its the end of the beginning of that chapter. Ive started a new journey. Ive used the butterfly on the cover as an example. As someone who was in a cocoon, has come out and is spreading their wings.

Q: Many of your poems start out sweet, then slay you at the end. Im thinking specifically of the one titled Cherries and the line: Im taking some home to freeze for a pie I dream youll one day deserve. Do you try to end your poems in a certain way?

A: I love Door County and I love cherries. This is about me being in a relationship and then thinking that I would make somebody a pie or do something nice for them. And then thinking did they deserve that? Its a little bit sensual as a poem and Im drawing you in and were talking about pie and then ... its a little sassy; theres a little humor in it. Oftentimes as a people pleaser we do things for people; we want people to like us; but sometimes we need to set boundaries. Thats a lesson Im learning. And there are secrets with every poem.

Q: Has Wisconsin influenced your poetry?

A: Definitely. I find inspiration everywhere: people, places that I visit, and landscapes. I like the connection that we have with nature ... that sometimes we understand, sometimes we dont. I live on 26 acres. We used to have horses, my husband was the horse person. Now we just have two Italian greyhounds.

Q: Poetry seems simultaneously to be an accessible form of writing and also very daunting. What advice would you give someone who is interested in writing poetry?

A: My advice would be to read a lot of the types of poems you want to produce. My editor asked me to read the classics  The Odyssey by Homer  and some of the Greek literature. You have to fill yourself with reading in order to write. Try to write on a regular basis, whether its a journal or snippets. I also write haikus as its a great way to get into the groove. Those are the physical things. Its important to notice the world around you and think about how things relate and how youre experiencing them related to something thats going on. I also believe in getting a mentor and having a writing group so that you can have feedback. It will help keep you on task. I think its critical that writers believe that they have stories to tell.
The embattled head of Alaskas statewide child abuse forensic clinic  who also left the University of Wisconsin under a cloud of controversy  will soon resign, Providence Alaska Medical Center said.

Alaska CARES medical director Dr. Barbara Knox has chosen to pursue other opportunities and will be resigning, Providence spokesperson Mikal Canfield said in a statement. The final day for Knox, who asked to resign, will be April 1, Canfield said.

Knox did not respond to a request for an interview.

Her resignation comes days after the Anchorage Daily News and Wisconsin Watch published the story of Emily and Justin Acker, a Fairbanks-area military family who said Knox misdiagnosed their newborn daughters brain injuries as abuse, leading them to lose custody of their two children for most of a year.

Experts hired by the Ackers found Knoxs diagnosis of abusive head trauma was wrong and ignored Izabels serious birth injuries. A forensic psychologist found Emily Acker no danger to her children  and a judge agreed.

It wasnt the first time Knoxs medical judgment and workplace behavior had been scrutinized. In November, Providence said it had launched an investigation into Alaska CARES after a wave of departures that included every member of the medical staff other than Knox. At the time, Providence said it was aware of increasing concerns about the workplace environment of the clinic.

Former clinic employees said they had made dozens of complaints over the course of months to Providence management about what they described as bullying and unprofessional behavior by Knox, with no response.

Providence declined to answer questions about the outcome or findings of the investigation, citing the confidentiality of personnel records.

Before becoming medical director of Alaska CARES in 2019, Knox left her position leading the Child Protection Program at American Family Childrens Hospital in Madison, after being placed on paid leave while the university investigated allegations shed intimidated and bullied colleagues who disagreed with her. Knoxs parting settlement agreement, uncovered by Wisconsin Watch, meant future employers, like Providence, and medical credentialing boards didnt know the details of why she had left the UW.

After Wisconsin Watch told the story of a Mount Horeb family wrongly accused by Knox of child abuse in early 2020, numerous families and caregivers came forward to share similar stories.

Wisconsin Watch and the Anchorage Daily News found at least a dozen instances in which Knoxs diagnoses of abuse were later rejected by child welfare authorities, the courts, law enforcement or other doctors. Some parents lost custody of their children at least temporarily, and multiple caregivers and parents were criminally charged on the strength of Knoxs testimony.

If her resignation is a cover-up from Providence to allow her to leave quietly like she did in Wisconsin, then they need to be held accountable for allowing the possibility that this will occur to more families in more states in the future, Emily Acker said in a text message.

In an opinion column published by Wisconsin Watch, former Alaska CARES forensic nurse examiner Sarah Wood said Knox repeatedly said with 99.9% certainty her medical diagnosis was the correct one, eliminating any other options. She often shopped from her long list of colleagues in the Lower 48 until she got her confirmation, discrediting and mocking those who disagreed or questioned.

Wisconsin Watchs coverage included the story of Stacy Hartje, who spent eight years and $250,000 to clear her name after being wrongly charged with abusing a boy at her home day care in Mauston.

Reading all the stories of so many shes accused and hurt just makes my blood boil, Hartje said.

Hartjes lawyer, Stephen Meyer, said Knoxs resignation does not solve the problems she created.

Asked Meyer: Who gives back those portions of peoples lives that she took?
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Republican lawmakers keep passing highly partisan bills relating to guns, critical race theory, voting rules and other issues. They know Gov. Tony Evers will veto them all, but they don't care. The goal isn't to get anything accomplished. The goal is to show a small sliver of the Republican base that lawmakers will "fight" for them.
It might sound far-fetched here in Wisconsin, with Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, running the state Assembly.

But it actually happened in Iowa recently  for the fifth time in as many decades.

Lawmakers in power approved new voting maps that treat all voters fairly. No gerrymandering allowed.

Iowas continuing success as a model for nonpartisan redistricting exposes the thin excuses Vos and his GOP colleagues keep making for partisan-skewed districts in Wisconsin. It also shows that principled politicians (which shouldnt be an oxymoron) can still do the right thing for our democracy when they want to, rather than constantly fighting for more power and tearing others down.

Heres the most remarkable thing: Republicans in Iowa control both the governors office and the legislature. So if they had wanted to, they could have passed just about any maps they wanted.

Instead, Iowa Republicans followed their time-tested process of assigning the once-every-decade task of reshaping legislative and congressional voting districts to a nonpartisan legislative agency thats insulated from politics. Iowas nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency is forbidden from using election results or the addresses of incumbents when drawing new districts. Instead, the agency is instructed by law to create districts with a narrow focus: To adjust the lines, based on census data, so each district has the same number of people. The agency also must strive to keep its districts compact while following municipal and county lines as much as possible.

The Iowa Legislative Services Agency draws that states maps at virtually no expense to taxpayers because its squeaky clean process doesnt invite lawsuits. Pretty much everybody accepts the maps. The agency holds public hearings across the state to get citizen input. Then the Iowa Legislature can ask for different versions of the maps  though not for political reasons  before they are finalized.

The Iowa Legislature last fall approved Iowas new maps with near-unanimous votes of 48-1 in the Senate and 93-2 in the House. In sharp contrast, Wisconsins gerrymandered maps cleared the Legislature last fall on party-line votes, with expensive lawsuits filed even before any new districts were proposed. Court battles over Wisconsins maps continue today and could take months if not years to resolve.

Iowa voters of all stripes will enjoy far more competitive elections for their statehouse and congressional seats than Wisconsin. Thats because Iowas process doesnt allow its mapmakers to protect incumbents or pack like-minded voters into the same districts for partisan advantage.

In Iowa, 58 incumbents will have to square off against each other if they seek reelection this fall, creating more turnover and choice for voters. In Wisconsin, just six incumbents in the Assembly will have to run against fellow incumbents if they seek reelection under the maps drawn by our Legislature. The Wisconsin maps that Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, oversaw are nothing short of an incumbent-protection program that thwarts the power of the people to hold their elected officials accountable.

Marquette Law School researcher John D. Johnson has calculated that just 7 of 99 Wisconsin Assembly districts would be competitive under Vos version of his houses new map. And just 2 of 33 Senate seats would be competitive (meaning they favor one partys candidates by 5 percentage points or less).

Vos loves to claim that Wisconsins constitution requires the Legislature here to be in charge of drawing the lines. He and others use this as an excuse for using election data and sophisticated computer software to draw the lines to the GOPs advantage, keeping Vos in power.

But Iowas constitution similarly assigns redistricting to its legislature, which must approve the maps. Yet that hasnt stopped the Iowa Legislature from assigning the actual remapping work to a nonpartisan agency. If Iowa can do that, Wisconsin can, too.

No fewer than 56 of 72 Wisconsin counties  including many that lean heavily for Republicans  have endorsed nonpartisan redistricting in advisory referendums or resolutions. So the public is solidly behind fair maps here, if only Vos and Co. would listen.

Congratulations to Iowa Republicans  and to Iowa Democrats, when they have been in charge  for the Hawkeye States commitment to good government. Instead of wasting millions of dollars on lawsuits that will distract Wisconsin lawmakers for months if not years and disenfranchise voters of all political persuasions, Iowa is showing the rest of the nation how to get redistricting right.

Neutral maps arent impossible, as Vos likes to profess. Theyre only impossible as long as Vos is Assembly speaker and our courts defer to partisan power over the will of the people.

Wisconsin State Journal editorial board The views expressed in the editorials are shaped by the board, independent of news coverage decisions elsewhere in the newspaper. STAFF MEMBERS SCOTT MILFRED, Editorial page editor PHIL HANDS, Editorial cartoonist COMMUNITY MEMBERS JANINE GESKE SUSAN SCHMITZ WAYNE STRONG
BOISE  Amid years of historic drought and a push for more sustainable resources to lower carbon emissions, industrial hemp legalization may have come along at just the right time for Idaho agriculture.

Hemp is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated crops in modern human history, but it only became legal to grow in Idaho last year. Farmers are beginning to receive licenses from the state to produce and handle the crop during this growing season for commodities such as insulation, paper, oil and food products.

Idaho Industrial Hemp 2022 Production Meeting The meeting is meant to guide farmers on the cultivation and production of industrial hemp in Idaho, including licensing, regulation, seed cultivation, harvesting techniques and market opportunities. A light lunch will be provided. Registration is free and available at eventbrite.com/e/idaho-industrial-hemp-2022-production-meeting-tickets-241445438807 When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4 Where: 1000 Springs Mill, 430 Seventh Ave. S., Buhl Who: Farmers, processors and interested individuals

Idaho was the 50th state in the country to legalize industrial hemp with a bill that passed the Idaho Legislature in April 2021. Braden Jensen, deputy government affairs director for the Idaho Farm Bureau, said his organization has been pushing for the policy change for the better part of the past 20 years, but the 2018 federal farm bill that removed hemp from the controlled substances list made the issue a priority in the 2021 legislative session. The legalization presents an opportunity for farmers to diversify their operations, he said.

Idaho took a very methodical and diligent approach, really investigating and understanding what it would mean to open this industry to growers in the state and really go in with our eyes wide open, Jensen said.

The bill included an emergency clause to make the law effective as soon as it passed both chambers of the Legislature, which set in motion a crunched timeline for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture.

Chanel Tewalt, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture, said there are two options when a state legalizes hemp: To either have the U.S. Department of Agriculture act as the regulatory body for the industry, or to have the state act as the regulator. Idaho chose the latter, and allowed hemp to be produced, processed, transported and researched throughout the state under certain guidelines. But those guidelines had to be developed by the department.

So that really set in motion a very busy summer for us, Tewalt said. We had some tremendous collaboration from law enforcement, and none of this expedited timeline wouldve been possible without that.

The department held two public meetings that Tewalt said were well attended by people with deep knowledge of the industry from ties with other states where the practice has been legal for years. By late October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved Idahos state plan for hemp regulation, and the department opened licensing applications in early November.

Hemp vs. marijuana: Like Great Danes vs. chihuahuas

Idaho has two licensing options available, one for handlers and one for producers. Handlers are permitted to process raw hemp materials, including seeds, into other materials, but does not authorize the growing of the crop. A licensed producer can grow and market the crop, including seeds.

Both licenses require a background check and must be renewed annually. Producers will have their hemp lots tested for acceptable levels of tetrahydrocannabinol content  also known as THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Hemp falls under the same species as marijuana, called cannabis sativa, but it has a completely different genetic profile.

I have heard people liken it to dog breeds, Tewalt said. Great Danes and chihuahuas are the same species, but pretty far apart in terms of what they actually are.

The states main role as the regulating body for hemp will be to test production lots and ensure the THC levels meet the legal limit. Law enforcement officials can also still sample and pull material from a truck transporting hemp to test its THC content as well.

Well pull samples from every single lot that is grown, and our sample size is determined on how big the lot is, the acreage, Tewalt said. The hemp cant go anywhere. It cannot leave their farm until they receive an acceptable lab result.

The threshold is 0.3% or below for an acceptable result. If the lot tests over that, the entire crop must either be destroyed or blended with a different strain to lower the THC content.

Tewalt said about 60 applications have been started with the state, and eight have been fully granted  four handlers, three producers, and one handler/producer.

Two Idaho companies plan very different uses for hemp

The first applicant granted a handler license was Hempitecture Inc., a company based in Ketchum that specializes in hemp building materials. Mattie Mead, the founder of the company, said the main focus for Hempitecture moving forward with a handler license will be hemp wool, a fiber-backed insulation product. Mead said the company is building a manufacturing facility in Jerome County to establish a production line for the hemp wool.

Hemp wool is safe to touch, safe to handle, no gloves are required, Mead said. So theres benefits to the installers, the contracting crews, and in the end, the homeowner. With a material that doesnt have any (volatile organic compounds), it lends to a healthier indoor air environment.

The hemp plant is also drought-resistant, Mead said, which is helpful in a state with a desert climate that is predicted to see an increase in low water years as the climate changes.

Hempitecture has been in business since 2013 but operated in a legal gray area when it came to handling and transportation, Mead said.

The company sourced hemp from Montana and other areas across the Northwest, but the legalization allows him to bring the supply chain into Idaho.

We view industrial hemp as an economic opportunity for Idaho, and we envision a future where industrial hemp can come from 10 miles from our facility versus 10 hours away, Mead said.

Tim Cornie, co-owner of 1000 Springs Mill in Buhl, was the first applicant to receive a license for handling and producing. Cornie said their organic farm produces beans, grains and other products that are sold in retail stores and locally. Cornie plans to grow a small hemp lot starting out and use it for health products like protein bars and shakes. Cornie said hemp has more protein than soybeans and is generally easier to digest.

Cornie isnt worried about the risks involved with sampling of the lots, because hes confident it wont test above 0.3%. He added that there shouldnt be a concern about a licensed hemp farmer growing marijuana in a hemp field, because the two would cross-pollinate and make the marijuana useless as a drug.

(Seeds) can travel nine to 12 miles and ruin a marijuana crop, Cornie said. If youre a pot grower, you dont want any hemp grain around.

Interested? Attend the hemp production meeting in Buhl

Mead said he has received many phone calls in recent months from people who are interested in growing industrial hemp but dont know much about it. With that in mind, Mead and Cornie have organized an informational meeting at 11 a.m. Feb. 4 at 1000 Springs Mill in Buhl. The meeting will include representatives from the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and the Idaho Farm Bureau, as well as Ben Brimlow, an agronomist with Montana hemp production company IND HEMP. Brimlow will share his knowledge of what risks, opportunities and ideal conditions are involved in growing hemp.

Theres a lot of knowledge to be shared at this event, Cornie said

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TWIN FALLS  Navy veteran Glenn Cawley was ambushed and murdered  execution-style  in March 2015 in his home west of town.

The killer forced Glenn to kneel, then fired a shotgun blast into the back of his head, Glenns sister-in-law, Edie Cawley, told the Times-News.

Nearly seven years later, the horrific murder is still unsolved.

Edie Cawley and Glenns sister, Nancy Mayhan, both of whom live out of state, are distraught, frustrated over the lack of incriminating evidence at the scene of the murder which some now consider a cold case.

Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs, however, doesnt consider the homicide to be a cold case.

Its an open case. Cold case is kind of a media term, Loebs said. Open means unsolved and still being worked on as much as evidence and analysis allows.

Any unsolved murder remains an open case until we either catch and charge the killer, find out hes dead himself, or determine that the cause of death was other than murder.

I miss him so much

Glenn and Mayhan were close growing up.

Dad was in the Navy and we moved a lot, she said in a recent phone call.

She remembers the two of them, just two years apart, playing with his GI Joes and her Barbies.

We were polar opposites, she said. Im outgoing; he was laid back.

The two remained close  especially after their brother, Roy, died  and talked often on the phone.

Glenn was always there for Mayhan and she said she knew that, as their parents aged, Glenn would be there for them too.

Glenn moved his family to Twin Falls to be near his parents, who were then living in Idaho Falls, Mayhan said. He visited them once a month.

Glenn turned 55 in 2014, and he drove to Idaho Falls to celebrate his birthday with his parents.

That birthday celebration was the last time Mayhan saw her brother.

He was a sensitive man, she said. He felt things and felt them deeply.

God, I miss him so much.

A puzzling murder

Glenn married his wife, Lillian, in 1998. Lillian Cawley had been married twice before and had two sons by her other husbands. Their daughter was born a couple of years after Glenn and Lillian married.

The family moved in 2007 from Maryland to Twin Falls, where Lillian Cawley went to work as a nurse. Eventually, she began traveling out of state for her job.

Magic Valley Missing and Murdered This story is the third in a multi-part series on unsolved cases of missing and murdered people in south-central Idaho. Each story will run in Sunday's Times-News and online at Magicvalley.com.

In 2015, Glenn and his 14-year-old daughter lived in a rental home a few miles west of town, while his wife lived in California. Glenn was taking business courses at the College of Southern Idaho.

On March 12, 2015, Glenn, as usual, returned home from his classes at CSI, Mayhan told the Times-News. He walked in through the side door of his rural home and down a hall where his body was later found  ambushed from behind  with his set of keys still in his hand.

Earlier that afternoon, Lillian Cawley called the Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office from California to ask for a welfare check on her husband, who, she said, had stopped returning her text messages.

Mayhan told the Times-News that such spotty communication wasnt unusual between the couple. Glenn told his sister that he and his estranged wife went days without speaking.

Deputies went to the home, which was locked up. Nothing looked unusual from the outside, Mayhan said, so the deputies waited for Glenns daughter, whod been studying with a friend but was expected to return home.

The daughter arrived at the house at about 7:30 p.m. and unlocked the side door, walked down the hall ahead of the deputies, screamed, and ran out of the house.

Glenn was splattered everywhere, Edie Cawley told the Times-News in 2017. ...We probably could bear it a little better if he was just shot. But no. Shot in the back of the head? It was terrible.

Besides the blood, little evidence remained at the scene  so little that the murder was not immediately made public for fear of jeopardizing the case.

The sheriffs office waited four days to release information to protect its investigation, spokesperson Lori Stewart told the Times-News at the time.

At that point on that night, we felt it wasnt in anybodys best interest to put it out, Stewart said. We didnt believe the public, in general, was in any danger.

A Times-News reporter reached out to Lillian Cawley on March 16, 2015. She said the sheriffs office had shared few details about its investigation and offered few details herself.

Glenn was a loving father, a member of the CSI Honor Society, and he was killed by a gun, she said. Thats all I know at this point.

Neither Lillian Cawley nor her now-adult daughter, both of whom live in Twin Falls, have since offered any comment on the murder. They say they are trying to put it behind them.

A suspect surfaces

Seven months after Glenns murder, SIRCOMM dispatch received a call from the Cawley residence. An armed intruder was breaking into the house, the caller said.

Knowing the history of the residence, responding deputies parked about 400 yards to the north and made a tactical approach, Twin Falls Sheriffs Sgt. Dan Thom wrote in his report of the Oct. 28, 2015, incident.

A 6-foot-4-inch, 280-pound man wearing a dark hoodie then came out of the home with a coffee cup in his right hand, Thom wrote. When confronted, the man ducked back into the residence and shut the door.

The man, who was later identified as Lillian Cawleys longtime boyfriend Michael Anthony Southerland, reopened the door after ditching the fully loaded Glock Model 21 pistol he routinely carried on his hip and surrendered.

Southerland, known to be a convicted felon who was not allowed to possess firearms, was recognized by Detective Travis DeBie from past investigations, DeBies report said.

Southerland, who had been living with Lillian Cawley in California and moved into the Cawley home soon after Glenns murder, was handcuffed with a double set of cuffs.

A 50-page document obtained from the sheriffs office through a public-records request by the Times-News details Southerlands capture and arrest and includes a lengthy inventory of ammunition, suppressors and dozens of firearms and other weapons found at the residence.

Two items of special interest to investigators were the Glock that Southerland carried, which was found under a chair in the living room of the house, and a fully loaded Harrington & Richardson sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun found on in a bedroom. Many of the other firearms had belonged to Glenn.

The illegal possession of firearms case was turned over to the U.S. District Court. Southerland was indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 10.

In a sworn affidavit to the court, FBI Special Agent Christopher T. Sheehan said in his Statement of Probable Cause that Lillian Cawley told coworkers she was dating Southerland when her estranged husband was murdered.

Other evidence connects Southerland to the murder of Glen (sic) Cawley, Sheehan wrote.

The agent also noted that Southerland was once charged with the 1996 double murder of his stepfather and stepbrother.

Both Southerlands step-father and step-brother were also murdered by a shotgun blast to the back of the head, Sheehan wrote in his probable-cause statement. Southerland was subsequently found not guilty of these homicides even though he had admitted shooting both subjects to a source.

In a plea agreement, Southerland pleaded guilty on Feb. 11, 2016, to unlawful possession of the Glock and a Taurus PT Model 709 pistol, and agreed to forfeit the pistols and the sawed-off shotgun.

Investigators do believe that the defendant is a prime suspect in the murder of Glenn Cawley, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Hurwit told the judge during his sentencing argument. Theres a lot swirling around  about the ongoing murder investigation, and we can confirm with the court that it still is ongoing.

Southerland was sentenced June 15, 2016, to 42 months in prison, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. He was released in 2018.

Waiting for justice

Lillian Cawley has remarried twice since Southerland went to prison. When asked by the Times-News if she knew where Southerland is today, she said, I have no idea.

Meanwhile, Glenn Cawleys friends and family are still waiting for justice.

Most loving wives would want to know who murdered their husband and would not stop hounding the investigators for information, Mayhan said in an email to the Times-News. It seems very tell-tale that Lillian only wants this investigation to go away.

Mayhans sister-in-law Edie Cawley agrees.

It just infuriates me that people can get away with murder, Edie Cawley told the Times-News just two years after Glenn died. I didnt think it could happen.

The bizarre case still puzzles Loebs, who sat down with the Times-News recently to discuss the case.

Very early in the case, I had a good idea who was responsible, Loebs said. At one point, the prosecutor told the Times-News that he felt progress in the case was being made.

But now the trail has gone cold.

Its frustrating as a professional to have an open case, Loebs said.

Reporter's notebook: How I knew Glenn Cawley Times-News senior reporter Mychel Matthews describes the moment she heard about her friend Glenn Cawley's murder.

And even though the FBIs Sheehan named Southerland as a prime suspect in Glenns murder, Sheehan cant discuss the unsolved murder or speculate on who may be the suspect, FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker said.

Because the investigation into Glenns murder is still ongoing, neither law enforcement nor the prosecutors office can confirm or deny details  details that may someday convict the killer.

The sheriffs office is frustrated too.

Theres been a whole lot of speculation and rumors, Lt. Perry Barnhill told the Times-News last week. Were not done with this. We just dont have any new leads or things to track down.

Still, Glenns family maintains hope of finding the killer.

Glenn deserves more than these files just gathering dust, Mayhan said in an email. We need to keep gathering data about those prime suspects that planned this murder and executed my brother.

Reporter's notebook: How I knew Glenn Cawley Times-News senior reporter Mychel Matthews describes the moment she heard about her friend Glenn Cawley's murder.

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Vietnam sees trade deficit of 500 million USD in January

Vietnam posted a trade deficit of 500 million USD in the first month of 2022, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).













Goods are handled at Cat Lai port in HCM City (Illustrative photo: VNA)

The country's imports expanded 11.5 percent year on year to 29.5 billion USD while exports 1.6 percent.



Vietnams export-import turnover in the month was estimated to value at 58.5 billion USD, down 11.7 percent month on month but up 6.3 percent compared to the same period last year.



The domestic sector earned 8.2 billion USD from exports, up 20.1 percent against the same period last year. The foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) raked in 20.8 billion USD, a decrease of 4.2 percent.



Seven items recorded export turnover of more than 1 billion USD each. They represented 63.3 percent of the total. Industrial and processing products held a lions share of 88.5 percent.



Four products posted import turnover of more than 1 billion USD each, together they represented 46.8 percent of the total. Input materials accounted for the largest share of the total imports, or 93.7 percent year on year.



The US remained the biggest export market of Vietnam in January, buying an estimated amount of 9 billion USD of Vietnamese goods.





China was Vietnams biggest source of imports, shipping 10.2 billion USD worth of goods to the Southeast Asian country.

In January, Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of 2.1 billion USD with the European Union.
Scene outside Danville Court in Crofton after officers fatally shot a man who had injured an officer, according to police. Officers had responded to a domestic altercation. (Amy Davis)

Anne Arundel County police shot and killed a man in a Crofton home Sunday morning after an altercation that left an officer seriously wounded, the department said.

At about 4 a.m., officers were called to the townhouse in the 900 block of Danville Court. A woman told 911 dispatchers that her adult son had assaulted her and was not letting her leave the home, Anne Arundel Police spokeswoman Lt. Jacklyn Davis said.

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When officers arrived, they knocked on the locked front door, but there was no answer. The woman, who was still on the phone with dispatchers, asked that the officers force entry because she couldnt get to the front door, Davis said.

Officers then entered a locked third-floor bedroom, and located the woman and her son. When officers asked the man to get on the ground, he complied, but when officers attempted to handcuff him, he fought back, Davis said.

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Officers used a Taser in an attempt to subdue the man, Davis said, but it was ineffective. During the struggle, an officer was injured. That officer fired his gun at the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The officer was transported to an area trauma center, where he was in serious condition Sunday morning, Davis said.

These are certainly tough calls that we respond to, and officers are thrust into situations where they have to make critical decisions, oftentimes very split-second decisions, that they have to live with for the rest of their lives, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad said at the scene Sunday morning.

Under a law that took effect in October that covers all deadly uses of force by officers across the state, the Maryland Attorney Generals Office, with the help of Maryland State Police, will investigate the shooting.

Our role in this investigation is to piece together exactly what happened, from the time the 911 call was received until our office was notified, said Thomas Lester, spokesman for the attorney generals independent investigations division.

Lester and Davis declined to answer questions about whether the man was armed, how many shots were fired in the residence and how many officers entered.

Officials from that attorney generals office will review officers body camera footage from the incident, and will release it within 14 days, Lester said, so long as there are no technical difficulties and the impacted family has had time to review it.

Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. >

Sunday morning, residents, mainly walking dogs, traipsed through the snow-covered neighborhood.

Sarah McCoy, 45, who was out with her dog Rudy, said she awoke at about 4:30 a.m. and saw police lights flashing through her window.

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I dont think it makes the neighborhood any less safe or any scarier, she said of the incident. This stuff can happen anywhere.

Jewel Crumbley, 22, walked to the crime scene from her home nearby after hearing about the incident. Crumbley said she studies criminal justice at Penn State University but came home for the weekend. She originally moved to the neighborhood when she was about 7 years old.

She recalled that in 2009, a teen was beaten to death in the neighborhood. The teen, Christopher Jones, was riding his bike on nearby Nantucket Drive when he was assaulted by several other teens with ties to a local gang.

There hasnt been anything else thats like crazy thats happened, so this is kind of shocking for me, Crumbley said.
BOISE  A longtime former Idaho state legislator turned state treasurer who amassed nearly 40 years experience as an elected official has been named state chairman of an advocacy group pushing for term limits.

Ron Crane was named Idaho state chairman for the Washington, D.C.- based advocacy group Term Limits USA, according to a press release issued by the group.

Congress has become a full-time lucrative career with many members serving several decades, Crane said in a written statement. Term limits will help end career politicians and make Congress work better for all Americans and get our government functioning again.

Term Limits USA pushes especially for term limits in Congress, but it also says on its website it has advocated for or defended term limits in 15 state legislatures.

Daily, the need for congressional term limits is crystal clear when we turn on the news and see the dysfunction in Washington, Crane said. Polls show that the one issue Americans are united about is the need for congressional term limits.

Term Limits USA says that term limits bring fresh faces with fresh ideas to elected office and ensure that open seat races with no incumbent would be held regularly.

(Crane) is a strong leader who understands the problems within Congress and the need for term limits, Term Limits USA President Philip Blumel said in a written statement. Under his guidance, I am confident that Idaho will pass our term limits resolution.

Crane served in office in Idaho from 1983 until 2019. He first served in the Idaho House of Representatives from 1983-1998, according to the Idaho Blue Book. He was then elected to serve as state treasurer from 1999-2018. Crane did not run for re-election in 2018.

Cranes son, Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, is serving his eighth term in the Idaho Legislature.

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Today is Sunday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2022. There are 335 days left in the year.

100 years ago in the Henry Bulletin: Signe Patterson, the dancing beauty of the old and new world who created such a sensation with her dancing in  [London, Paris and New York City] will appear in person at the Hamilton Theatre in Martinsville, Va., on next Tuesday night, Jan. 31st, in a repertoire of Swedish, Hindu, and Hawaiian dances with The Hawaiian Musical Revue, an elaborate singing and dancing extravaganza.  Signe Patterson is the first real honest-to-goodness Paris, London, and New York star that has ever appeared in person in Martinsville.

75 years ago: Members of City Council voted strong support for a proposed ordinance to prohibit the sale of beer and wine in the city on Sundays and explained to a delegation of ministers last night that the reason no action had been taken on the matter was because Council had received no word from the Henry Board of Supervisors on the matter.

50 years ago: State Assistant Atty. General Gerald Baliles will ask Richmond Circuit Court today to set aside an injunction which tells Henry County to stop polluting Beaver Creek and Jones Creek in Villa Heights. The injunction was filed Jan. 1 at request of the State Water Board.

25 years ago: The scavenging of Henry Countys green box dumpsters is becoming a problem that the sheriffs officers are putting their noses into, police said. Henry County Sheriffs officers have increased monitoring of the countys 24 green box sites, looking for people illegally dumping or scavenging in the dumpsters, said Lt. Kimmy Nester of the sheriffs department.

Also 1997: The merger of the Martinsville and Henry County social services departments has been approved by the state Social Services board.
The Roanoke man accused of robbing Dodges convenience store in Bassett Jan. 23 has been identified by police as a suspect in a fatal shooting that occurred in Roanoke that same night.

Eric Dwayne Swain, 21, is also accused of armed robberies in Henry County and North Carolina and with assaulting an officer after authorities said he tased a sergeant in a Greensboro-area jail.

Swain was arrested in North Carolina the night of Jan. 23 after two shootings were reported in Roanoke, a robbery was reported at Dodges convenience store in Bassett and a car theft was reported outside another convenience store in Greensboro.

Five days after the Jan. 23 incident, Roanoke police also identified the fatal shooting victim as Tyiray L. Anderson, 33 of Roanoke.

The sheriffs office said of the Jan. 23 Bassett incident that a man walked into Dodges store, placed a food order and had money ready in his hand but, instead of paying, pulled out a gun and pointed it at the clerk.

The food was the only item taken. No shots were fired, and no one was hurt. Investigators filed charges of robbery and use of a gun in a felony against Swain in the matter.

In another altercation reported about 10:45 p.m. that same night, Greensboro, N.C., police said a man stole someone elses car at gunpoint.

Workers at a convenience store, Great Stops on North Church Street, said a man walked up to a woman in the parking lot, flashed a gun and told her to get out of her car.

The woman ran into the store for help. She came in and just hollered, Gun, car, man, said cashier Judy Hamadou while speaking by phone with The Roanoke Times.

Worried someone was chasing the woman, Hamadou said, she hid her in a backroom and called 911. No shots were fired, and no one was hurt.

The car bandit was still there, sitting at a traffic light next to the store, when the first officer arrived, Hamadou said.

The officer ordered him out of the car, she said, but the suspect gunned the engine and took off.

Swain, whos charged in that case, was apprehended by the Guilford County Sheriffs Office, a police spokesman told The News & Record.

The robberies happened about an hour apart. Swain was arrested by Guilford County (N.C.) sheriffs deputies, and jail records show he was booked into the Greensboro Detention Center around 2:30 a.m. Monday.

On Wednesday morning, jail officials in Greensboro said a struggle broke out when Swain grabbed an officers taser and used it against the man.

The Greensboro News & Record reported that the officer, a sergeant, was taken to a hospital for evaluation but sustained no serious injuries. It was unclear what led up to the altercation.

Swain had not yet appeared in court Thursday morning to respond to the allegation.

Earlier this week, Henry County authorities said Swain was expected to be extradited back to Virginia to face charges filed against him both there and in Roanoke.

The charges listed against him as of Thursday in online jail records included assault or injury to an officer, escape from a confinement facility, robbery with a firearm or other weapon and speeding to elude arrest.

Henry County and Roanoke also filed claims on Swain, North Carolina officials said. The timeline for his extradition back to the commonwealth remained unknown Thursday morning, said a Henry County investigator.
A resident wearing a mask to help protect from the coronavirus walks past barricades and tents prepared for mass testing at a neighborhood in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. Chinese are traveling to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year, the country's biggest family holiday, despite a government plea to stay where they are as Beijing tries to contain coronavirus outbreaks. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Beijing officials said Sunday they sealed off several residential communities in the city's northern district after two cases of COVID-19 were found.

Residents in the Anzhenli neighborhood in Chaoyang district were sealed off on Saturday, and will not be allowed to leave their compound.

Beijing is on high alert as it prepares to host the Olympic Games opening on Friday.

While the cases are low compared to other countries in the region, China has double down on its "zero-tolerance" policy, which includes breaking the chain of transmission as soon as it is found.

The city is also setting up 19 points in the area to test residents every day until Friday, officials said at a briefing on the pandemic, according to state-backed Beijing News.

The Chinese capital reported a total of 12 cases of COVID-19 between 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, said Pang Xinghuo, the vice head of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control. All those cases came from people who were already under some kind of pandemic control measures.

The city conducted multiple rounds of testing for millions of residents this past week in Fengtai district, where some residential compounds were locked down.

Residents wearing masks to help protect from the coronavirus past near a giant doll depicting the god of fortune ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. Chinese are traveling to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year, the country's biggest family holiday, despite a government plea to stay where they are as Beijing tries to contain coronavirus outbreaks. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Explore further Omicron detected in Beijing as China battles Covid clusters

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A woman made a call from a Billings motel room sometime in 2016. She called her family, telling them that over the past several days a man had forced her to be raped for money by other men in Billings, Missoula and Salt Lake City.

The man controlling her was Terrance Tyrell Edwards. In 2018, he was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Billings to 30 years in prison. The women and girls snared in Edwards sex trafficking scheme were from Montana, Washington and North Dakota. In bringing them to buyers across Montana, they passed through parking lots, hotels and other businesses. If anyone caught the signs that they were being trafficked and sold, nobody reported them.

In the years since Edwards conviction, the state Division of Criminal Investigation has assigned two full-time agents to a statewide human trafficking task force. Data from DCI showed that the Montana Department of Justice investigated only seven reports of human trafficking in 2015. Through 2021, DOJ tracked 68.

Their data makes it appear as though the crime has increased, but I would argue that is not the case at all. Its always been here. Whats increased is that we have more resources to investigate it, said Penny Ronning, co-founder of the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force and former city council member.

The United States Department of State estimates that as many as 24.5 million people worldwide are the victims of trafficking at any time. Although the victims circumstance can vary from girls and woman forced to perform sex acts in Montana to children exploited as domestic servants in Peru, the dynamic remains the same: someone is coerced by violence, threats or lies into doing something against their will. Between December 2007 and December 2020, the National Human Trafficking Hotline tracked nearly 74,000 trafficking reports.

While the Department of State reports that forced laborers make up roughly two thirds of all human trafficking victims, any data collected on human trafficking will be skewed. The quality of that data is hampered by gaps in information on victims, buyers and traffickers, leaving experts with a consistently incomplete picture. In the past several decades, strides have been made at the federal and local level to make that picture a little clearer. The U.S. Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, a boon to the legal infrastructure to prosecute sex trafficking.

As a volunteer, I would say that Ive been invested in fighting trafficking my whole life, but we didnt have any legal language about human trafficking until about 20 years ago, said Ronning, who in 2014 started volunteering as a childrens court advocate in Yellowstone County.

During her time as an advocate, she saw evidence of several disturbing episodes in the lives of some children she represented. They were trafficked for sex work while they were within the states foster care system. She sought help from both the Billings Police Department and Child and Family Services, both of which she said lacked the training and resources at the time to respond to a report of sex trafficking.

I struggled to find law enforcement or agencies that were meant to protect children to properly respond. It wasnt that they didnt want to, they just didnt have any training for it  What these kids were experiencing was so different from what I experienced growing up here," she said, adding it was eye opening for her to learn there were two sides to Billings.

Ronning said she was eventually put in touch with the FBI, and the information she gathered taught her that sex trafficking was a community problem that neither Billings nor any city could arrest its way out of. Unlike a robbery where a clear victim and perpetrator can be established through an investigation, she said, the crime of human trafficking has several layers involving the trafficker, the buyer and the victim.

Trafficking reports rising

The data published by DCI shows a stark increase in reports of human trafficking, but Ronning said the crime has always been present in Billings and Yellowstone County. She also believes that the latest figures are only a fraction of the real number of victims. The only time in recent history that cases of human trafficking have risen in the region, she said, was during the boom of the Bakken oil fields in 2008.

The energy boom brought thousands of men to western North Dakota, and their salaries fueled a rising demand in the human trafficking market in the surrounding region. In 2014 alone, according to a series by Forum News Service on the exploitation of women and girls in the towns outside of the oil fields, more than a dozen men in North Dakota were convicted for trying to buy sex with underage girls.

The oil fields and money that flowed out of them created a massive customer base for traffickers, FBI Special Agent Brandon Walter told the Gazette, and it also built a circuit for them to impose on those who they coerced. Walter, who has spent seven of his nearly 15 years with the bureau investigating human trafficking in Montana, echoed Ronning saying human trafficking, particularly those sold for sex, is not a crime on the rise, but an endemic crisis in the area.

Before, when I grew up in Billings and I was in high school and through grade school, I can remember human trafficking victims, but we called them prostitutes at that point, standing on Montana Avenue, he said.

Around the year 2014, Walter said, federal and state authorities began to target human trafficking in Montana. Not long after, they realized that they had a major problem on their hands. Many had experience in prosecuting illicit massage parlors in Billings, which has since led to local legislation curtailing businesses that offer sex acts under the guise of cheap massages available 24 hours a day. However, investigators found a separate criminal industry targeting vulnerable young women and girls, who in the digital age have vanished from Montana Avenue and reappeared on ads posted to websites offering escort services.

In contrast to the popular depiction of human trafficking in which a woman is physically kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, Walter said the cases that hes investigated involve a psychological kidnapping. Traffickers wade through social media and dating websites like Tinder in search of those who can be coerced. Theyll look for signs of prior abuse, issues with addiction or a woman whos raising a child alone and use that as leverage against them after presenting themselves as a potential partner.

Was she in a domestic violence relationship? Is she a single mother? Does she have an addiction I can feed? The pimp assesses those vulnerabilities on the first dateThen, and often times its on short notice, he says Were going to go to this motel. Theyre giving them five minutes, no time to really think about it Now, he converts to maybe taking over her social media account and says, Now Ive got all of your friends on Facebook. I can let them know what you did. Now youve got to keep working for me, he said.

Cases hard to build

Louis Gregory Venning pleaded guilty in November 2021 to coercing at least 15 women and girls into prostitution. All of the survivors were from Billings, and he trafficked them across the state and country over a period of eight years, according to documents filed in federal court. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years to life in prison. His sentencing is slated for March 2022. Walter said theres no doubt in his mind that at any given time in Billings commercial sex can be bought from a human trafficking victim.

The investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases is labor-intensive and can span years. Along with testimony from victims, prosecutors need to gather phone and financial records, ads posted online and metadata to trace a potential circuit. In one recent case, which was spearheaded by DCI, a man living in New Mexico coerced a woman and a 17-year-old girl into prostitution in New Mexico, Texas, North Dakota and Montana. Lavondrick Terelle Hogues is awaiting sentencing for aggravated promotion of prostitution in Yellowstone County District Court. The investigation into Hogues through his conviction in June 2021 spanned about five years.

In 2016, Ronning partnered with local attorney Stephanie Baucus to found the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force, a non-profit that combines data collection with advocacy to help prosecute human traffickers and assist their victims. During the course of the non-profits foundation, Ronning said she called roughly 100 different agencies to see if they would get involved. She also received input from numerous health care providers who said they had treated possible trafficking survivors, but did not have any information to confirm it.

Many didnt know how to identify or report itSo we had all of these people, especially teachers and medical professionals who either didnt know how to look for the signs of trafficking, didnt know what to do with that information or both, Ronning said.

Ronning estimates that shes hosted some 300 training sessions since the non-profit launched, and hundreds of organizations and agencies have partnered with the task force. The task force has also distributed between 50,000 and 60,000 cards detailing the signs of human trafficking and local tip lines. The signs include a younger woman with an older man claiming to be a relative, a woman or girl who seems physically abused, avoids eye contact or waits for permission to speak.

Targeting the buyers

With Gov. Greg Gianforte and state Attorney General Austin Knudsen announcing January in Montana to be recognized as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, both Ronning and Walter welcome more resources for law enforcement and victim services. However, key information is missing from DCI reports and indictments. The buyers, those fueling the human trafficking enterprise, are infrequently counted or named.

Lets start putting a spotlight on those who are paying to rape someone in an illicit massage business or parking lot or hotel room, because the crime is the same. Its still a rape. Theres no consent on the part of the victim, ever, Ronning said.

No consistent profile exists among the buyers that hes encountered, Walter said. Theyve included men still living in their parents basement paying with five and 10 dollar bills, line cooks at national food chains and businessmen driving $85,000 SUVs. All of them assumed that the woman who they paid for sex wanted to be there.

In reality, shes got a human trafficker watching her every move threatening her, saying hes going to kill her and her familyYou are engaged in raping someone, whether it be a child or adult when you are paying for commercial sex in Billings, said Walter, the FBI agent.

If you suspect human trafficking, call 911 in an emergency. In non-emergency situations call 1-833-406-STOP (1-833-406-7867) or reach an advocate via 406stop.com. If you see suspected traffickers, do not intervene, and remain at a safe distance. Take pictures of the trafficker, victim, and vehicle license plate if possible.

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The United States of America was built on the backs of millions of immigrants. Since the founding of our country, immigrants have continuously contributed to our economy and society.

Immigrants bring a richness in diversity, culture and experience to our communities. It is one of the reasons America is the greatest country in the world.

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy once wrote that our attitude towards immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as the talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.

Our nation is made greater by the immigrant communities who live here, and those communities often include Dreamers. Brought to the U.S. as children by no choice of their own, Dreamers live in limbo because they lack legal documentation.

As the former commissioner of securities and insurance, I believe it is my duty to advocate for all in need across our Montana communities. I stand with the Dreamers who have stood with us in difficult times. These individuals have served as essential workers during this pandemic and have contributed immensely to our economy and society as members of our communities.

Expanding protections for undocumented immigrants in Montana and across the country needs to be a priority for our leaders in the Senate. They should explore the options available in order to secure protections for undocumented immigrants. Those protections should be thoughtfully considered and legislation passed for undocumented immigrants who have lived in our country for an average of 20 years.

The time has come to finally end the uncertainty that clouds the lives of millions of families across the country. Families, burdened by the fear of deportation and a lack of access to resources for years, have earned the right to live freely in the place they call home.

We cannot let this opportunity to pass protections for undocumented immigrants slip away, especially when most of our voters are eager to see legislation passed. Data shows that the immigration policies before Congress right now are supported by 75% of Americans overall, including 88% of Democrats, 81% of Independents and 58% of Republicans.

Millions of people across America deserve much better. Our leaders should take any and all steps necessary to ensure protection now. We can no longer stand idly by when American families lives are at stake, vulnerable to deportation and separation. The opportunity and responsibility to relieve them of their worries is now. Congress must pass robust immigration relief, deliver for millions of American families, and help keep our economy recovering and strong.

Monica Lindeen is a former Montana commissioner of securities and insurance, and state auditor.

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One of the major talking points currently promoted by thousands of parents is that public education should not teach children to hate white Anglo-Saxon culture. But as I see it, the argument against teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) is faulty.

First of all, in my 40 years of teaching  from Melbourne, Australia to Eureka, Montana  I have never come across a teacher or a public school that did such a thing. If a history teacher were to do as the critics of CRT proposed, they would or should be summarily fired. No educator should ever have the audacity to teach their students that some races of people are superior or inferior to others. Full stop.

Secondly, parents who advocate the elimination of CRT from the school curriculum likely don't know what it is. CRT is a dog-whistle argument perpetuated by the propaganda arm of the GOP  such as Fox "News," One American News, Newsmax and social media  to create animosity towards groups such as Black Lives Matter, or liberals in the teaching profession.

Opponents of CRT also want to ban books they disapprove of, such as "Huckleberry Finn," "Anne Frank," "Brave New World," "Fahrenheit 451," "The Color Purple," or "The Grapes of Wrath." All classics. Banning books is "cancel culture" at its worst and ominous in its implications. In Texas, lawmakers compiled a list of over 800 books to be reviewed by the same lawmakers. Or, in New Hampshire, any teacher who discusses racism could be turned in by students or parents. Moms of Liberty offers a $500 bounty to the first person to catch a teacher-perpetrator of violating the states new restrictions. Teachers could then be fired or stripped of their teaching licenses.

In other places, parents are demanding children's books about Martin Luther King or other civil rights figures be removed from their library because they cast white people in a bad light. According to the arguments against CRT, the classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" is too divisive because it takes place in 1930 Alabama and tells the truth about America during segregation.

In the final analysis, the community groups that want to stop Critical Race Theory from being taught in their schools are hurting the very people they profess to be protecting: their children. They are limiting the ability of their teachers to impart to their students one of the main tools they will need in their lifetime  the ability to think critically to analyze differing viewpoints in this world of social media and complex problems.

David James of Eureka is a retired history/political science teacher.

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Countys mask mandate order shows lack of leadership

It was recently announced that a lawsuit has been filed against the county executive and the county Department of Health in response to the public safety order mandating masks. This mandate (which, by the way, is not a law) is taking time and resources away from the issues that our community needs to focus on. While I support the lawsuit, I dont understand why the county executive felt compelled to introduce the legislation. County Executive Steuart Pittman explained it as a health emergency, however, we have been dealing with COVID for two years and this month he decides mask mandates are an emergency?

Then the County Council did not support his mandate, so the county executive gets the health officer to say it is a public health emergency. This is not leadership. The county executive and his allies on the council have given lip service to the residents of Anne Arundel County. They appear to constantly react to situations. Real leadership is proactively making decisions, and we have two years worth of data and science to guide our decision making. We can see how other states and countries are handling COVID. We know what good policy measures are for the citizens. The county executives leadership qualities are weak and I am confident the voters of Anne Arundel County will have their say on his leadership and the leadership of his allies in November. While I appreciate the fight against this unnecessary mandate, I would like to know where our elected officials were two years ago when our businesses were shut down and our children were out of school. If our elected officials want to be proactive, start getting ahead of this by blocking vaccine passports, vaccine mandates, school closings and business shut downs.

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We need leaders who are going to be proactive and stop rearranging furniture in a burning house. We need leaders who are looking down the road and will do everything possible to make sure churches, schools, and businesses remain open, and employees can continue to work and support their families.

LaToya Nkongolo, Severna Park

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Nkongolo is a Republican candidate for the House of Delegates for District 31B

Vote yes on public campaign financing

The League of Women Voters of Anne Arundel County encourages county voters to make their voices heard regarding Charter Amendment Resolution 1-22, to be considered by the County Council on Feb.7. If passed by a supermajority of the council, Resolution 1-22 empowers voters to determine whether to establish a system of public campaign financing in Anne Arundel County.

The proposed amendment to the countys governing charter authorizes design of a public financing system for county executive and County Council candidates. Candidates could voluntarily enroll, typically receiving matching funds for small contributions by limiting reliance on large contributions. If passed by the council Feb. 7, the amendment would appear on Novembers general election ballot and require a majority of votes to pass.

A League of Women Voters nationwide study concluded that diverse methods of financing political campaigns increase transparency, combat corruption and undue influence, enable candidates to compete more equitably for public office, and promote citizen participation in the political process. Public campaign financing encourages more candidates from diverse backgrounds to run for office, amplifies the voices of all citizens, and reduces the influence of big money on elections.

Since 2014, public campaign financing systems have been implemented in Howard, Montgomery, Prince Georges, and Baltimore counties, and Baltimore City.

Informed and active participation in government is a central tenet of the League of Women Voters. County voters deserve the opportunity to consider and decide this important issue in November. We strongly advocate for passage of Resolution 1-22 on Feb. 7.

Gail Viamonte, Crofton

Viamonte is the vice president of the League of Women Voters of Anne Arundel County

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Pedestrian safety is not a partisan issue

I have been advocating for pedestrian safety in our neighborhood of Olde Severna Park for the past three years. The crosswalks at Brandywine and Cypress Creek, which cross Route 648, or Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, are used by the community to access local schools, recreational areas, and local businesses. Driver speed and poor visibility have been identified as major problems, and as a result, there have been car accidents and incidents where neighbors have been hit at the crosswalks. My own 12-year-old son does not feel safe crossing the crosswalks alone.

To that end, I have been working with Sen. Edward Reillys office to come up with solutions for the safety of our community. Reilly agreed to sponsor a bill (Senate Bill 43) this session that would allow the installation of speed cameras on the half-mile stretch of road where the crosswalks are located. Income generated from the speed cameras would be earmarked to improve pedestrian safety in the community. We believed this would go a long way toward improving safety at the crosswalks. On Jan. 18, two of my neighbors and I were invited to provide witness testimony to the Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing in support of S.B. 43. On Jan. 21, Reilly called me to let me know that he decided to pull the bill because after looking at his campaign records, he saw that I was supporting his opponent. Then, Reilly hung up on me.

The issue of pedestrian safety is not a partisan issue. By pulling the bill, Reilly chose to put his political ambitions above the safety of his constituents, who are not required to donate to his campaign in order to receive public services. In my opinion, this is an egregious abuse of power unbecoming a Maryland state senator.

Pam Jeter, Severna Park

Thank you to all who have donated blood

Thank you for the front-page article pointing out the current national blood crisis. We would like to make your readers aware that Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center is one of the few hospitals in the state of Maryland with its own blood donor center. While this donor center has a historical record of keeping LHAAMC nearly self-sufficient when it comes to supplying blood and blood products to our patients, we are not immune from the same crisis that is hitting the national blood supply.

Our concerns regarding diminishing blood inventory came to a crisis level on Jan. 28 after the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend. While our goal is to keep 100 units of group O-positive packed red blood cells in our inventory, we began the day with 20 units and hit an all-time low of 15 units by midday. The Red Cross was out of blood. Fortunately, we were able to borrow a few units from neighboring hospitals and when the urgent call for blood donors went out, our LHAAMC employees and community donors came to the rescue. The donor center phones rang off the hook with requests for donation appointments and by the next day we had 56 O-positive units on the shelf. We are continuing to struggle with maintaining adequate inventory to support surgical and medical blood transfusion requirements but are hanging in there with an inventory that is about 50% of our daily target but sufficient to meet daily needs. The only reason we are able to meet demand is the generous donation of blood, the gift of life, from our wonderful community of blood donors.

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Thanks to all of you from the patients and staff of Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center. For those of you who have not given blood, now is a great time to do so. The blood you donate will remain in the community to serve the needs of our patients. The Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies task force statement reminds the public that: Individuals are not at risk of contracting COVID-19 through the donation process or via a blood transfusion since respiratory viruses are generally not known to be transmitted by donation or transfusion. Additionally, wed like to help make it clear that people who have had COVID and are fully recovered can donate blood. Per the Food and Drug Administration guidelines, individuals are eligible to donate blood 10 days after complete resolution of symptoms. Our mission is to enhance the health of the people and communities we serve and we ask for help in this endeavor.

Our Blood Donor Center is located on the LHAAMC Campus located at 2003 Medical Pkwy., Wayson Pavilion, Suite 450, Annapolis, 21401. Call 443-481-4215 to schedule your next donation! We also have a blood mobile drive that can come to your next function, community, or church. Call 443-481-4215 to set up a mobile drive.

Sanford H. Robbins III, M.D., chief of pathology, Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center

Megan Frisk, Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center Blood Bank manager

The way to true love

I read with interest Iris Krasnows column last week in the Capital Gazette. She really is close to understanding what true love is. Its not the Beatles singing All you need is love, Building Back Better, Martin Luther King or Valentines Day. True love is only found in Jesus Christ. Check out 1 John 4:16: God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. Iris was so close when she said, Its all about surrender as a spiritual desire to yield to a higher power. She just failed to acknowledge it is our Lord to whom we should surrender. I hope she and the readers of this letter can find that true surrender and thereby true love.

Jay Hessey, Severna Park
go-sendxmpp is a command line replacement for mail command on linux. It allows reading in from stdin and sending xmpp messages to anyone on the xmpp network including multi user chatrooms. The original program was written in perl but I could not package it for alpine linux. I prefer the go implementation because it compiles into a single binary that I can copy to all my machines. Gos binaries are statically linked by default so if most of my system is falling apart, its more likely I will get a message that my system is falling apart.

The programs documentation is great for installing and setting up go-sendxmpp. However, there is one mistake in the documentation as it says the config file must contain:

username: <your_jid> jserver: <jabber_server> port: <jabber_port> password: <your_jabber_password>

My xmpp server uses default settings so I was able to get go-sendxmpp working with:

username: <your_jid> password: <your_jabber_password>

Since this file will stored unencrypted on multiple possibly insecure computers, it is wise to make a new jabber account to send yourself notifications.
Man stowed away on Cargolux plane (Flickr/Christian Junker)

A stowaway managed to survive the 11-hour journey from South Africa to the Netherlands while hiding inside the wheel of a cargo plane.

The unidentified man was discovered by Dutch authorities when the aircraft touched down in Amsterdam at Schiphol Airport on 23 January.

Believed to be between 16 and 35 years old, the man was discovered alive after the harrowing journey but with a low body temperature.

We learned that a person was found having stowed away on a cargo plane at the airport's cargo platform this morning, a Schiphol Airport spokesperson told CNN.

Ground crew notified the authorities as soon as the plane, operated by Cargolux, had landed and they spotted something that looked like a person in the nose wheel.

The emergency services were called to the scene and the Dutch Royal Military Police have now taken charge of the situation.

We were surprised upon finding this man but even more surprised at him being alive after the plane flew over 10,000km in very, very cold temperatures, said a Royal Dutch Military Police spokesperson.

When the man has recovered and cleared by the hospital, he will then be processed at the Asylum Seekers Centre (AZC) where his status will be determined if he indeed is looking for asylum.

After medical staff had stabilised the man at Schiphol Airport, he was transported to a hospital in Amsterdam.

Its not the time a traveller has stowed away on an aircraft.

In February 2021, a Kenyan teenager survived a flight from London to Maastricht after climbing into the landing-gear bay area of the fuselage.

The 16-year-old boy was found after the cargo jet landed in the Netherlands.

A spokesperson for Maastricht Aachen Airport said at the time: He had tremendous luck to get through this.

The spokesperson told the NetherlandsNewsLive website that temperatures within the landing gear bay of the Turkish Airlines Airbus A330 would have fallen to minus 30C, adding: Stowaways on airplanes are rare, and most people sadly dont survive the journey.
For five years, Loki worked alongside Mooresville Police Department Officer Jordan Sheldon before retiring in 2017, two years before Sheldon was killed in the line of duty.

On Saturday, at the age of 11, Sheldons family made the difficult decision to have Loki euthanized. His health had been declining over recent weeks.

Since Sheldons death in 2019, his family took in Loki and Sheldons personal dog, Rampage.

Sheldons family submitted the following tribute to Loki.

It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of Officer Sheldons retired K9 Loki. Loki passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Jan. 29. Loki was born Dec. 26, 2010, and worked with the Mooresville Police Department from 2012 to 2017. He was assigned to Officer Sheldon in 2015.

Weighing in at about 120 pounds with paws larger than some human hands, Loki truly had a presence about him. However, he didnt always have the best rapport among officers at the police department in the beginning. Known for being difficult at times, some people wouldnt even get close to him. As some in the community can attest to, Loki would chew just about anything he could get his mouth on, including the occasional license and registration.

In the most true and honest testament to who Jordan was, he spent months on end working with Loki once he was assigned as his handler. He put countless hours into training him, spending time playing with him off the clock, and most importantly  loving him. His family remembers Jordan saying that he wanted to give Loki the chance to just be a dog and the rest would fall into place. And it certainly did. Jordans commitment and care for Loki transformed him into an entirely different dog with a sweet and unfailingly loyal demeanor.

After Officer Sheldons untimely death, his family brought Loki and Rampage to their childhood home. Loki lived out his days surrounded by family and soaking up the sunshine on his front porch with his favorite toys and treats.

Sheldons K9s was honored to care for Loki in the nearly three years since Jordans death  covering over $3,500 in vet and feed bills. This was Jordans dream come to fruition that an organization would help retired dogs and continue to advocate for them. It is only fitting that his namesake foundation would care for Loki, who he loved like his own child.

Loki is survived by his loving mother, Jamie; brothers Rampage and Fitzgerald; uncle, Carson; aunts, Lauren and April; grandparents, Susan and John and David and Debbie; in addition to countless others who knew and loved him.

The family would like to thank the following for their love and care of Loki throughout his life: Mooresville Police Department K9 Unit, Lori and Denisa of Fuzzy Faces Grooming in Midland, Dr. Sophia Catania and Hillery Rosendall of Greenock Farm Veterinary Hospital and Hartsell Funeral Home.

Our only hope in this incredibly sad time is that Loki was greeted at the gates of Heaven by Jordan with open arms.

Memorials can be made to Sheldons K9s in honor of Loki. To donate, visit www.sheldonsK9s.org.
Across Iredell County, as well as the United States as a whole, heart disease has been shown to be one of the leading causes of death. Randy Marion Automotive, in partnership with the American Heart Association, is looking to combat that during the 2022 Heart Disease Awareness Month set to start on Feb. 1.

Randy Marion Automotive has committed to donating 70 blood pressure monitors to both of the major health systems in Iredell County  Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and Iredell Health System  to be distributed to patients in the most need throughout the county.

We are very proud to be helping our community, Ben Goins, vice president of Randy Marion, said. We are filling a need.

Goins, who has lost two family members to heart attacks, stated that this partnership is personal for him. He is also serving as the chairman of the 47th annual Iredell Heart Ball at the end of February.

Its time to get serious about one of the biggest health problems facing everyone in America: heart disease, Goins added.

According to a news release provided by the American Heart Association of Iredell County, diseases of the heart are the second leading cause of death in the county and 35% of residents report suffering from high blood pressure.

Anything that we can do to ensure that patients within our community are taken care of is amazing, Megan Kowalski of Iredell Health System said. Were very, very grateful for this partnership with the American Heart Association and Randy Marion for their generosity to make this happen.

Every opportunity that we get to meet the needs of our community is extremely important, Dr. Harold Brown, vice president of the Iredell Health System Physician Network, said. Over 30% of respondents identified themselves as high risk for heart disease, so were extremely glad to receive this donation.

The appreciative sentiment was shared by those at LNRMC as well.

There are those that cant afford these blood pressure cuffs, Leigh Whitfield of LNRMC said. To be able to give people that are in need a free one is tremendous. Just a huge, huge benefit.

The Iredell County Heart Ball will be held at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in Downtown Mooresville on Feb, 26. For more information on the event, visit IredellNCHeartBall.Heart.org or call 336-403-6868.

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Most Wanted List

Those who have a new or gently used copy of any of the Top 10 Titles and would like to donate it to the library, it would be most appreciated. To date, the library has received 937 of the most wanted books.

Current BCPL Top 10 Holds

1. The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich  13 holds

2. The Horsewoman by James Patterson  6 holds

3. The Judges List by John Grisham  5 holds

4. Christmas Everlasting by Nora Roberts  4 holds

5. The Missing Piece by John Lescroart  4 holds

6. One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner  4 holds

7. Mercy by David Baldacci  3 holds

8. Burden of Proof by T. Davis Bunn  2 holds

9. Carolina Breeze by Denise Hunter  2 holds

10. Desolation Canyon by P.J. Tracy  2 holds

Current New York Times Best Sellers and NC Cardinal Consortium Holds

1. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover  104 holds

2. Something to Hide by Elizabeth George  137 holds

3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo  92 holds

4. Verity by Colleen Hoover  12 holds

5. The Maid by Nita Prose  179 holds

6. The Horsewoman by James Patterson  207 holds

7. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover  2 holds

8. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles  502 holds

9. To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara  39 holds

10. The Judges List by John Grisham  447 holds

Adult programming

Burke County Public Library is pleased to announce a Virtual Author Visit with N.C. author Donna Everhart, Saturday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. Ms. Everhart will be discussing her new book, The Saints of Swallow Hill, which is out now.

Thornwell Books will be partnering with the library for the event and will have copies of the book available for purchase with a discount for those attending the event!

Those interested in participating can register via link on the library webpage at bcpls.org/adult, or by calling 828-764-9269. A valid email is required to attend.

Young adult programming

YAS programs kick off this month with Game Night this Thursday at 4 p.m. online via Zoom! Our Winter Reading Program continues through the end of this month, and you can track all your programs attended and books read from Jan. 1 through Feb. 28 online at bcpls.readsquared.com.

All virtual program are available to teens, no pre-registration required. Zoom links are available on the YAS BCPLS Discord server or on the events tab of your free READSquared account. For more information visit us online at bcpls.org/yas.

Childrens programming

We are welcoming a new month, and that means we have new monthly crafts available at our locations! The C.B. Hildebrand Public Library has both a Winter Boredom Buster Craft Kit and an enrichment bag available. Each enrichment bag contains a book, bookmark, craft and snack and is geared to preschool and school-aged children.

The C.B. Hildebrand Public Library also has a Baby Bookworms To Go bag available for babies up to 24 months if you arent able to attend a Zoom-based group. At the Morganton Public Library, you can get a kit to paint either a dragon or unicorn.

The Valdese Public Librarys craft this month is all about weaving! Participants will receive a loom and fabric to make their own woven creation. All of these kits are for children fifth grade and under. For more information on any of these to-go crafts, please come by to see us or give us a call.

Dont forget that our new Winter Reading Challenge for kids is happening now through the end of February. If you havent started yet, it is not too late for your child to accept your missions and start earning their collectible tags. Login to ReadSquared and let your child start checking off those missions today!

If you used ReadSquared for the Summer Reading Program, you have been automatically transferred into the program so that your login information stayed the same.

If you are new to the program, you can download the app on your phone or visit https://bcpls.readsquared.com/ to sign up today!

eBooks @ your library

There are 3,602 Burke County Public Library users registered to use the librarys digital collection available through the e-iNC consortium and NC Kids Digital Library.

This digital collection includes eBooks, audiobooks, and streaming video available to Burke County Public Library cardholders.

Apps are available for download for a variety of devices including Kindle, iPhone, and Android phones.

Go to http://omc.overdrive.com to see the apps. To access the collection and download items go to http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com and follow the instructions to set up an account. You will need to know your library card number and your PIN. Please contact the library if you need any assistance.

Find us on the web

Go to www.bcpls.org for a list of programs and events. Unless noted otherwise, all library programs are free. Some programs have pre-registration and age requirements.
In a shift from front-page news, i.e., pandemic, Putin and politics, heres news that may interest readers that have had a hankering for a bag of M&Ms sometime in the past.

Mars Wrigley, the iconic candy brand that owns M&Ms (among a host of other candy favorites), announced last week that its chocolate characters will be rebranded to better reflect todays world. That, in turn, stirred up Twitter users because some were in favor of the change and some were against it (then again, anything and everything seems to stir up Twitter these days).

Frankly, I never paid much attention to the characters and concentrated more on scarfing down the delicious candies, but if Twitter was aflutter, I had to look further into the story.

Mars, ever looking to rebrand its candy to fit the times, announced its global commitment to create a world where everyone feels they belong and if that includes changing the look of its M&M characters, so be it. The think tank at Mars opted to revamp the classic M&M characters to include new more nuanced personality traits with an emphasis on the importance of self-expression.

Huh? All that in an M&M? Apparently, the marketers and higher ups at Mars decided it was important enough to change their brand not only in the look of the characters, but the personalities as well.

According to the news release, because the six characters have been around since the 1990s, a shift to more relatable and modern characters was long overdue. On a positive note, most noticeably, it seems to empower the feminine M&M brown and green colors more than it did before.

The green M&M character, well known for her long eyelashes, white boots, and seductive posing in advertisements, has had a revamp. Her boots have been replaced with a pair of plain white sneakers and she now has a hand on her hip as if to say, You gotta problem with my new look? The character is still feminine, but the seductive qualities have been toned down and the flirtatious character has now turned toward empowerment of women. Mars rationalization in doing this is that We all win when we see more women in leading roles, and that was a genius move, because thats what is happening today, and even candy is getting on the bandwagon.

The brown M&M, the only other feminine character, has had the size of her heels lowered and is now a proud girl boss with her new bio quote reading, Not bossy. Just the boss.

Some may say, No big deal. Its just candy. Thats true, but often change starts small, in the tiny recesses of a bunch of little girls minds who are growing up in a digital age and taking a cue from what brands they see every day are selling. And thats a fantastic solid, yet subtle, reinforcement for our female youth.

The rest of the male chocolate personalities have not undergone big changes, yet their original traits, such as the anxious orange M&M, arrogant red M&M, aloof yellow M&M and suave blue M&M, are further emphasized. According to Mars, the orange M&M will embrace his true self, worries and all, but his shoelaces will now be tied to represent his cautious nature and appeal more to Gen-Z, seemingly the most anxious generation.

The red M&M, who has shown bully tendencies in the past, will be more kind to his co-characters. Awesome move, Mars.

The now giant Mars Corp., enjoyed in more than 180 countries, began when Forrest E. Mars Sr. established M&Ms Limited in Newark, New Jersey, and plain chocolate candies were introduced in 1941. M&Ms had become so popular by 1950 that an ingenious solution for consumers to distinguish the real M&Ms from inferior imitators was to stamp each candy with the now famous m, and the slogan Look for the m on every piece was created.

Over the years, M&Ms enjoyed honors and national recognition. It became the first candy in space chosen by the first space shuttle astronauts who wanted them included in their food supply.

In 1984, the plain and peanut chocolate candies became the Official Snack Food of the Olympic Games.

M&Ms also became The Official Candy of the New Millennium because MM is the Roman numeral for 2000.

To appeal to the public with something new, in 2004 M&Ms launched My M&Ms, a new online service that allows consumers to design their own customized message on M&Ms chocolate candies. And, even more tailored to ones taste, in 2008, M&Ms launched FACES, which allows customers to upload personal images to their personalized candies.

Mars message and goal is that theyre hoping to increase the sense of belonging for 10 million people around the world.

Studies show our desire to belong is as strong as our desire to be loved, and that desire is common for all people irrespective of culture, race, ethnicity, geography or location, the brand said in its release.

Thats a perfect message not only for candy, but for everything else we come into contact with daily.

Peg DeMarco is a Morganton resident who writes a weekly features column for The News Herald. Contact her at pegdemarco@earthlink.net.
It is often said that nursing is as much a calling as a profession, something every person touched by the drive and care and compassion of a nurse understands and appreciates.

Now, after two years of the COVID pandemic, millions more realize the integral role nurses play in health care.

It has certainly increased the respect of the profession, said Karen VanDaveer, director of the nursing program at Montana Technological University in Butte. I think there is a newfound respect for nursing and nursing education.

Weve been highlighted all over since 2020 when COVID first started, that its a rewarding job yet difficult. So I think the general public has really looked at nursing and it has increased the respect.

The long-respected nursing program at Tech is reaching new heights, too.

There are 126 students enrolled in the clinical portion of the program now and another 94 taking pre-nursing courses. That means 220 students are pursuing nursing as a degree, making it the largest single program and department at Tech, VanDaveer said.

Starting in 2020, Tech started adding 10 students per semester to the program and they are adding up.

We currently graduate about 40 students a year but beginning next year, we will graduate 60, VanDaveer said. We upped our enrollment and with that increased enrollment, of course, we increase the number of graduates.

Quote If a student gets out and does not like working in med-surge or acute care in a hospital setting, they can go to a clinic, they can go to mental health nursing, in Montana at our state hospital, they can go into school nursing. There is so much diversity that people find their niches and what they really love.  Karen VanDaveer, director of nursing, Montana Technological University

In the next few weeks, construction is expected to be completed on a $2 million, state-of-the-art nursing simulation center at Tech. It will feature life-like, robotic mannequins  or medical manikins  that students use to learn and practice nursing skills and procedures.

Manikins were integrated into the curriculum at Tech eight years ago, but the new center in the Science and Engineering Building will take simulation to a new level.

Among other things, it will allow scenarios like pediatric simulation, obstetrics simulation and medical-surgical simulation to be running at the same time, with faculty teaching students different areas of expertise.

The center has debriefing rooms where students can watch others perform simulations and discuss what went well and what didnt. There are medication rooms, too, and suites where they can learn about tele-health assessments via computer.

Janet Coe, the programs director of nursing simulation, plans to have some classes conducted at the center after spring break and it will be fully operational by the fall semester.

The center was funded entirely by private donations, with David and Sherry Lesar and the Sunderland Foundation among larger donors. David Lesar is the CEO of CenterPoint Energy and he and Sherry also donated $7 million to the nursing program in late October.

It is the largest single gift ever given to Montana Tech. The department has been renamed the Sherry Lesar School of Nursing and the center is called the Lesar Family Nursing Simulation Center.

When the $7 million donation was announced, Sherry Lesar noted that nursing is not only a profession, it is a calling.

Good nurses dont become good by accident, she said. It takes hard work, good education, perseverance  and a strong desire to help others.

The university hasnt decided specifics on how the money will be directed or spent, VanDaveer said, but it will grow the program.

It will help us with increased enrollment, keeping the simulation center state-of-the-art, having access to additional resources we didnt have before, she said. We would like to use some of the money for student support  and for professional support for our faculty.

VanDaveer said 100 percent of graduates get jobs and the average income of nurses in Montana is $70,530. That equates to about $36 per hour, and still, as of this week, there were 1,183 permanent nursing positions open in Montana.

There are nursing shortages everywhere, so the profession offers great mobility. You can go and work where you want, in other words, and theres diversity in what you can do.

If a student gets out and does not like working in med-surge or acute care in a hospital setting, they can go to a clinic, they can go to mental health nursing, in Montana at our state hospital, they can go into school nursing, VanDaveer said. There is so much diversity that people find their niches and what they really love.

Healthcare is an engine in the economy, too, nationally, in Montana and in Butte itself, and the nursing program at Tech is drawing students from everywhere.

They are checking into what we have to offer, the quality of our program, our licensure exam results, the jobs, VanDaveer said. And theyre looking at our community and its smaller atmosphere.

Im a native, but its a beautiful place to live and the community is so friendly and we have a lot to offer. And we have this great little gem up on the hill called Montana Tech.

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As Montanas housing crisis grows, more local officials are staking out broad goals of zoning code reform to reduce regulations that impede affordable housing development.

Missoula is one city that plans a code reform process in 2022. Missoulas city planner stated in a recent interview There are ways our current regulations arent adequately meeting what our policy and vision is for the city.

Missoula officials should be applauded for finally recognizing the need to legalize affordable housing and embrace regulatory reform. But what regulations specifically impact affordability?

Unfortunately, there is no one silver bullet regulation officials can repeal to tame the housing crisis. Instead, local officials need to use a silver shotgun, with repealing minimum lot area requirements loaded as part of the shot in each shell.

For those unfamiliar with complicated zoning codes, let me take a moment to explain. Minimum lot area requirements are common local government regulations which say that a certain type of home can only be built on a certain size of property within a particular zoning district.

For example, local regulations may allow a developer to build a variety of home types on a plot of land but require a minimum 2,700 square feet of lot space for each dwelling unit built. This means a single-family home could be built on a lot as small as 2,700 square feet, while a duplex would need a minimum of 5,400, a triplex 8,100, and so on. Additional lot space would be required even if the actual building takes up no more lot space than a single-family home, as observed in modern stacked duplex and triplex designs.

Land doesnt come cheap, so requiring larger lots over the standard minimum effectively penalizes multi-family homes by making them more costly to build compared to traditional single-family homes. Since multi-family homes are typically built to be more affordable options for renters and young families, minimum lot area penalties can have an outsized impact on affordability. Research shows that mandating especially large lot sizes over 5,000 square feet can significantly drive up housing costs and restrict housing supply.

Montanas fastest-growing cities such as Missoula, Bozeman, Kalispell and Billings all maintain minimum lot area requirements which impact affordability. Bozemans 2021 code audit called the citys minimum lot area requirements a significant contributor to high housing prices for non-single-household development and recommended Bozeman completely eliminate minimum lot area requirements for all multi-family housing.

While several major cities and states around the country are reforming zoning codes to allow duplexes and triplexes where previously only single-family homes were allowed, housing supply continues to be stifled due to numerous other regulations imposed on housing like minimum lot area requirements, parking mandates and building height limits. When minimum lot area requirements are addressed along with zoning reform, cities tend to see a much larger increase in housing development.

In Montana, Helena recently repealed almost all minimum lot area requirements and Billings moved from a lot area requirement to a simpler lot width requirement. These changes may be one factor keeping average home prices in those cities relatively affordable compared to cities with minimum lot area requirements like Bozeman, Missoula and Kalispell.

If the goal is legalizing affordable housing, tweaks to zoning districts just wont cut it. Eliminating minimum lot area requirements must be an important consideration for local Montana officials when looking at zoning code reform to boost affordable housing.

Kendall Cotton is the president and CEO of the Frontier Institute, a Helena think tank dedicated to breaking down government barriers so that all Montanans can thrive.

Kendall Cotton is the president and CEO of the Frontier Institute, a Helena think tank dedicated to breaking down government barriers so that all Montanans can thrive.

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Five months out from Marylands primary election in June, the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections is seeking about 650 Republicans to serve as election judges.

To boost hiring, about 80,000 registered Republicans were set to receive flyers in the mail this week and last, recruiting them to help run the 200 or so polling places throughout the county for both the primary and the Nov. 8 general elections.

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The pitch is simple, Anne Arundel County Board of Election Director David Garreis said: Please sign up to join our team and help us on Election Day.

Help ensure the process is fair and equitable, Garreis said. Everyones very concerned about that  as are we  and we want to make sure that were well-represented at the polling places by each party.

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Ideally, the judges employed by the elections board would be split evenly between Democrats and Republicans with a smattering from third parties or unaffiliated. So far, about 1,891 judges have signed up, about three-quarters of the way toward a goal of 2,461. As of last week, the board had hired 1,020 Democrats, 588 Republicans and 283 unaffiliated or third-party members.

Join the Election Worker Team. Become an election judge for the 2022 Gubernatorial Election Year.https://t.co/jp9gF3YNMd pic.twitter.com/t8gAQHkQce  Anne Arundel BOE (@annearundelboe) January 25, 2022

The bipartisan model, which is enshrined in Maryland law, requires a member of both parties to sign off on ballot counts and complete other tasks throughout Election Day. The typical day for an election judge can be long. It begins around 5:45 a.m. when workers set up voting machines and prepare for the morning rush when polls open at 7 a.m. and can continue well past when polling places close at 8 p.m. as ballots are totaled.

It was exhausting, said Heather Briganti, a retired Severna Park resident and registered Republican who served as a chief judge at the North County High School polling place during the 2020 presidential election. Briganti, who is in her early 60s, said she is returning this year because of the positive interactions she had with voters, recalling ringing a bell every time a first-time voter cast a ballot and newly naturalized U.S. citizens breaking into tears after they voted.

At the end of the day, she said, it was a wonderful feeling to know you helped people.

Recruiting election judges can be a difficult task during normal times. But poll workers skew older  the average age is 65  and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic may still be giving some prospective workers pause. Couple that with the primary falling just after schools let out and finding enough willing participants can be hard, Garreis said.

Some efforts have been made to draw young people into polling places, including an Election Day page program that will be deployed in Anne Arundel County this year. The program, championed by state Sen. Bryan Simonaire, a Pasadena Republican, will allow students ages 14 and older to serve as volunteers at polling places in exchange for service learning hours.

You see a smiling face coming in there, a young person getting involved in their civic duty, Simonaire said. I think its a win-win situation for both the public and also for our young people.

Votes are cast at Glen Burnie High School during the 2020 election. To boost election judge hiring this year, about 80,000 registered Republicans were set to receive flyers in the mail this week and last, recruiting them to help run the 200 or so polling places throughout the county for both the June 28 primary and the Nov. 8 general elections. (Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette)

As an incentive, chief judges are paid $250. Voting operations and provisional judges receive $175. Reserve judges receive $225. Each judge also receives an additional $60 for attending a training session and preelection setup.

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Briganti and another longtime judge, Debra Para, a registered Republican from Arnold who has served in the past six cycles, said they initially thought it was a volunteer position. Briganti ended up donating her pay to her local church, she said.

I do it to give back to the community. Its also a great way to be a part of what makes this country great, Para said.

Both judges said they thought there might be some judgment cast between workers because of their party, but that has never occurred, they said.

Being a Republican these days  you do worry going in there youre going to be sitting next to a Democrat who is gonna know youre a Republican and sometimes, you know, it just feels like people may be against you, Para said. Thats never the case during Election Day.

Stephen Lee has served as an election judge for every presidential election since 1968, most of which were in other states during his 40-year military service. The past five have been in Anne Arundel County. The 72-year-old said he will keep doing the job until his health wont let him because its his civic and patriotic duty.

No matter who is running, its an act of patriotism, Lee said. Its part of being a citizen of the United States.

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Garreis is hoping for a 1% to 1.5% return rate on the mailers, which cost about $5,000 to send out. That would provide an additional 800 to 1,200 Republican judges to staff polling places, plus a bench of reserve judges to fill in if someone is sick or unable to work. If the county still finds itself in need of more judges after the flyers are returned, it will reach out to community groups to sponsor individual polling locations.

Part of the hesitance to become a judge may simply be because people dont know how the system works, Garreis said.

During the 2020 presidential election, then-President Donald Trump and his allies repeated unfounded claims of mass voter fraud. Despite numerous legal challenges, no fraud was uncovered. But polling has since shown a diminished trust in the national election system among Republicans.

An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted in November found just a third of Republicans would trust the results of the 2024 presidential election if their candidate did not win. Thats compared with eight in 10 Democrats and two-thirds of Independents.

An example of a brochure that was mailed to about 80,000 registered Republicans in Anne Arundel County last week, recruiting them to help run the 200 or so polling places throughout the county for both the primary and the Nov. 8 general elections. (Courtesy of the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections)

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Confidence in the integrity of local and state election officials in 2022 was slightly better, according to the poll, with 91% of Democrats, 67% of Independents, and 60% of Republicans indicating they were very confident or confident that they would be fair in their oversight.

Garreis is hoping that new election judges will learn the extensive safeguards and checks that are used to ensure election integrity in the county.

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The best way to learn about the process is to actually do it, he said. There are a lot of safeguards in place. Theres much more to it than comes through the news or hyperbole. I think people will learn a lot from doing it.

After working on her first election in 2020, Briganti said she couldnt understand the concerns some people have had about election security and the integrity of the voting process.

And I dont understand how [voter fraud] can happen because we had to account for every piece of paper on the floor, she said. We knew how many ballots we had going in. We had to rectify between ones that people had to destroy and start over. We had to account for every single piece of paper we started out with that day and make sure everything was taken care of.

To qualify for being a judge, you must be a registered Maryland voter, be able to read, write and speak English, and work a 15-hour day with the ability to sit or stand for extended periods.

Interested residents should complete the brochure and mail it back to the Board of Elections or go to aacounty.org/boards-and-commissions/board-of-elections.
Imperial Pacific International Chief Executive Officer Ray Yumul, gestures as he speaks before the Commonwealth Casino Commission during its monthly meeting in Gualo Rai on Thursday. Also in the photo are Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom, left foreground; Commission Chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, seen on a monitor; and Executive Assistant to the Commission Ruth Ann P. Sakisat.
About 1,200 students attend Marshall Islands High School, the largest public school in the country. The teen pregnancy level among its senior class is higher than the national average, the second highest in the Pacific region.
Police officers attend a funeral service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Jan. 28, 2022 for New York City Police Department officer Jason Rivera, who was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence call.
South Africans can get a capable fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) package for streaming in 4K from an established Internet Service Provider (ISP) from R499 per month, a MyBroadband analysis shows.

Ultra high definition (UHD), or 4K, is replacing HD as the standard on TVs sold in South Africa, with numerous affordable options available between R5,000 and R10,000.

Streaming in this resolution is a data-hungry exercise that requires a fast and stable Internet connection unless you are willing to wait for your video to buffer.

One of the most popular video streaming services with a large selection of 4K titles is Netflix.

Although it recommends a minimum download speed of 25Mbps for 4K streaming on its Premium plan, user analyses have shown that the maximum bitrate for streaming at the resolution is around 16Mbps.

The company, therefore, uses a minimum threshold that will guarantee a solid streaming experience.

YouTube, the biggest video-based social media platform, recommends a minimum speed of 20Mbps.

Most entry-level fibre packages in South Africa will be capable of streaming 4K, given that the big fibre network operators (FNOs) have mostly done away with their low-end 10Mbps download speeds.

We looked at the entry-level fibre packages offered by six major fibre ISPs on the biggest fibre networks in South Africa to see how their prices compared.

The products had download speeds ranging between 20Mbps and 35Mbps, sufficient for 4K streaming.

Overall, the cheapest package was a 25/25Mbps line from MWEB on Openserves network for R499 per month, followed by a 30/3Mbps package from Afrihost on Frogfoot for R527.

MWEB was the cheapest ISP on four out of the five networks and the third cheapest on the remaining network  Frogfoot.

RSAWEB was the second-cheapest for three FNOs and the third-cheapest on Vumatels network.

Cool Ideas mainly featured among the more expensive packages. It was the most costly for two out of the five FNOs, and the second-most expensive for two more.

However, it should be noted that Cool Ideas often ranks top of MyBroadband Insights South African ISP report, suggesting the premium customers pay is well spent on providing high-quality connectivity and customer service.

When comparing the prices between the FNOs, Openserve was the cheapest on average. It was followed by Frogfoot.

Vumatel was the most expensive, with prices ranging between R689 and R749. Its entry-level download speed was also the slowest of all the providers, at 20Mbps.

The table below shows the prices of entry-level FTTH packages from major ISPs on the biggest fibre networks in the country.

We did not include any temporary promotional pricing in our comparison.
The Road Traffic Infringement Agencys (RTIA) executive team has seen their earnings increase nearly six-fold in the past five years.

A Sunday Times investigation revealed that the RTIAs financial records show its executive team went from earning an average of R1.3 million each per year to R7.5 million.

That comes to an average increase of R1.24 million per year. Executives wouldve had to receive average annual increases of 42% per year, every year for five years, to see such massive increases in pay.

The report found that former RTIA CEO Japh Chuwe went from earning R3.3 million in 2019 to R10.8 million in 2020  an increase of over 227%.

Chuwe was fired in October 2021 after being suspended six months earlier together with CFO Palesa Moalusi when the auditor-general flagged possible serious maladministration.

Moalusi, who earned R5.4 million in 2020, is suspended with full pay.

The RTIA has said investigations into allegations of serious maladministration on her part were ongoing.

Citing a 2020 whistleblower report handed to the Department of Transport (DoT), the report highlighted the following allegations against the RTIA:

Chuwe became the accounting authority in 2017 until a new board was appointed in August 2020. During this period executives earnings more than doubled.

An executive skills retention scheme in 2016 allowed four executives to double, and in some cases triple, their yearly salaries.

The agency implemented the increases despite the auditor-general making incriminating findings against the RTIAs top management.

Chuwe appointed Mashila Matlala as a director of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA in 2020, even though Parliaments standing committee on public accounts advised she be declared a delinquent director.

Executive committee members gave themselves 54.6% of the total performance rewards set aside for staff in 2020, with each member receiving about R3.5 million.

Staff created fraudulent documents to get contracts passed by the Treasury.

The RTIA runs the system that rules on minor traffic infringements such as driving with worn tyres, expired licence discs, and speeding.

Its primary duty is to enforce the Aarto Act, which was recently declared unconstitutional and unlawful by the Pretoria High Court.

The agencys 2021/2022 annual performance plan shows that the DoT has put aside R215 million for the Aarto rollout.

RTIAs annual reports stated 12 executives received R16.4 million in 2016. By 2018, 11 executives earned a combined total of R21.9 million.

The increase was attributed to salary benchmark adjustments.

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage said the pay raises were outrageous and fraudulent conduct on a grand scale.

Society needs an explanation from the minister as to why executive managers at the RTIA deserved packages increases at between 100% and 200% above their prior years earnings, he said.

As far as we are concerned, transport entities should not be making fat profits and should be keeping their costs and profitability low.

Outa also previously pointed out a significant discrepancy in the handling of salaries in the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) division of the DoT.

For the three years from 2019/2020 to 2021/2022, the DLCAs lowest-paid employees got an average of R100,000 a year each, showing no or minimal increase, Outa said.

Over the same years, the DLCAs top four employees started with an average of R800,000 a year each but increased 88% to an average of R1.5 million each.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) was also in the spotlight for exorbitant salaries recently, with the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) calling for an urgent parliamentary inquiry into its operational and financial affairs.

The mandate of the RTMC is not being fulfilled, and the high remuneration of executives and board members grossly exceeds private sector norms for companies of similar size, the AA stated.

For instance, the CEO of the RTMC, Adv Makhosini Msibis total remuneration in 2020 was R9.8m, in spite of adverse findings by the Auditor-General in respect of the RTMCs management.
American Canyon issued 192 building permits for housing units last year to move on the brink of meeting its state housing mandate for 2015-2023.

2021 was a big year for housing, Associate Planner William He told the Planning Commission on Thursday.

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California is requiring the city to make room for 392 housing units during the eight-year cycle. The city has done so for 577 units  but thats still not quite good enough.

Theres more than a grand total involved. The state mandate includes sub-categories of very low-income, low-income, moderate-income and above-moderate income.

The city has met all of its low-income targets and then some. But its 21 units shy in the above-moderate income category. City officials said the upcoming Watson Ranch subdivision should provide them.

We are one of a handful of jurisdictions among the 400-plus in the state that is meeting and exceeding its regional housing needs assessment allocation, Community Development Director Brent Cooper said.

Planning Commission Chairperson Tyrone Navarro asked if the city would see benefits for exceeding the mandate.

The state will allocate additional transportation funds to the top 15 communities for achieving affordable housing, Cooper said. American Canyon is in the running.

American Canyon has more housing in the pipeline. Watson Ranch homes are on the way. City officials said building permits could be issued this year for the 291-unit Oat Hill apartments and 66-unit Napa Cove apartments.

New projects are emerging. Developers this year could file an application for the 452-unit Residences at Napa Junction, which He said would be one of the largest projects in the city. Another idea is for Sun Square, which would be 20 one-bedroom units on an office and training center north of the Walmart shopping center.

It looks like the next few years, its going to be a pretty good year when it comes to housing in the city, Commissioner Andrew Goff said.

Meanwhile, with the present Regional Housing Needs Allocation cycle almost over, the city will soon have to deal with the 2023-31 cycle. American Canyon has been assigned a total of 446 homes, a higher number than this go-round as California tries to overcome a housing shortage.

California in 2019 sued Huntington Beach for failing to comply with its Regional Housing Needs Allocation number. Cooper didnt say what might happen if American Canyon doesnt meet the 2023-31 target, but he clearly didnt relish finding out.

The state is scrutinizing housing elements like theyve never done before, he said.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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When Adrianne Lenker, frontwoman of Big Thief, was putting together the band's debut, "Masterpiece," she worried that it wasn't very good.

"There was a point where I was like, 'Maybe this is crap,'" says Lenker, on the phone from the band's Brooklyn rehearsal space. "When we got the first mixes back, my hope was restored a little bit. It was like, 'We captured the magic.' (The recording sessions) happened so fast, and I listened to it after, and I was like, what happened? Is this any good? What creature is this?"

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"Masterpiece" dropped in May, to much critical praise and just enough attention. It's a wistful folk-rock offering that's much more rock than folk; it's a beautifully realized and awfully sad album about love and breakups and death that evokes influences (Crazy Horse, label mates Bright Eyes) while distinguishing the band. .

Now that "Masterpiece" is out in the world, Lenker is trying to learn how to let it go. "Because we make a record of a time and a place and a state that we're in, it doesn't mean it will capture everything we will be when we grow," she says. "It's not supposed to. It's just capturing that time, and who we were in that moment, and how we played in that moment. Letting go of being too precious about it and just letting it exist has been a really big challenge."

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Lenker, raised in a series of towns in Minnesota, began playing guitar when she was 6, inspired by guitarists like Pat Metheny and Michael Hedges. She got a GED at 16, after being "more or less" home-schooled, and won entrance to the Berklee College of Music in Boston after playing some of her songs for dean of admissions Damien Bracken. "I said, 'I don't know any music theory, I just have some songs.' So I played the songs for him, and he really loved them."

Bracken helped arrange a scholarship for Lenker, who wanted the college experience more than she needed the degree. "Because I hadn't gone to high school, I was kind of craving being around people my age, and making music and being immersed in something. Really, I just wanted to go to school. ... I wanted my only focus to be learning. I thought that was so cool. Not to party, because I wasn't doing any of that."

After Berklee, Lenker moved to New York City. She ran into guitarist Buck Meek, whom she had met in Boston, on her first day in the city. They soon began playing together, then writing songs together. They recorded two albums as a duo, and Lenker released a solo album, "Hours Were the Birds," in 2014, but nothing felt fully realized until Big Thief (with drummer James Krivchenia and bassist Max Oleartchik) came together, and began making what would become "Masterpiece." "Every practice we have is different," Lenker says. "Every time we play the (old) songs it feels different, and every time we play a new song, it's like discovering a new portal to a new room we've never been inside of. There's things that are familiar, the core of the music is the same, but it's just growing."

"Masterpiece" is more muscular than anything Lenker has done but to anyone who hadn't been paying attention, it would be easy to write Big Thief off as twee Brooklynites making artisanal country-folk.

"People turn themselves off to our music probably without hearing us sometimes," Lenker says. "Probably just by looking at us. But that's something I just can't bother thinking about. I can't control how other people are conceiving us. You just gotta be good with yourself. I know when it's genuine. I know when we're feeling it, that we're being honest. That's the most important thing we can probably do.

"Look at John Prine, he's from Illinois. It doesn't matter what someone's accent is, or what their vibe is. If they sing from their heart, or from an honest place, you can tell."

Allison Stewart is a freelancer.

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When: 9 p.m. Wednesday (as part of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival)

Where: Schubas, 3159 N. Southport Ave..

Tickets: $15 (18+); 773-525-2508 or www.lh-st.com

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The U.S. worked Sunday to ramp up diplomatic and financial pressure on Russia over Ukraine, promising to put Moscow on the defensive at the U.N. Security Council as lawmakers on Capitol Hill said they were nearing agreement on the mother of all sanctions.

The American ambassador to the United Nations said the Security Council will press Russia hard in a Monday session to discuss its massing of troops near Ukraine and fears it is planning an invasion.

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U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks to reporters during a news conference at United Nations headquarters on March 1, 2021. (Mary Altaffer/AP)

Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said of the U.S. and the other council members on ABCs This Week. Were going into the room prepared to listen to them, but were not going to be distracted by their propaganda.

Ukraines ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is bent on waging an attack on democracy, not just on a single country. Its a case that some senior foreign policy figures have urged President Joe Biden to make, including at the Security Council.

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If Ukraine will be further attacked by Russia, of course they will not stop in Ukraine, Markarova said on CBSs Face the Nation.

Any formal action by the Security Council is extremely unlikely, given Russias veto power and its ties with others on the council, including China. But the U.S. referral of Russias troop buildup to the United Nations most powerful body gives both sides a stage in their fight for global opinion.

Russias massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine has brought increasingly strong warnings from the West that Moscow intends to invade. Russia is demanding that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance, and to stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. NATO and the U.S. call those demands impossible.

The head of Russias Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Sunday rejected Western warnings about an invasion.

At this time, theyre saying that Russia threatens Ukraine  thats completely ridiculous, he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass. We dont want war and we dont need it at all.

Ukraines foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, countered that on Twitter, saying: If Russian officials are serious when they say they dont want a new war, Russia must continue diplomatic engagement and pull back military forces.

The United States and European countries say a Russian invasion would trigger heavy sanctions.

On Sunday, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, said that in the event of an attack, lawmakers want Russia to face the mother of all sanctions. That includes actions against Russian banks that could severely undermine the Russian economy and increased lethal aid to Ukraines military.

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The sanctions under consideration would apparently be significantly stronger than those imposed after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Those penalties have been seen as ineffective.

Menendez also raised the prospect of imposing some punishments preemptively, before any invasion.

There are some sanctions that really could take place up front, because of what Russias already done  cyberattacks on Ukraine, false-flag operations, the efforts to undermine the Ukrainian government internally, the New Jersey Democrat said on CNN.

The desire to hit Russia harder financially over its moves on Ukraine has been a rare area of bipartisan agreement in Congress. But Republicans and Democrats have been divided over the timing of any new sanctions package.

Many GOP members are pushing for the U.S. to impose tough penalties immediately instead of waiting for Russia to send new troops into Ukraine. The Biden administration and many Democratic lawmakers argue that imposing sanctions now against Putin would remove any deterrent to invasion.

Sen. James Risch of Idaho, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN he is more than cautiously optimistic that Republicans and Democrats will be able to resolve their differences over the timing of sanctions.

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Russia has long resented NATOs granting of membership to countries that were once part of the Soviet Union or were in its sphere of influence as members of the Warsaw Pact.

NATO has already come close to Ukraine. They also want to drag this country there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday, although everyone understands that Ukraine is not ready and could make no contribution to strengthening NATO security.

Ukraine has sought NATO membership for years, but any prospects of joining appear far off as the country struggles to find political stability and attack corruption.

Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and member of the Senates Ukraine Caucus, suggested that Ukraines backing off its NATO aspirations could expedite a diplomatic solution to the current crisis.

If Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decides that the future membership, if theres to be one in NATO for Ukraine, and the question of the Russian occupation of Ukraine are two things to put on the table, I think we may move toward a solution to this, Durbin said on NBC.

Ukraine has not shown signs of willingness to make concessions on potential alliance membership. It is not clear whether Durbins suggestion has broader backing.

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Lavrov also underlined Russias contention that NATO expansion is a threat, saying the alliance has engaged in offensive actions outside its member countries.

It is difficult to call it defensive. Do not forget that they bombed Yugoslavia for almost three months, invaded Libya, violating the U.N. Security Council resolution, and how they behaved in Afghanistan, he said.

The U.S. and NATO have formally rejected Russias demands about halting NATO expansion, though Washington outlined areas where discussions are possible, offering hope there could be a way to avoid war.

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Heintz reported from Moscow.
The leaders of the five parliamentary factions of Artsakh jointly worked on a draft law "On the Occupied Territories of Artsakh" and on February 2 will present it for the first reading, Metakse Hakobyan, a member of the Justice faction of the Artsakh National Assembly, told NEWS.am.

"The main idea of the project is that no international organization or company has the right to take any action in the occupied territories of our homeland without the agreement of the Armenian side, and in case of any problems in the future these companies will not have the right to demand compensation or reimbursement from us if they have not coordinated their actions with us beforehand. The second point is that our enemy-occupied territories are not only the territories occupied in 2020. This is also the Shahumian region, which was left under Azerbaijani control after the first Artsakh war, as well as the villages of Martuni and Martakert. This is the essence of the draft, which will be put to a vote in the first reading at the February 2 plenary session and will be adopted in the second reading," she said.

According to the deputy, 30 years ago the people of Artsakh self-determined and proclaimed itself a free and independent state, which is international law.

"Regardless of whether other states have recognized it or not, this is an international right and Artsakh self-determined 30 years ago, and no one can take that right away from the people of Artsakh and Armenians as a whole. This project is fully legal, it is important because now we agree to return not just pieces of land but our entire homeland, we are ready to fight for it," she said.

The deputy said that the territories occupied by Azerbaijan include Kashatagh region, Shahumyan region, Martuni, Martakert, Hadrut, Shushi, Askeran and Getashen.
'Shorter quarantine may ease helper shortage soon'

Labour minister Law Chi-kwong says a reduction in quarantine period for inbound travellers should help alleviate the shortage of foreign domestic helpers. File photo: RTHK

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong, said on Sunday that the severe shortage of foreign domestic helpers may ease next month, when more of them can come to Hong Kong after the quarantine period is shortened from 21 days to 14.



Writing in his blog on Sunday, Law said Hong Kong had in December increased quarantine facilities for helpers, but then the Omicron variant of Covid-19 started raging across the globe with cases in the Philippines skyrocketed  prompting the SAR government to ban all flights from the country.



The labour chief noted there was a recent drop in number of confirmed cases in the Philippines, but its uncertain whether the trend will sustain long enough for cases to reach a level low enough for flights to resume.



The government had said the ban on flights from eight countries, including the Philippines, will continue at least until February 18.



Law also said the pandemic situation in Indonesia is deteriorating too, although helpers can still fly in.



But he said with an additional 491 hotel rooms set aside for helpers, and shorter quarantine starting from February 5, the number of helpers who can enter Hong Kong at any specific period of time will go up by 50 percent.



He added, though, the SAR must be careful in preventing imported cases.



"It can be imagined that tens of thousands of families in Hong Kong are having difficulty in taking care of their family members without the support from foreign domestic helpers. But to avoid overwhelming the public healthcare system, we have to be careful in preventing imported cases," he said.



He added vaccination rate has to increase significantly for the government to gradually relax anti-epidemic measures.
One of the most keenly awaited announcements in the union budget every year is related to personal taxation. In every budget income tax rates and slabs are reviewed. However, the income tax slabs have not been changed since 2014. Will Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman change the slabs and give relief to taxpayers in the budget on Tuesday? The basic personal tax exemption limit was last revised in 2014. Presenting the first budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 2014 the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the basic income tax exemption limit from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. For senior citizens, the exemption limit was increased from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. The basic exemption limits have not been changed since then. Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present her fourth union budget on February 1, 2022. Some analysts feel that the finance minister may announce major relief to taxpayers. The expected relief include an increase in the basic exemption limit from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. For senior citizens, it is likely to be increased to Rs 3.5 lakh from the present Rs 3 lakh. The top income slab is also likely to be revised upward from the existing Rs 15 lakh. According to a pre-budget survey conducted among different stakeholders by KPMG recently, the majority (64 per cent) of respondents expect an enhancement in the basic income tax exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh. "Our pre-budget survey indicates that relief for individual taxpayers by way of an enhancement in the basic income tax exemption limit of Rs 2.5 Lakh is highly awaited. Respondents also support an upward revision in the top income slab of Rs10 lakhs," said Rajeev Dimri, Partner and National Head of Tax, KPMG in India. Although Sitharaman has not changed tax slabs and rates, she introduced a new tax regime in budget 2020. Under the new tax regime, the tax rates are reduced for those willing to forego tax exemptions and deductions. The new tax regime remains optional for taxpayers. This means a taxpayer has the option to either stick to the old regime or choose the new one. Currently, income upto Rs 2.5 is exempt from taxation under both regimes. Income between Rs 2.5 to Rs 5 lakh is taxed at the rate of 5 per cent under the old as well as the new tax regime. Personal income from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh is taxed at a rate of 20 per cent under the old regime, while under the new regime the tax rate stands at 10 per cent. Income between Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh is taxed at a rate of 20 per cent in the old regime, while in the new regime the tax rate stands at 15 per cent. Under the old regime personal income above Rs 10 lakh is taxed at a rate of 30 per cent. However, under the new regime, there are three slabs above Rs 10 lakh. Personal income between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 12.5 lakh is taxed at a rate of 20 per cent under the new regime. Income from Rs 12.5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh is taxed at 25 per cent and income above Rs 15 lakh is taxed at a rate of 30 per cent. The effective tax rate is much higher due to cess and surcharges. An individual with a net taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh is allowed to avail tax rebate of up to Rs 12,500 under Section 87A in both the old as well as the new tax system. So effectively, the tax liability of individuals with income up to Rs 5 lakh is zero under both the tax regimes. The limit for deduction under Section 80C has also remained unchanged since 2014. In the 2014 budget, the 80C deduction limit was increased to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh, while the deduction limits for interest on the home loan was increased to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh. Both these deductions remain unchanged since 2014. However, some additional deductions have been introduced in the subsequent budgets. In the 2015 budget, the government introduced an additional deduction of Rs 50,000 for contribution under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) under Section 80 CCD. The deduction limit on health insurance premiums was also increased from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. Major steps towards simplification and rationalisation of the income tax regime are also expected in this year's budget. In the Budget 2020-21, around 70 exemptions and deductions of different nature were removed. The finance minister had announced that the "remaining exemptions and deductions will be reviewed and rationalised in the coming years with a view to further simplifying the tax system and lowering the tax rate." In the 2021-22 Budget the finance minister did not make any significant change in the income tax rates or slabs. "Although the Government has taken several measures to resolve tax disputes and overhaul the tax dispute resolution framework over the past few years, further measures in this regard may help in reducing litigation. Rationalisation of TDS and TCS provisions to ease compliance burdens will also be welcome," said Dimri. (ANI)
Marvel stars Simu Liu and David Dastmalchian have seemingly spoken out against actor Evangeline Lilly after she attended an anti-vaccine mandate protest in Washington, DC. As per E! News, this isn't the first time she has faced backlash for her opinions on the pandemic. On January 27, Lilly took to Instagram to share she had attended the protest in order "to support bodily sovereignty," claiming that "nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will" out of fear of "violent attacks," "alienation from loved ones" or "excommunication from society" amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. She added, "This is not the way. This is not safe. This is not healthy. This is not love. I understand the world is in fear, but I don't believe that answering fear with force will fix our problems. I was pro choice before COVID and I am still pro choice today." Shortly after Lilly published her post, scores of people responded with either support or condemnation over her words. Dastmalchian, who plays Kurt in the 'Ant-Man' films, tweeted, "It's so unfortunate when people with a large platform use that platform to share irresponsible things." He did not mention Lilly by name. Neither did Liu, who portrays the titular role in the 2021 Marvel film 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings', when he tweeted about the coronavirus pandemic on the day Lilly shared her post. "I lost my grandparents to COVID last year. They were still waiting for their vaccines," the actor tweeted. "I'm fortunate to have been double-vaccinated and boosted when I got COVID 2 weeks ago. Felt like a cold." He also urged the media to stop "spotlighting opinions that are not rooted in facts or science." Lilly has not commented on her fellow Marvel stars' remarks. In March 2020, after Lily compared COVID to a "respiratory flu", she was seemingly slammed by actor Sophie Turner. "Stay inside, don't be f--king stupid... even if you count your 'freedom' over your... health," the 'Game of Thrones' alum said on Instagram Live at the time. "I don't give a f about your freedom, you could be infecting other people, other vulnerable people around you." Lilly later apologized for her "arrogant" remarks on Instagram, writing in part, "My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic. I never meant to hurt you. When I wrote that post 10 days ago, 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." (ANI)
Grammy-winning rapper Drake is learning some French from his 4-year-old boy in an adorable video shared on social media. According to People Magazine, Drake welcomed his only son Adonis, who he shares with Sophie Brussaux, in October 2017. The 35-year-old rapper shared a video on Instagram of himself and Adonis spending some quality time together. In the clip, the father-son duo holds a conversation about their heights before Drake's little one shows off his French-speaking abilities. At the start of the video, Adonis asks Drake if he is "going to be much bigger than me," to which the 'One Dance' musician responds, "I don't think so, you're pretty tall." As Drake then questions his son about whether or not he will one day tower over his father, Adonis replies, "Yeah! I'm gonna be, like, old." Adonis, whose mother Sophie Brussaux hails from France, then asks Drake if he wants him to teach the rapper how to speak "en francais." As Drake tells him, "Yes, please," Adonis speaks French as his father repeats each word back to him. At the end of the sentence, Drake asks Adonis what he said, to which his little guy explains, "I said, 'When you're older, you're all broken, and you're gonna turn back into space.'" Drake, however, questions his son's translation. "Is that really what you said or are you just making stuff up?" he asks. A laughing and bashful Adonis then remains mum on whether or not he had thrown a string of words together, as Drake tells him, "You're a funny guy." "I been around the world thrice times I mean what I say..." Drake captioned the adorable bonding moment with his son, using a lyric off of Clipse's song 'Hot Damn'. Back in October, Drake celebrated Adonis' fourth birthday. In his most recent album, 'Certified Lover Boy', Drake references co-parenting with Brussaux in the first song 'Champagne Poetry'. (ANI)
Taking to his Instagram handle, Shetty shared a picture of himself hugging the ace filmmaker.

"The babu bhaiyas of all babu bhaiyas. A heart of gold and genius to match. Happy birthday to the king of #HeraPheri (not literally) @priyadarshan.official sir. Have a con free year and keep making fab films," Shetty wrote alongside the picture.

For the unversed, Shetty has played one of the lead roles in Priyadarshan's one of the most famous film franchises 'Hera Pheri'. Shetty played the role of Ghanshyam in the comedy-drama that also starred Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal in the lead roles.

The actor-director duo has also collaborated on films like 'Chup Chup Ke,' 'De Dana Dan,' 'Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar,' and 'Hulchul.'

Best known for his comedy films, Priyadarshan has also experimented with some action, thriller and period films. His collaborations with South-superstar Mohanlal were highly popular in Malayalam cinema during the 1980s and 1990s.

The 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa' director has also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 2019 for his period epic 'Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea'. In 2012, the Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award for his contribution towards the arts. (ANI)
Actor Drew Barrymore took a trip down memory lane and shared pictures on social media from the time when she first met Tom Holland a decade ago. According to People Magazine, Barrymore, 46, has extended her love and support for Holland's career during several past events. Her recent Instagram post included a photo of the two in what appears to be a restaurant, as well as a second shot where she can be seen pointing to the distance with one hand as she grabs Holland's arm with another. "Tom Holland I remember meeting you what was it? 2011? And I was so captivated by you," the '50 First Dates' star began the caption of her post. "I had just watched your movie and we were meeting about a project I was going to direct and I truly thought you were the most impressive and incredible person as well as such an extraordinary talent!" Barrymore continued her message by listing off Holland's recent achievements, both personal and professional, noting: "There is nothing you can't and won't do!" "I didn't know there was a record of this pic! It was like every time I see you, I remember this moment and now i have record of it too!" she added. "I send you and your lady the very best! As always, I am cheering you on!!!!!!" Back in December, Barrymore mentioned Holland, 25, and the support she has for him while hosting an episode of her eponymous talk show series, 'The Drew Barrymore Show'. As part of her 'Drew's News' segment, Barrymore and Ross Mathews chatted about Holland's comments surrounding his height as compared to his 'Spider-Man' costar, Zendaya. In reference to a press appearance that Holland and Zendaya, 25, made last year where the pair discussed their heights, Barrymore commended the two for breaking "old stigmas that are still hanging around" surrounding women being taller than men. (ANI)
The actor's wife, Allu Sneha Reddy, took to her Instagram story, to post a video of him colouring with his daughter, Allu Arha, while his son, Allu Ayaan is seen sitting in the background, surrounded by crayons and toys.

The actor had earlier posted a picture of his daughter giving him the sweetest welcome back home. He captioned the picture as "sweetest welcome after 16 days abroad." He added a heart emoji to it.

His daughter is seen standing above a lettering made by her with flowers and leaves which read "welcome nana", which translates to "welcome papa".

The actor is currently vacationing with his family in Goa.

After the pan-India success of 'Pushpa: The Rise', the actor is all set to gear up for its sequel, 'Pushpa: The Rule', which will have Fahadh Faasil and Rashmika Mandanna share the screen space with him again. (ANI)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Archewell production company has said they are continuing to press Spotify to make changes to address the "serious harms" presented by COVID misinformation on its platform. According to Variety, the erstwhile British royal couple has an exclusive multiyear podcast deal with Spotify, although to date they have released only one short holiday audio special. In a statement issued on Sunday, Archewell said Harry and Meghan first reached out to Spotify in April 2021 to express "concerns" about "the all-too-real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform." The statement did not call out Joe Rogan, but it was last April when the extremely popular podcaster drew widespread criticism after he suggested people don't need to get COVID vaccines if they are young and healthy on 'The Joe Rogan Experience', which is exclusively distributed by Spotify. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who last year officially parted ways with the British Royal Family, are speaking out on the issue after Spotify removed Neil Young's catalog from the streamer last week due to his objections over Spotify's distribution of the Rogan podcast. "Spotify has recently become a very damaging force via its public misinformation and lies about COVID," Young said, citing an open letter from 260-plus health professionals calling on Spotify to crack down on coronavirus falsehoods in Rogan's podcast. Subsequently, Joni Mitchell also said she would be removing her music from Spotify. "Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis. Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day. Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all-too-real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform," an Archewell representative said in a statement. They continued, "We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis. We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does." Meanwhile, on January 29, author and researcher Dr Brene Brown, who has an exclusive podcast deal with Spotify for two shows, said she was halting her podcasts indefinitely. She didn't provide a reason for the decision. "I will not be releasing any podcasts until further notice," Brown said in a tweet, adding "To our #UnlockingUs and #DaretoLead communities, I'm sorry and I'll let you know if and when that changes." Under Spotify's current policy banning COVID misinformation, the company's moderation team is supposed to remove content from its platform that "promotes dangerous false, deceptive or misleading content about COVID-19 that may cause offline harm and/or pose a direct threat to public health." Spotify has told partners that the company has removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes for violating the COVID misinformation policy since the beginning of the pandemic. Harry and Meghan's Archewell pacted with Spotify in 2020 to produce exclusive podcasts that "build community through shared experience, narratives and values." Since then, Archewell has been mum on what shows it has in development for the podcast, but as per Variety, recently Spotify's Gimlet posted job listings seeking to hire a new team to produce a weekly podcast show with Archewell featuring "high-profile women." (ANI)
A group of city leaders will lead a pilot effort to help create more pathways for young adults with developmental disabilities, officials announced.

Several individuals and organizations are coming together in support of Chicago residents who, upon turning 22, no longer are eligible for special education transition services, to help expand their educational, employment and enrichment opportunities, according to a news release. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Ald. Matt OShea, 19th, City Colleges of Chicago, the Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center and the Special Olympics Chicago-Special Childrens Charities are among its backers.

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The initiative is called the After 22 Project and it will be recognized as a comprehensive transition program aimed at connecting participants with postsecondary programs  including flexible learning opportunities, leadership development and job skills training. Students also can participate in special recreation, internship and job opportunities.

Far too often, people with disabilities fall through the cracks in our system and are left without access to opportunities to achieve upward mobility, Lightfoot said. With the After 22 Project, we will be able to create the social safety net they deserve as well as move Chicago one step closer to become the most accessible city in the country.

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Daley College will provide support to students through its Occupational, Life, and Academic Skills program.

The college will work with students to gauge their interest in order to craft a plan based on interest and skill level. Without the program, students have had to wait an average of seven years to access funding for such services after reaching age 22, according to the news release.

Rebecca Clark, president and CEO at Anixter Center, an organization that provides day services for adults with developmental disabilities, said she believes the After 22 program will change the lives of the people it serves at the center for years to come.

After 22 is the missing piece that equalizes the pathway for young adults with developmental disabilities to access college and thrive, Clark said. This historic step bridges the gap, creating opportunities for students to secure meaningful work, and positively engage in, and contribute to their communities.

During the first year, the program will serve as many as 20 students through noncredit job skill development courses. Daley College and Anixter Center team members will join forces to create customized educational plans to bolster communication strategies, self-advocacy skills, professionalism and to offer help navigating institutions, among other workplace skills.

Students can practice applying these skills at the food pantry, professional clothing closet, and other service areas around the Daley campus.

Daley College President Janine Janosky will lead the After 22 program at City Colleges.

One of the greatest strengths of Daley City College is our students diversity, Janosky said. We welcome all students and look forward to the vibrancy these new students will bring to our campus life.

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Daley College and the Anixter Center will build an advisory council of business leaders, students, parents, faculty members, special education experts and advocates who will provide guidance on program development, expanding external connections and funding sources, according to the release.

The Anixter Center will match 10 participants with jobs or internships at a community employer who will provide support to ensure success and retention. The aim is to weave together public and private partnerships so students can have a meaningful experience.

In the long term, Daley College will develop a certificate program for students with disabilities. Having the program will satisfy one of the larger goals for City Colleges to provide more expansive access to education for the community.

Carolyn Daley, president of the Board of Directors of Special Olympics Chicago and Special Childrens Charities, said the organization looks forward to its partnership with Anixter and City Colleges.

The After 22 program opens new doors of opportunity for our athletes by empowering them with continuing education, important life and job skills, and a readiness for the future, Daley said. It is my hope that the After 22 program is an incredible success, and continues to grow throughout the years to come.
A study has found a Zika virus vaccine candidate is effective at preventing the Zika virus from passing from mother to fetus in preclinical animal studies. The study has been published in the 'npj Vaccines Journal'. The research is a collaboration between Trudeau Institute, Texas Biomedical Research Institute's Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC), and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), where the vaccine was developed. "The vaccine has been shown to be safe for non-pregnant humans, but of course, we need to know if it is safe and effective for the people at greatest risk: pregnant women and their fetuses," said In-Jeong Kim, PhD, a viral immunologist at Trudeau Institute and the first paper author. "Our proof-of-concept studies conducted at Trudeau and Texas Biomed show very promising results that the vaccine given before pregnancy will provide high levels of protection for mothers and babies," Kim added. The 2015-2016 Zika outbreak in Brazil and other countries in the Americas caused a surge in miscarriages and a constellation of birth defects, called Congenital Zika Syndrome, including abnormally small heads and neuro-developmental disorders. This prompted the World Health Organization to declare the Zika outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. "It's important to test vaccines before the next large outbreak because there will be another," said Jean Patterson, PhD, a virologist at Texas Biomed and a senior paper author. "Zika is part of a family of viruses known to go through cycles. These viruses tend to spread rapidly through naive populations that have never been exposed to the virus before, then infections drop-down for years because most people have been exposed. As more and more people are born, there is a new group of naive individuals in which the virus can once again wreak havoc. We want to help break that cycle," Patterson added. The purified, inactivated Zika vaccine (ZPIV) candidate was developed by a team at WRAIR using the same technology they used to develop a Japanese encephalitis vaccine. The vaccine has been tested in non-pregnant animals, showing it effectively clears the virus from the blood. In Phase 1 human trials, it has been shown to be safe and elicit a protective immune response. However, running rigorous tests to prove the vaccine protects women and their fetuses from both infection and severe malformations is restricted due to ethical and safety reasons. That's where animal models come in. Trudeau Institute and Texas Biomed evaluated the vaccine in pregnant mice and marmosets, respectively. The mouse studies, led by Kim and Marcia Blackman, PhD, a viral immunologist at Trudeau, demonstrated the vaccine prevented about 80 per cent of fetal malformations, and antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus were detected in fetal blood samples eight days after infection. "We were able to detect maternal antibodies in the fetus during pregnancy and the results suggest the antibodies play a critical role in protecting fetuses from Zika virus," Kim said. Marmosets, which are small primates, are more sensitive to Zika infection than other nonhuman primates; previous studies showed fetuses were aborted within two weeks of maternal infection. In the current study, four marmosets were immunized with the ZPIV vaccine. After they became pregnant, they were exposed to the Zika virus. Only 1 of 12 offspring tested positive for Zika virus, demonstrating more than 90 per cent effectiveness. "Because the animals became pregnant at different times, our study was able to show the vaccine confers protection for at least 18 months after vaccination, which is important for showing long-lasting immunity," Patterson said. The researchers are already testing what happens when the vaccine is administered during pregnancy. "These studies add to evidence that the Zika vaccine WRAIR developed not only protects animals against Zika virus infection, but also the congenital defects that mimic what has been observed in people," said Kayvon Modjarrad, MD, PhD, who leads the U.S. Army Zika vaccine program and is the Director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch at WRAIR. "Together with the early phase clinical trials, we believe these data lend even more support that this vaccine platform is a viable approach for countering the persistent threat of Zika," Modjarrad added. Collaborators on the paper also included: University of Illinois Chicago; University of California, Davis; the University of California at San Francisco; and State University of New York, Upstate Medical University. The research is supported by the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health Grant P51OD011133. (ANI)
When COVID-19 disrupts homes with two or more children, one sibling is affected more than the other, suggests the findings of a recent study. The study has been published in the 'Developmental Psychology Journal'. When caregivers are experiencing stress associated with the pandemic, many other areas of family life are disrupted--often with higher levels of the mental-health struggle for children, including anger, anxiety, and depression. Researchers found that one sibling tends to present greater mental-health problems. That, in turn, elicits more negative parenting. "Our study shows that parents tend to be most reactive and least positive to the child showing the highest levels of mental health difficulties," said Dillon Browne, the study's lead author and a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Waterloo. "Struggles with mental health among family members exacerbate each other in a feedback loop," Browne said. "Our study suggests that the direction of influence appears to go from the child's mental health to parenting, not parenting to child mental health," he added. To conduct the study, the research team collected and analyzed data from more than 500 caregivers and 1,000 siblings. Caregivers with two children between five and 18 years old completed questionnaires on COVID stress, family functioning and mental health at repeated times throughout a two-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Understanding children's mental health difficulties during COVID-19 requires a family system lens because of the numerous ways the pandemic affects the family as a unit. Comprehensive interventions for children's mental health require an examination of caregiver, sibling, and whole-family dynamics," said Browne, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Clinical Psychology. The findings suggested that family therapy, in addition to individual psychotherapy for children and adults, might be helpful for households who are struggling with adjustments in response to the pandemic. Browne added that future research needs to examine the uptake and effectiveness of family therapy services during the pandemic. "A lot of research studies have pointed to mental-health challenges associated with the pandemic for children and parents. This work adds insight into how pandemic-related disruption goes beyond the individual and infiltrates the relational environment of the family unit," Brown said. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday slammed the Samajwadi Party (SP) for its alleged role in the Muzaffarnagar riots and claimed that those who were involved in the riots were victimized while the victims were framed and put behind bars just for the sake of appeasement. Addressing voters in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, the senior BJP leader said, "Akhilesh was holding a press conference in Muzaffarnagar. The entire speech did not mention the Muzaffarnagar riots. I want to ask, in whose time did the riots take place? What was the role of the government in the riots? The rioters were made victims and those who were victims were made accused and put in jail, just for the sake of appeasement." Continuing his verbal attack on the SP, the Home Minister said the previous government gave mini Chief Minister, a 'bahubali' and riot during its rule, on the other hand, the BJP government gave industry and medical colleges to each district. "SP Government gave a mini CM, a bahubali, a scam and a riot to each district during its rule. That was the definition of development for SP. On the contrary, BJP Govt gave a product (One District, One Product scheme), a major industry and a medical college to each district," stated Shah. Taking a dig at SP's alliance with Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Shah said that if SP forms the government in Uttar Pradesh, Azam Khan will be a part of the cabinet while RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary will be ousted from the government. "Yesterday Akhilesh ji and Jayant ji held a press conference. They say that we are together. But how long is this together? If their government is formed, then Jayant ji will leave the government and Azam Khan will come back. The people of Uttar Pradesh have understood from the distribution of tickets what is going to happen next," Shah said. Akhilesh Yadav-led SP has fielded Azam Khan, who is sitting MP from Rampur Lok Sabha seat, from Rampur constituency. At present, Azam Khan is languishing in jail after several cases were registered against him. The Home Minister further said that not a single major riot has happened in Uttar Pradesh under the BJP government's tenure of five years. "Mafia Raj is over in Uttar Pradesh today. People like Azam Khan and Mukhtar Asari are in jail today. The goons and mafia of Uttar Pradesh are either in jail or either fled away or appears to be in the list of Samajwadi Party candidates," said Shah. The Home Minister further said that the BJP government has chased away criminals and mafias who flourished during the earlier regime of SP. "SP opened 12 medical colleges, today 40 medical colleges have been established or are in the process of being built during the rule of BJP. You can just question us, you could not do anything. They accuse us of holding a press conference. How many medical colleges have you opened, how many engineering colleges have you opened? We have fulfilled 95 per cent of our promises, we are showing our resolution letter. There was 'gunda raj' in Uttar Pradesh. You do politics of appeasement. We have never done politics on the basis of casteism, religion and appeasement. We do politics of nationalism," said the Home Minister. He further said that the work of Jewar airport, National Highway of Ganga and making Saharanpur a smart city, widening of Dalmandi Charthal roads and laying of sewer lines are finished. "Our government is doing the work for constructing a path for Maa Shakumbhari Devi Temple, the work of Ganga Expressway and giving airport to Saharanpur is underway. The list of our works is very long, UP is now at number two in terms of development, give us one more chance and we will come to number one now," he said. Shah further said that the maximum number of vaccinations took place in Uttar Pradesh. "The maximum number of vaccinations took place in Uttar Pradesh but you misguided people about the vaccine. You see Modi in everything, you must be seeing Modi even in the vegetables in your house. Under our government's food schemes, work is being done to provide food to people. What did your government do? The food grains were sent directly to Nepal via Gorakhpur," said the Home Minister. "I appeal to the voters here, I appeal to the voters of western Uttar Pradesh, vote for the respect and security of women, vote for the development of youth, vote for making Uttar Pradesh number one. It has reached number two, press the button on the lotus and make it number one," he added. He urged the people of the state to trust, bless and encourage BJP and vote for party candidates. Amit Shah said that he has come to make Jagpal Singh, the party's candidate for Saharanpur, win. Notably, BJP has nominated a candidate from the Dalit community from the general seat. "Today I have come here to appeal for our candidate Jagpal Singhji to win. This in itself is a unique thing in Uttar Pradesh that in a general seat, BJP has done the work of giving tickets to a candidate from the Dalit community. This tells us that in Uttar Pradesh, BJP has worked for realizing 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas' mantra of Narendra Modiji," he said. "UP has always believed in BJP and has given us chance to form the government. Lotus has not bloomed in Saharanpur Dehat for 28 years. If BJP wins here, then there will be blossom everywhere," he added. The Home Minister also informed that he cancelled his campaign in Deoband and Muzaffarnagar today due to a huge crowd that had gathered amid COVID-19. (ANI)
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced on Saturday that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will lay the foundation stone of an 'Amar Jawan Jyoti' in Chhattisgarh's Raipur on Thursday. According to an official statement, Amar Jawan Jyoti will be constructed in the premises of 4th Battalion, Chhattisgarh Armed Forces Mana, Raipur. The flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will continue to be lit in honour of the martyrs. He will perform `bhoomi poojan' (ground-breaking ceremony) for the memorial on February 3. "Congress party has a history of sacrifices and had many great leaders who sacrificed their everything for the service of the nation. The party knows how to honour sacrifices. Our history has been a witness that any society which does not honour its martyrs, does not preserve the memories of their sacrifices, insults their signs, that society is destroyed" said Baghel. "In the year 1972, the first female Prime Minister of India Smt. Indira Gandhi lit the Amar Jawan Jyoti in New Delhi in honour of the martyred brave soldiers of the country. However, the central government has merged the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame with the one at the National War Memorial," he said. "The eternal flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate was visible to the visitors and instilled in them a sense of pride and gratitude towards the martyrs of the country," he added. Expressing his dissatisfaction over the centre's move of shifting Amar Jawan Jyoti, Baghel said that it has hurt his sentiments, but now the flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be lit in the honor of the martyrs in Raipur as well. "We will honor the martyrdom of the sons of Chhattisgarh who sacrificed their lives for the country by joining uniformed services, as well as the bravehearts of the country who sacrificed their lives in Chhattisgarh through 'Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti'," the Chief Minister said. A wall with names of Martyrs, memorial tower and VVIP platform will also be set up at Amar Jawan Jyoti in Chhattisgarh. The wall will be constructed with brown marble with the names of Martyrs engraved on the same. This crescent-shaped wall will be about 25 feet high having a length of about 100 feet, and the thickness of this wall will be 3 feet. The memorial tower will be set up of sandstone, brown white marble granite in front of a crescent-shaped wall. A memento will be made on its top. Rifle and helmet will be in the form of insignia on the base in front of the memorial tower. The flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be lit in front of this symbol which will be ignited 24 hours by fuel supply through underground pipelines. A fort-like two-storey building will be constructed just in front of the memorial tower, the length of the base of which will be 150 feet and the width will be 90 feet. The height of this building will be 40 feet. The Chief Minister expressed hope that soon Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be established as a place of pride for the country. (ANI)
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Saturday appealed the Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Chief Justice of India NV Ramana to strengthen rape laws in India. "It's been 30 years and justice is yet to be served to the victims, rather warriors of 1992 Ajmer Rape case. I humbly appeal to CJI Ramana and Kiren Rijiju, to consider framing laws and policies that give hope of speedy justice to our women," Kalvakuntla tweeted. Nizamabad MLC Kalvakuntla made the following tweet in reply to a tweet which talked about an incident that took place in Rajasthan's POCSO courtroom where the victim, survivor of gang rape shouted at the judge, lawyer and the accused saying why is she being called again and again to the court for 30 years. "A gang rape survivor's anger tore through the old, yelling POCSO courtroom in Rajasthan's Ajmer. "Why are you still calling me to court again and again? It has been 30 years," she shouted at the judge, lawyers, and the accused present in the court," reads the tweet. (ANI)
"Why are they not giving another exam date if they agree to the paper leak? We demand a CBI inquiry," said a protestor.

Earlier on Friday, the Rajasthan government dismissed Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education Chairman Dharmpal Jarauli for "failing to discharge his duties"

Rajasthan government also suspended the Board secretary Arvind Kumar Sengwa in connection with the same paper leak case for the REET examination 2021.

Earlier on Saturday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Vice-President and former Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje said, "Fairness, transparency and purity of examinations should be beyond every doubt."

"Therefore it is very worrying that the investigating agencies have brought the education complex itself under suspicion in the REET paper leak case. The criminal corruption exposed in the examination is shocking," said Raje in her tweet (roughly translated from Hindi). (ANI)

Earlier in September, the gang of five people, including a woman, was arrested and a cheating racket was busted by Rajasthan Police who acted after sensing foul play by a candidate who appeared at an Ajmer centre in the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) that was held on September 26.

The incident came to light when aspirant, Ganesh Ram Dhaka (28), who had arrived at the Acharya Shri Dharam Sagar Digambar Jain Secondary Medium School Centre in Ajmer for the REET was found wearing a Bluetooth-equipped chappal.

Rajasthan government had suspended government officers, teachers, education department employees and police personnel suspecting their involvement in cheating in REET 2021.

Several people have been arrested by the police so far for their involvement in cheating in the REET exam. (ANI)
India observes Martyrs' Day every year on January 30 to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and to honour his contribution towards the freedom of the country.

On January 30, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse at Gandhi Smriti in Birla house.

According to the directions of the central government, two minutes of silence is observed in all states and Union Territories on January 30. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said corruption is like a termite that makes the country hollow and asserted that there is a need to get rid of it as soon as possible with the help of the people who need to prioritize duties. PM Modi while addressing the nation in the 85th edition of 'Mann ki Baat' said that one crore children have sent him their 'Mann Ki Baat' via postcard. While reading a postcard sent by Navya Verma from Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, in which she wrote about India of her dream in 2047 where everybody lives a dignified life, where farmers are prosperous and where there is no corruption, PM Modi said, "Your dream for the nation is praiseworthy. The country is also taking rapid strides in this direction." "Corruption is like a termite which makes the country hollow. Why wait for 2047 to get rid of it?" the Prime Minister said. Stating that there is an urgent need to get rid of corruption, PM Modi said, "This is work all countrymen, today's youth have to do together; we have to do it as soon as possible. Therefore, it becomes very important that we give priority to our duties, where there is a sense of duty, where the duty is supreme -- there corruption does not exist." 'Mann ki Baat' is the Prime Minister's monthly radio address, which is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month. The programme will be broadcast on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan and also on AIR News and mobile app. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that people remember Mahatma Gandhi but have forgotten the importance of Khadi but asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has revived Khadi. "Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) made us realize the importance of Khadi, but unfortunately, we forgot about it. It's Gujarat's son Narendra Bhai (PM Modi), who revived 'Khadi' by advancing the idea of Khadi," said Shah at the programme held for the unveiling of the mural of Mahatma Gandhi at Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad on the occasion of Martyr's Day. He said that Prime Minister Modi remembered Gandhi in all respects. "Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat is the new tribute to Bapu's swadeshi dream." "I appeal to Gujarat to take up to Khadi even if it's using a Khadi handkerchief. Our little contribution to use khadi can give livelihood to a family for a whole year. The Swadeshi movement is still relevant as it was in 1930. Respect for your mother tongue is essential for our culture," he added. "Today's tribute has another significance. It is the 75th year of our independence. And Prime Minister has decided to celebrate this as Amrit Mahotsav," he stated. "The 75th year of independence is the year of making resolutions. We have to set our own goals and also prepare India to meet those goals," he further stated. Earlier today, Shah unveiled the mural of Mahatma Gandhi at the Sabarmati Riverfront, Ahmedabad on the 74th death anniversary of the father of the nation. To commemorate the 74th Martyrs' Day, in the 75th year of independence, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has installed a grand wall mural of Mahatma Gandhi made of clay Kulhads at the iconic Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad. Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 74th death anniversary and said that it is a collective endeavour to further popularise the noble ideals of the father of the nation. India observes Martyrs' Day every year on January 30 to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and to honour his contribution towards the freedom of the country.On January 30, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse at Gandhi Smriti in Birla house. (ANI)
A Delhi Court has rejected the bail plea of Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged creator of the 'Bulli Bai' app observing that various women journalists of a particular community have been targeted by the accused person, to be abused and insulted on a public platform, which is certainly going to have an adverse impact upon the communal harmony. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana dismissed the bail plea of Niraj Bishnoi and said, "Considering the nature of the crime, the seriousness of allegations and nascent stage of the investigation, I do not find any merits in the application at hand and the same is accordingly dismissed. " The Court noted that in the case at hand, around 100 women journalists of a particular community have been targeted by the accused persons, to be abused and insulted on a public platform. "The act is certainly going to have an adverse impact upon the communal harmony of a society wherein woman has been deified since time immemorial and any attempt to scornfully objectify them is certainly going to invite vehement resistance from the community at large," said the court. "The act of the applicant accused cannot be countenanced by any civilized society and the modus operandi of the alleged offence suggests meticulous planning and deft execution," stated the court. The court also noted that the sardonic conduct of the applicant/accused Bishnoi in targetingwomen journalists of a particular community, using offensive monikers with derogatory communal overtones, on a social platform is not only an offence against the essence of womanhood but also an act designed to enrage passion cause ill will amongst communities and disturb communal harmony. The court observed that the allegations against the applicant/accused are serious in nature. "The investigation is at a nascent stage. I do not find any merits in the application at hand, " said the court in its order dated January 29. The Delhi Police on Tuesday opposed the bail plea of Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged creator of the Bulli Bai app, saying that the investigation is at a very nascent stage. Public Prosecutor Advocate Irfan Ahmed appearing for Delhi Police submitted that the contents on his Twitter handles were derogatory, accused with others were using words like "Suli" and "Buli" against the girls of a particular community. Advocate Irfan Ahmed also submitted that the accused used his Twitter handle to target women of a particular community. Only one victim has turned up by now and there are many others who are yet to be found out. Advocate L Ojha appearing for Niraj Bishnoi submitted, "I was arrested as a suspect. It's a bailable offence but during disclosure, sections of the IT Act was slapped on me. The Twitter handle which was used in the offence of committing the crime, my client have not used any derogatory language." He also submits that section 153A also invoked in FIR, it says about communal harmony. The complaint is by an individual and there is no group or community. Bishnoi, a 21-year-old engineering student, who is said to be the main conspirator and creator of the Bulli Bai app on GitHub and the main Twitter account holder of the app, was arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell's Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit (IFSO) from Assam's Jorhat on January 5, 2022. Earlier, the Magistrate court had dismissed the bail petition of Niraj Bishnoi stating that a vilification campaign against women containing derogatory content and offending material having communal overtones was run on this App being made by the accused. Delhi Police had earlier said that during interrogation, Niraj Bishnoi disclosed that the app was developed in November 2021 and updated on December 21 and he had created one more Twitter account to talk about the app. Several complaints were received by police stations in the country regarding the listing of Muslim women for "auction" on the 'Bulli Bai' mobile application with photographs sourced without permission and doctored. It has happened for the second time in less than a year. The app appeared to be a clone of 'Sulli Deals' which triggered a similar row last year. An engineering student from Bengaluru, a young girl from Uttarakhand, and one of her friends have also been arrested by Mumbai Police in connection with the 'Bulli Bai' app case. (ANI)
Pamela Saul, center right, hugs a fellow mourner at a memorial for 8-year-old Melissa Ortega in the 3900 block of West 26th Street, Jan. 29, 2022, in Chicago. Melissa was fatally shot while walking with her mother on Jan. 22. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Little Village residents and community organizers called for peace and mental health support for their neighborhood Saturday during a peace walk and memorial for Melissa Ortega, an 8-year-old girl fatally shot as she walked with her mom.

About 75 people marched along 26th Street chanting in Spanish, Justice for Melissa, Peace in Little Village, and A stop to violence in response to the march leaders, What do we want?

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Mourners march toward a memorial for 8-year-old Melissa Ortega in the 3900 block of West 26th Street, Jan. 29, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

They held animal-shaped balloons and some grasped their childs hand as they walked. On Jan. 22, Melissa was shot in the head while holding her mothers hand at the corner of 26th Street and Pulaski Road.

Emilio Corripio, 16, and Xavier Guzman, 27, were charged with murder in connection with Melissas death and were held without bond on Thursday.

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Those marching stopped at Melissas memorial on the corner of 26th and Pulaski where they met dozens of others for a balloon release to honor Melissa.

A mourner carries a cluster of balloons to a memorial for 8-year-old Melissa Ortega in the 3900 block of West 26th Street on Jan. 29, 2022. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Many held pink and white roses and pink, white and purple balloons as Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, and others prayed, sang and talked about the importance of community coming together and of the need for mental health services to address generational trauma.

Bringing residents out in solidarity shows those committing violence that the community wont be scared to speak up, Enriquez told the Tribune after the memorial.

It shows the love that we have for each other, Enriquez said. But it also shows that were not going to be quiet anymore, that the community wont stay quiet. We will come out and report the crimes. We will come out if you attack Little Village or attack somebody in Little Village we will report the crime.

Youth who grow up seeing violence become desensitized to it and get comfortable firing a gun and killing someone, Enriquez said.

All they know is violence, violence, violence, violence, so the only way they know how to get their frustration out is by creating violence or doing violence, Enriquez said. And thats what our youth showed when they killed Melissa is that theyre okay, theyre okay with killing somebody.

It doesnt move their heart, you know, they have no remorse. So when you have an individual thats enjoying murder, then we have a serious psychological problem in the neighborhood.

Enriquez said the Little Village Community Council is working to open a mental health clinic with free services. He asked residents for their support in adding a referendum to the ballot to create a property tax that would amount to, on average, $14 a year per household to raise funds for the new clinic. The council plans to ask local and state governments to match the communitys funds to help, Enriquez said.

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Mariela Landero, who has lived in Little Village 20 years, said she decided to attend the event to show unity with other moms in asking for change.

Im scared of coming home one day without my daughter, Landero said.

Mourners release balloons at a memorial for 8-year-old Melissa Ortega in the 3900 block of West 26th Street, Jan. 29, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Over her years living in the neighborhood, violence has gotten worse, she said.

Landero had her 8-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son with her Saturday. She also has a 3-year-old.

Landero hopes Melissa is the last child to be cut down in violence.

I dont desire this on anybody. Losing a child is very hard.

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Landero said she recently had to have a talk with her 8-year-old about the dangers of violence.

Its very emotional. For my daughter, when I had to talk to her about gun violence, it was very emotional, Landero said.

She gets scared or she thinks that she might die and I dont feel like she should be thinking that. She should be able to go out, be free and be able to play with her friends without having to worry about something happening to her.
One of the most important things for athletes, other than their fitness and performance, is the shoe they wear. A University at Buffalo researcher has some good news for athletes and fitness enthusiasts who favour thick, heavily cushioned running shoes. The findings of the study conducted with Daniel Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University; Emmanuel Virot, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard; and Stephen Gillinov, a medical school student at Yale University, appeared in the 'Journal of Biomechanics'. Although these shoes are increasingly popular because they provide comfort and a high degree of shock-absorbing protection, those benefits were thought to come at the expense of increased overall leg stiffness, which altered a runner's normal stride and could increase muscle fatigue. Plenty of research has suggested just such a result when running on a compliant surface, like a synthetic rubber track, but no one had actually tested how the cushioned midsole of a running shoe affected overall leg stiffness. "Our results show that runners do not need to worry about the amount of cushioning," said Nicholas Holowka, PhD, an assistant professor of anthropology in the UB College of Arts and Sciences and the paper's first author. "That element of shoe design is not interrupting your normal running style in any significant or meaningful way." Leg stiffness can be compared to a spring's tension. If the leg alone were modelled as a single spring, that coil would have one level of stiffness. The leg, however, is made up of many muscles that control degrees of stiffness. When running on cushioned surfaces, leg stiffness increases, but that's not the case when running in heavily cushioned shoes. "There is an assumed optimal leg stiffness for runners, but if you increase your leg stiffness above that point you'd be using more muscles to stiffen that leg spring, which means more energy and fatigue over a long distance," said Holowka, an expert on the biomechanics of walking and running. "We were interested in the idea that when people run on surfaces that are elastic, with a certain amount of compliance, they subconsciously change the stiffness of their leg to maintain an optimal stiffness. Was this the same when it came to the cushioning of their shoes?," added Holowka. At a glance, the absence of research on midsole running shoe thickness and running style seemed surprising, but Holowka said the problem is more complicated than it appears. "It's very hard to account for all of the factors in such a way that allows you to isolate specifically on the stiffness of the footwear itself," he said. "If you try to compare different shoes, then you have design differences, like heel height or arch support, which makes it difficult if not impossible to look at the effects of the shoe's cushioning. "Our study was geared at looking at this one variable." And to do that, Holowka's team custom created sandals for the study. The researchers enrolled 20 experienced runners and measured them in four different conditions: barefoot and sandals made from three different materials. The first sandals were a commercially available model inspired by the footwear of the Tarahumara, an Indigenous population living in Mexico who have developed a tradition of long-distance running. These sandals, made from the common shoe cushioning material ethylene-vinyl acetate foam (EVA), served as molds for two other similar designs with different degrees of cushioning. Participants ran on treadmills that measured the forces the body was put against the ground. Their motions were also measured through a specialized camera system. The data contributed to a model of the leg as a linear spring, which allowed the researchers to calculate leg stiffness under the different conditions "We went into this with the hypothesis that the cushioning might change leg stiffness, but that just wasn't supported," said Holowka. "The results show that your running style is still natural even when running in these heavily cushioned shoes. "Our findings tell us something that was previously unknown about shoe design, essentially the extent to which shoe cushioning influences normal running style." And that's important information for runners who prefer heavily cushioned shoes but are concerned about how those shoes affect the running style, according to Holowka. "You can have that cushioning if you like it and still run with normal natural leg stiffness," he said. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that many veterans of the security forces wrote letters to him and appreciated the move to light the Amar Jawan Jyoti at National War Memorial. Addressing the first episode of this year's Mann Ki Baat, the Prime Minister said, "In the 'National War Memorial' the names of all the bravehearts of the country who have been martyred since independence are inscribed. Some former soldiers of the army have written to me saying that the 'Amar Jawan Jyoti' being lit in front of the memory of the martyrs is a symbol of the immortality of the martyrs"." "Truly, like 'Amar Jawan Jyoti', our martyrs are an inspiration and their contribution are also immortal. I would tell all of you, whenever you get an opportunity, definitely visit the 'National War Memorial'. The country is re-establishing its national symbols through these efforts. We saw that the 'Amar Jawan Jyoti' near India Gate and the Jyoti lit at the 'National War Memorial' nearby were merged. There were tears in the eyes of many countrymen and families of those who lost their lives for the nation on this emotional occasion," he said. The Prime Minister said, "Many jawans of security forces wrote letters to him and appreciated the move to merge the flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti at the National War Memorial." The address comes on Martyrs' Day which is observed on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to honour his contribution towards the freedom of the country. "Mann ki Baat" is the Prime Minister's monthly radio address, which is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month. The programme will be broadcast on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan and also on AIR News and mobile app. The first episode of the programme was broadcast on October 3, 2014. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded the contributions of President's Bodyguard, Virat, the horse in the President's Bodyguard who retired on January 26 after 13 years of service. "We make a relationship of love with every conscious being. We also got to see a similar sight this time in the Republic Day parade as well. In this parade, the charger mount of the President's Bodyguard, Virat took part in his last parade," the Prime Minister said while addressing the first episode of this year's Mann Ki Baat. "Horse Virat came to Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2003 and used to lead the parade every time on Republic Day as Commandant Charger. Even when a foreign head of state was welcomed in Rashtrapati Bhavan, Virat used to play this role. This year, on Army Day, horse Virat was also given COAS Commendation Card by the Army Chief. In view of Virat's immense services, after his retirement he was given farewell in an equally grand manner," he added. "Mann ki Baat" is the Prime Minister's monthly radio address, which is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month. The programme will be broadcast on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan and also on AIR News and mobile app. The first episode of the programme was broadcast on October 3, 2014. President Ram Nath Kovind was joined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh as they bid farewell to the trusty steed, which participated in its last Republic Day parade at Rajpath in the national capital. Virat was awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation earlier this year on the occasion of Army Day and is the first horse to receive the commendation card for exceptional service and abilities. It is unique and distinct as Virat was the first horse of President's Bodyguard being conferred with this award exclusively for his role as "charger". The magnificent dark bay charger of the President's Bodyguard arrived in 2003 at age of three from Remount Training School and Depot, Hempur and soon became a cynosure of all eyes. His elegance, grace and natural beauty coupled with sublime nature made him everyone's favourite. On several occasions in the past, Virat, as Commandants Charger, has been escorting the President for Republic Day parades as well as receiving the visiting Heads of States during ceremonial receptions at Rashtrapati Bhavan for the last 13 years.Despite horses being flight animals, it was his flamboyant attitude and independent nature that made Virat a fearless horse ready to lead all parades. Virat's ability to listen to the faintest of whispers of his rider amidst the clamorous cheering on Rajpath during Republic Day Parade made him the most trusted horse. His flowing mane, dazzling tail, a natural high arch of head with a soft eye that could melt any heart earned him the title of the King amongst the PBG horses.The PBG has that the horse shall continue to adorn the stables of PBG till he breathes his last. (ANI)
His statement comes after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that a 'Hindutvawadi' shot Mahatma Gandhi.

"Formation of Pakistan was Jinnah's demand. If there was a real 'Hindutvawadi', then he or she would've shot Jinnah, not Gandhi. Such an act would've been an act of patriotism. The world even today mourns Gandhi's death," Shiv Sena MP said while speaking to media persons here.

On the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi today, India is observing Martyrs' Day.

Earlier, paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 74th death anniversary, Rahul Gandhi said that the father of the nation is still alive at every place where truth prevails.

"A Hindutvawadi shot Gandhiji. All Hindutvavadis feel that Gandhiji is no more. But, where there is truth, Bapu is still alive there!" the Wayanad MP tweeted (roughly translated from Hindi).

India observes Martyrs' Day every year on January 30 to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and to honour his contribution towards the freedom of the country.

On January 30, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse at Gandhi Smriti in Birla house. (ANI)
Under the UMEED NRLM (National Rural Livelihood Mission) scheme, a major source for self-employment for empowering poor women in the far-flung areas of the Kashmir valley, about 2,500 Self Help Groups (SGH) groups in the Rajouri district are operating where more than 19,000 women members have found means of livelihood. The SGHs are running different types of self-employment units like making slippers, dairy products, handicrafts, goat farming, vegetable production, tailoring, cold drink agency, medical shop and cosmetics. The basic idea of this scheme is to reduce poverty among the rural population of Kashmir. The SGHs are also providing them with benefits of basic social security schemes of the government like the opening of bank account, Aadhar, insurance, Ayushman Bharat card, e-SHRAM card, Atal pension Yojana and others. In Kashmir's Budhal block there are 780 functional SHGs having 5,600 plus women members. Here educated SHG Members are getting the opportunity to work as community resource persons such as cluster Coordinator, CDEO, community mobilizer, Bank Sakhi, Digi Pay Sakhi, Krishi Sakhi, Pashu Sakhi, NFLCRP, FLCRPs to serve other members. The SHGs are also providing them with different types of skill development and job oriented training. "This programme is for you so that you can open your business and get self-employed. This will also help you to mitigate your financial troubles", said Qamran Hanif, Block Programme Manager NRLM UMEED of Budhal. Nasim Kouser who opened a grocery shop through NRLM's help said, "It is difficult for women to travel far for their daily needs. My shop has not empowered me financially but has also helped the local people with their daily items." (ANI)
Ahead of the Legislative Council elections in Bihar likely to be held in March-April this year, the 'Mahagathbandhan' of Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal is on the verge of a split as Tejashwi Yadav refused to contest the elections together, following which Congress said that the party is capable of contesting the polls on all 24 seats on its own. Notably, in the elections held on these 24 Legislative Council seats in 2016, the Congress party had contested on 4 seats, in which it could win only 1 seat. This time the Congress party wanted to contest on 6 seats under the alliance, on which the talks did not materialise. Interestingly, in the month of October 2021, by-elections were held for two seats, Kusheshwar Sthan and Tarapur for the Bihar Legislative Assembly, in which RJD and Congress decided to contest separately. Tejashwi had hinted on Saturday while speaking to the media that his party would contest the MLC polls on its own and RJD is in alliance with Congress in New Delhi. Speaking to ANI, Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha alleged that his party leaders sought time from the RJD chief to hold talks on the seat-sharing, however, they did not receive any response from his side. "Our leaders sought time to meet Lalu Yadav so that there could be talks on seat sharing, but till now no time has been received from Lalu Yadav's side. Therefore, the Congress party is preparing to contest the Legislative Council elections at its level," he said. Madan Mohan Jha, referring to a statement of Lalu Yadav, said that after the by-elections in Bihar, Lalu Yadav had said that the alliance partners will fight the upcoming Legislative Council elections together and give 6 to 7 seats to the Congress in the Legislative Council elections. Therefore the RJD supremo has to decide on the alliance. Jha further said that RJD has to take a decision on the future of the grand alliance in Bihar. "There is a difference between the statements of Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Yadav, so first the father-son will have to decide whether they want to keep the grand alliance or not. Whether they want to do seat-sharing with Congress in the election of the Legislative Council or not," he said. Talking about the stance of his own party, Jha said that Congress is capable of contesting on all the 24 seats on its own and the party has a list of candidates willing to hit the ground. "Congress party is capable of contesting all the 24 Legislative Council seats to be held in Bihar. The party has a long list of candidates who want to contest elections. We are very strong in many seats and can contest elections effectively," he said. However, the Congress state president clarified that the party high command will take the final call on contesting on all the 24 seats of the Council. "All the information has been given to the Congress high command and now the party high command has to take the final decision to contest on 24 seats," he told ANI. (ANI)
Of the 61 assembly seats, 24 seats have been given to women which is almost 39 per cent of the total seats in the fourth list.

The first list of 125 candidates included 50 women candidates, the second list of 41 candidates included 16 women candidates and the third list of 89 candidates included 37 women candidates.

The party has so far announced its candidates on 316 seats out of which 127 seats are given to women candidates, which falls in line with the party's commitment of giving 40 per cent seats to the women candidates in the upcoming assembly polls.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress Party and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) state in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are emphasizing on women. The party has adopted the "MY" factor comprising of Mahila and youth.

Meanwhile, elections to the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
In the Pulwama encounter in which four terrorists were killed in an operation led by the Indian Army on Saturday, the Garud Special Forces operatives played an important role as the officer continued to fire at the terrorists despite being hit twice in the firefight, sources in the security establishment said. The Garud Commandos were in the limelight for a major operation four years ago when they carried out two major operations in 2017 where they killed eight terrorists. Sources said that for the Pulwama operation on Saturday, the security forces including the 55 Rashtriya Rifles of the Army, Jammu and Kashmir police carried out a cordon and search operation in Naira village Pulwama gen area around 7 pm. After some time, the forces managed to pinpoint the presence of terrorists inside a particular house based on inputs by locals. The forces immediately evacuated the civilians in and around the house and ensured that they were sent to a safe distance. The forces tightened the cordon around the house which forced the terrorists to start firing at the forces to escape from the location. While resorting to heavy firing in an attempt to break the cordon, the terrorists came in direct line of fire with Army and Garud personnel which resulted in heavy gunfight from both sides.In this process Squadron Leader Sandeep Jhanjaria of the Garud Special Forces was hit by a volley of fire and was hit with two bullets on his chest and left arm, sources added. Despite the injury, the officer continued engaging the terrorists till all the three fleeing militants were eliminated, sources said. It further said while the troops were trying to look for more terrorists in the house after eliminating the three, one of the terrorists hiding there came out and started firing on the Garud troops party in which Corporal Anand was hit by a bullet. The forces immediately neutralized the fourth terrorist also. To help the Garud Special Forces gain experience in real combat, the Army Headquarters has been attaching Garud Special Forces operatives and sending them on attachment to Rashtriya Rifles units who carry out counter-terrorist operations on a daily basis. In the 2017 operations in Hajin, the Guards were part of the 13 Rashtriya Rifles operations while in the encounter on Saturday, they were with the 55 Rashtriya Rifles. In the Haji operations, Corporal JP Nirala was awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumously while team commander Wing Commander Rajeev Chauhan was given a Vayu Sena Medal for gallantry. (ANI)
The police have registered an FIR and arrested two accused in the matter so far.

As many as eight people have been named in the FIR.

Speaking to ANI, Additional Superintendent of Police Jagdish Prasad Bohar said, "I am supervising the matter. We interrogated the people which shows the authenticity of the incident. The man has been beaten. We constituted a team and raided and arrested two accused. They are being probed and the remaining accused will soon be arrested."

The incident took place on January 26 night when the man was kidnapped and allegedly beaten and forced to drink urine.

The victim told the police that he was tied with a rope and beaten with a stick.

He alleged that casteist slurs were hurled at him by the group of boys.

The police have arrested two in the case so far and further probe into the matter is underway. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Sunday took a swipe at the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav for withdrawing cases against terrorists who had attacked a CRPF camp in Rampur when he was the chief minister. "It is sad that Akhileshji supported the terrorists. In 2010, terrorists attacked the CRPF camp in Rampur, in which 7 CRFP jawans and one rickshaw puller were killed. No action was taken by the state government. Later Central govt arrested a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist and investigated the case. Then it was revealed that the person was associated with the Rampur incident. Seven more were arrested and as Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav withdrew the cases against all seven people but Allahabad High Court quashed the CM's order and ordered them to pursue the case. Four of them were sentenced to death and others were given life imprisonment," said Nadda while addressing voters in Hathras. "Any Chief Minister takes an oath that he will protect the Constitution and keep it intact. But the then Chief Minister dropped case against terrorists who killed CRPF jawans. Is the state safe in the hands of such people?" asked Nadda. Nadda said that during the regime of SP more than 300 riots took place in the state. "During the SP regime, there was a rule of the mafia. People were migrating from Uttar Pradesh. Mining and sand mafia dominated this government. Kidnapping was an industry. Akhilesh's government gave protection to fundamentalists and goons. During the regime of Akhilesh, more than 300 riots took place in the state," said the BJP leader. He asked the people not to vote under the influence of anyone, but vote on the basis of the work done by the party. "Take a decision-based on our work. We did what we said. We revoked Article 370. They (opposition parties) gave protection to goons. No riots took place under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Government. Law and order is maintained. No one is afraid of caste tensions and religious hysteria. There is no tension between communities," he said. "In elections, every political party and every leader tries to make his point in his own way. In such a situation, when politicians make populist promises, the voter gets confused. In such a situation, the basis for choosing a political party should be what that leader and that party have done in the past," he further said. Nadda further said that the BJP has fulfilled all its promises to the people and in no way has stepped back. He also said that ever since the BJP government took charge in the state in 2017, the basis of development has been "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas". "Today, all the leaders are talking about development. Earlier these people used to talk only about caste and religion. Their model of development was 'Apana Parivaar, Apne Log'. Ever since the government of Yogi (Adityanath) came, the basis of development is 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'," he added. Taking about the development in the state, the BJP chief said that there are a total of 59 medical colleges in the state. "In 2014 there were only 15 medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh. Today there are 59 medical colleges. Four express highways are being built in Uttar Pradesh. Five international airports are being built. Metro has started in many cities of Uttar Pradesh and work is going on in many other cities," he said. Nadda said that Uttar Pradesh is at the forefront of COVID-19 vaccination. "But when vaccination was started, then Akhilesh Ji was misleading the country, the people of Uttar Pradesh. They were playing with people's lives." In Uttar Pradesh, the first phase polling will be held on February 10, the second phase 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 phase on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
Lawyers for former state Rep. Luis Arroyo revealed in a court filing Saturday that three state lawmakers and a congressional candidate testified before a federal grand jury as part of an elaborate FBI probe involving the shady world of sweepstakes gambling machines.

The development in the case emerged Saturday as Arroyo, 67, asked for probation rather than a prison term, saying a sentence behind bars could kill him as well as potentially his ill wife, whom he cares for.

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A prison sentence would be no more effective than draining Lake Michigan with a spoon, Arroyos motion for leniency said.

None of the newly identified public officials are charged with crimes or accused of wrongdoing, but the Arroyo motion, filed on Saturday, gave a hint at the length to which federal prosecutors have gone to investigate a far-reaching corruption case.

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Ex-Rep. Luis Arroyo, left, and his attorney Michael Gillespie walk out of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after he pleaded not guilty in his arraignment on corruption charges, Feb. 4, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

Arroyo pleaded guilty in November to a bribery scheme involving a shadowy push for state legislation overseeing sweepstakes gaming machines. He entered a blind plea to one count alleging he deprived the public of his honest services, a move that came without an agreement on his sentence.

In 2019, Arroyo first made headlines when he was charged with one count of bribery alleging he agreed to pay kickbacks of $2,500 a month to a state senator  Lake County Democrat Terry Link, who cooperated with the feds  in exchange for Links support of legislation involving video gambling sweepstakes games. Link has since pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

A superseding indictment in the Arroyo case added new wire and mail fraud charges against him and also charged James Weiss with bribery, wire fraud, mail fraud and lying to the FBI. Weiss, who has pleaded not guilty, is married to former Cook County Democratic Chairman Joe Berrios daughter, former state Rep. Toni Berrios, D-Chicago.

In Arroyos filing on Saturday, he took issue with the amount of money the federal government seeks to have him forfeit, partly because it could affect how tough his sentence could be.

He contended the figure should be no more than $7,500. Prosecutors in his plea hearing said they would seek forfeiture of as much $32,500, setting up the dispute with Arroyo.

Arroyo pleaded to attempting, on behalf of Weiss, to pay Link to help Arroyos own lobbying client advocate for the sweepstakes legislation.

Arroyos motion argued the total amount of money contemplated to be paid was $7,500 and maintained the government hasnt shown that any additional money was part of the conduct involving Link.

Link has denied he was the senator in the case, but the Tribune had previously identified him. The Arroyo motion named Link outright.

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In his motion, Arroyo said he and his wife, through their lobbying company, Spartacus, entered into an agreement with Weiss company to lobby the Chicago City Council, a move Arroyo called lawful.

But the Arroyo motion said federal officials were left to guess about how much he made in legitimate fees and how much was not, resulting in the officials wanting Arroyo to forfeit too much money.

To drive home his point, Arroyo cited grand jury testimony from Sen. Tony Munoz, D-Chicago; Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside; Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island; and Nicole Budzinski, a former top aide to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker who is now running for a Downstate congressional seat.

Arroyo noted that Rita testified he discussed legislation with him, including about sweepstakes, and advocated sweepstakes legislation in meetings with fellow House members, but Rita did not know Arroyo had a lobbying agreement.

Zalewski also testified that Arroyo, then a colleague, talked on the House floor about the issue in a wishy washy manner, saying that Arroyo said something to the effect of being interested in the issue, according to the motion.

Further, the motion said Munoz testified Arroyo only approached him to arrange a meeting.

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Budzinski testified Arroyo was a sweepstakes advocate but that he never obtained a meeting with the governor to discuss his interest in the legislation. She said he could have been seeking a meeting with Pritzker about a lot of different things, the Arroyo motion said.

The motion also cited witnesses testifying before the grand jury or offering statements to back Arroyos position, saying gambling lobbyist Sam Panayotovich testified Arroyo lobbied Chicago aldermen, a practice Arroyo said would be legal.

John Adreani, a fired former cop, also testified Arroyo was to lobby the city and was unaware of Arroyo working at the state level.

The Tribune previously reported that state business records showed Weiss is connected to Adreani, through a complex web of corporations, many of which list the same address in a south suburban strip mall as their headquarters.

Adreani was fired from the Police Department for associating with a major drug trafficker after he was captured on a wiretap discussing gambling and drinking excursions and real estate ventures with him, according to Chicago Police Board records.

Adreani and his company, V.S.S. Inc.  identified in the federal charges as Company B  inked a deal in 2018 to pay Arroyo $2,500 a month to lobby City Hall on proposed legislation allowing sweepstakes machines to operate in the city, lobbying records filed with the city Board of Ethics show.

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V.S.S. paid Arroyo at least $30,000, records showed.
He also alleged that BJP candidates from Suar and Rampur seats could orchestrate an attack or a road accident to kill him.

Addressing a press conference, Abdullah, who is contesting from the Suar assembly seat in Rampur on SP's ticket, said, "I am being followed. A conspiracy has been hatched to put me behind bars in a fake case. BJP candidates from Suar & Rampur seats could orchestrate an attack or a road accident to kill me."

On Friday, he had also expressed mistrust in the policemen who have been deployed in his security and claimed that they can shoot him.

Akhilesh Yadav-led SP has fielded Azam Khan, who is sitting MP from Rampur Lok Sabha seat, from Rampur constituency. At present, Azam Khan is languishing in jail after several cases were registered against him.

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls for its 403-member Assembly in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
On the campaign trail in Uttar Pradesh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday hit out at the Samajwadi Party and said that BJP seeks votes on the basis of humanity and justice only. Taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's jibe at Akhilesh Yadav led party "Red topi of SP spells red alert", Singh said, "We do not want votes on the basis of caste, creed and religion. We seek votes only on the basis of justice and humanity." "Samajwadi Party is doing politics of polarisation. They have crossed all limits to get the vote of a particular religion. Votes from polarisation politics are not acceptable to us," he added. Lauding the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led state government, Singh said, "The Samajwadi Party has to accept the fact that it was in their tenure only that so many riots took place. They need to answer why did this happen. And, you all need to understand why no one could dare to riot under the rule of Bharatiya Janata Party." One of the planks on which the BJP is reaching out to the people has been the drastic improvement in the law and order situation in the state since 2017. Expressing confidence that the BJP will repeat the win of 2017, Singh said, "You all want Lakshmiji (wealth and prosperity) to come home. Lakshmi ji does not come on a cycle (SP symbol), she does not come on an elephant (BSP symbol), she does not move her hand (congress symbol); when Lakshmi ji comes, she comes riding on a lotus (BJP symbol)." Addressing the audience during a 'Prabhavi Matdaata Samvad' (effective voter dialogue) program in Kasganj, Singh paid rich tributes to former Chief Minister and one of BJP's tallest leaders Kalyan Singh. He also coined a new term for Kasganj and said that it is Khasganj (Special Place). Singh further said that as a leader, Kalyan Singh refused to open fire at the Kara Sevaks and chose to go to jail instead. "His contribution to the people of Uttar Pradesh was so special that's why the government of the day under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bestowed the Padma Award on him...," he said. As he signed off from the day-long campaign, Singh said that this Uttar Pradesh assembly election, which happens to be the pre-final to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, will be no ordinary election but a defining one. It is from Uttar Pradesh that the largest chunk of 80 Lok Sabha seats comes. Rajnath Singh's younger son, Pankaj Singh, is in the electoral fray as he continues to contest from Gautam Budh Nagar where he is already sitting MLA. Uttar Pradesh goes into elections in seven phases with the first phase on February 10 and the last phase on March 7. The poll results would be declared on March 10. (ANI)
Reacting to the statement of Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah over the government's failure in not fulfilling the promise made in the 2018 BJP's manifesto of BS Yediyurappa, the state Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Sunday said, "don't try to find fault when there is nothing." The Chief Minister said, "We are aware of our responsibilities. We have launched many welfare programmes for the people of the state. Don't try to find fault when there is nothing that exists." Bommai hit out at Siddaramaiah and said "nothing more can be expected from him. People still rejected Siddaramaiah who claimed that he implemented 96 per cent of his manifesto." Asked about fighting between DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister said, it is an internal matter of Congress. There are many instances when Congress never worked for the welfare of the people instead they were always concerned about power. Meanwhile, Bommai refused to comment about cabinet expansion and said "I am ready to go when the party top brass calls me to discuss the issue. There is a convention of meeting the state MPs ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament. I will visit Delhi soon to meet our MPs." As for the issue of appointments to various Boards and Corporations, the Chief Minister said, "it would be an internal decision of the party." (ANI)
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Sunday met former Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa to express condolences on the demise of the latter's granddaughter. Yediyurappa's granddaughter Soundarya was found hanging at a private apartment in Bengaluru on Friday, said BS Yediyurappa's Office. Following the incident, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot also met BS Yediyurappa on Saturday to offer his condolences on the demise of the latter's granddaughter. (ANI)
On this occasion, five Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) were specially invited as guests of honour.

Speaking on the launch, Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab, Dr S Karuna Raju, IAS, said that dressed in traditional Punjabi attire, the Election Mascot 'Shera' represents the rich cultural heritage of Punjab.

"Promoted under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) project, the mascot aims to increase voter awareness and participation in the elections to increase voter turnout and promote ethical voting," he said.

As part of the SVEEP plan, posters, effigies and big sized cut-outs will be used of Election Mascot 'Shera' besides extensively disseminating voter awareness messages on social media. The aim is to particularly strike a chord with the youth of the state.

Raju further said that the voter awareness campaign has been conceived and executed keeping in mind the culture of Punjab and the preferences of voters.

Giving an instance, he said, "Nukkad Nataks and performances of theatre artistes enacting as 'Bhands' are widely shown across Punjab to establish strong connections with voters."

A special feedback drive headed by SVEEP Consultant Manpreet Aneja was undertaken to gauge the preferences of voters and as per the feedback received, the mascot was developed by Jasvinder Singh and Rahul Attreja, the designers engaged from C-DAC, Mohali for the SVEEP project.

Punjab will go to Assembly polls on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
Delhi Police's Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Special Cell arrested a freelance journalist for allegedly impersonating Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and sending forged letters to several public sector units in a bid to obtain advertisements for his newspaper in 2016, police said on Sunday. The accused Manoj Kumar Seth (41) was arrested on Friday from his home city Bhubaneshwar in Odisha by the Cyber Crime Unit of Special Cell. Rajbhushan Singh Rawat, personal secretary to the Chief Minister, had filed a police complaint with the cyber cell of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Delhi, alleging that some unknown persons had created a fake email ID using Adityanath's credentials, who was an MP in Lok Sabha at that time. The accused had sent emails and forged letters to public sector units including Power Grid Corporation of India, ONGC and GAIL India. The accused also attached scanned letters with forged signatures of Adityanath. During the course of the investigation, the fake email ID yogiadityanath.mp@gmail.com was identified and its contents were analysed to understand the motive. "The alleged email was with a request to release advertisements in favour of an English newspaper. Similarly, fake emails and fake letters were sent to ONGC and GAIL for advertisement support in favour of another newspaper. Through the IP address analysis and human intelligence, we identified the accused as Manoj Kumar Seth," The police said that during the course of the investigation, the fake email ID was identified and its contents were analysed to understand the motive of the fake email. "The email was with the request to release advertisement in favour of English newspaper. Similarly, fake emails and fake letters were sent to ONGC and GAIL for advertisement support in favour of another newspaper. Through the IP Address analysis and human intelligence, alleged Manoj Kumar Seth was identified," said police. Police said the accused's plan had not been successful and that he had been continuously changing his hideouts. Though several raids were conducted at his possible hideouts, he managed to escape every time. "On January 28, 2022, the luck of accused Manoj Kumar ran out and the hard work of the team paid results and the accused Manoj Kumar was arrested from Bhubaneshwar," the police said. During interrogation, the accused Manoj Kumar revealed that he is a freelance journalist and also publishes his newspaper fortnightly. He had created the fake email and prepared the forged letters to seek advertisement in favour of his local newspaper. He is also involved in a case of extortion registered against him at Chaliya Ganj Police Station in Cuttack on the complaint of an executive engineer of the public works department in Odisha. A case was registered under appropriate sections of law and investigation was taken up. Further investigation is in progress. (ANI)
After the country achieved the milestone of vaccinating 75 per cent of the country's adult population against COVID-19, Dr Suresh Kumar, MD of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) on Sunday said that the country's COVID-19 vaccination programme is an example to the world and it has become a "Vishwa Guru" (world leader). Speaking to ANI, Dr Suresh Kumar said that it is a matter of pride that 75 per cent of the adult population has been vaccinated, which is a major part of the population of the country. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated citizens of the country as India fully vaccinated 75 per cent of its adult population under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. "It is a matter of pride that 75 per cent of the adult population has been vaccinated, which is part of the major population. It is seen that if 60 per cent of the population is vaccinated, then there is a reduction in community transmission," said Dr Kumar. "India's vaccination programme is an example to the world. It was a big challenge to vaccinate such a huge population, which India has shown to the world and created history. India has become a Vishwa Guru in vaccination program in the world," he said. Giving details on vaccination in Delhi, he said that 100 per cent of the adult population in Delhi has received the first dose, and 80 per cent has received the second dose. "About 6 lakhs children in the age group of 15 to 18 years in Delhi have received the first dose, which is a big success for us," he added. Talking about the current COVID-19 situation in the national capital, Dr Kumar said, "The cases of coronavirus are less now and the positivity rate is currently 6.37 per cent in Delhi. The daily new cases are less than 5,000. In Delhi, only 10.16 per cent of patients are admitted to the hospital." Dr Kumar further said that at present about 89.84 per cent of COVID-19 beds are vacant. A total of 15,428 beds in Delhi are reserved for COVID-19 patients, out of which only 1,567 beds are full. "Most of the patients who are getting admitted are those who have a long illness, dialysis or are heart patients or cancer patients. The people who are vaccinated do not need to be admitted. Most of the patients who are dying are those who have not taken the vaccine or have taken only a single dose. Elderly, patients of COPD, patients with multi-system failure, people who are diabetic are facing difficulty in recovering from COVID-19," he added. The Union Health Ministry said that more than 164.36 crore vaccine doses have been provided to States and Union Territories as a part of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. Further talking about the NeoCOV he said "India as of now hasn't seen this new variant (NeoCov). Not much information has come about it yet. We are careful as the virus is continuously changing, new variants, mutants are emerging. We are taking precautions to be more vigilant about such cases." As per Vinod Scaria, Principal Scientist at Delhi-based CSIR-IGIB, NeoCoV cannot interact with human receptors, implying that in its current form the virus cannot infect humans. According to Sputnik, Chinese scientists have identified the new NeoCov coronavirus strain in bats in South Africa and the possible risks from the strain require further research and assessment. Scientists have said that the virus in question is a close relative of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) but has similar ways of entry into human cells as SARS-CoV-2. NeoCov has a latent potential to mutate and penetrate the human population. (ANI)
After the country achieved the milestone of vaccinating 75 per cent of the country's adult population against COVID-19, MD of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) Dr Suresh Kumar on Sunday said that the country's COVID-19 vaccination programme is an example to the world and it has become a "Vishwa Guru" (world leader). Speaking to ANI, Dr Suresh Kumar said that it is a matter of pride that 75 per cent of the adult population has been vaccinated, which is a major part of the population of the country. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated citizens of the country as India fully vaccinated 75 per cent of its adult population under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. "It is a matter of pride that 75 per cent of the adult population has been vaccinated, which is part of the major population. It is seen that if 60 per cent of the population is vaccinated, then there is a reduction in community transmission," said Dr Kumar. "India's vaccination programme is an example to the world. It was a big challenge to vaccinate such a huge population, which India has shown to the world and created history. India has become a Vishwa Guru in vaccination program in the world," he said. Giving details on vaccination in Delhi, he said that 100 per cent of the adult population in Delhi has received the first dose, and 80 per cent has received the second dose. "About 6 lakhs children in the age group of 15 to 18 years in Delhi have received the first dose, which is a big success for us," he added. Talking about the current COVID-19 situation in the national capital, Dr Kumar said, "The cases of coronavirus are less now and the positivity rate is currently 6.37 per cent in Delhi. The daily new cases are less than 5,000. In Delhi, only 10.16 per cent of patients are admitted to the hospital." Dr Kumar further said that at present about 89.84 per cent of COVID-19 beds are vacant. A total of 15,428 beds in Delhi are reserved for COVID-19 patients, out of which only 1,567 beds are full. "Most of the patients who are getting admitted are those who have a long illness, dialysis, or are heart patients or cancer patients. The people who are vaccinated do not need to be admitted. Most of the patients who are dying are those who have not taken the vaccine or have taken only a single dose. Elderly, patients of COPD, patients with multi-system failure, people who are diabetic are facing difficulty in recovering from COVID-19," he added. The Union Health Ministry said that more than 164.36 crore vaccine doses have been provided to States and Union Territories as a part of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. Further talking about the NeoCOV he said "India as of now hasn't seen this new variant (NeoCov). Not much information has come about it yet. We are careful as the virus is continuously changing, new variants, mutants are emerging. We are taking precautions to be more vigilant about such cases." As per Vinod Scaria, Principal Scientist at Delhi-based CSIR-IGIB, NeoCoV cannot interact with human receptors, implying that in its current form the virus cannot infect humans. According to Sputnik, Chinese scientists have identified the new NeoCov coronavirus strain in bats in South Africa and the possible risks from the strain require further research and assessment. Scientists have said that the virus in question is a close relative of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) but has similar ways of entry into human cells as SARS-CoV-2. NeoCov has a latent potential to mutate and penetrate the human population. (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday announced to construct an integrated SDO(C) office and a stadium at a cost of Rs 37 crore during his visit to Assam's Lakhipur town. Taking to Twitter, the Chief Minister wrote "Happy to announce Rs 25 crore for constructing an integrated SDO(C) office and Rs 12 crore for a stadium during my visit to Lakhipur." "A GNM nursing institute will also be set up and a science stream introduced at Nehru College, while the government hospital will be upgraded to a 100-bed Civil Hospital," he said in a tweet. The Chief Minister who was present at the inauguration of Shaheed Nandachand RCC bridge over river Chiri on Sibpur-Lakhipur road in Cachar said that ensuring proper connectivity is one of the state government's topmost priorities. "Ensuring proper connectivity is one of our topmost priorities. I was happy to be present at the inauguration of the balance work of Shaheed Nandachand RCC bridge over river Chiri on Sibpur-Lakhipur road in Cachar, which was stuck for a long time due to the expiry of the contractor," Sarma tweeted. "To be completed within the stipulated time for the benefit of all, the project will include approach road and protection work under RIDF XXVII of NABARD, apart from the balance work of the main bridge. We will also install a statue of Shaheed Nandachand near the bridge," he tweeted subsequently. (ANI)
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Sunday, said that the Congress is campaigning for the assembly elections on the planks of jobs, income and price rise while the BJP is campaigning on riots, polarisation and Pakistan. "Congress is campaigning in these elections on the planks of JOBS, INCOME and PRICE RISE BJP is campaigning in these elections on the planks of RIOTS, POLARISATION and PAKISTAN The difference is clear. People have to make the right choice and vote for a better future," he said in a tweet. Assembly elections in Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from 10 February. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) Elections in Goa and Uttarakhand will be held on February 14. Manipur will vote on February 27 and March 3. Elections in Punjab will be held on February 20. The Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
Deb Chubb of Michigan City, left, is a member of Indiana National Organization for Women. Julie Storbeck, right, is president of Northwest Indiana NOW. They protest outside where a member of U.S. senator Mike Braun's staff was holding mobile office hours on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 in Westville. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune) (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)

Julie Storbeck, President of Northwest Indiana National Organization for Women and Indiana NOW, had an abortion in her early 20s to complete a miscarriage.

Laura Welch, President of Illinois NOW, had an abortion after learning her fetus intestines and heart were developing outside the body and the brain was exposed.

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Both women had their abortions after Roe v. Wade became law in 1973. But, both women said they are very concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the law, which was decided 49 years ago.

On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the constitution protects a pregnant womans choice to have an abortion.

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This year, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case from Mississippi whether bans on abortion before fetal viability can be constitutional. When the case was argued in December, most of the justices in the courts conservative majority questioned the constitutional foundation of the law.

Pro-abortion rights advocates say the constitutional right to abortion has never been at greater risk and the days of legal abortion in every state may be numbered, according to a statement from Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Indiana.

The Indiana legislatures Republican supermajority has proposed legislation, such as House Bill 1217, that would stigmatize abortion care and limit patients ability to get the care they need, according to the statement.

This is the anniversary of the most basic abortion rights protections provided nationwide under the Roe v. Wade decision 49 years ago, said Jennifer M. Allen, CEO for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, in the statement. This day is a stark reminder of how laser focused the Indiana Republican legislative majority has been to take away abortion access and rights, despite the fact that a majority of people in Indiana want access to abortion to remain safe and legal.

Storbecks abortion story

In her early 20s, Storbeck said she and her husband were planning out how to balance their respective dreams to receive their masters degrees and financing those dreams.

Storbeck, now in her 50s, recalled their discussions about where and how he could work while she studied to receive her masters degree and then where and how she could work while he received his masters degree.

We were trying to figure all the finances out when lo and behold, oops, Julies pregnant, Storbeck said.

Storbeck said it wasnt uncommon for her to skip a period, especially when she was stressed, so she didnt learn she was pregnant until the end of her first trimester.

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Julie Storbeck, president of Northwest Indiana NOW, provides advocacy and resources for women at the local and national level. Suzanne Tennant/Post Tribune (Suzanne Tennant / Pioneer Press)

One day, Storbeck recalled she started to get really bad cramps that caused her hips and back to hurt. Then, she could barely walk and bled through her clothes.

She went to Planned Parenthood, because she didnt have insurance, and the nurse practitioner told her she was having a miscarriage.

But, because that clinic was accepting federal funds, Storbeck said they told her they couldnt complete the miscarriage because the procedure was considered an abortion. The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, banned the use of federal funding to pay for abortions.

She was referred to a different clinic to complete the miscarriage and ensure that all the fetal tissue came out safely, Storbeck said.

I had to get in my car, bleeding, cramping, sick as a dog, Storbeck said. I had to drive over an hour to get to the next health care clinic that I could get to that could complete the miscarriage.

She made it to the clinic, and the nurses and doctors were very kind and were able to perform the abortion, Storbeck said.

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Storbeck said if Roe v. Wade is overturned and Indiana passes a law that bans abortions, the procedure she had would be illegal.

Any pregnant person who finds themselves in the same situation I was in at that time would be faced with receiving an illegal abortion, Storbeck said.

Welchs abortion story

Welch, then 30, said she went in for an ultrasound when she was about 21 weeks pregnant. She was excited for the appointment, and her husband, mother and 4-year-old son were in the room with her.

Members of the Will County chapter of the National Organization for Women Ginny Lyons and Laura Welch visit the Illinois Capitol on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, to lobby for the Equal Rights Amendment. - Original Credit: Laura Welch (Laura Welch)

It was her first ultrasound, Welch said, because the procedure wasnt common when she was pregnant with her son. The technician was taking a long time and told the family she was having a little trouble and called for a doctor.

The doctor performed the ultrasound and started referencing complications with the pregnancy, Welch said. She remembers stopping the doctor and asking her mother to take her son out of the room.

Welch, now 58, said her memory from that moment becomes a blur because it was traumatic. But, she recalls listening to doctors explain the medical conditions the fetus had before deciding to get an abortion.

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Her abortion consisted of a prepping procedure and then having a surgery to remove the fetal tissue the following day, Welch said.

It took her years, Welch said, to process what happened to the pregnancy. They had found out the baby wouldve been a girl, but doctors explained that if the pregnancy was carried to term her daughter wouldve very likely not survived, she said.

Following the abortion, Welch said she felt a lot of guilt. But, she soon realized she made the right decision.

It was the right thing to do for our family. It was the necessary thing to do, Welch said.

Life without Roe v. Wade

Both Storbeck and Welch said, without hesitation, if Roe v. Wade is overturned women will die.

Upper and middle class white women will still be able to get abortions, Storbeck said, because they will have the money and time off needed to travel to a state that offers legal abortions.

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But, overturning the law will force a majority of women  particularly minority and poor women  to undergo unsafe methods to end a pregnancy, Storbeck said.

People are going to be desperate, and they are going to go back to illegal abortions, back alley abortions, and a lot of them are going to die, Storbeck said. Its not going to make abortions disappear. Its just going to make abortion illegal and unsafe in states like Indiana.

Welch said it is going to be very frightening if Roe v. Wade is overturned. People will have to travel to a state that legalizes abortions, but that will be difficult for single moms and teenagers, she said.

Both women said they dont feel confident that the Supreme Court will uphold Roe v. Wade.

I dont see a chance in hell, Welch said. Whats really scary ... their next thing is to start taking away birth control, and then theyll takeaway the food stamps to help the babies and their moms. Its all about control. Its not about the babies, because if it was about the babies then they would take care of the babies afterward but they dont.

While Storbecks abortion was protected under Roe v. Wade, she said she cant imagine what she wouldve done if abortions were illegal.

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But, Storbeck said because she didnt have insurance at the time, she knows for sure she wouldnt have taken herself to the emergency room. Storbeck said she likely wouldve bled until she passed out and then someone wouldve had to rush her to the emergency room.

Who knows if I wouldve made it, Storbeck said.

Welch said she had a child a few years after her abortion. But, if she wouldnt have been able to have an abortion, Welch said she isnt sure if shed be emotionally and mentally able to have another child.

Welch said shes been married to an amazing man for 35 years, but its unclear how the death of a child wouldve impacted their marriage. Her son couldve been impacted mentally watching the stress of loosing a child caused his parents, Welch said.

From a psychological standpoint as a woman, I cant imagine not having been able to make that decision based on my own story, Welch said. Its my life.
Taking to Twitter, CM Conrad Sangma said, "Strongly condemn the blast at Police Bazar, Shillong this evening. An attempt to disrupt peace and bring harm is nothing but a cowardly act."

He also said the state government will ensure peace in Meghalaya. "Perpetrators will not be spared. We will ensure peace prevails in the State," the Chief Minister further tweeted.

The blast occurred at the Police Bazar area in the capital city of Meghalaya today evening.

After getting the information, the Police Bomb Squad immediately reached the spot and secured the area.

However, no casualty has been reported in the incident so far. (ANI)
Mohan Bhagwat is on a five-day tour of Silchar in Assam from January 27

The meeting went on for more than an hour.

The security in the area was beefed up ahead of CM's visit.

After meeting Bhagwat, CM met locals of the area.

Meanwhile, Sarma also announced to construct an integrated SDO(C) office and a stadium at a cost of Rs 37 crore during his visit to Assam's Lakhipur town.

Taking to Twitter, the Chief Minister wrote "Happy to announce Rs 25 crore for constructing an integrated SDO(C) office and Rs 12 crore for a stadium during my visit to Lakhipur."

"A GNM nursing institute will also be set up and a science stream introduced at Nehru College, while the government hospital will be upgraded to a 100-bed Civil Hospital," he said in a tweet.

To improve connectivity in the state, Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for the construction of the balance work of Shaheed Nandachand RCC bridge over river Chiri on Sibpur-Lakhipur road in Cachar.

"Ensuring proper connectivity is one of our topmost priorities. I was happy to be present at the inauguration of the balance work of Shaheed Nandachand RCC bridge over river Chiri on Sibpur-Lakhipur road in Cachar, which was stuck for a long time due to the expiry of the contractor," Sarma tweeted.

"To be completed within the stipulated time for the benefit of all, the project will include approach road and protection work under RIDF XXVII of NABARD, apart from the balance work of the main bridge. We will also install a statue of Shaheed Nandachand near the bridge," he tweeted subsequently. (ANI)
"A large number of cows were found dead in a cowshed in Berasia near Bhopal, following which investigation is being done by the police. The cowshed is managed by Nirmala Shandilya," said Vikas Mishra, Chief Executive officer (CEO), Zila Parishad

"Health check-up of all cows being done by district authority," Mishra added.

Denying any wrongdoing Nirmala Shandilya said, "Dead corpse of cows lying around does not only belong to my shelter house. Some of the cows that belonged to my shelter died because they were very weak and it was cold."

Meanwhile, the locals alleged that the cowshed manager is involved in the business of illegal trading of dead cows.

"This has been going on for a while now, the owner of this place either kill cows or let them die and then sell their flesh and bones in the market," said Radhe Shyam Kushwaha, neighbour. (ANI)
Nepal's Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said a meeting of the ruling alliance held at the Prime Minister's official residence on Saturday evening suggested holding of local elections by mid-June.

"There could be some legal and constitutional obligations that need to be fulfilled or amended as electoral law and constitutional provisions that contradict. The government would make the necessary amendments and hold the election of local levels by mid-June," Karki told reporters.

"Dates for the elections will be announced by the government after holding consultations with Election Commission," Karki added.

Further, the Minister also informed the coalition meeting also suggested the government to move ahead with the process of amending the Local Level Election Act if required.

Though all top leaders of the coalition were present, representatives of the ruling Rashtriya Janamorcha did not show up at the meeting on Saturday as they are said to be outside Kathmandu Valley for party work. (ANI)
Yonhap said citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) that the launch of the projectile toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) was announced in a text message sent to reporters. No further details were provided.

Meanwhile, the Japanese coast guard warned of a possible missile launch by North Korea on Sunday morning, advising ships to exercise caution.

If the launch is officially confirmed, this will be the seventh test carried out by Pyongyang this year. (ANI/Sputnik)
According to sources privy to the development, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has begun consultations over the bill and would consult Aitzaz Ahsan and Latif Khosa over the matter, ARY News reported.

"The State Bank amendment bill is against national security," he said adding that the controversial bill could not be accepted at any cost.

The government approved the bill in Senate through forgery, Bilawal said and announced that the party would not accept the bill and will challenge it in court, ARY News reported.

The Senate on Friday passed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Amendment Bill, with the majority vote.

The bill was presented by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin amid ruckus in the house by the opposition members. The SBP Amendment Bill was supported by 44 senators, while 43 voted against it.

The passage of the bill is one of the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of USD 1 billion to the country, Dawn reported.

It further reported that opposition parties have been voicing strong concerns over the SBP bill, saying it compromises Pakistan's "economic sovereignty and gives absolute authority to the SBP to take key economic decisions independently".

The SBP Amendment Bill, 2021, promises complete autonomy to the central bank and places a complete restriction on the government's borrowing from the central bank. However, the government now can borrow at a market rate from commercial banks, which will benefit private banks owned by business elites, according to the opposition, Dawn reported. (ANI)
Renzo Mercado, departmental director of the Cochabamba Traffic Police, said that the death toll could rise as some people were "very seriously" injured.

According to Mercado, the bus, from the transportation company 16 de Julio, fell about 400 meters.

The causes of the incident, which occurred early on Saturday, are still being investigated.Kami is a mining center located in the Andean province of Ayopaya, in the northwest of the Cochabamba department. (ANI/Xinhua)
Farmers have decided to protest against the Pakistan government in Multan city of Punjab province on February 14, over its recent move of revoking GST exemption from agriculture. Speaking from Lahore, Khalid Mehmood Khokhar, president of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad on Saturday said that after so many useless meetings with the representatives of federal and provincial governments PKI is forced to stage a protest on February 14 in Multan, followed by all districts and provincial and federal capitals, The News Internationa reported. The PKI president also said that animals, poultry, fish and farmers' kids would be attending the protest along with farmers next month. The recent move of the government revoking GST exemption from agriculture inputs like maize hybrid imported seed, rice hybrid seed, vegetable seed, fodder seed, all local seeds, fish meal, animal feed, soyabean, raw cotton, benola, cotton seed oil, oil cakes, agriculture machinery, fodder, fish meal, animal feed and poultry feed machinery will not only trouble farmers but also animals. He said neither farmers nor their animals get loans from the IMF, then why their livings are being made difficult on the basis of IMF conditions. That's why it is a unique protest where farmers and their animals will participate in the protest, according to The News International. (ANI)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family have left their home in the country's capital and shifted to a secret location after a large-scale protest opposing COVID vaccine mandates converged on Parliament Hill, media reports said on Saturday. What started as a protest dubbed as 'Freedom Convoy' against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers has grown into a large demonstration against the Trudeau government's coronavirus regulations. Thousands of truckers and other protesters converged in the Capital city on Saturday to call for an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other public health restrictions, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. Among the people were some kids with their kids, elderly and disabled people. Some even carried signs with aggressive and obscenity-laced rhetoric directed mostly at the Canadian prime minister, according to The Globe and Mail newspaper. Some of the protesters were seen dancing on the prominent war memorial, prompting condemnation from Canada's top soldier Gen. Wayne Eyre and Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand. Police are on high alert for possible violence after hundreds of protesters flooded into the parliamentary precinct, despite an extreme cold warning. "I am sickened to see protesters dance on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and desecrate the National War Memorial. Generations of Canadians have fought and died for our rights, including free speech, but not this. Those involved should hang their heads in shame," General Wayne Eyre tweeted. Anita Anand also condemned this incident saying this "behaviour we're seeing today is beyond reprehensible." "The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and National War Memorial are sacred sites for our country. I urge all Canadians to treat them with solemnity, out of respect for those who have fought and died for Canada," she said. Police said nearly 10,000 people were expected to be on hand by day's end. Media reports say that by Saturday evening the force did not have an official estimate of the crowd's size. On Friday, Trudeau told media he was concerned the protest would turn violent, but said the convoy represented a "small fringe minority" who "do not represent the views of Canadians." (ANI)
Washington [US], January 30 (ANI/Sputnik): Former US President Donald Trump says the administration of US President Joe Biden should stop worrying about the situation around Ukraine and should focus on the issue of home border security instead. "Everyone in Washington is obsessing over how to protect Ukraine's border, but the most important border in the world right now for us is not Ukraine's border, it's America's border and we do nothing about it, but let people come in and we have no idea who they are," Trump told his supporters at the Saturday rally in Conroe, Texas. Trump emphasized that the first duty of the American president is to defend the American border, but the current US administration is engaged in talks of "invasions" of other countries instead. "They need to stop the invasion of this country," Trump stressed, adding that "before Joe Biden send any troops to defend the border in Eastern Europe, he should be sending troops to defend our border right here in Texas." Trump warned that Biden is creating a risk of World War III. On Friday, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley claimed that Russia had amassed enough forces at the Ukrainian border to launch an attack at any moment, and called for continuing the search for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Moscow has repeatedly denied any intention to invade its neighbor, stressing that it is not threatening anyone and voicing concerns over the growing NATO presence near its borders and the militarization of Ukraine. On Wednesday, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivered Washington's response to Russia's security proposals for Europe. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia is reviewing the response, but stressed that the United States left the main question about NATO non-expansion unanswered. (ANI/Sputnik)
On January 27, 2022, Ambassador Qin Gang had an interview with NPR Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep on Beijing Winter Olympics, China-US relations and issues related to Xinjiang and Taiwan. Part of the interview edited by NPR was aired on January 28.



Here is the full transcript of the interview:

Steve Inskeep: I wanna begin with the Olympics. Many people will know of course that this is the second time that China's hosted the Olympics, and last time was 2008. A lot has happened since 2008. How is China's place in the world different, if at all, than it was in 2008?

Ambassador Qin: China is undergoing a great transformation economically and socially. Since 2008 when Beijing held the first Olympics, China is becoming more prosperous, and the Chinese people are getting better off. All of the people have been lifted out of poverty. We are on a course towards common prosperity. And China's standing in the world is getting more important and prominent. China is playing a more important role in maintaining peace, stability and security. And we are working with all of the like-minded countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

So we are now welcoming the arrival of Beijing Winter Olympics. Beijing is ready. All the venues, stadiums, facilities are in perfect conditions, and organizing and operating work is well on the way. 2,000 athletes from around 90 countries are ready. A big quarantine closed loop is now in place to protect all the stakeholders in the loop from being contaminated.

One particular highlight of the Beijing Winter Olympics is being green. Just give you two examples. All the stadiums and venues will be supplied with green energy. And we use the cutting-edge technology of producing ice to reduce the (carbon dioxide) emission to nearly zero. So Beijing is ready. So we are confident to deliver a streamlined, safe and splendid Winter Olympics as we promised to the world.

Steve Inskeep: I think a lot of people would agree with you that China is playing a larger role in the world stage. But there's also been a change in opinion globally about China. The Pew Center tracks this in 17 different countries, they do routine polls. And in 2021, a Pew survey of these 17 countries found  there's a headline that I wrote down here  large majorities say China does not respect the personal freedoms of its people, and more and more people around the world believe that. Why do you think that opinion has changed?

Ambassador Qin: It's a one-sided observation. If you ask if people have freedom and human rights, you need to ask the people of the country itself. I can give you two figures, most recent ones. One is that according to Harvard University, Kennedy School, the support rate of the Chinese people towards the Chinese government...

Steve Inskeep: This is a survey done by Harvard that you had?

Ambassador Qin: Harvard, independently. (So the support rate) is 91%. This is the tenth year that Kennedy School of Harvard University conducted this kind of survey independently. Another figure, which is also most recent. Edelman, one of the largest PR companies, conducted similar survey among Chinese people. The result is the same.

Steve Inskeep: If there's such overwhelming support for the government, some people who are concerned about China would ask why is there a need for such widespread facial recognition software, Internet censorship and other means to limit speech and effectively control the people?

Ambassador Qin: That's a misunderstanding. Actually, Chinese people can have wide access to information on the Internet. There are over one billion netizens in China, the worlds largest number of Internet users. Every day people can get access to different resources of information. And they can comment and they can exchange.

Steve Inskeep: There is an enormous amount of information. But if there's a controversial topic, it disappears from the Internet.

Ambassador Qin: Well, I think that we regulate the Internet according to law and in the interests of the general public. On the one hand, we let people get access to different information. On the other hand, we bear in mind the general interests of the public.

Steve Inskeep: Criticism of the government doesn't last very long online, right? It goes away.

Ambassador Qin: That's not true. So the government has many channels to solicit opinions from the people, including criticism. Every major policy, before it is published, is made public for comments. Among them are also criticisms and complaints. The government listens to and considers them, and corrects it if there is anything wrong.

Steve Inskeep: Part of that change in China's image that I mentioned seems to have to do with the policy toward Uyghurs in Western China. And the US diplomatic boycott also seems grounded in part. I want to mention that our correspondents have tried to approach this fairly. NPR correspondents have visited Western China. We've also interviewed people outside of China. We understand that it's cast as an anti-terrorism policy and that's a real concern. What we have found, though, is that people are imprisoned, that they also have been pressed to abandon their language, abandon their culture, abandon their religion. Can you explain why the policy needs to have gone so far?

Ambassador Qin: That's not a true representation of what has been happening in Xinjiang.

Steve Inskeep: It is what our correspondents have observed.

Ambassador Qin: There are fabrications, lies and disinformation around. The actual conditions, Uyghur people as other ethnic groups of people, they enjoy happy life. They enjoy the rights and freedom guaranteed by the Constitution of China. They are a member of the big family of Chinese nation. The so-called genocide or forced labor, these are big lies of the century. There's no genocide at all. People use sensational accusations for political purposes. I give you two figures. Over the past 40 years, the Uyghur population rose from 5.5 million to 11 million, more than doubled. The average life expectancy of Uyghur people in the past 60 years has increased from 30 to 72. So have you seen genocide in the world like this?

Steve Inskeep: Let's set aside the word genocide, though, and focus on the things that our correspondents have found: large numbers of people imprisoned, people encouraged to give up their language and culture. You acknowledge those things or not?

Ambassador Qin: You have to make a distinction between people breaking the law and being sent to prison and some other people being sent to the vocational training center.

Steve Inskeep: You are referring to what outsiders called camps?

Ambassador Qin: Those people breaking the law, the terrorists, of course, the destination for them is prisons with barbed wire and high walls. To keep the society safe, we have to bring them to justice. There is no problem, as you do in the United States. But for those people, to some extent, more or less influenced by extremist ideas, which is a driving factor to many people in any terrorist and separatist activities, we give them a chance. We use a measure to correct them. Its what we call a preventive measure.

Steve Inskeep: Preventing them from having terrorist thoughts before they have them.

Ambassador Qin: Those people...not every Uyghur was sent to the school. But when we found some people, as I said just now, more or less influenced by extremist ideas, before they are getting worse, we send them to the school, giving them education on language and law and give them vocational training, so that when they finish, they can get a decent job with a good pay, so they can support themselves and they can support their families, so they will no longer be engaged into extremist and separatist activities.

Steve Inskeep: I want people to know, if they don't, that China is very diverse that Uyghurs are one of many groups we could look at, who are different from the majority of China in different ways. Is part of the goal assimilation? Ensuring that there is no group that is so separate or different from the large population of the country that it poses a threat?

Ambassador Qin: The goal of this policy is to make the society stable and safe, to make people without fear, without hate, that people from all ethnic groups live peacefully and calmly.

Steve Inskeep: I wanna ask about Taiwan, which is something that your Foreign Minister this week brought up with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. If people don't know, I want to remind them the United States has agreed with China that there is one China, that Taiwan is part of China. At the moment, of course, there are two governments. And the United States has argued that Taiwan's future should be determined by the Taiwanese people. Do you agree with that?

Ambassador Qin: No. I don't agree with that. The One-China principle is the most important foundation of China-US relations in the past decades. When the US-China diplomatic ties were established, the United States acknowledged that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China, there's only one China in the world, the government of People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China. This is a stipulation in the three Joint Communiques, which lay the foundation of diplomatic relations. But recently, we have seen the escalation of tension in the situation across the Taiwan Strait. This is because the Taiwanese authority is trying to seek independence agenda by borrowing support and encouragement of the United States and the US is playing Taiwan card.

Steve Inskeep: Playing the Taiwan card to contain China.

Ambassador Qin: To contain China. What does it mean? We talked about the three Joint Communiques. We talked about the one-China principle. The United States has been walking away, bit by bit, from this commitment, by increasing official links and upgrading them, by selling more advanced weaponry to Taiwan, and by sending soldiers landing on Taiwan. The one-China policy is being hollowed out by the United States.

Steve Inskeep: Is this what your foreign ministry means by saying the United States failing to keep its commitments, that the US has simply been too friendly to Taiwan?

Ambassador Qin: We have taken notice of President Bidens words that the United States does not support Taiwan independence and the United States wants to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the United States will adhere to its one-China policy, but so far we haven't seen many actions to honor his words.

Steve Inskeep: There is much fear in the United States of an eventual effort by China to resolve this matter militarily, to attack Taiwan. Should Americans be concerned about the Chinese attack on Taiwan?

Ambassador Qin: People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese. We are compatriots. The last thing we will do is fight with our compatriots. We will do our utmost in the greatest sincerity to achieve a peaceful reunification, which we believe is in the best interests of people across the Taiwan Strait, in the best interests of China-US relations, in the best interests of peace and stability in the region. But as I said a few minutes ago, that the Taiwanese authority is walking down the road towards independence, emboldened by the United States. So China will not commit to giving up non-peaceful means for reunification, because this is a deterrence to separatist forces, not targeting Taiwanese people. Let me emphasize this. The Taiwan issue is the biggest tinderbox between China and the United States. If the Taiwanese authority, emboldened by the United States, keeps going down the road for independence, it would most likely involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in a military conflict. China does not want to have conflict or confrontation with the United States. The United States does not want war with China. So, no war, no conflict is the biggest consensus between China and the United States. So let's work together to contain the separatist forces of Taiwan, to give peace a chance. Let peace prevail.

Steve Inskeep: In the time that I have left, Ambassador, I wanna ask about a couple of narratives that people lay out about the United States and China and see what you think of them. One is an American narrative. Americans in both political parties have said in recent years that the United States feels that it reached out to China, that it encouraged the opening to China, that it increased economic ties with China, in the hope that China would change, become more open, more democratic, more in line with the rules of the world. And there are Americans in both political parties who now feel that hasn't happened, that it hasn't worked out. That is the narrative here. Do you accept any part of that story?

Ambassador Qin: For people having the mind of changing China, from the very beginning, its an illusion. China is a nation of 5,000 years civilization. China is China. The United States is the United States. The United States cannot expect to change China at its will, and vice versa. We don't have the intention to change the United States. We don't have the intention to replace the United States. Both countries have our own agendas. Both countries have challenges at home. Both countries want to deliver better lives to people. So why not work together? Rather than trying to outpace each other or to suppress the others development?

Steve Inskeep: You're saying that if America is to continue its engagement with China, China will remain as it is?

Ambassador Qin: We have always advocated engagement and cooperation with the United States. But people, as you said just now, in this country have a lot of different opinions. You had better let the United States speak for itself. But we do believe that China's development is a big opportunity for the United States.

Steve Inskeep: There's another narrative about the United States. The idea that America is a great power that is now in decline. You can find people around the world who say that, you can find Americans who will say that. I'd like people to know, if they don't, you have worked closely with President Xi. If you think about his view of the world, do you think that he believes America is a power in decline?

Ambassador Qin: Nobody in China bets against United States. Everybody in China, including the Chinese leadership, believes that United States is one of the most important countries. And the relationship between China and the United States is the most important relationship. We must work well and not mess it up. We wish the United States well. But the question is: can the United States respect and accept China's rise as a positive force to maintain or to facilitate world peace and prosperity? Can the United States believe that China's rise will benefit other countries, benefit people in the United States and provide more business opportunities and more jobs?

Steve Inskeep: And the final thing, do you anticipate a period of greater difficulty between the two countries?

Ambassador Qin: We are at a very challenging time. What I'm here to do is to reach out to people of all communities in the United States, tell them China's intention and policy  of course a good intention and reasonable policy vis-a-vis China-US relationship and (be) open-minded for all sorts of opinions. I want to listen. I want to deliver. And I want to help improve the relationship. But looking ahead, it's a bumpy road. Both countries are in the process of recognizing each other and finding an appropriate way to get along with each other. In China's belief, we hope that good relationship will be established based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. As I said, it's not easy, and it will take time. There will be a lot of difficulties. My role is to make this road have less pain, less difficulties and more certainty.

Steve Inskeep: Ambassador, it's been a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much.

Ambassador Qin: Thank you for having me.




Washington [US], January 30 (ANI/Sputnik): Former US President Donald Trump said that he will pardon rioters charged with deadly assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, if the politician decides to run in the 2024 presidential election and wins. "If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly, we will treat them fairly, and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly," Trump said at a Saturday rally in Texas. The ex-president, however, did not elaborate again on whether he plans to join the presidential race. Over a year ago, a group of Trump supporters entered the US Capitol to protest the certifying of the 2020 presidential election results from several US states that Trump claimed were fraudulent. US authorities have arrested more than 725 individuals in nearly all 50 states for criminal offences relating to the riot. (ANI/Sputnik)
Former US President Donald Trump has issued a warning regarding possible developments with regard to Taiwan and China after the conclusion of the Beijing Winter Olympics. While addressing a public rally in Conroe, Texas, Trump said, "I'm a good predictor, watch what happens after the Olympics with Taiwan and China." Taiwan has been governed independently for over seven decades. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan, which is a territory with its own democratically-elected government, maintains that it is an autonomous country. "China is threatening Taiwan," Trump told his supporters at the Saturday rally. The former US President blamed the administration of US President Joe Biden and the latter's incompetence for what is happening with respect to China. "China would never have even thought about taking over Taiwan. I mean, Taiwan, that wasn't even going to be discussed between myself and [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping], and watch what happens after the Olympics, I'm a good predictor, watch what happens after the Olympics with Taiwan and China," Trump was quoted as saying Russia's Sputnik. US society needs to wipe out ignorance about the Taiwan question and the national feelings of the Chinese people, said a Chinese media report on Sunday. An editorial published in China's Global Times said the views expressed by Chinese ambassador Qin Gang in a recent interview about a possible conflict were a clear signal to US political elites. The article also added that message was intended to "let more Americans realize the seriousness of the consequences of "using Taiwan to contain the Chinese mainland." On Friday, Qin Gang told the US radio station NPR had said, "If, you know the Taiwanese authorities, emboldened by the US, you know, keep going down the road for independence, it most likely will involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in the military conflict." The 2022 Olympic Games will take place from February 4 until February 20. (ANI)
The United States State Department will not continue its prestigious Fulbright Foreign Student Program in Afghanistan for the 2022-23 academic year, an American broadcast network citing an official has reported. According to ABC News, the news of the suspension of the program was delivered to applicants on Friday afternoon after months of delays to applicant interviews. "Due to significant barriers impeding our ability to provide a safe exchange experience, the selection process for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program in Afghanistan for the 2022-23 academic year will not move forward," a State Department official told ABC News. "We recognize the significant time and effort that the current applicants have invested and understand that this decision brings disappointment," the official added. While the program will continue for the more than 100 Fulbright students from Afghanistan who are already studying in the US, the State Department did not offer details on their return to their native country, as the grant is designed for scholars to do. An email from the State Department to the 2022 group last month suggested they consider other evacuation routes and opportunities as it explored the options for continuing the program, "but we have not yet identified a safe and viable way forward," it said, according to ABC News. The Fulbright Program, administered by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, was established by Congress in 1946 with a goal of international relationship building by offering both grants to U.S. citizens to study or teach abroad and to non-U.S. citizens to study in the states, as per the television network. (ANI)
Health officials from the United States and the United Kingdom have spoken about inclusivity and the need for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) during the agency's latest Executive Board meeting. Loyce Pace, an assistant secretary for Global Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, referred to Taiwan on Friday (local time) when discussing the need to strengthen confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, reported Focus Taiwan. According to Pace, accelerating vaccine uptake and demand is critical to achieving COVID-19 vaccination goals, to future emergency responses and to ongoing efforts to combat vaccine-preventable diseases. "In this regard, the US appreciates the example of Taiwan in its COVID-19 response as well as its support to many around the world. We urge the WHO to be fully inclusive of all partners, including Taiwan, as we take our collective work forward in responding to global health emergencies," Focus Taiwan reported qouting her saying. The need for inclusiveness was echoed by Danny Andrews, who is head of Global Health at the Permanent Mission of the UK to the United Nations Office in Geneva. Although Andrews did not specifically cite Taiwan, he emphasized the need for inclusivity in WHO governance. "Given the impact of global health emergencies, we must draw on all voices and everyone with experiences to share to deal with health emergencies," Andrews said. According to the media outlet, the Executive Board meeting was held between January 24-29, also drew voices of supports for Taiwan from several of its diplomatic allies, including the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, Eswatini, Honduras, Paraguay and Guatemala, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Like-minded partners such as Japan and France, with the latter speaking on behalf of the European Union, also made indirect statements calling on the WHO not to leave anyone behind, MOFA said. Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China, lost its seat in the United Nations in 1971 and has not been a member of any of its affiliated agencies, including the WHO since then, it added. It was able to participate in the WHA as an observer from 2009 to 2016 when its relations with China were better, but has been blocked from the proceedings by Beijing since then as cross-Taiwan Strait ties have turned frosty. (ANI)
Bajwa's visit to Turbat comes a few days after ten Pakistani soldiers got killed in a terrorist attack at a security force check-post in Balochistan's Kech district.

During his visit, Bajwa was given a comprehensive briefing at the FC Balochistan headquarters on the prevailing security situation in the area and Pakistan-Iran border fencing, the Dawn newspaper reported citing the country's military media wing.

Gen Bajwa said that the Pakistani army would make all-out efforts to assist the provincial government achieve peace and prosperity.

Pak COAS also visited Kech district, where he said that terrorists would be brought to justice. Security, stability, and prosperity of Balochistan would be pursued and ensured at all cost, he added.

The recent surge in the insurgency in Balochistan and elsewhere in Pakistan has been a cause of concern, most of which is credited to the revival of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Experts familiar with the region say that TTP's resurgence has a direct link with the Taliban taking power in Afghanistan.

In an editorial published on Saturday, a Pakistan daily had warned against the use of lethal force "to deal with Balochistan's insurgency".

It said that there is a lack of sincerity on part of the government in the approach towards Balochistan. (ANI)
This anti-India campaign, launched in collusion with domestic elements, tried to replace the non-violence image of India with a "radical narrative".

The campaign is initiated with the larger aim to create a conflict space in the conflict industry, using the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction, Movement model.

Certain anti-India narratives that have been built in the last few years are building blocks for this conflict industry, which runs into billions of dollars, according to reports.

Backed by Turkey and Pakistan, it was a campaign by Muslim Brotherhood through the new emerging nexus of Qatar-Turkey-Pakistan, to target India via a malicious Kashmir narrative.

The key features of such an industry are that it involves different states and different religions or ethnicities.

Another important feature is that most vocal faces and organizations would generally have nothing to do with the conflict situation, would have no direct experiences, and yet would be the foremost noisemaker.

Experts and fact-checkers say Kashmir is not new to the conflict industry.

Previous reports have revealed how scores of fund-raisers are being run in the name of Kashmir by random 'activists' and 'NGOs' and 'humanitarian relief' organizations.

Several of these organizations do not have the basic capabilities to carry out any actual work. (ANI)
Taiwan's representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim said that after the meeting held on Friday said that the bilateral talks lasted for about 30 minutes and the discussions touched on security issues, economic affairs, and shared values, Focus Taiwan reported.

Hsiao mentioned that Pelosi had expressed concern over the status and security in the Taiwan Strait as well as human rights in China ahead of Beijing's hosting of the Winter Olympic Games in early February.

The US is staging a "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Games to be held on next Friday.

Meanwhile, Pelosi has expressed her support for Taiwan's participation in international organisations especially the World Health Organisation stating that Taipei's participation is crucial based on its pandemic prevention response, local media reported.

Hsiao Bi-khim said that Pelosi had personally expressed to the WHO Secretary-General that Taiwan should participate and that its inclusion in the organization is crucial based on its pandemic prevention response, reported Taiwan News. (ANI)
The US Embassy in Kiev urged its citizens to leave Ukraine due to the "unpredictable" security situation and recommended them a number of possible destinations. This comes as the US has 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. "The security situation in Ukraine continues to be unpredictable due to the increased threats of Russian military action and can deteriorate with little notice. US citizens in Ukraine should consider departing now using commercial or other privately available transportation options," the US Embassy said in a statement on Saturday. The embassy suggested that citizens go to countries near Ukraine, for example, to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. However, it is not recommended to enter Moldova "through the breakaway region of Transnistria," as in this case, the diplomatic mission will be unable to provide citizens with full assistance. The embassy said those American citizens who are currently facing difficulties buying tickets for commercial flights can be granted a loan at the embassy. The US Embassy already published similar recommendations twice earlier this week, citing unpredictability regarding Ukraine. Meanwhile, the US State Department authorized the voluntary departure of US direct hire employees and ordered the departure of eligible family members from the embassy in Kiev. (ANI)
Germany's foreign trade is dependent on the sea, and deploying warships symbolizes Germany's determination to defend freedom of navigation, Taiwan News quoted German Parliament Defence Committee Chair Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann during a seminar organised by Friedrich Naumann Foundation, a Liberal Democratic Party think tank, on Tuesday.

The seminar focused to discuss the significance and results of the German Navy frigate Bayern's voyage last summer.

The Brandenburg-class frigate sailed to Asia in August to conduct joint exercises with Australia, the US, Japan, and other countries as part of Germany's focus on freedom of navigation in the Indian and Pacific oceans. It also helped the UN monitor military developments in North Korea as well as visited Singapore and Vietnam, according to Taiwan News.

Zimmermann, during the seminar, shed light on the fact that Bayern had avoided Taiwan after completing its mission in Northeast Asia. The lawmaker underlined that Taiwan's democracy is under threat and said German Navy ships should pass through the strait to highlight the significance of freedom of navigation.

She also emphasised that the move would also send a signal to Beijing that the West stands with Taiwan. (ANI)
Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the government is specifically targeting the PPP because of the long march but it will be held despite government tactics and propaganda, according to News International.

"The propaganda against the PPP had started from various quarters before the long march," he said.

"The government's tactics are bound to fail and he could visualise the difficulties the government is already facing due to this long march," he added.

Earlier, Bilawal Bhutto telephoned Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) president and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

Further, PMLN President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif thanked Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif tested positive for coronavirus a few days back.

Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto, who is in Lahore, held a meeting with former Prime Ministers Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and handed them over important tasks regarding the PPP's long march scheduled to be started from Karachi on February 27, as reported by Dawn.

Also, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was briefed by former Prime Ministers and members of the long march organising committee on the preparations, according to the Dawn.

On the other hand, Pakistan opposition under Bilawal Bhutto decided to challenge the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2022 after the Pakistan Senate approved it with a one-vote majority.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the Imran government is following foreign agenda.

"Sometimes he talks to bring the system of China, other times desires to introduce the system followed in Iran," he said.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed that March 23 would be marked a historic day for Pakistan when the whole country would be moving towards Islamabad, according to the Dawn. (ANI)
Tibetan Thangka art exhibition opens to visitors in Sanya, south Chinas Hainan

People's Daily Online) 18:16, January 29, 2022

Visitors admire Thangka works during an exhibition held at a center for intangible cultural heritage inside the Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 28, 2022. (Photo/Chen Wenwu)

A Tibetan Thangka art exhibition opened to visitors in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province on Jan. 28, as Chinanews.com has reported.

The exhibition, which is available at a center for intangible cultural heritage inside the Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone in Sanya, displays more than 80 exquisite Thangka artworks. The exhibition is scheduled to run until March 29.

A Tibetan Thangka art exhibition welcomes visitors in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, on Jan. 28, 2022. (Photo/Chen Wenwu)

The artworks were completed by three artists who have been engaged in Thangka studies for many years, having offered unique perspectives on the painting craft, including their own artistic themes and cultural interpretations of Thangka.

Sangye Tsering, an arts and crafts master from northwest China's Qinghai Province, is one of the youngest inheritors of the art of Thangka in China. The artistic duo, Huang Wei and Hou Xiaohui, have integrated elements of traditional Chinese painting with the Tibetan Thangka art in their effort to innovate the age-old art form.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Du Mingming)
On January 28, 2022, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg.

Wang Yi said, the year 2021 just passed was of great significance to both China and Mongolia as it marked the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the Mongolian People's Party respectively. Under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, the two sides have strengthened solidarity and cooperation, overcome the impact of the pandemic, and achieved new development in bilateral relations. Last year, I had an in-depth exchange of views with Ms. Foreign Minister in Tianjin, and we enhanced mutual trust and reached a lot of consensus. China is willing to work with Mongolia to constantly inject strong impetus into China-Mongolia cooperation and continuously elevate China-Mongolia relations to new heights.

Battsetseg extended Spring Festival greetings to China for the Year of the Tiger, and thanked China for its firm and strong support when Mongolia was in its most difficult time of fighting the pandemic. China's support played an important role in Mongolia's effort to defeat the pandemic. She said, Mongolia attaches great importance to deepening relations with China, highly commends China's neighborhood diplomacy featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, highly values and supports the Global Development Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, and hopes to seek greater synergy with China to expand all-round cooperation in fields such as trade in mineral products, border points of entry, interconnectivity, finance and environmental protection.

Battsetseg said, Mongolia firmly supports China in hosting a successful Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and always opposes politicizing sports. Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene is greatly looking forward to attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in China.

Wang Yi said, China attaches importance to Mongolia's desire to seek greater synergy between the development strategies of the two sides and strengthen pragmatic cooperation. China is willing to work with Mongolia to step up coordination and implementation, and push for more substantive results in bilateral cooperation.

Wang Yi stressed, the Olympic Games are the symbol of human solidarity and friendship. As a friendly neighbor of China, Mongolia always supports China in hosting the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene was among one of the foreign leaders to first express the willingness to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and clearly expressed his opposition to politicizing sports. China highly appreciates that. China attaches great importance to and will make good arrangements for Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene's visit to China to ensure a complete success of this trip.
Insinuation about India's UN vote is utter rubbish, said India's former permanent representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin rejecting a New York Times report that stated that in 2019, New Delhi voted in favour of Jerusalem after the purchase of Israeli spyware software Pegasus. "The insinuation about India's UN vote is utter rubbish," said Akbaruddin -- who currently serves as Dean at Kautilya School of Public Policy -- on Saturday referring to the New York Times report which was published on Friday. The NYT report stated that in July 2017, the Indian Prime Minister became the first head of state to visit Israel as for decades, India had maintained a policy of what it called "commitment to the Palestinian cause," and relations with Israel were frosty. The visit by the Indian Prime Minister, however, was notably cordial, complete with a carefully staged moment of him and then Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu walking together barefoot on a local beach. They had a reason for the warm feelings. Their countries had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly USD 2 billion -- with Pegasus and a missile system as the centrepieces. Months later, Netanyahu made a rare state visit to India. And in June 2019, India voted in support of Israel at the UN's Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organisation, a first for the nation, said the report. The NYT said that the combination of Israel's search for influence and NSO's drive for profits has also led to the powerful spying tool's ending up in the hands of a new generation of nationalist leaders worldwide. Though the Israeli government's oversight was meant to prevent the powerful spyware from being used in repressive ways, Pegasus has been sold to Poland, Hungary and India, despite those countries' questionable records on human rights. (ANI)
As Pakistan has looked the other way to the pleas of Baluchistan ethnic nationalism, it has fuelled a new sense of separatist war against Islamabad in the province. In a new phase in the long-running Baloch separatist war in Pakistan, a recent Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA) terror attack in the city of Lahore indicates the insurgency is expanding from Balochistan's rugged mountains to Punjab urban centres, as reported by Asia Times. Earlier, on January 20, a bomb blast ripped through a busy Lahore business district, killing three and wounding over 20. The BNA, which was formed less than two weeks before the bombing after the United Baloch Army (UBA) and the Baloch Republic Army (BRA) merged, accepted responsibility for the attack in a social media post carried by media. On other hand, the merger is significant not only because it fuses two potent militant groups fighting for the separation of Balochistan from Pakistan but also because the new entity will target China's interests in the country, including likely Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects which are based in Balochistan The newly formed BNA also marks the coming together of the Marris and Bugtis, two of Balochistan's largest tribes that historically have not always seen eye to eye, according to Asia Times. The UBA is led by Mehran Marri, the son of late Baloch ideologue Khair Bakhsh Marri, who led the Marris for years. The BRA, on the other hand, is led by Brahumdagh Bugti, the son of Akbar Bugti, the Baloch Sardar and leader of the Bugti tribe who was killed in 2006 in a military operation, according to Asia Times. Although both Marri and Bugti tribes populate other militant groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) now led by Khair Bakhsh's other son, Hyrbyair Marri, the UBA-BRA merger underlines how Baloch militant groups are increasingly converging across tribal lines to form a united front against the Pakistan state. In 2018, the BLA merged with the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and BRA to form Baluch Raji Ajohi Sangar (BRSA), or Baloch Nationalist Freedom Movement, as reported by Asia Times. The two-pronged strategy is a major cause of concern for Pakistan, especially at a time when it is already facing a resurgent Islamist challenge from the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistan Taliban. Further, TTP has recently ramped up its cross-border attacks from Afghanistan targeting security forces, as noted by Asia Times. A deep-seated sense of exclusion has driven Baloch nationalism and militant insurgency since the 1948 forced accession of Balochistan to Pakistan, according to Mir Muhammad Ali, a veteran Baloch nationalist who fought the Pakistan Army in the 1970s. On the other hand, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa paid a visit to a city in southern Balochistan amid the worrying security situation in the province. The Pakistan Army, rather than rolling back its presence to facilitate dialogue, is now expanding its security and economic footprint, seen in its fortified presence at Gwadar and involvement in the development of one of the world's biggest untapped copper and gold deposits at the province's Reko Diq, as reported by Asia Times. (ANI)
Pakistan is keeping its focus on availing a USD 3 billion loan and will seek investment in six sectors from Beijing during the upcoming China visit of the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan, reported local media. Islamabad has set its sight on a loan to the tune of USD 3 billion from China to stabilise its dwindling foreign exchange reserves and also seeks an investment bonanza in half a dozen sectors during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Beijing next week, reported The Express Tribune. Imran Khan would also seek Chinese support in areas of finance, trade and investment reported the Pakistani publication citing government sources. Islamabad is considering requesting China to approve another loan to the tune of USD 3 billion in China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange, known as SAFE deposits, said a senior finance ministry official. Imran Khan is set to depart for Beijing on February 3. The Pakistani Prime Minister will attend the inaugural session of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. On Tuesday, a final meeting of the top Pakistani officials will take place to shape the agenda of Imran Khan's visit. Beijing has already placed around USD 11 billion with Islamabad in the shape of commercial loans and foreign exchange reserves support initiatives, including USD 4 billion in SAFE deposits. The Chinese money is part of Pakistan's current official foreign exchange reserves recorded at USD 16.1 billion, said The Express Tribune. Pakistan, in the last fiscal year, paid more than Pkr 26 billion in interest cost to Beijing. Notably, Pakistan paid the heavy amount only for using a USD 4.5 billion Chinese trade finance facility to repay the maturing debt. It comes as Saudi Arabia last month granted a loan of USD 3 billion to Pakistan. The loan has been consumed by the country and the foreign exchange reserves that before the Saudi injection stood at USD 15.9 billion have already fallen to USD 16 billion by January 21, according to The Express Tribune. (ANI)
As Beijing hopes to expand its interest in the Middle-East region, it has been trying to achieve its ends through the means of its contentious Soft Power. China's interests in Iraq, anchored in energy to quench its growing needs, are expanding. Beijing is building power plants, factories, water treatment facilities, as well as badly needed schools across the country, according to Los Angeles Times. Dozens of contracts signed in recent years ensure China's growing footprint, even as major Western companies, including the US, plot their exit. While Iraqi officials say they desire a greater US presence, they find appeal in China's offer of development without conditions for democracy or reform and its deft diplomacy. "The language school is a projection of Chinese soft power, to familiarise the region with China. The more familiar they are, the more attracted they will be to Chinese goods," said Sardar Aziz, a researcher who recently wrote a Kurdish-language book about China-Iraq relations. On the other hand, Chinese companies dominate Iraq's key economic sector, oil, and Beijing consumes 40 per cent of the country's crude exports. But from a narrow focus on hydrocarbons, Chinese investments have grown to include other industries, finance, transport, construction and communications, as noted by Los Angeles Times. The shift was spurred following Chinese President Xi Jinping's 2013 announcement of the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, dubbed the new Silk Road, composed of a vast array of development and investment initiatives from East Asia through the Middle East to Europe. The US considers it unsettling, akin to a Trojan horse for Chinese expansion. The initiative calls for China to develop relations with states along its path through political coordination, infrastructure connectivity, trade and financial integration, and people-to-people bonds. In 2017, the Chinese consulate approached Salahaddin University's College of Languages with the idea of a Chinese language department. Opening a school in the capital Baghdad came with security risks, but the northern Kurdish-run region was relatively secure. Chinese companies dominate oil contracts in Iraq, from operating fields to providing downstream services, and they continue to win more. Recently, Iraq finalized terms with China's Sinopec to develop Mansuriya gas field, which could produce 300 million standard cubic feet per day if approved by Iraq's next government, according to Los Angeles Times. (ANI)
The falling birth rates in China due to the one-child policy are giving nightmares for the Communist regime as it is finding itself helpless in tackling this. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that only 10.62 million babies were born last year, down from 12.02 million in 2020, and the lowest number in recorded history, as reported by New York Post. Further, many Chinese men in their twenties and early thirties seem to have simply given up on life. On the other hand, unlike their fathers and grandfathers, who worked long hours at their jobs so they could buy an apartment, attract a wife, and raise a family, these coddled only sons have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. It's not just indolence; it's an entire way of life. Millennials are the problem and they are tangping'ers -- the Chinese expression means to "lay flat" -- dedicated to doing just enough to get by in life. Their plans do not include marriage, much less children. It's just too much work for the flat-layers, according to New York Post. Further, to make matters worse, many young women in China's cities have taken themselves out of the marriage market altogether. They are focused on building careers, not marriages. Meanwhile, Communist officials continue to insist that China's population will stabilise at its present 1.4 billion, but they are whistling past the graveyard. With Chinese women averaging only 1.3 children, below even Japan's anemic 1.34 children, China is surely already in absolute population decline, filling more coffins than cradles each year, as reported by New York Post. On the other hand, during the one-child policy, ethnic minorities including Xinjiang's Uyghur population, were allowed to have to three children, which authorities said was in deference of the group's cultural traditions of large families. (ANI)
Afghanistan has re-emphasised its commitment to start Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project soon. Meanwhile, some economists say that the implementation of the TAPI project will provide job opportunities for around 12,000 people in Afghanistan, according to Tolo News. The Taliban say that the practical work of the TAPI project will begin in the near future and all the preliminary work has been prepared for its implementation. Bilal Karimi, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said that work on the security and financial sectors of the project has been partially completed and that practical work on the project will begin as the weather warms up. "The TAPI project should be implemented in a good way, and the Islamic Emirate is well prepared for its financial part. From our side, its technical and logistical problems have been solved," he said. "The TAPI project is one of the biggest projects in the whole region, we are very sorry that we have not been able to start this project in the last few years. We all know that it has great benefits for the people of Afghanistan," said Mansour Hedayat, an economist. "The Taliban are now controlling the situation of Afghanistan, the obstacles have been removed and they are expected to play an important role in this project by using all the necessary means," said Shakir Yaqoubi, an economist, as noted by Tolo News. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is part of the Turkmen gas pipeline project to Pakistan and India, and it is expected that Afghanistan will earn about USD 400 million a year for allowing transit across its territory. Also, Turkmen officials expressed optimism about the future of the project after a meeting three weeks ago with the head of the Afghanistan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, according to Tolo News. (ANI)
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has sought support from Punjab to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government. While warning the Prime Minister of the long march scheduled to be held on February 27, the PPP chief said he will go to the people and tell them it is vital for the country to get rid of PM Imran and that he should not remain in parliament because he has lost the confidence of the people, according to Express Tribune. Bilawal went on to say that economic, political and human rights are under attack by "this puppet" government. He recalled that his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and mother Benazir Bhutto made the party the voice of the people and gave them their rights while facing dictators. "Now, we will start our march from Karachi to dislodge the puppet and put our demands in Islamabad," he said. Accusing the incumbent government of destroying the country in the name of "change", Bilawal said that the PPP knew that the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was not in the interest of the people as it undermined the country's sovereignty, as reported by Express Tribune. Highlighting the recent report by Transparency International, the PPP leader said: "People won't listen to his lies because they have had enough," adding, "He had come to power by saying that corruption would be eradicated, but it has reached record-breaking heights during the last three years," he said. Bilawal told the crowd that he knew that the puppet government was beyond the point of being saved. "Whenever the PPP held a long march, it always politically harmed the tyrant and selected of the time. We will tell the people why it is necessary to get rid of this puppet and to get him out of parliament," he added. (ANI)
A judge in Pakistan's Supreme Court has cautioned the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan over retaining "delinquents" like Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem and Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) chairman Shahzad Akbar in important positions of authority which would belie the most elementary principles of good governance and expose the Premier's complicity with them, reported local media. "Section 216 of the Income Tax Ordinance (ITO) 2001 was blatantly breached in the case of Mrs Sarina Isa -- the wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa -- on the unlawful directions of the ARU chairman with the concurrence of the law minister. Thus, they breached the statutory confidentiality of Isa's tax returns, observed Supreme Court Justice Yahya Afridi in his separate note accompanying the SC's detailed verdict issued in the Justice Isa case on Saturday following its April 26, 2021, short order, according to Dawn. Justice Afridi who was part of a 10-member Supreme Court bench that overturned its June 19, 2020 majority order in the Justice Isa case that required verification of and a subsequent inquiry by the tax authorities into three foreign properties in the name of the wife and children of Justice Isa, said the Pakistani Publication. If officers other than those from the income tax department access a taxpayer's records, it will constitute a criminal offence, according to Section 216 of the ITO which ensures confidentiality. Justice Afridi observed that Section 216 of the ITO commands confidentiality of the information of a tax filer and any breach exposes the delinquent to penal consequences. The Justice further stated that such consequences are attracted in the present case to those giving the unlawful directions, namely Mirza Shahzad Akbar with the concurrence of the law minister, the tax officials executing the unlawful directions in breach of Section 216 of the ITO and the prime minister, who despite clear and unanimous finding of misdoings of the named delinquents by the apex court, retained them in positions of authority, according to Dawn. (ANI)
Although the Taliban denied having any hand in the disappearances, one of its top officials said they are in the process of purging "bad people" from the group, as reported by TRT World.

Taliban officials, however, did not have a unified statement on the disappearances of these women.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that any women were arrested but said that authorities had the right "to arrest and detain dissidents or those who break the law".

Activists also said that they receive threatening phone calls from men claiming to be Taliban intelligence, warning them to stay silent or face the consequences, as noted by TRT World.

Rights groups have called on the Taliban to investigate the abduction of Alia Azizi, a female prison official who has been missing for more than three months.

Last week, a Taliban delegation, led by Muttaqi, was hosted in Norway's capital, Oslo, for talks with the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, the European Union and Norway, and members of Afghan civil society, including women, as reported by TRT World.

The meeting, which was focused on Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis, was widely condemned.

The Taliban continue to demand the release of USD 10 billion of frozen Afghan reserves. It also seeks humanitarian aid and diplomatic recognition.

On the other hand, the US and international bodies have insisted that the group roll back its restrictions on women, as reported by TRT World. (ANI)
The management of the radio station had ordered the shutdown last year in August citing the financial trouble.

But the real reason was fear of the Taliban, as the radio station had 11 female employees, reported Sputnik.

The activity of Hareem Zan has resumed as the new provincial government did not ban women's voices on the radio.

After the Taliban came to power in August, it banned musical compositions and female voices on television and radio station in Kandahar province.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban's swift ascension to power occurred in mid-August, triggering an economic disarray and food shortages that push the country to the brink of a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of Afghans fled the country fearful of the Taliban, widespread violation of human rights, and the deprivation of women and girls of their freedoms reported Sputnik. (ANI)
As the oldest artisan working at the Yangliuqing woodblock prints workshop affiliated to Tianjin Yangliuqing Fine Arts Press, Wang Wenda has been busy preparing for another Spring Festival.



Holding his self-made carving knife, day after day, 77-year-old Wang immerses himself in crafting one of the most renowned Chinese New Year picture brands.

"Oh, it has been over 60 years," says Wang, who seems to have hardly noticed the flow of time.

The Yangliuqing woodblock print has a history of about 400 years, being founded in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The name, which literally means "willow is green", refers to a small town on the outskirts of Tianjin that is said to be the birthplace of this style of woodblock printing.

In 1958, when the country tried to combine the scattered artisans of the woodblock printing in a bid to save the endangered technique, a new publicly-owned workshop was established in downtown Tianjin. Wang was among the first to join the workshop in 1960.

"I was recruited as painter because I loved painting as a child," he recalls. "However, the carving department lacked people, and I was soon assigned to it."

He has remained in the role to this day.

It is common for Wang to spend months creating a single wooden plate, made of pear tree. The lumber has to be stored and dried for three years before it can be used.

After the plate is complete, the printing process itself can take up to a month for the picture to be finished and mounted.

Yangliuqing woodblock prints have abundant themes, which are inspired by literature, folk legends and myths, among others. However, the most recognizable are usually of auspicious symbols for the Chinese New Year.

According to Li Zhenyu, a fine arts professor from Sichuan University, Chinese New Year paintings can be dated back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) when a pair of images depicting two deities appeared on doors to ward off evil spirits. The variation in themes and imagery grew more abundant when the secular lives of people during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties fueled the influence of Buddhist art on the craft.

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when colorful woodblock prints were commonly used in people's daily lives, the development of New Year paintings was also greatly propelled.

Historical records show that the Yangliuqing town and its surrounding villages were full of picture workshops during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

However, the early 20th century saw the arrival of the modern offset printing technique in China.

The most famous new year picture workshop in Yangliuqing town, Dai Lianzeng, which once served the imperial palace in Beijing, finally closed in the 1930s after 19 generations.

"Without the country's effort to save the craft of woodblock printing in the 1950s," Wang recalls, "it would have been dead."

New Year painting, is, perhaps, a nostalgia that belongs to all Chinese people.
Moscow [Russia], January 30 (ANI/Sputnik): Canada has relocated its troops stationed in Ukraine west of the Dnieper river over safety concerns as tensions with Russia increase, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said on Sunday. "It's generally well-known to be the case that there is Russian aggression at the Ukrainian border and in Belarus, and we are acting accordingly. Our CAF, for example, have moved west of the Dnieper River, and we will continued to take precautions necessary to keep our Canadian armed forces safe and secure," Anand was quoted as saying at a press conference in Kiev by the Globe and Mail newspaper. At the same time, the minister refused to comment on why the decision was taken and any other details concerning the move. "In terms of the movements of our troops, it is important, and indeed imperative for their security for me to keep that information confidential," she added. Canada's Operation Unifier, with headquarters near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv hundreds miles from the Russian border, was launched in 2015 to support Ukrainian armed forces. The 200-soldier Canadian training mission is expected to be expanded by another 60 soldiers in the coming weeks. In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of massing troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for invasion. Russia said that it has no intention of invading Ukraine, while stressing that it has the right to move its forces within its own territory. In turn, Russia has expressed concerns over NATO's activity near its borders and the ongoing military support of Ukraine, including an increase in the number of Western instructors in the breakaway Donbas region. (ANI/Sputnik)
Beijing is continuing its claim of victory over the graft through a new propaganda documentary despite the West's claims that China has entered a new kind of corruption under the Presidency of Xi Jinping. After 'Zero Tolerance' was broadcast on CCTV which was produced jointly by CCDI and CCTV, the Propaganda Department of the Hunan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the News Center of Hunan Radio and television station have jointly produced a three-episode documentary on corruption titled "Fighting Corruption and Advocating Probity is always a work in progress", according to sources. The first episode features Peng Yuan, former deputy secretary of the Party Committee and President of Hunan Radio and Television University, who was involved in corruption in the construction of a new campus, according to sources. Just Like Zero Tolerance, this documentary also talks about details of how they were carrying out corrupt activities and shows the officials repenting. It came after US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in a report released in November 2021 stated that China confronts a range of challenges that undermine the CCP's triumphalist narrative. Politically, the CCP is concerned about internal disunity, corruption, and a lack of ideological conviction within its ranks, said the Commission in the report. Persistent problems with corruption and questionable commitment from lower-level cadres reveal core problems with the CCP's claims to superior governance. In his January 2021 work report, Politburo Standing Committee member and Secretary for the CCP's Commission for Discipline Inspection Zhao Leji described ongoing corruption within the Party as a "political hazard" and bureaucratic formalism as "a stubborn chronic disease", read the report. In February 2021, General Secretary Xi emphasized the importance of adhering to Party centralization and criticised cadres for "not paying attention to implementing the major policies of the CCP Central Committee," the commission said. He admitted that many CCP cadres "will not consider showing initiative" and "waste time in lazy governance," calling increased attention to an ongoing problem in which lower-level officials calculate it is politically safer to do very little rather than take actions for which they may later be blamed, the commission added. (ANI)
Tel Aviv [Israel], January 30 (ANI/Sputnik): Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal Herzog flew to the United Arab Emirates to pay the first-ever state visit, during which they will meet with the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and hold talks with representatives of political and business circles, the office of the Israeli president said on Sunday. "In a historic first, President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog departed this morning to the United Arab Emirates for a presidential visit at the invitation of the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan," the office said in a statement. Upon their arrival in the UAE, the Israeli president and his wife are scheduled to meet with the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Then the couple will be received at an official ceremony in the royal palace. Later, the president and the first lady of Israel will meet with leaders of the Jewish communities living in the country. The program of the two-day visit also includes a meeting with UAE businessmen and politicians. Herzog is also scheduled to open Israel's National Day at Expo 2020 Dubai. "We will be visiting the United Arab Emirates following the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. I am bringing with me a blessing of peace and a message of peace to the entire region, to the peoples of the region. Peace brings with it prosperity, progress, and growth for the benefit of the peoples of the region," Herzog said before leaving Tel Aviv, as quoted by his office. In addition, Herzog thanked the UAE Crown Prince for the invitation and for his courage in reaching a peace agreement with Israel. Herzog stressed that the agreement sends "a message to the entire region that peace is the only alternative for the peoples of the region." The UAE has taken heat in many parts of the Arab world for agreeing to the Abraham Peace Accords - a US-brokered effort to normalize relations with Israel. The accords were signed by Israel, the UAE and Bahrain in September 15, 2020 with the mediation of then-US President Donald Trump. According to agreements, the participating countries resumed embassy operations, opened direct flights, and lifted the ban on tourist trips and official visits. Morocco and Sudan subsequently joined the accords. The Palestinian authorities criticized the steps taken by the Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel to the detriment of advancing the rights of the Palestinians. (ANI/Sputnik)
Beirut [Lebanon], January 30 (ANI/ Sputnik): Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution sentenced to death 10 members of the Muslim Brotherhood (a terrorist group banned in Russia) for forming an armed group to attack law enforcement officers and destroy infrastructure, Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported on Sunday. The defendants were accused of creating a special group to attack police officers and destroy power lines and transformers in the country, the media said. The sentenced prisoners were reportedly involved in a case known in the media as "Helwan Brigades." The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928 and designated as a terrorist group in 2013 after massive clashes with police, is an international Islamist organization that has branches in about 70 countries and seeks the islamization of society. In June 2015, then-Egyptian Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat referred cases of Muslim Brotherhood members to criminal proceedings, for which he was soon killed in a car bomb explosion organized by representatives of the movement. During the investigation, the General Prosecutor's Office found that leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood had developed a plan to overthrow the acting government in Egypt while in prison. Followers of the movement who remained at large organized three councils in different parts of the country to form armed brigades, which were later nicknamed "Helwan Brigades." To date, most of the Muslim Brotherhood's leaders are in prison, but, at the same time, a number of its top members have managed to escape from the country. (ANI/Sputnik)
According to police, the unknown assailants, who were on a motorcycle, opened fire on local journalist, Murtaza Shar, in the Jhol area of Sanghar district, ARY News reported.

He suffered injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died during treatment. The attackers fled the scene.

Police have termed the killing of a journalist as a result of an old enmity and have arrested prime suspect Ali Nawaz Shar. The police also recovered a weapon from his possession, ARY News reported.

A further investigation into the incident is underway, said the police.

Meanwhile, last week, local journalist, Hasnain Shah was shot dead outside Lahore Press Club (LPC) inciting condemnation from media persons across the spectrum.

Hasnain was a crime reporter on a private TV channel and also a member of the LPC. (ANI)
The incident took place within the jurisdiction of Gulbahar police station. The police said William Siraj was a pastor at a local church that fell within the jurisdiction of Chamkani police station in the provincial capital, The Express Tribune reported.

They said the pastors were attacked on the Ring Road when they were travelling in a van to run a personal errand.

The Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson also confirmed the death of Pastor Siraj. The spokesperson further stated that another person named Patrick was slightly wounded and was in a stable condition, The Express Tribune reported.

The dead body has been handed over to the family of the pastor while the injured person was being treated accordingly, the hospital administration said.

Meanwhile, a heavy contingent of police arrived on the murder scene. According to the police, they have started a search operation in the area.

According to The Express Tribune, they added that entry and exit points were also under surveillance to nab any suspicious person. The cameras installed in the nearby market will also be examined by the investigation team. (ANI)
"The test-fire was aimed to selectively evaluate the missile being produced and deployed and to verify the overall accuracy of the weapon system," Yonhap quoted the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying on Monday.

According to the South Korean military, the missile was fired from North Korea's Jagang Province toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Sunday and flew about 800 km (497 miles) with the maximum altitude reaching 2,000 km (1,243 miles). On Sunday, the same estimates were given by Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, who said that the missile fell outside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after its estimated 30-minute flight.

"It [the test launch] confirmed the accuracy, security and effectiveness of the operation of the Hwasong 12-type weapon system under production," Yonhap quoted KCNA as saying on Monday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not attend the Sunday test-firing, Yonhap specified. (ANI/Sputnik)
US President Joe Biden on Sunday (local time) called for the release of US Navy veteran Mark Frerichs, who was taken hostage by Taliban in Afghanistan nearly two years ago. "Two years ago tomorrow, U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs was taken hostage in Afghanistan. A civil engineer, he spent a decade helping the people of Afghanistan. He has done nothing wrong. And yet, for two years the Taliban has held him captive," Biden said in a statement. The statement said "Mark is a native of Illinois. A son. A brother. And his family has now endured two gut-wrenching years--praying for his safety, wondering where and how he is, aching for his return." Biden said that the hostage-taking is an act of particular "cruelty and cowardice". "Threatening the safety of Americans or any innocent civilians is always unacceptable, and hostage-taking is an act of particular cruelty and cowardice. The Taliban must immediately release Mark before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy. This is not negotiable," read the statement. "To Mark, and to all the Americans being held hostage and wrongfully detained overseas, and to all their families and friends who are enduring the nightmare of their absence: know that my administration will continue to work steadfastly until every American being unjustly held against their will comes home," the statement added. The Taliban took over control of Kabul on August 15 last year and following this the country has been battered by deepening economic, humanitarian and security crisis. 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 United States has raised the release of US Navy veteran Mark Frerichs, who was taken hostage in Afghanistan nearly two years ago, in every meeting with the Taliban, said State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Sunday (local time), adding that the legitimacy the Taliban seek is impossible to consider until they hold a US citizen hostage. "Tomorrow marks two years since U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs was taken hostage. Mark is a civil engineer who was helping with construction projects for the benefit of the Afghan people when he was taken captive. Despite his innocence, he remains held hostage by the Taliban and its affiliates," Price said in a statement to mark the second anniversary of the kidnapping on Monday. "The United States has raised Mark's case in every meeting with the Taliban, and we have been clear that the legitimacy the Taliban seek is impossible to consider while they hold a U.S. citizen hostage. His release is among our core, non-negotiable priorities. We will continue to send a clear message to Taliban leadership: immediately and safely release Mark and disavow the practice of hostage-taking," the statement added. The statement came as Afghanistan faces a humanitarian crisis following the US withdrawal in August last year. 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)
ASHEVILLE - One man is dead and another is in critical condition Jan. 30 after what Asheville police say was a double shooting.

Carl Lee Ellington Jr., 24, died at Mission Hospital after being shot multiple times early Jan. 30, according to a news release from Asheville Police Department.

Staekwon Tyjai Taylor, 23, also had multiple gunshot wounds, police say, and was in critical condition at Mission Hospital.

Police responded to a report of gunshot wounds at 3:38 a.m. Jan. 30 at the 100 block of Spruce Hill Lane in East Asheville, where they found Ellington and Taylor, who were transported to Mission Hospital, according to the release.

Police continue to investigate the incident. Anyone with information about the shooting can provide it anonymously by texting TIP2APD to 847411 or via the TIP2APD smartphone app. People also can call APD at 828-252-1110.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: One man dead, one in critical condition after Asheville shooting
To celebrate Chinese New Year, starting Feb. 1, 2022, Asian Pop-Up Cinema, a semi-annual Asian film festival, will present a Happy Chinese New Year free streaming series for U.S. and Canadian viewers.

Films chosen by the festival's founder and executive director, Sophia Wong Boccio, include three North American premieres and three special encore films, "Continuing our tradition of celebrating the Chinese New Year with some Chinese films with significant cultural and historical aspects," Wong Boccio said, " We are happy to present three films that have never before exhibited in North America."

Premiering are two exploratory documentaries and one feature film -- "The Road of China," a collection of observational shorts by international youth who visited China as part of an ongoing international cultural exchange program "Looking China Youth Film Project"; "Spring City," capturing the first-person explorations of Kunming, Yunnan province, by director He Yanqing; and "Life of Buda," a feature-length drama based on the true story of a grassland hero and the establishment of China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

The three encore feature films include Wei Shujun's "Striding into the Wind," Liu Ze's "Being Mortal," and Chinese anthology blockbuster "My People, My Country."

The movies will be streamed Feb. 1-15, and are free to watch. The event is powered by the Smart Cinema USA platform and sponsored by the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago. Viewers can watch from anywhere in North America. All films have English subtitles.
What are your biggest regrets?

This might be one of the more obvious questions a journalist can ask an actor, but the answer can often be hugely revealing.

Just because an actor starred in an acclaimed film doesnt necessarily mean they reflect upon it positively. In fact, it seems that some actors are even more critical of their own appearance in otherwise good films because of the high quality elsewhere.

Here are 11 actors who have express regret over their roles in certain films.

Timothee Chalamet  A Rainy Day in New York (2019)

Timothee Chalamet is one of a few actors to have expressed regret working with Woody Allen as historic allegations made against the director, by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow, were brought back into the spotlight following the #MeToo movement. Chalamet said: I dont want to profit from my work on the film, and to that end, I am going to donate my entire salary to three charities: Times Up, the LGBT Centre in New York, and RAINN. He apologised for accepting the role, stating: That is not something that sits easily with me in the current or indeed any moment, and I am profoundly sorry. Its a small gesture and not one intended as close to compensation.

Matt Damon  The Bourne Ultimatum (200)

Matt Damons original Bourne trilogy won plaudits from critics around the world. The actor, though, has spoken unkindly about the third film, saying the original script, written by director Tony Gilroy, was awful. Its really the studios fault for putting themselves in that position, Damon told GQ. I dont blame Tony for taking a boatload of money and handing in what he handed in. Its just that it was unreadable. This is a career-ender. I mean, I could put this thing up on eBay and it would be game over for that dude. Its terrible. Its really embarrassing. He was having a go, basically, and he took his money and left.

Matt Damon had candid words about The Bourne Ultimatum (Getty Images)

Zac Efron  High School Musical (2006-08)

Most people know Zac Efron as Troy Bolton from High School Musical. Zac Efron, though, wishes you knew him for something else. I step back and look at myself and I still want to kick that guys ass sometimes, he told Mens Fitness. Hes done some kind of cool things with some cool people  he did that one thing that was funny  but, I mean, hes still just that f***ing kid from High School Musical.

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Sally Field  The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

The Amazing Spider-Man series, starring Andrew Garfield as the eponymous web-slinger, was supposed to launch a cinematic universe to match the Avengers. There were even rumours of an Aunt May film entering production  not that the actor who played Aunt May, Sally Field, would have been thrilled by that. Its really hard to find a three-dimensional character in it, she told Howard Stern of playing the character, and you work it as much as you can, but you cant put 10 pounds of s** in a five-pound bag.

Sally Field has some issues with her role in The Amazing Spider-Man (AFP/Getty)

Harrison Ford  Blade Runner (1982)

There are seven cuts of Blade Runner, one of which features Harrison Fords character, Rick Deckard, narrating scenes. Another  the one director Ridley Scott approves of  is bleaker and does not have Deckard explaining events. Ford does not care for either version. I didnt like the movie one way or the other, with or without, he said in 2017, before the release of Blade Runner 2049. I played a detective who did not have any detecting to do. In terms of how I related to the material, I found it very difficult. There was stuff that was going on that was really nuts.

Shia LaBeouf  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Indiana Jones fans had high expectations for the fourth film. Many were left feeling disappointed by the science-fiction adventure. I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished, LaBeouf later told LA Times. You get to monkey-swinging and things like that and you can blame it on the writer and you can blame it on Steven [Spielberg]. But the actors job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldnt do it. So thats my fault. Simple.

Christopher Plummer  The Sound of Music (1965)

The Sound of Music remains one of the most beloved films of all time. Christopher Plummer, though, hated playing Captain von Trapp. I think the part in The Sound of Music was the toughest, he told The Hollywood Reporter. Because it was so awful and sentimental and gooey. You had to work terribly hard to try and infuse some miniscule bit of humour into it.

Daniel Radcliffe  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Daniel Radcliffe was only 11 years old when he was cast as Harry Potter. That has not prevented the actor from looking back at those films with a critical eye. Im just not very good in [The Half Blood Prince], he told Playboy in 2012. I hate it. My acting is very one-note and I can see I got complacent and what I was trying to do just didnt come across. My best film is the fifth one [Order of the Phoenix] because I can see a progression.

Daniel Radcliffe really doesnt like one of his performances in the Harry Potter franchise (Getty Images for WarnerMedia)

Eddie Redmayne  The Danish Girl (2015)

British actor Eddie Redmayne recently told The Sunday Times that he wouldnt take the role of a trans woman if he was offered it now. He played trans artist Lili Elbe in the film, ands received an Oscar nomination. However, while he acknowledged that he made that film with the best intentions, he said: I think it was a mistake. He stated: The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people dont have a chair at the table. There must be a levelling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.

Kate Winslet  Titanic (1997)

Kate Winslet does not mind Titanic as a film. Her performance as Rose is a completely different matter. Every single scene, Im like really, really? You did it like that? Oh my God. Even my American accent, I cant listen to it. Its awful, she once told The Telegraph. Hopefully its so much better now. It sounds terribly self-indulgent but actors do tend to be very self-critical. I have a hard time watching any of my performances, but watching Titanic I was just like, Oh God, I want to do that again.

Idris Elba - The Wire (2002-08)

OK, so this one isnt a film but Idris Elba had some regrets over the way his character in The Wire was received. Elba receive huge acclaim for playing Stringer Bell in the HBO series  however, during an appearance on James OBriens podcast alongside David Lammy, he questioned viewers reaction to the role. Were all idolising Stringer Bell, but who are we really idolising? he asked, adding: Are we idolising a smart drug dealer or a dumb narcotics dealer? What are we saying here? Is it OK to pump a community full of heroin but because youre smart at it, that makes you cool? That was a problem for me.

Read more:

37 best film twists we never saw coming

37 films that are genuinely scary
Marlon priest, a US Air Force veteran, pleaded guilty to two counts of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer. Getty Images

Nine people died in a fatal car crash in North Las Vegas on Saturday, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Officials said a driver of a Dodge Challenger sped through a red light and hit multiple vehicles.

The deceased victims were identified as juveniles to middle-aged adults, reports said.

Nine people died in North Las Vegas, Nevada over the weekend after a car sped through a red light and crashed into several vehicles in what authorities described as a "mass-casualty traffic collision."

Officials officers responded to the scene of the deadly six-car crash shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

According to the report, a Dodge Challenger was speeding north on Commerce Street before running through the light and colliding with other cars.

"And, with that, it struck multiple vehicles and, unfortunately, it was a chaotic event," Alexander Cuevas, North Las Vegas Police public information officer, said at a news conference on Saturday, ABC News reported.

Fifteen people were impacted by the crash, officials said, and two people at the scene were transported to a local hospital where one was pronounced dead and the other remained in critical condition, according to reports.

The driver of the Dodge Challenger also died in the fatal collision. The deceased victims range from juveniles to middle-aged adults, ABC News reported.

"We have not seen a mass-casualty traffic collision like this before," Cuevas told the outlet.

The North Las Vegas Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider
Codington County Commission

Meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday, in the commission chambers at the Codington County Courthouse, 14 First Ave. S.E. Agenda items of note are:

Hear monthly reports for extension and veteran services.

Consider resolution for Rangeland Fire Assistance.

Consider agreement between the county and the South Dakota Department of Public Safety to update the county's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan and a letter of agreement with First District Association of Local Governments to develop the plan.

For a full agenda, visit codington.org/commissioners-agenda/

Watertown Regional Library Board of Trustees

Meets at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday in the community room of the Watertown Regional Library, 160 Sixth St. N.E.

For a full agenda, visit watertown.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingTypeList.aspx

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Agendas for the week of Jan. 31
Happy Sunday! Here's your five-minute guide to the news for Jan. 30.

First, today's weather: Sun giving way to clouds. High: 30 Low: 13.

 Are you a local real estate agent? Let us help you generate leads, build your brand in Oak Park-River Forest and stand apart from the competition. Click here to learn more.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Oak Park-River Forest:

1. Health officials reported 494 new COVID-19 cases in Oak Park this week, down about 13 percent from last Fridays report. According to the health department, about one third of positive tests were in children younger than 13. (VOP)

2. Oak Parks four Catholic parishes will consolidate into two communities, the Archdiocese of Chicago confirmed Friday night. Effective July 1, Ascension and St. Edmund Parishes will unite into one community. St. Catherine/St. Lucy will join St. Giles Parish as a combined parish. (Ascension)

3. Thieves attacked a Madison Street liquor store clerk on Jan. 11, according to the Forest Park Police Departments latest crime report. Two men assaulted the store employee after he asked them to leave for attempting to steal tequila. (Forest Park Review)

4. The Oak Park and River Forest High School board is figuring out funding for renovations and repairs over the next 10 years. At a Jan. 13 meeting, Superintendent Greg Johnson laid out several options to pay for roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC repairs at OPRF over a decade. (Wednesday Journal)

5. An under-used parking structure on the West Side will be replaced with a six-story affordable housing building, Block Club Chicago reports. The Grace Manor Apartment plan was approved this week by the Chicago Plan Commission. (Austin Weekly News)

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

Oak Park Temple has its annual meeting. (10:30 a.m.)

Happy Hour at The Little Gem Cafe . (3:30 p.m.)

Dana Legg Stage Band performs at FitzGeralds. (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

River Forest Public Library canceled todays Global Film Forum event. ( RFPL )

Several cats are up for adoption at Catvando in Maywood. ( Patch )

St. Giles and Ascension are marking the start of Catholic Schools Week with open houses. ( St. Giles/ Ascension )

OPRF High School recognized Holocaust Remembrance Day this week. ( OPRFHS )

Oak Park Township is loaning free medical equipment including canes, walkers, shower chairs and wheelchairs. (VOP)

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That's all for today, OPRF! See you tomorrow for more local stories.

 Georgi Presecky



About me: Georgi is a Chicago-based newsletter writer and partner content curator. She spent five years on the entertainment beat for FF2 Media covering film festivals across the U.S. Her feature articles have been recognized with awards from the Illinois Women's Press Association and National Federation of Press Women. As editor-in-chief of the Lewis University newspaper, she and her staff earned honors from the Associated Collegiate Press and American Scholastic Press Associations. She began working for Patch in 2019.

This article originally appeared on the Oak Park-River Forest Patch
Two bank robbers made off with an unknown amount of money in Arlington just before noon Saturday but were arrested later in the day, Arlington police said in a statement.

Police were notified about the bank robbery in the 5500 block of W. Arkansas Lane around 12:55 p.m. Saturday by employees who said they were robbed at gunpoint, according to the statement.

The stolen money was recovered when police arrested the robbers at an apartment complex in the 1400 block of Randol Crossing Lane, in Fort Worth and near Arlington, according to the statement.

Fort Worth police assisted with the arrest, a spokesman for that department said.

Arlington police said they were able to determine the robbers were in the apartment complex when they found a vehicle matching a description given by witnesses of the robbery.

The FBI has taken over investigation of the crime because bank robberies are a federal crime, police said. The names of the people arrested have not been released.
Looking at Australian Unity Office Fund's (ASX:AOF ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net buyers. That is, there were more number of shares purchased by insiders than there were sold.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Australian Unity Office Fund

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Australian Unity Office Fund

The insider Sam Tarascio made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$156k worth of shares at a price of AU$2.40 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being AU$2.24). While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Sam Tarascio was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 5.9% of Australian Unity Office Fund shares, worth about AU$22m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

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What Might The Insider Transactions At Australian Unity Office Fund Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Australian Unity Office Fund insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders own shares in Australian Unity Office Fund and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Australian Unity Office Fund (including 2 which are potentially serious).

But note: Australian Unity Office Fund may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
A look at some of today's top stories, the weather forecast and a peek back in history.

A first edition 2023 Corvette Z06 hit the Barrett-Jackson auction on Saturday along with slew of sleek cars.

"Seasonable and pleasant" weather is expected in the Phoenix area, but there will be a chance of overnight light rain.

Is Tom Brady really retiring? Who knows? Reporting on the story turned into a media mess.

Today, you can expect it to be cloudy, with a high near 68 degrees. It's expected to be partly cloudy with a passing shower at night, with a low near 56 degrees. Get the full forecast here.

For more stories that matter, subscribe to azcentral.com.

Today in history

On this date in 1897, a womans suffrage bill was introduced in the Territorial Legislature and referred to the Committee on Mines and Mining.

In 1947, Joaquin Lopez became the first Papago Indian to be ordained a minister in the Protestant church.

In 1947, the housing situation in Tucson was reported to be so critical that 2,000 people were sleeping in cars, trucks, tents and in bus and railroad depots.

In 1945, during World War II, a Soviet submarine torpedoed the German ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic Sea with the loss of more than 9,000 lives, most of them war refugees; roughly 1,000 people survived.

In 1981, an estimated 2 million New Yorkers turned out for a ticker tape parade honoring the American hostages freed from Iran.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ Briefing: See sleek cars auctioned at Barrett-Jackson on Saturday
R. Bruce Anderson

There has been a rash of peculiar circumstances involving the public schools, recently, and a group of people who have as their stated goal the provision of the tools and support needed to empower citizens to defend their Constitutional rights.

This group, County Citizens Defending Freedom-USA or CCDF-USA, have as their raison d'etre to do as patriots have done throughout Americas history  to support and champion American citizens whose freedom and liberty have been breached. Strong words. And perhaps a tall order. Be that as it may, I think we might question at least one of the things they have rather forcefully proposed: the removal of a selection of books from our school library shelves because they are morally reprehensible, or inappropriate, for the readers of said volumes.

Let me first make clear that the issue involves minor children  for whom parents are almost wholly responsible  and not adults. The schools involved are not colleges and universities, but rather kindergarten through 12th grade schools, with an emphasis on the younger crowd. Let me also predicate this on another firmly held conviction: that parents and other caretakers of young children have a deep responsibility to look into what the schools are putting into the heads of their children. PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, school board meetings and the like should always be attended religiously by any concerned parent  and school board members that do not live up to their jobs should be forced out at the polls.

I remember a weird story that circulated when I was a kid in Malawi  that in the old Union of South Africa, the government had banned The Red Badge of Courage because the censors, without reading it, thought it was suspect to be communist literature. The story was apocryphal of course  and told on the cocktail party circuit rather than the news  but it was at least sometimes believed, because that board of censors had done almost equally stupid and pigheaded things in the past. I assume that the censorious protagonists in this little drama have actually read the books that they are objecting to, so as to not fall prey to a similar faux pas.

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I must admit that, having briefly scanned the list, I had not. But I feel pretty sure that the educators who placed these books likely have. I trust them: theyre pros, they know the kids, and have their best interests at heart. For me, this would be enough  but I understand not everyone shares this trust, and I honestly laud those that would read through such a catalogue to weed out the ones that theyd prefer their kids did not read. And demand that the library refuse them access to them.

But thats where the problem starts: it is not only their kids that are affected by removal.

Blanket bans of reading material  morally suspect or otherwise  is not the American way. We have an absolute right to choose what we read, and nearly the same right to object to things our children might be forced (or select) to read in a school library. But to deny the right of other parents to exercise that same right is to create, rather than support, American citizens whose freedom and liberty have been breached.

Americans have held closely to the ideal of the direct connection between parent, community, and schools, and I wholeheartedly support this. But while some few folks seem almost indifferent to any and all aspects of their kids education, the reverse is true with this group. They are not only concerned with the educational experience of their own children, but suspiciously  perhaps politically - concerned about the educational experience of the children of other people. Possibly yours.

The problem is not that the books be made unavailable to the children of the members of CCDF (Im sure this can be arranged), but that they would be made unavailable to everyones children.

R. Bruce Anderson is the Dr. Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay, Jr. Endowed Chair in American History, Government, and Civics and Miller Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Florida Southern College. He is also a columnist for The Ledger and political consultant and on-air commentator for WLKF Radio.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Blanket book bans are not the American way
You are here: Business

China will help internet enterprises develop healthily and sustainably by enhancing inter-department coordination and implementing favorable policies, said the country's top cyberspace regulator.

The Cyberspace Administration of China discussed the topic with three government departments and heads of internet enterprises at a seminar on Friday.

The administration will work closely with relevant departments to improve regulation methods and safeguard the rights and interests of the enterprises, said Zhuang Rongwen, head of the administration.

Zhuang said China's internet enterprises have broad prospects for development, and called on all such enterprises to seize opportunities and operate strictly under the law.
"Starr's Wonderful Discovery" by Trey Jefferies and Andres Cornejo

Discover

Jacksonville debut childrens author Trey Jefferies introduces his new book, Starrs Wonderful Discovery, at 10 a.m. Saturday at Storytime in The Square at Balis Park, 1999 San Marco Blvd. He will sign the book at San Marco Books and More, 1971 San Marco Blvd., after the reading.

Signing

Childrens author Eileen Erikson, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Atlantic Beach Arts Market, 10805 Mayport Road, Atlantic Beach.

Honors

St. Augustine poet and author Ann Browning Masters short story Holly won a first place in the Florida Writers Foundations Colors of the Holidays writing contest. See

floridawritersfoundation.net/colors-of-theholidays-2/ to read it.

Now out

All the Salt in the Sea by St. Augustine author Tammy Harrow.

Virtual

 Author Tahereh Mafi discusses The Woven Kingdom, the first in a romantic fantasy trilogy inspired by Persian mythology, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Barnes & Noble online, ticketed, bntaherehmafi.eventbrite.com

 Author Melissa de la Cruz discusses The Stolen Slippers, book 2 of her Never After series where real life and fairy tales collide, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Barnes & Noble online, ticketed, bnmelissadelacruz.eventbrite.com

 Author Ruta Sepetys discusses her new thriller I Must Betray You, 7 p.m. Thursday, Barnes & Noble online, ticketed, bnrutasepetys.eventbrite.com

 Author Brene Brown introduces her book Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, 8 p.m. Thursday on Zoom. See San Marco Books and Mores website for more info.

 Storytime with Ms. Dearsha, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Story & Song Facebook Live.

Send Bookmarks information to brandysbookmarks1@outlook.com (dont forget the 1). Announcements must arrive seven days before the Sunday of publication. Events free and open to all unless stated and always subject to change.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville writer to debut new kids' book Saturday in San Marco
FireLake Discount Foods always looks for new ways to serve its customers, such as including EBT payments with online shopping.

Demand for online shopping exploded during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Customers began ordering via mobile devices to purchase food items and household goods safely and easily without entering a store. However, one group of customers learned many grocery stores in Oklahoma did not accept state food benefits cards online to purchase groceries.

Fortunately, Citizen Potawatomi Nations FireLake Discount Foods has since removed that barrier. In 2021, the Tribes store joined a group of Oklahoma grocers that began accepting online purchases through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

We always wanted to be a part of it, said FireLake Foods Director Richard Driskell. We were one of the first independent locations in the state when they opened it up.

While FireLake Discount Foods customers already order groceries online, they lacked the ability to make those purchases using SNAPs electronic benefits transfer cards, Driskell explained. Customers either had to use another form of payment or come to the store during a pandemic, potentially risking infection.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services applied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, to allow recipients to order and pay for groceries online. OKDHS then began working with a small group of independent grocers to accept SNAPs EBT cards online.

They had a number of (chain) pilot stores during nationwide testing, but they opened it up to allow independent stores to apply (for the program), Driskell said.

We are so thankful to FireLake Discount Foods, and all the other Oklahoma grocers, who have begun accepting SNAP food benefits for online purchases, said Casey White, OKDHS spokesperson. Particularly during COVID-19, our customers found online purchasing to be an easier and safer way to keep food on their families tables.

Driskell said FDF first began the process to accept online EBT transactions in July 2020 and started allowing the new form of electronic payment by spring 2021. Many people stayed home during quarantine periods, and FDF began to see a noticeable increase in online grocery orders.

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It really took off during COVID, Driskell said.

With the effects of the pandemic somewhat easing and the demand for online shopping returning to normal levels, Driskell estimated about five to 10 shoppers a day use the online EBT payment option.

That number is growing since weve advertised, and were letting people know in as many different ways as we can, he said. We have had people who use EBT tell us its a great resource.

Online ordering with EBT gives people another payment option besides their bank account or credit card. SNAP customers also said they choose online shopping strictly for the convenience factor, Driskell said.

If you have younger kids, its challenging for a mother or father to shop and corral the kids at the same time. Theyre glad its available, he said.

According to OKDHS, 20,331 individuals in Pottawatomie County received SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2021. During that same period, 9,711 families received assistance in the county.

The Oklahoma Policy Institute reports that 28 percent of county residents receive food benefits, ranking 22nd among the states 77 counties.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture fully funds SNAP benefits to help low-income families supplement their food budgets, White said. Most recipients are children, older adults and individuals with disabilities, including disabled military veterans.

This article originally appeared on The Shawnee News-Star: FireLake Foods now offers convenience to state SNAP recipients
Area residents can vote at any one of the voting centers in the county.

Rita Noel drew one challenger in her bid to remain the Justice of the Peace in Precinct 4 in Grayson County. Both Noel and Christina Fox filed in the Republican primary set for March 1.

No Democrat filed for the seat.

Noel's campaign finance report showed she has collected $2,250 in contributions and spent $2,393 on her campaign.

Fox filed a campaign treasurer designation but did not file a finance report indicating how much her campaign has taken in from supporters or how much she spent.

Rita Noel

Noel itemized contributions of over $100 from TREPAC/Texas Realtors in Austin,$1,000; Bob Jarvis of Sherman, $500; Joe & Megan Brown of Sherman, $250 and WC and Carolyn Nix of Tioga, $500.

She listed the following expenses: Grayson County Republican Part, $375 for filing fee;Fast Signs Advertising in Sherman, $53 for magnetic signs. From her persoal funds, Noel reported spending $1,701 at Super Cheap Signs in Austin for signs and $216 at Vista Print for political cards and business cards.

Fox did not respond to several calls made to her campaign for a photo or additional information.

This article originally appeared on Herald Democrat: Campaign finances reported in race for Justice of Peace Precinct 4
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada will temporarily withdraw non-essential Canadian employees and remaining dependents from its embassy in Ukraine, the foreign ministry said on Sunday, amid an international standoff over Russian troops massed on the country's borders.

"As we continue to closely monitor the situation, our highest priority remains the safety and security of Canadians. Our officials stand ready to provide consular assistance to Canadian citizens, as required," the ministry said in a statement.

The embassy in Kyiv remains open, it said.

Canada said last week it will reinforce the team at the Canadian Embassy with experts in security, conflict management, democratic reform and consular services.

"Together, they will increase our diplomatic capacity and allow us to continue to assess and respond to the evolving situation in support of Ukraine," it said.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Chizu Nomiyama)
A 33-year-old man died early Saturday morning in a one-vehicle crash on Route 77 in Pembroke, Genesee County.

Genesee County sheriff's deputies were summoned to the scene just after 3 a.m. Saturday. Deputies said that Jordan E. Terkel of Corfu, Genesee County, was driving south on Route 77 when he drove off the east shoulder of the road and struck a utility pole.

Terkel, who was alone in his vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff's office.

Further details of the crash were not released.

Contact Victoria Freile at vfreile@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @vfreile and Instagram @vfreile. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Jordan Terkel dies in one-car crash in Pembroke NY
After last years unruly spring break on South Beach, the Miami Beach city commission passed an ordinance that allowed for the arrest of people who interrupt and get too close to cops doing their job on the streets. The result: Miami Beach police, over a crowded weekend in July, arrested over a dozen people, almost all Black and in the process of video recording police officers.

Since then, nearly every one of those cases has been quietly dropped. But in one of the few remaining cases, the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers asked a court to dismiss the case against an Ohio tourist, saying the ordinance unconstitutionally punished the right to free speech.

Given the opportunity to defend the law in court, Miami Beachs city prosecutor last week backed down  simply dropping the case.

The legal fight over the validity of the controversial ordinance isnt over. The FACDL has now filed the same challenge in another case, that of a homeless woman arrested on the same weekend. The legal challenge is but the latest tension point involving Miami Beachs city prosecution program, which critics say has unfairly targeted minorities and homeless people.

Everybody is brave at a commission meeting  but the real fight happens in the courtroom, said Alex Saiz, of the Florida Justice Center, which represents the homeless woman and is working with the FACDL. The city cant possibly think that this law is constitutional, thats why they wont stand behind this law.

The new challenge comes in the case of Rebecca Kowalcyzk, 48. No hearing date has been set yet for the constitutional challenge. The case is set before Miami-Dade County Judge Betsy Alvarez-Zane.

The Miami Beach city commission, aiming to appear tough on crime, in recent months has voted to dramatically expand the citys prosecution program, including prosecuting misdemeanor battery, criminal mischief and indecent-exposure cases.

After the raucous spring break, Miami Beachs city commission in June passed an ordinance making it illegal to approach or remain within 20 feet of a Miami Beach police officer with the intent to impede, provoke or harass an officer engaged in lawful duties, after receiving a warning. Its punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to 60 days in jail.

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But the ordinance didnt gain widespread attention until after a series of rough and questionable arrests at the Royal Palm hotel on July 26. In a case that drew national attention, two New York men were arrested under the same ordinance as they video recorded police officers at the hotel.

In the aftermath, five Miami Beach police officers wound up charged with misdemeanor battery after prosecutors said they used excessive force in making arrests. The State Attorneys Office dropped both ordinance cases against the New York men, who had also been charged with state crimes. State prosecutors will handle the municipal cases if they are accompanied by state charges.

The Miami Beach Police Department pushed to implement the ordinance in time to deal with expected crowds in town for the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival. A Herald review of 13 arrests over that weekend showed all of them were of Black people, and most were of people filming officers.

Court records show that prosecutors  state and municipal  have dropped all 13 of those ordinance cases. That includes the case of Janae Senterswanson, 23, who was arrested after cops said she refused to leave the 20-foot zone as officers were investigating a disturbance on Ocean Drive. The case lingered for months as the Florida Justice Center, which represents people for free, signed on to represent her.

The FACDL also pitched in, filing a motion to dismiss the case, saying theres no way to constitutionally declare an on-the-spot 20-foot no-go zone in a city as crowded with tourists as Miami Beach.

It criminalizes a substantial amount of innocent conduct, FACDL lawyer Dan Tibbitt wrote. The bottom line is that Americans have the right to remain within 20 feet of police officers and have the right to engage in conduct that may annoy police officers.

And, he argued, the language of the ordinance is so vague it criminalizes free speech. How is a citizen to know what will constitute intent to harass a police officer rather than just lawfully disagree with them? he wrote.

The Miami Beach City Attorneys Office, however, did not fight for the ordinance in her case. Instead, six months after Senterswansons arrest, it dropped the charge last Monday. The city, in a statement, insisted it had nothing to do with the constitutional challenge.

Although the Police Department had probable cause for the arrest of Ms. Senterswanson, after thoroughly reviewing the case it was determined that the City should not proceed with this prosecution based upon the available evidence and the totality of the circumstances, the city said. Nonetheless, the City remains confident in the validity of its ordinance and is prepared to defend its constitutionality against any challenge.

The city did not explain why it took six months to decide the case was too weak to prosecute.
Bez impressed the judges with his action-packed routine. (ITV)

Bez impressed the Dancing On Ice judges with a stunt-filled Indiana Jones inspired routine for Movies Week.

The Happy Mondays star - still wearing his crash helmet beneath his Indiana Jones-style fedora hat - performed twirls, whip-cracking and a forward roll in his action-packed routine.

Bez, 57, missed five days of rehearsals after testing positive for COVID-19 and being forced to self-isolate.

Read more: Dancing On Ice: Rachel Stevens performs in front of children for first time ever

Before his Movies Week routine he said: "I've had the old lurgy. Five days off the ice and I've got to find my feet again. I'm bringing some new elements in to show ive improved as a skater."

Bez's Indiana Jones routine was packed with stunts. (ITV/Shutterstock)

But he wowed the judges with his Raiders Of The Lost Ark performance which featured snakes and a giant rolling boulder.

The judges all awarded him 4.5/10 - giving him 18/40, up 5.5 points from his debut performance which earnt him 12.5/40.

Bez exclaimed: "I cant believe them scores I was aiming for 4 but 4.5 that's absolutely surpassed them."

Director Bez shouts FINAL CALL, FINAL CALL....



Can all those ready for #DancingOnIce report to set right now. We're about to begin with an EPIC Movie Week. Take your seats and pour the popcorn... @ITV and @WeAreStv pic.twitter.com/bpt1qJJyf7  Dancing on Ice (@dancingonice) January 30, 2022

When presenter Holly Willoughby commented on his large hat he admitted: "That's got my safety gear underneath - it's got my helmet under it!"

Head judge Christopher Dean said: "I've got to say you're getting better. Stop, drop and roll, whips, it was all there. Please carry on, I can't wait for next week."

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Judge Ashley Banjo said: "You are a legend! You do so much on your own and you haven't fallen over. That was a mini movie - you're getting chased by snakes and boulders! You had it al.

Jayne Torvill told him: "The dive into this roll, that takes a lot of guts."

Bez is proving a favourite with the judges on Dancing On Ice, despite his low scores. (ITV)

And Oti Mabuse said: "Bez you are the king of performance!"

Earlier in the show Rachel Stevens made her skating debut after she injured her wrist in rehearsal.

Pussycat Kimberly Wyatt was top of the leaderboard for her performance to The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman.

Bez will also make his return after isolating with COVID - he did not actually miss any performances as he had skated in the first group of celebrities to open the series in week one, but was not able to attend the studio last week to see the second half of the group take to the ice.

Olympic BMX rider Kye Whyte announced over the weekend he would not be taking part in this week's show due to medical advice after injuring his knee in training.

Kye Whyte is out of 'Dancing On Ice' this weekend with a knee injury. (ITV)

A Dancing On Ice spokesperson said: "During rehearsals for this Sundays show, Kye fell on the ice and sustained an injury and will therefore not perform in this weekends show."

Read more: Kye Whyte pulls out of 'Dancing On Ice' this weekend with knee injury

Last year's Dancing On Ice suffered a record number of celebrity drop-outs, with five celebrities forced to leave the cast over injury and testing positive for COVID, and a number of the pro skaters also injured.

Watch: Bez fall in Dancing On Ice training
You are here: Business

China's civil aviation industry will seek green and low-carbon development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), per a roadmap issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.



This is the first plan on green development for China's civil aviation sector.

It stressed efforts to make civil aviation smarter, low-carbon and resource-efficient to achieve green transformation.

By 2035, the green and low-carbon development system of civil aviation will have been optimized and airport carbon dioxide emissions will have peaked, the roadmap said.

By 2025, the carbon emission intensity of China's civil aviation will continue to decline, the proportion of low-carbon energy consumption will continue to rise and the utilization efficiency of civil aviation resources will improve, it said.

The plan also puts forward eight quantitative predictive indicators for airlines and airports.

China has announced it will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
Former President Donald Trump held a rally on Saturday night in Conroe, Texas.

During his speech at the rally, Donald Trump Jr. said he took his son to make an AR-15.

The firearm was manufactured at F-1 Firearms in Spring, Texas, according to Donald Trump Jr.

During a Trump rally on Saturday in Conroe, Texas, Donald Trump Jr. said he took his 12-year-old son, Donald Trump III, to a gun manufacturer where he got to make his own AR-15.

"Oh, I love Texas. And today, by the way, I got to do the most Texas thing ever," Donald Trump Jr. said during his speech at the rally. "Since we came in late last night, I was able to bring my little son Donny to my buddy Dion's manufacturing facility at F-1 Firearms. And Donny, little kid from New York City, now Florida, thank God, got to make his own AR-15."

F-1 Firearms is a semi-automatic weapon systems manufacturer based in Spring, Texas, about 20 minutes south of the rally location. Dion Podgurny serves as CEO of the company, according to F-1 Firearms social media accounts.

Representatives for the Trumps and F1 Firearms did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Nihilism was notably cited during U.S. Senate deliberations after rioting Trump supporters had been cleared from the Capitol.

Dont let nihilists become your drug dealers, exhorted Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse. There are some who want to burn it all down.  Dont let them be your prophets.

How else to describe the incendiary rhetoric and grievances that Donald Trump has peddled since November? What else to call the denial of the electorates will and his deep disdain for American institutions and traditions?

In 2016, I wrote about how Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky had, in his work, explored what happens to society when people who rise to power lack any semblance of ideological or moral convictions and view society as bereft of meaning. I saw eerie similarities with Trumps actions and rhetoric on the campaign trail.

Fast-forward four years, and I believe the warnings of Dostoevsky  particularly in his most most political novel, Demons, published in 1872  hold truer than ever.

Although set in a sleepy provincial Russian town, Demons serves as a broader allegory for how thirst for power in some people, combined with the indifference and disavowal of responsibility by others, amount to a devastating nihilism that consumes society, fostering chaos and costing lives.

Power for powers sake

Before Demons, Dostoevsky had been writing a novel about faith, The Life of a Great Sinner.

But then a disturbing public trial spurred him in a more overtly political direction. A young student had been murdered by members of a revolutionary group, The Organization of the Peoples Vengeance, at the behest of their leader, Sergei Nechaev.

Dostoevsky was appalled that politics could be dehumanizing to the point of murder. His focus turned not only to moral questions but also to political demagoguery, which, he argued, if left unchecked, could result in devastating loss of life.

The result was Demons. It featured two protagonists: Pyotr Verkhovensky, a former student with no political convictions beyond a lust for power, and Nikolai Stavrogin, a man so morally numb and emotionally detached that he is incapable of purposeful action and stands idly by as violence engulfs his society.

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Through these two figures, Dostoevsky tells a broader story about the many flavors of nihilism. Pyotr infiltrates the towns local social circles, recruits a group of disciples to a revolutionary group and spins lies to band them together so they may do his bidding. Pretending to lead a broad movement of international socialism, Pyotr manipulates those around him into committing violent acts and insurrection against the local government. As a result, one woman is crushed by a mob, a mother and her baby die from chaos and neglect and a fire breaks out that kills multiple others.

Different townspeople espouse multiple and contradictory ideologies; none translates into purposeful action. Instead, they merely leave characters whiplashed and susceptible to being instrumentalized by Pyotor, the master manipulator.

The allure of feeling something

But Pyotr would not prevail without the nihilism of Stavrogin, a local nobleman.

Many townspeople see him as a leader with a strong moral compass. Throughout the novel, Pyotr seeks to loop Stavrogin into his quest for power by either doing him favors that corrupt him or hinting that he will install him as dictator once he successfully carries out a revolution.

On some level, Stavrogin knows better: He should be protecting the town and its people. He ultimately fails to do so, out of sheer despondence and because of the emotional appeal of chaos and violence have for him; they seem to jolt him out of the ennui he often appears to feel.

When given the chance to restrain and turn in to the authorities the escaped convict who perpetrates most of the violence in town, Stavrogin captures him only to eventually let him go. Steal more, kill more, he says to a criminal who has already admitted to killing and stealing. Later, when the political climate gets so heated that it seems an insurrection is imminent, he flees town.

In surrendering his responsibility to serve as a moral guardian, Stavrogin becomes complicit in Pyotrs schemes. He ultimately kills himself  perhaps, in part, out of guilt for his passivity and moral indifference.

Among the two men, Pyotr is the authoritarian figure. And he cleverly insists that members of the revolutionary group break the law together, cementing a loyal brotherhood of criminality.

By contrast, Stavrogin is the novels empty center, idly standing by while Pyotr incites violence.

He doesnt help Pyotr. But he doesnt stop him, either.

From nihilism to annihilation

A range of nihilistic justifications  each successively hollower than the rest  seems to have shaped the violence at the U.S. Capitol.

The homegrown American insurrection lacked any sort of ideological foundation. Most ideas fueling it are negations of persons or facts. The immediate rallying cry of the insurrection was the falsehood that the election was stolen. Beyond denying the will of over 80 million people who voted for Joe Biden, this lie also qualifies not as an ideology, but as an absolute denial of truth.

Other ideas fomenting the insurrection  such as America first or MAGA and even white supremacy itself  are quintessentially founded on the denial of others, whether they are immigrants, foreign nationals or persons of color.

From what we have learned since, some of Trumps supporters were even imploring him to cross the Rubicon, a reference to Julius Caesars initiation of the civil war that eventually transformed Rome into a dictatorial empire, expressing a longing to smash American systems and eviscerate the republic.

The only real purpose that seems to have brought the group together was devotion to Donald Trump, who strikes me as the arch-nihilist in all this, the Pyotr Verkhovensky of this American tragedy. Then there are the other public figures who should have known better, who might have helped stop it all, but couldnt and didnt. Some, like Stavrogin, excused themselves and were silent for far too long, as the lie about the election grew bigger and bigger. And others seemed to outright encourage the lie through formalized objections in Congress last week.

Playacting at revolution at the behest of a man seeking to cling to power, the rioters ultimately only managed only to vandalize the building, though they left five people dead in their wake.

Nonetheless, to act violently on the basis of such fictions  and to transgress against the humanity of others for nothing at all  is perhaps the most nihilistic act of them all.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Ani Kokobobo, University of Kansas.

Read more:



Ani Kokobobo 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.
Jennifer Duhon is leading the LSU AgCenters effort to improve the health and wellbeing of central Louisiana residents.

Duhon, a registered dietitian, serves as the family and consumer sciences program coordinator for a 10-parish area and as the nutrition agent for Rapides and Avoyelles parishes.

She has more than 17 years of experience in clinical dietetics, nutrition education, food service management, and agricultural marketing and promotion. She previously worked as an AgCenter nutrition agent from 2012 to 2015.

Jennifer Duhon serves as the LSU AgCenter Central Region Family and Consumer Sciences program coordinator and a nutrition agent for Rapides and Avoyelles parishes.

Duhon has a Bachelor of Science in dietetics and a Master of Science in nutrition, both from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Ive been able to work in many different arenas in nutrition and dietetics, she said. I am excited to be back with the AgCenter and get to work with our clients.

One of Duhons first big projects is a partnership with LSU Alexandria.

We want to provide a healthy community program for students and faculty and help them see we encompass so much more than just nutrition and physical education, she said.

She also plans to do a story walk  an outdoor reading experience with signs that tell a childrens story along a path  at the Alexandria Zoo.

Nutrition agents in her area already have solid relationships with LSU Eunice and Fort Polk that she hopes to build on.

Duhon didnt follow a path to dietetics from the start. She knew she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare and thought pharmacy was the path she would take. In college, she soon realized there was little interaction with clients and patients, and with her outgoing personality, she knew she wanted to work directly with the public.

The career she was destined for was with her all along. Duhons grandmother was a nutrition educator for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program for 40 years.

I didnt connect it until I considered being a dietitian and realized Ive been hearing these nourishing talks all of my life, she said. I switched my major and fell in love with the patient-client connection.

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Duhons first job, which followed in her grandmothers footsteps, was with the WIC program in Alexandria. Her career also took her to the Acadian Medical Center and the National Dairy Council.

She said rejoining the AgCenter is like coming home, and she is excited about working with familiar programs such as Lets Eat for the Health of It and Dining with Diabetes as well as starting up new ones.

She said the influence of social media on health and wellness is a new challenge that wasnt as prevalent during her first stint at the AgCenter.

We are having to fight to provide factual information about what is healthy, she said.

Duhon said she has a passion to help her clients understand the importance of science and research-based information and to not pick up on fads promoted by social media influencers.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Duhon returns to LSU AgCenter to lead nutrition efforts in Central Louisiana
Its been five years since former President Donald Trump implemented his Islamophobic Muslim Ban. A new HuffPost investigation found hundreds of cases of Trumps ban altering the lives of Muslims with irreversible consequences. The racist legislation which targeted citizens from seven countries has left deep scars that will last far longer than the time he spent in office. MSNBCs Ayman Mohyeldin spoke with Rowaida Abdelaziz, National Reporter for HuffPost covering Islamophobia and Immigration, about what can be done to right these wrongs.
Last week we told you about the Tampa Bay Hotel, later the University of Tampa. In 1898, the hotel was selected as a military headquarters and press center for the Spanish-American War. For a month, soldiers drilled across the Hillsborough River and impatiently waited for the order to head for Cuba and destiny. They included future president Theodore Roosevelt and his legendary Rough Riders. But that group was in Tampa for just four days.

Heres more from a 1998 essay by venerable Tampa Bay historian James W. Covington

(1917-2004) in the University of South Floridas Sunland Tribune magazine.

Tampa: The ideal assembly point before deployment

After the sinking of the battleship Maine, the U.S government scrambled for an assembly point for troops who would be sent by ship to Cuba. Tampa was a natural choice. Keep in mind that at the time, it already had 14,000 residents and was a major port, while Miami still was a fishing village of about 1,600. And Key West, at 17,000 residents, was the biggest city in South Florida, but it was way too exposed. Tampa Bay formed a natural barrier to a possible seaborne attack by Spain, and the city was connected to two railroads. So the soldiers came.

While thousands of soldiers stayed in often squalid tent cities, the hotel, which had closed to guests for the season in April, primarily was a headquarters for journalists, Cuban refugees and military attaches.

Tents set up in long avenues covered hundreds of acres. Thats a lot of soldiers  and, after payday, a lot of soldiers with cash to burn, which they did in area businesses, bars, bordellos and gambling houses. More than 200 military guards were deployed to break up fights, stop ransacking and restore discipline.

Rough Riders arrive in Tampa amid chaotic conditions

Tampa was rife with Cuban immigrants, but some were loyal to Spain, making Tampa even more tense. When the Rough Riders arrived in Tampa on June 3, 1898, things were so chaotic there that no one met them to provide food or directions.

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Some of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders at Henry B. Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel (now the University of Tampa), where they were staying before embarking to Cuba and history, 1898.

They were men mostly from the West who became the crack regiment for the undertaking. Roosevelt, who had owned and operated a North Dakota ranch, resigned his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to lead the group. The Rough Riders had assembled in San Antonio for a four-day trip by train  horses and all. The undisciplined group ran out of food on the way and resorted to stealing pigs and chickens. They also drank during stops, which often did not end well.

On the night of June 7, the Rough Riders were told to be ready to leave at daybreak. The train to take them to the port never arrived, and they commandeered one. At the port, Roosevelt bluffed his way into commandeering a troop ship meant for a different unit.

On June 8, ships carrying a staggering 15,000 soldiers pulled away from port. The rapidly developing situation in Cuba prompted leaders to delay the flotilla, and the ships sat for a week in Tampa Bay, amid overcrowding, brutal heat and bad food. On June 14, they finally moved out for good, setting steam for Cuba and a place in history.

Florida Time is a weekly column about Florida history by Eliot Kleinberg, a former staff writer for three decades at The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, and the author of 10 books about Florida (www.ekfla.com).

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Before destiny in Cuba, Rough Riders prepared for deployment in Tampa
We will survive the COVID pandemic, but Im not sure we can survive an entire generation whose collective trauma sends them hobbling into adulthood.

Goldie Hawn attends the 44th Kennedy Center Honors at The Kennedy Center on December 05, 2021 in Washington, DC.

This column is part of an ongoing series by USA TODAY Opinion exploring the mental health crisis facing Americans.

When I was 11 years old, I saw my entire world get ripped apart. It started off as a normal day at school. Then, in mid-morning, my teacher announced that we would see a movie. I was excited. Who didnt love the chance to watch movies in school?

The room got dark, the projector clacked to life and the big numbers started counting down: 9, 8, 7, 6 

What came next was a massive explosion. The sound shook my body as I sat in my seat.

My eyes were riveted to the screen, but I can remember only a few of the horrors that flashed before us: blaring sirens, cities reduced to rubble, screaming mothers with babies crying in their arms, spattered blood and camera pans over endless fields of destruction.

It was a training film about the dangers of nuclear war  a real concern in 1956, at the height of the Cold War. But a fifth grader didnt often dwell on such things. I had never seen anything so horrible, and it looked so real. At the end, a deep voice warned us: This is what will happen when theres an enemy attack.

When the lights came on, it was time for lunch. In those days, we were allowed to go home to eat, and I ran home as fast as I could. I called my mom at work and was still shaking as I told her, Mommy, come home quick! Were all going to die!

Existential dread and trauma

We all know how magical a childs imagination can be  the wonderful worlds they create in their minds. But theres a flip side to the joyful creativity that can turn a big cardboard box into a spaceship. A childs mind exposed to real-world fear, without the ability to properly process it, can go down dark passages leading to nothing less than existential dread.

Generations of children have had to face this dread in many forms: The kids who watched the Challenger space shuttle disaster on live television in the 1980s; young people who saw America come under attack on 9/11; and particularly in the COVID-19 era, where children, their parents and their grandparents are all under real and immediate threat from a plague that has killed millions and isolated so many from the friends, family and support structures that all humans depend on for perspective, encouragement and love.

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I was lucky in many ways. In the 1950s, I had a mother who was able to leave work immediately, come home and explain to me that the Soviets really werent going to bomb us because nobody wants to commit mass murder. (She then got on the phone to the school board and scolded them for needlessly terrifying 11-year-olds.)

Rationally, I could understand her explanation. But the dread lingered. It had entered my consciousness and found a home. For years afterward, every time I heard the siren from a police car or fire truck, I would  at least for a split second  seize up and want to curl into a ball and wait for oblivion.

Even in high school, Id hear a siren in the morning and be too terrified to go to school that day. This was a specific trauma that affected me, but it was a collective trauma, too  an entire generation of American children was, in some form or another, taught to think of nuclear holocaust as a real threat.

Tools to deal with dark side of trauma

Many years later, I immediately recognized the seeds of another collective trauma on a beautiful day in September when planes came out of the clear blue sky and crashed into buildings.

I was a very different person then. In a material sense, I had everything I could have wanted, including a successful career and a wonderful family. I also had achieved much greater mental peace, having worked with therapists for several years, since my early adulthood.

I had learned a lot about how our brains work, and how to make them work with us instead of against us. In that moment, though, I was once again that little girl shaking uncontrollably as images of death and destruction played out. I reached for something that gave me comfort: my knitting needles. As I started stitching away, I started thinking, too.

I knew the trauma this event would touch off in all Americans, but especially young people. I knew what that felt like, deep in my bones. If I could help protect one kid, or a couple kids, or a dozen, or a hundred from that trauma, I knew that was what I had to do. In the wake of 9/11, I got to work on that dream. Kids shouldnt have to wait until theyre teens or adults, like I did, to learn about how the brain works.

That began my two-decade journey to understand the recesses of the mind and to give kids the practical tools to deal with its dark side  the side unleashed when young girls develop body issues after scrolling through Instagram, or young boys get bullied on the playground, or just the daily stress of trying to achieve and keep up with peers.

I talked to educators and scientists to develop a curriculum for students to help them understand the complex chemical reactions that drive emotions such as stress and anxiety, happiness and fulfillment, and when necessary, regulate them.

We found the best research to guide our methods. We work with the top academic institutions to develop curriculum and teaching guides used by more than 7 million students in 18 countries.

We share ideas like "brain breaks" to encourage kids to stay in touch with whats going on in their mind  the good and the bad  so they know that their brain is their friend. And if they dont get along with that friend sometimes, if it says things that make them feel bad, thats OK too  and we help them work through that.

COVID has left kids fearful, uncertain

Today, we are in the midst of a national trauma that could very well surpass 9/11 and approach the heightened terror of the Cold War years. The COVID era has changed our childrens lives in far more real, tangible ways  social distancing, school closures, daily mask use.

Kids are afraid of people, spaces, even the air around them  a level of constant fear not seen in decades. In early 2021, emergency room visits in the United States for suspected suicide attempts were 51% higher for adolescent girls and 4% higher for adolescent boys, compared with the same time period in early 2019.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. surgeon general and the American Academy of Pediatrics all agree that the state of our childrens mental health is now at the level of a national emergency.

This tells us that as a nation, we have failed our children. The few federal and state dollars that get directed to youth mental health invariably end up being earmarked for addiction and "crisis care," addressing only the most severe disorders. There are modest funds once a kid ends up in a hospital. But what about before?

We are not properly funding preventive care and early interventions that normalize the mental struggles every individual has at some level. There are everyday tools for mental fitness, just as there are for exercise and healthy eating; we just dont teach them in any systematic way to our nations children.

Helping children understand the chemical reactions that occur in their mind when they scroll through TikTok or listen to the latest horrifying statistic or headline on the evening news gives them the patience and confidence to put things in perspective, rather than fall victim to the emotions of the moment and end up in a helplessness that leads to depression and sometimes self-harm, the kind we are seeing in record numbers among children.

We live in the golden age of neuroscience. For the first time in human history, we are unlocking the secrets of the brain, and we can apply those lessons to help the people who are suffering the most: our kids.

They dont need to be over-diagnosed or shuffled through a system that screens and treats extreme cases after they are too late. When I saw those images of nuclear holocaust, I didnt need a hospital visit. I needed someone to talk to, someone who could help me reason and harness the emotions that had almost immobilized me.

We now know those feelings are present in our kids  in many cases, festering until they break out in fearful, sometimes violent ways.

We will survive the COVID-19 pandemic, but Im not sure we can survive an entire generation whose collective trauma sends them hobbling into adulthood. We need more research, more preventative care and more early intervention. And theres still time.

If we get it right, todays kids could emerge as the strongest generation America has ever produced.

Goldie Hawn is an Academy Award-winning actress, producer, director, bestselling author and childrens advocate. She also is the founder and CEO of MindUP for Life, the signature program of The Hawn Foundation, a public charity with a mission to equip children with the social and emotional skills they need to lead smarter, healthier, happier and ultimately more productive lives.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Goldie Hawn: COVID trauma is hurting a generation of kids. We've failed them as a nation.
Former President Donald Trump should not pardon people charged for their participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot if he wins a second term, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said in a Sunday appearance on CNN's State of the Union.

"Look, folks that were part of the riots and, frankly, the assault on the U.S. Capitol have to be held accountable," Sununu said.

"There's a rule of law," he continued. "I don't care whether you were part of burning cities in antifa in 2020 [or] you were storming the Capitol in 2021. Everybody needs to be held fairly accountable.  That's part of leadership."

"Then they shouldn't be pardoned?" host Dana Bash asked.

"Of course not!" Sununu responded. "Oh my goodness, no."

During a rally in Texas on Saturday, Trump said that if he wins a second term, he plans to pardon those charged for their actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. "If I run, and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly," Trump said. "And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly," he added.

Trump called the prosecutors who have charged more than 700 rioters with crimes "horrible people," "racists," and "mentally sick."

Journalist Matthew Yglesias tweeted in response to Trump's comments that "the fact that *all* crimes committed in the District of Columbia are federal crimes eligible for presidential pardon creates a terrifyingly vast loophole in the constitutional system."

Abuses of the pardon power have happened in the past (including under Trump) but the fact that *all* crimes committed in the District of Columbia are federal crimes eligible for presidential pardon creates a terrifyingly vast loophole in the constitutional system. https://t.co/QKl5aEM7tU  Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 30, 2022

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Making dumplings, writing Chinese characters, and viewing traditional shows... as the Spring Festival is just around the corner, a special celebration for the Chinese New Year has been held at the international talent home in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province.

About 30 foreigners in the Hainan Free Trade Port enjoyed traditional activities. Wearing a traditional Chinese costume, Ikpeoha Nkiru Joy from Nigeria performed Peking Opera, a highlight of the celebratory event.

"I like Peking Opera because it's cultural and related to Chinese traditions," said Joy, a postgraduate of Hainan University. In 2020, she was picked by her teacher to join a Chinese talent competition for foreigners held in Hainan. It took her about two weeks to learn the Peking Opera under a teacher's guidance.

"I didn't really have the courage to do it at first. But my passion for it made me become more interested in learning it," she said.

"The Chinese Spring Festival, like Christmas in foreign countries, is a time for family and friends to get together, and it's a happy time for everyone," said Joy, adding that the celebratory event was awesome, especially the Chinese art performances such as the flute and Chinese zither.

"We watched different shows, played games, and made food," said Daria Lebedianskaia from Russia.

When making dumplings, Daria taught her 4-year-old daughter how to wrap a dumpling. She said dumplings in Russia are shaped differently and use other flavors.

"Though the flavors are different, I like them both," said Daria, adding that she likes Chinese dumplings filled with chive, meat and eggs best.

Daria has been in Hainan for almost 10 years and now works as the project manager of Hainan College of Economics and Business. Because her husband is Chinese, the family celebrates the Spring Festival each year. "It's a good reason for the family to get together," she said.

The Haikou international talent home, which opened its doors in September 2021, is the brainchild of the Haikou Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs and a local human resource company. Nearly 200 foreign talents have joined the family.

The purpose of the international talent home is to create a platform for foreigners to feel at home, said Pi Jinyu, general manager of Fu'an Talent Human Resources (Hainan). "We provide services and help them alleviate any issues or difficulties, like visa problems or job issues," he said.

In order to better help the foreign talents start their businesses, the talent home offered a business incubation training class lasting for four months. Nearly 20 foreigners from different countries and areas including the United States, Russia and Africa participated in the course, and Joy was one of them.

"The training is the best thing that has happened to me," said Joy, noting it was quite different from what she learned in university.

"The particular training has given me a lot of ideas. It has opened up my thoughts on what to do in the future, how to plan my way, how to plan my life and how to become a better entrepreneur," she said, adding that the Haikou talent home really did a nice job organizing such training for foreigners.

"We hope to make contributions to the construction of the Hainan free trade port in this way, and attract more international talents to work in Hainan," Pi said.

Chen Lanfang, an official with the Haikou Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs, said the talent home will continue to play a better role in introducing foreign talents and boosting exchanges.
Jan. 29NASHVILLE  Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee plans to make the case to state lawmakers as well as the public Monday night for his plan to overhaul the state's 30-year-old school funding formula for public education during his State of the State address.

The Republican governor also plans to double down on his priorities in several other areas including massive new investments in infrastructure and economic development during his annual speech, an event that allows governors to set forth their priorities and message in unfiltered fashion before a televised joint convention of the General Assembly.

Lee, who is running for a second term this year, previewed portions of his agenda last week in a speech to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. In it, the governor made his pitch on a top priority for him: Performing major surgery on Tennessee's $5.6 billion funding formula for K-12 education. The formula needs to move from a "systems-based" model involving categories of need to a "student-based funding formula" in which dollars follow the student, the governor has said.

"I didn't know a lot about public school funding at the time when I walked in the door, but I know that a 30-year formula that nobody likes probably ought to be redone," Lee told Nashville chamber members, adding he knows much more about school funding now.

Education is "the future of Tennessee and I believe now is the time to make the appropriate change in funding for our schools," Lee said.

Lee also touted what he sees as some of his major first-term achievements, citing investments in vocational education, infrastructure and announcing the three largest economic development projects in the state's history in 2021  among them Ford Motor Co.'s planned $5.6 billion truck and battery plant in West Tennessee  and his steps toward criminal justice reform.

"Last year, we passed an alternatives-to-incarceration act, and the success that we had with that ... [was] a very exciting thing for me," said Lee, a businessman and religious conservative who before becoming governor was heavily involved in prison ministry efforts.

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"We have more work to do, we should invest even more, not only in our criminal justice system ... but in our law enforcement system," the governor added.

In a "prebuttal" video released Friday, state House Democratic Caucus chair Vincent Dixie of Nashville charged the governor with having "failed to address our public school crisis."

Dixie also said that while Democrats have sought to focus on rebuilding Tennessee's middle class, Lee and his fellow Republicans "move mountains for the wealthy, while refusing to address problems that affect everyday families and people who punch a clock."

Lee and his education commissioner, Penny Schwinn, announced in October a review of the state's K-12 education funding formula and named dozens of people, including a number of legislators, to lead the effort.

Democrats have criticized Lee's "student-based" funding formula which among other things would include students attending public charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run schools.

It also could prove expensive. The State Collaborative on Reforming Education, which supports vouchers, has called on Lee to inject an additional $1 billion into public K-12 education.

Other concerns are that it would open the door to private school vouchers, which Lee and Schwinn say isn't the intention. Republican lawmakers in 2019 approved Lee's plan to offer voucher-like "education savings accounts" to low-income families. He had to compromise with the law affecting only Metro Nashville and Shelby County schools, omitting other districts, including Hamilton County, in order to win approval. But the subsequently legally challenged law has yet to be implemented.

A number of Lee's fellow Republicans, including several from Hamilton County, aren't sure about moving this year to pass Lee's proposal, saying Lee's subcommittees continue to meet and things shouldn't be rushed.

"We're already being sued," said Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, alluding to the school voucher law. "Somewhere, somebody  and this is just the nature of the beast  is going to get short-changed or not get enough in their mind. And somebody somewhere will sue and we'll be back in court and the courts will decide all this. And we'll pay a lot of attorney fees."

Gardenhire, who along with several other local delegation members serves on at least one of the Lee task force's 18 subcommittees, said "I'm hoping that we come up with a proposal, put it out there. Let's let everybody look at it over the summer and the fall, introduce it as a bill next year ...

"At that point, we can fine-tune it, add some to it, throw some out. But something this major shouldn't be done in a six-month time period that will last us for 20 or 30 years," Gardenhire said.

Senate Finance Committee chair Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said "whether the legislature's ready to take action on it or not is, I think, it's a heavy lift. And you know, it depends on what other issues pop up during the session, whether we can focus on that or other things become important too."

Watson, who serves on Lee's Fiscal Stimulus Accountability Group  which is determining how the state should spend billions of federal stimulus funds  noted "we're dealing with all of the federal funding and what that all means and so I think it's just a heavy lift."

Lee and others in the Fiscal Stimulus Accountability Group recently agreed to give $1.35 billion of the state's $3.9 billion pot of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to local governments in the form of infrastructure grants in hopes of persuading towns, cities and counties to invest millions of their own stimulus dollars for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater improvements.

"But again," Watson said of Lee's actual education formula changes, "we need something to be able to deliberate on instead of just speaking in concept ... even if they bring us something, we may spend the whole session deliberating on it and not take action. Because there are not enough people who work in that space to know all the possibilities."

House Finance Committee chair Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, voiced similar cautions.

"I know the governor's very focused on it. There are a lot of people working very hard on it, but I think my concern, and I know the governor and the legislature, we share this, this is really important. And we need to get it right. It hadn't been done in a long time. I don't think there's any question that there need to be adjustments and major changes. But we just really need to make sure that we're getting it right. So whatever time it takes. If we can get that done this session, great. If not, we need to come back. I think more important than haste is having a good outcome, a good product."

WPLN, Nashville's National Public Radio station, reported Lee saying last week "the pieces that come together this week will allow us to make a proposal in short order to the legislature that they can then act on. Again, that's our hope, and we're pretty hopeful it can happen this session."

Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.
More than 30 current and former World Health Organization officials reportedly came together to accuse Dr. Kasai Takeshi, director of the Western Pacific arm, of abusive and racist behavior toward staff members.



The agencys Western Pacific region, headquartered in the Philippine capital of Manila, covers nearly 1.9 billion people across 37 countries and territories.



These include the American Samoa, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hong Kong, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna.



The allegations



In an internal complaint filed in October of last year, staffers reportedly accused Takeshi of making racially-charged remarks toward Filipinos, as well as improperly sharing potentially sensitive COVID-19 data with Japan.



The complaint, which was obtained by the Associated Press, describes a coronavirus meeting in which Kasai allegedly demanded of a Filipino staffer, How many people in the Pacific have you killed so far, and how many more do you want to kill further?



Kasai then allegedly asked if she was incapable of delivering good presentations, because she was a Filipina.





The email containing the allegations was reportedly co-written by over 30 current and former officials. In it, they accused Kasai of blaming COVID-19 surges in some Pacific countries for their lack of capacity due to their inferior culture, race and socioeconomic level.



Kasai was also accused of abusing his power by sharing data to aid Japan  his home country  in vaccination planning.



According to the AP, a WHO vaccinations scientist working in Asia said Kasai helped Japan gain political advantage by informing its decisions on which countries it donated vaccines to.



Kasais response



Kasai has been the Western Pacifics director since February 2019, according to AFP. Prior to his appointment, he served as the regions No. 2, having worked more than 15 years with the WHO.



Kasai has denied the allegations in a statement in which he claimed that he has been asking a lot of himself and the staff amid the pandemic, but it should not result in people feeling disrespected.



The director also rejected claims about him being racist: It is true that I have been hard on staff, but I reject the suggestion that I have targeted staff of any particular nationality, he explained.



As for the data sharing claim, he responded, At no time have I pressured staff to facilitate donations from Japan rather than COVAX.



Story continues



Many neglected tropical diseases are zoonotic...Control & eventual elimination of such zoonoses requires an integrated approach to prevent & mitigate health threats, a One Health approach." - Dr @takeshi_kasai at today's virtual event for #WorldNTDday on 30 January#beatNTDs pic.twitter.com/oEDbsFr1xP

 World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific (@WHOWPRO) January 26, 2022







The WHOs main headquarters in Geneva is reportedly aware of the allegations and is taking steps to follow up with an investigation.



Simon Manley, the U.K.s Permanent Representative, stressed that there is no place for racism or discrimination in the WHO or any of their partners.



We expect the WHO to investigate robustly all allegations of misconduct and to provide support to those affected. We will therefore monitor closely WHOs response to these reports and continue to hold it to the highest ethical standards, Manley said, according to AFP.



Kasai, for his part, said he is ready to cooperate fully with the investigation; however, the AP also reported seeing an internal WHO message that showed Kasai ordering all his senior directors to reject the allegations and to totally support him.



Featured Image via World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific

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WEST BURLINGTON  A sweet group of thoughtful students gathered recently in the Little Theater on the campus of Southeastern Community College to make an impact on the future of the state of Iowa.

This group of 24 high school juniors from 13 area high schools are part of 16th iteration of the MPower U class  with the chosen name Sweet 16  that meets monthly throughout the school year to expand their horizons and become better informed citizens.

This meeting was to formalize position statements to present to area legislators during their upcoming trip to Des Moines on Wednesday, Feb. 2, for the annual Southeast Iowa Days at the state capitol.

The students have put in a lot of time and effort to what they believe will make the state great, said Carlene Woodside, instructor and coordinator of the group.

They have spent the school year deciding on what is important to them during the monthly classes. They have met with area leaders and explored the region holding classes in various towns where the students live.

Its been a lot of fun, said David Denbow, a student from Central Lee High School. Ive enjoyed the leadership classes and travel. Its fun to visit the communities in southeast Iowa that all the schools are based in.

The fun has been paired with hard work and this work is culminating in the upcoming presentation to the legislators.

It is a little nerve wracking but cool to meet our representatives, said Ava Parkins, from Notre Dame High School. I think we have done a lot of research and know it well, but after all we are high school students and dont know it all.

Most importantly they are excited about the opportunity which is a highlight of the year for the program.

The fact that they have their voices heard and listened to does a lot for their leadership growth, said Woodside. It helps them advance their critical thinking.

Thinking is what the groups were doing on this day as they planned how to be persuasive with their statements. They gathered in their three groups of eight and computers were open as they searched for ideas and formulated their statements. They laughed, smiled and also were very serious.

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The three topics the students plan to present are: standard base grading, rural internet access and work-based learning.

Standard base grading

The students explained that grading is inconsistent throughout the state of Iowa. Through their research, they learned grading is not consistent from school to school and even from teacher to teacher.

We need to reevaluate the system, said Brenna Remele, a Burlington High School student. All schools and teachers have different standards.

They found out some schools allow students to retake tests and some have no set deadlines on projects. Thus, there is no incentive to go to class or get work done on time.

They believe the grading standard should be percentage scores and letter grades patterned after what they found was consistent in college.

We want it to change, so we can better prepare for our futures, said Danville High School student Carlea Beckman.

Rural internet access

The students understand this topic is well funded and in the sights of the legislators, but they wanted to stress the importance of getting it right.

The money is already there, but the focus seems to be only on rural areas and some areas are being passed up, said Logan Kamrath of Notre Dame High School.

They pointed out areas still are being missed and internet speeds in covered areas are not consistent from site to site.

We need to get better and more consistent speeds not just access, said Josey Watznauer of Danville High School.

The objective is to have a statewide standard for everyone.

They are going on the right track, but we need to make sure we raise the standards for all areas, added Kamrath.

Work-based learning

This concept will add emphasis to expand the opportunity for high school students to learn outside the classroom through job experiences and internships. They want to offer more opportunities to job shadow and expand field trips to work sites.

The group is advocating for each school to have or to share a multi-occupational career leader.

The MOC can help involve the students in the work force and possible job futures. The exposure will help them map out a better career path, so they dont waste time and money in college picking a career.

This is a growing trend on the rise and we believe every school should have it available, said West Burlington High School student Abbey Bence. It allows students to chart a path for your career.

Next stop: Des Moines

The group finished the day with a practice of their statements in front of area professionals to prepare for the process before they go live in front of legislators.

Im definitely nervous, I dont want to screw up, but I have some experience in public speaking, said Aidan Koehler of Keokuk High School.

This was the sentiment throughout the room as the students worked to tighten up their proposals and anticipate the day in Des Moines.

The day will be long as they depart at the crack of dawn on Wednesday and have a packed schedule before they return home late that night. They do get the chance for some fine dining with lunch at the Latin King  a well-know Italian restaurant on the east side of Des Moines.

Then they visit the Capitol before giving presentations in the nearby Wallace Building.

The day in the capitol city ends with a reception at the Embassy Suites, where the students can mingle with legislators and the southeast Iowa contingent in attendance while sampling some yummy hors devours.

This also is a chance for the students to work on their networking skills. They each are tasked with meeting 10 new people and at least one legislator as part of their class work.

Make sure they know you, so you can get your opinions heard in the future, said Woodside.

After all, that is what the class is about. To meet new people, to share ideas and to think about solutions to problems.

Ive made life-long connections, had unique experiences and talked to multiple people from different careers that I usually wouldnt be exposed to, Mount Pleasant High School student Tim Cam said of the MPower U class.

2022 Southeast Iowa Days Schedule

Wednesday, Feb. 2

11:30 a.m.: The Latin King Restaurant, 2200 Hubbell Ave, Des Moines, welcome and lunch with the Southeast Iowa Delegation

12:30 p.m.: Travel and Iowa State Capitol

2:15 p.m.: Delegation photo on Rotunda steps

2:30 p.m.: Welcome and MPower U student presentations at the Wallace Building Auditorium, 502 E. Ninth St.

3:15 p.m.: State of Iowa Redistricting  David Roederer, Iowa Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission

4 p.m.: Check-in at Embassy Suites

5 p.m.: Legislative Reception in hotel atrium

Thursday, Jan. 3

8:25 a.m.: Welcome in Embassy Suites Salon E

8:30 a.m.: Gov. Kim Reynolds will speak

8:45 a.m.: Iowa Department of Transportation Director Scott Marler

9:15 a.m.: Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend

9:45 a.m.: Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham

10:15 a.m.: David Barker of Davenport-based Barker Apartments will present on the future of housing in Iowa.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: What's on the agenda for MPower U's Des Moines visit for SE Iowa Days
Getty Images

How did the boring, conformist 50s lead to the cultural upheavals of the 60s? Civil rights, LGBTQ rights, womens rights, the environmental movementall emerged full-blown in the 60s but, according to journalist and historian James R. Gaines in his new book, The Fifties: An Underground History, all had their origins in the sometimes little known struggles of the previous decade.

It seemed to me history just doesnt work that way, its not usually defined by decades, Gaines told The Daily Beast. Why did a period so well known for conformity lead to one known for the opposite? So I started looking for the roots of that outburst in the 1950s, and found people who gave me a different idea of how change happens. It occurred to me that people who are change makers in a time so difficult to do that deserve some acknowledgment.

Travel Back in Time to 1950s New York City

Gaines book isnt a broad overview, but more an up close and personal look at the lives and careers of activists who recognized various societal problems and fought them. Some are well known, like murdered civil rights pioneer Medgar Evers or author Rachel Carson, whose book Silent Spring warned about the effect of pesticides on the environment. Others, like Harry Hay, an organizer of the Mattachine Society, the first gay rights group, and Norbert Wiener, a pioneer in the study of thinking machines and their effect on humans and the natural world and the man who coined the term cybernetics, have been nearly forgotten over time. But all had one thing in common: the courage to stand out from the conformist crowd and address issues that had been swept under the table.

There is a clarity about these issues that arose from intimate problems within themselves, says Gaines of these forerunners. All these people were very stubborn, and flawed, and unique as individuals. They were all intimately affected by the causes they took on. It was out of their personal struggles that they got the courage to begin change.

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If theres one of these activists Gaines admires more than any other, its, Pauli Murray a light-skinned, gay Black woman who helped found the National Organization for Women, and believed that discrimination based on race, class and gender were all connected. She began with such a burden, says Gaines, her autobiography is painful to read sometimes, the assault on her for her light skin, and societys assault on her for her confusion about her gender. The fact she was the only woman in her class at Howard University Law School, was discriminated against and wound up first in her class. And she came out with a law school thesis that helped Thurgood Marshall make his argument in Brown vs. Board of Education. Its a great story of courage against long odds.

Also a great story of courage is the Black World War II veterans who came home to a world of racism and helped jump-start the civil rights movement. Medgar Evers and Anzie Moore of the Mississippi NAACP, Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Floyd McKissick of the Congress on Racial Equality, James Forman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and more, men who, says Gaines in his book, believed that non-violence without the support of armed resistance to racist violence amounted to surrender.

But, Gaines told The Daily Beast, theres a reason why the military backgrounds of these men, who were familiar with weaponryEvers carried a .45 with him when he traveled and slept with a shotgun at the foot of his bedseems to have taken a historical backseat to the non-violent protests of the era. The character of the non-violent movement predominated, he says, and it was almost an image-making problem. The idea that Blacks would revolt with arms I think would have inflamed the American public. It was a tactic of the Martin Luther King movement not to emphasize that, despite the fact that Kings home was on occasion an armory.

The Fifties also includes the little known story of President Harry Truman and his support of civil rights. It seems Truman was angered by two high-profile cases of World War II veterans who returned home to racist violenceIsaac Woodard, blinded by a white cop when he didnt address him as sir, and George Dorsey, murdered by a white mob for protecting his brother-in-law after an altercation with his landlord. Truman responded to these outrages by naming a commission to analyze the problems in the South, and gave support to its final agenda, which included anti-lynching legislation, abolition of the poll tax and laws to ensure equal access to housing, education, and health care. When an old friend castigated him for this, Truman responded that the main difficulty with the South is that they are living 80 years behind the times and the sooner they come out of it the better it will be for the country and themselves.

Trumans liberal stance, says Gaines, came from his experiences as an officer in World War I. It angered him, the reception black veterans got when they came home. He did things no president had ever done before. He acted on his convictions.

Despite the courage and convictions of all the people in the book, Gaines admits the various issues they addressed have succeeded or failed to varying degrees. Although not enough, he sees the most progress in the gay and womens movements, thanks in part to a generation coming up now that is far more egalitarian in terms of gender than previous generations.

But Gaines feels the environmental movement has not accomplished what it needs to, and civil rights is still a work in progress. The initiative preventing people of color from voting, how could that be? The fact the Supreme Court has done nothing to stop it is sickening.

And yet, Gaines feels that readers of The Fifties should get the feeling that there is progress, and even when you think its least likely, there are people who will stand up and make the argument for change and eventually be supported by our Constitution, and their demonstration of courage and farsightedness.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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SAN FRANCISCO  James Hardens hamstring woes are a thing of the past, but its the right hand thats now bothering the lefty Nets star.

The Nets updated Hardens status to questionable 90 minutes before tipoff then listed him as out against the Golden State Warriors with a right hand strain on Saturday. Nets head coach Steve Nash said Hardens right hand has been bothering him for a few days at least and that it really flared up Saturday morning when he woke up.

What he was feeling yesterday and this morning, he woke up with some irritation so he had a (MRI) scan, Nash said ahead of tipoff. Just unfortunate and hes, I believe hes a game-time decision, so theyre just going to continue to analyze and monitor and see if he can go.

Nash said the MRI showed that Harden avoided significant damage to his hand, but also said the scan wasnt necessarily clean.

Theres stuff on the MRI, Nash said. So hes feeling something and feeling the strain and, like I said, its been bothering him, but I think (at first) he was like, Its nothing, and now its a little more than nothing. He woke up with a marked difference in the hand.

Hardens hand has been an issue for a few days, Nash said, but became more significant on Friday, after he went through shooting drills and lifting exercises in practice.

He doesnt remember an event, but the scan shows the irritation, the strain and hes said hes had it for a number of days, said Nash. So I think the deduction would be that he irritated it shooting and lifting it yesterday.

Luckily for the Nets, if Harden cant go, one of the teams other stars can.

Kyrie Irving has not played in the Nets last two games at home due to New York Citys vaccine mandate but is available for the teams five-game road trip. This is exactly the kind of stretch the team needed to reincorporate Irving back into the rotation for: To lessen the burden placed on Hardens shoulders to carry the offense.

Irving has only appeared in seven games since the organizations decision to welcome him back to the team in mid-December. He is averaging 23.4 points and five assists on 50% shooting from the field and 100% shooting from the foul line.

Its been great having him back, Nash said. Weve had so many injuries and interruptions this year, availability issues, that to have a player of his caliber, even if its just on the road, has been much needed and great for our group.

The reality of the last 18 months for us is that weve never had an extended run of health. So to have a player that plays on the road and not at home is not that different from what we face anyway. So it hasnt been as strange for our group, it hasnt been strange at all in some weird way. It actually feels normal because weve had so many interruptions and injuries.
Jets safety Marcus Maye has a new court hearing for his DUI arrest.

Maye is scheduled to appear March 9, per court records obtained by ESPN, which is eight days before the new league year.

Maye was arrested for driving under the influence in Broward County, Florida on Feb. 22, 2021. Police alleged Maye was involved in a hit and run with a black Volvo. The driver of the Volvo filed a civil suit against Maye, according to Broward County court records.

Maye was later charged with speeding and driving with a suspended license in April. The speeding charge was dismissed and the license charge was reduced to license not carried or exhibited in August, according to Orange County (Fla.) court records.

The Jets reportedly didnt know about either incident. Maye addressed the arrest with his teammates and talked to head coach Robert Saleh 1-on-1 after the incident came to light in October of 2021 and was remorseful.

Maye is still recovering from a torn Achilles, which happened against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 4.

The Jets former second-round pick is set to become a free agent this offseason.

Obviously Marcus is a valuable member of this team, GM Joe Douglas said. So, again, were going to get in the room with the coaching staff, hash out the end of season meetings and then go from there. But I can tell you, any decision that we make, in regards to Marcus or any other player on expiring contracts, the decisions are going to be made in the best interest of the team now and moving forward.

The injury and off the field incident makes it unlikely the Jets will re-sign him.
CONCORD, N.H.  The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld the law license suspension of a New Hampshire lawyer who filed a flurry of anti-mask lawsuits against school districts in Massachusetts, Florida and New Hampshire.

Those lawsuits are pending, but appeals to try to temporarily pause mask mandates were denied by an Appeals Court judge last week.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court suspended the law license of Robert Fojo last month, temporarily barring him from practicing law in the state as of Dec. 21. The suspension was over allegations he mishandled nearly $100,000 in client funds, according to court documents. Fojo's alleged wrongdoing was not connected to the mask cases.

Fojo's suspension prompted an appeal before a specially appointed referee, which upheld the decision.

Jan. 4, 2022: NH Supreme Court suspends attorney suing Hingham, Carver over school mask mandates

The New Hampshire Supreme Court Attorney Discipline Office alleged Fojo's office engaged in improper bookkeeping, failure to pay clients he represented in civil lawsuits, and lying to investigators from the discipline office.

According to court documents, he misappropriated $14,666 from two personal injury cases involving one client and $33,350 from another. He is also accused of mishandling $50,020 of client money held in trust under his control.

Fojo's law license is still in good standing in Massachusetts, but he is required to send a copy of his punishment to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers. Staff in Massachusetts also monitor a national clearinghouse for attorney discipline to pick up cases from other jurisdictions involving lawyers licensed in the state.

Students walk from the bus to the newly renovated and expanded East Middle School in Braintree on Thursday, Sept. 24.

Mask mandate appeal dismissed

Fojo filed five lawsuits against school districts in Massachusetts challenging mask mandates, including Hingham, Carver, West Bridgewater and the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District.

All five lawsuits, and a sixth against the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, were consolidated into one case in Springfield, where Judge David Hodge denied a request to stop the mandates.

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On Tuesday, Appeals Court Justice Joseph Ditkoff denied an appeal seeking to stop the school districts from enforcing mask mandates. The groups can still take their cases to trial in front of a Superior Court judge.

In his decision, Ditkoff said that just calling mask wearing a "health care decision" doesn't mean it's true, and that parents who send their children to school can't exempt their children from the dress code just because they want to.

"That the department expects masks to reduce the risk of illness does not make them medical devices any more than snow pants become medical devices because schools mandating their use expect them to reduce frostbite," Ditkoff said.

Fojo's other mask-related cases, in New Hampshire and Florida, have also been defeated in courts.

Judge not persuaded by Fojo's case

Lawyers for the Attorney Discipline Office in New Hampshire have previously noted it appeared Fojo was essentially "robbing Peter to pay Paul.

In a 14-page order, retired Judge Larry Smukler wrote that the discipline office has demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence" that Fojos interim suspension from the practice of law is necessary for the protection of the public and to uphold the integrity of the profession.

Hollywood comes to Braintree: 'Boston Strangler' films at old Foster School

Fojo failed to keep his clients reasonably informed about the status of their cases and failed to act with reasonable diligence by not promptly disbursing funds due to them or their creditors, Smukler wrote. Fojo misappropriated client funds and then lied about it to his clients and to the (Attorney Discipline Office).

Fojo claimed his actions were not intentional, that the discipline office erroneously concluded he misappropriated money, and that his suspension was disproportionate and premature.

Jan. 28, 2022: Hingham to apply for mask waiver for middle and high schools, school committee decides

See more of our coverage of school masking

Jan. 28, 2022: Hingham to apply for mask waiver for middle and high schools, school committee decides

Jan. 26, 2022: Hingham to apply for mask waiver for middle and high schools, school committee decides

Jan. 4, 2022: NH Supreme Court suspends attorney suing Hingham, Carver over school mask mandates

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Reach Reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@patriotledger.com and Foster's Daily Democrat Reporter Megan Fernandes at mdfernandes@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: NH upholds anti-mask attorney's suspension over $100k mishandled funds
 Flash

China and the United States should "work together to contain the separatist forces of Taiwan," Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang has said.

The one-China principle is the most important foundation of China-U.S. relations in the past decades, said Qin in an interview with U.S. National Public Radio aired Friday, adding that the United States has been walking away from this commitment "bit by bit."

Speaking of the recent escalation of tension in the situation across the Taiwan Strait, Qin said, "This is because the Taiwanese authority is trying to seek independence agenda by borrowing support and encouragement of the United States and the U.S. is playing Taiwan card."

"We have taken notice of President (Joe) Biden's words that the United States does not support Taiwan independence and the United States wants to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the United States will adhere to its one-China policy, but so far we haven't seen many actions to honor his words," he said.

Qin stressed that "we will do our utmost in the greatest sincerity to achieve a peaceful reunification," which is in the best interests of people across the Taiwan Strait, in the best interests of China-U.S. relations, in the best interests of peace and stability in the region.

Meanwhile, China will not commit to giving up non-peaceful means for reunification, "because this is a deterrence to separatist forces, not targeting Taiwanese people," he said.

The Taiwan question "is the biggest tinderbox between China and the United States," Qin said. "If the Taiwanese authority, emboldened by the United States, keeps going down the road for independence, it would most likely involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in a military conflict."

"China does not want to have conflict or confrontation with the United States. The United States does not want war with China. So, no war, no conflict is the biggest consensus between China and the United States. So let's work together to contain the separatist forces of Taiwan, to give peace a chance," he added.

Deeming the China-U.S. relationship "the most important relationship," Qin said "we must work well and not mess it up."

"But the question is: can the United States respect and accept China's rise as a positive force to maintain or to facilitate world peace and prosperity? Can the United States believe that China's rise will benefit other countries, benefit people in the United States and provide more business opportunities and more jobs?" he asked.

"Both countries are in the process of recognizing each other and finding an appropriate way to get along with each other. In China's belief, we hope that good relationship will be established based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation," said the ambassador.
BAGHDAD (AP)  Kuwait suspended flights to Iraq for a week starting Sunday citing security fears after a rocket attack targeted Baghdad international airport. Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, announced an attacker had been apprehended.

Kuwait Airways, the country's main carrier, said in a statement Saturday that flights to Iraq were temporarily suspended based on instructions from the Kuwaiti Civil Aviation Authority due to current conditions."

Six rockets struck the Baghdad airport last week damaging two commercial planes belonging to Iraqi Airways, the main national airline. The incident marked an escalation in rocket and drone attacks often targeting the U.S. and it's allies, as well as Iraqi government institutions. The attacks have been blamed on Iran-backed militia groups.

Iraqi authorities said in a statement late Saturday they had apprehended a person allegedly behind the airport attack. The individual was arrested at a checkpoint near the northern province of Kirkuk en route to Irbil in the Kurdish-run semi-autonomous region. The statement provided no further details.

Following the attack, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi urged the international community not to impose restrictions on travel to Iraq, while Iraqi Airways said the attack didn't caused any disruptions and flights would continue.

Separately, Iraq's military said late Saturday it had killed nine Islamic State group militants suspected of staging a deadly ambush in the northern province of Diyala. The gunmen stormed an army barracks before dawn while the soldiers slept inside and killed 11.

The militants were killed with three F-16 airstrikes, with more operations planned to root out sleeper cells, Iraq's military said.

Iraq is witnessing an uptick in IS-related attacks. Militants have long exploited the security vacuum across a band of disputed territory in northern Iraq.
Aerial view of the Octagon Earthworks in Newark, on May 25, 2013. (Photo by Timothy E. Black)

The preserved remnants of the once vast Newark Earthworks include the enormous Great Circle and the only slightly smaller circular earthwork connected to a gigantic octagonal enclosure that together comprise the Octagon Earthworks.

These two sites are part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, a series of eight monumental earthen enclosures built by ancient American Indian peoples in central and southern Ohio between about AD 1 and 400. The other sites in the series include the Fort Ancient Earthworks in Warren County and five sites that are part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ross County.

The Ohio History Connection, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, and our stakeholder partners, including especially those federally recognized tribes with historic ties to the region, are working hard to have the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the United States, a site must be a National Historic Landmark or a National Park before it can be nominated to the World Heritage List. The Newark Earthworks became a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

John Cotter, then the Regional Archaeologist for the National Park Service, prepared the report showing that the Newark Earthworks met the criteria to be a National Historic Landmark. He concluded that they were beyond question the focus and best remaining evidence of the spectacular and important culture of the Hopewellian peoples. In fact, it is almost certain that this location was never exceeded in scope or complexity by any of the peoples of North America who utilized a new food-producing capacity to settle down and develop their organizational capacity to create monuments in the earth.

The new food-producing capacity to which Cotter referred was, of course, agriculture. In the 1960s, it was assumed the food being produced was maize, which was the staple crop of the great civilizations of Mesoamerica, the American Southwest, and the Mississippi Valley. We now know, however, that the Indigenous builders of the Newark Earthworks did not grow maize. Instead, they had domesticated a variety of local plants, such as squash, sunflower, and goosefoot. These crops provided a storable surplus of food which, when combined with the rich natural bounty of the Ohio valley, could feed the large numbers of people who periodically gathered at the great ceremonial centers.

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Cotter also probably assumed that the organizational capacity to create monuments on the scale of the Newark Earthworks involved strong political leaders like pharaohs who could order legions of followers to build them. We now know thats not true for Ohios Hopewell earthworks.

Brad Lepper is the Senior Archaeologist for the Ohio History Connections World Heritage Program.

The organizational capacity of these ancient indigenous societies appears to have been based upon religious devotion and an unprecedented network of cooperation that extended from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. They had great leaders to be sure, but they were followed because of the power of the spiritual message they offered and not the political or military clout they wielded.

Cotter recognized that the Newark Earthworks were amazing, but they were even more amazing than he realized. Without maize and without an authoritarian leader, thousands of Indigenous Americans gathered at Newark 2,000 years ago to build monumental earthworks that became a destination for pilgrims. They came here from the ends of their world bearing offerings of special raw materials that local artisans crafted into iconic ceremonial regalia.

This is why so many of us are working so hard to have the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks inscribed on the World Heritage List. Because this Indigenous American story is a story that needs to be shared with the world.

Brad Lepper is the Senior Archaeologist for the Ohio History Connections World Heritage program

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Lepper: Newark Earthworks 'best remaining evidence' of Hopewell
Encanto continues to connect with audiences as parents share stories of their kids seeing themselves reflected in the characters and TikTok users create videos bringing the film to life.

The films breakout hit  We Dont Talk About Bruno also continues to break records for Disney. The song about Bruno, the Madrigal familys estranged uncle, has climbed to number two spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and surpassed Let It Go from Frozen, which peaked at number five back in 2014.

In a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, the songs composer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, said he knew the song was catchy when his own kids couldnt stop singing it before the composition was finished.

I did know it was catchy because when I was first writing it, I would catch my kids singing it just from overhearing me write it, he said.

Lin-Manuel Miranda attends Disney Studios' premiere of

The Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winner said he had to have an NDA for toddlers talk with them about not sharing the song with their friends.

I was like, you guys cant sing this at school. We can only sing this around the house, he shared. Because your friends dont know the song, yet. We dont talk about We Dont Talk About Bruno.

Despite knowing the song is catchy, Miranda did not predict the songs popularity. The widespread popularity of the song surprised Miranda, he said, mainly because group numbers never get the same kind of love that ballads get or the comedy songs get.

Encanto tells the story of an extraordinary family  the Madrigals  who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a magical place called an Encanto. The magic of the town has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift  every child except one, Mirabel.
Long Beach police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 30-year-old man who was found inside a vacant building that had been converted into a homeless encampment.

Authorities received a call about 2 p.m. Saturday about a shooting in the 1400 block of Long Beach Boulevard and found Eduardo Alonso suffering from a gunshot wound, Long Beach police officials said. Officers performed life-saving measures, police said, but Alonso was declared dead. They believe he was homeless.

An initial investigation suggests Alonso was involved in an altercation with the suspect inside the building, which had been converted into a homeless encampment, police said. The suspect was last seen going southbound in a nearby alley, and the motive is not known.

Authorities are asking that anyone with information can submit anonymous tips to Los Angeles Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222-8477.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Mark Blazis holds a striped bass, with Angela Blazis giving the thumbs-up.

Editor's note: Before his death in November, Mark Blazis wrote his January 2022 columns, which covered 2021 in review. Here's the fourth of a five-part series:

No longer spring by early June

By the first week of June an earlier than normal heat wave with dangerous temperatures struck much of the country. Spring had vanished quickly. Mallard ducklings followed their mothers closely in all our lakes and ponds.

Out at sea off Provincetown on June 11, lobster diver Michael Packard felt what it was like to be Jonah, having been mistakenly swallowed by a wide-mouthed humpback surging upwards to eat vast numbers of sand lance. Blind to Packards presence, it enclosed the diver, squeezing out excess water, damaging his soft tissue but breaking no bones. Filter feeders like humpbacks have no teeth, and their esophagus is far too small to swallow a human.

The gentle young whale spit him back out on the surface, where after a perusal at Cape Cod Hospital, Packard was released. Its easy to see how so many whales  over 80% of the population  similarly find their heads and mouths entangled in fishing gear at some point in their feeding journeys.

By mid-June, the onset of 100 degree temperatures had descended upon the Southwest earlier than normal, threatening water supplies for our farmers and 40 million residents. Sidewalks and roads heated to 180 degrees, making foot-burns possible. All that heat was making life unbearable there.

June ended with record heat in the West. Temperatures approached 120 degrees. Here, another heat wave brought the reality of global warming all too close. June had turned into August.

Oh, that rain in July

By Fourth of July, we were picking low bush blueberries  and approaching 30 drownings in the state. Fireworks time wouldnt be one for swimming, though. After record-breaking heat in June, the weekend brought rain and numerous records of cold to our region. Instead of packed beaches, the road traffic to shopping and restaurants in places like Hyannis was parking-lot stop-and-go. It was largely a weekend indoors. In the Pacific Northwest, our cherry crop was shriveling and burning.

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Shark sightings were more frequent from Narragansett Bay to Provincetown, where a great white was filmed killing a gray seal. Meanwhile, Finlands northernmost Arctic Lapland sweltered with record-breaking 92.5 temperatures further melting our glaciers.

Equally distressing, research came in showing that the plants that take in the most carbon  the kelp forests in our oceans  are disappearing. Each acre removes 20 more times more carbon than an acre of terrestrial forest. Some 95% of them off California have vanished just since 2014. 95% of them off Tasmania and Chile also have been lost.

As waters warm, sea urchin populations explode and devour the kelp. Meanwhile, Death Valley hit an unthinkable 131 degrees. Anyone thinking we shouldnt be addressing climate change is burying his head in hot sand.

More photos of missing cats than I can ever remember were attached to telephone poles. It turns out that a massive number of pets were purchased  many by first-time pet owners  during the pandemic. By being either unethical or uninformed, these new cat owners allowed their pets outside, where they killed birds and were themselves injured or killed by the ever-present coyote, fox and bobcat. The consequences were many, not the least of which was a record demand for local veterinary services.

As the tropical storm dried out, and we were experiencing one of the wettest Julys ever, Cape Cod tourists found themselves buffeted by brisk breezes and cloudy skies. By mid-month, just as greenheads began savaging, right on time our coastal marsh, bathers, beach walkers, and clammers were tormented. Thirteen inches of rain had dwarfed our annual July average of 4 inches. High bush blueberries ripened in flooded swamps, some of which required waders to access.

The rain, heat, and humidity caused edible Bolete and Suillus mushrooms along with chanterelles, russulas and chicken-of-the-woods to emerge in surprising abundance for delighted fungi foragers. Meanwhile, goldfinches, our last breeding songbird, began nesting. Exclusively vegetarian, goldfinches rely on regurgitated seeds to feed their young  and can get those and the essential, downy fibers from thistle to build their nests only by the onset of midsummer.

A new, blinding disease afflicting songbirds began spreading across the Northeast, causing MassWildlife and Mass Audubon to advise us all to stop encouraging birds to dangerously congregate at our bird feeders.

Canal surfcasters were treated to pulsations of stripers following great schools of menhaden. So many were driven up on the rocks trying to escape the stripers that great blue herons had gotten accustomed to line up on the shore alongside herring and black-backed gulls to await the bounty.

At a beach in New York, a lifeguard was bitten by a shark. Across the Atlantic, excessive rainfall also fell in Germany and Belgium exceeding anything experienced there in the last thousand years, flooding rivers and streams that were never deemed threatening, and causing hundreds of deaths and calamitous destruction. Drought conditions out west created conditions for plagues of grasshoppers to excessively devour vegetation in Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Wyoming and Montana.

July ended with death in Utah as bizarre sandstorms blinded drivers and caused collisions. The smoke from 13 calamitous western fires burning 1.5 million acres simultaneously joined forces to cause polluting haze in our humid air as far east as Boston. Asthmatics suffered here. Simply, warming air can hold more moisture, resulting in more vicious rain storms. Over on a private Plymouth beach, an 8,000-pound, 20-foot dead minke whale washed ashore, causing a stench that overwhelmed all nearby residents. No one knew what to do with it, so windows closed and candles burned.

But lobstermen found that action was picking up in Cape Cod Bay, while bluefish and sea bass provided exceptional action. Fifty-inch stripers were being taken from the New Jersey coast through the Cape Cod Canal. The west end of the Canal was a surfcasters paradise, as striped bass chased schools of menhaden. Even in Cape Cod Bay, south of Billingsgate Shoal, numerous stripers were being caught. Its good to be on the water.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Looking back on June, July in a memorable 2021 for outdoors
Jan. 30A man died in an Anchorage hospital Wednesday, days after he was punched outside a downtown bar, police said. A 21-year-old man has been charged in his death.

The Anchorage Safety Patrol was called to the Gaslight Lounge bar on West Fourth Avenue in the early hours of Jan. 22 for a report of an intoxicated person, according to charges signed by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Shorey. The bar is located directly across the street from police headquarters.

The patrol is dispatched by the Anchorage Fire Department Call Center in response to reports of people who appear to be incapacitated by alcohol or drugs in public, according to the municipality's website.

When safety patrol arrived around 3:20 a.m., 44-year-old Carl McGeary was sitting up and breathing, the charges said. Security staff from the bar told the safety patrol team that McGeary had been punched, Shorey wrote.

Safety patrol staff took McGeary to the Anchorage Safety Center, which is located next to the Anchorage Correctional Complex. The center is used as a place to monitor the sobering process, according to the city's website.

When they arrived at the safety center, staff found that McGeary was not responsive to stimuli, although he was still breathing, so they called for medical help, the charges said. McGeary was brought to Providence Alaska Medical Center, charges said.

Anchorage Safety Patrol vans are staffed with a state-certified emergency medical technician. It is not clear whether McGeary was evaluated for injuries related to the assault or how long he was unresponsive in the van before it arrived at the center. A spokesman from the city health department, which manages the patrol program, did not immediately respond to questions Friday.

McGeary's family made an online report to police. Officers responded Monday to the hospital, where they learned that McGeary was brain dead and would not recover from the injuries, the charges said.

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He died Wednesday at the hospital.

Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the Gaslight Lounge, and McGeary could be seen leaving the bar at 2:50 a.m., laughing and talking with another man outside the door before they began to push each other, according to charges.

A man standing in a nearby group outside the bar walked up to McGeary and punched him in the head, the charges said. McGeary had not had any other interaction with the man or other people he had been standing near, according to the court document.

"McGeary immediately falls to ground and his head strikes the pavement violently," Shorey wrote. The man who punched him remained in front of the bar and "at one point, raises his arms in a victory celebration and dances in a circle," the charges said.

Neither bar employees nor witnesses called 911 to request police or medics, the charges said.

A bar employee named 21-year-old George Murfitt as the man who may have assaulted McGeary, the charges said.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Murfitt's army barracks, and clothing matching what the man was seen wearing in the surveillance video was taken from his barracks, according to the charges. Murfitt is a private first class in the U.S. Army and is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Shorey wrote.

Police interviewed him at the department headquarters on Thursday. The charges said he admitted to being at the bar and punching McGeary.

Murfitt was arrested on a charge of manslaughter and is being held at the Anchorage Correctional Center. He did not appear in court Friday but was rescheduled for an arraignment on Saturday.

McGeary's death came as a shock to his friends and family, according to an online fundraiser and memorial that describes him as "the most amazing father, brother, friend and human."

A spokeswoman for the police department would not answer questions about McGeary's death Friday.

[Correction: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect spelling of McGeary.]
I've appreciated reading Maria Shriver's weekly blog called "Sunday's Paper." She is a genuine and thoughtful leader on the subject of healthy aging.

This week's column recounted an interesting conversation between her and her older brother Bobby. She said: "It's funny: I never think of myself as old, but my older brother Bobby says that's a mistake. He says that recognizing that you are old allows you to look at things from a different perspective."

Bobby's advice was excellent: "Maria, you should stop seeing yourself as a young girl. Instead, see yourself as a powerful, single 60-something woman, because that's the truth. You have better mental tools and better practical tools than you did when you were 25. You have experience and wisdom.

"At 25, you see time as endless, but at your age, you should view it as a finite resource and make decisions from that place. Put your dreams into action right now. Get busy living the narrative you want."

Our age does indeed remind us that we are finite in this world. If there is something we want to get done, we better start now.

I remember when John F. Kennedy, Maria's uncle, was told that growing a bonsai garden in Washington, D.C., would take 500 years. President Kennedy said, "We better start today!"

Embracing our age and all that comes with it can be used to our advantage. We are loaded with experience, and if we have any sense at all, we can move into the future with a better navigation system. Wisdom comes with a price, but we've already paid it!

We have the opportunity to change the paradigm of aging and, as Bobby said, put our dreams into action right now. Remember, you're just now old enough.

I thought it was interesting that Shriver was promoting her new summit called, "Radically Reframing Aging: Today's Groundbreakers on Age, Health, Purpose and Joy." She is joined by an impressive list of experts on the topic of aging. She says, "The goal of the summit is to get people of all ages excited about aging. What a concept!"

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I'm proud to say that between myself and the readers of this weekly column, we've been excited about aging for a long time!

Find Connies book, Daily Cures: Wisdom for Healthy Aging, at www.justnowoldenough.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Embracing age and all that comes with it can be used to our advantage
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog) and Jamie Dornan (Belfast) sat down for a virtual chat for Varietys Actors on Actors, presented by Amazon Studios. For more, click here.

Since their first meeting, Jamie Dornan and Kirsten Dunst have followed similar trajectories. They initially played off one another in Sofia Coppolas 2006 film Marie Antoinette  his eligible Swedish count set off sparks with her teen queen of France. After each starred in blockbuster trilogies (Spider-Man for Dunst and Fifty Shades for Dornan), they moved on to more challenging indie work.

More from Variety

This past year, both actors played parents struggling with circumstance: In Jane Campions The Power of the Dog, Dunst portrays Rose, a lonely alcoholic whose marriage into a 1920s Montana ranch family destabilizes her. And in Kenneth Branaghs autobiographical Belfast, Dornan is also trying to escape his surroundings. As Pa, a character based on the directors father, he attempts to protect his family from the 1969 troubles in Northern Ireland.

KIRSTEN DUNST: Jamie and I worked together on your first acting gig, right?

JAMIE DORNAN: Yeah. I remember thinking it might be my last. I remember thinking I really dont know what Im doing here, and it was, Jesus, 17 years ago.

DUNST: Thats crazy. We both have two children  or you have three?

DORNAN: I have three, but I remember we both had our birthday. We were both 22 when we started. Yours was quite a big event. Mine was much of a lesser occasion. That was a pretty good first gig. I know you started pretty strong as a young actor, and much younger.

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DUNST: But I was nervous too, Jamie.

DORNAN: Yeah?

DUNST: And all our stuff was like making out, and Im not comfortable with that. Its never comfortable, ever. I think my first time I even showed my breasts was with Sofia. She never used the take, and I dont even think you were there. I felt overwhelmed too.

DORNAN: God, thats crazy to know. I mean, you handled it well. I thought you were in control of everything. I remember we had to improvise, and Sofia did this thing of how we didnt really meet until we met in the scene. Isnt that right?

DUNST: Oh yeah, which is sometimes a little bit more awkward. But I knew you were in a band at the time. And you were a model.

DORNAN: I was a bit like, This is a cool opportunity. Ill do that. I wasnt one of those kids who was like, I want to be an actor when I grow up. I was just following what my gut was telling me to do.

DUNST: I feel like each movie is kind of its own planet. I really like a more natural way of acting rather than a presentational way of acting.

DORNAN: Sure.

DUNST: But both can be good.

DORNAN: Ive always been drawn to very naturalistic performances. I want to talk to you about The Power of the Dog. I love that you have that stillness. Jane Campion  I mean, shes a bit of an enigma to me. Did you find that reputation she had harder to access, or was she open from the beginning with you?

DUNST: Jane wanted to get down to what really makes me tick as Rose  her vulnerabilities and what she related to in Rose in her own life. She had a nanny that was gaslighting her, bullying her, would not feed her certain things. So

immediately, she was vulnerable about her own struggles.

And surprisingly, Jane is a very good actress. Whenever we were in rehearsal, she acted so well. And sometimes behind the camera, when I wasnt on screen Id watch her, and shed mouth the lines  almost like a little stage mother-y. Its so sweet, though; shes so into it. Im sure she writes her script a little like that. She must.

DORNAN: Right. How did you go about constructing Rose in your mind?

DUNST: We had a month before we started shooting, and I didnt play the piano. So that was a really big hurdle for me to get through. I learned two pieces. When I finally put my hands together and started to learn it like that, I literally looked up and thanked God. I think I cried a little bit. Because its so hard to learn an instrument, especially when you have a child. Id put my kid to bed and then just get to the piano and drive everybody nuts with the same lick over and over again.

DORNAN: Are you quite good about leaving it all on set and just getting home and being yourself?

DUNST: These things seep in, no matter what. I felt like I was more insecure playing Rose than I have been in a very long time about the work I had done for the day.

In Belfast, you play Kenneth Branaghs father. Im sure theres some kind of pressure in that  to do his father justice. Was that a weird thing for you?

DORNAN: We had this brilliant introductory discussion. He was making me feel that I was the only person he wanted to be portraying his father. And were talking about his life story. I had so many questions for him in the beginning about his father and how he really would have responded in these scenarios, trying to get a sense of his dad beyond the page. Its not like he wouldnt answer them, but he was very much like: I want you to do your own thing with it.

Thats massive to be given that confidence, rather than trying to be this idealized version of who his father was. So it ended up being easy, because Ive never felt such freedom on a set. Ive never felt so confident on a film set before.

DUNST: I remember on Melancholia, I had the best time. It was the coziest set and so free. And I was playing someone who was depressed. And we were all in the zone together. And I feel like in Europe  we shot in Sweden  people are just more free. I think I like that European mentality when it comes to filmmaking. It seems like anything goes.

DORNAN: I remember on Marie Antoinette there being red wine at lunch.

DUNST: I did that one day. I remember, because I knew it would make me tired to have a glass of wine at lunch. Id be like, Zonk!  with the hair. When I was younger on Interview With the Vampire, they had wine too. Itd be freezing in Paris. Everyone would pack into these lunch buses and have this gorgeous meal in the middle of the night.

We had to stop and then restart in New Zealand to make The Power of the Dog. When did you make the film? Fully in the pandemic?

DORNAN: We were the first production in the U.K. to start shooting in the pandemic. It was two weeks rehearsal and then 25 shooting days. It came at this sweet spot in the U.K. where they had this easing of restrictions in the summer. But we were all in this bubble.

Ken did this great thing where we sat around a table the first day of rehearsals, and it was all the grown-ups  basically myself, Caitriona Balfe, Dame Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds. Id never met Dame Judi Dench. And of course, were all wearing masks, but Judi comes in wearing a tiger mask, like a roaring tiger. It was so great.

DUNST: Oh, my God. The oldest person who should probably be wearing protective gear is like, I have the fun mask.

DORNAN: As Ciaran Hinds says, Shes just a rebel. And were all there in our very medical-looking blue masks.

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Click here to read the full article.
 Flash

Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term, Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico announced late Saturday, after the parliament gathered in a joint session and concluded its eighth round of voting.

Mattarella was reconfirmed with a broad majority, namely 759 votes in favor from a total of 983 lawmakers and regional representatives actively taking part in the ballot.

"I wish to thank lawmakers and regional representatives for the faith they have put in me," Mattarella, 80, said in a declaration broadcast live from the Quirinale presidential palace immediately after receiving the official notice of his re-election.

"The difficult days of this election, taking place during the serious health, economic, and social emergency we are still going through, call for a sense of responsibility and for the respect of the parliament's decisions," he said.

"These conditions require (us) to not avoid duties, which must prevail over other thoughts and different personal perspectives," he added.

Mattarella's candidacy emerged prominently at the end of a tense week in which the two major political blocs -- the center-left and the center-right -- failed to agree on a different common candidature.

As a consequence, seven rounds of voting were held since Monday, all delivering inconclusive results and exposing deep fractures within both coalitions.

After the leaders of the largest parties from center-right and center-left acknowledged the stalemate on Saturday morning, and agreed on Mattarella's possible second term, a direct request was submitted to the president by all parties' whips.

After a brief talk with Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Mattarella made himself available, despite having repeatedly made clear prior to the election that he would not serve a second term.

The re-election of a head of state is rare in Italy. So far, only Giorgio Napolitano, Mattarella's predecessor, had served a second term, and only for less than two years.

All major political leaders thanked Mattarella for his availability. "This is a great news for Italians, and I am grateful to the president for choosing to oblige to the strong will expressed by the parliament to reconfirm him to a second term," Prime Minister Mario Draghi said in a note.

Enrico Letta, leader of center-left Democratic Party, hailed Mattarella for taking a choice "of great generosity toward the country."

Meanwhile, Letta noted the fact that parties were unable to find an alternative common candidature should not be neglected.

Right-wing League's leader Matteo Salvini said he was "comforted" by Mattarella's choice. "I also feel very serene, because I have made (prior to the re-election) all possible proposals."

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, also a leading figure of the Five Star Movement, told reporters the re-election was "a victory for the country."

The pledging ceremony to reconfirm Mattarella is expected to take place next Thursday, when his first term officially ends.
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
Friday morning, multiple agencies responded to a Fulton County fire.

FULTON COUNTYJust after 1:30 Friday morning, Buckheart Fire Department was dispatched to IL 78 Highway, near IL. 78 and IL. 100, (Sky Rocket Junction) for a reported structure fire.

Buckheart Engine 3 was first on scene and found a two stall garage fully engulfed with two other structures to the south of the fire.

More: After a devastating fire, this Farmington business decides to start a food truck

Buckheart fire crews quickly got the fire under control.

Canton Fire, Lewistown Fire, Copperas Creek Fire and Fulton County Ambulance was on scene and assisted fire crews with overhaul, man power, and water supply. The structures to the south of the fire sustained very little heat damage and the all clear was given after checking for hot spots.

More: Sunday fire in Canton. Heres what we know.

Initially, other departments called to help, but then canceled, were Cuba, Farmington and Havana.

At 5:59 a.m., Buckheart Fire was called back to the same location in reference to smoke blowing across the highway and flames emitting from the structure. Buckheart Engine 3 arrived on scene at 6:05 a.m. to find a one car garage burnt down and a two story house, fully engulfed. All units and departments cleared the scene around 11:55 a.m. All three structures are considered a total loss.

At this time, both incidents are being investigated by the Illinois State Fire Marshal Office.

More: Second fire in in less than a week in Farmington. Heres what we know.

Assisting agencies include: Canton Fire Department, Lewistown Fire Department, Cuba Fire Department, Copperas Creek Fire Department, Fairview Fire Department, Farmington Fire Department, Havana Rural Fire Department, Fulton County Sheriff's Office, Illinois State Police, Fulton County ESDA,

Fulton County Ambulance, IDOT and the Illinois State Fire Marshal Office

This article originally appeared on Canton Daily Ledger: Multiple fire crews respond twice Friday at Sky Rocket Junction
Getty

On a crisp November morning in 1915, Harry Haiseleden, the chief surgeon at the German-American Hospital in Chicago, was awoken early in the day to consult on the case of a newborn, John Bollinger. Bollinger had some serious health issues that could be rectified by surgery, but Haiseleden decided that the disabled child should be allowed to die because if he lived he would become an imbecile and possibly criminal. This sad episode in the history of eugenics might go unnoted were it not for one thing: Haiseleden decided to make a racist and ableist film about the incident called The Black Stork. Not short on ego, he even played himself.

In both the film and during the controversy that surrounded the Bollinger case, spokespeople for both sides invoked historys most notorious practitioners of infanticide: the Spartans. According to the historian Plutarch in his Life of Lycurgus, the Spartans would submit newborn infants to a council for assessment. If they were found to be lowborn or deformed they were exposed to the elements to die. In commenting on the Bollinger case in The New Republic, Helen Keller (Yes, the Helen Keller) suggested a similar system in which physician courts would decide the fate of the malformed idiot baby [sic]. After all, she wrote in a statement that deserves a content warning, It is the possibilities of happiness, intelligence and power that give life its sanctity, and they are absent in the case of a poor, misshapen, paralyzed, unthinking creature. An advertisement for The Black Stork read: Kill Defectives, Save the Nation and See The Black Stork.

Most early 20th-century eugenicists who advocated for forcible sterilization used the Spartans as the outliers next to whom they appeared as reasonable moderates. Dr. William Johnson, a supporter of Haiselden, said that no eugenic considerations will induce us to adopt Spartan-like methods. Eugenicists werent like the Spartans, they claimed, they wanted to prevent disabled and genetically inferior children from ever being conceived. Though eugenicists position themselves as morally superior to the Spartans the argument is always delivered with a sly wink: no one loves the ancient Greeks and Romans more than white supremacists and eugenics advocates. They instead grounded their arguments in the economic and social burdens that providing care, education, and accommodations for people with disabilities would place on the state. All the same, in numerous repulsive tracts, the idea of Spartan infanticide appears either as model or strawman.

But what if the stories of Spartan infanticide are a myth? A new article, published in Hesperia magazine, argues that the Greeks did not routinely expose disabled children to the elements.

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Dr. Debby Sneed, a lecturer in the department of Classics at California State University, Long Beach, and the articles author, reassesses the ancient evidence and finds it lacking.

The most famous piece of literary evidence, Plutarchs Life of Lycurgus was written hundreds of years after the subjects death and is focused not on informing us about Spartan social control but, rather, painting a picture of Lycurguss character. Sneed told The Daily Beast The practice is not mentioned in any other literary source, including those that discuss Spartan law or Lycurgus, even where the author was similarly eugenicist (e.g., Aristotle) and would have appreciated the validation of their own thinking. And we have no archaeological evidence for it, either.

At this juncture, some might object, on principle, that an absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because we dont know about the exposure of disabled infants in Sparta from other sources doesnt mean that they didnt practice eugenics. To this, Sneed replies, that In addition to having zero evidence of the Spartan practice, we have a wealth of evidence of ancient Greek adults actively encouraging the survival of infants with congenital disabilities. Among them was the fourth-century B.C. disabled Spartan king Agesilaus II, whose military prowess and skills as a leader were widely admired.

More broadly, Sneed notes, ancient medical texts associated with Hippocrates discuss the treatment of infants with congenital limb difference, clubfoot, and cleft palate. They discuss the economic and productive potential of these infants, outline treatments and discuss the benefits of physical therapy, and refer to assistive devices that will be helpful for such people as they grow and develop. This rather feels like a waste of space if these infants were killed shortly after birth. More important, Sneed told me, Physicians were not typically present at childbirth, so if physicians interacted with such infants, it was because their parents did not kill them and instead sought assistance with their care. Other ancient authors refer to congenitally disabled infants, and they not only dont recommend infanticide, but they discuss ways to treat and care for them.

Archaeological discoveries support Sneeds case. The burial of a 6-to-8-month-old child with hydrocephaly found in a second-century B.C. deposit in the Athenian agora, she said, suggests that the infant, whose condition would have been apparent earlier in its life, was not abandoned at the first sign of hydrocephaly, but was cared for as the condition worsened, until it died. Similarly, the discovery of feeding bottles in the graves of infants (and sometimes older children and adults) from Pydna suggests that people assisted small children who had difficulty nursing, potentially because of disabilities. What all of this means, says Sneed, is that instead of abandoning infants who require additional care, ancient Greek adults took extra steps to care for them.

None of this means, Sneed says, that ancient Greeks didnt expose infants. In fact, we know that exposure happened in antiquity, and Ive written about it myself. But the fact of exposure does not mean, as Eleanor Scott, Christian Laes, and others have argued, that these infants were abandoned just because they were disabled. All kinds of financial, social, and familial pressures contributed to the practice. Moreover, infants did not always die as a consequence of exposure. In the Roman period there was a clear expectation that children were abandoned at locationsoften trash heaps and dunghillsknown to human traffickers. Not all those children abandoned at these sites were trafficked into slavery. The Roman poet Juvenal writes of women who went to foul pools to find infants to pass off as their own. These were brutal and bloody times, but it is much too simple to suggest that its all about eugenics. The goal of historical research, said Sneed, is to gain a more accurate picture of ancient Greek life and its important to recognize that out-and-out eugenicists like Aristotle and Plato are not as representative of ancient Greek thought and behavior as some would believe.

As a rhetorical device, Spartan infanticide has had a lengthy shelf life. The reasons for exposing infants, Plutarch and Plato agree, is that it is neither better for themselves nor for the city for [these children] to live [their] natural life poorly equipped. Disabled people are, according to this logic, better off dead and a drain on social resources. In the early 20th century the same explicitly economic argument reappears. Popenoe and Johnson, the authors of Applied Eugenics (1920), expressed concern that The feeble-minded child is painfully educated often at the expense of his normal brother or sister. The Christian philanthropic spirit, they went on, mindful of Roman Catholic outrage over the Bollinger case. was leaving a staggering bill to be paid by posterity. Along with inaccurate claims about criminality, scaremongering about bankruptcy and financial costs was rhetorically effective. Similarly misleading claims about staggering costs have been leveraged by those who object to gender-neutral bathrooms. Human rights can really run up a tab.

In early 2020, many conservative commentators claimed that policies aimed at protecting high-risk populations from covid would have a damaging effect on economic growth. Some politicians suggested that high risk populations like the elderly and the disabled should sacrifice themselves for the good of the economy. A Real Housewife hypothesized that COVID-19 is Gods way of thinning the herd. As the pandemic continues, disabled disposability has been normalized. As Mia Mingus and Jillian Weise have powerfully written, high-risk individuals are expected to place themselves at risk because to do otherwise is too costly. Disabled life is sacrificed for abled convenience. This is, as Mingus puts it, eugenic thinking. And that, as it turns out, is something even the Spartans didnt do.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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LONDON (Reuters) - NATO has no plans to deploy combat troops to non-NATO member Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday.

Asked on BBC Television whether he would rule out putting NATO troops in Ukraine if Russia does invade, Stoltenberg said: "We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to Ukraine ... we are focusing on providing support."

"There is a difference between being a NATO member and being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine. There's no doubt about that."

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by David Evans)
Nils Lofgren, the Crazy Horse and E Street band musician, has announced hes removing his music from Spotify in support of Neil Young.

Young previously issued an ultimatum to Spotify and asked that his music be deleted from the platform due to its affiliation with Joe Rogan, whom he said had spread false information regarding Covid-19 vaccines.

Joni Mitchell followed suit in solidarity with Young  and now Lofgren has done the same.

He shared a post on the Neil Young Archives, writing: When these heroic women and men, whove spent their lives healing and saving ours, cry out for help you dont turn your back on them for money and power. You listen and stand with them.

As I write this letter, weve now gotten the last 27 years of my music taken off Spotify. We are reaching out to the labels that own my earlier music to have it removed as well. We sincerely hope they honor our wishes, as Neils labels have done, his.

We encourage all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere to stand with us all, and cut ties with Spotify.

The streaming company has swiftly removed Youngs music following his request last week. The platform has a $100m exclusivity contract with Rogan, for sole rights to his podcast.

They can have Rogan or Young. Not both, Young wrote in a since-deleted letter that was posted to his website and addressed his management team at Lookout Management and Warner Bros.
Stuart police responded to a shooting death in a neighborhood on January 29, 2022.

STUART  Police said no arrests have been made in a fatal shooting incident involving neighbors in the 800 block of Southeast 14th Street, though they released no other details Sunday.

Stuart police about 5:40 p.m. Saturday announced on social media a dispute in which one neighbor was shot and died of his injuries at a trauma center. At the time, no location was given. Police spokesman Lt. Michael Gerwan on Sunday disclosed the street and block number and said no arrests have been made.

The area where the incident occurred is just off State Road A1A, not far from J.D. Parker Elementary School.

Residents of the area said Sunday they heard a shot, but no arguing beforehand.

I just heard a gunshot and I came outside and he got shot, said Jose Cruz, 56, who said he lives next door to the deceased. I don't know what really happened, there was no argument or nothing. So, we are trying to find out.

Cruz said the dead man lived by himself and came to the area from Miami. He said the man had a son, and rode a motorcycle. He used to go to the gym and also went Dumpster diving.

Original story: Dispute between Stuart neighbors leads to shooting death, police say

By the way: Record-tying low temperatures Sunday in Fort Pierce, Vero Beach; warming trend starting

Cruz said hes lived in his home 21 years. Cruz said when the man first moved in he was a good neighbor, but said problems later arose with others.

Another neighbor identified the dead man, but Gerwan could not be reached later to try to confirm the identity. No one answered the door Sunday at the home where neighbors said the man had lived.

Jesse Leone, 27, said he had headphones in and was listening to music.

I heard a loud pop, sounded like a firecracker at three in the afternoon, didn't think nothing of it, Leone said. It didn't sound like a gunshot at first. Next thing I know, two minutes later the whole street's full of cops.

Leone said hes lived there about a year. It is surprising, Leone said. But it's a crazy world, and it's only getting crazier.

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Another neighbor, Jacqueline Cierebiej, who said shes lived there since 1994, also reported hearing a shot.

There wasn't any argument or any yelling and screaming or anything else like that before it happened, she said. It was very silent except for the gunshot.

She said the deceased wasnt in a relationship nor did he live with anyone. She said he was divorced, and had a son. The neighborhood is a diverse and a good one, Cierebiej said. We don't have things like this happen, she said.

She said the dead man was very egocentric.

If he didn't like what you did, he would let you know, she said. He's probably (angered) and fought with half the neighbors in the neighborhood before this.

Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on Twitter @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-692-8936. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

If you're a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest breaking news and crime coverage.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Stuart police: No one charged in fatal shooting involving neighbors
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Tanzania's Zanzibar on Friday received 200,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China.

The vaccines were handed over to the Representative of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government, Minister for Education and Vocational Training Simai Mohammed Said, by the Chinese Consul General in Zanzibar Zhang Zhisheng at the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport.

Said thanked China for the support, saying it will help to vaccinate people in the Zanzibar archipelago.

The minister urged Zanzibaris to vaccinate against the pandemic, saying the vaccines were safe after they were approved by the World Health Organization.

Zhang reaffirmed China's keenness to always stand with Zanzibaris in the fight against COVID-19.

"We will keep sharing experiences and providing assistance as per our capacity," said the Chinese diplomat.

On July 31, 2021, Tanzania's Zanzibar received a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses and syringes donated by China.




North Korea's latest missile test on Sunday appears to be the longest ballistic missile launch since 2017, as well as its seventh such weapons test this month.

The Japanese and South Korean militaries said the missile launch hit a maximum height of 2,000 kilometers and moved 800 kilometers before it fell into the sea, according to The Associated Press.

The projectile traveled towards the east for roughly 30 minutes and ultimately landed in waters just outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone, Bloomberg reported, citing Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno. He said officials are "currently conducting further analysis."

The missile was reportedly set into motion on a high trajectory in an effort to stay away from the territories of other countries, according to the AP.

Based on the flight details, Sunday's launch appears to be the longest-range ballistic missile dispatched since 2017, according to the AP.

North Korea confirmed reports of the test launch on Monday, noting that it was an intermediate-range ballistic missile with the ability to travel into Guam, the AP reported.

The North said the missile was dispatched in the direction of the waters off its east coast and on a high angle to keep it from flying over other nations, according to the AP.

The country also revealed that a camera was installed in the missile's warhead, which captured a picture from space of Earth.

That year, the North flew intermediate-range ballistic missiles over Japan twice, and sent three other intercontinental ballistic missiles that appeared to have the ability to reach the U.S.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters that Sunday's missile was the longest-range the North had tested since November 2017, when it dispatched a Hwasong-15 ICBM, according to the AP.

South Korea President Moon Jae-in said Sunday's test was a potential "mid-range ballistic missile launch" that brought the North close to breaching its 2018 vow to not test nuclear devices and long-range missiles.

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"North Korea must stop raising tensions and pressure and accept offers from South Korea and the United States to restart dialogue," South Korean President Moon Jae-in said after Sunday's launch, per the New York Times.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month said the North's ballistic missile launches were "profoundly destabilizing."

North Korea started testing shorter-range missiles in 2019 after an unsuccessful summit with the U.S. The North, however, has not launched intercontinental ballistic missiles since 2017, as there has been little public progress in restarting talks under the Biden administration.

Updated: 9:44 p.m.
CALIFORNIA  Since the beginning of the year, there has been one reported pediatric death associated with a COVID-19 infection in California, the state's health department told Patch.

In total, 49 children under the age of 18 have died with a confirmed COVID-19 infection in the last two years. At least 17 of them were under 5 years old, the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine.

In early January, hospitalizations of children under 18 with COVID-19 in the U.S. climbed to their highest levels on record yet. Many have other conditions made worse by COVID-19, though many aren't sick enough to require intensive care.



"Its true, kids in general do better than adults with COVID," said Dr. Elizabeth Murray, a pediatric emergency medicine physician in Rochester, New York, and a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, "but not too sick still can mean miserable with fevers and muscle aches for a week. It can also mean MIS-C or long COVID."



MIS-C, or multisystem inflammatory syndrome, is a rare but serious condition that is sometimes caused by COVID-19. The condition can compromise many organs and typically requires hospitalization.



Experts generally dont believe omicron is causing more serious illness in children and adults than other variants, and say hospitalization rates are up partly because it is so much more contagious.

Some children have been admitted for conditions such as lung disease, diabetes and sickle cell disease that have worsened because of an omicron infection, doctors say.

READ MORE: Vaccine Mandate Proposed For CA Schoolchildren: Readers Weigh In

The worrisome trend in children too young to be vaccinated underscores the need for older kids and adults to get their shots to help protect those around them, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What's more, children under five have recently been hospitalized with COVID-19 at record breaking rate, federal data shows.

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But some experts have pointed out that many of the reported COVID-19 hospitalizations are actually children being checked into a hospital for another reason and just happen to test positive amid the omicron variant's rapid spread.

"Although many patients are COVID positive  so theyre placed in the unit under precautions  theyre here for a different reason," Dr. Laurie Bernard Stover told the Los Angeles Times. "COVID isnt the primary reason for admission; its more of an incidental finding."



Still, officials are urging parents to vaccinate their children to help slow the rapid rate of spread.

In California, just 24.1 percent of children 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated. For those aged 12 to 17, 64 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the state.

Some of the state's legislators are pushing for new laws that would ramp up child vaccination mandates for schoolchildren. One bill proposal outlines a plan to do away with parents ability to opt out of vaccinating their children based on personal beliefs.

The bill would require all schoolchildren in grades K-12 to become vaccinated and it would override Gov. Gavin Newsom's vaccination mandate for schoolchildren, which would not take effect until after federal officials fully approve shots for children ages 12 and up. In the interim, an emergency order allows authorization for ages 5 to 15.

The bill was introduced by State Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) earlier this week.

Pan's bill is the second piece of vaccine-related legislation to be proposed this month. Last week, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced SB 866, which allows children 12 years and older to become inoculated without parental consent.



"Giving young people the autonomy to receive life-saving vaccines, regardless of their parents' beliefs or work schedules, is essential for their physical and mental health," Wiener wrote in a statement.

SEE ALSO: CA Vaccination Requirement For All School Children Under New Bill

The Associated Press contributed to this report.









This article originally appeared on the Los Angeles Patch
One man was found dead in Spring Valley Park and Plaza on Saturday night, Kansas City police said.

Officers responded to calls of shots fired at around 6:45 p.m. near 28th Street and Brooklyn Ave. When they arrived, they found a man, who had been shot, on the ground in the park lining the area.

There was some sort of altercation leading up to the sound of shots, said Captain Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and no suspects have been identified, she said.

At about 7:36 p.m. four people who were sitting in a white Sedan near the crime scene were asked to step out of the vehicle by officers.

They were instructed to sit on the sidewalk.

About ten minutes later, police expanded the crime scene 15 yards north toward 27th Street, sectioning off the Sedan with caution tape.

Shortly after, police started searching the ground near the park with flashlights.

Foreman said officers were performing a car check, meaning the car was stopped for further information, but she is unaware whether it is related to the homicide investigation.
Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) made the case for his electability on Saturday and won 60% of party officials' support, falling short of the margin needed for an official party endorsement. (Photo: Matt Rourke/Associated Press)

HARRISBURG, Pa.  The Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee failed to endorse a candidate for U.S. Senate at its annual winter meeting on Saturday after no candidate received the two-thirds majority necessary to win an official state party blessing.

Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), who orchestrated the most energetic vote whipping operation, won 60% of the votes, and said that he was pleased with the outcome, despite not winning the endorsement.

Sixty percent is a commanding lead, Lamb told reporters after the vote. We put a lot of work into this and really showed respect for the committee members in the process.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D)  a polling and fundraising leader  won the second-most votes, followed by state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D) of Philadelphia, and Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.

Arkoosh did not obtain the 15% of votes needed for her votes to count, forcing her supporters to either abstain or cast their votes elsewhere in the second round of voting.

Kenyatta told reporters that he had already proved his doubters wrong by clearing the 15% viability threshold. This is a big coup for our campaign, he said.

Arkoosh and a spokesperson for Fetterman both downplayed the significance of the vote.

The show of support for Lamb among party insiders is far from a decisive indicator of how the contentious Senate primary will play out in May, but nonetheless speaks to how some Democrats have become more risk averse as it becomes clearer that the party faces an uphill battle in the midterm elections in November.

Rather than discuss policy differences as they might have in earlier races, all four major Democratic candidates and their supporters at Saturdays meeting were squarely focused on the slippery question of electability.

Lambs supporters noted that he has proven his ability to win in white working-class corners of Pennsylvania that went heavily for former President Donald Trump. He was first elected to Congress in a March 2018 special election to fill an open seat in a district that Trump won by 19 percentage points in 2016.

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In a district redrawn to be less Republican, Lamb won by a much larger margin in November 2018, but prevailed by just two percentage points in the 2020 election.

In a speech to the members of the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee assembled both in a hotel ballroom and remotely via video, Lamb pointed to all three victories as evidence that he has what it takes to defeat Republicans in November.

You have a chance today to put fear into the heart of Dr. Oz, and Dave McCormick, and that whole cast of characters because they dont want to run against Conor Lamb, he said, referring to the top two candidates seeking the Republican Senate nomination.

The debate among Pennsylvania Democrats about the best way to win the U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey reflects larger discussions in the party over how to build a winning coalition at a time when the partys voters are increasingly concentrated in major metropolitan areas.

Not unlike backers of President Joe Biden during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Lambs supporters cast him as a consensus candidate  a veteran of the U.S. Marines with strong ties to organized labor and a mainstream Democrat who identifies neither with the partys left wing nor the small band of conservative outliers holding up pieces of Bidens agenda in Congress.

His record in Congress speaks to the sweet spot in the Democratic Party, said Mike Veon, a former state representative who is backing Lamb. And, therefore, it is attractive and interesting to the blue-collar worker in western Pennsylvania, and still [offers] plenty enough for suburban women in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Supporters of Kenyatta and Fetterman have their own arguments about why their preferred candidates would be the best contenders to defeat Republicans in November.

Kenyatta, who is Black and openly gay, has impressed poll watchers with the endorsements hes racked up from fellow elected officials and labor unions, including SEIUs Pennsylvania state council. And while he has a history as a mainstream Democrat  he supported Biden in the 2020 primary  he is running as a progressive proponent of Medicare for All with the backing of left-leaning groups like the Working Families Party.

Speaking to a room full of Democratic officials on Saturday, Kenyatta rejected the notion that the party cannot flip Toomeys Senate seat with him as their nominee.

There are some people who think we have to make a false choice between winning and winning for our values, he said. But those two things are inseparable.

Kenyatta elaborated on his theory of victory with reporters after the vote on Saturday, contending that his progressive views and ability to communicate with Black voters would help Democrats drive up turnout in a midterm election when many voters the party needs tend to stay home.

Its always how we win, when we expand the electorate, he said.

Asked about criticism from the left for his support of Biden in the 2020 primary, Kenyatta replied, My very existence is progressive, so I dont know what the hell people are talking about.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D), who is Black and openly gay, pushed back on the idea that he cannot win the general election. He believes he would drive up turnout. (Photo: Matt Rourke/Associated Press)

There is some overlap between Fettermans strategy and Kenyattas.

Fetterman, a former small-city mayor known for his towering height and casual fashion sense, is competing with Kenyatta for progressive voters. And like Kenyatta, he is selling Pennsylvania Democrats on the idea that the party cant simply nominate the safest seeming candidate in the hopes of assembling a presidential-election cycle coalition of hyper-partisan Democrats and frequent voters.

2022 is going to be a tough year for Democrats to win in Pennsylvania, Fetterman told Democratic state committee members in Harrisburg on Saturday. Were not going to have the Trump tailwind at our back to push us over the edge. Were going to need a different kind of map to win in 2022.

Fetterman went on to suggest that his presence as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfs running mate in 2018 at least partly contributed to Democrats improved performance in that cycle of midterm elections, relative to the 2014 midterm elections.

But Fetterman, a social media-savvy politician who developed a national reputation for his efforts to spur economic development and fight gun violence in the small, distressed city of Braddock, just outside Pittsburgh, is also something of a party outsider. He ran a failed bid for the Democratic Senate nomination in 2016, a cycle in which he endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president. And he won in 2018 after mounting a successful primary challenge against then-Lt. Gov. Mike Stack (D).

His supporters see his gritty persona  he wore gym shorts to visit the site of a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh on Friday  and occasionally less-than-rosy relationships with the Democratic Party brass as assets, particularly in rural counties where Democrats have been losing ground for decades.

To wit, Fetterman has toured rural counties extensively as lieutenant governor and touts his commitment to running a campaign in all of the states 67 counties.

Diane Syphrit, a member of the Mercer County Democratic Committee who is backing Fetterman, was effusive about the 120-person turnout Fetterman had received for a recent weekday campaign event in her county.

I dont want a typical politician, Syphrit said. I want a real person.

James Heckman, a manufacturing worker and member of the McKean County Democrartic Committee, said the prospect of Dr. Mehmet Oz winning the Republican nomination made the case for picking Fetterman that much stronger.

Fetterman is the only one who has the star power to take him on, Heckman said.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman argues that he can expand the electorate, but faces skepticism from some prominent Black Democrats. (Photo: Matt Rourke/Associated Press)

If Fetterman hopes to over-perform in mostly white rural areas, he may have a harder time consolidating support among the Black voters who make up the heart of the Democratic base.

His troubles stem from an incident in 2013 that occurred while Fetterman was serving as mayor of Braddock, which is predominantly Black. Fetterman chased a Black jogger in his pickup truck and detained him with a shotgun until the police arrived. Fetterman had heard gunshots outside his home and thought the jogger wearing a face covering, Christopher Miyares, might have been responsible. The police released Miyares after finding no weapon on him.

Fetterman has stood by his actions. After announcing his candidacy last February, Fetterman released a video explaining the incident as the product of a series of split-second decisions that he made to protect his son, who was 4 years old at the time.

But festering suspicion of Fetterman resurfaced last week when several Black clergy members expressed dismay at Fetterman for failing to appear at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in Philadelphia.

Fettermans team said that they had informed the organizers that attending was logistically impossible because he needed to be present on the first day of the state Senates legislative session. But some Black Democrats insist that he could have arrived later in the day, or otherwise considered his explanation inadequate.

It just did not seem like he was making that much of an effort and given the times that we live in and with, you know, police brutality being in the headlines so much  it makes me question his ability to lead a diverse state and represent my interests, said Turea Hutson, a Black member of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee who was deciding between Lamb and Kenyatta prior to the vote on Saturday.

More broadly, both Fetterman and Kenyatta are likely to face skepticism from some Democrats fearful of a 2010-style bloodbath.

After Hillary Clintons presidential election loss in 2016, some progressives insisted that Sanders  or another more left-wing candidate  would have won in her stead. But by the time Biden eked out a win in 2020, Democrats had flipped the House and then the White House and Senate on the backs of relatively moderate Democrats, rather than the activist lefts preferred contenders.

And new data has cast doubt on left-leaning candidates claims that Democrats can assemble winning coalitions in general elections by juicing turnout among young and non-white voters.

For example, Biden only bested Trump by 2 percentage points among new voters, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of validated voter data. And while Trump made significant inroads with Latino voters, Bidens biggest improvement on Clintons 2016 performance was with white voters, according to the Democratic data firm Catalists analysis of official data.

Some Pennsylvania Democrats told HuffPost that their experience seeing left-wing candidates fall short after promising to reshape the electorate informed their perspectives. Janet Diaz, a member of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee running for the state House of Representatives, said that watching Democratic congressional candidate Jess King, a staunch progressive, lose by a wide margin in the 2018 elections helped convince her to back Lamb.

Lamb can work across the table with Republicans, Diaz said. And thats what we need.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
By Jibran Ahmad

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) -Gunmen killed a Christian priest and wounded another as the clerics drove home from church in Pakistans northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday, police said.

Two attackers on a motorcycle opened fire on the car on the city's ring-road, killing Pastor William Siraj instantly, officers added.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting in a city where scores of people died in a twin suicide bombing outside a church in 2013 - one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistan's Christian minority.

Azad Marshall, the most senior bishop in the Church of Pakistan, condemned the attack and tweeted: "We demand justice and protection of Christians from the Government of Pakistan."

Pakistan's northwestern areas bordering Afghanistan have seen a rise in militant attacks on security forces in recent days, many of them claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group which associates itself with the Afghan Taliban.

TV footage showed emergency services removing Siraj from the car, and people chanting "Long live Jesus Christ" as they carried his body on a bed through the streets to a house. Mourners hugged each other and sobbed.

Pastor Siraj's colleague - named by Bishop Azad as the Reverend Patrick Naeem - was out of danger and being treated for his injuries, a spokesman for the city's Lady Reading hospital said.

Bishop Azad said both were clergy of the Diocese of Peshawar in the Church of Pakistan, which is a union of protestant churches including the Methodists and the Anglicans.

(Writing by Raza Hassan; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Guantanamo Bay. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The U.S. has been holding terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay for 20 years. Will the camp ever close? Here's everything you need to know:

Why was Guantanamo created?

The military detention facility first called Camp X-Ray was built in three days in early January 2002, to receive al Qaida and Taliban prisoners captured during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Shortly after Jan. 11, when the first 20 detainees arrived, the Pentagon released a startling photo of the men in orange jumpsuits, hooded and shackled, kneeling on the ground by a barbed-wire fence. The image sparked a national debate over human rights and national security that continues to this day. Over the next 20 years, the U.S. spent $11 billion on the camp as it expanded into a large compound called Camp Delta. Some 780 Muslim men and boys, from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and other countries, cycled through its prison cells, almost all without charges or trials. In the first three years, many were subjected to "enhanced interrogation" techniques such as waterboarding, beatings, and being forced to stay awake or exposed to blaring music for days. Only two were ever convicted of war crimes. After years of gradual releases and repatriations under four presidents, 39 remain in custody.

What is their legal status?

It's in limbo. While trying to extract information from the prisoners, the Bush administration didn't want them to be subject to the Geneva Conventions, so it classified them as "illegal enemy combatants," a term not defined in international law. Trying these suspected terrorists in court, the administration said, was too big a risk: Those acquitted for lack of evidence could go free on U.S. soil and plot new attacks on Americans. So it sent the prisoners to the U.S. military base in Cuba, beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. But a series of Supreme Court cases determined that the detainees could challenge their detention in federal court, and most obtained lawyers.

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Who has been detained there?

At the outset, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the camp was housing only highly trained, hardened terrorists the "worst of the worst." A few detainees were, in fact, top al Qaida members, such as the suspected 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But many were low-level Taliban or jihadist fighters with no involvement in terrorist plots against the U.S., and dozens of others were later found to be innocent people swept up by Afghan or Pakistani forces chasing the U.S. bounty of $5,000 per capture. Hundreds of inmates were later transferred to other countries, but some were held for years. Seven have died by suicide, and dozens of others have attempted it.

Why hasn't the prison closed?

When President Obama took office in 2009, he ended the use of torture, and ordered that the Guantanamo Bay camp be closed within a year, with prisoners deemed dangerous given trials and sent to U.S. maximum-security prisons. But with both Republicans and Democrats insisting, rather improbably, that terrorists might escape the supermaxes (which house mass murderers and other terrorists), Congress passed a law barring the transfer of detainees to U.S. territory. In 2018, President Trump reversed Obama's closure order, and detainees who were slated for release had their transfers delayed. Of the 39 prisoners who remain, 10 are awaiting trial, two were convicted, and the other 27 were never charged. The trials have moved at an agonizingly slow pace. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants in the 9/11 attack have been in pretrial hearings for years, with their lawyers arguing that the evidence against them is inadmissible because it was obtained by torture.

Will Biden close it?

The Biden administration says it is committed to closing the facility as soon as possible, but it has yet to appoint an official to oversee the process. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress oppose efforts to release the uncharged prisoners, citing a 2020 declassified intelligence report that said 229 of the more than 700 detainees who have been released have returned to terrorist activities. At a Senate hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said at least five people in Afghanistan's current Taliban government are former Guantanamo detainees. "And we're talking about releasing people," he said. "This is nuts."

So is Guantanamo necessary?

In a 2010 memoir, former President George W. Bush conceded that Guantanamo Bay had become "a propaganda tool for our enemies and a distraction for our allies." Since then, Islamic extremist groups, including al Qaida and ISIS, have continued to invoke the torture and unlawful detention of Muslims there in their recruiting, while a new U.N. report called the site "a stain" on the U.S. commitment to the rule of law. Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert, who was in charge of setting up the camp, recently told a Senate hearing that it was a mistake for the U.S. to create an extra-legal, offshore prison. "The urgency to gain information had bad consequences," Lehnert said. "When you forgo generations of legal thought and precedent, bad things happen."

This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.

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ABUJA, Nigeria  About 30 men and women from Abujas Igbo Jewish community gathered outside the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport terminal, waiting for the flight carrying Rhode Island Rabbi Barry Dolinger and his wife, Naomi Baine, to land in the Nigerian capital.

As it often does, the area outside the terminal had the feel of a sports event. Weaving their way through the crowd, children hawked groundnuts from round metal trays balanced on their heads. The pavement was littered with legume shells. Outdoor seating under a canopy offered shelter from sun and rain for some of those waiting, as they watched each batch of passengers exit the terminal. During the sizzling summer months, beverages are sold to the sweating spectators. Now, in August, in the rainy season, children with oversized umbrellas studied the clouds, ready to offer cover in event of a downpour.

I had anticipated a long wait, since  so excited were these Igbo Jewish men and women about the first visit from a rabbi to their community in six years  we had gotten to the airport hours ahead of the couples expected arrival.

Among those waiting with me were Elder Obadia Agbai and Elder Pinchas Ogbukaa, members of Abujas Gihon synagogue, whose visit to Rhode Island I had helped arrange nearly a year before in an effort to help the Igbo Jews connect with the outer Jewish world.

The greatest of all the challenges we are facing is that of isolation, Ogbukaa had told me. Officially, Israel has not accepted us as Jews, yet our culture, our central way of life, points to nowhere in the universe except the ancient House of Israel. It is the aspiration and dream  to break the isolation.

After spending time with the elders during their 12-day stay in Rhode Island, Dolinger, rabbi of Providences Congregation Beth Sholom, resolved to travel to Abuja to meet its Igbo Jews and offer religious instruction.

Also waiting with me outside the terminal was Lior Shragg  an ethnomusicologist from the University of Arizona who had come to study Igbo Jewish music  and Habakkuk Nwafor, the man who first invited me to Abuja, and at whose home I had stayed during my previous two visits to the city the last two Februaries. .

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At Nwafors family compound, where Tikvat Israel Synagogue is located, the week prior to Rabbi Dolingers arrival was full of activity. The synagogue was emptied of furnishings, scrubbed clean and, inside and out, given a fresh coat of blue and white paint  the colors of the Israeli flag. Nwafor renovated a one-bedroom home on his property to accommodate the rabbi and his wife. Floors were tiled, walls were painted and mosquito netting was placed around the bed.

During a lull in those preparations, I sat with a biology teacher at a Catholic secondary school in Abuja who I had met on my previous visits to Abuja. The man wanted to know how Igbo Jewry was perceived by those outside his country.

What do Jews in America and Israel think about Igbo Jews in Nigeria? he asked. What is their opinion? Do they consider us Jews like them or do they consider us as only self-identifying?

I replied that most American and Israeli Jews still dont know about Igbo Jews at all, and so cannot have an opinion.

Numbering over 30 million, the Igbo are Nigerias third largest ethnic group. Most Igbo are Christian, but there is a long tradition of Igbo identification as descendants of Jews. Following the Nigerian civil war (1967-70), during which at least one million Igbo died in the failed bid for Biafran independence, Igbo identification as Jews intensified. Igbo saw themselves as sufferers of genocide, like the Jews of World War II Europe, and as inhabitants of a beleaguered plot of land surrounded by hostile forces, similar to the Jewish state of Israel. A much smaller number of Igbo also sought to practice Judaism, the religion of their assumed ancestors.

These seekers gradually began to find one another, acquire printed material on Judaism, scour the Internet for information and teach themselves to read and pray in Hebrew. Considering themselves descendants of the tribes of Israel, their community, not yet recognized by any Jewish denomination or by the state of Israel, numbers between 2,000 to 5,000 people throughout Nigeria.

Rabbi Dolinger and his wife, delayed in the airport as arriving passengers were screened for symptoms of Ebola, finally emerged from the terminal into a torrential downpour typical of Abujas rainy season.

They were enthusiastically embraced by the waiting Igbo Jews and an intense week of teaching at the citys four synagogues began. Given how much time had elapsed since a rabbi last visited Abuja, the community had seemingly endless questions and concerns about everything from theology to daily ritual.

One afternoon, Habakkuk Nwafor held a bat mitzvah celebration for his daughter, Deborah. Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria Uriel Palti was a surprise visitor and was immediately surrounded by the dozens of celebrants, who burst into a rendition of Hatikvah, Israels national anthem. Palti told them that he and the state of Israel appreciated their solidarity.

The presence of both Rabbi Dolinger and Ambassador Palti, representatives of the religious and political establishments that Igbo Jews so long to be recognized by, was overwhelming for many of the attendants. Addressing his guests, Nwafor spoke of how happy he was and that he never imagined experiencing such a day.

I, too, was greatly moved. I felt their presence represented a culmination of my almost two years of efforts on behalf of Igbo Jewry. Still, I knew that this occasion  with the rabbi, his wife, Ambassador Palti, and the musicologist Lior Shragg together in Abuja alongside so many Igbo Jews  was only one more stage in a complex process of religious and political recognition that would likely take many years.

Rabbi Dolinger and his wife considered their time in Abuja to be among the most profound experiences of their lives and hoped to continue working with Igbo Jewry.

Whether or not the Igbo are a lost tribe of Israel, we have a responsibility to assist those who are sincerely seeking our God and to help them learn, Rabbi Dolinger said during his first Saturday morning sermon at Congregation Beth Sholom after getting back to the United States at the end of August.

Beyond that, we also have much to learn from the Igbo Jews, he said. We can learn from the joy with which they worship, from their use of song and dance, from the time and care they take with prayer, and from the priority they place on meeting with and learning from Jewish scholars.

Shai Afsai lives in Providence. His articles on Nigerias Igbo Jews have appeared in The Providence Journal, The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel, as well as in Nigerian newspapers. His photographs of the Igbo Jews of Abuja are being exhibited at Brown RISD Hillel, 80 Brown St., Providence, through Nov. 30.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: R.I. rabbis visit to Nigeria helps lessen its Jewish community's isolation
Belair K-8 School in Augusta, Ga.

Republican Congressman Rick Allen represents Georgia's 12th District.

As a father of four and grandfather of 14, its such a joy to watch children develop their personalities, with their own unique skills and interests. I know firsthand that what works best for one child may not work for another.

That is why parental involvement in a childs education is absolutely critical. However, while each parent knows the uniqueness of their child, it truly takes a team.

Students thrive when there is a partnership amongst parents, educators and a community. For example, if a single mom cant help her child with homework because she has a late night shift, afterschool tutoring and transportation can be a valued resource to set that child, and their family, up for success.

We should provide all families and schools with the flexibility needed to offer additional resources that will create the best opportunities and learning environments in which students can succeed.

Whether its public, public charter, public magnet, private, online schools, technical training, work-based learning or homeschool groups, there are an array of education options out there, and we must expand the availability of these opportunities so families can utilize what best works for them.

As we celebrate National School Choice Week, Id like to highlight the great work being done in Georgias 12th District. I believe we can serve as an example for districts around the country.

In Richmond County, the school district offers families variety, from magnet schools that focus on engineering or fine arts, to specialized programs like JROTC or robotics and computer programming.

But they are taking it even further, working to equip students with training and skills to secure a job right at home. The Cyber Academy of Excellence offers students Cybersecurity Training in addition to Industry Certification - which is great for the talent pipeline with Fort Gordon and U.S. Army Cyber Command just down the road.

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At my alma mater, Evans High School in Columbia County, the school offers several hands-on training programs through their Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Department. These courses can enable students earn to an industry-recognized certification or licensure.

In Bulloch County, the Statesboro STEAM College, Careers, Arts and Technology Academy is a public charter school that equips students with the tools necessary to be ready for a career field that accentuates their individual talents, whether thats science, technology, engineering, arts or math.

In 2019, Dublin City Schools was recognized by the Charter System Foundation as the "Charter System of the Year," with a graduation rate of 96.1%. This is an incredible achievement and it shows how invested the community is in ensuring students are ready for college or a career.

U.S. Rep. Rick W. Allen

These are just a few of examples of the variety of options available to students and families in the 12th District. Programs like these are critical to student success and ultimately lead to stronger communities, which is why Im optimistic about the future of our nation.

As a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, I have championed changes to federal education policy that will allow flexibility when it comes to our childrens education, and I will continue to fight for education freedom for our families and students. We know one-size-fits-all approaches to education do not work, and by creating more opportunities for our next generation to succeed, we are opening the door to increased innovation and a brighter tomorrow.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Richmond and Bulloch County schools offer specializations for kids
Three referendum questions that sponsors hoped to get on the November ballot will instead appear, most likely, in 2023, since signature-gathering efforts fell short. Overall, the delay may provide needed breathing room.

Douglas Rooks

Maine has been in full policy-by-referendum mode since 2016, when no fewer than five major questions appeared, and things havent gotten a lot easier for voters-as-legislators since then.

The most important pending question is the one youve probably heard least about: an effort by a consortium of providers and public health groups to bring a version of Medicare for All to Maine.

Theres a firm belief that one state, acting alone, cant provide the kind of universal, government-organized health care system that every other major democracy in the world  and quite a few autocracies  already has.

Yet the lack of any progress at the federal level since passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which was at best a partial step toward a universal system, makes the states role as laboratories of democracy especially important.

The proposed initiative gives plenty of room for the Legislature to devise plans, and a more sympathetic administration in Washington would make a huge difference. John Baldaccis signature Dirigo Health plan in 2003 got no help from the George W. Bush administration, and Vermonts later attempt at a universal system suffered a similar fate.

A vote by a single state could attract overdue attention to the multiple failures of a privately dominated system of huge insurers, drug companies and enormous numbers of middlemen far more adept at producing profit for their owners than providing health care for the American people.

The other two measures  to expropriate the assets of Central Maine Power and Versant, Maines two private electric utilities, and to ban foreign entities from contributing to referendum campaigns  have significant flaws.

Both are essentially outgrowths of Question 1 from last November, which attempts to cancel the power line already being constructed to Canada.

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The Our Power campaign is certainly ambitious. It would remove the investor-owned status of the utilities by buying them, and govern through an elected seven-member board.

Actual management would be carried out by a contracted operator which, presumably, wouldnt replace the entire current workforce.

The cost, according to CMP, would be $13.5 billion; electric utilities have lots of assets. By contrast, if you add together all the states current liabilities  voter-approved bonds, pension obligations, Maine Housing, the university system, the Turnpike Authority, and more  its less than $8 billion: by any measure, a huge undertaking.

The foreign entity question arose because Hydro Quebec was a major funder of the No on 1 campaign.

Its a curious way to look at it. Like it or not, Hydro Quebec has been supplying electricity to New York and Vermont for decades, and Massachusetts was trying to get aboard, with the line running through Maine.

All these connections are part of a regional grid providing the real test of whether we will succeed, or fail, to decarbonize the economy to stave off a global warming disaster. Hydro Quebecs power would unquestionably have displaced fossil fuel burning, New Englands leading source.

What we missed about Question 1 was that it had relatively little to do with environmental questions and was much more a clash of corporate titans: Hydro Quebec and Avangrid, CMPs parent, on one side, and NextEra, headquartered in Florida, on the other.

NextEra wanted the Massachusetts contract Hydro Quebec got, and fought ceaselessly against it with regulators, the courts of Maine and Massachusetts, and finally with Question 1.

It might have been better for all concerned if Massachusetts had chosen a mix of hydropower, solar and wind  NextEra is a major supplier of the latter two  but it didnt.

The irony of the foreign entity referendum is that Hydro Quebecs approach backfired. It was so incoherent it probably cost more votes for no than it gained. In retrospect, it was CMPs unpopularity that drove results as much as any serious consideration of the issues involved.

Would it be fair to allow U.S.-based multinationals to participate in Maine referendums while banning a Canadian firm whose project was slated for cancelation? Voters may decide that, too.

Meanwhile, Question 1 sits before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which is taking a leisurely approach and probably wont decide its constitutionality before summer. The flaws that led the court to remove the 2020 version of Question 1 from the ballot havent necessarily been fixed in the new edition.

It would be good to get one referendum resolved before we start debating its progeny. Deciding on Maines governor and who controls Congress should be enough this time around.

Douglas Rooks, a Maine editor, commentator and reporter since 1984, is the author of three books. His first, Statesman: George Mitchell and the Art of the Possible, is now out in paperback. He welcomes comment at drooks@tds.net

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Rooks: Efforts underway to bring Medicare for All to Maine
Ukraines ambassador warned of the far-reaching effects of a potential Russian invasion of his countrys territory on Sunday as top figures in the US foreign policy sphere reiterated that Vladimir Putin had options on the table to avert war.

Oksana Markarova made the comments during an interview with CBSs Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation on Sunday.

She warned that Russian forces would not stop at claiming Ukraines territory, and would threaten all of eastern Europe if the west did not oppose them.

"I believe nobody's safe if Ukraine will be attacked," the ambassador told CBS News.

She added: [I]f Ukraine will be further attacked by Russia, of course, they will not stop after Ukraine. So that's why it's in the interest of Europe and all democratic world, to help us to defend ourselves but also to show that the international rule of law still works.

The ambassador did not portray the issue as one of Ukraines potential membership in NATO, the Soviet-era alliance formed to deter Russia and its allies, but rather one of Moscows supposed disapproval of the idea of having a pro-western democracy on its doorstep.

The reason why Putin attacked us is not because he wants Ukraine, or only Ukraine. The reason he attacked us is because we have chosen to be a democracy and we have the Atlantic and European aspirations, said Ms Markarova.

A top official in the US State Department, Under Secretary Victoria Nuland, reiterated in her own interview with Ms Brennan that Mr Putin still had all options on the table, including both invasion as well as a peaceful retreat from Ukraines borders.

We dont believe [Putin]s made a decision, but as hes done in the past hes given himself every option, including ... a massive potential invasion of all of Ukraine, including cyber attacks, including incursion from Belarus, said Ms Nuland.

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee agreed. Sen Dick Durbin told NBCs Meet the Press that while any decision on Ukraine will be made by Ukraine, he thought that Ukraine and Russia could come to a way out of this short of military action.

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Mr Durbin went on to suggest that if Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, were to accept a deal that limited his countrys future engagement with the NATO military alliance it could be the first step at easing such tensions.

The comments represent a slight change in tone from several parties involved; Ukrainian officials had been said last week, particularly surrounding a call between Mr Zelensky and President Joe Biden, that the US needed to tone down its rhetoric regarding the likelihood of a Russian invasion.

US officials, meanwhile, had been reportedly describing the potential of an invasion as all but inevitable in the coming weeks, a marked difference than the suggestions from both Ms Nuland and Mr Durbin on Sunday.

Mr Biden even reportedly told Mr Zelensky on that phone call last week that Kiev, Ukraines capital, could be sacked during the fighting, a Ukrainian government official who remained anonymous told several news outlets.

Russian officials have continued to demand that Ukraine be barred from joining the NATO alliance and have refused allegations from the west including the US regarding their supposed plans to invade, even as tens of thousands of troops amass near Ukrainian territory and the country retains control of territory seized during the 2014 invasion of Crimea.

US lawmakers in Congress are in the meantime working on a new package of sanctions targeting top Russian officials, an effort that Ms Nuland confirmed to CBS News was being done in conjunction with the White House and broader Biden administration. Its not yet clear whether more sanctions will be implemented against Russia if the situation remains as it is in the coming weeks.

Mr Biden has vowed to personally sanction Mr Putin if conflict breaks out. A US official told The Independent last week that the Biden administrations plan is to maximise pain in the Kremlin if invasion occurs, including potentially via measures targeting the countrys largest financial institutions.
Images from Resettling Main Street series

More in this series

About 1%.

That is how many refugees see a final resettlement on average, after violence tears them from home and refugee camps fill with families escaping torture, sexual assault, murder and other persecution.

A record-setting 82.4 million people were displaced worldwide by the end of 2020 alone, according to the United Nations. Roughly 3 million refugees have been resettled in the United States since 1975.

Along with over 20 other countries, the U.S. assists refugees through the process laid out by the Refugee Act of 1980. These individuals and families qualify due to persecution, or well-founded fear of the same, owing to their race, religion, nationality or social group. They have all fled their homes. Many languished for years in dangerous refugee camps, waiting to return. They do not choose their final destination.

The efforts reflect in layers of human geology molding many U.S. cities over generations, as waves of people have settled across all 50 states. But some landing grounds can go unconsidered. It's not New York City, and its not Miami Beach.

It's America's smaller cities  where refugees, still piecing their own lives back together, have helped boost economies.

Rust Belt cities such as New Yorks Buffalo, Syracuse and Utica, which have suffered population declines for decades, have seen those trends reverse in the latest census.

More than 80% of refugees who've come to New York since 2002 arrive upstate, according to numbers kept by the U.S. Department of State.

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And by 2017, one small Pennsylvania city had settled 20 times more refugees per capita than the rest of the country. The city of Lancaster alone carries 14% of its state's resettlements since 2002.

Affordable rent and fallow infrastructure in these smaller Rust Belt cites have made them attractive places to settle new Americans, allowing diverse populations to bring new culture, new food, new ideas and higher rates of entrepreneurship.

Today, the world watches an unprecedented resettlement operation following the withdrawal of U.S. military in Afghanistan. The more than 70,000 Afghan evacuees will exceed the total welcomed in the U.S. during the last two years of the Trump administration.

The total still remains far below historic levels  a little more than half the number of refugees the U.S. welcomed in 2016  and the Biden administration has already shared a fiscal year 2022 admissions goal of 125,000. Refugee agencies that shrank in the previous administration, as admission levels were limited, must now ramp back up and re-forge old relationships with landlords and employers.

While these efforts in rebuilding may be daunting, the blueprint already lines city streets.

Four small locales embody these changes in real-time: Buffalo, Syracuse and Utica  all in New York  and Lancaster in Pennsylvania. These cities not only show growing, diverse populations and economies, but hold well-established networks of refugee resettlement.

Stories of both their newcomers and solidified communities reveal lessons for any place seeking revitalization through open doors.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Refugees revitalize Buffalo, Syracuse NY, smaller U.S. cities
NBC

After reporting the news that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire from the bench in June, Saturday Night Lives Michael Che joked, We thank Justice Breyer for years of upholding the rights of every American, said liberals who have been tweeting, Retire, bitch for the last year.

I sympathize with Breyer because I get those same tweets every Saturday around this time, the Weekend Update anchor added. Then he told a joke that demonstrated why.

President Biden promised to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, Che said to cheers from the live audience. Those cheers turned to groans when he delivered the punchline: But I hope its not because he wants to sniff a new type of hair.

Looking around, he added, This is why I get those tweets.

From there, Che moved on to a joke about Senator Mitch McConnell warning Biden not to outsource his Supreme Court pick to the radical left. that would likely sit better with viewers. Coincidentally, a radical left is also what McConnell takes to purposely run over stray dogs.

Why W. Kamau Bell Worries His Bill Cosby Documentary Could End His Career

Colin Jost, meanwhile, focused most of his jokes on the Trump family. Ukrainian officials are saying the repeated warnings of invasion are just causing panic and that panic is the sister of failure, which is exactly what Lorne told us to do this show in a blizzard, he said. Also, am I wrong? I thought Ivanka was the sister of failure, Jost added as Eric and Donald Trump Jr.s photos appeared on screen.

Later, he noted that three items put up for auction by Melania Trump failed to reach the opening bid of $250,000, adding, but Melania is no stranger to finding out something isnt worth as much as she thought.

For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.

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District 23 Rep. Charlie Hoffman, R-Eureka, visits with District 23 Rep. Bryan Breitling, R-Miller, in the Kessler's Champion Room at Northern State University Saturday prior to the first of three legislative cracker barrels planned in Aberdeen. District 23 legislators were invited because the district now includes of Brown County.

A new Lincoln Hall for Northern State University has the support of local state lawmakers.

The proposed facility was one of the prime topics at Saturday's legislative cracker barrel at the Barnett Center on the Northern campus.

Most of the legislators from districts 1, 2, 3 and 23 were in attendance. About 85 local residence also attended.

One resident at the session expressed his dismay at Northern's plan to demolish Lincoln and Briscoe halls and replace them with a new building. He asked if legislators would support restoration as opposed to demolition.

Northern has proposed the demolition of the two buildings and the construction of a $29.5 million facility that would provide new spaces for business education, an accelerated nursing simulation lab, a digital economy incubator space, new admissions offices and new classrooms. Following the cracker barrel, Northern President Neal Schnoor said plans also include remembering the historic building that now stands.

During the cracker barrel, Schnoor noted that Lincoln Hall was built in 1917 as a residence hall, and rehabilitation of the existing space would cost twice as much a building new. And renovation wouldn't provide the type of facility needed, he said.

In response to the question, several legislators voiced support for the new building.

"Yes, I support the Lincoln building project," District 3 Sen. Al Novstrup, R-Aberdeen, said. "It is an embarrassment to South Dakota to show them this is where your education is going to be. It's time it's gone."

Novstrup

District 23 Rep. Charlie Hoffman, R-Eureka, said he was confident Schnoor and his team would, "build a world-class facility."

District 2 Rep. Lana Greenfield, R-Doland, said the current building, which includes two pillars in one of the classrooms, is not an ideal atmosphere for teaching.

"More importantly, it is not handicapped accessible," she said. "We need to make them open and fit for all."

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District 1 Sen. Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, agreed to the importance of keeping culture and heritage alive, but also noted the project is planned with the use of federal funding that is available, pending approval.

District 3 Rep. Drew Dennert, R-Aberdeen, said it's less about the building that's there now and more about the benefits of the space being proposed, which include a partnership with South Dakota State University's nursing program. With one in 10 nursing positions currently open in the state, he said, it's worth the investment.

Other top topics discussed Saturday were eminent domain and gestational surrogacy.

Are changes to eminent domain regulations needed?

Legislators were also asked if they would support legislation changing eminent domain regulations. Ed Fischbach, who also expressed concern about a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline that would run through the area, posed the question. He said current eminent domain regulations in South Dakota need to be changed.

District 23 Rep. Spencer Gosch, R-Glenham, who is also speaker of the house, provides opening remarks at Saturday's Legislative Cracker Barrel in Aberdeen.

District 23 Rep. Spencer Gosch, R-Glenham, said it's a topic that's been brought to his attention, but he just received proposed revisions on Thursday with the deadline to submit draft bills looming.

"A big topic like eminent domain takes more than three days," he said, noting that the fix is going to take more than a simple amendment.

"It may be a topic we can't solve this year. But I will keep looking at it," Gosch said.

District 23 Sen. Bryan Breitling, R-Miller, said roads and railroads wouldn't exist without eminent domain language, but added he is working on a bill addressing language concerning easements. Although easements are perpetual, he said, there's a life cycle to infrastructure.

"The landowner should have the ability to terminate that agreement," he said.

Since the topic of eminent domain was tied to proposed carbon dioxide pipelines, including one going through parts of District 23, the pipeline was a hot topic, too.

Carbon dioxide pipeline proposal draws questions

District 3 Rep. Carl Perry. R-Aberdeen, said there hasn't been proposed legislation on the pipeline, but there have been conversations with proponents and opponents and he's leaning against the project.

Hoffman expressed support for the proposal, but noted that Summit Carbon Solutions can do better communicating with people. The pipeline has yet to go before the Public Utilities Commission, he said.

Gestational surrogacy regulations could be in the works

Dennert, Novstrup and District 2 Rep. Kaleb Weis, R-Aberdeen, were specifically asked their position on creating gestational surrogacy regulations in South Dakota. That's coming in Senate Bill 137, which would allow for gestational surrogacy arrangements and agreements.

Gestational surrogacy is when somebody who did not provide the egg used in conception carries a fetus through pregnancy and gives birth for another couple or person.

Providing a bit of background, District 2 Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark, said surrogacy has been in the state for some time, but has yet to put regulations in state law.

'We're one of a few states that don't have regulations in code," he said. "Of all the people who would like to avail themselves, 2% would qualify. They're very stringent on what they're looking for. ... We're trying to inject more integrity and regulation into the process."

Dennert said he hasn't had the chance to read the five-page bill, but is open to the concept and is willing to support it.

"It would make more sense to try this and regulate it as opposed to banning it," he said.

Weis said he's glad the issue is coming before the Legislature, but as it just went through the Senate, he hasn't yet reviewed the bill and doesn't yet have an opinion.

Novstrup also didn't commit, but noted the top priority of state laws should be determining what is in the best interest of the child.

"That will be my No. 1 criteria," he said.

Legislators see rising opposition to collective bargaining bill

Dennert said he's starting to see emails opposed to House Bill 1216. It proposes the elimination of collective bargaining for school district employees. He made that comment in response to a question asking legislators to weigh in on the measure, which had not yet had a committee hearing.

Brock Greenfield said he expects significant opposition to that bill, recalling the fate of a bill introduced in a prior session that sought to ban collective bargaining and didn't gain much traction.

He said he's not sure what the vote will be, but believes as more information comes out, there will be more hesitation to back it.

Dennert said he's generally against such bills and will more than likely oppose this one, but he's yet to hear testimony on the issue.

"it would be foolish to take a hard position without hearing testimony," he said.

Could education tax credit program expand?

Lawmakers were asked if they would support Senate Bill 71, which proposes an increase to the partners in education tax credit program. The program, which provides scholarships to families wishing to send their students to a private school, has a $2 million limit on annual contributions from insurance companies. The bill proposes increasing that limit to $3.5 million. In exchange for contributions, insurance companies receive a tax credit.

Lana Greenfield said testimony on this bill is expected on Monday.

"We'll listen to the testimony and see what we can come up with," she said, noting one argument will be the use of taxpayer dollars.

District 1 Rep. Jennifer Keitz, D-Eden, said she opposes anything that has to do with private education.

"I don't think it's an appropriate use of public funds," she said.

About 85 people attended the cracker barrel in the Kessler's Champions Room in the Barnett Center. That will also be the home to cracker barrels on Feb. 12 and March 5. Both will start at 10 a.m.

District 1 Rep. Tamara St. John, R-Sisseton, was unable to attend.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: New building at Northern State, emanant domain topics at cracker barrel
Jan. 29Maine's lake advocates say it's time to ramp up the fight against invasive species that threaten the integrity of the many ponds that dot the lush landscape of the Pine Tree State.

"Maine will not be Vacationland if we lose our inland lakes and waters to this threat," Robert Allen of Orland said. He warned that falling short in the fight "would cause huge economic as well as environmental and quality of life problems for our state."

Roberta Hill, an aquatic ecologist with the Lake Stewards of Maine, recently told legislators the existing effort "to prevent the spread of aquatic invaders in Maine, as well strategized and heroic as it has been, will likely not be adequate to stem the tide of what is coming our way in the years to come."

"If we are to succeed in protecting our native ecosystems from this onslaught," Hill said, "even more will need to be done  and on a broader scale, especially in the realm of prevention and early detection."

Hoping to kickstart that initiative, Rep. Tavis Hasenfus, a Readfield Democrat, has a bill that would create a new committee within the state bureaucracy to suggest ways to ramp up "the treatment and protection of lakes infested with invasive aquatic plants or those at risk of infestation."

Hasenfus said policymakers need to start setting policy.

The Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee, whose members expressed a desire to have a greater oversight role on the issue, is weighing his idea. Its next work session on the measure is slated for Monday.

"We feel it's important to do something," said Sen. Stacy Brenner, the Scarborough Democrat who co-chairs the panel.

Susan Gallo, executive director of Maine Lakes, said invasive aquatic plants "change habitats and outcompete threaten native plants and animals. "

"Dense mat of invasive plants shade and choke out other species, and lower fish habitat quality and sport fish opportunities," she said. They also impact property values, Gallo said.

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Sal Girifalco, president of the Lakes Association of Norway, said his group is "very familiar with the ever-present threat" of invasive plants getting into the four lakes it keeps an eye on.

He said volunteer inspectors have "made multiple saves" after finding invasive species "on boats about to launch at our biggest lake."

The existing system across Maine relies heavily on local volunteers willing to devote time to inspecting boats before they're launched into favored ponds.

Ken Haake, who is involved with the Acton Shapleigh Youth Conservation Corps in York County, told lawmakers a success story from the effort.

One Sunday last June, Haake said, one of the courtesy boat inspectors trying to protect Mousam Lake and several nearby ponds looked at a boat that had previously been on the water 20 miles away at Lake Arrowhead.

The inspector found "a large piece of variable milfoil," confirmed by a DNA test, Haake said, just the sort of debris that could accidentally contaminate a new body of water.

While the existing program to encourage boaters to be careful and promote inspections is helpful, Girifalco said, it is "a detection, not a prevention, program."

When boats arrive at a launch with invasive species aboard, prevention has already failed, he said.

"A stronger multilayered approach is needed to reduce the chances of the problem appearing at Maine's boat launches where it might, or might not, be found by an inspection, Girifalco said.

He expressed hope that a new panel "could sharpen the focus and align the goals of various stakeholders and agencies already tasked with addressing the issue" and, with luck, "make a big difference in protecting our waterways" by offering recommendations to legislators for steps they could take to reduce the risk of the "further spread of invasive species to one of our most precious resources."

Richard Bray, a longtime volunteer monitor with the Bear Pond Improvement Association in Oxford County, said Maine's lakes are a crucial resource for water, wildlife "and the recreational and sporting opportunities they provide."

But they're in danger, he said.

"Sadly, the invasive plant can of worms is now open, and they have found their way into multiple Maine lakes," Bray said. "Without proactive approaches, invasive aquatic plants will snowball into an increasingly serious problem that severely impacts water quality and reduces the suitability of lakes for recreation and tourism."

Francis Brautigan, fisheries director at the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, and John McPhedran, a biologist at the state Department of Environmental Protection, told legislators that an existing task force has helped focus attention on the problem for the past two decades.

"These issues are complicated," Brautigan said, adding that there is a need for more coordination and networking.

"Our big focus really needs to be on prevention," he said.

Legislators are weighing the creation of a subcommittee to the existing task force that would be required to produce a report on the issue with recommendations for legislative action.

Gallo said the move might prove beneficial.

"Despite overwhelming grassroots support over the last two legislative sessions for additional measures to reduce the risk of invasive species introduction and spread, legislation has stalled and died," she said, "due to questions around agency support, whether there should instead be other nonlegislative solutions, and what unintended enforcement consequences might be."

Rep. Vicki Doudera, a Camden Democrat, said as it is, "I don't feel like we are involved in the process" in the Legislature.

Given how devastating invasive species can be, she said, "we need to be included" in the debate about what to do.

A report from a new panel, Gallo said, "would help anticipate answers to questions that legislative committee members might have and assure them that the best legislative solutions are moving ahead."

Ken Mendelson of Oxford, an officer with the Thompson Lake Environmental Association, said the proposed panel "will help protect those lake values by bringing together diverse stakeholders and agency staff who are already working hard to move invasive species risk-reduction programs forward."

He said its recommendations would help garner support for needed measures in the future and bring agencies, organizations and businesses together to take steps "that will ultimately protect important lake values by reducing future invasive species spread."

Sharon Mann, invasives aquatics program manager for the 7 Lakes Alliance in Belgrade Lakes, told lawmakers that her organization has already spent more than $1.4 million managing the variable leaf watermilfoil discovered in Great Pond in 2010.

And that's not even the worst possibility.

Mann said other invasive aquatic plants, including Eurasian watermilfoil and hydrilla, "are considerably more aggressive competitors than variable leaf watermilfoil and have already infested several water bodies in Maine."

"Once an invasive aquatic plant has become established in a nonnative area, it is almost impossible to eradicate," Mann said.

She said the cost of coping with invasive plants "falls heavily on local nonprofit associations" that have watched "a disconnect among state agencies which prevents meaningful actions from going forward" to help.

Edith Cornwall of Oakland, president of the East Pond Association, told lawmakers that curly-leaf pondweed, an aggressive and noxious invader, was found in their pond last summer. A company was hired to pull the plants, she said, but more were discovered in the fall.

Some already started to grow back again, she said, and the plant also drops a resistant plant bud that can lie dormant up to five years and start growing under the ice. Moreover, fragments of the plants flowed down Old Mill Stream and got into North Pond as well.

The noxious weed has also turned up in Kittery and Parsonsfield and in the Kennebec River, Cornwall said.

"Eradicating this plant will take years and be very costly," he said.

Andrew Zuorski of Mount Vernon, who has coordinated volunteer efforts for the past two decades to keep invasive species out of Torsey Lake in Readfield, told lawmakers he's seen firsthand the risks involved.

"I understand the threat is real," he said. "I've witnessed and been dismayed by infestations occurring in Messalonskee Lake, Great Pond, Salmon Lake, Pleasant Pond, Cobbossee, Annabessacook and Androscoggin Lake  all within close proximity to Torsey."

Zuorski said many lake association and volunteers have struggled to deal with the issue and he's worried that if more bodies of water become infested, those fighting back "will be overwhelmed and we will start to lose the battle."

"There must be a better way," he said in supporting Hasenfus' bill. "A united front against these invaders is needed to win."

John and Mary Beth Stanek of West Gardiner, who own property on Lake Cobbosseecontee, said the lake already has three known invasive species in it.

The water body is bordered by Litchfield, Manchester, Monmouth, West Gardiner and Winthrop

"Our lake association cannot deal with them alone," they said. "We will require support from our state government."

"As the battle on Cobbossee goes against invasives, so will the battle go on all Maine lakes. We need all the help we can get," the Staneks said in joint testimony in favor of the bill.

Carol Branning of Winthrop, president of the Annabessacook Lake Improvement Association, said her group has "invested our time, money, and effort in the fight against invasives."

"Despite all of it, the threat from invasives persists," she said. "The threat is environmental and economic and growing."

Branning said the state needs "to move forward with solutions from multiple approaches  education, mitigation, prevention and enforcement of regulations. Now is the time for action."
Stop littering

Litter. It's the biggest unnecessary evil. It's the easiest problem not to have. Yet, in the United States, it's a very big one. People drop trash on the ground and throw it out of their car windows. You can see it everywhere.

We love to wave our flags and sing God Bless America on the Fourth of July, but if we really love our country, it's time to show our love by keeping it clean. It's a new year. If you're a litterbug, make a resolution to kick the habit. Hold onto your waste until you get to a trash can and help keep America beautiful.

Karen Tieman, Ocala

Support Choose Home Care Act

The continuing COVID-19 pandemic has shown the limitations and risks of skilled nursing facilities  as well as the importance of extended care at home beyond the pandemic. There is a better way to care for seriously ill Medicare beneficiaries after hospital discharge.

Fortunately, bipartisan lawmakers in Congress introduced legislation that would expand home-based care options for seniors in our community. This legislation, the Choose Home Care Act, would establish an additional patient-centered home health option called Choose Home to help meet seniors' comprehensive care needs.

Choose Home would offer extended care services in the comfort and convenience of a patient's home after hospitalization instead of requiring them to stay in a skilled nursing facility. It also would provide support, training and education for family caregivers.

As we begin the new year, I hope our states lawmakers in Congress will resolve to support this important bipartisan legislation.

Heather Cole, Ocala

The big lies

Id like to comment on a recent letter that compared the Nazis and what happened in the 1920s and 30s with todays Democratic Party. It contained several gross misreadings and misrepresentations of what actually happened.

While the Nazi Party was officially the National Socialist Democratic Workers Party, there was very little socialist or workers about it. Hitler made this very clear on the Night of the Long Knives (June 30-July 1, 1934), when he murdered elements of his own party that had promoted the socialist part of National Socialism.

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By any reading of history, the Nazi Party was an extreme right-wing jingoistic cult that came to power by virtue of promoting a big lie and a cultlike figure (Adolph Hitler) who was goin to save Germany. Sound familiar? The big lie, of course, was that, rather than losing the war militarily, Germany was actually winning WWI and had been stabbed in the back by Jews who had undermined the war effort and surrendered to the Allies. The Nazis promoted this lie over and over until it became widely believed, in spite of there being absolutely no evidence. The Nazis came to power by democratic means. Once there, however, all democratic principles were abolished, and there was no way to remove them from power.

Today we have members of the Republican Party promoting their own big lie  that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that Donald Trump was the real winner. This in spite of there being numerous recounts and court cases that show that Joe Biden won both the popular and electoral votes. The current Republican Party has abandoned any political philosophy or morals to follow the ever changing whims of a would-be dictator who could never be defeated in an election.

Sound familiar?

Loren J. Eastmer, Ocala

Write to us

Send a letter to the editor (up to 250 words) to osbletters@starbanner.com. Letters must include the writer's full name and city of residence. Guest columns of up to 750 words are also accepted on a limited basis. More information on submitting letters and columns can be found at bit.ly/starbanneropinion.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Stop littering, Choose Home Care Act, and fascism | Reader letters
Tremaine Brown stands outside of Shi Lees, the restaurant that he owns and operates with his mother, Charlotte Brown.

Throughout the uncertainty that Amarillo has faced these past couple of years, Tremaine Brown has worked to rise to the occasion and help those in need.

My appreciation for that young man goes beyond words. He is just unbelievable, and what this community needs, said Mildred Darton, former president of the North Heights Advisory Association.

During the pandemic and before, Brown has worked to serve the Amarillo community. From serving through his restaurant, Shi Lees BBQ and Soul Food, to trunk or treats, back to school packs, coats and Christmas gifts, Brown always steps up to the occasion.

For these reasons, Brown has been selected as one of the Amarillo Globe-News 2021 Headliners Award recipients. The honors follow the Amarillo Globe-News 2021 Man and Woman of the Year, presented by FirstBank Southwest.

"He helps us with the school supply drive each year, and just watching him get donations and all of that, then the culmination of watching him give it away, is really amazing. He helped us with Juneteenth; he's done Easter egg hunts every year, the trunk or treats. ... He's really positioning himself to do something to take care of the community every single month," said Melodie Graves, North Heights Advisory Association president.

"I would go as far to say that Tremaine Brown is the soul of North Heights. He is going to be one of the main reasons that our kids have a brighter tomorrow," Graves said.

In 2021, Brown hosted Shi Lees 6th annual Truck or Treat, where he also gave away jackets to children attending so that they had something warm to wear over the holiday season. Brown also raised more than 400,000 donations in toys that were given to several organizations throughout the Panhandle for children this past holiday season, during Shi Lees 9th annual toy drive.

Tremaine Brown, with his 9th annual Shi Lee's Toy Drive, delivers gifts to Martha's Home this past December.

Brown's philanthropic community contributions dont stop there. In 2020, the restaurant owner gave away almost 90,000 free lunches to kids and families during the summer months. He also cleaned up more than 70,000 pounds of trash from the North Heights community during a citywide clean-up event in September.

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For anyone who has ever spoken to Brown, he will tell you that he is simply "a vessel" doing God's work and that everything he does is for his daughter Shia, so that she has the chance to grow up in a better world.

In a previous interview with the Globe-News, Brown said: The day that changed everything was the day I left the hospital with a baby. Im a single father in every sense of the word. She still, to this day, has never seen her mother. ... I was in charge of a life, and I wanted to do my best to try to inspire that life and teach that life and guide that life to the best of my ability.

"I think that him being a single dad and him being a black male single dad and learning what's best for his daughter is amazing, and that story needs to be shared across the world," Graves said.

"He loves his daughter so much, it's amazing to see them together and see the love that they share. His message is about love, and he has her out there with him performing these acts of love, because he knows how important it is for the generation after us to love. And I think that that is something that if the world could catch a hold of, we would be better," Graves said.

Tremaine Brown, restaurateur and activist.

Darton spoke about the first time she met Brown and how she could see his involvement and positive impact through his actions.

Tremaine's name kept coming to me as I was out in the community getting individuals involved in my projects," Darton said, "and so I reached out to him and found that he was a very cooperative, very polite, knowledgeable young man, with a very caring and giving heart.

I havent known him very long, but I've seen him move around throughout the community with all the projects that he has going, and how he is so concerned about the neighborhood, not just the people that are here now, but those that are coming behind us, how he will always extend himself.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Tremaine Brown announced as Amarillo 2021 Headliner Award
STONY CREEK  State police say a Florida man was killed early Sunday morning when his tractor-trailer collided with another big rig on Interstate 95.

The wreck happened shortly before 2:30 a.m. on northbound I-95 near the 32-mile marker, about a mile north of the state Route 40 exit. State police said the 45-year-old truck driver, Alcides Garcia Olmes of Orlando, was in the right lane when he came up on another truck driven by someone identified as Jean Balazar, no address given, and struck it. The impact of the crash caused debris to scatter across the road, closing the interstate for several hours and forcing traffic to be diverted onto Route 40.

State police said Olmes was killed on impact.

Balazar was charged at the scene with having defective brakes on his truck. An investigation is ongoing.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is daily news coach for USA TODAY's Southeast Region-Unified Central, which includes Virginia, West Virginia and central North Carolina. He is based in Petersburg, Virginia. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia State Police investigate fatal truck wreck in Sussex County
China never manipulates COVID-19 test results, say Beijing 2022 organizers

Xinhua) 08:05, January 30, 2022

Photo taken on Jan. 10, 2022 shows the epidemic prevention equipment at the Main Media Center for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. (Xinhua/Xu Zijian)

COVID-19 tests are conducted by qualified laboratories and China never manipulates COVID-19 test results, say Beijing 2022 organizers.

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Manipulating COVID-19 test results is unnecessary, and China will never do that, said Huang Chun, deputy director general of the Pandemic Prevention and Control Office of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee.

Commenting on foreign media reports suggesting China's potential manipulation of the test results to influence the athletes, Huang assured a press briefing on Saturday that the test results are authentic.

Inside the closed-loop, all the COVID-19 tests are PCR tests, which are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as well as medical experts from home and abroad.

"For the testing, we selected qualified laboratories. They've been recognized by public health authorities in China. Equipped with accredited testing reagents and equipment, they follow standard and strict procedures in testing and have a comprehensive management system to ensure quality and bio-safety. Medical personnel in sampling and testing, all with professional backgrounds, have gone through training before performing their tasks," he said.

Huang added that Chinese authorities frequently visit those laboratories to review their quality as well as safety, and a positive result will only be confirmed by a second test.

Dr Brian McCloskey, the Chair of the Beijing 2022 Medical Expert Panel, also confirmed that tests in Beijing 2022 are up to international standards and follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).

"I want all athletes and stakeholders to feel assured. There is no need to really question the credibility of our systems," Huang added.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
File: Donald Trump says there should be a bigger focus on the US-Mexico border (Getty Images)

Donald Trump decried Washingtons focus on Ukraine and said there should be a bigger focus on the US-Mexico border during a rally in Texas.

Mr Trump spoke to supporters in Conroe, where he decried the focus on Washington.

President Joe Bidens administration is considering how to assist Ukraine as Russian president Vladimir Putin amasses 100,0000 troops on the border.

Everyone in Washington is obsessing over how to protect Ukraines borderbut the most important border in the world is not Ukraines border, its Americas Border but let people come in and we have no idea who they are, he said. The first duty of the American president is to defend the American border.

Mr Trump said before world leaders talked about stopping invasions from other countries, the US needed to stop migrants coming into the country.

Before Joe Biden sends any troops to defend a border in Eastern Europe he should be sending troops to defend our border right here in Texas, he said.

During his presidential campaign and afterward, Mr Trump has frequently chafed at American commitments to Nato, saying in 2016 that the organisation was obsolete.

As president, he later said Nato was no longer obsolete. He then said he committed to Natos fifth article, which says an attack on an ally is an attack on all Nato members.

The House of Representatives also impeached Mr Trump when he tried to have Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky investigate Mr Bidens son Hunter as a means of trying to weaken him.

But Mr Trump also criticised Mr Biden for what he said was a weak response earlier this week.

Whats happening with Russia and Ukraine would never have happened under the Trump Administration, he said in a statement. Not even a possibility!

Mr Trump held the rally in Conroe as he has teased a rematch against Mr Biden in 2024. He said Democrats would never win Texas.

Youre going to tell them Dont mess with Texas because Texas is never ever turning blue, he said.
Two Florida sheriffs deputies who were in a romantic relationship were found dead of an apparent murder-suicide while traveling with other co-workers on vacation.

The Hillsborough County Sheriffs office said Detective Daniel Leyden was heard arguing with the other deputy on Saturday night just before gunshots rang out in a rental home in Augustine.

Both were found with fatal wounds. Leydens appeared to be self-inflicted, authorities said.

Our Sheriff's Office family is still reeling from the shock of this unthinkable tragedy. My prayers for strength and comfort are with the families and loved ones of these deputies, and every member of Team HCSO affected by this painful loss, Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.

Violence is never a solution, and I urge any employee who is dealing with a crisis to take advantage of the many resources our agency has created over the past several years which include Peer Support, Chaplains, and a clinical psychologist. Help is just a phone call away.

The victim has not been publicly identified but officials said they were assigned to a uniform patrol unit. Leyden worked in the criminal investigation unit.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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In 1939 the California city now known as West Hollywood was a predominately working-class area populated by Jewish and Black residents. The Home Owners Loan Corporation labeled the area in decline, and hazardous, designations that made banks less inclined to provide mortgages in certain areas and have had a lasting impact on the property valuation of the area.

Now, decades later, the area is one of Los Angeles Countys most trend and expensive cities. West Hollywoods housing expenses are 158 percent higher than the national average, according to Payscale. Its demographic is 80.94 percent white and just 3.62 percent Black.

West Hollywood, 2018. Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

The West Hollywood City Council recently approved funding a historical study to understand the discriminatory housing practices against Black residents in West Hollywood. The council considers this move the first step to provide reparations to those Black residents and their descendants.

Spearheaded by Mayor Pro Tem Sepi Shyne and council member John Erickson, the study, which is expected to cost an estimated $100,000, will determine the long-term impact of redlining on the West Hollywood community.

West Hollywood communities that experienced redlining from the 1930s through the 1960s faced many challenges. Redlining made it difficult to receive mortgages with federal backing, making it impossible for potential homeowners from purchasing property in the area.

This ultimately led to the neighborhoods decline into poverty while also perpetuating racial segregation. Ultimately West Hollywoods decline led to less access to adequate education, health care, employment, and other resources needed by residents.

Although redlining was outlawed by the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the impact of systemic racism contributes greatly to the current wealth gap existing between white and Black Americans.

People say reparations, you think its just gonna be cash, Shyne told WeHoville.com However, being a creative city, we can do many things, such as land-use policies, homeownership loans.

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Whatever we do will not adequately address compounded generations of racism and discrimination and exclusion, Councilmember Lindsey Horvath told Wehoville.com. But hopefully we can do something meaningful that creates inclusion creates more opportunity.

Read full story at Finurah here.

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By Mahmoud Mourad and Alexander Cornwell

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said on Monday it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement as the UAE hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog on his first visit to the Gulf business and tourism hub.

In the third such attack on the U.S.-allied Gulf state in the last two weeks, the Houthis' military spokesman said they fired Zulfiqar missiles at Abu Dhabi and launched drones at Dubai.

He reiterated a warning to residents and firms to "stay away from vital headquarters and facilities" in the UAE, which prides itself as a safe business haven and global tourism destination.

The United States condemned the assault - which followed a Jan. 17 strike on a fuel depot in Abu Dhabi that killed three people - in an escalation of the Yemen war between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE.

U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration has been in "daily contact" with the UAE to address the threats.

The Pentagon said U.S. forces in the UAE activated Patriot missile defenses but that it was the Emirates' surface-to-air interceptors that actually struck down the incoming missile. It left open the possibility of additional defensive military assistance.

"We continue to ... explore opportunities to improve our defenses and the defenses of our Emirati partners as well," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing. A senior Emirati official described the attacks as "useless" provocations. "Those who test the UAE are mistaken," the official, Anwar Gargash, said in a Twitter post.

The assaults have led to rare security jitters among some residents in a country where expatriates are a majority, but have had no visible impact on daily life, with restaurants and beaches packed during the peak mild winter season.

UAE market sentiment has weakened following Houthi missile launches but economic analysts say the attacks, mostly thwarted, have not dampened business or investor confidence yet.

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The UAE said the missile was intercepted at 20 minutes past midnight and its debris fell on an uninhabited area.

It came as Israel's president was visiting the capital where he discussed security and bilateral relations with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

"While Israel's president is visiting the UAE to build bridges and promote stability across the region, the Houthis continue to launch attacks that threaten civilians," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet.

Herzog pressed on with his visit to Expo 2020 in Dubai.

He voiced hope more countries would normalise relations with Israel as the UAE did when it, along with Bahrain, forged ties in 2020 under U.S.-brokered pacts dubbed the "Abraham Accords."

"There are only two alternatives for this region. One is peace, prosperity, cooperation, joint investments ... or alternatively, what Iran is doing, which is destabilising the region and using its proxies to employ terror," Herzog later said in a statement issued by his office.

Herzog departed the UAE on Monday, seen off at an airport by Emirati foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a video from the Israeli president's office showed.

REGIONAL SECURITY

The accords have built a new axis between Israel and Sunni Muslim Gulf states based mainly on shared concerns over Shi'ite Iran, including its proxies and its ballistic missile programme.

At the same time, the UAE has been engaging directly with Iran under de-escalation efforts driven by economic priorities. An Iranian business delegation is due to visit Expo in February.

The Saudi-led coalition accuses Iran of supplying arms to the Houthis, a charge both the group and Tehran deny. The Yemen conflict is seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Israel offered the UAE security and intelligence support after the Jan. 17 attack. Last year, it joined a naval drill with UAE, Bahraini and U.S. forces. Emirati and Israeli state-owned weapons makers have signed deals to jointly develop an advanced drone defence system and unmanned military vessels.

The Houthis have frequently carried out missile and drone launches on Saudi Arabia in the nearly seven-year war before expanding strikes on the UAE this month.

The UAE had largely ended its military presence in 2019 but Yemeni forces it arms and trains recently joined battles against the Houthis in key energy-producing regions.

The coalition has recently also carried out deadly air strikes on Houthi-held areas.

(Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad and Alexander Cornwell in Dubai; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washinton; Omar Fahmy, Lilian Wagdy and Alaa Swilam in Cairo, Nadine Awadalla and Maher Chmaytelli in Dubai and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Mark Heinrich, William Maclean and Matthew Lewis)
BEDFORD  Deputy William Hall made the 10-and-a-half hour drive to Florida alone on Jan. 9, and returned a week later with his new K-9 partner, Hoover.

Hoover, a 14-month-old bloodhound, is one of the newest members of the Bedford County Sheriffs Office, where he specializes in tracking.

A natural tracker by breed, Hoover was born in Florida and has trained for this job since he was just eight weeks old with a nonprofit organization in Crystal River, Florida, called Find-M Friends. Now, he has his own badge and is ready for work.

Its pretty much instinct for them. Youre just taking it from, they want to track an animal, but youve got to turn it into a person. To him, its a game. Hes bred to do it, Hall, Hoovers handler, said as the pup sniffed around in the grass outside the sheriffs office on Thursday.

This is Halls first K-9 handler job and is something he has long wanted to try.

During his seven and a half years with the Bedford County Sheriffs Office, Hall has worked as a patrol officer and with the gang unit. He had exposure working with patrol dogs, but bloodhounds piqued his interest after Campbell County obtained one.

I got real interested in the bloodhound after Id seen Campbell Countys run. Me and the handler over there are actually good friends, so after seeing his dog and hanging out, I was like, Man, Id love to do that, Hall said.

Hoovers specialty is scent discrimination. Even if two or more individuals are traveling together, Hall explained, Hoover will only track the one whose scent he is given.

His nose is so much stronger than a patrol dogs nose when it comes to tracking, Hall said. A patrol dog will track off the freshest scent, so, like, a ground disturbance, where he doesnt do that. He tracks off of your skin cells... If you were to go missing, and say you left your jacket down and took off, I can give him your jacket, give him the scent to find it, and he would track just you.

The sheriffs office had been working on obtaining a tracker dog for almost a year, said Bedford County Sheriff Mike Miller. When the department posted the K-9 handler opportunity, Hall leapt on it.

Find-M Friends has been operating for 11 years, and the organizations mission is to train bloodhounds as trackers, which are gifted to qualifying law enforcement agencies after the 10 to 11 months of training, said Linda Boles of Find-M Friends, who trained Hall and Hoover.

Bloodhounds are the best in the business, as far as being able to track and trail, Boles said. The apprehension dogs are just a different type of tool. They can track, but typically, they dont scent discriminate.

During the training week in Florida, Hall and Hoover practiced tracking on different kinds of terrain, such as hard surfaces, grass, swamp, wooded pine areas, runoff pipes, and creeks. They tracked in the rain, at night, and in crowded city areas such as parking lots and stores.

Hoover also was trained to shun distractions. Trainers would put food or toys in his way, Hall said, but the bloodhound ignored them and stayed focused on tracking his given scent.

Bonding the handler and dog was another crucial component for success.

It took a lot of bonding, a lot of hanging out after training. After training, it was laying around in the yard, it was playing with toys, it was all kinds of stuff, Hall said. Its been a learning experience. We were learning each other.

Find-M Friends has, to date, placed 30 dogs in 11 states, Boles said.

Although several K-9s serve as drug trackers, apprehension dogs, and one as an electronics tracker with the Bedford County Sheriffs Office, the force has not had a tracker-specific K-9 since about 2005, Hall and Miller said. The sheriff and deputy expect Hoovers specialty to be invaluable to their police work.

This is a win-win for everyone, because we have seen a slight increase in missing persons in our county, Miller said.

Hoover will be especially helpful in tracking individuals with autism, dementia, Alzheimers, or runaways and lost people, the Bedford County Sheriffs Office said in a news release introducing Hoover. Having this tracker dog also will increase the chances of finding missing individuals, Hall added.

Hell be a huge asset, besides just waiting on the fire department for a drone. The drone can be in the air, state police helicopter could be going, and then I could be going. That chance of finding them is huge, compared to what it used to be, he said.

Additionally, Hall said Hoover will be helpful because of his gentle nature.

For a lot of the dementia patients, and autism and stuff, our patrol dogs  not meaning to  but if they find you, theyll bite you, because thats what theyre trained to do. With him, hes not trained to bite or anything like that. Hell walk up, maybe jump on them by accident, or lick them to death, but hes not trained to bite or anything like that. Hes friendly, he said.

Hoover will serve eight or nine years as a tracker for the sheriffs office, Hall said, a typical career span for these K-9s.

Although they had not had their first call as of Thursday, Hoover and Hall have done practice tracks. Training will be an ongoing, regular event for them as long as Hoover is working.

At home, as well as at work, Hoover is settling in beautifully. He already loves Hall and his wife, and his two four-legged siblings: another dog, and a cat. His favorite toy currently is a squeaky moose, Hall said.

Were getting pretty tight now, Hall said.

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When I wrote last October about liberal activists campaign urging Justice Stephen Breyer to retire, I mentioned President Joe Biden likely would nominate the nations first Black woman justice.

Some readers criticized the idea of making race and gender a factor.

A reader in Henrico, Va., wrote me: Will people ever truly understand that it is better and more important to appoint the best possible justice, irrespective of race and sex?

His question is a familiar one, but it implies the best possible justice cant possibly be both Black and a woman. Even if unintentional, the implication is wrong.

Judges and justices who bring diverse experiences of more parts of society have a wider perspective that can enhance their fair and independent decisions. Their presence on the bench also helps inspire public confidence in the judiciary.

Ronald Reagan proved the wisdom of judicial diversity when he made a presidential campaign promise in 1980 to name the first woman justice to the Supreme Court. He nominated Sandra Day OConnor the following year and she served for a quarter century before retiring.

Biden has made a concerted effort to name more women and people of color to the federal bench, and the Senate has confirmed 40 of his district and circuit court picks. Thats more than have been confirmed in a presidents first year since Reagan, the White House says. Among those confirmed last year, 80% are women and 53% are people of color.

In contrast, 85% of former President Donald Trumps judicial nominees were white and 76% were men, according to the Alliance for Justice, a progressive advocacy association.

With Breyers retirement, Biden is poised to make history while, like Reagan, delivering on a campaign pledge.

Im looking forward to making sure theres a Black woman on the Supreme Court to make sure we in fact get everyone represented, candidate Biden said at a debate days before the South Carolina Democratic primary in February 2020.

Breyers retirement comes as Democrats need to revive their base of support before the midterm elections. Even if Biden hadnt promised to nominate a Black woman justice, he probably would. Its not only popular politically but the right thing to do.

Its time a Black woman joined the nations highest court.

She will be only the third Black justice in history and the second, with Clarence Thomas, on the current court, and the fourth sitting woman justice, with Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett.

Critics say Breyer, a pragmatic liberal, likely will be replaced by a liberal activist. Even if that is so, the liberal wing of the court will remain a three-justice minority. The six-justice conservative majority, including the three justices Trump nominated, will stand.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promises a speedy confirmation process, and the Senate can move fast. Then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rushed Trump-nominated Barrett through last fall in one month.

The 50-50 Senate can confirm Bidens nominee if all 50 Democratic senators stick together and are present that day, and Vice President Kamala Harris casts the tie-breaking vote.

Its a stretch to think any Republicans will vote for Bidens nominee  though three Republicans did vote last year to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. They were Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Jackson is on the likely shortlist of candidates for the high court. She also had bipartisan support when she was nominated for the federal district court in 2012. None other than Rep. Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, introduced her, saying:

Our politics may differ, but my praise for Ketanjis intellect, for her character, for her integrity is unequivocal. Shes an amazing person, and I favorably recommend her consideration.

Ryan, who later became House speaker before retiring in 2018, is related by marriage to the judge.

Also on the shortlist: California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and federal District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs of South Carolina.

Any of them would make an honorable and qualified addition to the Supreme Court.

Marsha Mercer writes from Washington. You may contact her at marsha.mercer@yahoo.com.
Last September, candidate Glenn Youngkin shared his thoughts about a critical issue not just in Virginia but across the country: evictions.

I think that theres a really good legal framework in place to provide resources and support for people so that they wont be kicked out of their homes, Youngkin said at a debate in Northern Virginia. He then shifted to the importance of the economic recovery from COVID-19, adding, I believe the No. 1 way were going to help folks with their rent is to get them jobs.

At that time, the commonwealth just had extended pandemic-era protections through August 2022, including emergency assistance for tenants through the states Rent Relief Program. By the end of 2021, 70,000-plus households received roughly $1 billion through the initiative, and Virginia earned national attention for its efficiency deploying aid.

In his recent address to the General Assembly, Youngkin took center stage as governor and again recognized Virginians struggling with a high cost of living, led by housing. The one vital thing elected leaders could do to help was remove some of the tax burden that aggravates housing, groceries, gas and other essential expenses, he said.

More targeted efforts are needed than tax adjustments, job creation, or emergency rent relief programs and protections. To address the housing issue, Virginia has to tackle cost and supply challenges head on.

Amid the December transition between the Northam and Youngkin administrations, the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission released a wide-ranging report on affordable housing in Virginia. JLARC researchers sought to identify the volume of cost-burdened households, defined as spending 30% or more of income on housing. They also assessed the pool of quality affordable housing available at regional and statewide levels, and the efficacy of state-run financial assistance programs.

In a cost sense, the findings projected a difficult picture: More than 900,000 Virginia households were cost-burdened in 2019 (a prepandemic figure), and roughly half of those Virginians spent at least 50% of their income on housing. Additionally, renters (44%) were more likely to be cost-burdened than homeowners (21%).

In a supply sense, while homeownership continues to be an American ideal, fewer Virginians are able to buy a place. This month, Virginia Realtors released its monthly home sales report for December, showing 2021 was an unprecedented year for both price increases and inventory declines. The median sales price in Virginia was $350,000, up $30,000 from 2020. Active listings totaled 13,469 at the end of last year, down about 4,300 from 2020.

The biggest challenge in the market is a lack of inventory, Virginia Realtors President Denise Ramey said in a news release. Sales are slowing down a bit because buyers are having a hard time finding homes to consider.

The JLARC report added that while low- and middle-income families might possess incomes capable of covering mortgage payments, they lack savings to cover upfront commitments such as down payments or closing costs.

The commonwealth also faces a shortage of at least 200,000 affordable rental units, JLARC noted. More than half of the unmet need is in the Urban Crescent: Northern Virginia (60,500 units), Hampton Roads (52,600) and Central Virginia (35,300). Southwest/New River Valley (16,400), Charlottesville (8,500) and Far Southwest (6,000) also face substantial hurdles.

Those most affected by the scarcity of homes are low-income renters in low-wage jobs, JLARC added. Theyre people who often work in common, essential occupations, including home health aides ($22,000 salary), teaching assistants ($29,000), bus drivers ($45,000) and social workers ($51,000).

These workers are needed in all parts of the state, and a lack of affordable housing in some regions constrains the supply, the report said.

JLARCs conclusion aligns with Youngkins assertion that jobs and housing are intertwined. The governors vision of saving money at the gas pump or the grocery store could make a difference. But are those policy changes capable of overcoming not just pervasive imbalances in the housing ecosystem, but struggles that then filter into health care, education and other policy areas?

Along with halting the states recent gas tax increase and removing the grocery tax altogether, Youngkin has elevated a proposal to double the standard deduction. The collective relief plan would result in $1,500 checks for everyday families, the governor said this month.

But low-income filers  families cost-burdened by housing  might not benefit from the standard deduction tweak. Chris Wodicka, a senior policy analyst at The Commonwealth Institute, recently told Virginia Public Radio that existing deductions and credits already help families lower their income tax liability.

Virginia can do more to ease the housing burden than alter tax policy. State and local leaders should focus on housing-specific collaborations that drive results.

In its 2021 annual report, the Partnership for Housing Affordability identified 17 solutions that either have been accomplished or are in progress. Some core projects include: increasing affordable supply through more land zoned for multifamily development; investing in community land trusts that open doors to homeownership for low- and middle-income buyers; and creating regional loan funds that promote development avenues through low-cost debt and grants.

Virginians attention during the gubernatorial race was captured by items like grocery and gas taxes that undoubtedly affect their bottom lines. But housing is the very root of everyday stability, and rental aid options continue to be stressed by the pandemic.

The need is still outweighing what were able to provide in terms of assistance, Jovan Burton, the partnerships executive director, said at its recent event. In fact, these programs are doling out $100,000 on a weekly basis, sometimes that much in a single day.

State and local leaders have a lot more work to do on the cost and supply issues. They can and should come together to address housing challenges head-on.

 Adapted from an editorial in the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Stuart Tinley Law Firm LLP is pleased to announce that Zachary M. Winter has been named a partner of the firm and will continue to concentrate his practice in probate, estates, estate planning, wills, trusts, living wills and powers of attorney, among other areas. Zach has been with the firm since August of 2014 and, prior to that, he had worked for the judges in the Fourth Judicial District of Iowa as a judicial law clerk. He is currently a member of the Iowa State Bar Association Probate, Trust & Estate Planning Section, Real Estate and Title Law Section and Business Law Section.

Zach attended Iowa State University for his bachelors degree and Creighton University where he received his juris doctorate degree in 2013. He was then admitted to practice law in Iowa in 2013 and Nebraska in 2014.

His parents moved to Council Bluffs in 1976, shortly after his father, Michael J. Winter, had graduated from law school at Creighton University. As a result, Zach and his three siblings were born and raised in Council Bluffs, having attended Gunn Elementary, Kirn Jr. High and Abraham Lincoln High School. He and his wife, Samantha, continue to enjoy living in the Council Bluffs metropolitan area.

Stuart Tinley Law Firm LLP is a full service law firm with attorneys specializing in personal injury, insurance defense, wrongful death, workers compensation, medical malpractice, product liability, employment claims, estates/probate/trusts/wills, real estate, business law, municipal law and the defense of law enforcement officials relative to Constitutional claims and civil rights claims. Other members of the firm are Kristopher K. Madsen, Michael G. Reilly, Rick D. Crowl, Robert Livingston, A.W. (Tony) Tauke and William R. Hughes.
Prairie barristers, Jacobsen defending the Hippocratic oath during the pandemic

Autumn of 2021 saw multiple attorney general offices across the Missouri River valley come to the aid of ethical medicine. In my home-state of Nebraska, Attorney General Doug Petersen wrote a landmark opinion in defense of physicians practicing their art with off-label interventions in this war on the smallest of replicating RNA codes we know as viruses.

Saving lives with off-label interventions is frankly easy. In March 2021, I pioneered with Bradley R. Meyer on the use of IV Acetodote to recover Iowa citizens with moderate to severe COVID19 in Spirit Lake. Attorneys, not physicians, are vetting the fraud upon our people. Modern medical rackets are trampling the Hippocratic oath and the Bill of Rights for our citizens. As the laws of physics define my practice of medicine, few can argue with the truths my practice has brought to our nation.

From the bar associations of Nebraska and Iowa comes an Iowa legislator defending the Hippocratic oath against the agents of racketeering whos tortious interference in the practices of Iowa physicians. Jon Jacobsen, JD has truth on his side. There are many interfering with his constituents from DC to CB and all Iowa citizens prevented from access to life saving interventions. I dont need a government agency to approve my medical prescriptions for any other disease intervention, why this disease why now?

Barrister Jacobsen is a de facto fraud investigator for the state of Iowa on behalf of the citizens of his district and in his bill writing opens these truths up to the rest of the state and its legislators to bear witness to the fraudulent activities and economic injury wrought daily on the citizens of this great state in which I teach other Iowa physicians through Emergency Medicine and ICU imaging what is really happening to their patients with this terrible spike protein mediated de-oxygenation syndrome.

Jon Jacobsen, JD is essential legal oxygen at this precipice of time for he has one arm in the fourth estate and trained in the ways of legal profession in Iowa City long ago for his calling to right the sinking ship of Iowa medicine before we lose more to this titanic disaster of federally-funded racketeering of the American citizenry.

Edward Fogarty

Spirit Lake

On the Medicare decision

The recent draft decision from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) effectively denies access to all current and future FDA-approved treatments targeting amyloid in those living with Alzheimers disease. Only the privileged few  those with access to research institutions for clinical trials or those who can afford to pay out of pocket  will receive coverage, further exacerbating and creating health inequities.

As the director of programs with the Alzheimers Association Nebraska Chapter, I have talked to, met with and provided support to local families who are on an incredibly difficult journey with this disease. Theyve heard time and again that there is nothing that can be done to slow down or change the path theyre on.

However, recently, they were given a glimmer of hope by the prospect of disease modifying drugs. While not a cure, these currently approved and emerging therapies could combat and slow the progression of Alzheimers.

In short, these drugs could provide another path for these families  one that could give them more time with their loved ones. And if youve ever loved someone living with this disease, every moment you have where they still recognize you is a blessing.

This decision is disheartening and it feels like disease discrimination. This doesnt happen for cancer. This doesnt happen for HIV/AIDS. Treating people living with Alzheimers differently than those with other diseases is simply unacceptable. I stand with the Alzheimers Association in calling on CMS to change this draft decision

Julie Chytil

Omaha

Regarding Rep. Jacobsen and his opposition to mandates

In the year of the horrible pandemic 2020, the world death rate was 7.612 per 1000 people -- which is less than 2011 at 7.818 and less than every year from 1950 to 2014 (UN data). Pandemics imply death, so wheres the pandemic? Yes, some people are dying, and dying of a somewhat unusual syndrome. But many of these deaths could be prevented if we active treating physicians were free to apply aggressive outpatient therapy.

I recommend people read the actual reports of 76 studies --most peer reviewed -- showing the benefits of Ivermectin at ivmmeta.com. A recent study of 220,000 people in Brazil showed over 55% decrease death and hospitalization. Yet, in Iowa, pharmacies are refusing to fill prescriptions. The Iowa Board of Medicine is instead of supporting physicians rallying to save lives, are accusing them of spreading disinformation and of the everyday practice of prescribing off-label drugs. In Uganda-- where people are free enough to buy Ivermectin over the counter -- the death rate is 10,000 times less than in New York state. Nevertheless, the FDA has demanded the US Postal Service destroy parcels of Ivermectin from overseas.

Mandates are antithetical to every traditional ethical value in medicine. We are not debating the pros and cons of the vaccines. We are debating the pros and cons of freedom. Anyone who is forced to take a medicine by their boss or the government, does not own their own body and is by definition a slave. Those who control them via mandates are the slave masters.

The Nuremberg Code prohibited anyone -- not just Nazis -- of performing forced experimentation without informed consent. Outside of pharma, the contents of these unapproved experimental genetic agents are unknown, therefore doctors cannot give informed consent. This is exactly what the Nuremberg Code was written to prevent.

In addition to outright democide, government at all levels has failed to protect our citizens -- especially our children -- from a direct assault on human dignity, human health and our basic freedoms. Rep. Jacobsen is almost alone in taking such a principled and courageous stance.

Lee D. Merritt M.D.

Logan

When it comes to Jacobsen and his throng, charlatans abound

Why do you hide your unvaccinated status?

A letter in the Nonpareil stated there are over three million reported adverse reactions to vaccinations on the WHO website. Headaches, sore arms, stuffy noses, etc. are all included in that three million number.

Every hospital in our country now has a COVID ward. No hospital in our our country has a adverse vax effects ward.

Let me repeat.

No hospital in our country has a ward for the adverse effects of vaccinations!

Jacobsen and the rest of the populist pretenders want to keep my family from choosing whether or not to be treated by vaxed or unvaxed doctors or a vaxed or unvaxed medical team.

They want to keep me and my family from choosing a vaxed or unvaxed, unmasked restaurant, business establishment or dentist office.

If I go into a (known to me) unvaxed or questionable business, I LIMIT my masked time inside -- following the CDC suggestions because of that knowledge.

Unvaxed and unmasked spreads the air-borne COVID infection.

There's no two ways about it. Ask a farmer.

By the way, where are the silent farmers? Remember the story of the cook called Typhoid Mary?

Mary Mallon was a typhoid carrier without any symptoms who infected family after family and, soon, even businesses she worked at.

She believed typhoid was probably everywhere or would be -- sort of like herd immunity.

COVID is a highly contagious airborne disease. Don't be fooled by charlatans who want your money or your vote.

The vaccines are FREE.

The tests are FREE.

The masks are FREE.

Lee Hazer

Council Bluffs

Jacobsen bill is good

I write in support of Representative Jon Jacobsen's Medical Privacy and Freedom bill. The bill protects the privacy of medical information and ensures the right to accept or decline medical treatments including vaccinations. In order to make that informed decision, there are legal and ethical obligations that must be met. This includes disclosure of possible adverse events as well as a risk-benefit analysis by a trusted health care professional.

We have all heard the vaccines are "safe and effective" and "trust the science." Given the relative short term human clinical studies on the mRNA vaccines, individuals should not be criticized for doing their own research. Highly credentialed and published physicians have been placed on disinformation lists and subjected to censorship and the threat of revocation of hospital privileges and their medical license. Would it not be of greater benefit to debate these doctors as opposed to censoring them? Should we not welcome open discussions and critical challenges to science?

Regarding disclosure of potential adverse events, in a January 2022 Senate hearing, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky dismissed data from VAERS, the Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System, citing false reporting. VAERS was established in 1990 to detect possible safety problems with vaccines. You can go to openvaers.com/coviddata and draw your own conclusions. The CDC has admitted that the vaccines do not prevent infection or transmission of Covid-19. It is reported that the vaccines can mitigate the severity of symptoms and decrease hospitalizations and death. This benefit, however, may be transient and thus boosters are recommended. Some front line COVID critical care doctors state early treatment of symptoms is crucial to reduce hospitalizations and adverse outcomes.

But if there is risk, there has to be choice. No one should be shamed, bullied, bribed or coerced to take the shot or continue with the boosters. The Medical Privacy and Freedom Bill protects the rights of Iowans to make their own health care decisions.

Diane Hathaway

Glenwood
North Platte City Council members will meet twice next week, once for their regular meeting Tuesday and again for a nonvoting work session Thursday.

Final approval of an ordinance allowing utility-type vehicles on most city streets headlines Tuesdays first of two regular February council meetings.

Theyll return Thursday to review proposed updates to North Plattes residential zoning regulations and hold a discussion on land banks with McCook City Attorney Nathaniel Mustion.

Meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m. both nights in the City Hall council chamber, 211 W. Third St.

Council members unanimously advanced the proposed UTV ordinance at their Jan. 4 and 18 meetings.

The measure would allow UTVs on streets other than state highways between sunrise and sunset.

Drivers must be at least 18 years old, with valid drivers licenses or farm permits, and couldnt drive them faster than 25 or 30 mph depending on speed limits.

UTVs would be allowed to cross but not use North Plattes state highways: U.S. Highways 30 (Rodeo Road/East 12th Street), U.S. 83 (Jeffers Street and South Dewey Street) and Nebraska Highway 56G (Newberry Access).

Four ordinances at various stages of consideration also appear on Tuesdays regular agenda:

 Second-round debate is scheduled for a pair of ordinances selling city lots at 1300 and 1320 Prospect Drive to Pat Clinch LLC.

 A third ordinance seeking second-round approval would rezone residential lots at 4321 and 4421 S. Willow St. from A-1 transitional agriculture to R-1 residential.

 First-round debate is planned on the potential sale of a city-owned lot at 301 N. Pacific St. to Cody Stagemeyer.

Ordinances typically need three yes votes to be enacted, though council members have the option in most cases to waive one or more readings.

Members of the citys Planning Commission are expected to join Thursdays work session to discuss the panels package of updates to zoning regulations.

Among other features, it would reduce the number of types of residential zoning districts from four to three while adding new suburban residential and mobile home residential districts.

Planning Commission members have been discussing residential zoning updates for some months. They could formally vote on advancing them to the council as early as their next monthly meeting Feb. 22.

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Greetings from your State Capitol. Last week the Appropriations Committee began hearings on the Governors proposal for distribution of the American Recovery Plan Act funds. You may remember that Nebraska is receiving just over $1 billion to distribute under ARPA to mitigate economic and other damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I would like to sincerely thank all the members of the Appropriations Committee for their dedicated service to this process. The initial hearing began at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon and did not end until nearly 10 p.m.

The governors plan includes a $25 million allocation in each of the next two fiscal years to be directed to the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act. The investment is intended to address the ongoing workforce and workforce housing shortages in rural Nebraska, problems that have been worsened by the pandemic.

The pandemic has resulted in increased construction costs, longer delays due to supply chain issues, and fewer contractors and workers to complete projects. It has also led many employees in their 50s and 60s to leave the workforce and retire early. With one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, employers in Nebraska have more jobs than there are people available to fill them. It is now estimated that there are over 50,000 job openings in Nebraska, but there are only about 20,000 people looking for work.

The Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act was created by legislation I introduced in 2017. This program has become one of the most successful Department of Economic Development programs in the states history. In 2018, the states $7 million investment into the act created over $110 million in construction and over 800 housing units built in rural Nebraska. The program continues to grow because most communities are using the proceeds of their grants in a revolving manner. Without solving housing shortages in rural communities, it is impossible to address the workforce shortages hampering economic growth.

I was pleased to testify in favor of the governors proposal for rural workforce housing. I also testified on behalf of the Nebraska Bankers Association, Nebraska Realtors Association, Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce and the Nebraska Hospital Association.

Many worthwhile projects will be competing for the ARPA funding. I remain optimistic that the Appropriations Committee will include the governors proposal for rural workforce housing in the package it advances from committee, and that the Legislature will approve the allocation for this very successful program.

Contact Sen. Matt Williams: 402-471-2642 or mwilliams@leg.ne.gov.
With all the negative news in the world today, I thought it might be a nice diversion to just marvel at nature and what we have to see here. No talk of taxes, impending wars  just something we can enjoy and maybe say, you dont see that everyday.

I was driving back to North Platte recently on U.S. Highway 30, east of Maxwell, and noticed a bit of movement in the tall grass off the right-of-way ahead of me. There on the north side of the highway was an unusual sight for here in the valleys. It was a young pronghorn. I saw a pronghorn doe in roughly the same spot 10 to 12 years ago.

Once upon a time, there were an estimated 60 to 80 million pronghorn on the Great Plains. Their range stretched from southern Saskatchewan to northern Mexico, west to Oregon and southwest through the Baja peninsula of California. There are some biologists and researchers who feel pronghorn may have outnumbered bison. That would make their historical numbers upwards of 120 million. Today, perhaps 1 million pronghorn roam the plains, mostly in Wyoming and Montana, but we have them in Nebraska.

They are unique species. Pronghorn are truly Native Americans. They are found only in North America and they have lived on the Great Plains for perhaps 1 million years.

Pronghorn are known for their speed. They are the fastest land animal in North America. They are second only to the cheetah for overall speed across the ground. They have fantastic eyesight. Biologists have calculated that a pronghorns eyesight would be like us looking through a pair of 8-power binoculars. Generally speaking, if you are hunting and finally spot pronghorn, they have probably been watching you for 10 minutes.

So, if you see a pronghorn, particularly along Highway 30, youve seen something special.

SHOT Show news

The Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas just wrapped up last week. This is the show where anyone who manufactures anything associated with firearms or shooting unveils what is new for 2022 and this years show had plenty to see. I think I will call 2022 the Year of the Pistol. There was a renaissance of the Browning Hi Power. At least four companies unveiled updated and improved versions of John Browns classic pistol. The one I liked the best is the Springfield Armory SA-35. I just may need to own one of these.

AR pistols have been around for a while, but I dont think I have ever seen so many variants of AR pistols before. These are semi-automatic pistols based on the AR-15 platform. Federal regulations allow the use of short barrels and a brace stock. The TG20 from Unique-ARs (unique-ars.com) was a classic example of this type of firearm, manufactured by a company born in an Idaho garage and that gradually developed into a major business reality. I like stories like this.

There is no way I can cover all the new products that I think would have good applications in Nebraska. However, there were several new items that jumped out at me and I think need to be mentioned.

Ammo

Browning introduced its 6.8 Western ammunition at SHOT. The Browning 6.8 Western Long Range Pro Hunter is a 175-grain bullet that is said to offer impressive long-range accuracy, low recoil and deliver lots of knockdown power when you need it for long-range hunting. It was designed to provide magnum power and accuracy in a short-action, non-belted cartridge that is tailored for AR platforms. I have not shot anything chambered for the 6.8 Western, but the ballistics look good. As with every new round that is introduced, the 6.8 Western is supposed to be the best.

When a new cartridge is introduced, I always think about an old adage I heard about fishing lures. That saying is, New fishing lure catch more fisherman that fish. I see this happening a lot with new ultra-hyped cartridges. A couple of examples from the past are the Roger .204 and the .224 Valkyrie.

When the .204 Ruger came on the scene a few years ago it was touted as the ultimate answer for varmint hunters. The few shooters I know that own .204s love them! It is a great niche cartridge. The problem is that not enough shooters accepted the .204 Ruger and not many rifles chambering the cartridge were made. Several manufacturers made the .204 in its day, but I think it is now down to three: Ruger, Savage and CZ. Cooper offers a .204 Ruger but it is almost a custom rifle and youll spend $3000-$3500 to get one.

The .224 Valkyrie came on the scene a couple of years ago. Have you seen much written about the cartridge since? And try to find ammo for either the Ruger .204 or .224 Valkyrie. I think that is an indication of the longevity of these cartridges.

Bullets

Berger debuted its new 30 caliber 245 Grain Long-Range Hybrid Target round. The 30 caliber LRHT boasts a high Ballistic Coefficient. A high Ballistic Coefficient is important for competitive shooters, long-range hunters and military snipers. It is critical when engaging targets beyond 1,500 yards. The new 245 Grain LRHTs was developed with the U.S. Military and designed to increase long-range target hit percentage at 1,500-plus yards. It was built for large capacity cartridges such as the .300 Winchester Magnum, .300 Norma Magnum, 300 PRC and 300 Remington Ultra Magnum. I want to try these in my .300 Win Mag.

Parting comment

This is from a reader over in Brule that Ive gotten to know. He travels to Texas every winter to fish some of the bigger reservoirs, and generally does very well. He sends me pictures of the days catch, but recently sent this. Id call it an anglers prayer, of sorts:

Lord grant me the serenity to accept the size of the fish I catch, the courage

not to fib about it and the wisdom to know that no one will believe me anyway.

Have a great week outdoors  and look for pronghorn in the valley.
Be honest: Has any nation, in all history, had less true cause to tear itself apart than the United States of America in 2022?

Wed add a certain word before no, but thats not our editorial style.

Its self-evident, or should be, that the answer is no. And we believe, even now, that most Americans would second our answer.

But you wouldnt know it from the ravings of political parties. And most of their candidates. And the self-serving drivers of division who profit most when they propel our hands to each others throats.

If theres a group of Americans  and Nebraskans  that needs to take back our country, its all the rest of the people who want no part of what the extremists of right and left would do.

The extremists who, incredulously enough, dare to utter two words we learned in history class and ought to recoil from in horror:

Civil war.

Really?

They would give the lie to our Pledge of Allegiance (one nation, under God, indivisible), which wasnt written until 1892 but nonetheless reflects the bloody sacrifices of 360,000 Union service members to keep this land together from 1861 to 1865?

Surely there could be no greater dishonor shown those honored dead, and their comrades who survived the real Civil War, sleeping at Fort McPherson, in the North Platte Cemetery and nationwide.

No matter what injustice you think you or others are suffering, it cant remotely compare to the reasons for what Abraham Lincoln rightly called this terrible war.

Every American who foments or tolerates what were seeing and hearing ought to kneel in shame before the graves of those who fought to preserve this Union, to legally end the enslavement of some human beings by others and to ensure that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

That would be all of us. No matter our party. Even if we profess none at all.

We know theres anger about. Weve heard it in North Platte, from some here and some visiting candidates wanting to lead this state.

Blame some of the anger on this ongoing pandemic. But only some.

For six decades now, too many in each major party have urged us to view the other party not as the loyal opposition but as the enemy to be permanently excluded from power.

If the order of battle isnt Democrats vs. Republicans, then its the coasts and-or the big cities vs. rural America. In Nebraska, its Omaha and Lincoln (and their environs) vs. the rest of the state.

Civility? Forget civility, were being told. Civility is for losers. You have to fight. Well fight for you. Well fight against them  lest you lose your freedoms forever.

In fact, both are putting our freedoms in mortal danger  no matter who wins.

When both sides force-feed such rhetorical poison, battles of ballots have too often turned into battles of bullets and bombs (or swords or spears) throughout humanitys sorry history.

In Germany and Russia, it fed the street battles that yielded the 20th-century tyrannies of the right (Nazism) and left (Soviet communism), which later generations of our veterans shed their blood to stop lest they engulf the world.

Humans will never, ever, see everything the same way. Millions upon millions of Americans will agree with you on a given issue. And millions upon millions will not.

Our founders had no illusions about human nature. The Union they forged was and remains imperfect. But they knew ballots, civil debate and compromise were the only sure tools to live and thrive together in peace.

Winning was easy, Lin-Manuel Miranda had George Washington tell Alexander Hamilton in the musical named for the latter. Governings harder.

We dont elect our leaders to win. We elect them to govern. Wisely. For the good of all. Even the good of them.

That, to us, is the essence of true patriotism and the American experiment.

Americans and Nebraskans must choose leaders who speak civilly, who listen carefully to all views, who make decisions soberly and wisely. And we must live with those decisions while trying to improve them.

We must do so now, and always, lest we  of all nations in history  become the people most to be pitied for throwing it all away.
In the days after the Auburn City Council ended the citys redistricting process by voting for a map that borrows more from the citys original proposal rather than an alternative proposal, the president of the state-level NAACP says the organization is considering how to respond. One action could be a lawsuit against the City of Auburn.

Were exploring all the options that we have available to us in the courts, including litigation, including building a strong coalition, registering people to get up to vote, educating people  and continuing to help people at the City Council meetings to raise these issues of unfairness, Benard Simelton, president of the NAACP Alabama State Conference, told the Opelika-Auburn News.

The council voted 7-2 at its Tuesday meeting to redistrict its voting wards with a new map that largely resembles the citys map revealed in November. Amendments were made consolidating Auburns historical district into Ward 2 and moving blocks from Ward 5 to Ward 4. Council members cast their votes in a special called meeting after postponing three times as a map from Lee County NAACP Branch 5038 was under consideration.

I think this (redistricting vote) will help open the eyes of a lot of people in the community that they need to attend and watch whats going on, Simelton said.

The Lee County NAACP was seeking to include two majority-minority wards as Auburn grew 40% in population since 2010. City consultants alleged the proposal didnt meet the 50% minority threshold in the two wards the local NAACP had requested be deemed majority-minority, and they said it didnt pass criteria of the Gingles Test, which determines the necessity of a majority-minority ward.

Simelton said his organization maintains that the map the Lee County NAACP drew was legal and reasonable as the 2020 census recorded a 37% population. He said the City of Auburns claims of vote dilution if there were to be two majority-minority wards are unfounded.

Its a legal map because it represents the interests of citizens in Auburn and  it provides for each person of interest and each community of interest to have their interests represented at the City Council, he said. The map that the city has packs the majority of the minority (population) in  Ward 1.

Some, like Simelton, took issue with what they say was insufficient data in the report the city used in analyzing the NAACPs map. University of Georgia political science professor Trey Hood analyzed the 2014 and 2018 Auburn mayoral elections to say there was no consistent voting cohesion among the citys minority populations, although the 2014 election was uncontested.

You certainly need to look over a longer period of time to see whats the voting patterns of people in Auburn, Simelton said. Ward 1 votes more as a community of interest than a Black ward (because)  even though race has gone into developing that particular ward, Black residents are not the majority in that ward.

Only Ward 1 Councilperson Connie Fitch-Taylor and Ward 5 Councilperson Steven Dixon voted against adopting the modified city map. The two say they understand the frustration from the state NAACP and its Lee County branch and feel their city government didnt give ample notice to residents that there could be an alternative map to what was initially proposed.

Auburn introduced it to the City Council on Nov. 10 as if there was no alternative to what they presented, Fitch-Taylor told the Opelika-Auburn News. (Council members) were aware that we could tweak the map but not that we could create another majority-minority ward.

Fitch-Taylor added that she knew the rest of the council other than Dixon were ready to vote Tuesday, but she disagreed with the decision to vote on whether to have a public hearing rather than holding it by default. Voices during the hearing were largely supportive of the two majority-minority wards save for an Auburn resident who disagreed and had to be escorted out by Auburn police. With most being positive, however, Fitch-Taylor said it felt like her colleagues voted against citizens interests.

I found it very disappointing to vote against a community that supported you during the election, she said. One person changed the mind of the majority of the council as far as the map goes. It wasnt about the people (Tuesday), it was about the council.

Dixon told the Opelika-Auburn News he wouldve liked the council to be better involved in the next redistricting and selecting who acts as consultancy in the process. City Attorney Rick Davidson brought on Balch and Bingham lawyer Dorman Walker to oversee the map analysis who in turn brought on Hood. Council members had no role in selecting either consultant.

He also said while he understood redistricting this year was a time-sensitive process, it still felt rushed in some ways.

Once I found out the NAACP had plans to present a map, I actually tried to have a special called session so they could present their findings just like the city had a public meeting, Dixon said. It didnt seem like the city was willing to negotiate much with anybody. It seemed like the city kind of kept the door shut  until they were ready to present what they found.

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Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court effective sometime this summer assuming that by then my successor has been nominated and confirmed.

The announcement was made formally yesterday with the President saying that, Ive been studying candidates backgrounds and writings, Ive made no decision except one: the person I nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrityand that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. Its long overdue, in my view,

The contenders: The following are the names being tossed around as likely candidates:

Michelle Childs. Judge Michelle Childs of South Carolina was recently nominated by President Biden to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Childs has the advantage of an endorsement from House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), who was a huge help to then-candidate Joe Biden in getting the Democratic nomination for president.

According to news reports, though, Judge Childs may not yet have enough experience to make it to the Supreme Court. The top two prospects are reportedly Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the D.C. Circuit (successor to now-Attorney General Merrick Garland) and Justice Leondra Kruger of the California Supreme Court.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Judge Jackson clerked for Justice Breyer back in the day, so Im sure that is a point in her favor. Shes also Harvard undergrad (magna cum laude) and Harvard Law (cum laude). Shes been on the D.C. Circuit only since June 2021 (appointed by President Biden), but she was a federal district court judge for about nine years before that (appointed by President Obama).

She has also been in private practice and a federal public defender, and has served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Justice Leondra Kruger. Leondra Kruger has been an associate justice on the California Supreme Court since 2015, having been nominated by then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D). She is Harvard undergrad (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa), Yale Law (editor in chief of the Yale Law Journal) and clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

In addition to being in private practice, she served in the U.S. Solicitor Generals office toward the end of the George W. Bush Administration and into the Obama Administration, and also as deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel.

Biden remarked that he would invite senators from both parties to offer their ideas and points of view. Ill also consult with leading scholars and lawyers. And Im fortunate to have advising me in this selection process, Vice President Kamala Harris an exceptional lawyer, former attorney general of the state of California, former member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Biden stated that he planned to make his decision concerning a nominee before the end of February and asked that the Senate move on his choice promptly.

Tammy C. Woolley is senior counsel in the Opelika, Alabama, office of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP, and can be contacted at twoolley@constangy.com. This article is adapted from a recent post on the award-winning blog, Employment and Labor Insider, of which my colleague, Robin Shea, is proprietor.
life comes at you fast pic.twitter.com/3n3WKorPul  Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) January 28, 2022

Maureen looks different here pic.twitter.com/6RScZPI6kU  Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) January 29, 2022

 Actor Willem Dafoe makes his hosting debut on SNL tonight! Prior to last week's cameo during Will Forte's monologue, Dafoe had only appeared on the show once before. He was in a short film directed by Adam McKay (who was a writer on SNL from 1995-2001) which aired only in reruns of the May 2000 Jackie Chan episode. The short film, "The Procedure" isn't available online but it has a Letterboxd page . Bill Hader impersonated Dafoe in J*mes F*anco's September 2008 episode. This will be Katy Perry's fourth time appearing on the show as musical guest. She also hosted the show in December 2011 and the SNL Twitter account has been posting sketches from that episode all week to celebrate her return. In "One Magical Night" Katy and eternally underrated SNL cast member Bobby Moynihan flirt and fall hard for each other. This clip is actually from Amy Poehler's September 2010 episode. In the "Bronx Beat" sketch Poehler, Perry and Maya Rudolph poke fun at the scandal Perry found herself involved in earlier that week. Sesame Street released a music video with Perry and Elmo, and parents freaked out over the low cut dress Perry wore in the video. The video was quickly taken off of Sesame Street's official YouTube channel and never aired on tv.
Some high expectations may not be met this earnings season.

The energy sector, in general, is expected to post another blowout quarter.

It's early innings in the current earnings season, with just 4% of S&P 500 companies having reported fourth-quarter 2021 earnings. According to FactSet data, 76% of those companies have reported actual EPS above estimates, while 90% have reported a positive revenue surprise. For Q4 2021, the blended earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 has clocked in at 21.8%, which could mark the fourth straight quarter with earnings growth above 20% if the earnings trajectory remains unchanged.

Of the Big Oil group, Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) led things off Wednesday, reporting Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.85, beating the Wall Street consensus by $0.12 while revenue of $2.26B (+59.2% Y/Y) beat by $290M.

On Friday, Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) and Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) reported earnings that soundly beat analyst expectations. Chevron reported a wild $5.1-billion profit and earnings that beat anything it's seen since 2014. Phillips 66 reported Q4 earnings of $1.3 billion ($2.88/share) with generated operating cash flow of $1.8 billion. It also approved a capital program of $1.9 billion. For full-year 2021, PSX generated $6B in operating cash flow and recorded record earnings.

Hess and peer EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) have broken with the industry trend of returning excess cash flows to shareholders. The two have come out and announced plans for massive capex spending in a bid to boost production, with Hess announcing a 2022 capex budget of $2.6b; good for a 37% jump with Bakken spending up 75% to $790m. In the Bakken, Hess plans to run 3 rigs to achieve its 168kb/d production target, an increase of ~14% from Q3 levels of 148kb/d.

The energy sector, in general, is expected to post another blowout quarter in large part due to an increase in oil and gas prices.

According to FactSet, the energy sector is expected to report earnings of $28.5 billion for Q4 2021 compared to a loss of -$0.1 billion in Q4 2020. Thus, a year-over-year growth rate is not being calculated for the Energy sector due to the loss reported by the sector in Q4 2020. Higher year-over-year oil prices are contributing to the year-over-year improvement in earnings for

this sector, as the average price of oil in Q4 2021 ($77.10) was 81% above the average price for oil in Q4 2020 ($42.70).

At the sub-industry level, all five sub-industries in the sector are projected to report a year-over-year increase in earnings. A growth rate is not being calculated for two of these five sub-industries due to losses reported in the year-ago quarter. However, both are predicted to report profits in Q4 2021: Integrated Oil & Gas and Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing. The other three sub-industries that are expected to report year-over-year growth are the Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (2,754%), Oil & Gas Equipment & Services (162%), and Oil & Gas Storage & Transportation (6%) sub-industries.

At the company level, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Chevron, and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) are expected to be the largest contributors to the year-over-year improvement in earnings for the sector. Combined, these three companies account for $16.7 billion of the projected

$28.6 billion year-over-year increase in earnings for the sector.

Here are Wall Street's projections for the 'Big 3' in the U.S. oil and gas business.

#1. ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is expected to report earnings on Feb.2 before the market opens. The report will be for the fiscal Quarter ending Dec 2021. According to Zacks Investment Research, based on eight analysts' forecasts, the consensus EPS forecast for the quarter is $1.9, marking a big improvement from EPS of $0.03 reported for the same quarter last year. Exxon has exceeded earnings expectations in four straight quarters.

On Wednesday, Exxon Mobil declared an $0.88/share quarterly dividend, in line with the previous payout and good for a 4.75% forward yield.

Exxon Mobil plans to commence production at its second oil platform in Guyana next month, Reuters has reported.

The second floating production storage and offloading vessel, Liza Unity, reportedly will nearly triple production this year to 340K boe/day from 120K boe/day, incorporating oil and gas from the Fangtooth-1 and Lau Lau-1 wells, both made public earlier this month.

A third FPSO vessel, named Prosperity, is under construction and expected to deliver first oil in 2024, but the Exxon-led consortium hopes to deploy 7-10 platforms in Guyana.

Partner Hess Corp.(NYSE: HES) which reported Q4 earnings earlier today, has said it expects the Stabroek block to produce 1M bbl/day of oil and gas in Guyana by 2027.

XOM shares are up 22.8% YTD.

#2. Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) reported earnings before market open on Friday. The consensus EPS estimate was $3.13, and the consensus revenue estimate was $45.22B (+79.1% Y/Y). While the initial reaction to Chevron's earnings was that it had its best quarter since 2014, shares declined Friday because some expectations were not met.

Earnings showed $2.56 per share against analyst expectations of $3.12 per share. But revenue topped expectations at $48.13 billion, against analyst consensus of $45.69 billion. So, a mixed bag. Full-year results saw Chevron with $21.1 billion in free cash flow, and a $12.9-billion reduction in debt. For the year, Chevron earned $15.6 billion, compared to 2020's recorded $5.5-billion loss.

It's also moved to hike its quarterly dividend by 8 cents (6%) to $1.42/share, increasing its payout to shareholders.

Over the last two years, CVX has beaten EPS estimates 63% of the time and has beaten revenue estimates 25% of the time.

Chevron was the biggest spender at a November federal auction of oil leases in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, spending $47M. The auction saw more than 300 drilling blocks spanning 1.7M acres of federal waters leased.

After tightening its purse strings in 2020, Chevron has announced a $15B capex budget for FY22, up 20% from 2021 but at the low end of its $15B-$17B guidance. This includes $8B to be spent on the company's upstream business, towards currently producing assets and development at its Permian Basin.

As of Friday, CVX shares have gained 8.4% in the year-to-date.

#3. ConocoPhillips

Houston, Texas-based ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is expected to report earnings on Feb. 3 before the market opens. The report will be for the fiscal Quarter ending Dec 2021.

According to Zacks Investment Research, based on eight analysts' forecasts, the consensus EPS forecast for the quarter is $2.2. The reported EPS for the same quarter last year was $-0.19. ConocoPhillips has beat earnings expectations in four straight quarters.

On Jan. 18, Goldman Sachs raised ConocoPhillips to buy from hold, with analyst Neil Mehta predicting shares will trade at $101 in the coming 12 months, good for a 12.6% upside.

Mehta says the accretion from ConocoPhillips' Permian assets will help the company deliver a 7.5% shareholder return in 2022.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Eva Grassau's encounter with COVID-19 started with a notification from her son's child care center.

A case had been identified in his classroom, and Leo, 2, had been exposed.

The next day, Jan. 15, the youngster woke with a fever and cough. "I thought, 'Oh, great, here we go,' " said Grassau, who lives in Bennington.

Leo tested positive for COVID-19 at a doctor's office that day. Later that afternoon, Grassau's husband, Bobby, began feeling ill, with a cough and headache. Both Grassau and her husband are fully vaccinated and boosted.

Several days later, Grassau and her 4-month-old daughter, Elouise, began feeling ill. Baby Elouise ran fevers for several days and suffered from congestion and a terrible cough.

Grassau said the disruption caused by the family's outbreak has been frustrating. But she's still glad that she is vaccinated and boosted. An oncology nurse who works with vulnerable people, getting the shots was important to her. She also plans to vaccinate her children when the shots are approved for kids under 5.

"I feel like it kept my symptoms fairly mild," she said. "I think it was worse for my children who were not vaccinated. They seemed to be sicker, and that makes me sad."

Breakthrough infections like the ones the Grassaus experienced have increased among the vaccinated  including the boosted  as the highly transmissible omicron variant has swept through Nebraska. Omicron, with its 50-plus mutations, has the ability to evade some of the immunity provided by prior infections and the vaccines, researchers say.

The breakthroughs have some people questioning the value of the vaccines in protecting people, as well as the nation's reliance on vaccines as a tool in the fight against COVID-19.

But health officials say the vaccines continue to protect many people from infection. More importantly, they're providing significant protection against serious illness and death.

Many of the breakthrough cases among the vaccinated are relatively mild. And increases in breakthroughs are to be expected as more of the population is vaccinated. No vaccine, experts say, is 100% effective at preventing infection.

"What the vaccines are really doing is preventing hospitalizations and deaths," said Dr. Anne O'Keefe, the Douglas County Health Department's senior epidemiologist.

In Douglas County alone, the number of vaccine breakthrough cases among fully vaccinated residents increased by 10,555 between Jan. 13 and Thursday, according to the Health Department's COVID-19 dashboard. The percentage of breakthroughs among fully vaccinated residents increased from 5.8% to 8.6%.

O'Keefe said the department reports the percentage of vaccinated people who have had a breakthrough infection to show how rare they are in that group. The percentages are based only on cases among fully vaccinated people, not on all cases.

Of all breakthrough infections, 70% are in people who were vaccinated at least six months before. Boosters are recommended after that time to address waning immunity from the original series.

Only 96, or .026%, of the almost 373,000 fully vaccinated Douglas County residents have died of COVID-19. O'Keefe said 85% of those deaths were in people older than 65. All of those younger than 65 had a severe underlying condition. Deaths among the vaccinated make up a similarly small percentage of total coronavirus-related deaths in Nebraska.

Dr. Mark Rupp, chief of the University of Nebraska Medical Centers infectious diseases division, said data recently released by state health officials demonstrate the vaccines' ongoing protection.

In December, Nebraskans who were fully vaccinated and boosted were 46 times less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than those who weren't fully immunized, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Nebraskans who were vaccinated but not boosted were 11 times less likely to be hospitalized than those who weren't vaccinated.

"That's strong information to suggest to people that vaccination is still protective but it is not necessarily preventing some of these breakthrough mild cases that we're seeing so frequently," Rupp said.

Part of the reason, he said, is that the omicron variant is so much more transmissible than past variants and appears to have a shorter incubation period.

"I think the virus is able to get a foothold and cause illness more quickly than the immune response is able to completely prevent illness," he said.

Recent studies support the importance of vaccination and of boosters, in particular, in protecting against the worse effects of omicron. One recent study published by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that the extra shot is 90% effective in preventing hospitalization with omicron. Another study posted by the agency found that cases and deaths were lower among people who had received a booster compared with those who were fully vaccinated but not boosted. Boosters provided the greatest gains in protection to people 65 and older.

"As the variants have shifted and the vaccines are not quite as effective, we're seeing people have breakthrough infections but continuing to have prevention of the more serious manifestations of illness," Rupp said. "Severe illness, hospitalization and death are still very well prevented through vaccination."

By and large, the patients in the hospital fighting for their lives continue to be those who are not vaccinated, he said. Most hospitalized patients who are vaccinated are very old or have compromised immune systems. In October, the CDC authorized fourth shots for the immunocompromised.

"The vaccine overall continues to be people's best bet," Rupp said.

Dr. Renuga Vivekanandan, chief of infectious disease at CHI Health and Creighton University, said most cases among the vaccinated are not as severe.

"The goal is making the illness milder," she said of the vaccines. "With omicron, you hear it's milder. I think it's milder for the patients who have received the vaccines."

Rupp said questions about the vaccines' effectiveness may come down to what people want vaccines to do.

"In a perfect world, you would want it to completely prevent any sort of acquisition of disease or illness," he said.

The COVID-19 vaccines initially held up well against symptomatic infection. But researchers learned that their effectiveness waned over time. The virus also developed ways of escaping human immune systems.

While they're no longer preventing all illness, Rupp said, the vaccines give people a head start that allows them to mount a response more quickly and ward off serious illness, hospitalization and death.

In the final analysis, Rupp said, that's what you really want from a vaccine.

"We're still pleased with the response (with regard to) serious illness," he said, "but I don't want folks to have an unrealistic expectation of the vaccine."

According to the Jan. 21-24 Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index, 72% of vaccinated Americans surveyed were satisfied with the protection the vaccines provide from catching the virus and 81% were satisfied with the protection the shots provide from serious illness or death.

Recent studies point to other benefits. The vaccines appear to reduce the incidence of long COVID-19, which has manifested even in people with mild cases. In children, Rupp said, vaccination prevents the rare inflammatory syndrome known as MIS-C, which also tends to occur in kids with mild cases.

At the same time, treatments effective against omicron remain in short supply nationally, with available doses prioritized for those who don't mount adequate immune responses even with vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration has pulled authorization for two commonly used monoclonal antibody therapies because they aren't effective against omicron, which now makes up 99% of infections in the U.S.

Meanwhile, omicron's ability to break through vaccine protection has added to workforce woes for hospitals, nursing homes, schools and businesses. For many, the infections have occurred despite months of best efforts to avoid the virus.

Grassau said she had been back at work after maternity leave for only two months when the family became ill. She has no paid leave left to cover her time in quarantine. Co-workers with young children also are feeling the burden, she said, both financially and socially.

While the CDC recently changed the isolation requirement for COVID-19 to five days, she said, young children like her son can't mask effectively, so recommendations call for them to remain out of child care centers for 10 days. The family had to quarantine after another day care exposure just before Christmas.

Grassau knows that the infections will protect her children for a time, but she still worries that another exposure will mean more missed work and school.

"The more we vaccinate and protect ourselves and other people, this will end," she said.

For Ann Gray, a nurse at an Omaha-area long-term care facility, the positive COVID-19 test result she received on Jan. 17  her first of the pandemic  came as a shock.

She was fully vaccinated and boosted and had been careful with her protective gear throughout the pandemic.

"I cried," she said. "I was so traumatized because I made it through the whole, whole pandemic ..."

But she had few symptoms, mostly a bit of a headache.

"I'm fine," she said. "That's what I need to remember."

I have a breakthrough case, too After nearly three years of living with the pandemic, I, too, have contracted a COVID-19 breakthrough infection. My family and I took all the precautions we reasonably could. We're fully vaccinated and boosted. We were the ones who usually wore masks in the grocery store, and we usually got takeout rather than dining in restaurants. For the most part, we've gathered outdoors when we've gotten together with friends. But we live in the real world. I've worked from The World-Herald's downtown office for most of the pandemic. It made it easier to coordinate the constant flow of breaking news. My husband has to work in person at his job, and our youngest son returned this year to in-person high school. We don't know how we caught the virus. My husband and son tested positive on Monday. I tested positive Friday. Only one of those positive tests will be recorded in the official tallies. The two others were based on at-home tests. While I wish we had avoided the virus, we are thankful that our symptoms have been mild so far  thanks to the vaccines.  Julie Anderson

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Family members and friends of 22-year-old Chance Van Dyne remember him as a hardworking young man and a beloved brother, son and grandson whose life was cut short.

An Omaha native and a fire control seaman in the U.S. Navy, Van Dyne was killed in a car crash amid snowy road conditions in Indiana on Dec. 28. He was on his way back to his base.

Van Dyne, affectionately called Chancie by his family, graduated from Bellevue East High School, was great with computers and loved anime, ramen and animals, according to Sharon Stolp, his grandmother.

I was blessed that I was one of the first people to hold him when he was born and the last to get a hug and an I love you from him, Stolp said.

He called me about an hour before his accident from a visitors center and told me he was about five minutes away from the Indiana border, she said. He was just such a unique young man. He should still be here.

In messages posted after Van Dynes death, his fellow service members described him as dedicated, hardworking and eager to challenge himself with his position in the Navy. He dreamed of being stationed in Japan.

I knew you only for a year, but you were my brother, one of his comrades wrote. I held out hope that someday youd be stationed on my ship or maybe Id see you again in the fleet. If I ever go to Japan, I will leave something for you there.

Services with military honors were held earlier this month at Omaha National Cemetery.

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All roads lead to Irvington, then and now.

The modern maze includes Interstate 680, Nebraska Highway 133 (90th Street), Sorensen Parkway, Blair High Road, Wenninghoff Road, Irvington Road and Crown Point Avenue. Their intersections are many.

Go into Irvingtons past, and it had a railroad with daily passenger service. The Military Road ran on the ridge to the south, and the community was nestled between creeks that form the Little Papillion.

Its one of Douglas Countys oldest settlements, trailing only Omaha, Florence and Elk City. Its business area moved and left behind East Irvington.

But then as now, Irvington is an unincorporated community. It never had a mayor or town council. It considered organizing once to fight a liquor license. Very understandable, because Irvingtons first residents were New Englanders, including descendants of the religious leader of Plymouth Colony.

Irvingtons settlement began soon after Nebraska was opened as a territory and before the federal government laid out the Military Road from near 24th and Cuming Streets in 1857. Charles Howe took out the first claim. Milton Rogers, who owned a hardware company in Omaha, was next.

According to a 1916 history of early Irvington in The World-Herald by Frank Hibbard, at least six families  the Knights, Brewsters, Timperleys, Noyces, Thomases and Burgmans were in the area by 1857. The Knights were from Massachusetts. Benjamin and Albert, who were brothers, and their cousin Gardner stayed, while two returned home and one died. The Brewster brothers  Henry, Elias, Sardius and Roderick  were from upstate New York. Their ancestor was William Brewster, senior elder of Plymouth Colony.

Benjamin Knight was a civil engineer in Boston working for Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, who also famously made his way to Nebraska. Knight came west with Henry and Elias Brewster.

John Timperley and Charles Noyce came from England, made the Mormon migration to Salt Lake City, married their wives and started families before abandoning the church and retracing the Mormon Trail back to Omaha to settle on homesteads.

Brothers-in-law Lewis Thomas and Isaac Burgman, who had married Thomas sister Nancy, brought their families from Iowa. During the 1860s, seven more siblings of Lewis Thomas joined him. Thomas built the first schoolhouse, making and burning the brick for the 1862 structure, and his sister Sarah, who married Roderick Brewster, was the first teacher.

In 1857, Mormons built the first bridge across the Little Papio. Before they could use it to leave from their camp on the east side, heavy rain washed it away, and they had to start over. Once the Military Road opened, it was a route to the Colorado gold fields. Hibbard recalled seeing in 1867 a schooner coming back labeled Pikes Peak or Bust  Busted, Be Damned. Trail ruts are still visible near 82nd and Fort Streets.

Besides the school, early institutions included the Congregational Church and the post office. Sardius Brewster, better known as Deacon Brewster, married Sarah Gaylord, the oldest daughter of Reuben Gaylord, Omahas first Congregational minister. Rev. Gaylord organized the Little Papillion Church on Aug. 6, 1866, with 11 members, and it became the Irvington Congregational Church in 1870. It survived tornadoes, a fire and a move after the railroad was literally at its front door until a merger in 1961 formed what is now Northwest Hills Church.

Lemuel Bingham became the towns first postmaster in July 1877. Hibbard recalled that the settlers were getting their mail on a thrice-weekly route through Irvington, Summer Hill Farm (174th and State Streets) and Elk City. When the request for a post office was granted, the author said residents met at the schoolhouse to submit its name, and Irvington  which had been the areas name for at least seven years  was chosen.

Until 1888, the post office was on Military Road near the Little Papio. Then the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad came through and the Knight family laid out a plat for Irvington three-quarters of a mile northwest of the post office. The post office was relocated to near the new depot. It apparently set off the Brewsters. Deacon Brewster platted East Irvington at the junction of Military and Florence Avenue (now Crown Point Avenue).

Irvington then enjoyed a building boom, expanding the business community beyond a feed mill, H.S. Johnsons grocery (it had a public telephone) and a blacksmith. E.L. Brewster had the hardware store, Peter Hiler a coal yard and general store and R.M. Twaddell a grocery and coal dealership that had a second-floor community hall. One hotel was built. W.D. Clark was the barber.

Fifteen years later came a new wave of development. H.J. Groves of Benson opened a lumberyard, Charles Pamp (now the owner of East Irvington) was erecting a two-story brick building that had a harness store and barbershop as its first two tenants, and the town lost its dry status, but for a short time. Fred Anderson opened a restaurant with a bar. He lost a legal challenge by Deacon Brewster on a technicality  Irvington was too far away from Omaha city limits.

That didnt stop George Brenner from opening the Irvington Country Club roadhouse in 1915, across from the depot, two blocks from the school and near Irvingtons two churches. In less than a year, Brewster and other townspeople went to court, saying that Brenner was operating an immoral house, drawing many persons of prominence from Omaha and selling liquor on Sundays. Brenner lost his case.

Irvingtons school added high school grades for the first time in 1918 and in 1925 replaced a frame building with a two-story brick building with a red tile roof. Irvington High had a graduating class in 1926 and then continuously from 1933 until 1958, when the district merged with the Omaha Public Schools. Irvington Highs mascot was the Huskies, which became that of Northwest High in 1971. The Irvington grade school closed in 1980, was sold to a Christian high school and is now a church.

Perhaps the best reason to visit Irvington for many years was the ice cream from Irvington Dairy. Opened in 1928, it became Velvet Rich Ice Cream in 1954 and was Irvington Ice Cream when it closed in 1970.

Irvington has had its fires (1948, 1952), floods (too many to enumerate of the Thomas, Knight and Little Papillion Creeks), tornado (1894) and bank robbery (1924). The fires fueled the organization of the Irvington Volunteer Fire Department in 1952.

It opened its second station in 2020 north of 72nd and McKinley Streets.

Rail service was lost with the Chicago and North Western Railway (which bought the tracks from the original owner) abandoning the line in 1977. Nebraska Highway 133 was rerouted away from the business district when the Interstate 680 interchange opened in 1969. Industrial areas have sprung up to the east and west, and a large apartment complex was built along Irvington Road as the gap between Omaha and Irvington closed up.

But Irvington has kept its identity. It hasnt been annexed by Omaha. And it has its exit sign on Interstate 680.

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The turkey vulture, Betsy Finch said, had no business being in Nebraska in January.

Stunned by the cold, it was transported to the Raptor Conservation Alliance rehabilitation center in Elmwood, Nebraska, where it will stay until springs warmer temperatures arrive.

Weve already gotten 20 birds in for 2022 and January isnt actually one of our busy months, she said.

That busy start follows a record 2021 in which Finch, husband Doug and a crew of volunteers cared for 664 birds at their five-acre farm, which includes three large outbuildings and several large flight pens.

Injured eagles, red-tailed hawks, owls and northern harriers have found refuge at the nonprofit. Extreme weather, wind storms and drought, as well as encroachment by humans, are to blame, Finch said. Collision injuries are the most common.

Finch thinks one of two snowy owls at the facility might have been clipped by a car. Rehabilitation time could be three to six months.

One of the newest residents, an adult eagle, was caught in an illegally baited trap. A Nebraska Game and Parks game warden was called in, who then brought it to one of Finchs volunteers. He took it to the Bellevue Animal Hospital, where it was cared for by Dr. David Gordon.

It might have a happy ending. A dozen birds are permanent residents because they cant survive on their own in the wild. Other non-releasable birds are donated or transferred to other organizations or nature centers such as Fontenelle Forest for display or education.

Its doing great, Gordon said. Its eating for Betsy.

Keeping more than 50 animals fed with rats and mice or fish for the eagles is one of the most difficult parts of the job for Finch, who has been caring for injured raptors for 46 years, 26 of them at Elmwood.

Its not just the expenses involved for the nonprofit, but the daily effort, too.

Going out in a blizzard to feed and take care of birds is not the fun part, Finch said. Some need to be fed more than once a day.

Its a calling for Finch, who said she began when her Lincoln Audubon group was looking for volunteer work in the 1970s. She started organizing state and local permits, food supplies and housing for raptors.

Once we got the birds in, I got so interested and I stayed with it, she said. Its really very rewarding for me.

Her rescue is unique, she said, in that it has volunteers spread all over the state, who come together to relay injured birds to the facility.

Staff from Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium and Lincoln Childrens Zoo, as well as volunteer veterinarians like Gordon, provide care for the birds.

Dr. Christina Ploog from Henry Doorly said theyve been working with the rehabilitation center for more than 10 years, providing physical exams, radiographs, wound management and fracture repairs.

Our team enjoys supporting Betsys efforts in providing outstanding care to injured raptors, and we are always thrilled to hear that a patient has been returned to its natural habitat, she said. These opportunities allow our veterinary staff to give back to the community and to the ecosystem we care so much about. It is an amazing feeling to know that you helped an injured bird be released back into the wild.

Finch hasnt slowed down despite turning 75 this week. She knows she needs to develop a plan that keeps a steady supply of funds coming in to feed and care for the birds as well as finding an eventual replacement. As much as she loves it, she doesnt want to be doing this when shes 90.

We had so many birds this year I havent been able to work on any of that, she said.

As well as the veterinarians and volunteers, she said Doug has been a big support through the 21 years of their marriage. They met when his son did an Eagle Scout project at the facility.

There are ups and downs to their efforts. Theres the amazing part when a once-injured bird is released and the challenging part when a raptor has to be euthanized because its injuries are too great or its in pain.

If someone cant do that, they have no business in rehabilitation, Finch said. You always have to do whats best for the bird.

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PIERCE, Neb.  Three children are dead after a fire ignited in a home in rural northern Nebraska Saturday morning.

The Pierce Fire Department responded to a reported house fire at 3:34 a.m. Saturday. When they arrived at the scene, firefighters saw heavy smoke and fire coming from the home, which was occupied by six people at the time of the fire.

Three occupants, aged 17, 15 and 12, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the State Fire Marshal Agency.

The other three occupants were able to evacuate the house, according to the agency. One was transported to a local hospital and released. The others reported no injuries.

Investigators determined that the fire was accidental and caused by a wood-burning stove, according to the agency. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death of the three children.

Pierce Public Schools posted on its Facebook page that it was opening the high school Saturday to students seeking support after the loss of Pierce High and Pierce Elementary students.

State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk in a statement called the fire an unspeakable tragedy.

Todays news is heartbreaking and hard to understand, but I know the community spirit of Pierce is resilient, may it comfort this family and our region, Flood said.

Pierce, with a population of about 1,700, is 130 miles northwest of Omaha.

This report includes material from the Associated Press and World-Herald staff writer Molly Ashford.

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The Christian community as well as other communities of faith have not always done the best job at providing tender loving care to individuals with ovaries. Historically, that dealing has been wrapped in misogyny, patriarchy and even homophobia and transphobia (to name a few).

We may be somewhat oblivious to our harmful ways because we fail to hear the voices of those most affected as we act in religious and cultural arrogance as well as privilege. We have failed to open our ears and hearts to those in need of what faith communities have to offer because we have predetermined what these communities need from our positions of elitism. This manifest-destiny, religious-colonizing attitude has been at the core of land invasions, theft of land, people, goods and services. This religious zeal has also manifested in the realm of the rights of individuals born with ovaries.

Each year around this time of year, some Christians gather to march in favor of banning abortion while others watch in silence. Some wonder if they can reconcile their faith with their belief that decisions about abortion belong to patients. Others, who have had an abortion, wish for understanding as to why they needed the procedure and why the issue is not so black and white. Religiously, the Christian perspective (with disagreements even within that faith tradition) is not the only vantage point concerning abortion. Marchers may be shocked to know Jews, Buddhists and Hindus overwhelmingly support keeping abortion legal.

And this year, people will be watching and wondering if Nebraskas state senators will outright ban abortion, forcing people who need the procedure to delay care, to travel hundreds of miles to another state or to carry a pregnancy to term against their will. Of course, this impact would fall hardest on those communities that have the least access to any health care: Nebraskans who are poor, Nebraskans of color and those living in rural communities.

A nuanced approach reveals that our faith does not always require an either/or mentality. Biblical precedent has provided us with a yes/and or both/and option, making space for circumstantial permissions and case by case analysis. Jesus himself broke religious and cultural norms by not condemning someone caught in adultery, touching a leprous man and other actions. Some would deem him to esteem nonviolence only while others would highlight the stories of him turning over tables in the temple and using a whip.

These scriptural discrepancies or conflicts do not cause us to throw away the book, but rather to engage in conversation, to listen to one another and determine what is for the highest good for individuals as well as the collective, understanding nuance has its place even in biblical matters. This nuance belongs in the conversation around abortion.

I believe it is possible to see birthing as a priority and way of life within the context of your own personal life, family and community while making space for those who believe in, find need for and seek abortions.

We must be cautioned not to allow privilege to guide the way. Privilege is evident when someones identity and decisions around their own body is made a matter of prohibitive legislation. As an out, gay Black pastor in Nebraska, I know what it is like to be on the nonprivileged end of the discussion and legislation.

Each day, I pray for more compassion as we open our hearts and minds to nuanced and new conversations. As we move forward on this issue impacting all of us, I pray our leaders are guided by Pauls sage advice to the Romans: Make every effort to do what leads to peace.

Darryl Brown Jr., is the founding and senior pastor of Kingdom Builders Christian Center of Omaha.
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, the justices 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 more than 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 Capitol for 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. Gov. Mike Foley, a state senator at the time, helped enact laws making fetal homicide and fetal assault crimes.

In 2010, then-Speaker Flood successfully championed a bill to make Nebraska the first state in the nation to ban abortion after 20 weeks of gestation.

In 2011, Sen. 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, Sen. 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 Sen. 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, Sen. 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, Sen. 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: Sens. 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: Sen. 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: Sen. 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 49 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 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.

The governor may be reached at pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or by calling his office at 402-471-2244.
Westside response

In response to Westside community member Joe Fulcher, I am a current senior at Westside High School. I was met with nothing short of disappointment upon reading your partisan cry to those in the Westside community Test message about CRT sparks controversy in Westside school board race. However, with the amount of divisiveness we face in our current world, I was as unsurprised as I was disappointed. As a school district which prides itself in uniting all people and voices, there is no room for political shenanigans within our school board. This will only hurt our district and cause unnecessary quarrel within our board.

To suggest that we must get conservatives or liberals on our communities school board poisons the public service that serving on the board has historically been. We must come together as a community and elect board members who will aid in the education of our youth  rather than attempt to sway their ideology. I have never felt that my learning has been politicized towards one end or another. Although I will be graduating this May and school board changes will never effect my learning  I want to ensure that the future of Westside is not plagued by childish partisanship.

I do not write this to you to shame you or your attempt at swaying the school board election towards two-party politics, but instead to encourage you to channel this energy. It seems that people become very passionate about our education when it is politicized, however, why not spearhead a movement to give Westside students more learning resources, opportunities, and technology? Why waste our energy focusing on one pseudo-problem instead of coming together to make our school district better.

My point is, that if you want to help the Westside community, there are plenty of ways that can be done. Creating partisan drama regarding our school board election is not one of those ways.

I invite you to come and see how Westside students  on both sides of the political spectrum  are able to behave towards each other in a classroom setting. Nowhere have I seen more political opinions  and more mature discussions  than in my senior government class at Westside. If the students of Westside can be mature and unite together despite differences in political ideology  then can the parents of Westside as well?

Isaac Persky, Omaha

Constitutional carry

A Jan. 20 World-Herald article (DNA bill advances despite objections,) pointed to criticisms of the op-ed that I wrote with Sen. Tom Brewer in your paper.

The article labeled me as a gun rights advocate, not a researcher who has held academic positions at Wharton, Stanford, Yale, and the University of Chicago and worked in the U.S. Department of Justice. The article also failed to note that the criticisms arose from gun control groups (Newtown Action and GVPedia).

These groups claimed I padded the list of academic studies that show the benefits of concealed carry, and did so by including studies that didnt actually study concealed carry. But people shouldnt take my word for it  I provided a link to all the studies so that people could check them out. As to the research I cited being error-filled, these were all peer-reviewed studies in academic journals. Neither of my gun control advocate critics has ever published anything in an academic journal.

State Sen. Adam Morfeld challenged the research I presented by Professor Carl Moody, who shows constitutional carry reduces violent crime and police deaths. Morfeld wanted to focus only on firearm homicides, which includes defensive, justifiable homicides. But murder and self-defense are two very different things. In any case, for all states that had adopted constitutional carry by 2018, firearm homicides also declined.

John R. Lott, Jr., Ph.D., Missoula, Mont.

President, Crime Prevention Research Center

COVID lawsuits

The Nebraska attorney general and the governor really need to stop wasting state officials and employees time on stupid lawsuits against our own health departments. Governor Ricketts is wasting taxpayer money in order to grandstand. They hemorrhage money from our state budget that should be going to items like crime prevention and youth services.

Douglas County Heath Director Lindsay Huse is focused on trying to control the spread of diseases that are hampering our communities stability; she deserves to be respected and supported in that effort. Threatening her office with a lawsuit is a waste of time and money, both of which should be used to address issues that can actually improve the living conditions of Nebraskans. Let the health departments do their job of caring for the residents of Nebraska without the threat of retribution from their own state government.

Janet Bonet, Omaha
KANKAKEE  An Illinois man accused in a shooting that killed one police officer and critically wounded another is seeking a new attorney.

Darius D. Sullivan of Bourbonnais appeared in court Friday via video feed for what was supposed to be a scheduled arraignment. But during the hearing his defense attorney, Bart Beals, filed a motion to withdraw without giving an explanation, according to The (Kankakee) Daily Journal.

Sullivan's next court date is March 7.

Sullivan, 25, and 26-year-old Xandria Harris are charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. Both have pleaded not guilty. They were being held at Kankakee County jail without bond.

Prosecutors have said the two officers were shot as they were investigating a complaint about dogs that were barking in a car parked outside a hotel in Bradley. Authorities arrested Sullivan in Indiana on New Year's Eve and Harris surrendered to police hours later in Bradley, which is outside Chicago.

The shooting left 49-year-old Bradley police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic dead and wounded her partner, Officer Tyler Bailey, who was recently released from the intensive care unit.

Harris, who did not speak during her arraignment Thursday, is due back in court on Monday.

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Residents and community organizers in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago called for peace and mental health support for their neighborhood Saturday during a peace walk and memorial for Melissa Ortega, an 8-year-old girl fatally shot as she walked with her mom.

About 75 people marched along 26th Street chanting in Spanish, Justice for Melissa, Peace in Little Village, and A stop to violence in response to the march leaders, What do we want?

They held animal-shaped balloons and some grasped their childs hand as they walked. On Jan. 22, Melissa was shot in the head while holding her mothers hand at the corner of 26th Street and Pulaski Road.

Emilio Corripio, 16, and Xavier Guzman, 27, were charged with murder in connection with Melissas death and were held without bond on Thursday.

Those marching stopped at Melissas memorial on the corner of 26th and Pulaski where they met dozens of others for a balloon release to honor Melissa.

Many held pink and white roses and pink, white and purple balloons as Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, and others prayed, sang and talked about the importance of community coming together and of the need for mental health services to address generational trauma.

Bringing residents out in solidarity shows those committing violence that the community wont be scared to speak up, Enriquez told the Tribune after the memorial.

It shows the love that we have for each other, Enriquez said. But it also shows that were not going to be quiet anymore, that the community wont stay quiet. We will come out and report the crimes. We will come out if you attack Little Village or attack somebody in Little Village we will report the crime.

Youth who grow up seeing violence become desensitized to it and get comfortable firing a gun and killing someone, Enriquez said.

All they know is violence, violence, violence, violence, so the only way they know how to get their frustration out is by creating violence or doing violence, Enriquez said. And thats what our youth showed when they killed Melissa is that theyre okay, theyre okay with killing somebody.

It doesnt move their heart, you know, they have no remorse. So when you have an individual thats enjoying murder, then we have a serious psychological problem in the neighborhood.

Enriquez said the Little Village Community Council is working to open a mental health clinic with free services. He asked residents for their support in adding a referendum to the ballot to create a property tax that would amount to, on average, $14 a year per household to raise funds for the new clinic. The council plans to ask local and state governments to match the communitys funds to help, Enriquez said.

Mariela Landero, who has lived in Little Village 20 years, said she decided to attend the event to show unity with other moms in asking for change.

Im scared of coming home one day without my daughter, Landero said.

Over her years living in the neighborhood, violence has gotten worse, she said.

Landero had her 8-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son with her Saturday. She also has a 3-year-old.

Landero hopes Melissa is the last child to be cut down in violence.

I dont desire this on anybody. Losing a child is very hard.

Landero said she recently had to have a talk with her 8-year-old about the dangers of violence.

Its very emotional. For my daughter, when I had to talk to her about gun violence, it was very emotional, Landero said.

She gets scared or she thinks that she might die and I dont feel like she should be thinking that. She should be able to go out, be free and be able to play with her friends without having to worry about something happening to her.

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The government has expressed its commitment to implement policies that will make Ghana become prosperous but called on citizens to support the sharing of the tax burden to reduce the public debt and budget deficit.



Making the call on Thursday, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, urged Ghanaians to be confident in building a prosperous society and developing the solid human capital required to drive the economies of Africa.



However, Mr Ofori-Atta, who was speaking during the E-levy Town Hall meeting in Koforidua, said the efforts would require some sacrifices on the parts of the citizens and government.



Highlighting the major government spending, he said, the government had spent GHS40 billion on education, GHS14 billion on health care, GHS14.9 billion on enhancing internal security and GHS18 billion on flagship projects.



He explained that these expenditures had helped 1.26 million citizens in receiving free SHS, 3.45 million citizens from school feeding programmes, 100,000 NABCO persons and 244 households.



He said for the government to have been able to cater for these human expenditures, indicated that in the coming years there would be challenges in mobilizing resources to carry out other projects.



Traditionally, when the challenges arise, we look at fuel increments and we all know the negative effects it bears on all of us, he said.



Currently 2.4 million people are registered as taxpayers out of 18 million potential taxpayers, he added. This means 2.4 million people are paying taxes to support 30.8 million population.



Mr Ofori-Atta said without the payment of tax, Ghana cannot achieve national development if we do not pay taxes.



If we think deep in ourselves, nobody like tax but rarely if we look at our debt situation, what we need to do is to raise our own money for national development, he said.



Our tax revenue as a percentage of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is below our peer countries in Sub-Sahara Africa, SSA, thus 13% as at 2021, which increased from 12.2% in 2020, he added.



Even though it increased, it is still very low as we compare to 16.5% and above which we cannot sustain so we need to cure that.



Looking at the distribution of taxes among the regions, greater Accra contributes 88 per cent, he said, if we combine Eastern, Ashanti and Western contributes 3% of national tax, which cannot be right when we look at the population in these regions.



Hence, we need to find a way to share our tax burden.



For Ghana to reduce its public debts and budget deficit, Mr Ofori-Atta said it required an increase in the tax revenue but to attain this It would require the effort of every Ghanaian to take their part and pay their required taxes.









Source: GNA









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Featured Video
The Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Ketu North, James Klutse Avedzi, has said the Minority's opposition to the E-levy bill remains unchanged despite the decision to reduce the levy from 1.75 percent to 1.5 percent following a crunch meeting between the Minister of Finance and the Minority and Majority caucus of Parliament this week.



He spoke to journalists in an interview at Parliament House.



He said the Minority in Parliament do not support the bill hence government should withdraw it from Parliament.



He said government should rather create more employment opportunities for people who can then pay appropriate income tax to generate more revenue for the nation..



James Klutse Avedzi also advised the Majority caucus not to rush with the passage of the e-levy when the Speaker, Rt Hon Alban Bagbin travels this weekend for medical check up outside the country, to avoid tension in the House.



Parliament Adjourns E-Levy Debate To February 1



Parliament on Friday adjourned the debate on the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) Bill to Tuesday, February 1.



Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker, presiding as Speaker, adjourned the sitting.



Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, had wanted the House to take the E-Levy debate, however, the Minority members said they were tired of the long sitting since 1000 hours, which was delayed until 1700 hours.

Source: Emmanuel Akorli/Peace FM









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 criticized an NPP MP who according to him, betrayed his colleagues in Parliament.



"Whoever did that is listening to me; let him continue to live with that guilty conscience forever because if the person didn't do that..."



"...you're not deserving of this honour as a Member of Parliament; betraying all of us. Now because of the equal numbers, the NDC say they will not permit the President to roll out his programmes" he said during a panel discussion on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo'



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Economic community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Burkina Faso in the aftermath of a military coup, making it the third member nation to be punished for a military takeover in only 18 months.



The West Africa's main regional bloc made the announcement on Friday January 28, days after mutinous soldiers forced democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to resign.





The soldiers also went on state television to announce a military takeover of the country, which they said was under siege from armed groups.



The military rulers said Kabore failed to stem the violence that has killed thousands during his time in power.



A delegation of ECOWAS defence chiefs will travel to Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou on Saturday January 29, followed by a ministerial mission a few days later, the statement said. Heads of ECOWAS member states will reconvene for another summit in Ghana's capital Accra on Feb. 3 to discuss the findings of the two delegations.





ECOWAS and its international allies have condemned the coup in Burkina Faso, which they fear could further destabilise a country beset by Islamist violence, but find themselves with limited leverage.



The West African leaders met virtually yesterday to discuss the Burkina Faso coup, and a delegation was expected to travel to the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, in the coming days.



Ghanaian president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the current ECOWAS chairman, described the recent spate of coups in West Africa as a direct violation of our democratic tenets. The rest of the world is looking up to us to be firm on this matter, he said.



The bloc could still choose to sanction Burkina Faso when members reconvene next week.













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Aamer Hayat Bhandara (C), a farmer and local councillor, hopes digital tools will revolutionise Pakistan's agriculture industry.

Agriculture entrepreneurs are bringing the digital age to Pakistan's farmers, helping them plan crops better and distribute their produce when the time is right.

Until recently, "the most modern machine we had was the tractor", Aamer Hayat Bhandara, a farmer and local councillor behind one such project told AFP in "Chak 26", a village in the agricultural heartland of Punjab province.

Even making mobile phone calls can be difficult in many parts of Pakistan, but since October, farmers in Chak 26 and pilot projects elsewhere have been given free access to the internetand it is revolutionising the way they work.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan's economy, accounting for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product and around 40 percent of the workforce.

It is estimated to be the world's fifth-largest producer of sugarcane, seventh-largest of wheat and tenth-biggest rice growerbut it mostly relies on human labour and lags other big farming nations on mechanisation.

Cows and donkeys rest near a muddy road leading to a pavilion in Chak 26, which is connected to a network via a small satellite dish.

This is the "Digital Dera"or meeting placeand six local farmers have come to see the computers and tablets that provide accurate weather forecasts, as well as the latest market prices and farming tips.

"I've never seen a tablet before," said Munir Ahmed, 45, who grows maize, potatoes and wheat.

"Before, we relied on the experience of our ancestors or our own, but it wasn't very accurate," added Amjad Nasir, another farmer, who hopes the project "will bring more prosperity".

At "Digital Dera" farmers come to see computers and tablets that provide accurate weather forecasts, as well as the latest market prices and farming tips.

Apps and apples

Communal internet access is not Bhandara's only innovation.

A short drive away, on the wall of a shed, a modern electronic switch system is linked to an old water pump.

A tablet is now all he needs to control the irrigation on part of the 100 hectares (250 acres) he cultivatesalthough it is still subject to the vagaries of Pakistan's intermittent power supply.

This year, Bhandara hopes, others will install the technology he says will reduce water consumption and labour.

"Digitising agriculture... and the rural population is the only way to prosper," he told AFP.

At the other end of the supply chain, around 150 kilometres (90 miles) away in Lahore, dozens of men load fruit and vegetables onto delivery bikes at a warehouse belonging to the start-up Tazah, which acts as an intermediary between farmers and traders.

After just four months in operation, the company delivers about 100 tonnes of produce every day to merchants in Lahore and Karachi who place orders via a mobile app.

Tazah delivers about 100 tonnes of produce every day to merchants in Lahore and Karachi who place orders via a mobile app.

"Before, the merchant had to get up at 5 am or 5:30 am to buy the products in bulk, at the day's price, and then hassle with transporting them," said Inam Ulhaq, regional manager.

"Tazah brings some order to the madness."

In the Tazah office, several employees manage the orders, but for the time being, purchases are still made by phone, as the part of the application intended for farmers is still in development.

The young company is also tackling a "centuries-old" system that stakeholders are reluctant to change, explains co-founder Abrar Bajwa.

Record investment

Fruit and vegetables often rot during their journey along poorly organised supply chains, says partner Mohsin Zaka, but apps like Tazah make the whole system more efficient.

In addition to Lahore, Tazah is already operating in the largest city, Karachi, and is preparing to move into the capital, Islamabad.

A $20 million fundraising campaign is underway, the co-founder told AFP, at a time when investments are pouring into Pakistani start-ups.

A tablet is now all Aamer Hayat Bhandara needs to control the irrigation on part of the 100 hectares he cultivates.

Foreign investment in Pakistan startups exceeded $310 million last yearfive times the 2020 level and more than the previous six years combined, according to several reports.

Further down the chain, Airliftwhich provides grocery deliveriesraised $85 million in a record-breaking prospectus for the country in August.

"A lot of the markets that venture investors are looking for, like India or Indonesia, are saturated," said Bajwa, a former director at Careem, the local ride-hailing app acquired by Uber in 2020.

Now Pakistan, the world's fifth-most populous country, is attracting attention and agriculture is a sector that is "completely untapped from a technological point of view", he said.

It is "certainly the one where we can have the biggest impact" here, he noted.

 2022 AFP
HADLEY  The American Red Cross offered aid last week to two residents of a home overtaken by fire.

A fire broke out on Old Corinth Road in Hadley early Thursday morning. The residents were able to get out safely, but three pets died in the blaze.

Volunteers of the Northeastern New York Chapter of the Red Cross reportedly provided immediate aid to the two residents, including financial assistance for shelter, food, clothing and emotional support.

The Red Cross said they are always looking for volunteers in times like this and opportunities to help can be found at redcross.org/volunteer.

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Lack of workers and housing are the two key challenges facing the economy as it moves past the pandemic, according to local economic development officials.

EDC Warren County hosted the EDC Forecast 2022 Forum on Wednesday to provide insight into the economy. The virtual event included multiple speakers, including EDC Warren County President and CEO Jim Siplon.

Siplon used a chart to show how economic development has changed since the pandemic began. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, companies would typically decide where to locate.

That is now decided by the workers.

What the entire world has come to understand is that were not looking for companies. Were all chasing people, he said.

Siplon cited a few reasons for this change, which he attributed to a study called the Demographic Drought from Emsi, a labor market data company.

One reason is the fact that the baby boomer generation is leaving the workforce and there are fewer younger workers coming in to replace them.

Liza Ochsendorf, director of the Warren County Employment and Training Administration, said that on average, baby boomers were born into families with four children, but are only having two children themselves.

The average age of people in Warren County is about 52 or 53, according to Ochsendorf.

Siplon said the pandemic has been used to explain why people have left the workforce, but there are deeper systemic issues at play.

Ochsendorf touched on the number of people not looking for work currently in the area.

She stated that the unemployment rate in Warren County is low, sitting at 3.9%, but stressed that number does not include individuals not looking for work.

The false narrative continues to be that people dont want to work, and that is not the case, Ochsendorf said.

During her presentation, Ochsendorf highlighted many challenges that have become more apparent as a result of the pandemic.

Lack of child care, substance abuse issues

A lack of affordable and quality child care, mental health issues and substance abuse, transportation gaps and seasonal work gaps are all things that need to be considered and addressed.

These issues existed before the pandemic, but they have been exacerbated by the pandemic, she said.

While addressing those issues and focusing on retaining the workforce the county currently has, Ochsendorf stressed the importance of investing in the next generation.

As a result of the pandemic, more young people have turned to substance abuse, and Ochsendorf said that mental health problems have continued to rise as well. She told those watching the event to think about what they can do to support children in their communities.

If we do not invest in our young people now we will pay for it later, she said.

She suggested supporting the ideas and goals from the children within the county, advocating for mental health and substance abuse programs directed at the youth and participating in trauma informed care training.

According to Siplon, another factor is the declining birth rate in the county, which is the lowest it has been in 35 years.

He said over the next five years it is possible for that number to reach the lowest number recorded in modern history.

Weve got to figure out how to retain the talent that we have, weve got to figure out how to bring people off of the sidelines into the workforce that are here and we have to figure out how to bring new people here, he said.

Lack of housing

Another issue Siplon highlighted was the housing supply.

More than a decade ago, the county crossed into having more demand for housing than there were houses.

Of course we are experiencing this locally. Anybody whos looked at trying to buy a house or even rent an apartment here in the last few years has been able to run into this, Siplon said.

He stated that this is even more of a problem in the Adirondack Park.

Siplon said that it takes three to four times more time and resources to develop housing in the park opposed to outside of it. More than 90% of the county lies within the Adirondack Park.

The housing demand deficit in the park exacerbates our problem, he said.

As a result, people who cant find housing inside of the park look to places like Queensbury and Glens Falls.

Siplon shared figures that were several months old showing that Glens Falls had four single-family homes available and roughly 96 rental units. Queensbury had 36 single-family homes, 14 townhomes, 58 senior living units and about 340 rental units.

There are projects still in development in, including in North Elba and Saranac Lake, which will produce around 300 to 350 units for people.

Those are about one to two years away from being completed.

Structurally we dont have a place to attract workers to this gap in our workforce, Siplon said.

The Warren County EDC conducted a survey in Lake Placid along with the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism on relocation interest among people visiting.

According to the survey, 91% of respondents stated that they would consider moving to the Adirondacks if the right housing options were available and they could work remotely. The survey also showed that people looking to relocate wanted the ability to work remotely, housing availability and broadband access.

The median income of those stating they would come to the area was $91,000 per year, according to Siplon.

We didnt have to spend anything to attract that level of economic impact to our community, he said.

Getting on the same page

Libby Coreno, who provides counsel and consulting services to people and businesses in the real estate and construction industries, said that these challenges are important to understand.

She also said that everyone needs to be on the same page.

Her phone rings constantly from areas all over the state that need similar help. Coreno has clients from all over the world looking into investing in this area.

She closed her presentation with a message to those in attendance.

This is the time to be a partner, she said. We can all spend our time trying to be righteous, but it isnt the time for that. Not when we have this amount of challenge to overcome.

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.

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CORINTH  Three cats were rescued during a house fire in Corinth on Friday night.

Corinth Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call for a structure fire at 320 Center St. at approximately 9:10 p.m.

Upon arrival, Corinth Fire Chief Andy Kelley said that firefighters noticed that the back half of the house was on fire. The fire was put out within 20 minutes, according to Kelley.

Everything was contained to the back deck area, the rear of the house, Kelley said.

He said that no residents were home at the time of the fire.

Oxygen was used for one of the cats, which was transported to Latham Animal Hospital. The cat was in stable condition, according to Kelley.

The residence had some smoke damage and a little bit of water damage to the living room and kitchen, which were part of rear area of the structure.

It was a quick knockdown, Kelley said. If it wasnt for the initial attack team going in there and knocking it down it would have been worse than it was.

Firefighers were assisted by Luzerne-Hadley Fire Department, Porter Corners Fire Company, Saratoga Springs Fire Department for a firefighter assist and search team and Maple Avenue Fire Company. The West Glens Falls Fire Company provided an engine in station on standby.

Kelley said that the cause of the fire was accidental, and could be pinpointed to two factors.

He said that a plumber had been soldering pipes in the area where the fire started.

There was also three heat lamps that the homeowner had running to keep the pipes from freezing, according to Kelley.

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.

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QUEENSBURY  Three members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors have resigned from committees to protest what they say is sexism from the new board chairman.

Johnsburg Town Supervisor Andrea Hogan, a Democrat, resigned as chairwoman of the countys American Rescue Plan Act Advisory Committee on Jan. 18.

Two Republicans also resigned from committees. Queensbury at-Large Supervisor Doug Beaty quit his position on the Economic Growth and Development Committee on Wednesday and fellow Queensbury at-Large Supervisor Rachel Seeber resigned from her position on the countys Park Operations and Management Committee as well as the Occupancy Tax Coordination Committee.

The environment and hostility created by certain members of the board has gotten to a point that is beyond the pale, perhaps actionable and based upon what appears to be individual beliefs about certain members of the board, Seeber said.

Seeber does hold the position of chairwoman of the National Association of Counties/New York State Association of Counties, which is a special committee. Special committees differ from standing committees because they are created by the board for a specific issue.

The ARPA Advisory Committee is also designated as a special committee.

According to the updated list of committees, only three of the five women on the board are in a chairwoman or vice chairwoman position on the countys 13 standing committees.

Hague Town Supervisor Edna Frasier is the chairwoman of the Health Services Committee and is the vice chairwoman of the Human Services Committee. Glens Falls 3rd Ward Supervisor Claudia Braymer is the vice chairwoman of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, and Hogan is the vice chairwoman of the Public Works Committee.

The list of of committees was updated and released on Thursday by Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, a Republican, who took over chairman of the Board of Supervisors this year from Seeber.

Geraghty said he assigned Frasier to the Economic Growth and Development Committee to replace Beaty. He moved Hogan, who was an alternate on the Park Operations and Management Committee, into Seebers position and named Frasier as the new alternate for the committee.

Thats a lot, and they dont like their assignments. Theres not a lot I can do about it, Geraghty said during a phone call Thursday afternoon.

Geraghty also stated that Lake George Town Supervisor Dennis Dickinson is taking over as the chairman of the ARPA Advisory Committee.

You make these appointments. Some like them. Some dont. The ones who get off, thats their choice, he said.

Geraghty stated that the reason he ran for the Board of Supervisors chairman position was because colleagues had asked him to.

Geraghty defends changes on committees

After he was elected as the new chairman for 2022, he said he had to formulate the new committee listings in accordance with the rules for the board that had been established last year.

But Geraghty wanted to make some changes to the rules for this year by increasing the number of people on certain committees.

Last year, some of the committees only had five people, and I wanted to raise them up to seven people, he said.

After that action was approved on Jan. 18, Geraghty had until the boards meeting on Jan. 21 to restructure the committees.

As a result he had to add 16 slots.

I did the best I could with what I had on the committees. I put it together but I had to wait for the board to act on the 21st before I could submit who I choose for these committees, he said.

Hogan announced her committee resignation with a letter to the entire board on Jan. 18. In that letter she gave two reasons for her decision, both involving Geraghty.

She said in the letter that Geraghty had not responded to two phone calls from her about the ARPA committee, which she was chairwoman of at the time.

I checked my phone records. I never got the message that she ever called me, Geraghty said.

He said that he checked the records with his secretary, and it was never logged.

Hogan also stated in her letter that Geraghty had been so discourteous and demeaning to her on a consistent basis during meetings that he had chaired in 2021.

Geraghty stated that he never intentionally did anything like that to any member of the board.

When youre doing a meeting, whether it be committee or board meeting, and you have X number of people in the room and you have one or two on Zoom, sometimes you miss the ones on Zoom, he said.

Hogan chose not to go into detail about the chairmans conduct because she feels that the board cannot move forward while focusing on the what.

She said that the committee list speaks for itself.

Very few assignments were given to women on the board. There is only one woman chair of a standing committee, which is where the real decision-making of the board happens, Hogan said.

She said that focusing on which women hold what position on a certain committee is distracting from the real topic at hand.

A majority of women on the board feel discriminated against, she said.

Hogan wants to see finger-pointing and name-calling on the board come to an end.

She said that the lack of diversity and ensuring all voices are heard isnt work only to be done by the 20 members of the Board of Supervisors. It is a community-wide conversation.

Were at a point where very few women and very few people of color step up to run for elected positions. We need to look into the reasons for that as a community and fix that, Hogan said. I feel like Ive run three very contentious races only to get to sit on the sidelines.

In her letter to the board, Hogan stated that one of her favorite sayings is lead, follow or get out of the way.

Without directive, support or basic communication, I am unable to either lead or follow, she wrote in her letter. This leaves me with only the option of getting out of the way.

Hogan also urged every member of the board to complete the diversity, equity and inclusion training that is available to them.

Beaty said that the reason he decided to resign his committee post was simple. He wanted more female representation on committees.

The women are woefully underrepresented, he said. I tried to create an opening for another woman to be on that (Economic Growth and Development) committee, which I feel is one of the most powerful committees on the board.

Beaty stressed that his decision to resign wasnt about him.

He said it is about the women on the board being disrespected by those in charge.

The word disrespected doesnt even do it justice. Its blatant sexism, he said.

In an email on Thursday afternoon, Beaty stated that prior to the committee list being updated, only one of the five women on the board had been selected to serve in chair or vice chair positions.

Beaty said that fact was unacceptable.

For him, its about doing the right thing and what is best for the county at large.

Lets clean up our act; lets get our act together. Lets put the best people in the best positions, he said. Thats always been my position.

Geraghty denies sexism

Geraghty said that comments about misogyny on the board were made in April of last year about some of his colleagues during discussion about majority and minority leaders on the board.

He said his staff at his office in Warrensburg is made up of mostly of women, with only one of his staff members being a man.

He also stated that during his time he has appointed many female department heads.

Its easy to make these charges to you, he said. But you go back and look at the research of my tenure there.

Geraghty commented on the concern coming from members of the board about the women not getting recognition while he is chairman. He said that if it is viewed that way, he has never done so on purpose.

He said he is trying to put the best people in the positions that suit them the best. Every women on the board other than newly elected Thurman Supervisor Debra Runyon, were given chair positions on either a standing or special committee.

I dont base it on anything other than who I think would be the best people to run these committees, and thats what I did, he said.

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.

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In January, we recognize Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and the power of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to prevent cancer caused by HPV.

HPV is extremely common and most people will contract it at some point in their lives, though not all cases will lead to cancer.

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2021, more than 14,000 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed and nearly 4,300 women died from cervical cancer. Almost all of these cases could have been prevented with the vaccine.

The HPV vaccine has nearly two decades of proven safety and efficacy. The vaccine is the most effective way to prevent cervical cancer. More than 135 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed since approval. In fact, since the vaccine was first introduced, HPV infections and precancers among teen girls and young adult women have dropped by over 80 percent in the United States.

Doctors recommend a two-dose series for all youth, ages 9 to 15. A third dose is recommended for those over the age of 15. Everyone through age 26 years should get HPV vaccine if they are not fully vaccinated already.

Less than 60 percent of adolescents receive the HPV vaccine, compared to roughly 90 percent of adolescents who receive the TDaP (tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis) and meningococcal (the bacteria that causes meningitis) vaccines, which can all be given at the same time.

Locally, the HPV vaccine rates are very low: the percent of 13-year-old adolescents with a complete series in Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties are 39%, 31.25%, and 27.1%, respectively.

The HPV vaccine is a safe, proven method to protect youth and young adults from developing potential cancers. The Health Promotion Center (HPC) at Glens Falls Hospital, through our Cancer Prevention in Action program, encourages healthy behaviors like HPV vaccination. We work with community organizations to educate parents, young people and health care providers about the importance of the HPV vaccine as it is cancer prevention.

Through school presentations and educational events, the HPC provides up-to-date information to help parents and families make informed health decisions to protect themselves and others. We also partner with local health care providers to offer staff trainings and educational materials for patients. The recommendations of health care providers play a significant role in patients health decisions, and were grateful to partner with local providers to improve our communitys health.

Whether youre a local school, parent or health care provider, if you are interested in working with the HPC on this important topic, please reach out to Rachel Yattaw (ryattaw@glensfallshosp.org) or visit our webpage: (glensfallshospital.org/services/community-services/health-promotion-center/cancer-prevention-in-action/).

The HPV vaccine is cancer prevention, and were eager to expand our impact in the community to make a lasting difference in the health and well-being of residents of Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties.

Rachel Yattaw is program coordinator for the Glens Falls Hospital Health Promotion Center.

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NEW YORK (AP)  Joni Mitchell said Friday she is seeking to remove all of her music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young, who ignited a protest against the streaming service for airing a podcast that featured a figure who has spread misinformation about the coronavirus.

Mitchell, who like Young is a California-based songwriter who had much of her success in the 1970s, is the first prominent musician to join Young's effort.

Keep scrolling for photos of Joni Mitchell through the years

"Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives," Mitchell said Friday in a message posted on her website. "I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue."

Following Young's action this week, Spotify said it had policies in place to remove misleading content from its platform and has removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

But the service has said nothing about comedian Joe Rogan, whose podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" is the centerpiece of the controversy. Last month Rogan interviewed on his podcast Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious disease specialist who has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID misinformation.

Rogan is one of the streaming service's biggest stars, with a contract that could earn him more than $100 million.

Young had called on other artists to support him following his action. While Mitchell, 78, is not a current hitmaker, the Canadian native's Spotify page said she had 3.7 million monthly listeners to her music. Her songs "Big Yellow Taxi" and "A Case of You" have both been streamed more than 100 million times on the service.

In a message on his website Friday, Young said that "when I left Spotify, I felt better."

"Private companies have the right to choose what they profit from, just as I can choose not to have my music support a platform that disseminates harmful information," he wrote. "I am happy and proud to stand in solidarity with the front line health care workers who risk their lives every day to help others."

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Spotify.

***
Seven years after John and Joyce Sheridan were found stabbed to death in their New Jersey home, one of their sons has asked prosecutors to investigate his parents deaths in light of an eerily similar murder-for-hire plot revealed this week in federal court in Newark.

In a letter Friday to county and state prosecutors, Mark Sheridan urged them to compare a knife seized from an alleged participant in the North Jersey plot to see if it matches one missing from his parents home in the highly publicized and perplexing case.

John Sheridan Jr., the chief executive of Camdens Cooper University Health System, and his wife were found fatally stabbed in their home, which had been set on fire. Authorities initially concluded their deaths were a murder-suicide  a finding their four sons have vehemently questioned.

Mark Sheridan wrote that your offices all but laughed at my familys suggestion that my parents deaths were anything other than a murder-suicide. Indeed, both offices openly mocked the idea of a killing for hire involving a stabbing with a fire set to destroy evidence.

He noted that earlier this week, a North Jersey political consultant and a Philadelphia man pleaded guilty to just such a scheme, one in which the victim was fatally stabbed and his apartment set on fire. The fatal attack took place in May 2014, four months before the Sheridans deaths. But alleged culprits were only named this week with guilty pleas.

The guilty pleas were entered Tuesday and Wednesday by Sean Caddle, 44, who has been a consultant for Democratic Party candidates, and Philadelphian Bomani Africa. In a hearing this week, federal authorities said Caddle hired a conspirator in Connecticut, George Bratsenis, to kill an associate of Caddles and that the conspirator recruited Africa to help. They said Bratsenis and Africa went to the targets residence in Jersey City and killed him and set his apartment on fire.

Gloucester County man charged with killing woman A Gloucester County man has been charged in the bludgeoning death of a Mount Laurel woman, a

According to NJ.com, authorities have not charged Bratsenis. Prosecutors have not named the victim but said the fatal stabbing occurred May 22, 2014. On that same date, however, Michael L. Galdieri, 52, who also worked in politics and was the son of the late Democratic state Sen. James A. Galdieri, was fatally stabbed in an apartment that was then torched, news accounts show.

Africa, 61, and Bratsenis, 73, were both indicted and pleaded guilty in a federal case stemming from a bank robbery in Connecticut in September 2014. Prosecutors in that case alleged a long-blade butchers knife was found in the white pickup truck that Bratsenis was driving at the time of his arrest on Sept. 29, 2014, court records show.

The Trumbull Times also reported a long kitchen knife was allegedly recovered in the vehicle, in a story published soon after Bratsenis was arrested.

In his letter Friday, Mark Sheridan referenced media reporting on the knife. He went on to say the Somerset prosecutors office had inquired of my brothers and me multiple times regarding a knife that was missing from the knife block in the kitchen after his parents died.

The son sent the letter to Somerset County Prosecutor Michael Robertson and Andrew Bruck, the acting attorney general for New Jersey. Sheridan noted that neither man was the top prosecutor when his parents died. U.S. Attorney Phillip Sellinger in Newark was also copied on the letter.

He asked the New Jersey officials to reach out to federal prosecutors in Connecticut who are pursuing the criminal case against Bratsenis in the robbery to obtain photos of the knife recovered at the time of his arrest to determine if it matches the set of knives from my parents kitchen.

Woman sues in federal court after arrest in mother's death A Florida woman accused, and later cleared, of murdering her mother has filed a lawsuit in f

Sheridan also asked officials to obtain a DNA sample from the knife.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in New Jersey and the state Attorney Generals Office had no comment on Sheridans letter. The Somerset County Prosecutors Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

An attorney for Bratsenis in the Connecticut bank robbery case did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment and could not be reached by phone at his office. Court records show Bratsenis has been in prison while awaiting sentencing in the robbery.

Sheridan, 72, led Cooper hospital from 2008 until his death. A prominent Republican, he served as state transportation commissioner for GOP Gov. Thomas H. Kean Sr. in the early 1980s and worked on transition teams for Govs. Chris Christie and Christie Whitman. His wife, 69, was a retired schoolteacher.

The Sheridans were found dead in the master bedroom of their home in Skillman, seven miles north of Princeton, on Sept. 28, 2014. Each had been stabbed multiple times and suffered burns from a fire intentionally set in the room. John Sheridan also had five broken ribs and a chipped front tooth. Sheridans body was found beneath a burning two-piece armoire dresser.

State authorities initially concluded in 2015 that John Sheridan stabbed his wife and then set fire to their bedroom.

Vineland man wanted in Wawa murder captured in New York VINELAND  A city man wanted in a fatal shooting outside a Wawa has been caught, Cumberland 

Their four sons hired an independent forensic pathologist who disputed those findings, saying none of the knives found at their house caused John Sheridans narrow wounds. In addition, renowned pathologist Michael Baden concluded that DNA found on a bloody knife in the bedroom matched that of a male, but not the genetic profiles of Sheridan or his sons. Baden wrote in an affidavit that John Sheridans other wounds were signs of an attack.

Baden, a former chief medical examiner in New York City, concluded the Sheridans were likely slain by an intruder who set the fire in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The Sheridan sons sued to have their fathers death certificate changed, and in 2017 the state medical examiners office changed his manner of death from suicide to undetermined. In his report, New Jersey Medical Examiner Andrew Falzon wrote that the weapon that caused Sheridans five stab wounds had not been recovered.

But authorities would not say at the time whether they planned to reopen the investigation, though many outside experts encouraged them to do so.
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  The year started off quietly at the Rio Grande Volunteer Fire Company as Howard Graham Jr. took over as fire chief Jan. 1.

Theyve made up for that in the meantime.

The last few weeks have been very busy for our company, Graham said Friday. Firefighters and other emergency responders were looking at a major snowstorm bearing down on the region. In the days leading up to that, the volunteer firefighters had faced house fires, car accidents and more.

That included responding to a serious structure fire on Stone Harbor Boulevard on Jan. 22, helping the Goshen Volunteer Fire Company with a house fire on Route 47, also on Jan. 22, and a serious accident on Route 47 near the entrance to the Garden State Parkway.

In that incident, a driver struck a stationary police car.

According to a report from Middle Township police, Patrolman Paul Damiano had pulled over onto the shoulder of the road to help a driver with a disabled vehicle about 10 p.m. Tuesday. Police report that Kelly Francisco, 48, was heading south in a Hyundai Santa Fe and struck the patrol car, pushing it into the other car.

Stone Harbor Boulevard fire breaks out in freezing temperatures MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  A house fire broke out Friday evening in the 800 block of Stone Harbor Bou

The officer was taken to Cape Regional Medical Center for an evaluation and treated for minor injuries. Francisco was also taken to the hospital and was issued eight summonses, including one charging him with driving under the influence.

There were no injuries reported in the other incidents, Graham said Friday, but there was plenty to keep firefighters busy. Other reports included an electrical fire at a local business and a blaze that destroyed buildings behind a house on Indian Trail Road.

The fire company posted images of several of the calls Friday, with a message that anyone interested in volunteering should stop by the station at 1120 Route 47 on any Wednesday night.

There are between 30 and 35 active volunteers with the company, Graham said. He said they are up for the task.

Our crew is always ready to go, he said. We have an amazing group of volunteers.

But they could use more. The Rio Grande company is not alone. Volunteer fire companies throughout the township, throughout Cape May County and beyond are having a tough time recruiting new volunteers.

Middle Township police officer injured in crash; 1 charged with DUI MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  A township police officer was sent to the hospital after his police vehicl

It is very hard, not only in New Jersey, but from what Ive read, its across the country. Volunteers are very hard to come by, Graham said.

Volunteers sign up for the extensive training to become a firefighter for a variety of reasons, but the main motivations are a sense of adventure and a commitment to community service, Graham said.

Its something thats in peoples blood, he said.

Middle Township has four fire companies, all staffed by volunteers. The township has introduced a stipend program to help encourage volunteers, and several of the companies have junior firefighter programs that get young people involved.

Thats how Graham got started.

Im 34 now. I got started at 14, he said. Until the volunteers turn 18 and pass Firefighter 1 training, they dont fight any actual fires, instead filling air bottles and rolling hose.

Those interested in volunteering can call the station at 609-886-1422 or see riograndefire.com for more information, or check with their closest volunteer company.

Contact Bill Barlow: 609-272-7290 bbarlow@pressofac.com Twitter @jerseynews_bill

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OCEAN CITY  In a 5-2 vote Thursday, City Council rejected a plan to share its chief financial officer with Sea Isle City for the coming months.

Sea Isle City CFO Paula Doll retired last week. As city Administrator George Savastano described the plan, Ocean City CFO Frank Donato would fill in while Sea Isle searched for a permanent replacement, with a contract running until the end of June.

Sea Isle would have paid $7,000 a month, of which Donato would keep $2,000.

Savastano told council that Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio and Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian worked out the plan, along with him and Donato. He said the two towns have a close working relationship. Part of those ties include Savastano himself, who also serves as Sea Isle Citys business administrator under a similar arrangement.

But five of the seven members of council want Donato all for Ocean City.

Why are we upsetting the apple cart for three or six months? asked Council member Terrence Crowley, the first to question the deal at the Thursday meeting. It just doesnt make sense to me, because I just dont see how it benefits the residents or the employees.

Shore residents stocked up for the weekend storm Store parking lots were madhouses Friday afternoon, as people scurried about Absecon Island 

Other members of council raised similar concerns.

I wouldnt share my top-notch people with a competing business. I dont know why I would do it with another town, said Councilman Jody Levchuk.

Donato told City Council he has time to do the work. This time of year, he said, Sea Isles financial reports are completed and the budget is almost done. He said he did not even think about saying no when asked about the plan.

I just think its a neighborly thing to do. I dont want to see that town hung out to dry for any period of time. They need a certified CFO, he said. Its certainly going to be more hours out of my week. I dont plan on letting anything slip here.

According to Savastano, the plan would allow Sea Isle time to search for a new CFO, rather than rushing the process. He said the state promotes these kinds of shared service agreements.

Ive got to tell you, I didnt think this would be an issue, Savastano told council members. He argued that municipalities are not businesses, and are not in competition.

Ocean City police officer charged with stalking in Lower Township An Ocean City police officer was charged with stalking after a tracking device was found on 

We work better together. I think weve shown that over the years, he said.

Council members Pete Madden and Karen Bergman voted yes. Bergman said she had similar concerns as the other council members, and asked Donato to address them. She said she was satisfied with his assurance he could handle the extra work without neglecting his Ocean City duties.

Madden said a no vote would mean the city would not get the extra money; nor would Donato. And Sea Isles SOL, he said.

This is where council gets out of our lane. This is where we mess things up for the city, not help the city, Madden said.

This is brought in front of us because it is in our lane. We have the power of the purse, said Council member Keith Hartzell. Donato already works as West Cape Mays CFO as well, Hartzell pointed out.

Council President Bob Barr said he was deeply conflicted about the issue. He said he initially supported it but was convinced by the other members of council. He added that towns do compete with each other for grants and other resources, and said the city could not know what kinds of emergencies lay in store.

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We dont know what we dont know. We dont know whats coming down the road, he said.

Gillian was not at the council meeting. Desiderio described Doll as an excellent CFO and thanked Ocean City Council for considering the proposal. He said the two towns already share a number of services across several departments.

I have absolutely no problem with the Ocean City vote last night. Its their prerogative, Desiderio said Friday. I just thought it was a good fit.

Savastano said the vote would not be the end of the world for Sea Isle.

Well figure it out, he said.

Ocean City has an election this spring, with four of the members of council planning campaigns. Madden and Bergman plan to run for reelection, teamed up with John Tony Polcini and aligned with Gillian. Hartzell is challenging Gillian for mayor this year, while Tomaso Rotondi, the current 2nd Ward council member, is looking at a run for one of the three at-large seats on council. Resident Donna Moore and former Councilman Mike DeVlieger also have picked up petitions to run in the May 10 election.

Echoes of the mayors race in Ocean City Council election OCEAN CITY  With a race for the mayors seat set for the spring, voters also will decide on

At the meeting, which he attended remotely, Rotondi said he was told Donato would not be available to speak to a ward meeting he planned. He questioned how a senior staff member would have time to work with another community if he could not meet with residents.

Two members of the public spoke as well, offering very different perspectives.

I cant imagine not being willing to try shared services, especially in the state of New Jersey, said Shelia Hartranft.

David Breeden, president of the Fairness in Taxes organization, said Sea Isles CFO had given plenty of notice of plans to retire, suggesting the city had time to find another candidate.

It is unfair to place that burden on you tonight, Breeden told council.

Each member of council praised the work Donato does with the city. Those voting against the agreement said he is so good they dont want to share him.

Donato began working with Ocean City in 2000 and has been the citys CFO since 2009. His current salary is $153,000.

Contact Bill Barlow: 609-272-7290 bbarlow@pressofac.com Twitter @jerseynews_bill

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If one is destined to have a cardiac emergency, the best place for it is in a hospital, where so many are trained and supplied to properly respond.

Unfortunately, more than 350,000 such emergencies a year dont occur in that optimal place. In medical jargon theyre called Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests.

Of people suffering these, only 46% get the immediate help that they need before professional help arrives. As a consequence the mortality rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is 90%, according to the American Heart Association.

The likelihood of being among those who get immediate help needed for the best chance of survival depends on the location outside a hospital. 70% of the time its at the persons home or someone elses residence, while 11% occur at nursing homes. Those are places where a susceptibility to heart trouble might be known and some degree of preparation made.

The other 19% of Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests occur in public settings, where getting the immediate help that doubles or triples their chance of survival depends on the reaction of bystanders.

Such was the case just before Christmas for a customer of a Millville Wawa, who collapsed into unconsciousness about 10:30 p.m. in the womens room. When a fellow customer alerted the staff, a high school senior working the deli counter knew what to do and took action.

John Wallop ran to the bathroom and found the women not breathing and turning purple. He instructed his coworker to call 911 for help and immediately began CPR on the woman.

The woman started breathing  but then stopped again and had no pulse. Wallop, 19, of Millville, said she died on me for a couple of minutes, but he kept giving her CPR and she came back to life, breathing again. He got her upright and two women stayed with her until paramedics arrived and took her to the local hospital.

About half of Americans say they know how to perform CPR, but only 11% have the familiarity with its details that comes from current training, according to a new Cleveland Clinic survey. The recommended technique for bystander CPR consists of just chest compressions  and no breaths  on an adult. These compressions should be performed rapidly, 100 to 120 beats per minute.

And while most Americans know to call 911 as the first step in responding to a heart attack, only about one-third know that those suffering one should chew an aspirin right away.

John Wallop took his CPR class during a summer visit with his grandmother in North Carolina. A nurse, she was taking the class as part of her job and he thought it would be a useful skill to learn. His first chance to use it more than confirmed that.

Since then hes gotten much congratulations and praise from people around town, an award from the Millville community organization Positive Vibes and a promise of a proper acknowledgement and thanks from Wawa.

Wallop remains humble about it. Of course he would do what he can for someone on the floor needing help. Wouldnt anybody?

He had gotten the training and was prepared to save a life. And now his story is encouraging others to be prepared to help in this common medical emergency.
Lawyers for former state Rep. Luis Arroyo revealed in a court filing Saturday that three state lawmakers and a congressional candidate testified before a federal grand jury as part of an elaborate FBI probe involving the shady world of sweepstakes gambling machines.

The development in the case emerged Saturday as Arroyo, 67, asked for probation rather than a potential prison term, saying a sentence behind bars could kill him and potentially his ill wife whom he cares for too.

A prison sentence would be no more effective than draining Lake Michigan with a spoon, Arroyos motion for leniency said.

None of the newly identified public officials are charged with crimes or accused of wrongdoing, but the Arroyo motion, filed on Saturday, gave a hint at the length to which federal prosecutors have gone to investigate a far-reaching corruption case.

Arroyo pleaded guilty in November in to a bribery scheme involving a shadowy push for state legislation overseeing sweepstakes gaming machines. He entered a blind plea to one count alleging he deprived the public of his honest services, a move that came without an agreement on his sentence.

In 2019, Arroyo first made headlines when he was charged with one count of bribery alleging he agreed to pay kickbacks of $2,500 a month to a state senator  Lake County Democrat Terry Link, who cooperated with the feds  in exchange for Links support of legislation involving video gambling sweepstakes games. Link has since pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

A superseding indictment in the Arroyo case added new wire and mail fraud charges against him and also charged James Weiss with bribery, wire fraud, mail fraud and lying to the FBI. Weiss, who has pleaded not guilty, is married to former Cook County Democratic Chairman Joe Berrios daughter, former state Rep. Toni Berrios, D-Chicago.

In Arroyos filing on Saturday, he took issue with the amount of money the federal government seeks to have him forfeit, partly because it could impact how tough his sentence could be.

He contended the figure should be no more than $7,500. Prosecutors in his plea hearing said they would seek forfeiture of as much $32,500, setting up the dispute with Arroyo.

Arroyo pleaded to attempting, on behalf of Weiss, to pay Link to help Arroyos own lobbying client advocate for the sweepstakes legislation.

Arroyos motion argued the total amount of money contemplated to be paid was $7,500 and maintained the government provided no back-up to show that any more money was part of the conduct involving Link.

Link has denied he was the senator in the case, but the Tribune had previously identified him. The Arroyo motion also named Link outright.

In his motion, Arroyo said he and his wife, through their lobbying company, Spartacus, entered into an agreement with Weiss company to lobby the Chicago City Council, a move Arroyo called lawful.

But the Arroyo motion said federal officials were left to guess about how much he made in legitimate fees and how much was not, resulting in the officials wanting Arroyo to forfeit too much money.

To drive home his point, Arroyo cited grand jury testimony from Sen. Tony Munoz, D-Chicago, Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island and Nicole Budzinski, a former top aide to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker who is now running for a Downstate congressional seat.

Arroyo noted Rita testified he discussed legislation with him, including about sweepstakes, and advocated sweepstakes legislation in meetings with fellow House members, but Rita did not know Arroyo had a lobbying agreement.

Zalewski also testified that Arroyo, then a colleague, talked on the House floor about the issue in a wishy washy manner, saying that Arroyo said something to the effect of being interested in the issue, according to the motion.

Further, the motion said Munoz testified Arroyo only approached him to arrange a meeting.

Budzinski testified Arroyo was a sweepstakes advocate but that he never obtained a meeting with the governor to discuss his interest in the legislation. She said he could have been seeking a meeting with Pritzker about a lot of different things, the Arroyo motion said.

The motion also cited witnesses testifying before the grand jury or offering statements to back Arroyos position, saying gambling lobbyist Sam Panayotovich testified Arroyo lobbied Chicago alderman, a practice that Arroyo said would be legal.

John Adreani, a fired former cop, also testified Arroyo was to lobby the city and was unaware of Arroyo working at the state level.

The Tribune previously reported that state business records showed Weiss is connected to Adreani, through a complex web of corporations, many of which list the same address in a south suburban strip mall as their headquarters.

Adreani was fired from the Police Department for associating with a major drug trafficker after he was captured on a wiretap discussing gambling and drinking excursions and real estate ventures with him, according to Chicago Police Board records.

Adreani and his company, V.S.S. Inc.  identified in the federal charges as Company B  inked a deal in 2018 to pay Arroyo $2,500 a month to lobby City Hall on proposed legislation allowing sweepstakes machines to operate in the city, lobbying records filed with the city Board of Ethics show.

V.S.S. paid Arroyo at least $30,000, records showed.

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CHICAGO RIDGE  A Chicago Ridge librarian's moment in the spotlight faded Thursday, losing on "Jeopardy" a day after he unseated long-standing champion Amy Schneider.

Rhone Talsma, a multimedia librarian, came in 3rd place, winning $1,000 in the show aired Thursday, with Carrie Cadwallader, a business intelligence manager from Aurora, Colorado, emerging as the new champion, according to the show.

Talsma, who lives in Chicago's McKinley Park neighborhood, had ended Schneider's historic 40-game winning streak Wednesday, earning $29,600 to Schneider's second-place tally of $19,600.

Heading into Final Jeopardy, Schneider led with a score of $27,600, while Talsma had $17,600. The clue was "the only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an H, it's also one of the 10 most populous." The correct response: "What is Bangladesh?"

Only record holder Ken Jennings, who now hosts the show, has had more consecutive wins than Schneider, with his 74 wins in 2004. Her total winnings are $1,382,800, and she will return for the Tournament of Champions this fall.

Thursday's show opened with Jennings showing a montage of Talsma's facial expressions from the moment he realized he had become the champion.

Talsma credited his work as a reference librarian with his success.

"Sitting at the desk for eight hours a day, I'm almost guaranteed to learn something new thanks to a question from one of our patrons," Talsma told the Tribune Wednesday. "Librarians have a reputation for being strong 'Jeopardy!' contestants because we are generalists by nature, and while I don't have deep expertise in many areas, I do know a little bit about a lot of subjects, which lends itself well to the format and clues featured on 'Jeopardy!'"

The Chicago Ridge Library held a watch party for Wednesday's show.

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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.
Abandoned properties can do a lot of damage to a neighborhood.

As houses and other buildings fall into disrepair, and as weeds grow on an empty lot, neighbors cant help but be demoralized. It can also lead to falling property values.

In the Quad-Cities, we have our share of these blighted properties. But in Rock Island County, a handful of governments may be on the cusp of forming a cooperative effort to combat it.

About a week ago, the East Moline City Council approved a measure to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to form the Quad-Cities Land Bank Authority. Moline and Rock Island are expected to take up the the proposal soon.

Moline has been working on the idea for a couple years, and it now appears the effort is about the get off the ground.

In essence, a land bank seeks to acquire abandoned properties and return them to productive use. The private market has largely turned up its nose at these properties, and they'll wrack up unpaid taxes and other encumbrances, making them even harder to rehabilitate.

A land bank  which is often formed by local governments but can also take the form of a non-profit  is able to acquire targeted properties, clear them of back taxes and other public liens, and hold them until the best opportunity for them can be found.

According to a feasibility study conducted for the City of Moline, there are more than 5,000 vacant housing units in Rock Island County, with more than 60% in Moline and Rock Island. The study said vacancies were between 7% and 9.6% of the number of overall units, depending on the city.

The goal right now is for the land bank to acquire between 41 and 57 properties annually over the first three years, according information from the City of Moline.

Land banks have been around for decades, but weve been told their numbers have especially grown over the past 10-15 years. There are only a handful in Illinois.

Were encouraged that these local governments are working cooperatively to tackle this problem, and were eager to see this approach move forward.

There was some reluctance in East Moline (the vote in favor was 4-3 and one alderman expressed an interest in East Moline going it alone.) But, frankly, we think a larger, more cooperative effort has a better chance of being successful. We have seen on a number of fronts in this community that when local governments work together, there are better results. Just look at the new I-74 bridge.

As weve sought information about land banks, weve been told that it is important to have a clear understanding of the land banks mission; that there be continued engagement with the neighborhoods where these land banks are operating; and that there is an understanding that these initiatives are only a part of overall revitalization efforts. It's also important that there is a long-term commitment to continuing this work.

Theres a reason the private market has walked away from many of these properties. That means there must be an enduring commitment to properly fund and manage these efforts.

It will also be important that the partners in the land bank all feel like theyre getting something out of the deal. Political considerations can sometimes be a challenge, but we in the Quad-Cities know that our bi-state region has become accustomed to working together. Sometimes there have been setbacks, but we believe there have been far more successes than failures.

We hope the Quad-Cities Land Bank Authority will begin to make a dent on some of these abandoned properties that have held back many of our neighborhoods.

Last week, we pointed to a promising effort in Rock Island to try to revitalize the West End of the city, itself an effort that will require a long-term commitment; itself an initiative that will require working with neighbors and other stakeholders. We see this effort in somewhat the same light.

We believe these efforts are worth the time and investment. For too long, many of our neighborhoods have suffered from lack of adequate investment.

We said last week that being overly optimistic doesnt change a community. But creating new and effective tools, establishing a clear vision, working together and committing to long-term improvement are what can make a difference.

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RURAL AMERICA - They offered an extraordinarily splendid sight, three snow geese flying low over my car as I traveled to a nearby town to attend a funeral. Theirs is a whiteness like I have never seen, the late-morning sun shimmering off the wings and underbellies. To see them was to be uplifted, carried away on a winter airstream, maybe a temperate thermal, to where all things are good, where all things include love.

So, while I was thrilled to see these birds, I was once again concerned because they should be farther south than here. I dont know if its climate change, but something is wreaking havoc with the diurnal clocks of our wildlife.

I mentioned a funeral. Last week I was in attendance at two funerals, one Lutheran and one Catholic, and they couldnt have been more different. One was centered on the deceased while the other was more concerned with Jesus and God. It was fascinating to observe, and it caused me to ponder the ways in which we describe people.

The first funeral was on a sun-lit frigid morning, where I joined dozens of others in a comfortable, old-fashioned church. We listened to a minister offer up a biography of the person lying in a casket at the front. This is fairly typical and always reminds me, annoyingly, of a Power Point presentation, wherein you can simply look down at the "order of service" handed out at the door and follow along with the minister.

As the minister worked his way through his reading, somewhere in the depths of the building, or in someones pocket, a phone rang, with the old ringtone, like maybe it was a Princess phone. It was clear no one was picking up, so I hoped it wasnt God calling, but I suppose by now hes used to being ignored.

The minister did a nice job, but there is a sameness to obituaries and funeral biographies. Its a style that has not changed in decades and doesnt really do justice to the loved, sentient human who is no longer with us, except in sweet memory.

Here's one I see and hear often: The deceased was a Hawkeye fan. Uh, OK. We can do better. How about he loved nothing more than parking in downtown Iowa City on game day so that he could make the long, slow walk past the stately Old Capitol, crossing the river as the crowds on the sidewalk got larger and larger. And he enjoyed the fully delicious smell of grilled beef and pork coming from the parking lot by the stadium, and the slight aroma of autumn leaves, newly scattered on the sidewalk and later, in his seat in the stadium, he was content, all alone with 60,000 of his best friends and, for a few hours, demons were no longer at his door. Heaven.

Another common mention in funeral service biographies, for women in particular: The deceased was a great cook. What does that mean? Feeding others is a spiritual undertaking, a way to fully connect with others. How about we find out that when she was cooking, the agreeable aroma of the heated food as it wafted throughout the house, offering up warmth, comfort, and goodwill, and when loving family members inhaled the smells of her fine cooking it caused them to think of those who had gone before, some many years ago, parents, grandparents, and maybe somewhere in there was a sprinkling of Christmas. Her cooking was about love.

Thats what I want to hear.

Kurt Ullrich lives in rural Jackson County. His book "The Iowa State Fair" is available from the University of Iowa Press.

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Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, at the age of 83 and after three decades of demonstrating his brilliance and knowledge, is retiring. Past comments tell us what he wants as a replacement: someone of high legal skill to serve not as a politician seeking popularity or ideological objectives but as an upholder of the rule of law.

President Joe Biden apparently thinks differently. His standards are that the next justice should be Black and a woman.

Thats what he automatically said when asked about the Breyer retirement, and it is a reflection of what so much of our government and so many progressive politicians have become. They are players of identity politics, trying to serve one group or the other at the expense of other groups while study of the attributes of individuals as individuals comes in second, a plague afflicting Black Americans for ages.

The social justice crowd now thinks skin color can be more important than merit in finding people to play specific roles that can have mighty consequences for others. This mindlessness looks down on the selected group by assuming its members cannot otherwise advance and cheats the unselected groups that may include people who attained exceptional capabilities through exceptional effort. There are far better ways to confront racial prejudice than smashing the principle of fair play.

In short, Biden should be looking for the person most able to serve with wisdom in the hugely important position of Supreme Court justice, whatever race or sex that person may be. While there is no absolutely definitive, certain way to go about it, there are a host of techniques proven worthy over time, such as finding someone with lots of experience and success in a given field and widely appreciated by keen, informed observers.

None of this is meant to say that there is no Black woman out there who would be an outstanding Supreme Court justice. In fact, I have been highly impressed in reading about some of those Biden is said to be considering. If he nominated a Black woman as the best possible Breyer replacement without first limiting other possibilities, well, hip, hip, hurrah.

Especially given the fact that justices favored by their own party are a minority on the court, Democrats have wanted Breyers resignation as soon as possible. We will have a midterm election in November and theres a reasonable chance that Republicans will become the Senate majority and refuse to go along with any progressive nomination. A big issue is Roe v. Wade, whether the Supreme Court should determine abortion rules or turn the job over to the states. Democrats tried to stop President Donald Trumps nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett for fear her religious beliefs would cause her to favor the change. She correctly says the issue is what the Constitution and arguments say.

Keep in mind that Democrats have rejected the wants of Republican presidents and vice versa. Specifically, keep in mind how a Democratic Senate wouldnt OK President Ronald Reagans nomination of the brilliant Robert Bork who later wrote that Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, relied on a brief that was world class in the category of scurrility.

Biden was also chairman of the committee when Justice Clarence Thomas was a court nominee of a Republican president and there was questionable, downright demonizing, sexual-harassment testimony by Anita Hill with the TV-watching public not being convinced by what she said. It is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks, Thomas commented. Biden voted against this judicial master who nevertheless was approved.

Although Thomas had an exceptional academic record and did especially well at Yale Law School, the school said it accepted him because of skin color, otherwise known as affirmative action. Thomas wrote that it was futile for me to suppose that I could escape the stigmatizing effects of racial preference, and I began to fear that it would be used forever after to discount my achievements.

Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may email him at speaktojay@aol.com. 2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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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.

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.

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. (In 1950, Langer had given a speech on the Senate floor lamenting that no major executive branch appointment had ever gone to a North Dakotan.) Yet few at the time few seemed to find it peculiar.

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.

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 America's Most Powerful Mobster. 2022 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Allen Boore, a two-time NFR qualifier, suffered an injury in August and is slowly working his way back to NFR quality form. His few earlier efforts havent been particularly productive and Boore came to Rapid City, and Rodeo Rapid Citys Xtreme Bronc event, hoping to better work the process, possibly cash a check and perhaps build some early season momentum.

Boore accomplished that mission on Saturday night in spectacular fashion as the 30-year-old Axtell, Utah man spurred his way to an 89-point ride aboard Burch Rodeos Lunatic From Hell to claim top money at Summit Arena.

I broke my shoulder in August and Ive just been home healing up for the most part and just starting back, Boore said. And this is the first success Ive had so far, so Im hoping I can build off of this and have a great year.

Boore credited a great draw for the big effort as Lunatic From Hell was true to form, coming out strong and showy throughout the eight-second ride.

When I saw the draw last Tuesday, I was really pumped to see Lunatic From Hell from Burchs. Hes an awesome horse and anybody can win on him, Boore said. This will be my fourth time riding him and every time hes treating me good and Ive been able to win something on him. Hes a horse that you not only ride good, but hes fun to ride and that makes you want to get on him.

Boores winning ride highlighted the second performance of the 45th annual Rodeo Rapid City. The performance followed a historic opening night at The Monument on Friday night as Rodeo Rapid Citys Xtreme Bulls introduced the first ever rodeo action to Summit Arena.

And it came against a talented field that included 11 NFR bronc riders, including two-time world champion Zeke Thurston (82).

Boores winning ride overcame an excellent effort by Rapid Citys Jade Blackwell, who held the lead for most of the night after lifting and charging to an 87-point ride on Sutton Rodeos Gangster in an earlier section in a ride that looked treacherous out of the chute but settled down late.

The first half of that he was all over and I had to work my butt off to stay in the saddle there, Blackwell said. I knew he was going to buck and I knew he was going to buck hard and it worked out, and Im grateful for the opportunity. You cant ask for a better horse. At an event this big you need a horse thats going to step out there and do it.

Blackwell shared second money with Ross Griffin (Tularosa, NM). Another New Mexico cowboy, Leon Fountain, earned fourth place money (85) while five-time NFR bronc rider, Brody Cress (84) finished fifth.

In addition to Blackwells second-place finish, a trio of fellow South Dakota bronc riders cashed as well. Brady Hill (Onida) finished six (83), while Lane Stirling (Buffalo) and Cole Elshere (Faith) shared eight-place money with 82.5 rides. Eagle Buttes Shorty Garrett just missed out on a trip to the pay window with an 82-point effort.

Rodeo Rapid City rodeo action continues at 1 p.m. Sunday with the 20X High School Showcase featuring the cream of the crop of South Dakota high school rodeo athletes.

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Title: central Virginia marketplace leader for consulting, tax and advisory services firm Deloitte. She is the first female leader for the firms central Virginia market, which includes about 300 professionals in Richmond and Hampton Roads.

Born: 1976 in Elmira, N.Y.

Education: bachelor of science in industrial and labor relations, Cornell University, 1994-98; master of arts in organizational psychology, Columbia University, 2001-02

Career: Deloitte since 1998

Where in the metro area do you live?: Near West End

Best business decision: Moving to Richmond 18 years ago. My husband and I relocated here for our careers in 2004, uncertain how long we would stay and without any support system. Over the years, weve been fortunate to successfully establish ourselves in the local business community and have grown deep roots in central Virginia. We are enamored by all the culture, history and natural beauty this area has to offer.

Mistake you learned the most from: Over the years, Ive learned that prioritizing relationships and creating genuine, authentic connections with others is paramount. Everything else will get figured out if we remember that we are all human beings and treat each other as such.

What is the biggest challenge/opportunity in the next two to five years: Working from home together has caused us to be much more transparent in our professional relationships  we see each others homes during video meetings, we hear our colleagues children and family conversations in the background during conference calls, and we communicate much more openly about our health and wellness. All of this transparency has reminded us that we are not just employees and co-workers, we are human beings. After almost two years of living with this transparency, I think we have a real opportunity to build upon this experience to reimagine how we re-engage with each other on all levels  from individuals to organizations to cultures. We have a chance to continue to interact at a more authentic, human level and build deeper and impactful connections with each other that extend beyond the workplace.

First job after college: joined Deloitte Consulting LLP in Parsippany, N.J., as a business analyst.

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently: Ive been very fortunate to have had a career with Deloitte where Ive had the freedom to choose my own adventure with the organization and pursue some nontraditional paths. That said, I would have encouraged my younger self to take even bigger risks and make even bolder moves earlier in my career to see where those paths would have taken me.

Movie or book that inspired you the most, and why?: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck is a classic for me. Her central concept that our mindset holds the key to our success is something I consider every day.
Risty Vlavianos cant bring herself to believe its really going to happen.

The Cavalier Diner, her second home and second love after her husband Sal, is slated to close on Jan. 30 after more than a decade serving up classic diner fare from pancake-wrapped breakfast links and Greek omelets to gyros and cheeseburgers.

Whats putting her out of business is not the ongoing shortage of restaurant staff, although thats been a problem. Its not the loss of income during a forced pandemic closure or socially distanced tables once it reopened.

The building has been sold and the new owner doesnt want a restaurant in here, she said, sitting at a table in the Emmet Street diner with some patrons who consider themselves friends. Its hard to believe. We made it through a recession, a pandemic, a staff shortage and a supply shortage and even a car driving into the building, only to have this happen.

Vlavianos and Sal have been looking for a new location for the diner, but the piping hot real estate market in Charlottesville and Albemarle County makes finding a spot for a traditional American diner difficult.

There are a lot of restaurants that have gone out business in the past couple of years, but finding a site thats suitable for a diner isnt that easy. You dont want it too big. You need parking space, she said.

You dont want a high-end establishment, and you want it in a convenient location. And you need the rents to be affordable, she said. Rents in this area are so high. It makes it difficult for a local restaurant to survive. There are so many chains coming in now and theyre the only ones who can afford it.

The Vlavianos family has been cooking up meals for people in Charlottesville for five decades. Her parents, Nick and Margarita, arrived in Charlottesville in 1971 from Connecticut after emigrating from Greece.

They opened the Expresso restaurant on West Main, then Expresso Steak and Lobster House. They also operated the eclectic Emmet Street eatery known as the Italian Villa Pancake House before retiring and leaving the restaurant business to their daughter.

I learned everything from them. I grew up in the business and was always in the restaurant. When I wasnt in school, I was in the restaurant. I always loved it, Risty Vlavianos recalled. They tried to push us kids away from the restaurant business because its hard work, its seven days a week and its 16 hours a day, but I loved it.

Vlavianos sister followed her parents advice. For a short time, so did she. She went to James Madison University and earned a masters degree in history. She taught in high school for several years before the restaurant business called her home.

After working with her parents at the Italian Villa Pancake House, she left when they did and took over the former Hoos Kitchen/Sams Kitchen at the corner of Emmet and Earhart, across the road from Bodos Bagels.

The restaurant has always been a homey spot, from the comfort food served to easy-going wait staff. Once the diner reopened after the pandemic, social distancing was enforced by stuffed animals sitting in the seats where humans were not allowed, a touch of humor in an otherwise humorless time.

Thats in keeping with Vlavianos way of doing business. The Cavalier Diner has been not only a way for her family to make a living, but a way to make friends.

Its the people. You meet so many interesting people from so many walks of life and every day is a different day. I met some people from Alaska the other day who were joking about our snow. We meet a lot of people who are in town because of the University of Virginia Medical Center, she said. You get to know them. A lot of people will come in on a regular basis and you get to be an extended family and thats what the restaurant means to me.

For some regulars, regular visitation means nearly every day.

Seven days a week, said Melva Farish, sitting at a table with Vlavianos and customer Ralph Davidson, joking with waitress Melinda Wood as she proved how bottomless her coffee cup, brought in from home and kept behind the diners bar, can be.

My grandkids grew up in here. Every morning Id pick them up to keep them for the day, load them up in the car and come over, Farish laughs. Weve met so many good people here and we have a great time together.

Farish said the diner is much like the old television series Cheers, but without the bar and with better food.

Its just a great hangout place. I have my own coffee cup here and I come in for the food, coffee and company, she said.

What shell do when the diner closes after Jan. 30, Farish isnt sure.

I guess Ill just plan on staying home until Risty finds another place, she said. If she does, then Ill go there.

For Vlavianos, the harsh reality of the sale and the rental market makes it hard to believe shell be able to reopen the restaurant. Still, she hasnt completely given up.

Its something thats out of my hands, but I would really like to stay here. I love the diner and the people. Theyre not just customers, theyre friends. I keep hoping something will turn up, that well find another place. This is what Ive always wanted to do and Id hope to keep working here until I retired, she said.

If we close, it will be the first time in 51 years there hasnt been a restaurant run by the Vlavianos family, she said. Theres a part of me that cant believe were really going to close.
The Montgomery County-Radford City-Floyd County Branch #7092 of the NAACP hosted the areas Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on Jan. 16 online. Nearly 100 computers were logged on to the event.

The celebration opened with greetings from branch President Deborah Travis and an invocation by Rev. Kathy Carpenter. Then came the singing of Lift Every Voice and Sing, led by Alan Johnson and Denise Smith. Greetings were brought from the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP by President Robert N. Barnette Jr., who emphasized the importance of protecting voting rights and voting options in the state.

The Youth Council honored Dr. King with a summary of his life by Youth Council Vice President Melvin Palmer. Then Youth Council President Tyler Graves delivered the poem There is a street named after Martin Luther King, Jr. in every city, by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib.

The annual MRF NAACP Branch Community Service Awards in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. went to Rev. Jessie Eaves, of Blacksburg, and to Rev. Michael Sanborn, of Elliston.

Rev. Eaves is an Associate Pastor and worship leader of the Greater Mount Zion United Holy Church in Christiansburg, and a retired fiscal technician. She worked at Virginia Tech for 28 years and received the 2015 Staff Career Achievement Award. Having grown up in Wake Forest, she has helped to preserve the history of that African-American community, as well as its nearby cemetery. This has led her to volunteer with the Saint Lukes Odd Fellows Hall and the Blacksburg Museum and Cultural Foundation. Rev. Eaves currently serves as Vice President of the Christiansburg Institute Alumni Association. She also serves as a Board Member of the Blacksburg Police Department Citizens Advisory Board and member of the Dialogue on Race Law Enforcement Committee. Rev. Eaves has been a member of the local branch of the NAACP for over 20 years. Jessie and her husband Butch are parents of two daughters, one of whom is deceased, and have four grandchildren.

Rev. Sanborn is a retired United Methodist minister who served several congregations, including Park UMC in Christiansburg. Knowing the importance and power of the vote, Sanborn has volunteered as an election official for several years at the Elliston, VA, precinct. He has been a member of the Dialogue on Race Law Enforcement committee for several years and provides input and leadership to help resolve racial inequities in our area. Sanborn is a Silver Life member of the NAACP, and serves as an Executive Committee member and chairs the Religious Affairs Committee. In this latter role he works to bring faith communities together for conversation and dialogue to help resolve social justice and civil rights issues. Before his calling as a pastor, Sanborn was a chief engineer in the Merchant Marines. Mike and his wife Lois have two sons and seven grandchildren.

The Samuel H. Clark Memorial Scholarship Fund offers up to five scholarships of $1,000 apiece to youths who extend their education beyond high school at a college or technical school. Branch Treasurer Dr. Jill Stewart reported that this year a scholarship was awarded to Jera Miah Lewis, who graduated from Christiansburg High School and now attends Radford University, where she is studying to be a nurse. To be eligible, youths must be a member of the Youth Council, or be a child or grandchild of a branch member and live in this area. Dozens of local youths have been supported in this way through the decades.

(To make a donation to the scholarship fund, write a check to M-R-F NAACP and mark it for Scholarship Fund in the memo line. Then mail your donation to: M-R-F NAACP, PO Box 6044, Christiansburg, VA 24068.)

Karen Eley Sanders introduced the keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. Tommy McDearis, who has pastored Blacksburg Baptist Church since 1997. Rev. McDearis recounted memories of growing up in a small town in the South, where schools were only integrated when he entered 4th grade. His experience was that the difficulties of integration came from the adults and not from the children. When he questioned the awkward and unfair arrangements of segregation, he found the adults unwilling to answer his questions. He remembered Dr. King being called evil and a troublemaker, and when King was assassinated, he remembers that some white adults openly celebrated. He was unable to reconcile the attitudes and behavior of church members with the Jesus that he and they worshipped. Rev. McDearis observed that while the prejudices of today are more subtle and less vehement, they are just as real. Just as voting rights were an important issue in the 1960s, they are an important issue now. While we look back to celebrate the work of Dr. King more than 50 years ago, we also need to look forward to the changes we know still need to happen to embody his dream. Rev. McDearis closed by quoting a number of lines from King, including: Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. The speaker then encouraged listeners to join in carrying on the legacy of Dr. King.

Judy Barylske, co-chair of the branchs Education Committee, announced a new initiative during Black History Month in February. The committee will conduct a book drive to spread awareness of local African-American history. This will follow on the very successful book drive last year to promote family reading and early childhood literacy through local schools. Details will be forthcoming.

Branch President Deborah H. Travis thanked the guest speaker, all of the program participants, and Karen Jones for the technological arrangements that made the on-line celebration possible. President Travis urged those gathered to follow Kings example and continue the work of advocating for justice for all.

The General Body meetings of the local NAACP are on the fourth Sunday of each month. Email info@mrfnaacp.org for a link to our virtual meetings. All are welcome! You can learn more about the Montgomery County-Radford City-Floyd County NAACP Branch #7092 at mrfnaacp.org or https://www.facebook.com/mrfnaacp.org.

- Submitted by James Klagge
RICHMOND  Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears promised her presence in Southwest Virginia during a meeting of rural lawmakers late Thursday, and two of Gov. Glenn Youngkins cabinet nominees discussed plans for health and education outreach.

One of the things I kept hearing during the campaign, especially in the Southwest, is, nobody cares about us, Earle-Sears said. Everybody says that theyre going to come out and visit and do this and do that, and then we never see them again for four years.

She spoke to a gathering of the Virginia Rural Caucus, comprised of state senators and delegates from across the commonwealth who represent agrarian areas. She said:

Im always thinking you need to be among the people to hear what they want, what solutions they might bring, what are the problems.

A duty of the lieutenant governor is sitting on the board of the Center for Rural Virginia, a state-initiated nonprofit that works to advance prosperity in Virginias pastoral places.

I promise, Im going to be in the Southwest a lot, Earle-Sears said. How do you know what to advance if youre never there?

She said broadband access was an issue in Southwest Virginia when she was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2001, and it remained an issue while she campaigned in 2021.

No wonder theyre feeling left out, Earle-Sears said. So, just see what I can do. Mostly listening, and then coming back and trying to find solutions.

She listed housing affordability and Interstate 81 corridor concerns as other issues she heard in rural places along the campaign trail.

Also appearing before the caucus of rural lawmakers on Thursday were two of Youngkins cabinet nominees: Aimee Guidera, selected to become secretary of education, and John Littel, appointed to become secretary of health and human resources.

We are spending a huge amount of our time on COVID issues, Littel said. The governor asked for us to focus on really trying to get to the population that is not vaccinated, and many of them live in rural communities.

He said the governor is planning events to push for more vaccinations among the 1.6 million people in Virginia who are not yet vaccinated.

Some of them are vaccine resistant and are never going to do it, Littel said. Some are just vaccine hesitant.

Littel also said priorities of the administration are to improve mental health care across the state, strengthen a sparse health care work force and examine how to improve overall health outcomes in Virginia.

On education, Guidera said the Youngkin administration is committed to ensuring excellence for every child in every community, including in rural areas.

Im hearing a lot about that, that theres a lot of folks being left behind in the rural areas, Guidera said. My commitment is we are going to be coming to the rural areas, well be listening, and were going to be doing everything possible to make sure that communities and families in rural parts of Virginia are served, and served well.

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RICHMOND  Some lawmakers want a thorough study of a part of state government that operates outside public view  the commission that investigates complaints of misconduct against judges.

Del. Patrick Hope, D-Arlington, and Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, are sponsoring legislation that would prompt an examination of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, which is known by its acronym JIRC.

I want to shine a spotlight on JIRC to ensure it is functioning as intended, Hope said in a statement. I would venture to say most Virginians are largely unaware of this important Commission and the very crucial function it serves to help the judiciary. This study will help determine whether the JIRC is providing the necessary accountability and oversight and whether we can make improvements to this important body.

The study would be done by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which conducts oversight of state agencies at the request of the Virginia General Assembly.

What is JIRC?

The General Assembly approves the commissions seven members, who investigate allegations of judicial misconduct or serious mental or physical disability among judges. Members consist of three judges, two lawyers, and two citizens who are not lawyers.

The current members of JIRC are: Northumberland Juvenile Court Judge Shannon O. Hoehl; Gloucester General District Court Judge Stephanie E. Merritt; Portsmouth Circuit Court Judge Kenneth R. Melvin; attorney Humes J. Franklin III; attorney Kyung Kathryn Dickerson; and citizen members Terrie N. Thompson and Cozy Bailey.

JIRCs general counsel is Ray Morrogh, a former commonwealths attorney in Fairfax County who lost a bid for reelection in a June 2019 Democratic primary.

Anyone can make a complaint in writing about a judge to the commission.

Everything about the complaint remains confidential unless JIRC finds the complaint to be serious enough to be filed at the Supreme Court of Virginia, which is rare.

The Court may dismiss the complaint or it may retire, censure or remove the judge, according to JIRCs website.

JIRC dismisses most complaints

The commissions most recent annual report, from November, says JIRC received 395 complaints in the prior 12 months.

Most of those complaints were made by the public, but 16 came from lawyers, four came from judges and two came from court employees.

Of the 395 complaints, 371 were dismissed. The commission found that many of them didnt fall within the commissions jurisdiction or state a violation of the Canons of Judicial Conductthe rules of ethical conduct for Virginias judges.

JIRC found that in five cases, a judge breached the canons, but dismissed the complaint, the report said. One case remained active when the report was filed.

Lawmakers want more information

Boysko, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said shes heard questions about how judges are held accountable for misconduct. Other than impeachment, which is extremely rare, JIRC is the only source of judicial accountability, she said.

As a lawmaker, she said she doesnt have a good understanding of how JIRC operates.

Somebody used the word black hole, she said. I know that people make JIRC complaints and file them, and then nothing is ever revealed about anything.

She said she understands protecting the integrity of a judge, but theres not enough public feedback about what happens in the cases.

The study  which if approved would be done in 2023  would include examining the procedures and people responsible for reviewing complaints, the process for whether to hold hearings, the qualifications of the commission members to ensure proper judicial oversight, and would recommend ways to improve and increase transparency.

The Senate Rules Committee on Friday morning advanced Boyskos proposal without any opposition. The commission had no comment for this story.
Domineering Republican men in the legislature who are making decisions about womens bodies must be just plain arrogant. If they harbor any notion they are helping poor and young women in South Carolina by curbing abortions, theyre smoking the weed that the state Senate has been talking about this week.

If our state legislators keep pushing soulless abortion bills to score political points with their voting base, theyre sentencing too many young women to pain, suffering and horror. Why? Because legislating against abortions wont make them go away. Theyll just cockroach them into the shadows.

Before proceeding any further, heres the email address for your hate mail: feedback@statehousereport.com.

Back to it: Men of the legislature should get out of the way and let South Carolinas women use their own brains to figure out whats best for their bodies. Those who want to give birth will and may consider adoption. Those who need to abort for their own health and safety or if they know they cant offer a nurturing home to a child should be able to take advantage of options offered by modern medicine and science.

On Wednesday, three male Republican state senators on the Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee  Richard Cash of Anderson, Tom Corbin of Travelers Rest and Billy Garrett of Greenwood  gave subcommittee approval to two abortion bills with harrowing consequences. Democrats Margie Bright Matthews of Walterboro and Marlon Kimpson of Charleston voted against the measures.

One bill, S. 988, would define the beginning of life at fertilization and, according to the Associated Press, hold that any doctor who performs an abortion after that point could face similar charges to murder. The measure, sponsored by Cash, is considered an abortion ban, but would allow birth control and contraception as well as abortions if a mothers life were in danger or an egg was fertilized outside the womb. If approved, this trigger law would take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court, which is taking a serious look at the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, were to turn abortion rights over to states.

Another proposal, S. 907, calls for doctors to give a written statement that drug-induced abortions could be reversed after one dose of a two-dose drug, which opponents say is medically inaccurate and unproven.

Last year, the General Assembly passed a law banning most abortions by requiring ultrasounds for a fetal heartbeat and, if detected, bans abortion except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mothers life. That measure now is on hold pending a constitutional review by a federal court.

Such early movement in this years session of anti-abortion legislation is frightening, particularly given the consequences.

It is scary how extreme our legislators have gotten in their efforts to deny people access to abortion care in South Carolina, said Ann Warner, CEO of the Womens Rights and Empowerment Network in Columbia. Its alarming that the Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee chose to even take these bills up, let alone pass them.

I am appalled that so many legislators are willing to ignore science, common sense and public will in an effort to advance a radical agenda.

Vicki Ringer, director of public affairs of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said under the trigger proposal, any doctor who provided an abortion for somone trying to end a pregnancy could be charged with murder and face the death penalty if the law goes into effect.

This is no longer a hypothetical threat, she said. The legal right to have an abortion is being dismantled right now, before our eyes.  Without the courts to shield us from the most egregious laws  as they did last year with the states six-week abortion ban  our fight is no longer only a political one confined to the halls of the Statehouse. We are fighting for our lives.

No matter your personal views on abortion, we should all agree that politicians shouldnt criminalize our private medical decisions or the doctors providing this care. Each person should be able to get quality, affordable health care, no matter who they are, where they live or how much money is in their bank account  without interference from politicians.

Damn right.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
MARION, S.C.  Marion County Council is set to give final reading of its new district maps after Thursday nights meeting. Council voted to approve second reading of the ordinance following a public hearing. Another public hearing is set for next meeting on Tuesday morning Feb. 8 at 9 a.m.

Time is a bit of a concern for county officials as the new maps are to be on Gov. Henry McMasters desk by May 10 to avoid further delay that would complicate the Marion County Board of Education election on that date. The previous election date was moved from April 12.

According to Sen. Kent Williams redistricting is a process that governments use to draw political district boundaries, which affects local, state, and national elections. The districts are redrawn every 10 years after the U.S. Census is taken to meet the requirements of federal law.

According to census data the population declined from 32,062 in 2010 to 29,183 in 2020.

Marion County Administrator Tim Harper said the map can now be viewed on the countys website and includes four 57 percent majority-minority districts and another 55 percent majority-minority out of the seven county districts.

Marion County Attorney Chuck McLain III added the 2.3 population deviation is well under the 5 percent threshold recommended by the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.

I think we got a good map, District 1 County Councilman John Q. Atkinson said.

To view the Marion county redistricting maps visit https://www.marionsc.org/government/county_council/proposed_county_council_redistricting_map.php

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Kueh Lapis By Mom

Kueh Lapis, sometimes spelt as Kuih Lapis or Kue Lapis, is an iconic dessert thats buttery, sweet and wonderfully fun to eat  the key is to peel back each of the layers clean without breakage.

Yet, did you know that the multi-layered cakes roots can be traced all the way back to the baumkuchen? When the Dutch arrived in Indonesia in the 15th century, they brought with them their version of the German ring-shaped layered cake thats typically crafted with a simple batter of butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and flour. Many years later, the kueh lapis was born, this time with each batter browning on a rectangular/square pan before a new layer of batter is poured over.

While the baumkuchen still has its fair share of fans, we reckon the kueh lapis something wed almost always prefer, perhaps because of the slight richer texture and the addition of spices like cinnamon, clove, mace and star anise in the batter that add another dimension to the dessert.

The sinful snack finds itself on our tables most frequently during Chinese New Year, but we say the calories of the best kueh lapis in Singapore are worth having all year round.

Here, where to get the best kueh lapis in Singapore:

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(Hero and featured image credit: Kueh Lapis by Mom)

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Diana Layer Cakes

It might be a little late to order Diana Layer Cakes for Chinese New Year, but you can bet well be ordering more of these well after this intense festive season. The Batam-based bakery churns out incredibly fluffy kueh lapis with a wonderful buttery aroma, and they are (thankfully) not too sweet as well. The bakery ships a limited amount of their freshly-made kueh lapis to Singapore on Saturday every other week. Order the original, prune, or mixed flavour via the Diana Layer Cakes Facebook page below.

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Get it here

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Ollella

Ollellas box of kueh lapis is the perfect gift for a loved one; after all, who can say no to a mouthwatering cake in such a photogenic box? Our go-to order is the Prune Rum Lapis, an elevated flavour thats courtesy of the sweet rum thats been gently misted on each layer. This year, Ollella has also come up with a brand new, limited edition Triple Huat Lapis, a sweet and savoury combination of salted egg yolk, chicken floss, and chicken bak kwa that you wont want to miss.

Address

454 Race Course Rd, Singapore 218697

Website

Website here

Get it here

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Kedai Kue Kue

Sure, Kedai Kue Kues kueh lapis only comes in a simple, crisp white paper box, but you wont regret giving this treat a go. Inside, the moist, dense cake is surprisingly rich, crowned only by a perfume of aromatics that balances out the buttery taste perfectly. Get the original Lapis Legit if youre one for tradition, but the Lapis Pandan is one of our favourites too.

Address

#B1-K107, 1 Kim Seng Promenade, Singapore 237994

Website

Website here

Get it here

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IndoChili

The traditional kueh lapis usually finds itself unembellished, so for something a little different we like the pleasant crunch from the almond slivers on one from IndoChili. That, coupled with a generous cinnamon-laden fragrance, is what makes this version one we often go back to time and time again.

Address

54 Zion Rd, Singapore 247779

Website

Website here

Get it here

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Kueh Lapis By Mom

Kueh Lapis By Mom is an under-the-radar joint thats been serving kueh lapis since 1977 to fans around the island with their timeless recipes, each one more addictive than the next. Here, the online shops bestseller has to be the spiced Signature Mini Lapis Batavia, while others like Mini Lapis Nutella and the Mini Lapis Biscoff see a delicious, modern spin on treat thats great for guests of all ages.

Website

Website here

Get it here

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Bengawan Solo

While the Pandan Chiffon Cake at Bengawan Solo is one the establishments most popular items for both locals and tourists alike, you shouldnt be sleeping on their Kueh Lapis either. Freshly baked with a comforting aroma from its blend of spices, the version here at Bengawan Solo is pillowy soft and addictive. This is one of the best options on the list if youre looking for a last minute gift when visiting relatives, since they have a whopping 38 retail outlets across the island.

Website

Website here

Get it here

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The Lapis Place

Now, we love our value-added calories from scoffing down kueh lapis just as much as the next person, but if youre on a diet and you want to cheat a little without feeling too much guilt, then head straight to The Lapis Place. The kueh lapis here uses less butter and sugar in its batter, perfect for those who are counting their calories. Want to really lean into the holiday spirit? Get the Mandarin Orange Kueh Lapis for citrusy touch.

Website

Website here

Get it here

The post 7 places for the best kueh lapis in Singapore appeared first on Lifestyle Asia Singapore.
SIOUX CITY -- From its founding in 1884 through the beginning of 2022, Security National Bank has had just 13 presidents oversee it which is 12 fewer than the United States has had over the same timespan. This week, the Sioux City-based financial institution named its 14th president.

The banks board of directors ratified the selection of Jeremy Craighead, a graduate from the University of Northern Iowa, to succeed D. Douglas Rice at its regularly scheduled January meeting. Rice, who has served as president of the Sioux City-based financial institution since 2011, will stay on as the banks board chairman and CEO.

Per a press release from SNB, Jeremy Uhl, the banks chief financial officer, will replace Craighead as executive vice president and retain his position as chief financial officer.

Before the move to president, Craighead previously served as: personal banking center manager, retail banking officer, assistant vice president, vice president of retail banking services, Bank Security Act (BSA) officer and executive vice president.

Uhl, a Sioux City native and Bishop Heelan and Notre Dame graduate, joined Security National Bank in 2014 as the banks vice president of finance. He began his accounting career in Minneapolis at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, before returning to Sioux City to join King, Reinsch, Prosser & Co., LLP  where he was named a partner.

"Jeremy Craighead and Jeremy Uhl are outstanding professionals in every regard, and perfectly positioned to build on the legacy of customer service that has been established at Security National Bank," Rice, who has worked at SNB for 51 years, said in the press release. "Their combination of financial expertise, leadership and devotion to our community will guide our bank and ensure our continued stability, growth and success well into the future."

Craighead has served with a number of local organizations such as: Leadership Siouxland, Habitat for Humanity, the Sioux City Growth Organization, the Business Roundtable of the Chamber of Commerce and the District Advisory Council for the Sioux City Schoolboard. Uhl serves as the board president for the Crittenton Center and is on the finance committee for Bishop Heelan school.

SNB's press release noted that since its start, the bank has opened locations not just in Sioux City but also in Akron, Lawton, Mapleton, Moville and Dakota Dunes, S.D.

SNB arose out of an economic boom in the 1880s, which transformed Sioux City into a thriving railroad, grain and livestock, hub. Chartered on Feb. 16, 1884 with $100,000 in assets, SNB was started by prominent businessmen and civic leaders of that era. One investor and the bank's first president was grain merchandiser Frank H. Peavey. Just a year after the bank opened, Peavey move to Minneapolis, where he built a grain empire that evolved into today's ConAgra Foods.

In 1889, the bank built a new building, and just two years later moved to another new site at Fourth and Nebraska streets. Security National remained at the latter site until 1946, when it relocated to the six-story Trimble Building. Its about section states: "Today, SNB is the largest and most established locally owned bank in Sioux City." And present, the bank oversees $4.9 billion in assets through its Wealth Management Services. With the move to president, Craighead is just the seventh in the past 86 years.

Editor's note: The initial draft of this story did not include information about Mr. Rice staying on as board chairman and CEO. That has been updated.

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The Nebraska College of Law was one of six schools in the country chosen to present at a webinar Friday convened by the White House and U.S. Department of Justice for the school's Tenant Assistance Project, launched in April 2020.

The webinar  which featured remarks from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, a lawyer and visiting faculty member at Georgetown  served as recognition for the 99 law schools across the country that have responded to a call for action from Garland last summer.

In late August, Garland asked the law community to help their communities through rental assistance application support and by volunteering with legal aid providers, helping courts implement eviction diversion programs, among other initiatives aimed at increasing housing stability in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I'm grateful to the law school students, the professors and the deans who are working on this project," Garland told the law students viewing the Webinar Friday. "And I'm even more grateful that when I issued the call for action to this community, you responded."

In Lincoln, though, law students had already been working to mitigate the eviction crisis as a part of the Tenant Assistance Project launched by University of Nebraska law professor Ryan Sullivan, who received a national award for the program earlier this month.

In the months since, the program has helped keep more than 700 families in their homes, connecting Lancaster County tenants to available resources, including more than $9 million in federal aid for rental assistance.

Third-year student Rachel Tomlinson Dick spoke on behalf of Nebraska Law at the Webinar Friday  one of fewer than 10 law students nationwide given the chance to do so.

Tomlinson Dick opened her remarks by pointing to the state's eviction laws as some of the "most unfair" in the nation, noting that tenants don't have to be provided actual notice on upcoming eviction hearings.

As a result, she said, most tenants weren't previously aware of a looming eviction until they were being removed from their homes. Before the pro bono project kicked off, Tomlinson Dick said more than 80% of eviction hearings in Nebraska resulted in tenants being displaced  even though half of evictions filed were brought unlawfully, she said.

"Attorney General Garland's call to action ... helped us to expand from a small group of dedicated volunteers to a community of students engaging with efforts to prevent mass eviction in our state," she said.

Students and volunteers with the initiative visit the homes of every tenant with an upcoming eviction hearing. And when the tenants arrive at the hearing, a team of volunteers is there to help.

In nearly 98% of the cases, the tenant is able to avoid immediate eviction  a success rate that Tomlinson Dick called "astounding."

"Contributing to this work has shown me the impact that is possible when people within the legal community prioritize working to prevent injustice in tangible ways," she said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley

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Meetings and events

Top O' Morning Toastmasters Club, Mondays, noon to 1 p.m. Contact LeAnn Blankenburg, 712-870-1120, for meeting information.

The Siouxland Ostomy Support Group, find us on Facebook. For more information and meeting times contact Dick Lindblom at 712-251-2453.

Southside "South Bottoms" former residents, 6 p.m. potluck, second Wednesday of the month at Goodwill Industries cafeteria, 3100 Fourth St. Gert, 258-2227.

Siouxland Metal Detecting and Archeology Club, 6:30 p.m., first Tuesday of the month in the Gleeson Room at 4510 Buckwalter Drive. Visitors welcome. Ray Turner, 712-899-2114.

American Legion Post 64, 7 p.m. last Thursday of the month at 4021 Floyd Blvd. 712-258-3986.

Marine Corps League, 6 p.m. second Tuesday of the month at Elks Club on TriView Ave. All marines welcome. For more information, call Cathy Moreno, 712-899-8441.

Sioux City Chapter of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 7 p.m. fourth Tuesday of the month at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1421 Geneva St. 712-203-2052.

Sioux City Duplicate Bridge Club, 12:30 p.m. Mondays (open); at the Senior Center. Mary 605-670-9613.

Siouxland Fly-Fishing Club, 10 a.m. last Saturday of the month at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center on Hwy 12. All interested in fly fishing; beginners welcome. Monthly programs provided. For more information, call Bob Gillespie, 712-251-9463, or Diana, 402-987-3945.

Siouxland Coin Club, 7 p.m. first Tuesday of each month at First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 1915 Nebraska St. Bob, 255-4829.

The Siouxland Pride Alliance, peer support group, 5:30 p.m. Fridays; potluck, 5:30 p.m. second Sunday of the month; business meeting. First Unitarian Church, 2508 Jackson.

Siouxland Samplers Quilt Guild, 7 p.m. second Monday of the month at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St, door #2. Visitors and new members welcome.

Siouxland Sewing Guild, 6:30-8 p.m. first Thursday of the month at South Sioux Public Library, 2121 Dakota Ave., South Sioux City. For anyone interested in sewing. Denise, 402-922-1822.

Sooland RC Modelers, 7 p.m. second Thursday of the month at Morningside Lutheran Church. Non-profit club that flies remote control aircraft. Anyone interested in RC is welcome.

Retired Educators, 10:30 a.m. third Tuesday of the month, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St., door #6.

Mid-Step Services for Handicapped, meal at 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St., door #6.

Confirmation Instruction and Midweek Lessons, 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St., door #6. Open to all kids 5 years old through 8th grade.

Primetime (Potluck), 12 p.m., second Thursday of each month, at Whitfield United Methodist Church, 1319 W 5th. For more information call 252-3261 Tuesday-Thursdays, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Abundant Life Fellowship, 809 S. Alice St., in Sioux City will distribute food boxes after their 11 a.m. Sunday services. For additional information contact Pastor Bob at 605-205-0718 or Donna at 605-205-0719.

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SIOUX CITY -- Kuen Chia Yeh had a philosophy when it came to making every day meaningful.

"Life's never smooth," she would say. "If you are positive, not wasting time, complaining or worrying, you make it easier on yourself."

This was the can-do attitude that Yeh, a Tai Pei, Taiwan native, brought with her when she and her family emigrated to America in 1980. It also helped when she and her husband Steve Chang moved to Sioux City, opening the popular Hunan Palace Chinese Restaurant in 1986.

A CAN-DO ATTITUDE

The drive to succeed also led her to earn a real estate license, beginning a 15-year career as an agent with United Real Estate Solutions.

"Kuen's life centered around the people that she loved," Steve Chang said in Hunan Palace's 3521 Singing Hills Blvd. dining room. "My wife wanted our two sons to experience the things she didn't have while growing up. Plus she wanted to see the dreams of her clients come true as well."

Yeh passed away on Dec. 14, 2021, following an 18-month battle with cancer. She was 58.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY

Calvin Chang, 29, remembered his mom as someone who put the needs of others ahead of her own.

"Mom was always happiest when helping others, but she was sneaky about it," Calvin, a police officer with the Sioux City Police Department. "Mom never wanted you to notice all of the hard work she did."

Nevertheless, Yeh always had a soft spot for kids, said Chang, 25, a chemical engineer with the U.S. Department of Defense in Rock Island, Illinois.

"If mom could make a kid's life better in any way, she's do it every time," Brian explained.

WARMING UP THE LIVES OF SIOUX CITY CHILDREN

Indeed, Yeh was one of the catalysts behind United Real Estate Solution's annual winter clothing drive, said the business' communications director Kristie VerMulm.

"At Christmastime, we'd collect hats, gloves and mittens, donating it to a local nonprofit," VerMulm explained. "For the past few years, we've donated both clothing and monetary contributions to the Sioux City Public Schools Foundation to help Sioux City Community School kids."

"One of Kuen's favorite things to do was to help with our 'Clothes the Gap' program," the Public School Foundation's Miki Nelson said. "Kuen just always got it. She understood that a student shouldn't have to worry about staying warm in the middle of winter. A child's chief concern should involved education. If warm clothing can help close the learning gap for at-risk kids with warm clothing, Kuen was all for it."

VerMulm knew about Yeh's caring ways, first hand.

A GENEROUS NATURE

"Kuen came from the restaurant field and I came from the world of TV," VerMulm, a longtime KTIV news anchor, explained. "We were both night owls who worked when everyone else was at home."

If Yeh heard VerMulm cough from her office, a mug of green tea would mysteriously land on her desk.

And around the holidays, bags of winter "Clothes the Gap" items would mysterious arrive at United Real Estate Solutions.

"Kuen didn't want anyone else to know about her generosity," VerMulm said. "But I knew."

GRACE DURING A TRYING TIME

A lot of people, even her work colleagues, didn't know about Yeh's illness. Her cancer diagnosis occurred around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Many of our agents were working remotely, plus Kuen was very private" VerMulm said. "She would be devastated if people knew she was ill."

Steve Chang agreed.

"If people found out she had cancer, they'd treat her differently," he said. "Kuen would never stand for that."

As 2021's holiday season was starting, Yeh was too ill to collect warm winter wear on her own. Instead, her Hospice of Siouxland care providers took up her "Clothes the Gap" challenge.

"I called United, asked about the clothing drive, and found out the real estate firm wasn't going to do it," Steve Chang recalled.

"We weren't going to do because nobody was in the mood," VerMulm said. "As soon as I found out what Kuen and her hospice providers were doing, everybody's holiday spirit returned in a hurry."

PULLING TOGETHER, MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Once news of Yeh's illness became public, her colleagues worked hard to continue the clothing drive.

"Most years, Kuen would donate more than 100 items in order to give Sioux City kids a warmer winter," VerMulm said. "We wanted to match and exceed that number."

It wasn't just United Real Estate Solutions, NAI United and United Escrow that chipped in. Competing companies like Century 21 Pro-Link, Keller Williams and Realty One Group joined in, as did Central Bank, Primebank and Closing Siouxland.

"This was all to honor Kuen," VerMulm said. "She was an inspiration to her colleagues and she was loved by everyone who met her."

CELEBRATING A LIFE WELL-LIVED

It's been a little over six weeks since Yeh died and Steve Chang still mourns his wife every day.

"Kuen and I were together for more than 35 years," he said. "She was a very special person."

Following her funeral, Calvin Chang is amazed by the many people whose lives were impacted by his mom.

"We knew a lot of people knew our mom," he said. "We didn't realize how many people loved our mom."

In large part that was due to Yeh's modesty, Brian Chang noted.

"Mom wasn't looking for compliments," he said. "She simply considered herself to be fortunate and wanted to make a difference wherever she could."

Steve Chang looked at a framed photo of his late wife.

"Kuen would be mortified that people are making such a big deal over her," he said with a sigh. "Kuen wasn't looking for applause. She simply wanted to make a difference."

Luckily, Yeh's mission to provide at-risk kids with winter clothing will live on.

"That's really what Kuen would want," Steve Chang said. "Her dream was to make every day meaningful while doing something positive for other."

To her family, friends and clients, this will truly be Yeh's lasting legacy.

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SIOUX CITY -- A city utilities director told the Sioux City Council Saturday that staff are working as fast as they can to ensure repairs and improvements are made at the beleaguered wastewater treatment plant.

A $23.7 million request for plant modifications is part of the five-year capital improvement budget the council began reviewing during the day-long session.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is suing the city for repeated violations at the plant, which could add up to millions of dollars in penalties. City officials believe upcoming projects and a new management structure will improve the plant's operations and eliminate many of the problems that have caused frequent state wastewater permit violations.

"We can't expedite it any further than we are," said Tom Pingel, who was hired this spring as the city's utility director in charge of the wastewater treatment plant. "We have to give the engineers some time to actually draw up the plans to do a lot of those replacements. Then, they have to submit those to the DNR. The DNR reviews them to make sure they meet the Iowa DNR wastewater design standards. My staff and I, we can't just go in and replace a valve or a pump without knowing exactly if it meets the past due requirements, if it aligns with the design standards."

In Fiscal Year 2023 alone, city staff are requesting $4.8 million for modifications at the plant, including $2.5 million for the design and construction of upgraded controls, $980,000 for the design of four primary clarifiers, $450,000 for blower improvements and $250,000 for secondary valve improvements. The city will use state revolving fund loans to covers the costs. Maintenance-related items, however, are not eligible for SRF funding so they must be paid for from sewer funds.

"It's very important that these items are addressed appropriately," Pingel said. "In the next couple of weeks, you'll see a (request for quote) go out to request for consultants to be a part of this project, the repair side of it, but also address the primary clarifiers."

Mayor Bob Scott remarked that "a whole lot of stuff was done 8 to 10 years ago" to the plant at a cost of $110 million, so "some of that stuff can't be worn out already."

Pingel responded that the improvements were "mainly structural-type things."

"If you spend $110 (million), you could have a brand new sewer down south of town for less money and a lot better process. That council was sold a pack of goods by whoever the utilities director was at that time and that's unfortunate," Scott said. "We should've never spent that kind of money and not got a new plant."

Many of the violations involving the plant stem from a three-year scheme beginning in 2012 in which two former plant supervisors manipulated water sample test results to cover up falsified chlorine levels to ensure that plant discharges into the Missouri River met environmental requirements. The scheme was reported to the DNR in April 2015 and resulted in the firing and prosecution of the plant's superintendent and a shift supervisor.

City staff are also seeking $5.5 million in Fiscal Year 2023 for design, engineering, construction and inspection services for a new UV disinfection system at the plant, which will eliminate the need for chemicals, such as chlorine. Instead, ultraviolet light will be used to treat wastewater before it's discharged into the Missouri River. American Rescue Plan Act funding will pay for the project.

"We're cutting edge on a lot of the stuff that we're doing and trying to implement different things to be good stewards of not only tax dollars, but also of the environment," Councilman Alex Watters said. "Whether it's UV, whether it's fertilizer, whether it's solar and renewable fuels, all of those things are things that we should be just as proud of as much as updates at the Tyson Events Center or something like that."

During the hearing, the council members got their first look at projects planned in the capital improvement program, or CIP, budget, which begins July 1. The $99.7 million proposal is an increase of more than $19.6 million from the current budget year's capital budget. Additionally, the $99.7 million is the first year of the proposed five-year CIP, which would spend more than $407 million over the fiscal years through 2026-27.

In addition to the $23.7 million in wastewater treatment plant modifications, over the combined five years, the CIP would direct $70.3 million to annual airport capital projects, $45 million to annual infrastructure reconstruction and $15.8 million to annual resurfacing.

The proposed CIP anticipates 66.1% use of the city's debt capacity at the beginning of the year. The proposed fiscal year 2023 debt issuance decreases the percentage of debt capacity used to 65.7%.

"Largely, we're looking at streets and bridges and utilities -- a huge infrastructure year for us. Bigger than most years, partly because we did receive those American Rescue funds," City Finance Director Teresa Fitch said. "That's a huge addition to our CIP this year."

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SIOUX CITY  The new Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center will require the Sheriff's Office to hire 18 more staff at an additional annual cost of around $1.3 million.

Sheriff Chad Sheehan asked the board for $508,444 for the fiscal year that begins July 1 to start hiring 15 correctional officers, one jail sergeant, one jail lieutenant and one warrant clerk for the fiscal year that begins July 1 with staggered starting dates.

The board decided to go with a third option, which staggered the hiring process more and reduced the initial cost of the new staff.

The board acknowledged $334.695.46 for all the positions in the upcoming budget, but it will not be officially approved until the full budget is taken up in March.

Currently, the jail is operating with 65 staff members, including correctional officers and administration. This costs the county $3.34 million each year. The 18 new employees will add $1.3 million in salaries.

Six new correctional officers will be hired in January and February this year. Six more will be hired in March and April 2023. The remaining staff will be hired in June 2023.

The hiring of staff for the law enforcement center underwent much debate during the Jan. 18 meeting. When the jail project was initially pitched to the community, it was said no additional staff would be needed.

Sheriff Chad Sheehan said one decision that lead to needing additional staff was stacking the jail cell pods to save roughly $1 million. He also said when Goldberg Group Architects spoke to another jail in Saginaw, Michigan that did not need to hire more staff for a similar sized jail, they were not taking into consideration that jail's use of civilian workers.

"It's a big screw-up," Supervisors Jeremy Taylor said in regards to Goldberg's original estimate.

Supervisor Rocky De Witt said while they may be spending more on staffing, they still save a significant amount by stacking the jail cell pods instead of putting them side by side.

The request was approved 4-1 with Taylor opposed.

Throughout the budget process, other organizations have seen budget cuts due to the board's desire to keep the tax levy the same. They need to cut roughly $2.6 million needs to be cut from the budget.

Various cuts and revenue increases of $1 million have already taken place. These cuts include the $180,413 cut from the sheriff's request.

The Woodbury County assistance programs were cut by $15,000. Currently, the programs have various state and governmental grants they can pull from, but all expire on Sept. 30.

The Department of Human Services was cut by $15,800 to better reflect historic spending numbers, the medical examiner budget was cut by $9,000 and the building services law enforcement center budget was cut by $25,000.

On Tuesday, secondary roads had a decrease in secondary road minimum tax asking of $140,000 and the district health allocation was decreased by $360,000.

Outside of budget cuts, the board has been denying a variety of improvement requests.

The conservation department was denied a $69,753 improvement request for an additional resource technician. They were approved a $600,000 improvement request for the Little Sioux park road replacement.

The emergency services department was denied an $88,740 improvement request for employee raises. They were approved an improvement request of $235,000 for repairs on the Climbing Hill facility, a truck replacement and purchasing equipment.

The board also approved a courthouse security improvement request of $47,276 for an additional deputy for seven months starting in Dec. 2022.

While most departments are asking for the same funding as previous years, the largest increase across multiple departments is fuel costs, benefits costs and technology support costs.

The board has been discussing various departments that could use the remaining ARPA COVID-19 funding that the county has not allocated to the new Law Enforcement Center, but no firm decisions have been made.

The budget talks will continue into February.

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In certain circles  but not on cable networks or in fundraising letters  one continues to hear talk about bipartisanship and reaching across the aisle. It sounds good and people who use the phrase probably feel better about themselves, but I wish to propose an alternative: win the argument.

Americas Founders werent interested in bipartisanship with the British. They fought a revolution to win. Nations dont engage in warfare just for the sake of achieving a draw. They want to be victorious.

The stated goal of Franklin Roosevelt was total victory over Germany and Japan in World War II. Some wanted to make a peace deal with Adolf Hitler, but Roosevelt would have none of it.

Ronald Reagan said he did not intend to co-exist with the Soviet Union, but to defeat it. Analyst Jeffrey W. Knopf argued that Reagan went beyond everyone else: Reagan stands out in part because he believed the Soviet Union could be defeated. For most of the Cold War, Republican and Democratic administrations alike had assumed the Soviet Union would prove durable for the foreseeable future. The bipartisan policy of containment aimed to keep the Soviet Union in check while trying to avoid nuclear war; it did not seek to force the dissolution of the Soviet empire. Ronald Reagan, in contrast, believed that the Soviet economy was so weak that increased pressure could bring (it) to the brink of failure. He therefore periodically expressed confidence that the forces of democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history.

Didnt America and the West win the Cold War? Remember how that felt?

Sports teams are not satisfied with ties. Las Vegas casinos dont refund part of a gamblers losses to be fair and equitable. Only in politics do we hear talk  and it is only talk  about working together. Consider President Bidens promise of bipartisanship which, like his promise to engage in civil discourse, he has not kept. Just two recent examples: his calling two Fox News reporters names and impugning their professionalism. Biden later called Fox White House Correspondent Peter Doocy to say it wasnt personal". You cant get more personal than calling someone a stupid son of a ...

What if the policy goal was victory? Thats the goal of Democrats when they win elections. Republicans dont seem to be able to handle victory so well when they win. Dont we know by now which policies work and which ones dont? Wasnt that the point of welfare reform in the 1990s. Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich reached agreement on ending welfare as we know it. People didnt starve, as some predicted. Most found jobs when they realized government checks would cease. It was a victory for everyone.

In Washington, problems are rarely solved and often get worse. If a problem is solved, politicians no longer have it as an issue to use against the other party. How cynical is that?

I have long thought an outside commission should be established to conduct a top-to-bottom audit of all federal programs, getting rid of those that dont achieve their stated goals and cant be done less expensively and more efficiently by the private sector. Who could oppose such a proposal, except those who benefit from division, chaos and spending other peoples money? Such a commission would have no agenda other than promoting the general welfare.

If one is a liberal, it seems one doesnt need to achieve anything. Intentions are enough. Try that in business and see how long you last. If a sales strategy fails, you would be wise to try another strategy, or risk unemployment. Only with government do politicians rarely have to succeed and can still count on getting re-elected.

Winning the argument is better than never-ending arguments. We know what works and what is not working. Lets apply that knowledge and experience. It would get the country out of debt and shrink the overreach of government, contributing to more liberty, not less, as seems to be what we are currently experiencing.

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A resounding majority of Americans want President Joe Biden to consider all possible nominees to fill retiring Justice Stephen Breyers seat on the Supreme Court, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll. A little more than three-quarters of Americans think Biden should consider everyone and only 23 percent say he should automatically follow through on his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. Although Democrats are more supportive of Biden following through on his pledge, 54 percent still say Biden should consider all possible nominees.

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Biden has insisted he can follow through on his pledge. 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, Biden said at a recent ceremony honoring Breyer. Its long overdue in my view. I made that commitment during the campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment.

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Several Senate Republicans and conservative commentators have blasted Bidens commitment to nominate a Black woman to the bench. Sen. Roger Wicker from Mississippi, for example, said Friday that the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court would be a beneficiary of affirmative action. The irony is that the Supreme Court is at the very same time hearing cases about this sort of affirmative racial discrimination while adding someone who is the beneficiary of this sort of quota, he said in an interview.

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The Supreme Court vacancy was a hot topic of conversation on the Sunday morning shows . Sen. Dick Durbin, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, defended Bidens pledge to nominate a Black woman. In an interview on ABCs This Week, Durbin said people should look back at history and realize that previous Republican presidents had vowed to select women to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court. Recall that it was Ronald Reagan who announced that he was going to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court and he did, Sandra Day OConnor. And it was Donald Trump who announced that he was going to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a woman nominee as well. So this is not the first time the president has signaled what theyre looking for in a nominee, Durbin said.

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Sen. Susan Collins tells @GStephanopoulos that she would welcome the appointment of a Black female justice.



"I believe that diversity benefits the Supreme Court. But the way that the president has handled this nomination has been clumsy at best." https://t.co/nk171LB81U pic.twitter.com/qX2V8nztTX  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

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Sen. Susan Collins said that while she would welcome the appointment of a Black female to the Supreme Court she criticized the way Biden has gone about the process. I believe that diversity benefits the Supreme Court. But the way that the president has handled this nomination has been clumsy at best, the Maine Republican said. Collins said that what made Bidens pledge different from others made by previous Republican presidents is that he made it while a candidate for office. That helped politicize the entire nomination process, Collins said. Collins said that Bidens pledge adds to the further perception that the court is a political institution like Congress when it is not supposed to be.

The ABC/Ipsos poll though makes clear that lots of Americans dont see the justices as apolitical in the least. Forty-three percent of voters say justices rule on the basis of their partisan political views. Only 38 percent of respondents said justices rule on the basis of the law.
The United States' signing of the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" into law is "a bullying policy," Kawa Mahmoud, secretary of Central Committee of the Kurdistan Communist Party/Iraq, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.





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The decision by a Tennessee school district to ban Maus seems to have spiked interest in Art Spiegelmans graphic novel about the Holocaust. Three different editions of the Pulitzer Prizewinning work are in the top seven of books on Amazon as of Sunday afternoon. The Complete Maus, which includes the two volumes of the novel, was No. 1 on Amazons bestseller list. The first volume of the book was No. 3 on the list, while the second was No. 7. That means the books have only been increasing in popularity lately, considering that the Associated Press reported The Complete Maus was No. 9 on the list and the first volume No. 12 as of Friday evening. No version of the book was even in the top 1,000 of the bestseller list early last week.

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The rise in sales came after the McMinn County School Board in Tennessee voted to remove Maus from its eighth grade curriculum, citing its inappropriate language and the inclusion of an illustration of a nude woman. In an interview with the Washington Post, Spiegelman said the ban should be seen as a warning for the future. Its part of a continuum, and just a harbinger of things to come, Spiegelman said. Coming at a time when conservatives are taking action to get books banned from schools, Spiegelman said that there is at least one part of our political spectrum that seems to be very enthusiastic about banning books. This is a red alert. Its not just: How dare they deny the Holocaust?  he added. Theyll deny anything.

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Lots of people have expressed their anger at the school boards decision to ban the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. A comic book store in Tennessee, for example, said it would hand the book for free to every student in the county. The store, Nirvana Comics, first intended to set up a lending system where students could borrow copies of the graphic novel. But as word of the stores plans started to spread, lots of people donated to a GoFundMe campaign and the books publishers agreed to sell the book at a reduced price so the novels could be donated to students.
Former President Donald Trump once again raised the possibility that he may run again in 2024 and said he would consider pardoning those who were charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot if he wins the election. Another thing well doand so many people have been asking me about itif I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly, Trump said at a rally in Conroe, Texas. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly.

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Trump says if hes re-elected, he may pardon people prosecuted for their actions on January 6th pic.twitter.com/VLlkGyUr32  Acyn (@Acyn) January 30, 2022

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Trumps comments highlighted how the former president and many of his allies are trying to rewrite history and act as if the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol wasnt really a big deal and everyone involved should be forgiven. There are even some who are claiming the attack on the Capitol was instigated by the FBI and characterizing the approximately 50 people who are being detained before trial in connection to the riot as political prisoners. More than 700 people have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot. Its a disgrace. Its a disgrace, Trump said of the prosecutions.

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The majority of those charged in connection to the riot are facing misdemeanor charges, meaning any sentences are likely to be finished before Trump could move into the White House again. But many are also facing some charges that could land them behind bars for years. Some of those facing the most serious charges have complained that Trump did little to help them in his final days in office even as he pardoned other allies. If any of his supporters believe Trump has a good chance of winning, the suggestion of pardons could affect their decision on whether to accept any plea deals.

Trump didnt just complain of the prosecutions against the Capitol rioters but also the investigations he and his businesses are facing from New York prosecutors. These prosecutors are vicious, horrible people. Theyre racists and theyre very sicktheyre mentally sick, he said. Theyre going after me without any protection of my rights from the Supreme Court or most other courts. In reality, theyre not after me, theyre after you. The former president went on to call for the biggest protests we have ever had if prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal.

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The weather is causing complications on the roads.

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The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) issued the highest-degree warnings against strong wind for most districts of Slovakia on January 30.

The highest, third-degree warnings against wind are in place in the mountains as well as in some districts in the west of the country. In the northern regions, firefighters have been hard at work removing the damages caused by the strong wind, including a number of road accidents.

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The train connection between Bratislava and the Czech city of Brno has been temporarily interrupted due to a tree fallen on the train tracks.

The SHMU reported on Sunday afternoon that the wind may reach 120 km per hour in the western-Slovak districts of Pezinok, Nitra, Hlohovec, Piestany and Trnava. The third-degree warning is in place for these districts at least until 18:00.

"The probability of extraordinary damages and risk to human lives is very high," SHMU wrote.

The police have also published several recommendations and warnings. People are asked not to leave their homes unless necessary.
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This article was produced by Reporting Democracy, a cross-border journalism platform run by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

A kindergarten class winds its way past the Slovak National Galley before turning on to the busy main road along the Danube. The kids are being shepherded by three 30-something women who could well be mothers of children this age. The column of children squeezes past two elegant old ladies chatting and ambling slowly along the pavement.

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A few minutes away, in front of the famous Roland Fountain in Bratislavas old town, a handful of teenage girls are sitting on the ground taking part in the weekly Greta Thunberg-inspired School Strike for Climate. In a year or two they might well be enrolled in the capitals Comenius University which, in pre-Covid times at least, bustled with busy students.

If any of the girls decides to study demography there, they might be in for a few surprises.

First of all, there are a lot less students than there used to be. In 2008 there were 214,309 in higher education in the country, but by 2020 there were only 116,124. Students studying abroad account for some of that  but not all. There are just a lot less Slovaks of university age and, by contrast, more pensioners every year. There are also ever less people of working age, and unless more migrants come to Slovakia, what are already serious labour shortages will turn critical.

Slovakias population will soon start to shrink if it has not done so already, and its people are ageing. That is no surprise. Those are the same trends elsewhere in much of Central and Eastern Europe.

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Related article Slovak universities are losing students Read more

Whats alarming demographers, however, is that that while Slovakias total population has remained relatively constant for years, they are uncertain about the accuracy of official population data.

Yet for Ludmila Ivancikova, director for demography at the Statistics Office, the bottom line is that Slovaks are not only ageing rapidly, but they are ageing at a much faster rate than their neighbours.

Getting old fast

In December the Statistics Office released the first data based on the 2021 census. It revealed that on January 1, 2021 there were believed to be 5,449,270 people in the country.

If that figure is right, it means that the total number of people in Slovakia was then 45,000 more than a decade previously and 166,270, or 3.1 per cent, more than in 1991.

According to Slovakias Interior Ministry, there were 152,902 foreigners living legally in the country in the middle of last year. They made up 2.8 per cent of the population.

Until Slovakia joined the EU in 2004, there were very few foreigners living in Slovakia. So, if you subtract them from the countrys total population, as many  including Ukrainians and Serbs, the two biggest groups  are only in the country on temporary work visas rather than as immigrants, then it would seem as though the countrys population was almost the same as 30 years ago.

Since the populations of all of Europes former communist countries, except for Czechia and Slovenia, have shrunk, often quite dramatically, in the last three decades, this would seem to be something to celebrate.

In fact, it would be very premature to crack open the champagne.

In 2011 Slovakias population comprised 832,572 children aged up to 14, plus 3.88 million people aged 15-64, and 690,662 people aged 65 and above.

At the beginning of 2021, based on the census data, it had 867,410 children, 3.65 million people of so called productive age, and 929,181 older people.

In only ten years, the number of elderly had shot up from 12.78 per cent of the population to 17.05 per cent, while the number of people of working age had shrunk from 71.81 per cent to 67.03 per cent. The percentage of children had grown by only half of 1 per cent.

And the projections do not look good.

According to Branislav Bleha, head of demography at Comenius University, by 2060 under the most likely scenario, the number of people of productive age will plummet to 2.66 million, but the number of those aged 65 and above will balloon to 1.77 million based on projections of an optimistic assumption that the total population will only have declined to 5.43 million, even though it is possibly less than that already.

According to a projection by Eurostat, the EUs statistical agency, Slovakias population could have fallen to 4.95 million in 2060.

Whether Slovakia is prepared for such a big drop in its labour force and simultaneous increase in the number and proportion of pensioners remains to be seen.

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Related article Slovak, Catholic, and ageing. But some of the 2021 census is a surprise (+graphs) Read more

State care homes for the elderly are already underfinanced and, with so many care staff working for better wages abroad, they are already understaffed, as are private care homes.

According to Jan Bucek, professor of human geography at Comenius University, for years experts have been providing successive governments with facts, figures and recommendations. But he laments that as science and expertise are not fully respected, their suggested strategies for coping with the coming rapid and massive ageing of society are neither properly followed nor implemented, and then they are always replaced by new ones.

Behind the Hajnal Curtain

All European countries are ageing, but what sets Slovakia apart is the speed of the change. In the 1980s Slovakia was one of the youngest countries in Europe. In the coming decades it will be one of the older ones.

In 1965 John Hajnal, a British statistician, drew a line from St Petersburg to Trieste and hypothesised that, for cultural reasons, women east of the line tended to marry earlier and have more children than their counterparts to the west.

The so-called Hajnal line has long been regarded as controversial and, especially in this century, become discredited or, as the facts have changed, simply passed its expiry date. And yet it still strikes a chord in the former Czechoslovakia as the line divided its two component parts, which have indeed followed different demographic trajectories.

In communist times, Slovaks had a significantly higher fertility rate than Czechs. Bleha says that the reasons for this include the countrys larger rural population, the fact that it was less industrialised than Czechia, and that its people were generally more religious and conservative.

In 1989, at the moment of the collapse of communism, the Czech fertility rate was 1.85 and Slovakias was 2.09.

Then something extraordinary happened.

With the dislocation and economic collapse that followed, the fertility rates in both countries plummeted  as they did elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe  but that of Slovakia fell much further and faster than that of Czechia. The reasons for this included the much tougher economic situation in Slovakia, a greater emigration rate of younger people and a fast adoption of new values.

Ever since 2004 Slovakias fertility rate, then at 1.23, has been lower than Czechias but, as in Poland and Hungary, it has been drifting upwards since then.

In 2020 Slovakias fertility rate was 1.59, just above the EU average of 1.53. As there are less women of childbearing age than before, it means that fewer women are having more children. In 2016 women of childbearing age were 47.1 per cent of the total, but by 2020 that figure had dropped to 45.47 per cent.

So many Slovaks live abroad that about 10 per cent of newborn citizens are estimated to be born outside of the country, according to Boris Vano, an analyst at the Demographic Research Centre.

As they are not born in Slovakia though, they dont figure in the countrys fertility rate calculations.

The previous high rate of fertility followed by its dramatic fall is the reason why Slovakia faces an equally dramatic process of ageing in the coming years.

Another contributory factor is emigration, especially of women of childbearing age.

Both of these factors mean that Slovakias population should, according to Ivancikova, start to shrink in the period 2030-40.

Is Slovakia already shrinking?

The problem is that no one knows how many Slovaks have left, how many have come back and whether Slovakias official population data is accurate. If it is not, then it means the countrys population has already begin to shrink  and quite dramatically at that.

The likely reason behind the discrepancy is that many people leave Slovakia but retain an official address at home or they commute back and forth.

For example, some 24,000 women, many from eastern Slovakia, are believed to work much of the year in Austria caring for elderly people. Many others commute, coming home for a period every few weeks or months.

Interviewed just before the release of the new population data based on the census, Bleha said that he and his colleagues believed that there could well be 200,000 people less in Slovakia than official data suggests.

These could include some of the more than 21,000 students who study every year in Czech universities and then stay there, plus doctors and other medical professionals who find better pay and conditions there.

After the new data was released, Bleha said that while it was clear that several methodological issues had bedevilled the census, he and his colleagues did not yet have enough information to be able to confirm or put aside their suspicions that there are a lot less people in the country than the new figures suggest.

If the new numbers are an overestimation, it would not be a surprise, although Ivancikova at the Statistics Office said that great care has been taken to cross reference different registers and statistical sources.

In 2017 Martin Halus, working on his PhD, made an estimate of population trends based on the number of people with health insurance. This is compulsory, but generally those that leave the country de-register so they do not have to continue paying it. This led him to conclude that in 2015 there were 300,000 less people living in the country than the official data suggested.

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Related article Bratislava questions census results as it frets over 2022 income Read more

For this reason, said Tomas Sobotka, a demographer with the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital in Vienna, the figure cited by Bleha before the new census-based data came out was realistic, although he adds the caveat that it is difficult to arrive at an exact number.

For example, by the end of September 2021 there were 106,820 Slovaks who had received the right to settle in the post-Brexit UK and, in the latest figures, there were 45,362 Slovak residents in Austria.

However, some of those in Austria could be carers who also remain registered as living in eastern Slovakia. The British number also does mean that so many Slovaks are actually in the UK. A proportion of those who applied to live in the country could be Slovak Roma amongst others, who have since returned home to Slovakia having for now kept open an option for them and their families to live and work legally in the UK if they need to.

Unreliable population data is an issue not just because it makes government planning hard. In Slovakia, local authorities receive money from central government based on the number of people living there according to the census.

Today, there are estimated to be some 600,000 people living in Bratislava, using its municipal services and so on, but according to the census-based data there are only 475,503 whose taxes effectively support everyone.

When the figures were published in December the mayor demanded an explanation, saying that at least 20,000 more people are registered in the city than the census figures show, while another 100,000 live there who are registered somewhere else.

If not now, when?

Slovakia is not the only European country whose officials are struggling to work out how many people actually live there. It is also not the only country whose politicians need to grasp the nettle of planning beyond their next date with the electorate.

According to Vano, for example, the topic of ageing will become critical in a decade, but for our politicians that is too long term. The problem, he noted, is that in 10 years they will find it is too late to do something, even if they were in power now, when it is not.

Tim Judah is a correspondent for The Economist. He has been working on the subject of demography as a fellow of the Europes Futures programme of the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna and the ERSTE Foundation.
https://sputniknews.com/20220129/lawmakers--taxpayers-worried-about-new-irs-facial-recognition-outsourced-to-private-firm-1092612208.html

Lawmakers & Taxpayers Worried About New IRS Facial Recognition, Outsourced to Private Firm

Lawmakers & Taxpayers Worried About New IRS Facial Recognition, Outsourced to Private Firm

Lawmakers & Taxpayers Worried About IRS New Facial Recognition, Outsourced to Private Firm

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facial recognition

tax payers

data security

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The new biometric authentication of US taxpayers has been criticized by users and Congressmen over privacy and data security concerns, according to MSN.IRS signed a two-year $86 million contract with ID.me, which collects the required videos with users faces, and there is no law regulating the IRS subcontracting with the firm. Meanwhile, the IRS website is the most frequented of all the government services, with around 1.9 billion visits last year.ID.me participation has raised concerns over the safety of personal facial images and personal information. Congressman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) tweeted that he was very disturbed by the subcontracting revelations.Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) also called it a bad idea that would further undermine the privacy of American users.The Senate Finance Committee was said to be planning briefings with the IRS and ID.me on the issue, a committee aide said.The Department of the Treasury is reportedly looking into alternatives to ID.me, and some reports speculated that it is also considering alternatives to facial recognition.Given the many problems in the filing season just underway, it is a stretch to launch an initiative of this sensitivity in the present circumstances, said Mark Everson, the vice-chairman of the tax services firm Alliantgroup and a former IRS commissioner.Meanwhile, 70 million Americans filed applications for unemployment insurance, pandemic assistance grants, child tax credit payments or other services were scanned by the McLean, Va.-based company, which says its client list includes 540 companies; 30 states, including California, Florida, New York and Texas; and 10 federal agencies, including Social Security, Labor and Veterans Affairs, according to MSN.According to Jeramie D. Scott, senior counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a research group in Washington, the IRS outsourcing of facial identification to a private company may weaken the publics ability to know how information is being used, especially because no federal laws govern how facial recognition should work nationwide.He added that this technology "has clearly been shown to be dangerous and has issues with accuracy, disproportionate impact, privacy and civil liberties."Equifax, a credit-reporting firm that previously confirmed taxpayers personal information for the IRS, had its $7 million contract dropped in 2017 after hackers leaked the data of 148 million people.India McKinney, director of federal affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil liberties group, told the Boston Globe that taxpayers will have no option except to use the IRS' services, as it hasnt provided a non-biometric way to log in.According to Blake Hall, ID.mes co-founder and chief executive, the company meets strict safety standards.At the same time, ID.mes privacy policy says that the company has the right to share personal data when cooperating with law enforcement activities. The company, which reportedly stores tens of millions of face scans in a database to look for identity theft, is obliged to keep the records for seven years due to federal auditing rules.According to Hall, the company warns its clients when it detects clear cases of fraud. He also noted that facial recognition is similar to ID checks in banks and said that ID.me has digitalized a process Americans are already quite used to.Responding to concerns over the IRS contract with a private firm, Hall said the governments previous attempts to validate its clients were less effective than ID.mes, as the government is not fast enough to innovate on the access and security side.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220129/north-korea-launches-unidentified-projectile-towards-sea-of-japan---reports-1092612622.html

North Korea Launches Unidentified Projectile Towards Sea of Japan - Reports

North Korea Launches Unidentified Projectile Towards Sea of Japan - Reports

SEOUL (Sputnik) - North Korea launched an unidentified projectile in the direction of the Sea of Japan on Sunday, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reports. 29.01.2022, Sputnik International

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Yonhap said, citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), that the launch of the projectile toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) was announced in a text message sent to reporters. No further details were provided.Meanwhile, the Japanese coast guard warned of a possible missile launch by North Korea on Sunday morning, advising ships to exercise caution. It further clarified that the missile had probably already fallen.If the launch is officially confirmed, this will be the seventh test carried out by Pyongyang this year.On January 5 and 11, North Korea tested what it called hypersonic missiles. On January 14, two short-range ballistic missiles were launched from a railway missile system. On January 17 and 27, North Korea tested short-range tactical guided missiles. On January 25, two long-range cruise missiles were launched, which, unlike ballistic missile tests, do not violate UN Security Council resolutions.In the absence of a durable peace treaty between the DPRK and South Korea and US disengagement from the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang claims that its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs are required to ensure its security. It has expressed strong opposition to US-South Korean military drills that simulate combined operations against the country.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220130/belgians-hold-demonstration-against-covid-measures-in-brussels-1092618187.html

Belgians Hold Demonstration Against COVID Measures in Brussels

Belgians Hold Demonstration Against COVID Measures in Brussels

According to figures published by the Sciensano Public Health Institute, Belgium has on average registered more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases daily. 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

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Sputnik is live from Brussels in Belgium as protesters hold a demonstration against pandemic restrictions. United for Freedom is organising the event just one week after protesters clashed with police during a similar demonstration. During the protest, police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.At least 70 people were detained and three officers and 12 demonstrators were treated by medics.Follow Sputnik's Live Feed to Find Out More!

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https://sputniknews.com/20220130/biden-administration-reportedly-plans-to-regulate-bitcoin-alt-coins-and-nft-1092620499.html

Biden Administration Reportedly Plans to Regulate Bitcoin, Alt Coins, and NFT

Biden Administration Reportedly Plans to Regulate Bitcoin, Alt Coins, and NFT

Apparently, the years of free flowing digital assets are coming to an end in the US as governments around the world are becoming increasingly concerned with... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

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President Joe Biden and his administration are planning to take executive action in order to start regulating cryptocurrencies and other digital assets in the US, Forbes has reported. According to the magazine, the regulation will not just affect popular currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also altcoins, stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens (NFT).The move is seen as prompted by national security needs, Forbes said. An army of US regulators, which include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are expected to coordinate efforts to start regulating the market, which has so far operated with next to no restrictions or control. Washington will also reportedly coordinate these efforts with foreign governments.At present, cryptocurrencies are not even classified as securities in the US and there is practically no oversight over cryptocurrency exchanges. There are no checks for unethical behaviour, Ponzi schemes, money laundering, shady practices, and monitoring of pump-and-dump schemes on the markets (when a large position is opened and then, after the market moves as a result of money "pumping", gets rapidly "dumped").Forbes' contributor Jack Kelly suggests that the move might be used by the Biden administration to cover up the debt created by the passing of its multitrillion-dollar infrastructure bill and more expensive legislation still stuck in Congress. The introduction of cryptomarket regulation is bound to create additional income for the country through better taxation, new fines, and levies, Kelly believes. This revenue may be significant considering how much money moves through this market.According to Forbes, the IRS is already reviewing the rules to recognise an entity as a crypto broker under the infrastructure bill adopted last summer. That would enable the service to collect taxes from them in full.The United States is not the only country working on regulating the cryptocurrency market on its territory. Last year, China banned all operations with digital assets on its territory, including mining. Russia, for its part, is still considering options for regulating the market. While citizens and businesses are currently prohibited from using digital coins to pay for goods and services, private citizens can still buy and sell them, as well as keep mining them. Earlier in January, the Russian Central Bank proposed banning cryptocurrencies in the country, however, its proposal met with opposition from the Finance Ministry. The latter suggests strictly regulating them instead. The government and the Russian Parliament are yet to make up their mind on the issue.

https://sputniknews.com/20220104/melania-trump-to-auction-off-worn-hat-nft-commemorating-macrons-visit-to-us-1092017661.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220129/expert-central-banks-join-virtual-gold-rush-to-keep-up-with-rising-crypto-1092599021.html

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joe biden, us, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, crypto market
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/canada-withdraws-non-essential-employees-from-its-embassy-in-kiev-1092625348.html

Canada Withdraws Non-Essential Employees From Its Embassy in Kiev

Canada Withdraws Non-Essential Employees From Its Embassy in Kiev

Earlier, Canada announced that it would temporarily withdraw the families of diplomats with underage children from Ukraine due to the tense situation on the... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T17:37+0000

2022-01-30T17:37+0000

2022-01-30T18:37+0000

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ukraine

canada

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Canadian authorities on Sunday announced that Ottawa has decided to "temporarily withdraw" non-essential employees and remaining dependants from its embassy in Kiev.The statement noted that the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine remains open.Canadians are still recommended to avoid all non-essential travel to Ukraine due to what is deemed by Ottawa as "ongoing Russian threats and military buildup in and around the country". Last week, Canada decided to withdraw the families of diplomats with underage children from the country.Ottawa has asserted that it "is steadfast in its support of Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence", condemning Russia's alleged "threats" toward the neighbouring country. Canada also vowed "strong consequences" in the event of "further aggression". Russia, however, has repeatedly denied claims of its purported plans to "invade" Ukraine, voicing concern in regard to the Western countries (Canada among them) continuing to send military aid to the country under the pretext of the alleged "threat".

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https://sputniknews.com/20220130/ex-senate-candidate-us-nato-warmongering-over-ukraine-is-all-about-defence-contractors-money-1092624210.html

Ex-Senate Candidate: US-NATO Warmongering Over Ukraine is All About Defence Contractors' Money

Ex-Senate Candidate: US-NATO Warmongering Over Ukraine is All About Defence Contractors' Money

Political elites in Washington are ramping up the hysteria over an alleged Russian "invasion" of Ukraine because it is profitable, says former US Senate... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T18:30+0000

2022-01-30T18:30+0000

2022-01-30T18:30+0000

joe biden

eastern europe

world

europe

us

russia

opinion

ukraine

money

war

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Secretary of State Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley stated on 28 January that a military standoff over Ukraine is not inevitable and that "a diplomatic outcome is the way to go here". Nevertheless, US President Joe Biden announced on Friday that he would dispatch American military personnel to NATO allies in Eastern Europe in the "near term", with 8,500 US troops having been placed on alert earlier this week.Moscow has repeatedly shredded the "invasion scare" peddled by the US and its NATO allies as nonsensical.'Current Crisis Over Ukraine is Result of US-Backed 2014 Coup'The position of the United States government on Russia and Ukraine is "certifiably insane", according to former US Senate candidate and investigative journalist Mark Dankof.Per Dankof, the recent East European crisis can be "boiled it down" to the three essential facts: First, the US lied to then-Soviet leader Gorbachev when it promised not to recruit ex-Soviet republics for NATO membership, or to move American and NATO military assets and exercises closer to Russia's borders. Second, "the current crisis over Ukraine is the direct result of an illegal American and EU coup d'etat in Kiev in February of 2014 which overthrew the legally elected government there." Third, "the United States has absolutely no true national security interest in meddling in what is none of our business in Russia's backyard".Meanwhile, Washington's attempt to simultaneously "hold a dagger at Russia, Iran, and China's throats" in their respective backyards is dangerous for the US, which is overstretching itself, according to the investigative journalist.What's Behind US Politicians' Calls for War?However, the bottom line of the bellicose American rhetoric is that it is fanned by influential neo-conservative NGOs and is generously sponsored by US defence contractors, Dankof notes.To illustrate his point, the investigative journalist refers to a 20 January Washington Post op-ed written by Michael Vickers, ex-American undersecretary of defence for intelligence and a former special forces and CIA operations officer. Vickers advocated moving US combat aircraft and ships forward to Europe to deter Russia. If Moscow does not back down and invades Ukraine, the "US strategy should shift to deterrence by punishment", according to the former CIA operations officer.Vickers insists that the "punishment" should be broader than tough anti-Russia sanctions, and include fomenting a guerrilla war against the Russians in Ukraine; stepping up the resistance to Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus; and "employ[ing] cyber and other covert means to undermine Putins rule in Russia".US Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi in early December 2021 discussed the idea of a preventive nuclear action against Russia in case of escalation in the Ukrainian internal crisis. The senator came under heavy criticism from both sides of the US political spectrum for his remarks. However, Wicker has long been advocating for a US "muscular foreign policy", apparently appeasing US defence contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and General Atomics, which have offices in his state.This club is joined by Republican Congressman Michael R. Turner of Ohio's 10th Congressional District, which includes Dayton's Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), according to Dankof. Earlier this month, Turner, the new top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, urged Biden to step up military and intelligence support for Ukraine.It's not only Republicans who are beating the drums of war: Democratic Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and ex-Obama administration official Evelyn Farkas called on Joe Biden to "impose military costs" on Moscow and "use our military to roll back Russians", as Jacobin staff writer Branko Marcetic remarked in his latest op-ed for the WaPo.This bipartisan interventionist consensus is "all about maintaining the supremacy of the Western central banking system, the American petrodollar, the profits of armaments manufacturers", according to Dankof.Zelensky Realises That the West's Alarmism Harms UkraineMeanwhile, the Ukrainian leadership appears to have become weary of the US-backed hysteria, especially as the US president and NATO chief made it clear that they would not be directly involved in a potential Russo-Ukrainian standoff."There are signals even from respected leaders of states, they just say that tomorrow there will be war. This is panic - how much does it cost for our state?" Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky told a press conference on 28 January, stressing that he did not see a greater threat now than during a similar concentration of Russian troops last spring. According to Zelensky, the "destabilisation of the situation" inside Ukraine poses a far bigger threat.Speaking to the BBC earlier this month, Ukraines Security Council chief Oleksiy Danilov noted that Western allies are fuelling panic which by no means benefits Ukraine. Danilov suggested that alarmist statements made by the US and NATO leaders were prompted by domestic and geopolitical interests.

https://sputniknews.com/20211211/did-us-learn-cuban-missile-crisis-lesson-right--could-moscow-and-washington-avert-its-repetition-1091425391.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211210/insane-sociopath-or-sadist-whats-behind-us-senators-remark-about-nuke-strike-against-russia-1091418892.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220124/embassy-evacuations--european-troop-deployments-how-us-led-militarism-makes-ukraine-crisis-worse-1092485044.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220129/ukraines-dilemma-how-us--nato-are-beating-the-drums-for-a-war-they-are-unwilling-to-fight-in-1092606778.html

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China donates more COVID-19 vaccine doses to Tanzania's Zanzibar

Xinhua) 08:38, January 30, 2022

DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's Zanzibar on Friday received 200,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China.

The vaccines were handed over to the Representative of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government, Minister for Education and Vocational Training Simai Mohammed Said, by the Chinese Consul General in Zanzibar Zhang Zhisheng at the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport.

Said thanked China for the support, saying it will help to vaccinate people in the Zanzibar archipelago.

The minister urged Zanzibaris to vaccinate against the pandemic, saying the vaccines were safe after they were approved by the World Health Organization.

Zhang reaffirmed China's keenness to always stand with Zanzibaris in the fight against COVID-19.

"We will keep sharing experiences and providing assistance as per our capacity," said the Chinese diplomat.

On July 31, 2021, Tanzania's Zanzibar received a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses and syringes donated by China.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
TRIPOLI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- An official Moroccan delegation arrived here on Saturday to prepare for the reopening of the Moroccan Consulate in Libya after an eight-year closure, the Libyan Foreign Ministry announced.

"This important step comes as part of the efforts of the Government of National Unity to support mechanisms of cooperation between Morocco and Libya, and to consolidate and strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries," read a statement from the ministry.

Following a series of meetings held last year, the joint Libyan-Moroccan Consular Committee has agreed on numerous issues, including facilitating the granting of visas for the nationals of both countries and launching direct flights.

Libya has been suffering from violence and insecurity since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Years of armed conflicts have led to the closure of most foreign missions and embassies in the country. 
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/freedom-convoy-canada-truckers-ottawa-1092617757.html

'Freedom Convoy' of Canadian Truckers Reaches Ottawa to Protest Against COVID Regulations

'Freedom Convoy' of Canadian Truckers Reaches Ottawa to Protest Against COVID Regulations

Looks like traditionally polite and patient Canadians are tired of the pandemic restrictions, so people are now putting on a big show to demonstrate they are... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T12:43+0000

2022-01-30T12:43+0000

2022-01-30T12:43+0000

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An immense number of trucks, which previously forced Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to leave his home in Ottawa, has formed an immense "freedom convoy". According to the event's organisers, there are up to 50,000 vehicles forming a 70-kilometre-long column to the capital. A similar event for those who were not able to drive to Ottawa is being held in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220130/north-koreas-missile-approximately-16-times-faster-than-speed-of-sound-reports-suggest-1092620154.html

North Korea's Missile Approximately 16 Times Faster Than Speed of Sound, Reports Suggest

North Korea's Missile Approximately 16 Times Faster Than Speed of Sound, Reports Suggest

SEOUL (Sputnik) - The maximum speed of the intermediate-range ballistic missile that North Korea tested earlier on Sunday was estimated as Mach 16, or 16 times... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T12:18+0000

2022-01-30T12:18+0000

2022-01-30T12:18+0000

dprk

hypersonic

hypersonic missiles

democratic republic of north korea (dprk)

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Intelligence services of the United States and South Korea assume that the rocket is similar to the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile that North fired in November 2017, the source added.Earlier in the day, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said that Pyongyang had launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea from North Korea's Jagang Province area. The missile flew approximately 800 km (497 miles) with a maximum altitude of 2,000 km (1,243 miles).The US Indo-Pacific Command said that the launch posed no threat to the US and its allies.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220130/pentagon-hopes-to-light-a-fire-for-hypersonic-weapon-development-during-high-level-defense-meeting-1092627044.html

Pentagon Hopes to 'Light a Fire' for Hypersonic Weapon Development During High-Level Defense Meeting

Pentagon Hopes to 'Light a Fire' for Hypersonic Weapon Development During High-Level Defense Meeting

In October 2021, Gen. John Hyten, then-vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that China's military capabilities would soon surpass that of both... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T22:07+0000

2022-01-30T22:07+0000

2022-01-30T22:07+0000

us department of defense (dod)

russia

us

china

pentagon

hypersonic weapons

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As the US attempts to catch up with Russia and China's development of hypersonic weapons, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to quicken Washington's pace by hosting a high-level meeting with a number of defense industry CEOs on Thursday. The primary goal of the meeting, first reported last week by DefenseOne, is to "light a fire underneath the entire hypersonic industry" and "encourage industry to pick up the pace," according to CNN, citing two defense executives invited to attend. A virtual meeting will be chaired by US Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, and will be attended by Heidi Shyu, the under secretary of defense for research and engineering. Topics will reportedly include topics ranging from "systems engineering concepts to the manufacturing workforce."Attendees will include Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Leidos, Aerojet Rocketdyne, BAE Systems and several other big-ticket weapon-makers.The Pentagon's rare meeting with industry decision-makers also comes as an opportunity for Austin to deliver "brief framing remarks," Pahon noted. In late November, 2021, Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations, asserted that the US was significantly lagging behind Russia and China in its testing of hypersonic weapons. Hypersonic missiles travel at least five times the speed of sound (approximately 3,800 miles per hour [6116 kilometers per hour]).Meanwhile, the US Space Force is attempting to "figure out the type of satellite constellation that we need" to track hypersonic missiles, according to Thompson. He noted that both the service's approach and timeline would evolve as a result.

https://sputniknews.com/20220125/china-tests-new-engine-likely-to-power-hypersonic-aircraft-1092503244.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220130/pregnant-kiwi-journalist-barred-from-re-entering-new-zealand-offered-refuge-by-taliban-1092617029.html

Pregnant Kiwi Journalist Barred From Re-Entering New Zealand, Offered Refuge by Taliban

Pregnant Kiwi Journalist Barred From Re-Entering New Zealand, Offered Refuge by Taliban

New Zealand is one of those countries which has not only barred the entry of visitors during the pandemic, but also adopted strict rules for its own citizens... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T04:58+0000

2022-01-30T04:58+0000

2022-01-30T12:00+0000

new zealand

afghanistan

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afghanistan war

jacinda ardern

afghan war

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A pregnant New Zealand journalist, Charlotte Bellis, has said she is forced to seek refuge in Afghanistan, as her home country has denied her a Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) spot.The MIQ is a step introduced by New Zealand's government to stop the spread of the coronavirus in which entry is given via a lottery system. All individuals upon arrival are quarantined for 10 days at military-run hotels. In early January, a queue of 16,000 people was vying to book one of 1,250 available rooms.Charlotte Bellis worked for Al Jazeera in Afghanistan covering the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and returned to Qatar, Al Zareera's headquarters, in September last year. Upon returning, she realised that she was pregnant, but did not reveal it as sex before marriage and unmarried pregnancy is illegal in Qatar. Bellis, who is due to give birth to a girl in May, is currently residing in Belgium, her partner's country. Her partner, Jim Huylebroek, is a freelance photographer and a contributor to The New York Times. She has been trying to get to New Zealand, but has been unable to get an MIQ spot through the lottery system so far."I wasn't triggered by the disappointment and uncertainty, but by the breach of trust", Bellis wrote in an open letter published by The New Zealand Herald on Friday.Bellis, who cannot not overstay in Belgium as she is not a resident, said she had set up a meeting with her senior Taliban contacts as she has a visa for Afghanistan only and asked if her pregnancy would be a problem if she arrives there. She was told it would not be.The New Zealand government had previously announced plans to begin a staggered reopening of the border for vaccinated travellers in mid-February. However, with the emergence of Omicron, that plan has been pushed out, and no alternative date has been announced for when border restrictions may ease."I am writing this because I believe in transparency, and I believe that we as a country are better than this. [Prime Minister] Jacinda Ardern is better than this", Bellis added.New Zealands COVID-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins, told The New Zealand Herald that he had asked officials to check whether they had followed the proper procedures in Bellis case, which appeared at first sight to warrant further explanation.Bellis' application status on the MIQ website has changed to under review from rejected since Hipkins got involved.

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new zealand, afghanistan, taliban, afghanistan war, jacinda ardern, afghan war
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/russiagate-observers-wonder-whether-ig-horowitz-throwing-sand-into-special-counsel-durhams-gears-1092621042.html

Russiagate: Observers Wonder Whether IG Horowitz Throwing Sand Into Special Counsel Durham's Gears

Russiagate: Observers Wonder Whether IG Horowitz Throwing Sand Into Special Counsel Durham's Gears

A court filing submitted by Special Counsel John Durham on 25 January related to former Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussmann's case has prompted a debate about... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T14:10+0000

2022-01-30T14:10+0000

2022-01-30T14:10+0000

world

us

opinion

donald trump

us department of justice

hillary clinton

michael horowitz

fbi

russiagate

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According to Special Counsel Durham's latest document, his team has learned about additional materials concerning Michael Sussmann possessed by Inspector General Michael Horowitz, which the latter appears to have withheld from investigators.Sussmann is charged with lying to then-FBI General Counsel James Baker and concealing that he had conducted research into alleged Trump-Russia ties on behalf of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The Perkins Coie lawyer's case is part of the special counsel's broader probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.Mysterious Meeting Between Horowitz & SussmannDurham requested information and documents relevant to the origins of the Trump-Russia probe from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) in October of 2021. In December 2021, the OIG gave the special counsel a written forensic report about a "cyber-related matter" that Sussmann brought to the OIG's attention in early 2017 on behalf of an "anonymous client".Sussmann claimed at the time that one of his clients "had observed that a specific OIG employee's computer was 'seen publicly' in 'internet traffic' and was connecting to a Virtual Private Network in a foreign country". The "anonymous client" is an individual described in Sussmann's indictment as "Tech Executive-1". According to The Federalist, "Tech Executive-1" is Rodney Joffe, an internet entrepreneur and an internet data expert.Yet, last week Sussmann's lawyers informed the special counsel that the defendant personally met with Horowitz in March 2017 to discuss the VPN issue. After the Durham team requested additional information from the inspector general, his office confirmed that the March 2017 meeting between Horowitz and Sussmann indeed took place. Furthermore, Sussmann also met with then-General Counsel Horowitz concerning the aforementioned cyber matter. Special Counsel Durham writes that this meeting has potential relevance to Sussmann's charges.Two Forgotten FBI Cell PhonesThe special counsel has also learned that the inspector general was in possession of two FBI cellphones belonging to James Baker, the FBI official Sussmann allegedly lied to. Since learning of Horowitz's possession of these phones, the Durham team "has been working diligently to review their contents for discoverable materials", according to the document.Meanwhile, the OIG suddenly informed Durham in January 2022 that it would be "extremely burdensome, if not impossible", for the inspector general to "apply the search terms" contained in Durham's 13 October 2021 discovery request to the OIG's trove of documents concerning the Russiagate probe. While the OIG requested the Durham team's assistance in searching these materials, the special counsel's court filing notes that this is the first such issue since October 2021.New Discoveries Trigger Further QuestionsThese developments prompted many questions among conservative pundits. "It isn't known why Horowitz would have taken a personal meeting from Hillary Clinton's campaign lawyer", write Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke, co-hosts of the show "Truth Over News" on Epoch TV. They cite Bill Shipley, a former federal prosecutor, who tweeted that one cannot just "call the IG and get a meeting with him personally".No less mysterious is the "cyber matter" brought to Horowitz's attention by Sussmann, according to Cleveland: "Was there really an OIG employee connecting on a foreign VPN? Who was it? Why? Did the OIG ever find out?"At the same time, it's extremely unclear how "Tech Executive-1" could discover that the OIG employee was involved in suspicious activity, the journalist wonders. She asks whether "Tech Executive-1" was monitoring US government computers and why.In an op-ed for The Epoch Times, Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke have drawn attention to Horowitz's reviews of high-profile investigations, including the FBI's inquiry into Hillary Clinton's private email server; the FBI's probe of the Trump campaign; and related FISA warrants against Trump aide Carter Page. According to the analysts, despite significant errors on the part of the FBI in each and every case, Horowitz has repeatedly fallen short of "formally declaring fundamental wrongdoing that would have invalidated the FBI probes".The inspector general "glossed over" potential conflicts of interest, overlooked "political bias", and eventually presented the FBI probe into Donald Trump as "well predicated"  something that US Attorney Durham objected to at the time  according Carlson and Mahncke.

https://sputniknews.com/20220127/dnc-hack-hillarys-skeletons--fbis-secrets-three-possible-directions-of-durhams-probe-1092561141.html

https://sputniknews.com/20200919/phones-wiped-clean-whats-behind-robert-muellers-russia-probe-teams-mass-password-amnesia-1080506759.html

https://sputniknews.com/20191218/anti-trump-bias-elephant-in-the-room-ig-horowitz-chose-not-to-see--wall-street-analyst-1077604005.html

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2022

Ekaterina Blinova

Ekaterina Blinova

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Ekaterina Blinova

world, us, opinion, donald trump, us department of justice, hillary clinton, michael horowitz, fbi, russiagate, john durham
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/sanctions-against-russia-is-uk-playing-washingtons-puppet-or-failing-to-learn-history-lessons--1092623688.html

Sanctions Against Russia: Is UK Playing Washington's 'Puppet' or Failing to Learn History Lessons?

Sanctions Against Russia: Is UK Playing Washington's 'Puppet' or Failing to Learn History Lessons?

London remains one of the primary sources of all sorts of claims regarding the purported "Russian invasion" of Ukraine. Among the most recent ones are... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T16:56+0000

2022-01-30T16:56+0000

2022-01-30T16:56+0000

russia

sanctions

uk

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On Sunday, a new round of threats of sanctions against Russia came from UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Particularly, she warned that the government would consider legislation that would allow it to "hit a much wider variety of targets" with sanctions, mentioning "Putin's oligarchs" and "Russian companies involved in propping up the Russian state".The pretext for the bravado is unlikely to surprise anyone: it is once again Russian plans to "invade" Ukraine - the same plans that Moscow has been denying for several weeks.Given that both Russia and the West seem to agree on pursuing a diplomatic solution for the situation around Ukraine, the move by the United Kingdom to heat up the tensions with threats raises eyebrows.According to the academic, this is nothing short of being "part of a two decade long European corporatist fascist attack on Eastern Europe and Russia". The "American attack" targeting Moscow, in his view, stems from the "abysmal ignorance of Europe, the non communist political economy of modern Russia and engrained Hollywood Russophobia".However, there is also another reason for London to take such an aggressive stance against Russia, with Moscow being labelled as an external enemy needed by UK PM Boris Johnson to draw attention away from internal crises - particularly from the infamous "Partygate" scandal.There is a country, however, that seems to have taken "the most sober and rational approach", notes Atkinson, and it is Germany - it warns of the possible dangers a war could pose, also pointing at the reasons behind Russia's security concerns and the economic costs of the conflict. Aside from Germany, the academic continues, several other countries also do not appear to be eager to stand with Ukraine, among them Belarus, Poland, Hungary, and Croatia - the latter has already said it would withdraw its troops from NATO should the alliance engage in conflict.Looking back, Atkinson referred to some history lessons - particularly those from Croatia and the anti-Serb Ustasa movement.

russia

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2022

Daria Bedenko

Daria Bedenko

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en_EN

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Daria Bedenko

russia, sanctions, uk
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/scientists-call-for-legal-protection-of-antarcticas-weddell-sea-from-human-exploitation-1092612999.html

Scientists Call for Legal Protection of Antarctica's Weddell Sea From Human Exploitation

Scientists Call for Legal Protection of Antarctica's Weddell Sea From Human Exploitation

Because much of the southern section of the sea is covered by a permanent, huge ice shelf field, the Weddell Sea is nearly impassable to human exploration... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T02:30+0000

2022-01-30T02:30+0000

2022-01-30T02:30+0000

antarctica

antarctic

tech

environment

ecology

ice

sea

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

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Scientists and conservation activists, who have been campaigning for years to turn the Weddell Sea into the world's largest protected maritime area, given its total area of roughly 2.8 million square kilometers, have recently reiterated their call, Reuters reported.The development reportedly comes as countries have so far failed to reach an agreement, potentially jeopardizing this pristine habitat and unique wildlife populations, long protected by its inaccessibility and relatively steady climate, for generations to come.According to a researcher in polar ecology, Alex Borowicz, the harsh conditions of the Weddell Sea can lead to a ship crash, "like what happened to Ernest Shackleton with the Endurance."Borowicz, who is part of a team from Stony Brook University in the US, is seeking to address one of the reasons for the Marine Protected Area (MPA) designation's delayed progress: a scarcity of data on what actually lives in the Weddell Sea. He noted that the MPAs are "crucial for conserving species around the planet in the ocean."The Adelie penguins are said to be of great interest to the team. These penguins prefer colder climates, and their populations have suffered as a result of the Antarctic's rapid warming. If their populations in the Weddell Sea remain stable, it will provide more momentum for the MPA, which was first suggested by the EU in 2013.According to Carsen, the world's governments over the course of the past years have failed to establish an ocean sanctuary in the Weddell Sea. She then stressed that "this cannot be another year of delay and continued harm to penguin populations and other wildlife here in the Antarctic."Once awarded, all fishing in the area would be prohibited, according to the researchers, helping to protect animals such as penguins, blue whales, killer whales, and yet-to-be-discovered species. In the Weddell Sea, scientists reportedly uncovered a massive icefish colony with 60 million nests earlier this month. According to researchers, it is the world's largest known fish breeding region.Scientists determined earlier that the Weddell Sea possesses the purest water of any sea. And according to an AFP report upon new research published earlier this month, a massive iceberg that broke away from the continent in 2017 spilled the equivalent of 61 million Olympic-sized swimming pools of fresh water as it melted, raising concerns in the scientific community. When it parted from the Larsen ice shelf, which has warmed faster than any other region of Earth's southernmost continent, the huge iceberg was twice the size of Luxembourg in Europe. The trillion-tonne iceberg, known as A-68, reportedly wandered close to home in the frigid waters of the Weddell Sea for two years before heading north and threatening the British island of South Georgia, some 4,000 kilometers away. In the warmer zone surrounding South Georgia, the iceberg melted swiftly and had already lost a large amount of its volume by the time it reached shallower seas, according to the report.

https://sputniknews.com/20220113/tourism-and-shipping-industry-threaten-antarcticas-ecosystem-as-invasive-species-are-introduced-1092222294.html

antarctica

antarctic

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2022

Kirill Kurevlev

Kirill Kurevlev

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Kirill Kurevlev

antarctica, antarctic, tech, environment, ecology, ice, sea
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/statistics-show-more-than-50-people-are-killed-by-trains-every-year---report-1092612889.html

Statistics Show More Than 50 People Are Killed by Trains Every Year - Report

Statistics Show More Than 50 People Are Killed by Trains Every Year - Report

Statistics Shows More Than 50 People Are Killed by Trains Yearly - Report

2022-01-30T01:26+0000

2022-01-30T01:26+0000

2022-01-30T01:26+0000

train accident

us

rail incident

trains

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The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority recorded nearly 50 deaths from trains over the last eight months, the New York Post reported on Saturday.42 of them were caused by what the service calls collisions with trains, and another five incidents involved people who fell on the tracks or came into contact with the third one, which carries 625 volts of electricity.The past year saw one less incident than the same period in 2020, the data showed, but the number of suicides has increased by 60 percent (16 incidents).On 15 January a deranged homeless man shoved Michelle Go in front of a train at the Times Square station. After the deadly incident, officials led by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine called for the MTA to push forward with subway platform gates, which open when trains arrive and close when they leave. Transport authorities said in turn that the station, as well as another 344 of the subways 472 stations, is too narrow for the gates.

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2022

Alexandra Kashirina

Alexandra Kashirina

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Alexandra Kashirina

train accident, us, rail incident, trains
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/top-german-lawmaker-warns-of-dire-consequences-for-eu-of-cutting-russia-off-swift-1092618462.html

Top German Lawmaker Warns of Dire Consequences for EU of Cutting Russia Off SWIFT

Top German Lawmaker Warns of Dire Consequences for EU of Cutting Russia Off SWIFT

The idea of cutting Russia off from the biggest global bank network in the event of an invasion of Ukraine was reportedly floated by the US to inflict the... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T11:24+0000

2022-01-30T11:24+0000

2022-01-30T11:38+0000

europe

russia

china

sanctions

swift

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The leader of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, has warned about dire consequences for Europe if the US and EU go through with a plan to cut Russia off from the SWIFT system. In an interview with the German news outlet Die Welt, Merz said that such a move would, first of all, hurt the European economy.The head of the CDU, the former ruling party, noted, however, that the option of cutting Russia off from SWIFT in case of aggression against Ukraine still remains on the table.Merz's remarks echo a report by Bloomberg, which cited anonymous Western officials as saying that such an option is still being discussed. The sources, however, told Bloomberg that the harsh measure is strongly opposed by a number of European governments and it will be difficult to move forward with the idea.Germany's Reported Opposition to Russian Sanctions PressureSeveral other German news outlets also reported that Berlin is creating obstacles to negotiating tougher planned sanctions to a possible Russian "attack" on Ukraine. The newspaper Handelsblatt cited government sources as claiming that the SWIFT cut off nuclear option had already been ruled out in talks with the US.The magazine Der Spiegel, in turn, cited correspondence between the US envoy to Germany and German Foreign Ministry describing the tensions between the two countries regarding sanctions discussions. Washington reportedly slammed Berlin for being the main obstacle to negotiating tough anti-Russia sanctions.The talks about the new round of sanctions were launched under the pretext of an alleged Russian threat to Ukraine. The West claims that Russia has been gathering troops near the border with Ukraine in order to potentially attack it.The Kremlin has strongly rejected these allegations on multiple occasions and defended the nation's right to move the country's troops within its own territory as it sees fit. Moscow has also condemned the harsh rhetoric and ramping up of tensions by the West, stressing that it does not seek war with anyone, be it Ukraine or NATO member nations. Yet, the Kremlin reserved the right to respond if its territory is threatened by NATO forces constantly on the move eastward.

https://sputniknews.com/20220129/us-reportedly-plans-to-target-russian-industries-not-citizens-with-new-ukraine-related-sanctions-1092609312.html

china

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Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg

Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg

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europe, russia, china, sanctions, swift
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/uk-could-send-jets-warships-to-protect-nato-allies--boris-johnson-says-1092613827.html

UK Could Send Jets, Warships to Protect NATO Allies, Boris Johnson Says

UK Could Send Jets, Warships to Protect NATO Allies, Boris Johnson Says

UK Could Send Jets, Warships to Protect NATO Allies

2022-01-30T02:31+0000

2022-01-30T02:31+0000

2022-01-30T04:15+0000

boris johnson

nato

estonian defense forces

us-russia relations

uk

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"Fast jets, warships, and military specialists could be sent to protect NATO allies", Downing Street said in a Saturday statement, adding that the UK is "considering options to double troop numbers and send defensive weapons to Estonia".The British government said that its offer of extra military deployment to NATO comes "in the face of rising Russian aggression" and could reinforce NATO's defences and "underpin the UK's support for Nordic and Baltic partners".The West has been accusing Russia of a troop buildup near the Ukrainian border and of allegedly preparing for an invasion. Moscow has denied these accusations, pointing to NATO's military activity near the Russian border, which it deems a threat to its national security. Russia has also said it has the right to move its forces within its own territory.Downing Street said that Johnson had asked the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, to brief ministers on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday. Meanwhile, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will travel to Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia for talks this upcoming week.The United Kingdom is expected to finalise its offer of extra military deployment to NATO allies this upcoming week during talks in Brussels.According to the British government, the UK has over 900 military personnel based in Estonia. Over 100 British troops are deployed in Ukraine as part of "Operation Orbital", and a squadron of around 150 people is deployed in Poland.Earlier this week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview with El Mundo that the European Union is not unanimous about the scope of military assistance to Kiev or potential sanctions against Russia in the event of escalation around Ukraine.

https://sputniknews.com/20220129/wasted-top-4-losses-of-key-us-military-assets-in-south-china-sea-over-two-decades-of-posturing-1092583731.html

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Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

boris johnson, nato, estonian defense forces, us-russia relations, uk
WELLINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand reported 103 new community cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

Among the 103 new community infections, 56 are in the largest city Auckland, 14 in Bay of Plenty, 12 in Waikato, eight in the Lakes region, four in Northland, three in Hawke's Bay, two in Wellington, and one in Tairawhiti, MidCentral, Taranaki, and Nelson Tasman each, according to the ministry.

In addition, there are 37 new cases detected at the New Zealand border, said the ministry.

The ministry also reported one death in Auckland.

The ministry urges everyone in New Zealand to act as Omicron is circulating in the community. People are encouraged to wear a mask, keep a physical distance from each other, and use the contract tracing app when out and about. People are also encouraged to take their booster jab of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.

There are 11 COVID-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals, but no COVID-19 patient is at the intensive care unit.

The country has recorded 15,910 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 11,914 cases from the current community outbreak.

New Zealand is currently at the highest Red settings under the COVID-19 Protection Framework. At Red settings, face masks become mandatory in many indoor environments, and gatherings are limited to 100 people. 
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/uk-foreign-secretary-truss-promises-new-round-of-sanctions-against-russia-in-coming-days-1092617380.html

UK Foreign Secretary Truss Promises New Round of Sanctions Against Russia in Coming Days

UK Foreign Secretary Truss Promises New Round of Sanctions Against Russia in Coming Days

The UK government previously claimed that Moscow is planning "an invasion" of Ukraine and even seeks to install a pro-Russian puppet government in Kiev. 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T09:17+0000

2022-01-30T09:17+0000

2022-01-30T13:09+0000

russia

ukraine

sanctions

liz truss

uk

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/106549/85/1065498526_0:13:2428:1379_1920x0_80_0_0_0105edde3a5842182bdfb11be7718af9.jpg

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stated on Sunday that the government will widen the scope of sanctions targeting Russia.The foreign secretary claimed, "there will be nowhere to hide for Putin's oligarchs" and "Russian companies involved in propping up the Russian state".The draft law on toughening sanctions on Russia is expected to be presented in the UK Parliament on Monday.Prime Minister Boris Johnson also addressed the situation, calling it "increasingly concerning".Truss elaborated on the situation later in the day in an opinion piece for The Telegraph.The British media earlier suggested that the authorities have been contemplating cutting Russia off from the inter-bank system SWIFT and imposing sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline amid the escalation in Ukraine.Tensions between Moscow and London have been on the rise over the past few weeks, with the Foreign Office claiming that Russia is planning to "install a puppet government in Kiev". London even named former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as a potential leader of the "pro-Russian" government - despite him having been under Russian sanctions since 2018.Moscow has repeatedly denied allegations about any "invasion plans", adding that it does not threaten anybody and is not going to attack anyone. The Russian Foreign Ministry has stressed that speculation about "Russian aggression" is being used as a pretext to deploy more NATO troops close to the country's territory.

ukraine

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2022

Evgeny Mikhaylov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/07/1080390164_0:0:1440:1440_100x100_80_0_0_46c187f2ab0908f86849a7d09a7def57.jpg

Evgeny Mikhaylov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/07/1080390164_0:0:1440:1440_100x100_80_0_0_46c187f2ab0908f86849a7d09a7def57.jpg

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Evgeny Mikhaylov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/07/1080390164_0:0:1440:1440_100x100_80_0_0_46c187f2ab0908f86849a7d09a7def57.jpg

russia, ukraine, sanctions, liz truss, uk
https://sputniknews.com/20220130/ukraine-hungary-soros-and-cold-warriors--antony-blinkens-family-ties-1092623529.html

Ukraine, Hungary, Soros and Cold Warriors -Antony Blinkens Family Ties

Ukraine, Hungary, Soros and Cold Warriors -Antony Blinkens Family Ties

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been talking up the prospect of war between Russia and Ukraine  while keeping quiet about his family ties to the... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T22:23+0000

2022-01-30T22:23+0000

2022-01-30T22:23+0000

george soros

soviet union

open society foundations

russia

ukraine

hungary

antony blinken

us state department

european union (eu)

nato

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Antony Blinken has been beating the drum for US military support for the regime in Kyiv against Russia since US President Joe Biden appointed him secretary of state in January 2021.Confronted with Moscow's refusal to allow the US and NATO to advance one step closer to its territory, he has attempted to stall and divert attention to other issues, while repeating claims Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. Blinken previously played the part of cheerleader for US President Barack Obama's bombing of Libya in 2011 and helped mastermind the arming of religious sectarian terrorists in Syria. Such is his attachment to a neo-liberal pet geopolitical project the European Union that he risked a rift in the US-UK 'special relationship' by attacking Britain's exit from the bloc.But less well-known are his personal family links to both Ukraine and Hungary, along with the colour revolution network of NGOs bankrolled by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros.Blinken's great-grandfather was Meir Blinken, a Jewish-Ukrainian immigrant to the US who became a prolific author, writing primarily in the Yiddish language. The elder Blinken was born in Pereiaslav, the city where the Cossacks of the Ukrainian Hetmantate east of the Dneiper river voted in 1654 to become a tributary state of Moscow.Pereiaslav is part of the governorate of Poltava, where Tsar Peter the Great defeated the invading army of the Swedish king, Charles XII, in 1709. Poltava became a watchword for the fate of future invaders from western Europe, including French Emperor Napoleon Bonapartes' Grande Armee in 1812.Antony Blinken's father, Donald Blinken, is a retired career diplomat who was US ambassador to Hungary from 1994 to 1997 during the transitional period following the end of the socialist Hungarian People's Republic.The Soros ConnectionSoros' Open Society Archives (OSA), based in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, was renamed the Blinken OSA in 2015 following a large donation to its funds by Donald Blinken and his wife, Vera.The OSA's website is not bashful about celebrating the former ambassador's pivotal role in expanding NATO to the east  breaking pledges made by US secretary of state James Baker to Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 and US president Bill Clinton to his successor Boris Yeltsin in 1993 that the Western military bloc would not do so.For his repeated stoking of tensions with Moscow, the secretary of state's father was awarded Hungary's highest civilian honour and the Pentagon's Award for Distinguished Public Service.Vera Blinken was born in Hungary, but fled the country for the US in 1956 with her mother following the defeat of the attempt to overthrow the socialist state and drag Hungary out of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet-led counterweight to NATO.Cold War SpectresThe OSA is a wing of Soros' Open Society Foundations which funds NGO groups working, according to its website, toward "advancing justice, education, public health and independent media" around the world. Among its first acquisitions was the archive of the Washington-funded anti-Eastern Bloc broadcaster Radio Free Europe, now Radio Liberty. Other artifacts include political materials from subversive organisations in socialist states.It also holds the personal papers of many former Hungarian anti-communist opposition leaders and exiles, including Bela Kiraly. Kiraly was a general in the army of Hungary's fascist WWII government who fought on the eastern front, and was later given refuge in the US during the Cold War.Soros has been accused by some of masterminding the 2014 Maidan Square coup in Ukraine through a vast network of 'civil society' groups  with his eye purportedly on destabilising Russia.

https://sputniknews.com/20220129/global-soros-ngo-network-attacks-tucker-carlson-for-interview-with-hungarian-pm-1092610666.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220130/us-conducts-nuclear-weapons-use-war-games-amid-continuing-tensions-with-russia-over-ukraine-1092625158.html

US Conducts Nuclear Weapons Use War Games Amid Continuing Tensions With Russia Over Ukraine

US Conducts Nuclear Weapons Use War Games Amid Continuing Tensions With Russia Over Ukraine

As Ukraine-related tensions between the US and Russia continue, a Republican senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, recently... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T19:39+0000

2022-01-30T19:39+0000

2022-01-31T05:41+0000

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The US Strategic Command, which controls American nuclear armaments and everything related to their use (including strategic communications) has launched Global Lightning drills designed to test the branch's readiness to engage in nuclear warfare.While the war games themselves have long been planned and are routine for the force, their timing, according to reports, is hardly the best. The US is constantly expressing concerns about an alleged Russian invasion of Ukraine and contemplating retaliatory options. The last Global Lightning drills in April 2021 involved the US using nuclear weapons as deterrence in a hypothetical standoff with Russia.This year, however, Global Lightning focuses on a response to a potential nuclear conflict with China. The drill itself does not involve any nukes or even launches or bombings. Instead, the US Strategic Command checks nuclear command and control circuits, incorporates last year's innovations into previous tactics, and tests decision-making in accordance with a nuclear war plan.The latter was last updated in 2019, but the first scarce information about the changes emerged only recently via a Freedom of Information Request.New Plan, New War GamesThe new US nuclear war plan reflects a transition that NATO has been experiencing over the past few years  a shift from fighting terrorism and a return to "great power competition". The shift and the latest additions to the US nuclear arsenal reportedly had their effect on the way Washington expects a nuclear conflict to unfold.The new plan no longer relies on a doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)  something that served in the past as a significant deterrent to using nuclear weapons (and something that still does in other countries' doctrines, including Russia). Nowadays, the Pentagon expects some US forces to survive a hypothetical first strike by Russia or another nuclear state, and then subsequently recover, strike back, rinse and repeat until the enemy is defeated or there is no one left alive on Earth to fight. This new approach is being tested during this year's Global Lightning war games.America's new nuclear war plan also includes the introduction of additional conventional weapons into the US strategic force, as it grows ever more reliant on technology other than nuclear, including air defence, cyber warfare, and anti-jamming equipment. In addition to that, new "protected communication" technology was introduced into the force, so-called Family of Beyond the Line of Sight terminals (FAB-T).Like other lines of communication used by the US Strategic Command, FAB-T was developed to function even in tough conditions of nuclear war that can destroy other means of communication. Its main function is to allow the president and the top military brass to communicate with operators of their nuclear weapons, and let the latter respond. FAB-T needs to function seamlessly with other systems used by the force and hence underwent a "stress test" during the current Global Lightning drills.

https://sputniknews.com/20210804/us-navy-holds-world-spanning-large-scale-exercise-biggest-war-games-in-decades-1083520420.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220128/us-systematically-removed-trust-transparency-safeguards-preventing-nuclear-war-ignores-remainder-1092595388.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20220130/watch-thai-man-rescues-10-kg-king-cobra-with-bare-hands-1092615967.html

Watch: Thai Man Rescues 10-Kg King Cobra With Bare Hands

Watch: Thai Man Rescues 10-Kg King Cobra With Bare Hands

Cobras, the longest of all venomous snakes, can literally "stand up" if they feel threatened. One bite from them can cause cardiac arrest, as their venom... 30.01.2022, Sputnik International

2022-01-30T07:41+0000

2022-01-30T07:41+0000

2022-01-30T07:41+0000

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A viral video shared on social media from Thailand appears to show a snake catcher rescuing a humongous reptile using his bare hands.In the video, a middle-aged man tries to control a huge king cobra on a public road. The frightened cobra is then seen raising its head, trying to scare away the man.The incident reportedly took place in the southern Thai province of Krabi. The reptile, about 4.5 metres in length, weighed 10 kilograms, the Thaiger, a Thai media outlet, reported.

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Adriano Hanover toyed with the field for the first three-quarters of a mile in Buffalo Raceway's $12,300 featured pace on Saturday night (Jan. 29). But when it was time to go, boy did he go.

Driver Drew Monti gave Adriano Hanover the green light just past the final pole and used a :28.2 final split to bury the field by a throttled down 6-3/4 lengths in 1:58.1 over the good track. Paprike Blue Chip took the place spot with Endeavors Pride finishing in third.

After a minor skirmish with Silver Beast in the battle for the lead, Adriano Hanover paced out fractions of :30.4, 1:00.4 and 1:29.4. But hitting the final marker, Adriano Hanover, enjoying just a length advantage, was off like a flash and had the remaining six participants soon in surrender mode.

Owned by Rocco Stebbins and trained by Joe Skowyra, Adriano Hanover (Western Ideal-A And Gs Confusion) is a five-year-old horse that now has earned $201,582 lifetime.

In the sub-featured $10,600 Open III Trot, Schnickel Fritz was the second longest shot on the board in the compact field of five and his faithful followers were rewarded with a solid $29.00 win price. He beat Photo Bomber by 1-3/4 lengths in 2:01.4 while Warrawee Shipshape rolled in for third.



J-S Swanman took control of the top from the rail and produced an opening half of 1:01.2. Schnickel Fritz, who sat in fourth, went first over up the backstretch the final time and took the lead with a quarter mile to trot. It was all over from there as Schnickel Fritz had no serious challengers and took the convincing victory.

Owned by Michael Ohol Jr. and Steven Gross, the seven-year-old gelded Schnickel Fritz (Dontyouforgetit-The Power Of Magic) has earned $137,941 in his lifetime. Kyle Cummings was in the sulky.

Kevin Cummings finished with a driving triple while Monti and Jim McNeight Jr. each had doubles. Gerry Sarama had three training victories while Jim McNeight notched two.

Racing will continue on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. (EST) with an eight-race program slated. There will be a guaranteed pool of $3,000 in the Pick-5 which begins in the second race.

(Buffalo Raceway)
Culpeper-area Community Services administrators, hosting U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger on Thursday, showcased a new local clinic that aids people needing immediate help with substance-use disorder and mental-health needs.

The 7th Congressional District lawmaker was clearly impressed with the evidence-based, living-room-style, drop-in site next to Culpeper National Cemeterys Old Section.

The S.E.E. Recovery Center, beside the Senior Nutrition Site on U.S. Avenue, opened less than six months ago. Already, it has assisted more than 6,000 people looking for various levels of help, guidance or a sympathetic ear.

Its a peer-led center, so everything is run by somebody with shared experience, peer recovery specialist Cory Will, the centers manager, told Spanberger on her second stop of the day touring local recovery centers. Everybody in the building right now is in recovery for something.

A former Marine, Will is in recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury.

A facility like the S.E.E. centerwhere they Support, Encourage, Empower (hence its name)has been needed for a while in the area as local overdoses continue to climb and peoples mental health is taxed by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic struggles and losses.

Spanberger spent more than two hours interacting with and listening to Rappahnnock-Rapidan Community Services leaders who started and are operating the S.E.E. center. Her day in Culpeper started across town at another RRCS facilitythe Boxwood Recovery Center, a 28-day residential site for men and women off Brandy Road.

Spanberger, a Democrat who lives in Henrico County, was in Culpeper for the second time last week to promote a bill she is sponsoring that would allocate 10 percent of all federal substance-abuse block grant dollars to recovery services such as those in Culpeper.

Last Saturday, the congresswoman kicked off her re-election campaign during rallies with local Democrats at Mountain Run Winery in Culpeper and party headquarters in Orange.

On Thursdays tour, Spanberger said funding for recovery services is incredibly important because there are so many areassuch as education and treatmentwhere they are needed.

We want to make sure theres always a locked focus, she said. We can make all these investments along the way, but its the long-term recovery where the investments make all the others ones, the early investments(see) the value of it.

Living-room style

At the S.E.E. center, Spanberger oohed and aw-ed several times about its homey feeling, with dozen or so comfortable rooms for creating art, doing meditation or yoga.

Visitors can take part in group meetings, get counseling, drink coffee with friends in the Encouragement Cafe, fill out a resume, get online, or complete Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program classes.

Theres a darkened room where people can turn off the lights, lie down with eyes closed, and listen to a sound machine to decompress. Also offered is an empowerment area, a wellness office, a place to take a hot shower, a connect room for conducting Zoom calls across the services boards five counties, and family support for those on the journey to wellness and sobriety.

The centers lighting is gentle and warm, as piano music plays lightly in the background.

Spanberger said the setting alleviates peoples nervousness about walking through the door.

What I am walking into? Like, every step along the way, its a pretty relaxing  I mean I could hang out here all day, she said. Its very welcoming. Its spalike, right? Its much fancier than my living room. Theres an intentionality that I think is really interesting.

Creating that setting was very intentional, Will said.

We use the living-room model of care, so it is meant to be very relaxing, where someone can come in whether theyre borderline crisis, can find a comfortable environment and, often times, avert the crisis, he said.

Support, Encourage & Empower

Peer-recovery specialists meet people where theyre at, without judgment, Will said.

Its all about helping people explore what works for them, he said.

Myself, I did 17 years in the Marine Corps. I was forced to retire due to PTSD and a traumatic brain injury, so Ive been in recovery with that, Will added. We also have one of our supervisors whos in today, hes in recovery from a long battle with substance-abuse disorder.

The range of experiences among the peer-recovery specialists helps forge connections on a different level, the veteran said.

We know what its like, Will said.

The centers model came from a gentleman in Orange County, Thomas Pratt, a recently retired peer-support specialist and nurse with the Veterans Health Administration, said Jim LaGraffe, director of the 400-employee Community Services Board.

Pratt, once a homeless Navy veteran, created the Veterans X program, the VAs nationwide peer-recovery program based on the premise that veterans could help themselves as a team.

Pratt recently relocated back to his family farm in the area, LaGraffe said, and has joined the RRCS board. He has brought his experience to the agency, and provided a practical example for achieving recovery over time and to support, encourage and empower.

He always said that because he was a peer trainer, Will said. I said that sounds fantastic. And last year he was like, we have to name this concept if we want to make it come to life. We named it and, a few months later, it came to life.

Easy access, family support

Will returned to the Community Services, his former employer, in April 2020. Since then, he has helped facilitate local investment in peer-based recoveryfrom two part-time positions to more than 20 career positions, said Ryan Banks, director of the agencys behavioral health division. Banks had kept in touch with Will over the years, and lured him back to run the innovative recovery center.

Anybody coming through the doors generally had to go through rapid access, all these insurance requirements, she said. The peer program is outside of that. So at any point in time, they can meet us here for services. And if they need a higher-level care, the peers will support them getting that inside and outside of the agency.

In the empowerment area, a family support partner interacted via Zoom with a parent from the Fauquier area when Spanberger dropped in. The mom of an adult child with mental health challenges living in coordinated care told the congresswoman how wonderful the outreach from SEE Recovery Center had been.

Since we have been included and family members in the program and support its really made a difference in his recovery and ours because its hard to have a child who has mental health challenges, especially now with COVID, the woman told Spanberger via a big screen. Any kind of help you can give towards these grants, whatever keeps these things going, its unbelievable how hard that is.

An RRCS psychological rehabilitation program formerly occupied the peer-recovery site, but it was not financially viable and participation was low, Banks said.

It was an existing program that we decided to pivot and change to a different model we thought was going to be more accessible, she said.

As Thursdays tour group moved into the centers main living-room area, Will pointed out Ping Pong tables, darts and a cornhole board they use to host family game nights as well as the Encouragement Cafe, the venue for the centers most popular group meeting, Coffee & Conversation. His golden-colored service and support dog, from Paws for People, joined him.

The staff members who created the SEE center had the vision and knew that this was going to be something good, Banks said. And we were right, but we didnt realize how fast it going to do what it did, she said.

Keep them alive

The RRCS crew is focused on reducing stigma, increasing access to services, and keeping people alive.

The new center has already diverted at least one person from a hospital emergency room who was nearing the point of crisis, Banks recounted. The person needed a community connection.

The center doesnt have hard data on how many more people it has kept out of ER, but we know it to be true, Banks said.

Theres no going through hoops to access the S.E.E. Recovery Centerno cost, no paperwork, just a persons name and reason for visiting.

RRCS tried to maintain that integrity and that ease of access, Banks said. The center is for people who dont have a computer or just need a human connection, Will said. It provides preventative care, Spanberger noted.

As another preventative measure, the SEE center and other RRCS facilities in Culpeper, Fauquier, Orange, Madison and Rappahannock for the past month have been distributing free, harm-reduction kits containing Narcan, fentanyl testing strips, first-aid kits, sterilization items, instructions and a list of resources in English and Spanish.

Its all designed to try and keep people alive and well, LaGraffe said.

Development of the kits came about in part due to a Star-Exponent article last year that report 15 overdose deaths in Culpeper in the first half of 2021, the RRCS director said.

What are we doing? This is one of the things, LaGraffe said.

In all of 2021, Culpeper had 158 documented overdoses33 fatalaccording to the regional drug task force

If we can keep them alive long enough to say, Hey, I need help, thats the goal, Will said. It was on my five-year plan when I first started. The fact that we got it in a year boggles my mind.

Wow, thats amazing, Spanberger replied.

The RRCS staff agrees, and seems dedicated to continuing the journey alongside its clients.

Pick up Tuesdays Star-Exponent to read more about the first stop in the congresswomans tour Thursday of Culpeper recovery centers, which was Boxwood, originally located along U.S. 29 in legendary local entrepreneur Ruby Becks old restaurant and motel.

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Two things about the life and death of Pfc. Glenn Campbell have amazed his nephew, David Sims of Austin, Texas.

That a letter Campbell wrote in 1945 would seemingly fall out of the sky and land in Sims lap 77 years later has been almost as incredible as three generations of the same family caring for his uncles grave since 1946.

Growing up, Sims said his mother and grandmother didnt talk much about the loss of Campbell, probably because it was too painful for them. Sims tried to find out more as he got older, but never knew until this century that his uncles grave had been adopted by a family in the Netherlands.

In the early 2000s, his mother, Dortha, got a call out of the blue. A man in the Netherlands was seeking information about relatives of a soldier buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.

Thinking it was a scam, she passed the info along to Sims, who decided to reach out to Robin Huijnen. Sims learned the Dutchman is the third generation of his family to voluntarily put flowers and flags on Campbells grave since the year after the war ended.

Sims asked his mother about it and was even more shocked when she pulled out a box of letters written in the late 40s between the Campbells and Huijnens.

Marie Huijnen, Robins grandmother, formally adopted the grave. A letter from the Civilian Committee Margraten to the Campbell family in July 1946 explained the arrangement.

There are absolutely no expenses, it stated about the grave, which would be maintained by the cemetery but regularly decorated by the volunteers. We want to show you our undying gratitude.

Marie Huijnen exchanged letters with Glenn Campbells mother, who was so grateful her son wasnt being forgotten that she sent the Huijnens various items they couldnt find overseas.

Sims thought the care packages sent in those days were just random items, but there was an effort called the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe, or CARE, that arranged the packages. Americans were encouraged to spend $10which equates to about $143 todayand select from a variety of CARE packages.

The standard box included 7 pounds of flour, 3 pounds of meat, 2 pounds of shortening, sugar, whole milk powder, chocolate, fruit, egg powder and soap. There were others filled with sewing materials, nursery items or baby food.

At that time in Europe, it was just terrible, Sims said. You couldnt get anything. In some ways, those years after the war were as hard as during the war.

Sims mother and grandmother wrote to the Huijnens for a while, then the correspondencelike the letter between Campbell and Viola Grossoseemed to fall off the map. For about 50 years, there was no contact until Robin Huijnen talked to David Sims.

But even in the decades when the families didnt communicate, a Huijnen dutifully visited Campbells gravesite on holidays. The dedication amazed Sims, who later visited the Netherlands with his mother before her death in 2014 and met the caretakers of his uncles grave.

Its just hard to describe, the appreciation from the Dutch people and the French as well, everyone who was in occupied territory. It is incredible, Sims said. We cant even begin to know what it was like for them during the occupation.

Justin LeHew, a retired Marine who operates History Flight, a nonprofit that locates remains of servicemembers overseas and brings them home, has noted the same kind of dedication and gratitude in online genealogy sites.

Most of these people have open arms and they love the American soldier or Marine or whoever for what they did for them in the 1940s, he said.
Its no secret that the coronavirus pandemic heavily affected schools and disrupted the learning process. Now, there is additional data that seems to highlight COVID-19s effect on education.

According to a recent analysis by Chalkbeat, high school graduation rates dipped in at least 20 states for the 2021 graduation year  the first full school year after the pandemic began. Nebraska was not one of them.

NEBRASKA AND ITS NEIGHBORS

While many states saw a small decline from 2020 to 2021  most under or around one percentage point  Nebraska saw the slightest of increases at 0.05 of a percentage point. Neighboring states of Colorado, Kansas and South Dakota all declined by 0.2, 0.2 and 1.3 percentage points, respectively, during this time period. Wyoming increased alongside Nebraska by 0.3.

However, upon closer examination of graduation rates in Nebraska, the state clearly did not go untouched by the havoc COVID wreaked upon education.

The state of Nebraska actually had graduation rates trending downward for the three years prior to the 2021 graduation year, during which time all other neighboring states had either the same or increasing rates. Whats more, the increase from 2020 to 2021 was so small that its still almost a full percentage point lower than the pre-pandemic rate of 88.4% in 2019.

A LOOK AT THE PANHANDLE

This pattern is quite similar among Panhandle school districts. Of the 12 Panhandle schools analyzed for this article, eight of them saw an increase in graduation rates from 2020 to 2021; however, only four increased from 2019 to 2020, meaning the other eight dipped during the beginning of the pandemic.

We saw the graduation rate actually decline across the state. We were not impervious to that, Scottsbluff High School Principal Justin Shaddick said. Theres a lot of attributing factors to that  the shutdown and the pandemic and then the remote learning year that followed for those that took that remote learning option. (That) made it very challenging to get students and families engaged in the educational process.

Scottsbluffs decline from 2019 to 2020 was joined by Gering, Sidney, Bridgeport, Bayard, Minatare, Morrill and Kimball. However, Scottsbluff was one of the few Panhandle school districts that continued to see a decline the following year. Scottsbluffs graduation rates fell by 2.4 percentage points from 2019 to 2020 and 3.4 points from 2020 to 2021.

The only other schools to decline from 2020 to 2021 were Minatare, Chadron and Bridgeport. Still, two of the eight districts increased in that time, Gering and Sidney, did not reach or exceed their pre-pandemic rates. Sidneys 2021 graduation rate was still 6.2 percentage points lower than its 2019 rate, and Gerings 2021 rate was 3.1 percentage points lower than its 2019 rate.

COMPARING RATES TO EASTERN NEBRASKA

This data, along with analysis of graduation rates from some of the larger districts on the eastern side of the state, seem to suggest that generally the larger districts in the state felt the effects of the pandemic more strongly.

Of the eight eastern districts analyzed for this article, five of them had rates fall from 2019 to 2020. Six of them fell from 2020 to 2021. Millard dropped the farthest of the six, falling two whole percentage points, while Omaha fell the most the year prior, dropping by 3.2 percentage points from 2019 to 2020.

Omaha did manage to increase its rates the following year, but much like Gering, the 2021 graduation rate was still 2.5 percentage points behind the 2019 rate.

Despite the fallen rates, however, Gering Superintendent Nicole Regan remains positive about the past rates and optimistic for the future ones. Even though she wasnt with the school district during the height of the pandemic  she was with Lincoln Public Schools before coming to Gering this fall  Regan said she was impressed by how the district managed in that time.

(The graduation rate) does reflect the health of the district, and to me having 87% is a good (rate) for what we were going through, she said. I was really proud of that.

ADDRESSING THE DECLINE

Still, it didnt mean the district wasnt going to keep pushing for improvement to close the learning gap and bump up that rate again.

We started this conversation right away when I was here in July, Regan said, and weve been making marked improvements of addressing these needs. And, graduation rate was a top priority for the district office; that was important. We wanted to make sure that we were serving kids.

For Scottsbluff, those improvements to address learning loss include tutoring after school, additional intervention classes and summer school, Shaddick said. He added that the pandemic taught the district just how important in person attendance is  and how it relates to graduation rates  which is why the district ran a campaign during the fall semester to stress the importance of attendance.

That is one of our biggest challenges here at Scottsbluff High School is attendance, and we ran a campaign through our school district, he said. If students are here, (then) we just have that much better of a chance of getting them through and providing the education they need to graduate.  I just cant emphasize enough how important attendance is in making sure students get to school when they can and theyre healthy.

Gering community engagement director Jennifer Sibal agreed that attendance is a huge part in making sure students can graduate on time.

We know in person learning is the strongest  youre developing relationships; youre experiencing and learning what some of the unique needs are that may be there for students from the entire student perspective, not just an academic perspective. Are there other things that are barriers to just having a good strong learning experience that day? she said. So, being in person, having students in school more consistently this year, I think is also going to be a big part of this.

Gering has also been addressing learning loss through after school and weekend tutoring, as well as new intervention programs targeting the students with the greatest need to have those graduation requirements, so meeting them where theyre at, and getting them to that point, Regan said.

MOVING FORWARD

Both Gering and Scottsbluff districts are optimistic about this years rates, but they acknowledge they, along with all school districts across the country, still have a lot to do to close that learning loss gap created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

I do think we are going to feel the effects of the pandemic and the shutdown for a period of time, Shaddick said, and thats what were trying to work through right now is (figuring) out those areas that we can improve upon and keep our students engaged.

I do think that we will work our way through this, and these rates will rise. But, this impacted freshmen through seniors, and its going to take some time as we work through those cohorts and we try to recoup some of those credits that were lost, as well as just learning loss in general. Its just going to take time to work through, and we just have to stay optimistic and keep working as hard as we can.

This story contains reporting by Chalkbeat and the Associated Press.

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LINCOLN  Applications are now being accepted for the NE Chambers Leadership Nebraska  the statewide leadership program that prepares Nebraskans who want to play a key role in helping their community and state thrive.

Applications must be received in the NE Chamber office on or before April 15, 2022. Applications can be completed online and submitted, e-mailed or mailed.

Leadership Nebraska is beginning its fourteenth year of developing informed leaders who wish to gain more in-depth knowledge about Nebraska issues, define the problems, develop solutions and achieve positions of higher responsibility. Those who participate in this unique leadership program are selected from different regions of the state. They possess varied backgrounds and diverse talents. Participants should have demonstrated community and professional leadership experiences and should have an abiding interest in Nebraska and its future.

The year-long program consists of six sessions, each of which lasts two and a half days. The sessions cover a broad range of key Nebraska issues  such as economic development, health care, education, agriculture, government and policy.

The depth chart of strong leaders in our communities and state is a key factor in Nebraskas ability to compete and win in the race for talent, new residents, new employers and even new markets, said Bryan Slone, president of the NE Chamber. Leadership Nebraska truly helps develop and connect our next generation of great leaders.

Leadership Nebraskas next class will begin with an orientation retreat in June at Lied Lodge in Nebraska City. Other sessions will be held in August, September, October, November and January. A commencement ceremony will be held in Lincoln in February 2023. The application form and all session dates are posted at www.leadershipnebraska.com.

Tuition for the 2022-2023 class is $3,500, which includes all meals and lodging. Individuals not sponsored by an organization or employer may be eligible for a scholarship, based on financial need. For more information, please contact Leadership Nebraskas executive director, Roberta Pinkerton, at the NE Chamber, 402-480-6918.

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SCOTTSBLUFF - Blood donation is a gift that may save a life.

During National Blood Donor Month in January, the West Nebraska Blood Center is encouraging past donors to come in again and those who havent donated in the past to begin giving. Before donating, prospective donors need to have been symptom-free of COVID-19 for the past 10 days.

In order to save lives, we must have blood on the shelf and ready for transfusion. Blood donation is a free gift that only takes a little bit of your time, but it is a critical resource for patients in need, said Katie Gasseling, MLS (ASCP), clinical laboratory supervisor.

Donating blood or platelets is a simple, safe, and easy process. Donors must be in good health, be 16 years of age or older, and weigh more than 115 pounds. A healthy donor can donate blood every 56 days.

Transfusion of blood and blood products helps save millions of lives every year. It can help patients suffering from life-threatening conditions live longer and with a higher quality of life and supports complex medical and surgical procedures. It can have an essential, life-saving role during the emergency response to man-made and natural disasters or be critical in maternal and childcare situations.

Blood drawn at the West Nebraska Blood Center stays in the region, with blood supplies going to Regional West Medical Center and other hospitals throughout the Nebraska panhandle. New and returning donors are encouraged to donate blood and check out the new facility at 313 West 38th Street in Scottsbluff, just west of Regional Wests main campus.

Walk-ins to donate blood are accepted, but appointments are preferred. West Nebraska Blood Center is open Monday through Wednesday, as well as Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For the current weeks blood drive schedule or to make an appointment, call 308-630-2477. Donors will receive a cookie and juice once their donation is complete.

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Police in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir Sunday said five militants were killed in two separate overnight gunfights in the region.

The gunfights broke out in Pulwama and Budgam districts, located south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

According to police officials, both gunfights occurred after government forces cordoned off the villages in the twin districts Saturday evening on intelligence tips suggesting the presence of the militants.

The gunfights were suspended during the night and resumed Sunday morning, the police said.

The first gunfight took place at Naira village of Pulwama district and then another gunfight broke out at Chrar-i-Sharief village of Budgam district, a police official said. "In both places, a total of five militants were killed. Four militants were killed in Pulwama and one was killed in Budgam."

The police said government forces have not suffered any damage in the stand-off.

On Saturday evening, police said the militants shot dead a policeman in Anantnag district.

A guerilla war has been going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989. However, of late Indian police have been trained to fight them.

Gunfights between the two sides take place intermittently across the region.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. 
This week marked the official start of tax season. Unfortunately, tax filers everywhere can expect a frustrating process and potential lengthy delays on their returns.

The Biden administration blames a lack of IRS funding for the backlog. In reality, the IRSs problems stem from two primary issues: the slowdown in service due to pandemic telework policies and a series of Democrat programs, like Obamacare subsidies and monthly Child Tax Credit payments, which have shifted agency resources away from its core missions of tax compliance and customer service. While President Biden and congressional Democrats have proposed an additional $80 billion for the IRS, this funding would be directed to enforcement  particularly new audits of farms and small businesses, not return processing and customer service.

President Biden has also proposed using the IRS to monitor Americans spending by requiring financial institutions to share certain banking transactions  a massive overreach and abuse of government authority which would create more work for local banks and credit unions. This is especially outrageous considering the agency has a long track record of targeting taxpayers for their political views, not to mention their history of data being leaked to the press. I adamantly oppose this change and have cosponsored legislation to prohibit this violation of taxpayer privacy.

While there are certainly hardworking people at the agency, the bureaucrats running the IRS are ill-equipped to carry out the most basic functions of the agency and should not be given more control over Americans finances. In fact, as of December, the IRS was still processing some 6.7 million individual returns from the previous year. This is an unacceptable backlog that must be addressed.

The IRSs failures have been well-documented for many years and  in addition to supporting lower taxes for Nebraskans  I have worked to reform the agency and bring some commonsense to the filing process. I supported the Taxpayer First Act, a bill spearheaded by the House Ways and Means Committee and signed by President Trump in July 2019. This law, which takes effect this tax season, gives more taxpayers access to electronic W-2s. The IRS encourages electronic filing to help prevent potential delays, and the Taxpayer First Act helps ensure tax filers have more convenient options to access the documentation they need.

While measures like the Taxpayer First Act are a step in the right direction, more must be done to reform and hold the agency accountable. For example, the IRS recently mailed millions of letters to families regarding their advanced Child Tax Credit; letters these families will need to file their taxes. Earlier this week, the agency shared that some of the letters are incorrect  though they cant say for sure how many. Submitting incorrect information in your tax filing could lead to long processing delays, and it is unacceptable the IRS has already made such a massive error that could impact millions of families.

Certain people who earn money through ridesharing, meal delivery and marketplace platforms will also face new and burdensome requirements this tax season due to changes made in the stimulus bill Democrats passed last spring. Previously, certain businesses were required to provide 1099-K forms to sellers or contractors who earned $20,000, or if the business facilitated 200 or more transactions. The stimulus bill lowered that threshold to just $600, meaning more paperwork and potential audit nightmares for many of these independent contractors.

Unfortunately, President Biden has no plan to reform the IRS to make sure it is serving taxpayers. The IRS should be working overtime to ensure tax filers are receiving the kind of customer service they deserve, but instead theyre more concerned with squeezing every penny out of hardworking Americans. This is why I am a strong proponent for reforms that will bring the IRS into the 21st century and protect American taxpayers.

As we head into what is sure to be a difficult tax season, Nebraskans who reside in the 3rd Congressional District can always contact me for assistance if they do not receive a timely answer from a federal agency. Visit adriansmith.house.gov or call 308-384-3900 for more information on how my office can help.
Miss Floyd County Fair 2021, Meriden Roberts, was a semi-finalist at the Miss Virginia Association of Fairs Scholarship Pageant in Williamsburg on Jan. 8, placing in the top 11 of 23 contestants and receiving the pageants Photogenic Award.

Roberts is a Galax native who studies Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech.

The Miss Floyd County Fair Pageant has been hosted at the Floyd Family Campground (formerly Chantilly Farm) since 2016 as an offshoot of the Floyd Livestock and County Fair and an official preliminary to the annual Miss VAF Pageant.

Title winners of both the Floyd pageant and the statewide pageant are chosen by a panel of judges based on contestant interviews, submitted essays, general presentation (gowns are involved) and a 30-second platform speech highlighting their community focus. Winners receive scholarship prize money.

The purpose of the Floyd pageant is to build a variety of strengths in each participant and highlight good.

Community service is always a component of the participants platforms, said Dee Dannewitz Wallace, who directs the local pageant, along with past Miss Floyd County Fair winners Kelsi Sapp Miller and JoAnna Faye Wilson.

Twenty-year-old Roberts called her platform Bent but not Broken, a reference to her challenges dealing with scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine.

When I was 14, I was diagnosed with scoliosis, Roberts said. It affected my shoulders, my hips and ribs and how I looked. I went through battles with my body. I was pretty self-conscious and beat myself up about it.

Roberts, who competed at the VAF state pageant as Miss Carroll County Fair in 2019, wanted to use what she had learned through personal experience to encourage other young women in Virginia to practice body positivity.

In the summer of 2020 Roberts had surgery to correct her curved spine. With seven pounds of metal put into her spine, she gained three inches in height. Her recovery was challenging but in the end the surgery was worth it.

I feel great now, she said.

Following the state pageant, Roberts posted her congratulations on Facebook to Miss VAF title winner Torie Shifflett of Franklin County, Our new Miss VAF 2022 is so deserving and truly embodies what this organization is all about.

She spoke of all the incredible women she met and thanked supportive family and pageant directors, adding an extra shout-out to Floyd, I hope I made you proud, Floyd County, and one to her mom for being my number one fan and pushing me to be the best version of myself.

Speaking about her role as Miss County Fair 2021, Roberts said that being a good representative and a good role model were her most important goals. She made appearances at county parades and mingled with crowds at the Floyd Livestock and County Fair in September 2021.

Its given me a lot of communication and inter-personal skills, Roberts said about her participation in the pageants. She described how the pageant experiences have made her want to be a better person and role model going forward in life. I have a county behind me, and I know there are little kids looking up to me.

Shes been a very humble person and very interested in the people of Floyd County, said Wallace. I felt she had a really good message. Its unfortunate that (because of COVID-19) she wasnt able to get around more in-person to get that good message out.

Wallace noted the 2020 pageants were canceled, the 2021 Floyd pageant was conducted virtually and the VAF state pageant was in-person, although attendance was not that of pre-pandemic numbers.

Meetings are being scheduled to make plans for the Floyd County Fair Pageant 2022. Miss Floyd County Fair 2018 and pageant co-director JoAnna Wilson suggested we all stay tuned.

The Miss Floyd County Fair pageant has grown tremendously over the past three years, and we are extremely proud of that, she said. We hope to expand, bringing more girls in from the surrounding areas, to compete and see the beauty that Floyd County has to offer.
Weyerhaeuser Company reported during an earnings call Friday that they recorded a record high revenue in 2021.

The major timber company had net earnings of $2.6 billion over the course of the year, more than three times higher than the $797 million in earnings from 2020. Those sales and earnings resulted in total earnings before interest and taxes of $4.1 billion, which was another record for the company.

Weyerhaeuser CEO Devin Stockfish partially credited the success to the company's wood products division and recent timberland transactions in Washington and Alabama.

Net sales were consistently high throughout all four quarters of the year, though the company's net earnings were higher during the first half of 2021 than the back half. The company said it expected earnings to increase in many areas during the first quarter of 2022.

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Capitol Dispatch is a weekly politics feature focusing on the actions of our local representatives during the 2022 legislative session. It will run every Sunday during the session.

Jan. 28 marked 700 days since Gov. Jay Inslee first declared a COVID-19 state of emergency for Washington.

It also was the date for a busy, contentious hearing about reining in the governors emergency powers in the Senate State Government and Elections Committee. Inslee was in attendance for a portion of the committee hearing, to testify in favor of a bill that would criminalize politicians who lie about election results.

Sen. Jeff Wilson, the ranking Republican member of the committee, said the combination of topics discussed Friday may have set records for public comment during a legislative committee meeting. More than 5,400 people signed in to provide an opinion on the bills and 157 people asked to give public comment.

Wilson said he was glad to see an emergency power reform bill make it this far but was disappointed the committee timeline did not allow every commenter to speak.

We in Olympia must recognize this is an obvious sign that we need to accommodate people to be heard, not ask them to speak on command, Wilson said.

The emergency power reform proposed in Senate Bill 5909 would allow a governors emergency declaration to end after 90 days if all four party leaders in the Legislature agree to do so. Outside of that proposal, the only way for emergency declarations to end is a decision by the governor.

A different plan to limit emergency powers will have a hearing in the House State Government and Tribal Relations Committee on Monday. House Bill 1772 would place tighter limits on emergency powers.

Under the House bill, emergency orders would automatically end after 60 days unless they are re-authorized by either the Legislature or the four legislative leaders. A state of emergency about the same topic could not be put back in place without legislative approval.

The governor is looking from a statewide perspective. We look at things from a smaller area and understand the unique needs and circumstances of those we represent, Rep. Ed Orcutt said.

District 19 Rep. Jim Walsh is the assistant ranking minority member on the House committee that will hear the bill Monday.

Whether a version of gubernatorial power reform makes it through committee for a vote, it appears unlikely to cause any immediate change in the current state of emergency around COVID. Washington has seen a record-shattering spike in the average number of people testing positive for COVID since mid-December. The seven-day rate for hospitalizations in Washington also has reached a new high.

Election lies and reforms also on the docket

Inslee did not stay to comment about the emergency powers bill. He led off the committee hearing by talking about Senate Bill 5843.

The bill would make it a gross misdemeanor for an elected official or political candidate to make false claims about election results or the electoral process. The claims would need to be knowingly false and provocative enough they incite imminent lawless action.

Inslee argued the measure would protect most free speech around elections, but that recent history showed the dangers of unchecked false claims. Inslee referenced the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol and the group that stormed the grounds of the governors executive mansion at the same time.

These represent the here and now, and they are the harbingers of what will come forward if we do not act, Inslee said. A democracy that does not have the broad acceptance of its people is a house of sand.

Catherine Ross, a professor of law at George Washington University and a First Amendment scholar, testified in favor of the bill. Much of the other public comment opposed the bill, saying there were times when there could be legitimate reasons to dispute election results.

A less-heralded bill about elections was up for discussion at the same hearing. Proposed by Sen. Jeff Wilson, Senate Bill 5650 would require the voters pamphlets mailed to Washington residents include information about any actions that would violate state election law.

I think its high time that we insert an educational reminder to our Washington voters that we take voting so seriously, that we have a consequence if you try to manipulate or cheat the system, Wilson said.

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Access to an isolated through street off Industrial Way is set to permanently close Monday to prevent illegal dumping and save thousands of dollars in annual Longview and county clean-up expenses.

A gate will permanently block drivers from Memorial Park Drive off Industrial Way at 9 a.m. Monday to stop people from offloading garbage in the area  a longtime problem, officials say.

Drivers still will be able to reach the road from 38th Avenue near GT Metals & Salvage, but entering the more isolated section on the western end will be blocked. Businesses or residents who need the entrance opened can call 360-442-5200, the city number listed on the gate.

Clean-up expenses

Memorial Park Drive is a roughly 1.5-mile long road northwest of downtown Longview. While the eastern end is dotted with businesses and residences, the first roughly half-mile off Industrial Way is an isolated road surrounded by trees and a Columbia River slough.

Longview Public Works Manager Chris Collins said the remoteness creates a hotspot for illegal activity.

Theres low traffic, its a beat-up road, he said. Thats why people dump out there.

Drywall fragments, rotting Christmas trees, a car bumper and an Oriental rug littered the road Thursday.

But that is a light day, Collins said. His department regularly has cleared garbage from the site for the last decade  sometimes weekly  using front-end loaders and dump trucks.

Both Collins and Cowlitz County Public Works Director Mike Moss said their respective municipalities spend several thousands of dollars hauling several tons of garbage from the road to the transfer station every year.

Moss said the city has floated the road closure idea to the county since October 2020, and his department would participate if businesses and residents arent negatively affected. Collins said Longview City Manager Kurt Sacha approved the closure.

The price to throw away

Washingtonians can face hundreds to thousands of dollars in fines for throwing garbage away outside designated dumpsters or transfer stations and onto streets, land or bodies of water.

Illegal dumping grounds can also attract disease-carrying rodents and insects, says the United States Environmental Protection Agency. People are more susceptible of being cut on sharp objects and debris-clogged drains can cause flooding.

But deterrents like individual fines, health damage or lower property values dont always prevent dumping. The EPA characterizes typical illegal dumpers as low-income renters, with less ability to pay for proper trash removal and fewer roots in the community to ensure its upkeep.

Ariona, who does not legally have a last name, has similar theories. She manages the states litter pick-up program for teens in southwest Washington called Ecology Youth Corps.

In a more rural area, where there are perhaps people with financial problems who dont want to pay too much, they might go to pullouts or the forest, she said.

A representative from the transfer station that serves Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties, Waste Control, did not respond to a phone message to confirm pricing of most disposals, but the company website does list pricing for tire disposals by the ton.

To throw away 10 or less passenger truck tires, people are charged $51.02 per ton plus $1.25 per tire without rims and $4.25 per tire with rims. Disposing of more than 10 tires of any size with the rims on or off costs $119.76 per ton, states the website. Commercial tires are not accepted.

Thursday, a roughly 20-inch tall tire was wedged under foliage off Memorial Park Drive.

While some may not be able to afford disposal fees, others may just be apathetic. Ariona said the culture of counties she works with have varying degrees of environmental ethics to protect the nature around them, particularly when the garbage is not in their backyard.

People might not care as much, she said. They just roll down their window and throw it out.

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Plaintiffs who sue governments and companies over climate change would have a higher success rate if they relied on the most recent global warming data.

The fight against global warming is rapidly moving into the courtrooms. In the past few years, in landmark cases in the Netherlands, Germany and France, courts have agreed that state and corporate entities have a duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and demanded they adopt more aggressive policies. A Dutch court, for example, ordered the government to reduce emissions to 25% below 1990s levels, forcing it to go beyond its proposed goal of 17%.

These rulings mark an encouraging shift. Over the decades, plaintiffs have brought  and lost  more than a thousand major cases accusing governments and private companies of causing specific damages through climate emissions.

One reason this dismal record may be changing is that plaintiffs are making more persuasive arguments. But they could be doing even better. According to a recent a study of arguments put forth in 73 recent or ongoing cases, plaintiffs are generally failing to use the up-to-date science capable of linking climate emissions to direct harmful consequences.

Attribution  the term scientists use to describe the evidence linking human behavior to global warming  isnt as easy as it might seem. Proving that some flood or storm damage is due to climate change, and not just a freak event of normal weather, means showing that such an event would have been much more unlikely in a world in which climate change wasn't happening. To do that, scientists have to rely on good statistical understanding of the normal climate system and weather  if warming werent happening  and make a clear distinction from what is actually happening now.

Collecting that historical data and building those scientific models has been difficult. But researchers have persisted. In 2018, a summer heat wave in northern Europe brought average temperatures more than 5C higher (9 F) than the recent historical norm. Detailed studies of this event based on available data and atmospheric modeling eventually concluded that such an event was roughly 100 times more likely than it would have been in the absence of climate change. In a realistic statistical sense, climate change caused it, as well as the damage following from it, which included many hundreds of excess deaths caused by extreme temperatures in Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

The science for making such causal links has matured in the past decade due to concerted efforts of groups such as the World Weather Attribution organization, created by scientists who have developed exhaustive methods for determining which events are and arent good candidates for realistic attribution. Its unfortunate that, so far, the activists bringing climate cases dont seem to be keeping up with the science.

In their study of recent cases, for example, Rupert Stuart-Smith of the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme and colleagues found that plaintiffs in nearly 75% of the cases  typically relating to damages from extreme temperatures or sea-level rise  made no effort to demonstrate a clear causal link between the damage they experienced and defendants emissions. Instead, plaintiffs mostly hoped it would be enough if the court accepted the existence of a general link between climate emissions and increased risks for extreme events.

The better alternative, these researchers argue, would be to present specific evidence to link particular damages at one time and place to defendants actions. That may seem inherently difficult, as emissions come from so many sources, but attribution has developed statistical techniques to reliably estimate the portion of damage attributable to individual emitters. And such arguments are in spirit no different from arguments courts have long accepted in other areas  for example, in cases determining partial liability for health consequences from tobacco smoke or asbestos. Such estimates see Exxon Mobil and Chevron as each having contributed more than 2% to the cumulative acidification of the oceans, with coal and cement producers in China accounting for more than 10%.

More specific arguments could make a big difference. A decade ago, a courts that rejected climate-related lawsuits suggested that legitimate links could never be made between defendants emissions and plaintiffs injuries. That view was premature. The science has decisively moved on. Now, in many cases, such links can be made with high confidence.

It's not surprising, perhaps, that legal experts haven't kept up with latest science, which is getting stronger all the time. If activists and their legal teams begin employing better science, the legal battles could soon start tipping the other way, in which case courts might drive real change on emissions policies.
Huawei said Sunday it has initiated arbitration proceedings against Sweden under the World Bank Group after the Nordic country banned the Chinese tech giant from rolling out its 5G products. "The Swedish authorities' decision to discriminate against Huawei and exclude it from the 5G rollout has significantly harmed Huawei's investment in Sweden, in breach of Sweden's international obligations," the Chinese company said in a statement to AFP.

The company had therefore "initiated arbitration proceedings" under the World Bank Group's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) "against the Kingdom of Sweden following a number of measures taken by the Swedish authorities targeting directly Huawei's investments in Sweden and excluding Huawei from the rollout of 5G network products and services in the country," Huawei added.

Huawei did not specify what damages it was seeking, but according to public broadcaster SVT, the initial sum sought was 5.2 billion Swedish kroner ($550 million, 495 million euros), but it could end up being much higher.

Following the UK in mid-2020, Sweden became the second country in Europe and the first in the EU to explicitly ban network operators from using Huawei equipment in the buildup of the infrastructure needed to run its 5G network.

Sweden also ordered Huawei to remove already installed equipment by January 1, 2025.

After an appeal from Huawei a Swedish court confirmed the decision by Sweden's Post and Telecom Authority in June 2021.

The decision strained relations between Sweden and China, with Beijing at the time warning that PTS's decision could have "consequences" for the Scandinavian country's companies in China, prompting Swedish telecom giant and Huawei competitor Ericsson to fear retaliation.
BEIJING  China has undergone history-making change since the last time it was an Olympic host in 2008: It is richer, more heavily armed and openly confrontational.

As President Xi Jinpings government prepares for Februarys Winter Olympics, it has greater leverage to exert influence abroad and resist complaints from the United States and other governments over trade, technology theft and its treatment of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chinas Muslim minorities.

The economy is three times larger today. The ruling Communist Party is using that wealth to try to become a technology power and is spending more on its military than any country other than the United States.

2008 was a turning point, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an expert on Chinese politics at Hong Kong Baptist University. That was the beginning of Chinas assertiveness.

As fireworks exploded over Beijing in August 2008, China was about to overtake Japan as the No. 2 global economy. The ruling party celebrated with the most expensive Summer Games to date.

Foreign media dubbed it Chinas coming out party, echoing the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 that symbolized Japans recovery from World War II. After three decades of keeping its head down to focus on development, Beijing was ready to emerge on the global stage as an economic and political force.

The ruling party declared its more assertive stance in 2012, the year Xi took power, in a document that called for more strategic rights, military status and a bigger global role.

Xis government sees its system of one-party dictatorship under threat and accuses Washington of trying to deny China its rightful role as a global leader. The ruling party is tightening control over society and business and using internet filters and other censorship to shut out what it deems unhealthy foreign influences. It is doing more to intimidate Taiwan, the island democracy Beijing says belongs to China.

You can see that China is forced by the United States and its allies such as Australia, Japan and Britain to do so, said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing.

Chinese leaders believe, Shi said, that they need to defend themselves on several fronts: a tariff war launched by then-President Donald Trump in 2018; curbs on access to U.S. technology; and military alliances involving Japan, Australia and other governments to counter Beijings claims to the South China Sea and other territory.

If there is a bad relationship between China and another country, it is because the other country harms China, Shi said.

In 2008, Summer Games preparations included a $43 billion makeover of the Chinese capital.

Today, Xis government is wrestling with debt, pollution and other excesses of earlier years. Its also in the midst of a marathon campaign, launched before he took power, to steer the economy to sustainable growth based on consumer spending instead of exports and investment.

As athletes and reporters arrive ahead of the Feb. 4 opening of the Winter Games, Chinese leaders face the challenge of shoring up slumping economic growth while they try to contain coronavirus outbreaks and force real estate developers, an industry that supports millions of jobs, to cut debt that Beijing worries is dangerously high.
MOSCOW, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Russia is wrapping up talks with neighboring countries -- most having U.S.-made military-grade biological laboratories -- on the transparency of biolab operations, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

It is "very difficult to understand" what those U.S.-made facilities work on, he was quoted by TASS news agency as telling the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, on Wednesday.

"We are now wrapping up talks with our neighboring countries that have these laboratories so they work in a transparent manner," he added.

One goal of the talks is to make sure that foreign military personnel will not be given access, Lavrov said, citing concern about pathogens that could potentially be used as warfare substances.

The United States, as a country with the most bio-military activities in the world, has not only bio-defense bases at home, but also more than 200 bio-laboratories overseas.

The serious lack of transparency of those facilities and their potential security risks have been a major concern of the international community. 
Joe Terrazas and his pushcart cover a lot of miles every day.

Terrazas, also known as Jose, is a familiar figure around Grand Island.

Terrazas works in conjunction with Los Hermanos, a popular restaurant at 602 W. Fourth St.

From his cart, he sells snacks that are sometimes called Mexican wheel chips. Those snacks, in the shape of a wagon wheel, are usually enjoyed with lime juice or hot sauce. Toddlers enjoy them plain, Terrazas said.

He also sells frozen treats, including a creamy snack called bolis. Popular flavors include coconut and rompope (egg nog). Also available are Fruitopia frozen bars.

Terrazas, 66, sets out each morning from Los Hermanos. During the day, he swings past schools, such as Wasmer and Lincoln Elementary, and various neighborhoods. On Sundays, he makes a stop at St. Marys Cathedral.

The frozen treats are called paletas. The Spanish term for his cart is carrito de paletas.

Sometimes, he rings a bell. In any language, that means the ice cream man is coming, signaling youngsters to ask their parents for money.

Los Hermanos is owned by brothers Augustin and Rodrigo Sanchez.

Augustin Sanchez says Terrazas has a gift for selling the street snacks.

He knows what hes doing, he knows where to go, he has the style to do it, Sanchez said.

Terrazas is good at getting peoples attention, Sanchez said.

Terrazas and Sanchez refer to the Mexican wheel chips as crackers, churros or duros. They are made with wheat, which Terrazas says is healthier than flour or corn.

The crackers, purchased from a supplier, are cooked each day at the restaurant.

A bag costs $4. The price used to be $3, but the cost of supplies, including oil and plastic bags, has risen, Sanchez said.

The frozen treats sell for $2.25 or $2.50.

Terrazas works six days a week. He and the restaurant take Mondays off.

When the Sanchez brothers took over in 2017, Los Hermanos was mostly a small grocery store. But it has evolved into more of a restaurant.

For cooking guidance, the brothers turned to their mother, who makes three-month visits from Mexico.

The Los Hermanos specialties include Tacos Tijuana, Taco La Isla, Burrito California and a surf and turf plate.

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Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. A few storms may be severe. Low 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch..

Tonight

Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. A few storms may be severe. Low 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch.
Pope Francis has called on parents of children who identify as LGBT to "accompany" them and "not hide in an attitude of condemnation."

Speaking before a general audience Wednesday, the pontiff discussed the four dreams of St. Joseph. He remarked that "God does not promise us that we will never have fear, but that, with His help, it will not be the criterion for our decisions." Francis emphasized that "Joseph experiences fear, but God guides him through it," adding: "The power of prayer brings light to dark situations."

"At this moment, I am thinking of so many people who are crushed by the weight of life and can no longer hope and pray," he said. "I am thinking, too, of parents who are facing their children's problems: children with many illnesses, children who are sick, even with permanent illnesses  how much pain is there  parents who see different sexual orientations in their children; how to deal with this and accompany their children and not hide in an attitude of condemnation."

While the pope touched upon "so many parental problems" in his remarks, his comments advising parents to "accompany" their children who identify as LGBT received particular attention. Critics saw the comments as the latest example of mixed messaging coming from the Vatican regarding the contentious topic of human sexuality.

In a 2020 documentary, the pontiff asserted that "homosexual people have a right to be in a family." In addition to suggesting that "they are children of God and have a right to a family," he appeared to express support for the creation of a "civil union law."

Upon receiving criticism, a Vatican official insisted that the pontiff's comments were "edited" and missing "necessary contextualization." According to the Vatican Secretariat of State, "Pope Francis was referring to particular state religions, certainly not the doctrine of the church, which he has reaffirmed numerous times over the years."

Last year, several months after the controversy surrounding the pope's comments about civil unions, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a statement proclaiming that "It is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage." The statement indicated that the Catholic Church cannot bless "unions between persons of the same sex" because they "exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator's plan."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which contains all the church's teachings, teaches that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered" and "under no circumstances can they be approved." The Catechism calls on those who have same-sex attraction to practice chastity just like "all the baptized."

Additionally, the Catechism maintains that individuals who are attracted to members of the same sex "must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity" and that "every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided." This wording in the Catechism is very similar to the pope's encouragement to avoid an "attitude of condemnation" when it comes to individuals who identify as LGBT.

However, another action taken by the pope last month also raised eyebrows. He wrote a letter to a Catholic nun who had previously been banned by the Vatican's Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith from doing any pastoral work related to LGBT people because her ministry and efforts to reach out to the community did not accurately portray "the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts and the objective disorder of the homosexual inclination." However, the pontiff thanked the nun for her "closeness, compassion and tenderness."

In addition to his messaging on LGBT issues, Francis' stance on the Traditional Latin Mass has also angered many Catholics. Last year, the pontiff published an apostolic letter imposing restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, which many Catholic Churches across the world continue to celebrate more than a half-century after most churches began to conduct masses in the local vernacular.

Francis cited a desire for church unity when calling on bishops who lead dioceses where Traditional Latin Masses are held to set aside locations "where the faithful adherents of these groups may gather for the eucharistic celebration (not however in the parochial churches and without the erection of new personal parishes)." In addition to implying that church facilities could no longer hold Latin masses, the guidance instructed bishops not to allow the establishment of new groups that celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.

The apostolic letter received swift backlash and more than 36,000 Catholics have signed a petition designed to "Show Pope Francis the Latin Mass will survive any suppression" in the six months since it was published. According to the Latin Mass Directory, there are currently 651 Catholic churches in the United States that celebrate at least one Traditional Latin Mass at some point during the week.

 The Christian Post
CHICAGO - After two years of pandemic stasis, crime stories and a broadly battered image, Chicago is going on the offensive, launching a guerrilla marketing campaign Monday to promote itself as a more influential world city than many realize.

Created by Chicago ad agency Energy BBDO, the pro bono Chicago Not in Chicago campaign touts a long list of homegrown creations  from the cellphone to the skyscraper  that have changed the world, but with little credit given to the city of origin.

Since its founding, Chicago has influenced the most important cities across the globe, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in an introductory video to the campaign. The high-rises, mobile phone, Ferris wheel, house music, coffee maker, soap opera and many other things were all created here in Chicago. However, only a few people know that  until now.

The campaign will live on a new website featuring quirky videos that the city hopes will be widely shared on social media. The inaugural video features a double-decker bus that descended on New York City in October to stage a tour pointing out Chicago innovations integral to the Big Apple.

In the video, the faux tour guide takes passengers past the Empire State Building and other iconic buildings, reminding them the skyscraper was invented in Chicago. Most architectural historians credit the 10-story red brick and granite Home Insurance Building, built in 1885 at the corner of La Salle and Adams streets, as the first modern skyscraper.

They next drive by the trendy Le Bain dance club where house music, born in Chicago during the 1980s, is apparently all the rage. The tour guide also mentions cellphones, which were invented by Motorola in 1973 and brought to market 10 years later with the bricklike DynaTAC. He then ticks off everything from coffee makers to softball as Chicago creations, ultimately chanting the citys name for the balance of the three-minute video as the bus rides the streets of New York.

Michael Fassnacht, president and CEO of World Business Chicago and the citys chief marketing officer since April 2020, said the campaign will produce similar videos in other cities, starting with a London tour later this year.

If you look at big cities in the world, they could not exist without Chicago, Fassnacht said. Each of them have Chicago stories in their city.

The Chicago Not in Chicago campaign will include national advertisements in newspapers and magazines, but will rely primarily on social media to spread the word, Fassnacht said. There are also plans to put a billboard in New York, he said.

While the budget is low, it is the first comprehensive branding campaign for Chicago since the pandemic hit nearly two years ago. Like many major cities, Chicago has faced a sharp decline in everything from tourism to mass transit usage as remote work, social distancing and commercial closures made it something less than a toddlin town for many.

Chicago, which welcomed nearly 61 million visitors in 2019, fell to 16 million in 2020 and was projected to attract just under 29 million last year, according to data provided by Choose Chicago, the citys official tourism arm.

The citys image as a crime capital, which dates back to the days of Al Capone, has also flared up during the pandemic  fairly or unfairly  as Chicago saw upward of 800 homicides last year, the deadliest total since 1996, according to Chicago Police Department data and other sources.

We have been facing tremendous headwinds, Fassnacht said. We are in a little bit of a downward cycle, but Im very optimistic about our recovery.

Fassnacht said the campaign will be the first step to rebuilding Chicagos image as a tourist and business destination. He cites some improving trends in hotel occupancy, transit usage and event attendance  before omicron hit in December  as signs the city is poised for a robust recovery when the pandemic wanes.

He also sees it as a morale builder for Chicagoans, and a call to action to patronize and promote the citys attractions, such as restaurants, museums and theaters.

In headier days, Chicago had more ambitious marketing campaigns, such as Chicago Epic, a 2015 national TV commercial targeting far-flung markets such as San Francisco and Denver in a bid to broaden the citys appeal as a tourist destination. The city also extended the campaign overseas, with translated versions of the spots running in China. The multimillion-dollar campaign was created by ad agency FCB Chicago, then headed up by Fassnacht.

The new campaign has simpler goals: recasting Chicago and raising awareness for the post-pandemic future.

Its like a brand, you have to be top of mind, you have to be out there, Fassnacht said. Its never too early to promote Chicago. We should promote Chicago every single day.

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CHICAGO  Gerald Berry is serving a life sentence for murder, even though he didn't kill anyone.

On Dec. 27, 2001, Berry said he and three friends drove to Country Club Hills, in Chicago's south suburbs, to case a house that they planned to burglarize later. Berry, then a certified HVAC technician, was 20 years old and married with three children. He often hung around with an older friend, Loree Scott Young, 35. Berry said sometimes Young suggested ways for them to make quick money.

After Berry, Young, and the other two men in their crew arrived at the house in Country Club Hills they realized that one of the homeowners was there, so they considered targeting other residences, according to court records. Berry said that Young still encouraged them to go through with the robbery. Young and Trumaine McClure, 18, went inside the house, while Berry waited in the getaway car and kept a lookout with 27-year-old John McGowan, according to court records.

Things quickly went south after another person who lived in the house, Torrey James, returned home. Young demanded money from the man, who drew a gun and shot Young twice. Court records state that McClure returned fire, hitting James once.

James and Young died from their injuries.

"It was just shocking," said Berry in an interview with Injustice Watch from Menard Correctional Center. "It was unbelievable because that's not what we thought was going to happen."

McClure, who shot the homeowner, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years. He was released on parole in November 2021. McGowan, the other lookout, was acquitted at trial. But Berry was charged with and convicted of both murders under the so-called felony murder rule.

The felony murder rule is a legal doctrine that allows prosecutors to bring murder charges against anyone who participates in committing certain felonies, such as robbery, burglary, or sexual assault, if a death happens during the crime. The doctrine applies even if the defendant wasn't directly responsible for the killing. Most U.S. states have felony murder laws.

Steven Drizin, co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, has represented several people accused of felony murder.

"The felony murder rule has a lot of mischief attached to it," Drizin said. "It imposes punishments that do not fit the crime for a lot of accomplices."

Last January, Illinois legislators changed the state's felony murder statute as part of the landmark criminal justice reform bill known as the SAFE-T Act, short for the Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity-Today Act. The law removed the possibility that prosecutors charge defendants with murder in cases when a third party who was not involved in the felony, such as a homeowner or a police officer, is responsible for the killing.

Advocates say the reform didn't go far enough.

If the new law had been in place in 2001, prosecutors couldn't have charged Berry for Young's murder, but he could have still faced charges for the death of James, the homeowner. Advocates want lawmakers to go further, so someone such as Berry, who didn't anticipate that violence might happen and didn't participate in the violence, could not be charged with murder.

"It's still mind-blowing that I ended up getting a mandatory life sentence," Berry said. "I'm not angry, but I know it's wrong. I'm disappointed in the system."

The SAFE-T Act also did not apply the felony murder reform retroactively. At least dozens of people are serving time in Illinois prisons on murder charges that likely wouldn't have been filed if the crime happened today, according to an Injustice Watch analysis.

The state doesn't track how many people have been charged under the felony murder doctrine because court data systems across Illinois don't specify the circumstances behind a murder charge. So Injustice Watch created a database to better understand how many people were left behind by the new reforms. (Scroll to the end of this article to read our methodology and learn more about how we made our database)

We found at least 198 people currently serving time in the Illinois Department of Corrections who were charged with felony murder, though that number is almost certainly an undercount. Our analysis also omits people who were originally charged with felony murder but pleaded guilty to lesser charges, such as manslaughter.

At least 38 of those people were charged with murder in cases in which third parties  not their co-defendants in the original felony  were responsible for the killings. Of the 38 felony murder cases that Injustice Watch identified involving a third party, a police officer was the shooter in more than half. Drizin argues that the felony murder rule "often provides cover for police officers who use deadly force when it is not justified and enables these officers to avoid being disciplined for violating their own guidelines."

If the felony murder reform had been made retroactive, many of the people charged for murders committed by third parties might have been given a chance at resentencing.

Jobi Cates, executive director and founder of the criminal justice reform group Restore Justice, which has lobbied for further changes to felony murder, said she would like to see "a wholesale reform of the statute" ensuring that it applies to old cases.

"The people who are going to get relief from this legislation have not been convicted yet  they're fictional people, they're hypothetical people," Cates said. "But when you go back and you look at the cases that are there, now you're talking about actual people."

A disproportionate impact on young people and women

Injustice Watch's data on felony murder cases, though limited, mirrors what other research has shown: Felony murder laws disproportionately impact young people of color and women.

Black men 25 years old and younger made up about 40% of those charged with felony murder, according to our analysis.

James Garbarino, a psychology professor at Loyola University of Chicago who studies child development and youth violence, said people age 25 and younger are particularly vulnerable to laws such as felony murder that punish people for being accomplices to crimes that play out in violent ways that they may not have foreseen.

Various research studies suggest that the brains of teenagers and young adults are not fully developed, making them more susceptible to peer pressure and unable to understand or anticipate the potential consequences of their actions.

Alexis Mansfield, senior advisor at the Women's Justice Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing the harm and incarceration of women, said women are also particularly vulnerable to being pressured to participate in crimes, especially survivors of domestic violence. About one-quarter of the people we identified as serving time for felony murder were women, compared with 5% of women incarcerated on murder charges in Illinois overall.

"I really think that so much of that leads back to domestic violence and histories of trauma, which make the ability to say no much more difficult," Mansfield said.

It's unclear what percentage of the women in our data are survivors of domestic violence or how many were coerced by an abuser into committing the underlying crime. But a 2019 study by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority found that practically all the women in Illinois prisons had experienced domestic violence or abuse. In Illinois, compulsion and coercion are not legal defenses for first-degree murder, Mansfield said.

Late last year, the Women's Justice Institute hosted a virtual event with 22 survivors of gender-based violence inside Logan Correctional Center, Illinois' largest women's prison. The women shared poems, monologues, and performances about their experiences. Three of the performers sat down together for a live panel and spoke about the impact that gender-based violence had on their lives.

"The mind of someone who is surviving abuse is very different than someone who is not experienced in that," said Erika Ray, 40, during the panel. "A lot of times, people that are making laws like the felony murder rule or accountability, people that are sentencing women that are survivors, they haven't walked in those shoes, so it's a little difficult for them to empathize with people who survive abuse and then are incarcerated."

During the panel, Ray said felony murder laws harm survivors and should be changed to only hold people accountable for their actions and not those of others who may commit a severe offense, such as murder.

Court records show that Ray was sentenced to 42 years in prison for the 2006 armed robbery and murder of the assistant manager of a restaurant that she used to work at. Ray said at trial that she only drove her co-defendants to the crime scene, and that, while they didn't force her to drive them, she didn't know that they had planned to rob and kill the assistant manager, who had fired her earlier that day, according to court records.

She argued in an appeal that the judge who sentenced her overlooked mitigating factors, such as her age, lack of criminal history, and experiences with physical and sexual abuse when he ordered her to serve more than four decades behind bars.

'Legislating is about the art of the possible'

Other states have gone further than Illinois to limit their felony murder statutes.

Last year, Colorado enacted a law that eliminated third-party felony murder charges and also reduced felony murder from first-degree murder to second-degree murder. That change decreased the mandatory sentence from life without the possibility of parole to a term of between 16 and 48 years in prison.

In 2018, California legislators changed the state's murder statute to focus on a defendant's intent to kill. That provision eliminated felony murder liability for co-defendants in the underlying felony who did not actively participate in the killing or act with "reckless indifference to human life." The legislation also allowed people who were still in prison on felony murder convictions that happened before the law was changed to seek resentencing under the new statute.

Last year, California state lawmakers expanded the reform's reach to people who were charged with felony murder but pleaded guilty to lesser crimes, such as manslaughter.

California State Sen. Josh Becker, who introduced the bill, said in an interview with Injustice Watch his colleagues aimed to balance between punishing people for participating in serious crimes and hitting defendants with sentences that are unreasonably long given their role in the offense.

"We're going to show that there's consequences for people who commit serious offenses, but at the same time, we want to be smart about it and make sure we're not locking people up for much longer than it's helpful for society," Becker said.

The California Assembly Appropriations Committee found that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation could save at least $56 million annually in incarceration-related costs under the new law.

In 2019, Illinois State Rep. Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago) introduced a bill that would have gone almost as far as California's bill. The bill proposed applying felony murder only to people who commited a felony with another person and "knew that the other participant would engage in conduct that would result in death or great bodily harm."

That bill died in committee, but it became the basis for changes to the felony murder rule included in the SAFE-T Act.

But by the time the law passed last January, the felony murder section had been pared down to focus only on third-party cases. Advocates said the changes happened as part of late-night negotiations with opponents of the large criminal justice reform package.

Illinois State Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago), one of the co-sponsors of the SAFE-T Act, acknowledged that the law left people previously charged with felony murder behind. He said it is difficult to make reform retroactive because of "fear mongering" from law enforcement and other special interest groups.

John Rekowski, the former chief public defender in Madison County, Illinois, who helped push for the SAFE-T Act in the legislature, said supporters of the bill were aware that they had to make concessions so opponents of the bill would not have ammunition to stop it.

"Legislating is about the art of the possible," Rekowski said.

'I just want to come home'

Peters said there are no current plans to make the felony murder changes retroactive or to broaden the reform to include more people.

If the law had been made retroactive, then Tevin Louis might have been given a chance to be resentenced for his 2012 murder conviction. Instead, he's hoping that the governor grants him freedom after eventually deciding on the clemency petition that Louis filed in 2019

"If y'all changed the rule and still got me sitting here and don't want to give me an opportunity or at least take off some of these years, you're contradicting everything," said Louis, referring to state lawmakers.

On July 7, 2012, Louis and his best friend, Marquise Sampson, both 19 years old, robbed a gyros shop on the South Side of Chicago. Chicago police officer Antonio Dicarlo ran after Sampson and shot him multiple times as the assailants fled the crime scene, according to news reports and Louis' account. News outlets reported that the officer claimed Sampson pointed a gun at him.

Louis was charged with armed robbery and his friend's murder under the felony murder rule and sentenced to 32 years in prison.

Louis said he thinks that it's unjust for him to be held responsible for the actions of the cop who killed Sampson.

"I feel like a sacrificial lamb," Louis said. "I feel like my head was chopped off, and I was served on a platter."

He's already making plans for what he'll do with his freedom, even without the guarantee that his sentence will be reduced or commuted. During his time in prison, Louis has become passionate about fitness and nutrition and wants to open a gym to help young people stay off the streets.

Berry, who is now 40, also has young people whom he wants to support. After spending half his life in prison under a felony murder conviction, he's now a grandfather of four.

Berry said a reprieve from his life sentence would help him one day realize his dream of working with community organizations and grassroots campaigns to push for criminal justice reform and help deter the youth, including young people in his family, from getting in trouble with the law.

"I just want to come home and live a viable life and help my grandchildren, so they don't go down the same path I did," Berry said.

___

This article was produced in partnership with Report for America. Emily Hoerner, Emanuella Evans, and Olivia Louthen contributed research.

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Former South Carolina State University president Dr. Andrew Hugine and his wife, Abbiegail Hugine, made a generous donation of $50,000 to establish the Abbiegail and Andrew Hugine Endowed Scholarship for students at SC State.

With this contribution, they met the $100,000 lifetime giving threshold for the Thomas E. Miller Society and will be inducted later this year. Andrew Hugine also looks forward to serving his alma mater as the speaker for the universitys 126th Founders Day program on March 5.

Because of the education we received at SC State, we have been extremely blessed. And we wanted to give back in a meaningful way, said Andrew Hugine. Our focus is on retention and completion. Many students, within two or three semesters of completing their degrees, have exhausted their financial aid and other scholarship opportunities. So, we wanted to provide gap funding to help students get across the finish line.

Andrew and Abbiegail Hugine are both 1971 SC State graduates and received their masters degrees from the university. Along with serving as president of SC State from 2003 to 2008, Andrew Hugine is also the immediate past president of Alabama A&M University.

Abbiegail Hugine is a Golden Soror and life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and Andrew Hugine is a 50-year and life member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

They are both from Green Pond, South Carolina, and currently reside in Madison, Alabama. Growing up, they valued education and are now committed to providing resources needed to further the education of future students.

We grew up in a rural area and we know that sometimes the students from those areas dont have enough resources, because their parents might not be able to afford to send them to college, said Abbiegail Hugine. We just wanted to make sure that no matter where a child grows up, that they will have an opportunity to get an education.

As dedicated alumni of SC State, they are committed to insuring that younger people coming up have the same opportunities they had. Because of the high cost of tuition today, they wanted to be able to help others pursue their educational dreams as well.

This is not for recognition that were giving. Were doing it to encourage others to give. Everyone can give. It may not be at this level, but its important that everyone contribute to the university, and when you do that, youre really contributing to helping others, said Andrew Hugine.

We pray that the students who receive the scholarship will also give back and pay it forward," said Abbiegail Hugine. "Because thats the way we continue to make sure that all children are educated and have the resources."

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Cathy Culler Hughes began her career at The Times and Democrat on Jan. 10, 1972.

And now, 50 years later, The T&Ds publisher is still enthusiastic about her job.

People ask me, When are you going to retire? Hughes said.

And I say, I dont have a calendar with that date on it yet. I dont know. Its still exciting and challenging for me. I dont want to miss anything and I love to work.

The lifelong North resident has witnessed The Times and Democrat go from strictly a printed newspaper to being more than that  its now part of a 77-enterprise company that reaches across the nation through innovative digital advertising.

Hughes is grateful for a career thats allowed her to be in the middle of an industry thats changing and innovating.

Ive never been more optimistic than today, with everything that we can do and the resources behind us, Hughes said.

We have more paid subscribers now than the year before because we have both print and digital, she said.

Hughes T&D beginnings

I dont know how many people at 17 or 18 know what they want to do for their lifes work, but I knew I was going to the University of South Carolina. I became acquainted with some of the journalism school  the dean, the faculty  and decided to major in journalism, she said.

She took a reporting class, advertising classes and worked at The T&D the summer between her sophomore and junior years.

That sealed the deal and I knew that I would continue in journalism, she said.

The 1968 North High School graduate was a student at the University of South Carolina during campus demonstrations and all of that.

It was an exciting time to be on campus, she said.

She wanted to marry her high school sweetheart, but listened to her parents, who said, You have to finish school before you get married.

Hughes wouldve worked at The T&D during the summer between her junior and senior years of college, but she decided to go to summer school so she could finish a semester early and get married.

And thats what she did. On Dec. 19, 1971, just days after graduation, she married Randy Hughes.

She started her career at The T&D less than a month later.

The first year at The T&D was full of exciting news events.

On a Sunday afternoon in October 1972, a fire burned The T&D and its press.

There are some things in life you never wanted to face, but when you did, then you say, Since it happened, Im so glad I was there and didnt miss it, Hughes said. She said the fire was such an event.

I saw what working at a newspaper meant: a team that comes together no matter the challenges or circumstances, she said.

She and co-workers salvaged what they needed to get the newspaper printed for the next days edition.

They took the pages for the next days edition to The Sumter Daily Item to be printed.

The front page, had an aerial photo of our burning building, Hughes said.

We never missed an edition, she said.

The T&D was temporarily housed first at the old Hotel Eutaw and then at the Sifley Building for several weeks following the fire. But after 30 days, a new press was installed and the newspaper was printed in Orangeburg once again.

Then in February 1973, South Carolina experienced historic snow levels.

You talk about challenges, Hughes said. Again, we never missed an edition. I cant say we got every paper delivered, but all subscribers got every paper eventually.

In September 1989, another historic weather event hit the Palmetto State: Hurricane Hugo.

Hughes had electricity at her home in North. But when she arrived at work, she discovered much of Orangeburg was without it  including The T&D.

The late Dean Livingston, who was the longtime T&D publisher then, said, What are we going to do? Weve got to find a generator.

Hughes responded, Ive got electricity. She and her co-workers gathered what they needed to assemble the next days edition and laid the pages out on a pool table in the playroom at her house.

They returned to Orangeburg where a generator was whirring along at The T&D.

The Bamberg Advertizer-Herald printed the next days paper, and again The T&D did not miss an edition, Hughes said.

While The T&D continues to serve as an award-winning newspaper, its evolved into much more than a printed medium.

Innovation and The T&D

In 2002, Lee Enterprises acquired The T&D from Howard Publications and its been on the cutting edge of technology since, Hughes explained.

And keeping in step with technology is woven into The T&Ds fabric.

Hughes said Livingston wouldve loved to have seen what was going on now with innovation at The T&D.

I owe a lot to Dean Livingston, she said. He put together a really good team here and many of us are still here.

Dean Livingston was an awesome publisher and leader of The Times and Democrat. He hired me. He was a mentor until the day he left and beyond, she said.

You talk about innovation, this newspaper was the first in the state, I believe, to go to cold type  which is not using the linotype, which was the hot metal, Hughes said. Cold type as it was called in the 1960s and 1970s, referred to photographic or computer-based typesetting.

We are so much more. We are a full-service digital enterprise  both news and advertising, Hughes said.

My focus, for the last few years, has been more in advertising, almost exclusively because we dont just advertise to The T&D Region market  Orangeburg, Bamberg, Calhoun counties  we sell advertising to appear anywhere somebody wants to reach, she said.

So were not just able to provide products in The T&D and TheTandD.com. We can sell, for example, if you have a branch in Seattle, Washington, we can make the digital advertising appear in that market, she said.

It is truly altogether different from when I started and altogether different from the early 2000s, she said.

One of the biggest challenges is for our customers to be aware of everything we can do for them to succeed, she said.

You hear us talk about supporting local journalism. That is our mission, but we are a business, Hughes said.

We have no grants, no subsidies, were not a non-profit. We are a for-profit business, but our mission is to provide information  whether thats news or whether thats advertising information  we disseminate that information in multiple ways over multiple channels, she said.

How an individual wants to receive that information is up to them, she added.

I dont care if you want to read the print paper or if you want to read it on your phone, my job is to make sure we are doing the best we can at providing that information, Hughes said.

I still hear people say, Oh, dont you hate that internet? Didnt that internet kill your business? she said.

No, it opened up so many more opportunities and The Times and Democrat  this enterprise, this business located right here in Orangeburg  is represented all over this country and well thought of, she said.

And its almost like we have to convince the people here of the job were doing.

Hughes said The T&D has established a 140-year-old brand as a newspaper among locals, but now, the newspaper is just one part of what we do.

We are a full-service, digitized company that prints a well-known, long-standing newspaper, she said.

Lee Enterprises largest newspaper is The St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch, Hughes said.

The innovators there developed a full advertising agency, Amplified, that works with all 77 enterprises within Lee.

Thats how we do our video ads, e-commerce and more, she said.

Community and The T&D

Im proud of Orangeburg. Im proud of this region. Im proud of this organization and the people here and many times I refer to The Times and Democrat as Orangeburg because Im part of a 77-newspaper organization, Hughes said.

Fifteen of the 77 newspaper enterprises across the country in Lee report to Orangeburg, Hughes said. She became a group publisher of multiple Lee Enterprises locations in 2017.

Thats really a compliment to Orangeburg and The Times and Democrat, not me. No one person can succeed by themselves in this business, she said.

Hughes is proud of the community partner The T&D is to Orangeburg and the region.

A violent tragedy shook Orangeburg on Feb. 8, 1968. Three young men  South Carolina State College students Samuel Hammond and Henry Smith and Wilkinson High School student Delano Middleton  were killed and 28 others 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.

The event became known as the Orangeburg Massacre.

Hughes recalled that, Year after year it seemed the community was debating this issue around the anniversary time and it was getting very polarized.

In 1998, on the 30th anniversary of the tragedy, Dean Livingston and I attended a series of meetings of community leaders  Black and white  and out of that came an effort of healing, Hughes said.

We set up a full page with an originally written (statement) about let us heal ourselves and how we needed to remember and recognize on every anniversary of that event, but could we try to do that as one people, not two sides? Hughes said.

Many community leaders came in and signed that statement  Black and white  and I think it made a big impact, Hughes said.

For years we ran that statement as an editorial on the anniversary. I hope it went a ways in healing this community because by 1998, it was not totally healed yet, Hughes said.

I dont think it will ever be 100% healed, but we acknowledged it was an event not to forget. We could not forget, but we needed to heal, Hughes said.

Hughes is thankful for the partnerships The T&D has with South Carolina State University, Claflin University, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, local governments, medical facilities and business organizations, and works hard to be a good community citizen.

In September 2004, The T&D led the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Orangeburgh District, culminating with a community birthday party.

Similarly, in 2006, The T&D celebrated with a community event for the newspapers 125th birthday.

On April 26, 2007, the first national debate of the Democratic presidential primaries was held at S.C. State.

We went all out, Hughes said of The T&D.

We hosted a reception for all the media, which included international media, she said.

We actually won a Lee Enterprises Presidents Award for our coverage and everything associated with that event, Hughes said.

In 2021, The T&D marked 140 years. Its only had five publishers in nearly 1-1/2 centuries.

I hope Orangeburg realizes how fortunate it is to have a daily newspaper, not how fortunate it is to have The Times and Democrat  to have a daily newspaper, Hughes said.

How would you find out credible information without journalists who have integrity and are objective and who take seriously what they do? Im proud to be associated with journalists, Hughes said.

On Hughes 50th anniversary at The T&D, the newspaper began printing the Florence Morning News.

This is a positive move for Orangeburg as it keeps that business and workforce in South Carolina and more specifically in Orangeburg, and it proves Orangeburg  The Times and Democrat  is competitive with other newspaper printing facilities, she said.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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DENMARK  A Denmark Town Council member, during the January 2022 teleconference of the January meeting moved to Tuesday after the MLK Holiday, contested the absence of information about her request for more fiscal planning with $700,000 in American Rescue Act funds by the city in December 2021 minutes.

Councilwoman Hope Long Weldon said, That was the fourth time that I asked about the American Rescue Act funds.

Weldon said she had asked four times as of last month about the council having fiscal planning for the funds and her mention of it in the December meeting was not recorded in the December minutes.

Rusty Munoz, accountant for the City of Denmark, had mentioned in the December meeting covered by The T&D that the city has received approximately $700,000 in American Rescue funds and that the city has spent $112,805.60 of the funds so far. No itemized list was available in the budget of how these funds had been spent nor was it discussed.

Weldon stated in Decembers meeting that council should have a meeting soon about how these funds are being spent. Mayor Gerald Wright said last month that they would need to get through the December and New Years holidays before meeting.

Wright said, We will plan to meet the second week in January (for a budget meeting) to discuss the American Rescue funds and their usage. It will be announced.

It will be at a consensus or a time convenient for council, he added. He stated he would confer with council either before and/or after the upcoming holidays about a good day and time.

Council, however, had not met about the American Rescue Act funds as of the Jan. 18, meeting.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Bonnie Love to approve the December minutes as written but with the necessary corrections to indicate that Weldon had asked about meeting about the American Rescue Act funds. The motion was seconded by Councilman Calvin Odom and was approved.

Weldon later asked Wright in the January meeting, It was stated  When will we have an American Rescue Act funds meeting? When do you think it will be held?

Wright said they had not decided. City Administrator Heyward Robison said, We have come up with some preliminary figures for the American Rescue Act, but they are not finalized yet. He said he will soon have some reports for the mayor and council members regarding this. No meeting date for discussion of that business was set as of Tuesday.

Robinson had stated in the December 2021 meeting that the work on renovating the old city hall building for a new police department continues.

We have advertised for a construction manager to assist in estimating the cost of renovations. The goal is to renovate without exceeding the $400,000 as provided by the Capital Sales Act, Robinson added.

Robinson said in the January 2022 meeting that they now have a construction manager to help.

We only have $400,000. We cannot do everything we want to do. A construction manager will give us some estimates and assist us, Robinson added.

Robinson said, We will put a roof on the building that will last a long time. It is an ongoing project, and we are working on it.

Councilwoman Rosa James, at a different point in the meeting, asked Police Chief Leroy Grimes about a shooting on Friday, Jan. 14. Grimes stated it was still under investigation.

Grimes said in his report that the police department had created 37 new cases, including: simple assault; assault and battery; burglary; domestic violence; vandalism of property; motor vehicle theft; trespass of real property; weapon law violations; disorderly conduct; driving under suspension; traffic collision, etc. He added that Municipal Judge James Spellman will hold court on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 10 a.m. at the Brooker Center.

Wright later said in his report, We are in the new calendar year, and we are planning the new fiscal year. We can talk informally for a while and then we will want to address things which will make Denmark better for its citizens.

The fiscal year starts months from now, but we want to start planning soon, Wright added.

In other business:

 Robinson in the absence of Munoz in the January meeting gave the financial report and stated that revenues for the city exceeded expenses by $458,000 and that the water fund is on schedule.

 Robinson gave the January fire department report and stated they had 13 fire calls. In the December meeting, Robinson had stated work on the new fire truck is continuing. The manufacturer has concerns with the supply chain and the contract has been extended by the Department of Commerce. We expect to have a completed fire truck by the end of 2022, Robinson added.

 Odom stated that the testing and vaccination event the city assisted MUSC and Family Health Centers with outside the Depot on Jan. 8 went fairly well. Odom said, It did not go as great as we expected, but it still went well. He said they had approximately 70 people there for testing. We also had between 45 to 50 people vaccinated, he said. He added that they had prizes at the event and that he hopes this will encourage more citizens to attend the next event. Odom said they plan to have another vaccination event on Saturday, Feb. 5. Contact Denmark City Hall for details.

 According to minutes from the November 2021 meeting, which The T&D did not attend, Councilwoman Bervay Carter made a motion to give second reading to adopt a revised business license ordinance in accordance with the Business License Standardization Act. The motion was seconded by Odom, the vote was unanimous and the motion passed. Carter also made a motion to give second reading on a proposal to rezone property from R-1 to R-2. The motion was seconded by Odom. This vote was also unanimous, and the motion passed.

 Also in November, there was discussion about litter and the need for cameras to be installed to catch litterers. Grimes stated the cameras were already installed.

 Laura McKenzie of Keep Bamberg Beautiful called in to the November teleconference, according to minutes, and thanked the 131 volunteers who helped pick up trash during a cleanup event throughout Bamberg County.

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After nearly two years of appeals and challenges, two Orangeburg doctors are one step closer to being able to proceed with their plans to build an ambulatory surgery facility.

The main obstacle -- the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's Certificate of Need process -- is on life support.

Orangeburg general surgeon Dr. Dion Franga and Orangeburg radiologist Dr. Amit Sanghi of Ambulatory Partners LLC want to build a one-story, $12.5 million, 16,640-square-foot facility to provide medical services to the Greater Orangeburg community. The surgery center would be located across from the Regional Medical Center.

The doctors submitted a CON in April 2020 to proceed with its plans.

A week after the doctors submitted their plans, the RMC also submitted a CON to DHEC saying that it too had plans to spend $2.4 million to convert its existing Dialysis Access Institute into an ambulatory surgery center on its St. Matthews Road campus.

Health care providers have had to go through the CON process before certain types of health care acquisitions, expansions and new facilities were allowed. The process was intended to reduce the duplication of services.

But South Carolina senators have voted 35-6 to end the requirement that health care providers go through the CON process.

"It is time we put quality health care in front of politics and quit with the senseless monopolies," Franga said in an op/ed submitted to The T&D and published Jan. 30. "It is shameful to know that in an area as underserved and diverse as Orangeburg, there are those who have used the CON process to the detriment of health care expansion in our area."

"The time will soon come that health care will no longer be restricted," Franga continued. "Raise yourself to a higher standard or allow others to deliver the care deserved by the citizens in our area."

"It is very clear that the Certificate of Need process is in need of reform in South Carolina," the RMC said in a statement released Friday. "However, a repeal of the process would be detrimental to all rural hospitals across the state."

"A complete repeal of CON would allow for-profit healthcare corporations to enter communities and deny services to low-income and indigent patients," the statement continued. "It will create an unlevel playing field between non-profit hospitals, like RMC, and for-profit corporations."

"While the Senate decision to repeal the entire process is unfortunate, we hope that the House of Representatives will protect rural healthcare providers across the state," the statement continued.

RMC declined comment on what would happen with the legal case before the Administrative Law Court, citing the matter as a legal issue.

As for the hospital's surgery center, the plans will go forward to build it.

"Currently we are implementing our surgery ASC plans," the RMC said.

Sens. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, and Vernon Stephens, D-Bowman, voted against the bill on both first and second reading. Hutto was absent for the third and final reading and Stephens' name was not on the roll call list for the third and final vote.

Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, who represents the western or upper portion of Calhoun County, voted to get rid of the CON.

Attempts to reach the three senators about the bill were unsuccessful.

Sen. Kevin Johnson, D-Clarendon, who will represent portions of eastern Orangeburg County and portions of Calhoun County due to the redrawing of the maps, voted for keeping the CON because he has heard from hospitals asking for the process to be reformed and not completely done away with.

He says many rural hospitals like the RMC and his own McLeod Health in Manning are concerned the failure to keep the CON is a risk that could hurt them resulting in possible closures.

"I wanted a compromise so the RMCs and the McLeod Healths of the world could find a happy median," he said.

He said while he is not sure exactly what reform of the CON "would look like," a concern is that the CON process can often get "tied up in litigation" and prevent hospitals from providing the care they need to provide. He is also against the CON process being used to block legitimate projects.

Johnson said as the bill works through the House, he is hoping perhaps amendments would help to bring about the compromise he would like to see.

One amendment he says is promising is the desire to place a five-year look-back on the law that will allow the bill to be revisited to see what if any impact it has had on rural hospitals in the state.

The bill has moved to the S.C. House, where it has been given first reading and referred to the Ways and Means Committee. The bill still needs to pass the House before going to the governor for his signature.

Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, said he has not made a final decision on how he will vote on the matter. He would like to hear the debate on the House floor and he would like information from both Orangeburg and Calhoun counties, who own the hospital, as to their insights.

"I do have some major concerns," Govan said. "I don't think anybody has fully answered the question of how it will impact the Regional Medical Center and the quality of health care in the area. I think those two factors are key if we are going to talk about dealing with the elimination of the CON."

Govan said when the CON was put in place, it was to provide a "level of transparency" and was to ensure there was "quality control when it comes to the provision of health care services and facilities."

He said time has perhaps changed some of the original intentions of the CON but, "I am not totally convinced we need to throw the baby out with the bath water in terms of getting rid of it."

"We don't want to undercut the hospital but at the same time you want to respond on the principle of allowing for competition if that is going to improve the quality of health care and reduce the costs for citizens," Govan said.

Rep. Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews, echoed Govan, noting he was on a "fact-finding mission" to learn more about the impacts of keeping and repealing the CON and its impact on RMC.

He said he is convening meetings with interested parties such as RMC and those in support of repealing the CON in an effort to listen to both sides of the debate.

"I know there will be different opinions on the issue," he said. "I can tell you I want to make sure we do what we have to do to continue to provide care to the folks in Orangeburg, Calhoun, Bamberg and Barnwell counties, to make sure we are doing and putting policies in place for the state of South Carolina to understand the unique dynamics in the rural part of South Carolina."

"It is not the same for us in the metro or urban area," Ott said. "I am going to take a strong hard look at this and go into it with an open mind."

Reps. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, and Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, could not be reached for comment.

Ambulatory Partners has consistently said its center would benefit the community by capturing outmigration. RMC claims the center will harm the hospital financially.

Ambulatory Partners has said both surgery centers are needed.

Both AP's and the RMC's plans were immediately reviewed by DHEC upon their submittal. RMC's plan was accepted and the doctors' plan rejected.

Ambulatory Partners appealed the DHEC decision and DHEC overturned its initial decision by giving AP the go-ahead for its center.

RMC then appealed the decision to the state's Administrative Law Court. The ALC is a court established to hear contested state agency cases.

A hearing on the case had been scheduled for Dec. 10 but was delayed as both RMC and the doctors continued talks with the hopes of settling the matter out of court. The case was scheduled to be heard in April.

DHEC has approved a Certificate of Need for Ambulatory Partners LLC, essentially giving it permission to build a $12.5 million, 12,640-square-foot ambulatory surgery center across the road from the hospital.

The South Carolina Hospital Association has gone on record supporting the CON process, saying it protects health care in rural areas and can prevent hospitals from overspending because of competition.

Fifteen states have repealed their CON programs, which were mandated by the federal government in the 1970s.

The CON program nearly died in 2013 when then-Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed from the state budget the $2 million officials used to run the program. Hospitals sued, saying lawmakers never voted to end the program, and the state Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that it should continue.

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DENMARK  Dr. Willis L. Lonzer III shared a message of reaffirmation, reminding and renewal with the audience of the Voorhees College annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Convocation on Jan. 20 at the Leonard E. Dawson Health and Human Resources Center.

Lonzer reaffirmed that all people are entitled to pursue life fully and are entitled to the right to vote. He said that in accordance with the United States Declaration of Independence, all citizens are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He reminded the audience of approximately 150 people that, just like during the civil rights movement, today in America, we have some difficult days ahead. Those were Kings words during his famous Ive Been to the Mountain Top speech presented on April 3, 1968, before an overflowing crowd in Memphis, Tennessee, where the citys sanitation workers were striking. King was assassinated the next day at a Memphis hotel.

Lonzer spoke to students about renewal of Kings values: You are the spirit of tomorrow for us. Draw from some of the experiences you will have from small Voorhees College. Fight for the right to vote and be dialed in to news from various media and the political theater.

He encouraged them to take up the mantle and go beyond the generation before them, reminding them that it was young people like them who were involved in the civil rights movement.

Look at who is here with you right now. They are making an impact on you and you with them. You are growing together, he said.

Voorhees President Ronnie Hopkins made brief remarks and presented Lonzer with the Presidential Leadership Citation. Lonzer also received a gift from members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.

Lonzer is the 36th general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and a native of Richmond, Virginia. He was a Charles Waples Scholar in chemistry at Delaware State University and earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry. He holds a doctor of philosophy degree in biochemistry from the University of Akron. He was a fellow of the Patricia Roberts Harris Public Affairs Fellowship Program.

Other program participants included Dr. Herman Mason Jr., director of library services and assistant professor of library studies and theological studies; Dr. Bennie James, assistant professor of theological studies; Adrian West, interim vice president for enrollment management and dean of students; Rachel Jones, director of the Voorhees College Choir; the Voorhees College Choir; Joshua Gayle, president of the student government association; and Erianna Card, Miss Voorhees College.

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Frank and Pearl Tourville's generosity and philanthropy are well known throughout the Orangeburg area and beyond.

In May, yet another honor was bestowed on the couple.

The Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Area Commission voted unanimously to name the colleges new, $12.5 million nursing building the Frank and Pearl Tourville Nursing Building.

The naming came about month and a half after Frank Tourville's passing at the age of 87.

My family and I are honored by this recognition, Pearl Tourville said. Frank would have been proud as well knowing that the Tourville name will be associated with an exceptional facility designed to educate the next generation of nursing students whose work will ultimately help those in need and save lives.

The ribbon was cut on the 30,000-square-foot nursing building in March 2020.

The building features a larger, tiered lecture hall; computer lab and study rooms. It has a 30-station skills practice lab, simulation labs with the latest technology and faculty offices.

The labs help students gain the necessary skills to prepare them for a real-world clinical setting. Office space also provides students with areas to meet with advisers and instructors.

The Tourville family has had a tremendous impact on the Orangeburg community and OCtech for many years, OCtech President Dr. Walt Tobin said. It was important to me that the new nursing building be named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Tourville because it represents a lasting legacy of their commitment to helping the college achieve its mission.

The Student Life and Community Center learning lab also carries the Tourville name.

At the time it was named, Frank Tourville stressed the importance of supporting the college.

I visited the campus and saw firsthand what OCtech is doing, not only for individual students, but also for industry, he said. Whether a student wishes to earn a degree or a company needs training for its employees, OCtech can develop a program to meet their needs.

The Tourville family has given to a number of other institutions over the years, including the Regional Medical Center, Claflin University, South Carolina State University and the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

In February 2020, MUSC's Shawn Jenkins Childrens Hospital and Pearl Tourville Womens Pavilion opened.

Frank Tourville founded Zeus Industrial Products, which is now a global leader in designing and manufacturing advanced polymer solutions. Zeus' products are used in the medical, aerospace, automotive and energy sectors.

The company employs over 1,800 people worldwide (1,200 in South Carolina alone) with manufacturing and sales facilities in Aiken, Columbia, Gaston and Orangeburg; Branchburg, New Jersey; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Guangzhou, China and Letterkenny, Ireland.

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(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.
KUWAIT  Kuwait said on Sunday that Gulf Arab states will study Lebanon's response to their terms for thawing relations, which have suffered over Iran-backed Hezbollah's growing power in Beirut and the region.



Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, at a news conference after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers, did not give any details of Lebanon's response, a draft of which had sidestepped the issue of disarming Hezbollah.

"We received the response  it will be studied by the relevant authorities in Kuwait and in the Gulf to determine what the next step is with Lebanon," Sheikh Ahmad said.

He thanked Beirut "for interacting" with the demands, which he said was a positive step.

The terms delivered to Beirut on Jan. 22 include setting a timeframe for implementing UN Security Council resolutions, among them Resolution 1559 which was adopted in 2004 and calls for the disarmament of non-state militias in Lebanon.

The Lebanese draft letter had expressed respect for U.N. resolutions "to ensure civil peace and national stability" and said that Lebanon "will not be a launchpad for activities that violates Arab countries."

Lebanon's foreign minister said on Friday he was not going "to hand over" Hezbollah's weapons during the meeting in Kuwait and that implementing resolution 1559 "will take time."

Hezbollah supports Iran in its regional struggle for influence with US-allied Gulf Arab states, which say the group has aided the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the Yemen war.

Hezbollah has a militia more powerful than Lebanon's army and has backed pro-Iran allies in the region, including in Syria. The group and its allies also exercise major sway over Lebanese state policy.

The Gulf rift has added to difficulties facing Lebanon as it struggles with a financial crisis. Ties hit new lows last year when Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states expelled Lebanese ambassadors and recalled their own.
Sometimes, the smartest thing you can say is I dont know. This week, I found myself saying those words a lot  a tough thing to admit when youve tried to be a know-it-all your whole life.

When we first learned about an off-duty Casper police employee getting into a fight in October, we didnt know for sure what happened, how bad it was, or how it began. At first, the police department would not say whether the employee was a sworn officer or not, so we had to print that we didnt know. Soon after, with a little prodding, they revealed that  but only that. It wasnt until Tuesday, nearly four months later, that we were able to confirm his name for certain after police released a statement.

Then, this week, as I wrote about charges being brought against him, I knew more but still dont know everything. An arrest affidavit from police gave more information and affirmed some of the rumors wed heard, but still left some questions unanswered. And, since I wasnt able to talk to him (or the man Im pretty sure is his attorney), I also had to include a couple versions of one of my most-used lines: they did not respond to a request for comment.

That line also popped up in our coverage of a new complaint filed Thursday in a wide-reaching lawsuit targeting mask mandates in Wyoming public schools.

When the suit was initially filed, it was led by Grace Smith, the Laramie high schooler who was arrested for trespassing on campus after being suspended for not wearing a mask, and her father. But in this latest version  which was revised to be much more concise, and a whole 113 pages shorter  neither of the Smiths are included in the list of plaintiffs. No one I talked to for the story knew why that was, and without any response from the attorney representing them, I had to be clear that it was unclear why they were left off.

Earlier this month, when Dale Wayne Eaton failed to show for his Casper sentencing hearing, no one seemed to know what happened. As the week went on, it seemed like everyone was passing the buck  an internal review at the Department of Corrections found they never got a transport order for Eaton, the sheriffs office said they werent involved and the DA said they got the order but were just as confused as I was how it fell through the cracks.

While I hate to admit not knowing something, its an essential part of the job. As much as our Facebook commenters like to accuse us of making things up for the paper, we cant just fill in the gaps with what we think happened, or with what probably happened. If its in the paper, weve checked it out. And if we say we dont know, we dont know, and we couldnt find out by the time the presses start.

But I understand its frustrating to read the news and still come away with questions  it happens to me too, probably multiple times a day. If you ever have unanswered questions from a story in the Star-Tribune, or better yet if you have answers to the things we dont know, you can always drop me a line at ellen.gerst@trib.com or (307) 266-0544.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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Posts on former Casper police officer Jesse Jones Facebook page show he emailed the director of Seton House the day before allegedly gouging a mans eye outside the facility after an altercation began while he was off-duty and protesting its vaccine mandate.

While the screenshot posted on Jones page shows only a few small snippets of a Sept. 30 exchange with director Carrie Reece, the first email in the post, apparently from Jones, begins: You all should be ashamed.

Please stop harassing us, an email from Reece included in the image says.

Jones, who was with the department for five years, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of reckless endangerment following a state investigation into the incident. The Star-Tribune attempted to contact him for this story with a phone number that he gave during his initial court appearance. He did not respond to a pair of messages.

Court documents in Jones case state that when Reece reported Jones protest to police, she also mentioned receiving threatening emails from him. The then-officers Facebook post containing emails also urged others to email Seton House leadership.

Another post on Jones Facebook account shows him standing outside Seton House on Oct. 1, the day of the fight, holding a sign that reads I will not comply.

The time for talk is over. If you interact with this post, share it, the caption reads. Join me again today at 1pm at 910 N Durbin, Casper the Seton House homeless shelter. They just announced get the vaxxx or hit the streets. No more sitting by.

Court documents filed this past week allege that Jones was protesting the mandate alone on Oct. 1 when the directors husband approached him. According to the affidavit of probable cause tied to Jones arrest, an investigation found that the other man began the fight, but that Jones gouged the mans right eye after he stopped posing a threat to Jones.

The former detective now faces a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment. He pleaded not guilty to the charge during an initial appearance Tuesday in Natrona County Circuit Court, and was released from jail after less than a day by posting a $500 cash bond.

On Sept. 30, the day before the fight, multiple posts on Jones Facebook page mentioned Seton Houses COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Seton House runs a self-sufficiency program and provides housing for single parents who are homeless.

The Facebook posts indicated that Jones had stopped by that day as well to picket.

Its fixin to go down people. The time of silence is over.. the post, which linked to a K2 Radio news article about the facilitys mandate, states. Its up to us all to let it be known we wont stand for this crap. All of this and because of a fraud election.

Another post from that day, linking to the same story states that battered women will lose housing if they dont comply with the mandate, and calls for protesters to respond immediately to the emergency.

Reece told K2 Radio at the time that 15 of the 22 families living at Seton Houses facilities were at least partially vaccinated a month before the mandate went into effect, and that the organization had not lost any clients due to the requirement. She declined to comment Friday.

Other posts and comments made from Jones account, which has since been deactivated, show him criticizing vaccine mandates at other organizations as well.

Time to unite people, an Oct. 13 post on his Facebook said. First our soldiers, second banner, third Seton house, now UWYO. Yours is next!! If you dont know how you can help, theres answers. Feel free to ask.

Banner is an apparent reference to the vaccine mandate required by Banner Health at its four Wyoming hospitals, including Caspers Wyoming Medical Center.

Jones was placed on administrative leave immediately following the fight, while the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation looked into the incident.

The Casper Police Department says it started Jones termination process on Dec. 14 after an internal investigation found his actions were not in line with the agencys code of conduct. Before that process was completed, Jones resigned his position on Jan. 7. Department spokesperson Rebekah Ladd declined to comment on the case further on Friday.

A Star-Tribune review of internal CPD emails to and from Jones account in the weeks surrounding the fight found no mention of vaccine mandates or protests.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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Think for a second: In all of the discussion these past few weeks about Wyomings schools superintendent, whats been missing?

Theres been speculation about who the Wyoming Republican Party would nominate for the post and what kind of educational background those nominees would possess. Theres been a legal fight over the process for selecting the superintendent centered on whether largely populated counties were fairly represented in the decision. Theres been talk of a law that was ruled unconstitutional eight years ago. Somehow, even Merrick Garlands son-in-law made it into the conversation.

Whats absent in all of that? A discussion of the very real educational issues facing our state. And so we figured it might be helpful, with a new superintendent appointed Thursday by Gov. Mark Gordon, to lay out the challenges Brian Schroeder will be tasked with tackling as he finishes out the last year of former superintendent Jillian Balows term. Wyomings education system is in many ways at a crossroads. And while Schroeders term might be short, the decisions made during that time could reverberate well into the future.

How are we going to pay for all of this?

Wyomings enjoyed well-funded schools and low taxes for decades. Thats due to our states bounty of natural resources: particularly oil, natural gas and coal. That combination of commodities has paid for teachers, new buildings, new technology and equipment  all without the average Wyomingite needing to dig deep into his or her wallet. But looking ahead, were not going to be so fortunate. Fossil fuels arent going away, but they will make up a smaller part of the countrys overall energy mix. As they generate less revenue, well be faced with a choice: come up with the money elsewhere or make cuts to the education system. Lawmakers havent agreed on a solution, but rest assured, there will come a day when we can no longer put off that difficult decision. And speaking of difficult choices...

How do we prepare our children for Wyomings economy of tomorrow?

As our states economic fortunes change, and as new technologies emerge, our education system must evolve so that our children continue to thrive. Consider for a moment the technologies that weve seen arrive here in just the past few years. Wyoming is home to a growing wind industry, experiments with clean carbon technology and, if things work out, a next generation nuclear power plant. Business leaders are working to attract high-end manufacturing companies to the state along with the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry. Are our children learning the skills theyll need for the world theyll soon inhabit? Which raises another important point...

How do we attract and retain talented educators?

A few months ago, a group of educators appeared before the Natrona County school board with a simple yet powerful message: teachers are burning out. Its more than words. Weve learned of more and more teachers who are planning to retire or switch careers at the end of this school year. That could have real implications on our students. We need teachers with the talent and experience to help our children reach their potential. If were losing them to burnout or better opportunities, will our students suffer? Will Wyoming become a less attractive option to young families looking for a life in the Mountain West? And while were on that subject...

How will population changes affect Wyomings school system?

The 2020 Census showed slow growth in the Equality State. But dig a little deeper, and that growth hides two contrasting trends. Wyomings big cities are growing, but many of its small towns are headed in the other direction. In fact, 14 of the 23 counties shrunk over the past decade. What does that mean for how we educate our children? Will declining population in some communities necessitate consolidation of districts? How do we ensure students in small towns get the resources they need if their communities are shrinking?

Its clear Wyomings next superintendent faces some daunting challenges. Its also clear that many of the biggest questions lingering over our school system are the ones that werent focused on during the selection process. But that process is done. Brian Schroeder will oversee our schools for at least the next year. We hope that hell focus on the issues that matter the most for Wyomings children. Theres pressing concerns ahead. It will take focus and thoughtfulness to meet them head on.

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There are so many ways to explore our natural world. Here are five to consider.
The Point is to Change the World, a collection of writings by Guyanese political activist Andaiye, was in the spotlight on Thursday, the first day of the 2022 Bocas Lit Fest, which kicked off with a series of virtual events.

Thursdays conversation centred on Andaiyes writings and legacy.

Journalist Sunity Maharaj said while Andaiye left a legacy through her work, she also used her platform to be open and honest about every aspect of her life, including her battle with cancer.
A Barrackpore woman returned to her house in the early hours of last Saturday and found an i
The issue of school violence has resurfaced with such an intensity that it has the nations 
The Marana Unified School District honored three of its members as 2022 MUSD Employees of the Year earlier this month.

Jessica Leonard, a fourth-grade teacher at Butterfield Elementary School was named Teacher of the Year; Beverly Burgett, the food services cafe supervisor at Marana Middle School was named Support Staff of the Year; and MUSD social worker Marisa Castro was named the Exempt Employee of the Year.

The district said Leonards approach to teaching is, love before learn, meaning that all her students are loved and allowed to be themselves. She has created a classroom culture in which her students feel safe to make mistakes, and she is quick to encourage and motivate the kids through verbal and non-verbal focus strategies.

Burgett has taken on the responsibility of leading a team of four in preparing 400-500 meals a day. When all schools closed due to the pandemic, she took on the challenge of running the Marana Middle School kitchen, which later became the site responsible for preparing 1,000 meals daily.

One of Castros duties is to work with students needing homelessness assistance and students in foster care throughout the district. The district said that she has an uncanny ability to meet families emotional, psychological and physical needs, while always valuing their voice and building trusting relationships in the community.

Career fairs

The Sunnyside Unified School District will hold its job fair on Feb. 9 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the SUSD Administration Office, 2238 E. Ginter Road.

The district announced that all certified and classified vacancies will be eligible for hire, though there will be no interviews or hiring on site. For information, visit www.susd12.org.

The Amphitheather School District is also set to hold its career fair Feb. 19 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m at its district offices located at 701 W. Wetmore Road.

The district is looking to fill positions in and outside of the classroom, including teachers, substitutes, paraprofessionals, custodians, office staff, bus drivers and more. For information about the available positions or to register for the job fair, visit www.amphi.com/jobs.

Excellence award

Tucson Values Teachers presented its January Teacher Excellence Award to Lynn Thacker, a first-grade teacher at Mesa Verde Elementary School.

Thacker has spent the last seven years of her 15-year teaching career in the Amphitheater Public Schools. She was nominated for this months excellence award by Leslie Young, whose three children have had Thacker as a teacher.

She is the most kind, caring, loving, sweet, attentive teacher you could have for your kids, Young wrote in the nominating statement. She truly loves all the kids in her class and gives each of them the attention they need. She always has a positive attitude and smile on her face, and the kids feel her calm energy.

Tucson Values Teachers honors a Southern Arizona teacher every month. Winners receive $250 cash, a $100 gift certificate to Jonathans Educational Resources and flowers.

Scholarship opportunity

Cox is accepting applications from high school seniors in Arizona for a chance to win a $3,500 scholarship to put toward their post-secondary education.

Eligibility for the Cox Diversity Scholarship includes that students must be on track for graduation with a minimum GPA of 2.5, demonstrate leadership and community service, and submit an essay focused on a significant leader from their respective diverse community.

The deadline to apply is March 1. Students can find a link to the application form by visiting www.azfoundation.org/scholarships.

Contact reporter Genesis Lara at glara@tucson.com

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PHOENIX  Republican legislators are moving to punish businesses  and in a big way  if they force workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and any of them get sick.

Legislation awaiting a House vote effectively would require employers to honor each and every request for a religious exemption. Thats because anyone who suffers a significant injury from the vaccine would be entitled to at least $500,000.

And that doesnt count punitive damages that a court could award.

Rep. Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, who pushed HB 2043 through the House Judiciary Committee last week on a 6-5 party-line vote, said he deliberately designed the penalty to be so big that companies would think twice about denying a workers claim that getting injected with the vaccine violates his or her sincerely held religious belief.

My religious freedom, religious liberty, has to be respected, he said.

Youre not going to tell me what goes in my body, whats involved with my soul and who I worship, Nguyen continued. Thats nobodys business.

The proposal has caused some alarm in the business community, which just last year convinced the Republican-controlled legislature to enact limits on the ability of people to sue businesses, including health care providers, for damages resulting from efforts to deal with the pandemic.

Courtney Coolidge, lobbyist for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, said the understanding was that anyone who got ill from a vaccine would be able to collect only through the states workers compensation system. That provides for payment of medical bills for any work-related injury or illness plus a percentage of lost wages.

This bill before you today would undermine that system, she told committee members hearing the measure.

But Donny Rodenkirk of Prescott said that ignores the kind of problems suffered by his wife, Mary Jane, after her employer  he did not name names  forced her to get the vaccine.

The first dose, he said, resulted in severe headaches and ringing in her ears. A second dose was no better.

It only got worse, he told lawmakers. Worse headaches, worse ringing in the ears and she started having seizures.

And now, Rodenkirk said, his wife is out of work.

If they would have just honored her beliefs and convictions to not get it, and the hesitation there, we could have actually seen what hope looked like, he said.

There also were those at the hearing who question the safety and efficacy of vaccines in the first place, like Barbara Jennings who called them experimental drugs and suggested lawmakers go to a web site where individuals can post their stories of side effects and deaths.

We need accountability, she said, saying that children have no chance of dying from the virus, and most healthy people the same.

We now see that these jabs do not prevent COVID, Jennings said.

Nguyen said the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control says that as of the end of last year there were a million reports of negative side effects.

And those are the ones that are reported, he said, with 110,000 hospitalizations and 21,000 deaths.

But a spokesman for the CDC provided different numbers. The unconfirmed tally of adverse effects reported to its Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System at the end of last year was 702,025. He also pegged hospitalizations over the same period at 46,696.

And while the agencys web site listed 11,657 deaths reported to VAERS, Curtis Gill said the agency has not detected any unusual or unexpected patterns for deaths following immunizations that would indicate that COVID vaccines are causing or contributing to deaths, outside of nine confirmed cases related to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine linked to thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS.

The agency also says that a report of an adverse effect following a vaccination do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused a health problem.

Nguyen said the situation has to be seen through the eyes of someone who lost a family member.

I am pro business, he said. But somebody has to be held liable for these injuries.

The whole concept of the bill goes against the fact that Arizona is an at-will state, said Mike Huckins, lobbyist for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. That means employers are free to fire workers for any reason at all, as long as it does not violate public policy, such as discriminating on the basis of race.

But Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, said he sees it through a different lens.

Do you think there is the moral obligation, not just legal, the moral obligation, to hold somebodys employment hostage for them to stick something in their body? he asked.

Huckins sidestepped the question.

I understand there are moral issues some folks have, he said.

Other folks dont have those moral issues or beliefs in the same manner as other folks do, Huckins continued. But thats how were looking at it, from an employer rights issue.

That response left Finchem unsatisfied.

If someone is claiming a religious exemption, can they get steamrolled? he asked. The chamber doesnt have a problem with that?

Huckins said his organization understands there is a a religious exemption built into the law.

If there is a legitimate exemption in that belief, employers should follow that, he said.

And what if they dont? Finchem continued.

Huckins said an employee who believes his or her right for a religious exemption has a right to seek legal relief.

Finchem said thats still missing the point.

Who in the blazes are you to tell me what my religious exemption is? he asked.

Thats untenable to me, Finchem said. Whats also untenable to me is that an individual would have to go to court to enforce their civil rights when their job is held hostage for something that is a civil right to say No. 

The legislation does not spell out what is considered a significant injury.

But Nguyen said it would be based on standards from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. And OSHA says that ranges from death and days away from work, to restricted work or job transfer and medical treatment beyond first aid.

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The permitting process for a medical sterilization facility in southeast Tucson anticipated to emit trace amounts of cancer-causing gas has been delayed after the EPA asked Pima County to apply more stringent conditions to the rules the facility would operate under.

Becton, Dickinson and Co., a multi-billion-dollar medical technology company, plans to begin construction on a 140,000-square-foot facility at 7345 E. Valencia Road near South Kolb Road this year. The facility would use ethylene oxide, a colorless, highly flammable gas that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies as a human carcinogen, to sterilize medical equipment.

The countys Department of Environmental Quality, PDEQ, is responsible for monitoring air quality in the region and developing standards for new facilities that emit hazardous air pollutants.

While PDEQ ensures the companies it issues permits to monitor and report pollutants, it doesnt have much control beyond that. If BD agrees to an air quality permit that meets federal standards set by the Clean Air Act, the countrys primary federal air quality law, the department has to issue it, allowing BD to construct the facility.

The department was previously set to approve BDs air permit by the end of January but now says the timeline for issuance is delayed for, at most, another two months.

Thats largely because the EPA submitted a list of recommendations to amend the permit to ensure the company controls ethylene oxide emissions while minimizing exposure to the surrounding community.

Even though we dont have to, by law, consult with (the EPA), we obviously want to make sure that we are addressing their concerns. We want to make sure we spend the time to review that and incorporate them as best as possible, said Natalie Shepp, the outreach and education senior program manager for PDEQ. But it has to be within our authority to do so. How can we make this the most stringent permit we possibly can under the rules that were dealing with?

The concerning nature of the chemical the facility will use has caused both Tucson and Pima County officials to discuss ways to regulate ethylene oxide locally. Discussions have shown theres not much, if anything, local jurisdictions can do to minimize the facilitys impacts beyond the current federal rules.

Its not personality tests, whether I like them or not, or whether I think its a good thing or not, PDEQs former Director Ursula Nelson, who retired at the beginning of January, told Tucsons City Council in December. If they meet those environmental requirements, then they are allowed to have an operating permit. And thats what the case is with this facility.

EPA suggests permit changes

The EPA first classified ethylene oxide as a human carcinogen in 2016, finding the chemical to be capable of changing DNA in a cell, and therefore more dangerous for children whose growing bodies make them more susceptible to harmful effects. The EPA has found evidence that long-term exposure to ethylene oxide increases the risk of myeloma, leukemia and breast cancer.

BD hired an independent consulting company to determine how ethylene oxide emissions at the Tucson site, which neighbors the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and an Amazon distribution facility, would compare to the EPAs 100-in-a-million risk threshold level for determining cancer risk if an individual was exposed to a certain concentration of ethylene oxide continuously for a lifetime. The results determined the average levels were five times below the EPAs risk threshold.

The proposed version of the air quality permit allows the BD facility to emit no more than 709 pounds a year of ethylene oxide into the surrounding environment. According to BD, the facility would have control measures that would get rid of 99.95% of ethylene oxide.

However, the company is facing scrutiny after an Atlanta-based law firm filed more than 150 lawsuits against BD in June 2021 claiming ethylene oxide emissions from its Covington, Georgia, facility since the late 1960s have caused a cancer cluster among those living or working within a five-mile radius of the plant, according to a news release from the firm, Penn Law.

BD has denied the allegations and says its ethylene oxide emissions controls, specifically those planned for the Tucson site, exceed federal standards.

When asked for comment on the permitting process for its Tucson facility, the company said in an email, Out of respect for the process, we wont comment while the permit is still pending.

After publishing a proposed permit for the facility, and holding a 90-day public comment period for feedback on it, the county says its working on revisions the EPA suggested in December.

The federal agency suggested the county amend the permit to implement a continuous emissions monitoring system, which would measure actual ethylene oxide emissions levels from the facility in real-time. The proposed permit calls for ambient air monitoring, which measures air pollutants in the surrounding area, a process the EPA said can be difficult to distinguish between pollution from the facility and pollution from other sources.

The agency recommended the continuous monitoring data be made available to the public to show current ethylene oxide emission rates due to concerns the county has heard from the community about community access to information confirming that the actual emissions from the facility once built will be as low as the projections from BD that form the basis for the permit limits.

Rupesh Patel, PDEQs air quality program manager, said that technology is being evaluated for regulatory authority and that PDEQ is evaluating the authority with the county attorneys office related to all elements of the proposed permit.

While the PDEQ sets the standards for the permit and is responsible for making sure BD follows them, the company will have to implement and obtain the monitoring technology themselves. Its unclear if BD will be amenable to new, more stringent conditions.

Patel said PDEQ already determined the monitoring conditions in the proposed permit exceed current federal requirements necessary for final approval.

The EPAs letter also told the county to State that the EPA intends to update the currently applicable standards for commercial ethylene oxide sterilizers.

The federal agency has been reviewing the regulations for ethylene oxide outlined in the Clean Air Act since 2018. The regulations for commercial sterilizers using ethylene oxide were last updated in 2006, but the EPA plans to announce proposed changes this year. Those could include more stringent regulations for commercial sterilizers but involve many steps that could take years to actually implement.

And when the rules do come into effect, commercial sterilizers would have no later than three years after the effective date to comply, Mike Alpern, the EPA Pacific Southwest Region spokesman, said in an email.

While undertaking the process of putting emissions mandates in place, we are also engaging with communities and our partners on the ground because we know EPA authorities are not the only avenue for achieving emissions reductions and addressing the disparities faced by nearby communities, Alpern said. EPA is focusing on early outreach and engagement for regulatory and programmatic efforts.

But local governing bodies here are finding it difficult to gain any control over an ethylene oxide sterilizer setting roots in Tucson.

County, city lack control

Both Tucson and Pima County officials have expressed concern about the facilitys operations and proximity to vulnerable neighborhoods.

The county Board of Supervisors has discussed the facility twice in the past two months, attempting to navigate the controls it has due to PDEQs obligation to issue the permit if it follows federal law.

Those conversations resulted in a motion passed on Jan. 18 to recommend minimum requirements for the final permit, which follow the recommendations provided by the EPA, including implementing a continuous emissions monitoring system and reporting the results to the maximum extent and frequency allowed under applicable laws and regulations.

Supervisor Adelita Grijalva said the final motion was amended to make it a recommendation instead of a requirement in consideration of advice from the county attorneys office.

What were trying to ask is what is the PDEQs role versus what we can do, what the city can do? Grijalva said. To me, a lot of it is just this process that none of us really have any control over, which is incredibly frustrating, because the pollutants are going here.

The city is in a similar bind in its discretionary authority for granting land-use permits to the company. The area where BD wants to construct the facility is in city limits and is already zoned for industrial use, leaving the citys planning and development services department little room to deny the permit.

City Council discussed the facility at a December meeting and asked City Attorney Mike Rankin what controls they have over BDs operations.

I dont see any issue that falls within the review authority of the city. When were presented with questions about permits, or applications for permits, we can only base our review, and our issuance or rejection of a permit request based on the criteria over which we have the authority and jurisdiction, Rankin said. Which through (planning and development services), or our other departments, doesnt apply to the issues at hand here.

And even though the EPA has announced its intent to issue new guidelines for ethylene oxide sterilizers, Rankin told the council, We cant delay our development package review based on potential future changes with respect to the federal standards.

Councilmembers also asked about the Tucson Fire Departments evaluation of the facility to make sure it follows the citys fire code.

The Tucson Fire Department has reviewed BDs operation plans, according to an email Fire Marshal Michael Ashford sent to PDEQ, which said the plans meet the citys fire code.

The hazards are in controlled areas and injected in a controlled vessel then extracted thru another system. Under its normal operating conditions, it does not reach airborne concentrations, and also possesses the proper ventilation, the email said of BDs plans for the facility. We (Tucson Fire) is not in a legal position to deny the plans based on our area of concern and what they have presented to us.

Regardless, Councilman Steve Kozachik is still trying to fight BDs plans to bring the plant to Tucson.

I just cannot buy that, setting aside this project, that company X wants to move into the city of Tucson, and theyre bringing a highly toxic chemical that we know is going to be more significantly regulated in the very near future, and we cant say no? Kozachik said at Decembers meeting. I just dont even buy that as a rational response from a governing body.

Impact to surrounding community

As part of its permitting process, PDEQ conducted an environmental justice report to determine the demographics of the population within 50-square-miles of the proposed facility  an area the department estimates contains 41,760 people.

The results showed the population is comprised of 49% minority communities, 30% low-income individuals and 10% people without a high school diploma  some of the demographics PDEQ considers more at-risk when receiving necessary access to information.

But the EPA recommended PDEQ revise this report to show populations most likely to receive the highest impacts from the project based on the modeled impacts by breaking down the populations within a three and one-mile radius of the facility. Shepp said the new report, which includes these suggestions, will be available by the end of January.

However, if the results change, the department doesnt have the authority to amend the permit based on the analysis. The EPA asserts its still an essential tool to understand impacts to the surrounding community.

It is important for communities to have access to clear and honest information about how proposed projects can impact their immediate environment and residents health, Alpern said. If disproportionate impacts are identified through an EJ analysis, this information can help draw the attention of project proponents and other relevant stakeholders to address the identified impact.

But drawing attention to possible pollutants disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities is not necessarily enough to stop polluters from operating there.

One of my frustrations with the environmental justice regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency is that we have to do an analysis and we have to do a report, but EPA has not given us any regulatory tools to address the impact of that, Nelson, PDEQs former director, told the City Council. So we can look at  Ill call it an overburdened community  and go yes, the environmental justice analysis shows that its an overburdened community. But that doesnt give us the ability to say no to a permit or the ability to require additional reductions.

Despite a lack of authority, and legal advice City Council has received, Kozachik said he plans to bring the BD facility and possible controls the city can put on it back up at the councils meeting on Feb. 8.

We should say no, we should have no part of this, Kozachik said. Or 20 years from now, somebody is gonna look back and say: Why did they let that plant go in?

Contact reporter Nicole Ludden at nludden@tucson.com

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Juvenile rant

from supervisor

Re: the Jan. 26 article "RTA is not the city's only option."

I read Supervisor Steve Christy's opinion on Tucson's threat to leave the RTA. As a Tucson resident, I was hoping for a rational reasoning of specifics regarding the fallacy of our Tucson leaders' reasons for ending their support. Well, what I read was a flame-throwing mess!

Terms like "fabricated and melodramatic outrage," "twisted themselves into pretzels," "throwing elbows and below the belt punches," "the city continues to bully," on and on ad nauseam, Christy has done nothing to enlighten me as to why we should listen to his drivel. He is just another example of why far too many political representatives resort to the "juvenile playground tactics" lamented so much (tongue in cheek, I assume) in his diatribe.

Yes, some of the RTA benefits have come to Tucson, but as a former City Council member elsewhere and a resident of midtown, have we really received our "fair share"? Christy's rant was useless, much like he seems to be.

Steve Poe

Midtown

Guidance from

a chiropractor

Re: the Jan. 23 article "Stuck in an alternate COVID reality."

I was surprised by Tim Stellers suggestion that it was because a Cochise County supervisor took the advice of a chiropractor a grant was declined.

There is no shortage of M.D.s, D.O.s (doctor of osteopathic medicine), and RNs who ascribe to similar beliefs. Yet Steller appears to feel that every chiropractor subscribes to these theories, painting the entire profession with that brush. If that board member had taken the same advice from an antivaxxer M.D., would Steller opine that having an M.D. friend was what led to this decision?

As a chiropractor, in my office we strive to follow CDC guidelines, having done so from the beginning of the pandemic. My staff is vaccinated. Masks are required for both patients and staff. I advise patients to get vaccinated and boosted.

While there are doctors of chiropractic who espouse controversial views, it is by no means universal throughout the chiropractic profession.

Robert Brook, DC

East side

Georgia snooping

around mailbox

I am amazed at the lengths the state of Georgia will go to deprive the women in that state of their constitutional right to an abortion. Not content to pass draconian laws to place unconscionable restrictions, now they have a law pending in their legislature that would allow the state of Georgia to supersede the federal government in controlling interstate commerce. In fact, they would allow the state to intercept, inspect, and destroy first-class letters sent through the United States Postal Service. The state of Georgia, in its exceeding zeal to eliminate legal abortions, will authorize a state agency to confiscate, at their sole discretion, letters that contain abortion pills authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to allow women access to the drug without a prescription.

What a concept! Perhaps next, as a desire of Georgia unfulfilled since 1865 to separate from the U.S. will opt to issue their own currency. Stay tuned  I think this is an outgrowth of the unsuccessful coup attempt of Jan. 6.

Robert Cozad

Oro Valley

War machine

eggs on Russia

It is amazing that elected officials, their staffs and news media are so gung-ho to goad Russia into invading Ukraine, including both political parties. Before WWII started, Stalin conquered countries in Eastern Europe. These countries and others abutting Russia are now included in NATO. Adding Ukraine would complete the entire border from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

What would you think if Russia or China were to have alliances with Mexico and brought their military in large numbers to Mexico? Remember when Russia installed nuclear weapons in Cuba. We just barely escaped a holocaust.

America has been playing at war ever since the end of WWII, picking on smaller countries, showing off our newest weapons. A real war could bring devastation like there was in WWII, whole cities destroyed and millions killed.

This time our country would also suffer. There can never be another war between major powers.

Jack Walters

Northeast side

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The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

Old-timers, like this writer, remember when Harry Truman succeeded to the presidency upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. Soon thereafter, World War II ended on Sept. 2, 1945. I was 12 years old.

Many observers, including me, have long considered Harry Truman to be one of Americas most outstanding presidents. Harry Truman led the U.S. through the end of World War II and into the peace planning, including reconstructions around the globe, for a stable world. We respected him for his candor and no-nonsense approach to his job, like when he proclaimed the the buck stops here.

During a 1948 campaign speech, a supporter yelled out, Give em Hell, Harry! Harry Truman replied, I dont give them hell. I just tell the truth about them, and they think its hell. The tagline Give em Hell, Harry! embodied the average Americans respect for Trumans straight-from-the-shoulder demeanor.

Most people see Joe Biden as the same sort of mensch as Harry Truman. Biden grew up unprivileged in blue-collar Scranton, Pennsylvania, and never forgot his humble roots. Personable Joe dedicated most of his adult life to public service as a politician who strove for consensus. He quietly and effectively reached across the aisle to craft deals to benefit his constituents and his nation. Unlike Harry Truman, Biden avoided the give em hell approach for more quiet diplomacy.

People admired Bidens character as a decent, caring man and respected his lifetime of public service. One reason Biden won by such a huge majority in 2020 was because many Americans saw him as the antithesis of the egomaniacal and bungling liar Donald Trump. Nevertheless, the fact that down-ballot Democrats couldnt ride his coattails to similar stellar victories indicated that there was less nationwide affinity to his partys policies and platform than for Joe.

Because Biden ended up with such slim majorities in Congress, his landslide victory should not necessarily be considered a ringing endorsement of his and his partys platform and agenda. Yet, polls indicate that most voters like his proposals. But Biden has had difficulty enacting many of them because of: Republican intransigence; the default veto power of Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema; and a lack of rousing public support due, in large part, to his arcane and complicated bills. Those bills do not lend themselves to sound-bite explanations. Biden has failed to communicate the details of his arcane and complicated plans in more simple terms that voters might readily understand and, probably, to which they would give rousing support.

Many presidents had incorporated some version of an abbreviated whistle-stop campaign into their political strategies, but none used this technique to reach out to voters in small towns across the U.S. like Harry Truman did in his win in 1948.

Biden could most effectively communicate with the masses, while garnering extensive positive media coverage, if he moved the Oval Office out of the White House and into a railroad car. Such a dramatic and decisive move would enable Biden to fulfill his presidential duties to lead the nation while simultaneously conducting a whistle-stop campaign to hamlets and cities across the land.

Truman overcame overwhelming odds in 1948 to save his presidency and to go on to a stellar term benefiting the U.S. and the world with his overwhelmingly successful whistle-stop campaign.

Trumans gutsy move is a convincing and dramatic example of the kind of attention-grabbing determination Biden must demonstrate to: recapture the initiative; to garner positive media headlines and TV sound bites; to save his presidency; and to be able to complete his visionary agenda to benefit all of us.

Paul Morton Ganeles is a retired hospital CFO, U.S. agency chairman and CPA. He lives in Tucson.

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You could spend the entire day wandering the galleries of the University of Arizona Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum and still manage not to see everything.

Located in a section of the old Pima County Courthouse downtown, the museum has an estimated 3,000 specimens on display, pulled, sometimes literally, from every corner of the Earth, spread across 12,000 square feet of space.

A massive quartz cluster, one of the largest intact clusters ever mined in Arkansas, greets guests as they walk into the lobby.

Theres an Arizona Gallery with a larger-than-life recreation of the Copper Queen Mine in Bisbee, complete with interactive schematics; a touch-and-feel zone where visitors can run their hands along different mineral samples; and a 116.76-carat Tsavorite Garnet dubbed the Lion of Merelani, on loan from the Smithsonian.

The museum is modern and state-of-the-art and has a little bit of everything, according to Elizabeth Gass, its exhibit specialist.

Weve had people spend an hour in the first gallery, before they realize that is only a third of what we offer, Gass said. It is about an hour-and-a-half trip to walk through on average. But that is really just glancing at things.

The museum opened its doors last July, but will have its first real moment in the sun during this year's Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase.

Pre-pandemic, the annual event, which generally runs through mid-February, brought an estimated 65,000 people to Tucson each year. That number may be smaller in 2022 due to surging COVID numbers, but many of the shows are still happening after canceling in 2021 because of the pandemic.

The museum, which began construction at the courthouse in 2018, is named after Alfie Norville, a co-founder of the Tucson Gem and Jewelry Exchange show held each year as part of the showcase.

She was a big jewelry lover, Gass said. She was interested in making Tucson a big hub for minerals, gems and jewelry. I believe they succeeded.

The 3,000 specimens on display at the museum are a mix of pieces on loan and from the universitys own collection of more than 20,000 pieces. Until it was moved over, much of the collection resided at the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium on the UA campus.

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Gass said the goal is to rotate about 20% of the museums gallery pieces per year.

In the museum industry, that is an industrious percentage of change, Gass said.

Gass said the museum is looking to attract a variety of visitors.

We want to appeal to everybody, she said. To create an environment where people who have been in the field for a long time would be interested, but also offer ways for people who might not know a lot about it to learn more.

The museum is just one stop that folks can make as they tour the citys many Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase shows over the coming weeks. You can find a full list of events and a downloadable app through Visit Tucson or check out our story that highlights six shows to visit.

If you go

What: Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum

Where: 115 N. Church Ave., on the south end of the old Pima County Courthouse building

Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Last tickets are sold at 3 p.m.

Cost: $15 with discounts available

COVID protocols: Masks are required when visiting the museum
Darein Gandall has been named CEO and Chairman of the Board of Cisco-Eagle, a national material handling systems integrator founded in Tulsa. Previous CEO Warren Gandall will now serve as Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors.

Warren Gandall founded Cisco-Eagle in 1970 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He and his partner William D. Cupps transitioned Cisco-Eagle into an employee-owned company in 2000. During this time, Cisco-Eagle grew from a single location to offices in nine states and customers in over 70 countries. Warren Gandall tap his decades of experience and creativity to provide advice and consultation to Cisco-Eagle in his new role.

Im proud of what weve built, Warren said. Im probably most proud that we passed ownership to the people who built itthe employees. They have driven our innovation and growth. Im elated that Darein has agreed to guide them as the company moves ahead.

Before he became President in 2013, Darein Gandall served as Oklahoma Sales Director. He joined the company in 1992 following his graduation from the University of Tulsa and served in sales, warehousing and customer service throughout his career. During his tenure as president, Cisco-Eagles revenue and markets grew substantially as it improved and strengthened its processes, empowered its sales groups, created a more agile management structure, developed key customer partnerships, built industry-leading ecommerce capabilities and expanded into new markets.

The new role allows me to focus more on our companys future growth and strategic objectives,Gandall said.Weve been in business since 1970, but have the heart of a startup, and thats why were successful. Id like to thank my father for this opportunity, but Im deeply grateful to our employee-owners. Warren always taught me that if we take care of our people, theyll take care of everything else.

Cisco-Eagle helps industrial companies improve their efficiency, safety and productivity with a broad range of material handling systems, equipment and services. The companys customer base is deeply involved in warehousing, processing, manufacturing and distribution.

Solutions involve the application of material handling equipment such as conveyors, carousels, rack, shelving, mezzanines and other important elements. More complex solutions may incorporate a higher level of controls, automation equipment and distributed intelligence. More information about Cisco-Eagle and its technologies, systems, customers and markets can be found at www.cisco-eagle.com.

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One year ago today, on May 1, 2021, a memorial service was held in honor of the 41 Tulsa Police Officers who have died in the line of duty at 
Almost 50 years since beginning her new life as a Tulsan, Barbara Conrads accent still gives her away.

Whenever I open my mouth, someone will ask, she laughed. I go out shopping, wherever. They will say Do I detect an accent?

I will never lose it, she added. I couldnt if I tried.

But there are other aspects of Conrads German heritage that have taken effort to preserve. And in the process of doing that, shes helped bring a little bit of Germany to Oklahoma.

On Thursday, Conrad, one of the founders of the German American Society of Tulsa, was presented with a special honor by the German government in recognition of her efforts to promote her homelands culture and language in her adopted state.

In a ceremony at the societys clubhouse in Tulsa, Conrad was given the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Known in German as Der Bundesverdienstorden, the cross is the nations highest civilian award.

General Consul Kai Hennig from the German consulate in Houston made the presentation.

I was speechless, Conrad said of the phone call she received a few weeks ago from the consulate, informing her that she would be receiving the honor.

She recalled that her daughter had written the authorities a letter a few years earlier about her efforts.

Im very touched, she said, adding that shed forgotten about the letter.

Born and raised in Berlin, Conrad has been a Tulsa resident since 1974.

Her husband, Dr. Robert Conrad, was a U.S. Army officer stationed in Berlin, and they came to the U.S. together after they married. Robert went on to become a professor of microbiology at Oklahoma State Universitys College of Osteopathic Medicine.

From the beginning of her life in Tulsa, Conrad has been active in the community.

With the start of the German American Society, she would serve several terms as president of the societys arts association and start the GASTs annual German-American Day celebration.

Conrad has also worked with Tulsas Global Alliance and was instrumental in fostering a cultural exchange between Tulsa and Celle, Germany.

It culminated in 2000 when the two became sister cities.

She has especially enjoyed a monthly German conversation group she started, which, in addition to providing an opportunity to converse, brings in guest speakers.

Many of us who came over and started new lives in America, we had a life before that, Conrad said. We had to keep our culture alive. If you dont talk about it, it will be forgotten.

Remembering veterans

In addition to German language and culture, Conrad believes there are people who should not be forgotten.

To that end, every third Sunday in November, she gathers with others at Fort Reno, where 62 German prisoners of war  among the many held in Oklahoma during World War II  are buried.

Conrad began coordinating an annual memorial service and graveside ceremony at the site over a decade ago, recruiting representatives from Fort Sill and a U.S. military honor guard.

Every time she goes back, she said, a particular German soldier is on her mind.

Conrads father, who was in the German army, died after the war in a Russian prison camp. He was buried in a mass grave, and to this day the family doesnt know exactly where it is.

You look at the graves at Fort Reno, and you cant help but be moved, she said. They were all so young. They didnt want to be there, didnt want to be warriors.

Of all her achievements, none make her prouder than the annual memorial service.

Like the veterans of every war, she added, these soldiers and her father deserve to be remembered.

Conrad said she will continue efforts to promote and honor her heritage as long as she is able.

Shes thankful to be recognized by her native country, she said, but emphasized that shes had a lot of help.

Many fellow Tulsans and German-Americans have joined her in her efforts.

Im very honored, she said. But I didnt do any of these things all by myself.

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RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP)  The director of a Mississippi library system says a mayor is withholding $110,000 from his city's 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 didn't expressly confirm that he wasn't 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," said McGee, a Republican who has been mayor of the Jackson suburb since 1989.

The Ridgeland Board of Aldermen approved the city budget in the fall, and Alderman Ken Heard told WAPT that the mayor doesn't 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 Ridgeland's library Tuesday night to discuss the ultimatum. Jason McCarty, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy group MS Capital City Pride, attended 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, that's when we can go wrong," McCarty told WLBT-TV.

***
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  A federal judge resentenced Tiger King Joe Exotic to 21 years in prison on Friday, reducing his punishment by just a year despite pleas from the former zookeeper for leniency as he begins treatment for cancer.

Please dont make me die in prison waiting for a chance to be free, he told a federal judge who resentenced him on a murder-for-hire charge.

Joe Exotic  whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage  was convicted in a case involving animal welfare activist Carole Baskin. Both were featured in Netflixs Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.

Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, Maldonado-Passage still had his trademark mullet hairstyle, but the bleach-blonde was fading to gray.

Baskin and her husband also attended the proceedings, and she said she was fearful that Maldonado-Passage could threaten her.

He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will toward me, she said.

Friday's court proceedings came about after a federal appeals court ruled last year that the prison term he's serving on a murder-for-hire conviction should be shortened.

Supporters packed the courtroom, some wearing animal-print masks and shirts that read Free Joe Exotic. His attorneys said they would appeal both the resentencing and petition for a new trial.

The former zookeeper was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in prison after he was convicted of trying to hire two different men to kill Baskin. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Maldonado-Passage that the court should have treated them as one conviction at sentencing because they both involved the same goal of killing Baskin, who runs a rescue sanctuary for big cats in Florida and had criticized Maldonado-Passage's treatment of animals.

Prosecutors said Maldonado-Passage offered $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent to kill Baskin during a recorded December 2017 meeting. In the recording, he told the agent, Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off. Maldonado-Passages attorneys have said their client  who once operated a zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, about 65 miles south of Oklahoma City  wasnt being serious.

Maldonado-Passage, who maintains his innocence, also was convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.
Finnish lines: U.S. Sens. James Lankford and Jim Inhofe have taken up the cause of a member of Finland's parliament whose LGBTQ commentary has brought her into conflict with that country's hate speech law.

Inhofe and Lankford were among several Republican senators protesting to U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain that the prosecution of Paivi Rasanen, a former interior minister and current Christian Democrat MP, amounts to religious persecution.

In a letter, the senators said Rasanen's statements "reflect a conception of marriage and sexuality that is upheld not just by hundreds of millions of Christians, but also by many Muslims and Jews worldwide. We are greatly concerned that the use of Finnish law  could open the door for prosecution of other devout Christians, Muslims, Jews and adherents of other faiths for publicly stating their religious beliefs that may conflict with secular trends."

Rasanen describes same-gender attraction as a "psychosexual developmental disorder" and "dysfunctional." She criticized the Finnish Lutheran Church for participating in gay pride activities, saying that by doing so, the church was "elevating shame and sin to a subject of pride."

Rasanen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who published Rasanen's remarks on a website, were charged with inciting "contempt, intolerance and even hatred" against gays.

Tech-nicalities: Third District Congressman Frank Lucas, ranking Republican on the House Science Committee, was among GOPers dowsing a Democrat-led tech bill in cold water.

Now that Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi has finally decided to act, she has done so with no regard for all of this bipartisan work, Lucas said. Instead of focusing on strong consensus policies, shes filled her package with poison pills with no bipartisan support.

The "poison pills" to which Lucas referred likely include climate change provisions generally opposed by Republicans.

The bulky proposal, with a summary alone running more than 100 pages, does include some things such as money to address supply chain and labor shortage issues and competitive disadvantages with China.

Unwoke: Lankford took a swipe at what he called "'woke' ideology" while praising School Choice Week.

As Oklahoma parents and parents around the nation continue to stand against woke ideology being forced on their kids, school choice is even more important for increasing options and competition for schools to do their very best for our kids, Lankford said.

"Woke" and "school choice" both have broad interpretations, but the former originally referred to an awareness of racism and inequality. School choice has connections to the school voucher and charter school movements but can refer to anything that makes moving a student between schools easier.

Dots and dashes: Congress did not meet last week.  Lankford is upset that the Defense Department has granted only two of nearly 20,000 requests for religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccinations.  Commenting on Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, Lankford said justices "should not push an agenda."

 Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World

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We are only weeks into 2022, and its likely this year could mark the end of a fundamental right weve held for nearly 50 years. Like a vise, the tenets around reproductive freedom in our country have been tightening.

This moment is extraordinary when it comes to the threat of losing our reproductive and civil rights; what we do in this moment matters, even in Oklahoma.

In January 1973, the United States Supreme Court guaranteed legal abortion access with the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. For half a century, the law has supported an individuals right to assess their own circumstances and make the decision they feel is best for them.

Most Oklahomans, in fact most Americans, agree  people have a right to choose for themselves. But a small, loud and determined group of opponents are as close as theyve ever been to successfully revoking this right in Oklahoma and many states that share our borders  for reasons that have nothing to do with health care or patient safety.

Working in the reproductive health space, Ive witnessed firsthand the deep sense of resolve patients come away with when they exercise their right to choose. I have also seen the very real threat restrictive laws pose to their safety and livelihoods when they are forced to carry pregnancies against their will.

We are just over five months into the crisis caused by Texas Senate Bill 8, which took effect Sept. 1, and banned abortion at six weeks  before most people even know they are pregnant. As a result, the countrys second-largest state has outlawed abortion for over 80% of patients seeking abortion care.

These patients are forced to flee their home state  taking time off work, driving several hours, spending hard earned money on travel, lodging, finding child care  just to access basic, essential care.

Most of those patients who can afford to travel end up coming to Tulsa or Oklahoma City. But those who cant make the trip are forced to make an unconscionable choice between attempting to terminate a pregnancy without medical support and forced parenthood.

Caught in this vise are students, professionals and parents from all walks who scarcely have enough to support their other children  so are survivors of abuse who realize too late that the Texas law has no exception for them to seek care.

Our patients, and those unable to reach our care, have been thrown into an unnecessary crisis that could be avoided, if lawmakers valued health care over politics.

Abortion care remains legal and accessible in Oklahoma, at least for now.

Trigger bans (which would immediately outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned this year) are already on the books in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, along with 22 other states. For this reason, an even more urgent battle is looming in Kansas that will affect all of us in surrounding states.

Without a trigger ban in place, Kansas will become a critical access point for abortion services in the Midwest and across the country.

On Aug. 2 a referendum vote will be on the primary ballot to rewrite the Kansas state constitution, potentially stripping away protections for abortion. Without Roe as a federal safety net, a win on the Kansas ballot initiative is our most immediate hope for continuing care  and we have a shot.

Nearly 50 years after it came down, Roe should be settled law in this country, but its at the greatest risk weve ever seen. We must protect our rights here at home.

My organization has joined a coalition, Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, that requires the support of all those in neighboring states, and that includes Oklahomans.

We must defend the safety, dignity and rights of all of those who can become pregnant.

The futures and livelihoods of the next generations depend on it.

Heather Rahhal Palacios is vice president of community relations & strategic partnerships at Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, which advocates for sexual and reproductive health care in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri, and a member of the Tulsa World Community Advisory Board.

Heather Rahhal Palacios is vice president of community relations & strategic partnerships at Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, which advocates for sexual and reproductive healthcare in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri, and a member of the Tulsa World Community Advisory Board.

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A ground-breaking ceremony was held this week to build a new factory of tesa, a German firm, in Vietnam.

tesa, a multinational company specializing in the manufacture and distribution of adhesive tapes for the electronics, automotive, and printing industries, has invested 55 million (US$61.2 million) in the 70,000-square-meter facility to expand its manufacturing capacity in Asia, one of the fastest-growing markets, the German Embassy said in a press release on Wednesday, when the ceremony took place.

The move is part of the company's strategy to strengthen its local footprint and shorten the distance between customers and suppliers.

Construction is scheduled to conclude in the first quarter of 2023 at in the Deep C Industrial Zones in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam, followed by an initial period of commissioning and testing.

Each year, 40 million square meters of adhesive tape will be produced. Official production is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2024.

At the event, Dr Norman Goldberg, CEO of tesa SE, expressed his thanks to the tesa team and the authorities of Hai Phong, as well as German Ambassador to Vietnam Dr. Guido Hildner for their support.

"The laying of this foundation stone is an important milestone for tesa," Goldberg was quoted as saying.

"The Asian adhesive tape market is experiencing very dynamic development, which we will take advantage of.

"The fact that tesa is making an investment of approximately 55 million euros in times of COVID-19 sends a strong signal from the shareholders for the future."

The company currently operates 14 production sites worldwide, including large plants in Germany (Hamburg, Offenburg), Italy, the U.S., and China.

From the plant in Suzhou, China, it supplies high-tech tapes for electronic devices, for example, to bond components and displays in mobile phones and tablets.

"Access to markets, fast and flexible delivery to customers, and the development of local raw materials are important factors in international competition," said Stefan Schmidt, head of tesa's supply chain and operation.

"All these requirements are fulfilled by the additional capacities created on-site."

tesa's customers, particularly those in the electronics and automotive industries, are relocating to Vietnam in greater numbers.

Despite the global pandemic crisis, the Southeast Asian country managed to increase growth by 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2021. In 2022, growth of 6.5 percent is forecast.

As a multinational, the company develops innovative adhesive tape and self-adhesive systems solutions for various industries, commercial customers, and end consumers.

The age of technical adhesive tape began 125 years ago. Currently, there are more than 7,000 tesa adhesive solutions that help improve the work, products, or lives of customers.

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HANOI -- Vietnam's coffee exports in January are estimated to have risen 9% from a year earlier to 175,000 tonnes, while rice exports were likely up 4.2%, government data released on Saturday showed.

Coffee

Coffee exports from Vietnam are estimated to have increased 9% in January from a year earlier to 175,000 tonnes, equal to 2.9 million 60-kg bags, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said on Saturday.

Coffee export revenue for Vietnam, the world's biggest producer of the robusta bean was up 40.9% to $395 million in the month.

Rice

Rice exports in January are estimated to have risen 4.2% from a year earlier to 360,000 tonnes.

Revenue from rice exports in the period was seen decreasing 4.3% to $182 million.

Energy

Vietnam's January crude oil exports were estimated to have fallen 49.6% from the same period last year to 180,000 tonnes.

Crude oil export revenue in the period was seen sliding 27.5% from a year earlier to $113 million.

Oil product imports in January were estimated at 700,000 tonnes, up 100.5% from the same period last year, while the value of product imports likely rose 180.9% to $384 million.

The GSO trade data is subject to revision next month.
Thirteen people were killed and 15 others injured in road accidents across Vietnam on Saturday, the first day of a nine-day break marking the 2022 Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, traffic police reported.

These casualties were recorded from 26 crashes nationwide on Saturday, two days ahead of Lunar New Years Day, the Ministry of Public Securitys Traffic Police Department said the same day.

Compared to the same day of last years Tet, the number of accidents reduced by five while the deaths and injuries decreased by one and five.

Traffic police handled more than 6,700 cases of traffic violations, imposed fines nearing VND8 billion (US$352,600) on the violators, temporarily seized 32 cars and 752 motorbikes, and revoked over 500 drivers licenses.

Among the traffic infringements were 269 cases of driving under the influence.

Police also detected 1,027 other traffic violations via their traffic surveillance camera systems countrywide.

The day also saw expressway traffic police units issue nearly VND50 million ($2,200) in fines to 19 lawbreakers, and withdraw eight drivers licenses.

No waterway or railway accidents were recorded on Friday, the Traffic Police Department said.

However, 83 instances of waterway traffic law violation were detected and more than VND50 million in fines were collected.

One case of railway traffic infringement took place in Da Nang and the violator was required to pay a VND450 million ($19,830) fine.

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Vietnams health ministry announced 29,766 additional COVID-19 infections on Sunday, along with 55,018 recoveries and 121 virus-linked fatalities.

The newest cases, including 38 imported and 29,728 domestic transmissions, were detected in 61 provinces and cities, the Ministry of Health said.

Bac Ninh reported 12,887 of the latest local cases, including 12,084 testing positive on previous days; Ben Tre Province 4,080, including 3,988 found on preceding days; Hanoi 2,924; Da Nang 876; Hai Phong City 647; Phu Tho Province 545; Quang Nam Province 480; Hung Yen Province 354; Hai Duong Province 277; Quang Ninh Province 235; Thua Thien-Hue Province 224; Lam Dong Province 185; Ho Chi Minh City 148; Ha Giang Province 103; Binh Thuan Province 64; Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 58; Binh Duong Province 35; and Can Tho City.

Vietnam had logged 13,656 locally-transmitted infections on Sunday.

The country has recorded 2,256,071 community transmissions in all its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave erupted on April 27, 2021. Over two million of them have recovered from COVID-19.

Ho Chi Minh has been the biggest epicenter with 513,726 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 292,638, Hanoi with 128,992, Dong Nai Province with 99,881, Tay Ninh Province with 88,068, Ca Mau Province 55,865, Dong Thap Province with 47,344, Binh Phuoc Province 45,909, Can Tho City with 44,359, Vinh Long Province 43,966, Long An Province with 41,632, An Giang Province with 35,524, Tien Giang Province with 35,333, Da Nang with 31,624, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 30,859, and Binh Thuan Province with 29,298.

Vietnam registered only 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.

The health ministry documented 55,018 recovered patients on Sunday, lifting the national count to 2,017,615.

The toll has increased to 37,668 deaths after the ministry logged 121 mortalities on the same day, including 22 in Hanoi, Dong Nai Province 12, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province eight, Tien Giang Province eight, Kien Giang Province seven, Vinh Long six, Ho Chi Minh City five, Dong Thap Province five, and the remainder in 24 other provinces and cities.

Vietnam has confirmed 2,263,053 patients in total, including 184 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, 20 in Quang Ninh Province, 14 in Hanoi, 11 in Khanh Hoa Province, eight in Da Nang, four in Kien Giang Province, two in Thanh Hoa 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 staff have administered above 181 million vaccine doses, including 223,939 shots on Sunday, since vaccination was rolled out nationwide on March 8, 2021.

More than 79 million of the countrys 98 million people have received at least one dose while upwards of 74 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 amounted to 27,940.668.

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Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Nadav Eshcar has been featured in a music video in which he performed a Vietnamese song to welcome the coming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in Vietnam.

The ambassador sang the song Ngay Tet Que Em (Tet Day in My Hometown) in Vietnamese alongside his local driver Nguyen Luong in a music video (MV) released on Friday, several days ahead of Tet, which is due on February 1 and will last at least a week.

Ambassador Eshcar and Luong wore ao dai (Vietnams traditional long gown) when they performed the song at many landmarks of Hanoi such as the Quang An Flower Market, Hang Ma Street, and Tran Quoc Pagoda.

The ambassador remade the song, composed by musician Tu Huy, with four verses in Hebrew based on the Vietnamese lyrics.

The MV also showed scenes of the diplomat drinking iced tea, a street drink of Hanoi, and had a sidewalk haircut in the capital city.

It is considered Israels Lunar New Year greetings to Vietnamese friends, the Israeli Embassy said on its verified Facebook page on Friday.

"We wish everyone a peaceful, prosperous and cheerful Year of the Tiger, the embassy stated, referring to the zodiac animal of the approaching lunar year.

Ambassador Eshcar said this MV could be seen as a small gift for the Vietnamese people during this Tet and he hoped everybody would enjoy it.

He wished to honor the friendship between Vietnam and Israel, and expressed his love and admiration for his Vietnamese friends on this special holiday.

The ambassador also shared that he enjoyed the atmosphere of Tet in Vietnam when watching the trucks carrying flowers and kumquats running around the capital city.

Each culture has its own celebration of its New Years Day, but to me the traditional Vietnamese Tet is very unique, Eshcar said.

During a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), the ambassador spoke highly of Vietnams successful response to COVID-19 and expressed his impression at the remarkable bilateral trade growth despite the coronavirus impacts.

Trade between Vietnam and Israel expanded 36 percent in 2020 and some 15 - 20 percent in 2021, Eshcar elaborated.

Both sides plan to complete the signing of a free trade agreement this year, which is expected to further boost the development of their economies in the future, the VNA said.

Eshcar joined the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 2001 and started his ambassadorship term in Hanoi in August 2017.

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Its taken two years since the paperwork was lodged, but its official.

Seven News Perth anchors Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr have entered the Guinness World Records being declared the worlds longest-serving TV news anchor duo.

They have presented from 1985 to 2022, for 36 years 361 days according to Guinness World Records.

Ardon and Carr began presenting the live broadcast of the 6pm Seven News together on January 24 1985 and have continued to read together since.

Rick Ardon had initially joined in 1978 as a news journalist and he attributes a large part of his success to the fact he had a good grounding in news as an on-the-road reporter.

Susannah Carr began her career in media in 1974 as an announcer after studying Law and Arts at the University of Western Australia.

I dont think any of us thought in the beginning that it would ever get to this stage where weve been reading together 37 years, you just dont plan on that sort of thing, Carr told Perth Now.

What a fabulous journey its been and continues to be. Seven have the best news team, Ive got the best reading partner and I love our relationship with the people of Perth. How lucky am I?

Seven News Perth has won the 6pm timeslot every week since OzTAM ratings began in 2001.

If theyre trusting us, watching our news at night time, then we want to give them the best possible news, Rick Ardon said. We keep checking right up to 6pm and right through during that hour of news to see if anythings changed.

Congrats on an amazing success and world record!
Tyler, TX (75702)

Today

Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
A Soldier with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces stands guard in Hassakeh, Syria

FOR a long time now, international observers have warned that prisons like this were timebombs waiting to explode. The latest detonation came just over a week ago when on January 20, more than 100 fighters from the Islamic State group (IS) attacked and seized Ghwayran prison near Hasaka, in north-eastern Syria, in a well-planned assault.

The overcrowded jail housed 3500 suspected IS members including some of its leaders as well as about 850 children whom the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance who battled to retake the prison said were used by IS as human shields.

The whole issue of such prisons has been controversial for some time. Though most of the detainees are Syrian and Iraqi, thousands are foreigners, originating from around 60 countries. The controversy focuses on two issues. The first from the fact that many countries, particularly in Europe, are reluctant to bring their citizens home, fearing they will be hard to prosecute or monitor.

The second, in the words of UNs counterterrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov, is that many of those held, have never been charged with a crime, yet remain in prolonged detention.

In particular, the battle over the prison highlights the plight of thousands of foreign children brought to ISs so called caliphate in Syria by their parents and who have been detained for three years in camps and prisons in the region, abandoned by their own countries. Some of those at the embattled Ghwayran prison included boys as young as 12.

While some were Syrians and Iraqis, there were also about 150 non-Arab foreigners who had been transferred to the jail after they were deemed too old to remain in detention camps that held families of suspected IS fighters.

Many critics argue that such children are simply being punished for the sins of their fathers and mothers, given that many were too young at the time to have been involved in the activities and atrocities committed by IS.

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Ignoring their plight, the same critics maintain, only leaves them vulnerable to indoctrination when held alongside adult IS members potentially spawning a new generation of extremists to fill ISs ranks.

Responsibility for anything that happens to these children also lies at the door of foreign governments who have thought that they can simply abandon their child nationals in Syria, observed Sonia Khush, the Syria director for Save the Children.

Risk of death or injury is directly linked to these governments refusal to take them home, Khush added, speaking to The New York Times a few days ago.

But the plight of such children aside, last weeks assault on the detention facility in Hasaka by IS fighters, some using suicide vests and vehicle bombs, is also further evidence of what some Middle East watchers say is a resurgence of the group that is growing by the day.

While IS has a history of conducting a campaign of what it calls Breaking The Walls, with a series of jailbreaks going back almost five years, the attack on Ghwayran prison marked the biggest IS operation since the group was toppled in 2019 after the SDF, working with the US-led coalition, cornered the jihadists in the village of Baghouz, in southeast Syria.

According to Charlie Winter an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) and an expert on IS, the Ghwayran prison operation was profoundly different from other recent attacks.

At the height of it power in 2014 and 2015, IS governed its self-styled caliphate which stretched over large swathes of Syria and Iraq. Further abroad too it was linked to massive terror attacks, including a truck bomb killed almost 300 people in Baghdad in 2016, just months after gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the Bataclan and other locations in Paris. Europe truck attacks occurred too in Berlin and Nice.

There is no question that IS today is not the force it was back then, but evidence of its resurgence is also undeniable.

With attacks like that at Ghwayran prison the signs are there of a capacity to mount multiple, coordinated, and sophisticated attacks that move beyond the limitations of mere sleeper cells. Make no mistake, its a worrying sign and potentially an ominous portent of things to come.

The National: Russian President Vladimir Putin

UKRAINE: Putin keeps the West guessing as cracks appear in alliance

YOUVE got to hand it to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he knows how to keep the West guessing. Whatever ones take on this autocratic leader, theres no escaping the fact that he is having a merry dance diplomatically speaking right now at the expense of the US and Europe.

As an article in The Economist magazine these past few days wryly put it, seldom in the field of human conflict did so much hang on the whims of one man.

If US President Joe Bidens interpretation on Friday of ongoing events is anything to go by then there is a distinct possibility Russia might invade Ukraine next month. But then again even with the might of US intelligence assets at his disposal, its hard to see Biden as being nothing but out of step with Putins dance, instead tripping over himself as he did last week after suggesting that a minor incursion by Russia might split Nato over how to respond.

If there is still room for diplomacy in the Ukraine crisis, then French president Emmanuel Macron, right, appears to be the man who continues to push for dialogue.

Germany too alongside France has been going its own way, though on Friday Berlin seemed to be hardening its position and coming round to agreeing with Washington that the Russia-favoured Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will not come to life if Russia invades. For the moment though all eyes are on Macron with even Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying the French leader is at the heart of efforts towards de-escalation.

To some extent there is nothing new here given that ever since coming to office Macron has tried to reset relations between France and Russia. But as French political scientist Dominique Moisi put it the other day, Macron is trying this reset, based on a mix of being open and being firm.

For his part Macron insists that his negotiations with Putin wouldnt disturb ongoing diplomatic efforts from the US and Nato. But you cant help feeling that the Biden administration doesnt entirely see it that way. In fact, its probably fair to say that some within Washingtons corridors of power appear to have been a little put out by France and Germanys overtures during this crisis. Its a prevailing mood that was caught in the headline of an editorial in the Wall Street Journal last week that read: Is Germany a Reliable American Ally? Nein.

All this transatlantic niggling suits Putin down to the ground as he continues to keep everyone guessing as to his next move.

The National: Overthrown president Roch Marc Kabore

Overthrown president Roch Marc Kabore

BURKINA FASO: Another coup that will only help jihadists in Africa

COUPS it seems are all the rage in West Africa right now. Even before the one in Burkina Faso last week, military officers across the region had grabbed power four times in the past 18 months, the highest number of coups in four decades.

With neighbouring Mali and Guinea having previously gone the same way, even those regional nations whose governments are arguably more stable like Cote dIvoire or Ghana realise this is no time for complacency say security experts some of whom are already referring to the area as a coup bloc.

While coups tend to be a result of their own local grievances and circumstances, frustration with what are perceived as self-serving governments and leaders has been a common denominator across West Africa of late. Speaking in a television address to the nation last week Captain Sidsore Kader Ouedraogo a leader of the Burkina Faso coup, said they had overthrown President Roch Marc Kabore to get back on the right track  and to gather all forces to fight for our territorial interest, our recovery and our sovereignty.

On the face of it that might not seem an unreasonable explanation in a region where weak leadership, corruption, political nepotism, and constitutional manipulation has so often been the order of the day. But Burkina Fasos coup could not have come at a more precarious time in a region which is bearing the brunt of one of the worlds fastest growing Islamist insurgencies.

It also has set alarm bells ringing here in Europe and elsewhere given that many of the putschists have fallen out spectacularly with the West since coming to power. In short, this is seriously undermining one of the biggest anti-terrorism operations in the world involving Western forces, now that they have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

The irony here is that many of these new military juntas in West Africa toppled their countrys governments ostensibly because they had failed to provide security from the jihadist threat.

But now with these respective juntas likely having their work cut out consolidating power and perhaps even fighting off political rivals, the possibility of a power vacuum arises that Islamist extremists are only too ready to fill.

With state institutions weak and having little reach beyond the cities in this vast region of the Sahel, jihadist groups have stepped into the breach providing 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.

Combine this with fraying alliances between the putschists and Western powers and the scene is set for other players also to enter this volatile arena  namely Russia.

Coup leaders tend to stick together  especially in the face of sanctions from their traditional allies, said Aanu Adeoye, a Russia-Africa researcher at the Chatham House think tank in London.

If they dont get help from the French, for example, there is a group of Russian mercenaries waiting, Adeoye warned in a recent interview with The New York Times.

In other words, an already bad security situation could be about to get much worse and only the jihadists stand to gain.

The National:

AUSTRALIA: Scepticism remains despite measures to save reef

ON the face of it, one would think it good news. Im talking about the Australian governments recent announcement that it will spend A$1bn ($700m) on new protection measures for the Great Barrier Reef, seven months after the UN threatened to put the site on its danger list because of the damage caused by climate change and development.

It was last year that Australia became embroiled in a tussle with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), which had planned to put the reef on its danger list to prompt action to protect the 2300km living structure from climate change and development.

Research has found that the reefs ability to recover from damage caused by warming global temperatures has been severely compromised, triggering a crash in coral replenishment. Already under pressure over his handling of the countrys worst Covid-19 outbreak fuelled by the Omicron variant, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the investment will help protect about 64,000 jobs in Queensland that depend on the reef.

We are backing the health of the reef and the economic future of tourism operators, hospitality providers, and Queensland communities that are at the heart of the reef economy, he said.

The funding to be used over the next nine years will add to an existing A$2 billion ($1.4bn) package designed to shield the reef from environmental threats over the next three decades the government says.

So far so good you could be forgiven for thinking. But not everyone is convinced that the news is as good as it sounds, with environmental group Greenpeace saying it was astounding to see the government planning to allocate more funds while ignoring climate change.

Some though were a little more colourful in their criticism with Terry Hughes, a professor at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, insisting the plan amounted to utter bullshit, and calling it merely a Band-Aid to protect fossil fuels. Australia is a laggard on climate change  still encouraging more fossil fuels, and scientists know that we cant build a healthy resilient reef in the face of climate change without tackling rising emissions, Hughes wrote on Twitter.

The war of words between government and environmentalists is set to rumble on. Its probably the last thing needed when speed is of the essence to save this wonder of the natural world.
Int'l talents enjoy Chinese New Year celebrations

Xinhua) 08:52, January 30, 2022

HAIKOU, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Making dumplings, writing Chinese characters, and viewing traditional shows... as the Spring Festival is just around the corner, a special celebration for the Chinese New Year has been held at the international talent home in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province.

About 30 foreigners in the Hainan Free Trade Port enjoyed traditional activities. Wearing a traditional Chinese costume, Ikpeoha Nkiru Joy from Nigeria performed Peking Opera, a highlight of the celebratory event.

"I like Peking Opera because it's cultural and related to Chinese traditions," said Joy, a postgraduate of Hainan University. In 2020, she was picked by her teacher to join a Chinese talent competition for foreigners held in Hainan. It took her about two weeks to learn the Peking Opera under a teacher's guidance.

"I didn't really have the courage to do it at first. But my passion for it made me become more interested in learning it," she said.

"The Chinese Spring Festival, like Christmas in foreign countries, is a time for family and friends to get together, and it's a happy time for everyone," said Joy, adding that the celebratory event was awesome, especially the Chinese art performances such as the flute and Chinese zither.

"We watched different shows, played games, and made food," said Daria Lebedianskaia from Russia.

When making dumplings, Daria taught her 4-year-old daughter how to wrap a dumpling. She said dumplings in Russia are shaped differently and use other flavors.

"Though the flavors are different, I like them both," said Daria, adding that she likes Chinese dumplings filled with chive, meat and eggs best.

Daria has been in Hainan for almost 10 years and now works as the project manager of Hainan College of Economics and Business. Because her husband is Chinese, the family celebrates the Spring Festival each year. "It's a good reason for the family to get together," she said.

The Haikou international talent home, which opened its doors in September 2021, is the brainchild of the Haikou Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs and a local human resource company. Nearly 200 foreign talents have joined the family.

The purpose of the international talent home is to create a platform for foreigners to feel at home, said Pi Jinyu, general manager of Fu'an Talent Human Resources (Hainan). "We provide services and help them alleviate any issues or difficulties, like visa problems or job issues," he said.

In order to better help the foreign talents start their businesses, the talent home offered a business incubation training class lasting for four months. Nearly 20 foreigners from different countries and areas including the United States, Russia and Africa participated in the course, and Joy was one of them.

"The training is the best thing that has happened to me," said Joy, noting it was quite different from what she learned in university.

"The particular training has given me a lot of ideas. It has opened up my thoughts on what to do in the future, how to plan my way, how to plan my life and how to become a better entrepreneur," she said, adding that the Haikou talent home really did a nice job organizing such training for foreigners.

"We hope to make contributions to the construction of the Hainan free trade port in this way, and attract more international talents to work in Hainan," Pi said.

Chen Lanfang, an official with the Haikou Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs, said the talent home will continue to play a better role in introducing foreign talents and boosting exchanges.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Michael Hutchinson had plans to go camping with his new wife, Stephani, to celebrate their one-month marriage anniversary and his 55th birthday.

Instead, Hutchinson spent his birthday in the hospital undergoing radiation and chemotherapy after doctors removed a tumor the size of a large lemon from his brain after diagnosing the glioblastoma.

While Hutchinson, a second-generation McLennan County Sheriffs Office employee with 20 years experience, just finished his fourth week of radiation and chemotherapy treatments in Dallas in an effort to keep the aggressive form of cancer in check, his colleagues at the sheriffs office and many others are working to put together a special fundraiser March 19 to help the Hutchinsons defray their mounting medical bills.

Stephani Hutchinson, a licensed vocational nurse, took an eight-week leave of absence from her job providing home health care for Ascension at Home so she could attend to her husbands needs. However, they were hit with some disappointing news Thursday, when Stephanis employers told her they were firing her after only four weeks off because she has not worked there long enough to qualify for Family Medical Leave Act benefits.

Her loss of income coupled with close to $1.5 million in hospital bills, $1.1 million for 30 radiation treatments, which Hutchinson is scheduled to complete on Valentines Day, and $5,200 for a 20-day supply of the chemotherapy pills he is taking, has the couple worried about more than Hutchinsons health.

Judi Spillman, who is married to Johnny Spillman, a retired sheriffs office investigator, is helping organize the fundraiser for Hutchinson. He is known by most as Hutch, as was his father, Harlan, who retired after 22 years with the sheriffs office. Hutchinsons 25-year-old son, Kyle, is a recent graduate of the McLennan Community College law enforcement program and now is staring his career with the sheriffs office as a jailer.

Hutch is a great guy. He is so nice and willing to help anybody, Judi Spillman said. He goes out of his way to help people. This tumor just came out of nowhere, and with him being a police officer, you just hate to see any police officer down. You hear so many negative things about the police these day. But he is actually one of the good guys. He just makes you want to help him because he doesnt ask for it.

Hutchinsons medical problems started in July, when he began experiencing headaches. They were nothing he couldnt handle at first, but they started getting progressively worse to where he could not bend over without it feeling like my head was going to explode, he said.

By October, Hutchinson, an investigator who works property and livestock crimes, was feeling worse. He was in charge of scheduling off-duty officers to work security for the Heart O Texas Fair and Rodeo and he said he could not focus while drawing up work shifts.

By the time the fair rolled around, I was having a lot of issues with problem solving and dizziness and just feeling very tired, Hutchinson said. I lost my balance, I was having trouble with my speech. My blood pressure spiked one night at the fair, and (Sheriffs Cpl.) Jeff Aguirre put me in the camper at the fair and told me not to leave.

Aguirre summoned paramedics, but Hutchinson declined their efforts to take him to the hospital. However, when he started feeling worse, he went to a Waco hospital on his own, where doctors discovered the tumor.

After some logistical delays prevented timely surgery in Waco, the Hutchinsons took the advice of a friend with multiple tumors who sought treatment in Dallas. Doctors there removed a large tumor from the area just above Hutchinsons right ear.

Since his surgery, the Hutchinsons have been staying with Stephanis sister in Arlington and going to Dallas five days a week for radiation and chemotherapy sessions. They come back to their home in China Spring on weekends.

I am going to fight this until the fight is done, Hutchinson said. I am not giving up.

McLennan County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Michael Graham and Beth Sutton, who retired from the sheriffs office after 24 years, also are helping set up the March fundraiser.

Detective Hutchinson has spent 20 years faithfully serving the people of McLennan County and is always willing to help his fellow officers in any way he can, Graham said. We felt it only appropriate and necessary to help him in this great time of need. Detective Hutchinson was absolutely blindsided by this illness and a diagnosis such as this can have severe financial impacts on people. The benefit is simply to help with the financial impact that Detective Hutchinson is experiencing. He is having to travel extensively out of town for treatment and we all know that the price of fuel, lodging and other travel-related expenses have increased greatly in the past year.

Michael Hutchinson said he is grateful for the support of his friends and others in the community.

It means everything to us, Hutchinson said. I have been truly blessed with all of these people who know me and who have come together to do this for me. Their support is out of this world. I am truly touched and grateful. It is awesome. I am so thankful to have everyone helping me out.

Judi Spillman said the fundraiser, which will be at the Base, a multipurpose facility at the Extraco Events Center, will include dinner by Blanek Catering, silent and live auctions featuring donated items like hunting and fishing getaways, and music from 35 South, a local country band.

More information about the fundraiser can be found at the Team Michael Hutchinson Facebook page. Fundraiser tickets can be purchased at https://sleamc.org/shop.

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A $55 million highway project in Waco dubbed mall-to-mall will officially start Monday. Its area of influence over Highway 6 stretches from Richland Mall at Highway 84 to Central Texas Marketplace at Bagby Avenue, passing near several vehicle dealerships along the way.

Business owners say their fingers are crossed, knowing detours and heavy equipment may discourage would-be customers. But the Texas Department of Transportation has pledged to keep merchants informed of the latest developments as work proceeds through early 2024.

Webber, a Houston-area construction company in town completing a high-profile, $347 million widening of Interstate 35, is lead contractor for the mall-to-mall project. It is meant to improve traffic flow along a 3.5-mile stretch of State Highway 6 now dotted with entrance and exit ramps and forced turnarounds on the frontage roads.

The project will add continuous frontage roads, add U-turn bridges, reconfigure entrance and exit ramps, and reconstruct existing bridges, according to a TxDOT press release.

Though the project carries the mall-to-mall moniker, Richland Mall and Central Texas Marketplace are not really the main characters, said John Habermann, a Texas A&M Transportation Institute research engineer who since 2013 has served as a consultant to TxDOT. He said his involvement includes about 63 miles of I-35 construction between Salado and Abbott.

Movement between the two malls will pretty much stay open the whole time, Habermann said. The most concentrated work will involve constructing bridges over railroad tracks for the new service roads. Once this is complete, traffic wont have to get on Highway 6, then immediately get off. They can stay on the service road from Bagby Avenue to Waco Drive.

As conditions now stand, motorists do a lot of weaving on Highway 6. Theres a lot of leaving and entering in a small area, he said.

Traffic counts are high and destined to grow, as the nearby industrial park soon welcomes a new $250 million Amazon fulfillment center that will employ 1,000 people full-time. Though the facility may appear complete to anyone passing by, Amazon has made no formal announcement that work has begun. Online advertising of some available positions has begun.

Kris Collins, the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerces senior vice president for economic development, told the Tribune-Herald that Amazon has faced delays in the delivery of equipment it needs to run the center.

Another interested party is the Owens-Illinois plant that produces glass bottles at 5200 Beverly Drive. Access is crucial since the plant receives raw materials and ships product. The plant, which opened in 1944, is served by Union Pacific Railroad tracks and by 18-wheelers that must rumble along Beverly Drive, between New Road and Loop 340.

Owens-Illinois officials did not return calls Friday seeking comment.

Weve taken the position that we tell the owner, operations manager or general manager whats going to happen, what is or is not going to be available, and they hold internal meetings on how to adjust operations, Habermann said. This is a tribute to TxDOT, which is giving companies time to make adjustments, especially those taking deliveries. They will tell their suppliers whats going on, when they will be able to ship and receive.

Habermann said the glass plant should be able to load and unload trucks daily.

Ted Teague, general manager at Allen Samuels Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, 201 West Loop 340, said he expects challenges, but hopes for the best.

Anytime you have construction in front of a business and consumers have a hard time getting in and out  people are used to the conveniences of life, Teague said. With the corner access we have, the impact will be minimal for us compared to other people along this stretch. Crews are working at night, shutting roads in front of us at night. Thats the time some people do come out on fact-finding missions. They look at vehicles before they speak with sales people. Will they be discouraged? Thats the $64,000 question.

Webber and TxDOT representatives have been spending time along the construction route, preparing for Mondays official start.

Nightlight Donuts & Coffee operates near Highway 6 and Highway 84, near the Allen Samuels dealership and a Valero convenience store.

I know some customers like to exit off Highway 6 and drive through the Valero parking lot to get to us, kitchen manager Jocelynn OSteen said. But crews have closed a little side road that makes that possible. Its a little frustrating. Ive heard one or two customers mention that.

OSteen said she hopes business does not suffer because of mall-to-mall construction. Customer counts have increased since college students returned from their Christmas breaks, she said.

Seth Morris, an economic development vice president at the Greater Waco Chamber, said specifics related to mall-to-malls possible impact on business have been discussed more than a year. He said the chamber and TxDOT have sought to be proactive as opposed to reactive.

Certainly there will be some challenges. But hopefully everyone will be able to adjust accordingly, Morris said. We will do whatever we can from our end. TxDOT will share with us any concerns businesses may have.

Phase 1 that begins Monday will require a six-month closing of the U-turns at the Union Pacific Railroad along Beverly Drive, along with other nightly closures nearby, according to the TxDOT press release.

Crews will conduct various lane and ramp closures nightly from January 31 through the morning of February 5, it says. Crews will install barriers and place temporary striping in the area. All closures will be conducted between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. on those dates.

The following areas will be closed during the nightly work:

Union Pacific U-turn at Beverly Drive

Highway 6 westbound frontage road from Bagby Avenue to the Union Pacific U-turn

Highway 6 westbound frontage road from the Union Pacific U-turn to Industrial Drive

Westbound off-ramp to Beverly Drive

Westbound on-ramp before Beverly Drive

Westbound off-ramp to Imperial Drive

Highway 6 eastbound frontage road from the Union Pacific turnaround to Exchange Parkway

Eastbound off-ramp to Bagby Avenue.

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Sandy and Frederick Trombley knew the vacant house that had charmed them to Waco was a great historical treasure, and also a great big mess.

On the one hand, the colonnaded home at 2420 Colcord Ave. still retained much of its original grandeur. It was built around 1911 by Artemas Roberts, the insurance magnate who was then finishing Wacos first skyscraper, now known as the ALICO Building.

The founder of American Amicable Life Insurance had spared no expense for the architectural details on a house in what was then the Waco boondocks.

It had giant columns supporting the front portico, cypress siding and ornate corbels, interiors of oak and cherry wood, and ornate ceilings with plastered egg and dart trim.

It was the kind of house both my husband and I have always dreamed of, Sandy Trombley said.

But time had taken its toll on the old dowager, as the Houston couple found when they bought the house in 2016.

It might have been a red flag when an inspector the Trombleys hired showed up at the house and refused to enter, fearing for his life.

It might have been a sign when a structural engineer found that the house was leaning slightly and the roof had dipped nine inches because of foundation weaknesses three stories below.

Or that when it was rejected as a candidate for renovation on Fixer Upper after being dubbed the crumbling mansion by Chip and Joanna Gaines in Season 2.

It was on the verge, said Addis McNamara, owner of Brazos Environmental & Engineering Services, who reluctantly took the yearslong renovation that he is now finishing. It should have been pushed down. If it hadnt been for the Trombleys, anybody else would have torn it down. No one else in Waco would have done this.

The house had a special meaning to Frederick Trombley, who as a teen in the 1960s had briefly lived across the street and admired the old mansion.

The Trombleys bought the 3,700-square-foot house for $90,000 and got a historic landmark designation from the city of Waco. They continued to live until 2020 in Houston, where he was finishing up a successful accounting career.

Its kind of bittersweet, Sandy Trombley said this week, standing in front of the house as workers reconstructed a balcony. My husband stayed past his original retirement date. He stayed because his company made him an offer he couldnt refuse. He died one week before what was supposed to be last day. We buried him on his retirement day.

Sandy, a single woman in her 60s who grew up in Wichita Falls and had never lived in Waco, faced a hard choice of whether to continue an expensive renovation of a grand but troubled house in an inner-city North Waco neighborhood. Her daughter in Richardson urged her to cut her losses and move closer to her. But Trombley had fallen in love with the house, and aided with money her husband had left her she decided to stay the course.

I would love to be with my daughter and the granddaughter my husband didnt live to see, but do I give up my dream and Freddys dream? she said. I call the house Freddys Dream.

Trombley is renting a home around the corner and is hoping to move into the Artemas Roberts house sometime this spring.

Asked the budget for the house, she laughed.

Whats a budget? she said. She estimated the project would cost some $750,000, and even in a post-Fixer Upper real estate market she wondered about the investment she was making.

I dont think it makes sense to spend this much money on a house in Waco, she said. I keep hearing I should be able to get a million dollars for it, and that gives me hope, because Ill live here as long as I can. But is anybody really going to really pay a million?

On a tour this week, McNamara and project manager Larry Thornton expressed pride in their work to maintain the historical integrity of the house while bringing it up to modern standards.

The wiring, plumbing and climate control systems are all being replaced, walls have been insulated, energy-efficient windows have been installed, and an enclosed lift has been constructed in the back of the house.

But they said the exterior would remain faithful as possible to the original appearance, and the interior wood and plaster details were being restored carefully. Stanton Studios of Waco is repairing the leaded glass bookcase windows as well as the plaster ceiling trim.

Workers rebuilt the foundation and anchored it to bedrock. They stripped six layers of paint from the exterior.

They reinforced the portico with steel and gradually lifted the roof up nine inches  one inch per month, so as not to crack the wood. They replaced most of the ruined porch with trim that matched the original design.

The house got a new roof, and balconies with railings connect to the structure of the house by way of 8-by-8 posts.

Standing on the balcony, McNamara said he did not want to live to see the need for another major renovation.

Im not coming back he said. I told everyone I want this house to be here 100 years from now.

Sandy Trombley said she has enjoyed getting to know the history of the house and the neighborhood. An insurance adjuster who had grown up in Missouri and Texas, Artemas Roberts moved to Waco in 1906 and worked for Texas Life Insurance Co.

In 1908 he recruited an elite group of Waco businessmen, including W.W. Cameron and Sam Sanger, to form Amicable Life Insurance Co., and within a couple of years it was trumpeting phenomenal growth.

Roberts dreamed up a skyscraper that would measure up to his ambitions, and set to work in 1910 on a 22-story, steel-framed skyscraper taller than anything in Texas at that time.

The building was designed by the Fort Worth-based firm Sanguinet and Staats with local architect Roy E. Lane assisting.

In Historic Homes of Waco, Texas, architectural historian and Colcord Avenue resident Kenneth Hafertepe suggests the Fort Worth firm or Lane may have designed the house as well.

He describes the house as a simple American Foursquare in its basic arrangement.

But this Foursquare was dressed up with just about every bell and whistle imaginable, Hafertepe wrote.

Hafertepe, who was on the Historic Landmark Preservation Commission when it gave the Roberts house its local designation, said he has been pleased with the progress on the restoration.

Artemas Roberts lived with his wife and two sons in the house until around 1920, the year a dramatic boardroom coup at his insurance company ousted him. Board members accused him of pressuring shareholders to sell to him at a loss so that he could turn around and resell the business, according to a 2011 Waco Today story about the ALICO Building.

Roberts and his family moved to Corpus Christi, where he ran for mayor and Texas Legislature while farming cotton and drilling for oil. He maintained interests in Waco and returned here in 1931, organizing a new life insurance company and purchasing the Provident Building. He died in March 1933 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

The house passed through many hands over the decades, serving in the late 1920s as the family home for former Waco Mayor Allen Sanford, and later home to the families of Waco Police Chief Woody Zachry, Ed Pettit and Clifford Corley, according to a 1988 report by Baylor University student Pamelyn Allen.

David and Jan Lewein bought the house in the 1980s and renovated it as a bed-and-breakfast inn. By the time the Trombleys bought it in 2016, it was vacant and belonged to the Federal Home Loan Corp., or Freddie Mac, according to public records.

Sandy Trombley said there are rewards to rescuing a house like this beyond the financial return on investment.

You have to love this house beyond measure, she said.

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Father-daughter dance

Fathers and daughters can enjoy food, music, and crafts at a father-daughter dance from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the pavilion at the Carleen Bright Arboretum in Woodway.

The theme of the dance is To the Moon and Back. Tickets cost $30 each, and the event is open to all ages.

For more information, email events@woodwaytexas.gov or call 254-399-9204.

Food distribution times, sites

The Central Texas mobile food pantry will distribute free food at two locations Wednesday, and two locations Friday. It is designed as a drive-thru event, however, anyone who walks to the distributions will be given food as well. The distribution will include a variety of fresh and staple foods.

Distribution sites and times:

Wednesday, 10 to 11 a.m., VA Clinic, 4800 Memorial Drive, Waco.; 10 to 11 a.m., Word of Life Family Worship Center, 193 LCR 412, Groesbeck.

Friday, 10 to 11 a.m., First United Methodist Church of Mart, 701 E. Texas Ave.; 10 to 11 a.m., Kosse Community Center, 200 W. Adams St.

The food bank is also seeking volunteers to help with the effort. For more information, call 512-684-2509.

GreifShare class starting

Peace Lutheran Church, 9301 Panther Way, will start a GriefShare class Tuesday. The class will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Tuesday for 13 weeks.

To preregister, email Becky Ritz at rjritz@earthlink.net or call 832-418-0371.

Waco Rotary Club

McGregor Mayor Jim Hering will speak during a Waco Rotary Club meeting at noon Tuesday at the Baylor Club in McLane Stadium, 1001 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Hering will discuss the change and growth McGregor is experiencing from both an industrial and residential point of view and what the future might hold.

Lunch costs $20. For more information, call 254-776-2115.

Submit printed or typed items to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco, 76702-2588; or email goingson@wacotrib.com.
Hearts in the Arts Gala Feb. 24

The 20th annual Hearts in the Arts Gala, sponsored by the McLennan Community College Foundation, will be held Feb. 24 and feature a McLennan Theatre performance of Little Shop of Horrors at MCCs Ball Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $100 each and include drinks and dining at 6 p.m. and the performance at 7:30 p.m. Dessert will be served at intermission.

Gala reservations are due by Feb. 17. To make reservations, contact the MCC Foundation at 254-299-8604 or reservations@mclennan.edu.

Father-daughter dance

Fathers and daughters can enjoy food, music, and crafts at a father-daughter dance from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, at the pavilion at the Carleen Bright Arboretum in Woodway.

The theme of the dance is To the Moon and Back. Tickets cost $30 each, and the event is open to all ages.

For more information, email events@woodwaytexas.gov or call 254-399-9204.

Food distribution times, sites

The Central Texas mobile food pantry will distribute free food at two locations Wednesday, and two locations Friday. It is designed as a drive-thru event, however, anyone who walks to the distributions will be given food as well. The distribution will include a variety of fresh and staple foods.

Distribution sites and times:

Wednesday, 10 to 11 a.m., VA Clinic, 4800 Memorial Drive, Waco.; 10 to 11 a.m., Word of Life Family Worship Center, 193 LCR 412, Groesbeck.

Friday, 10 to 11 a.m., First United Methodist Church of Mart, 701 E. Texas Ave.; 10 to 11 a.m., Kosse Community Center, 200 W. Adams St.

The food bank is also seeking volunteers to help with the effort. For more information, call 512-684-2509.

Submit printed or typed items to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco, 76702-2588; or email goingson@wacotrib.com.
The Jewish festival of Purim this March will celebrate the permanent, determined nature of Judaism and its greatest miracle  that it exists at all. Its drawn from the Book of Esther and concerns a plan to exterminate all Jews in Persia.

For millennia, Jews worldwide have faced threats of exile, persecution and death. Antisemitism is fundamentally a rebellion by barbarism against the morality taught in the Hebrew Bible. This month a synagogue near us  Congregation Beth Israel, located in Colleyville, just northeast of Fort Worth  was attacked by an antisemitic terrorist. The 11-hour hostage standoff involved a 44-year-old British Pakistani who claimed to be Muslim, though historically greater threats to Jewish survival have come from Christian-heritage communities.

The Inquisition targeted Jews and former Jews. Sixteenth-century German priest Martin Luther paved the way for Hitler when preaching: Set fire to their synagogues or schools. He advised that Jewish homes be razed and destroyed, and that Jewish prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, [should] be taken from them. In addition, their rabbis [should] be forbidden to teach on pain of loss of life and limb. Luther  yes, so prominent in the Protestant Reformation movement and namesake of Lutheranism  also stated that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them. Wow!

In 2017 a rally by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, shouted the Nazi slogan, Jews will not replace us! Indeed, some Protestant Christians have concluded their faith has replaced a failed Judaism. They hold to a supersessionist view which denies the claim of scripture that God has made an everlasting covenant with the Jewish people (Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 32:40).

Under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald, Christian nationalist William Luther Pierce wrote The Turner Diaries (1978) which called on freedom-loving Christians to wage war against dictatorial secularism imposed on America by an elaborate partnership of Jews and liberals to destroy Christianity. This book inspired Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh (1993) and Atlanta Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph (1996), not to mention Oslo mass-murderer Anders Breivik (2011).

Sadly, America has a long history of tolerating antisemitism. Industrialist Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, even published a famous book, The International Jew: The Worlds Foremost Problem, calling for racial purity of the white race to counter Jews gaining political and financial dominance. Today, voices on the far right echo these views. To quote scholar Mark Juergensmeyer in his 2017 book Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, many today view the United Nations and Democratic Party as accomplices in a Jewish-Freemason conspiracy to control the world and deprive individuals of their freedom.

Alarmingly, Fox News conservative superstar Tucker Carlson and others continue to promote fantastical ideas of a powerful, nefarious global conspiracy against all that is white, right and Christian. No less than the Anti-Defamation League has called for Carlsons ouster: We have seen, over and over again, the consequences of such unhinged conspiratorial rhetoric  from Pittsburgh to Poway to El Paso. These heinous acts of violence were spurred, in part, by many of the same false grievances Carlson espouses each and every night. So far, Fox remains complicit with furtherance of these toxic ideas.

The terrorist holding a rabbi and three members of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville ranted, among other things: I know President Biden will do things for the Jews. Even now, some in the FBI and the media wonder if Malik Faisal Akrams act of terrorism strictly qualifies as an antisemitic attack. (Akram had demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted of trying to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan and now serving a lengthy prison sentence near Colleyville.) Happily, none of the hostages died in the standoff. Law enforcement played a key role in ensuring their safety.

What made the difference was Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who acted decisively in accord with active-shooter training he had earlier received. Even so, trauma may long remain for the Jewish congregation, including the rabbis wife and two daughters who waited and prayed for 11 hours while a gun was held to the rabbis head.

The good news is that, outside of Israel, Jews have found no more welcome and secure a home in the march of world history than here in the United States of America. Thank God! Now for the bad news: Antisemitism is clearly on the rise in America. The Tree of Life Synagogue in my beloved Pittsburgh was attacked by a terrorist in October 2018, leaving 11 dead. Congregations in Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York and Austin have been attacked or vandalized in recent years. Countless affronts are registered against American Jews simply because they are Jews.

Antisemitic intolerance  like all forms of civic hate  should be condemned by all as fundamentally un-American. As a German-American I know firsthand how scapegoating Jews can undergird a moral, national unravelling. But we are not powerless: Each of us must find ways to be a part of solutions that guide us away from the precipice that myopic hatreds inflame. We should speak with clarity whenever we hear Jews described as a broad category instead of a dynamic multivalence.

We cannot put our heads in the sand as bias and bigotry lead to hatred and violence. It should not become a heroic or courageous act  at least in America  for a person to attend his or her place of worship, whether church, synagogue or mosque.

A. Christian van Gorder is an associate professor at Baylor University, teaching world religions. He and Rabbi Gordon Fuller, formerly of Agudath Jacob in Waco, co-authored the book Jews and Christians Together: An Invitation to Mutual Respect, issued in August 2020.
Alden Global Capital wants Lee Enterprises shareholders to elect two directors who are not on Lees slate.

Alden proposes Colleen Brown and John Zieser to replace two extremely long-tenured and deeply entrenched incumbent candidates, Mary Junck, Lees former CEO, and Herbert Moloney III.

Three directors will be elected at the companys annual meeting, scheduled for March 10. Alden is not opposing the election of Kevin Mowbray, Lees CEO.

Brown is a former executive for media companies Fisher Communications and Belo Corp., and has previously worked for Lee and Gannett. Zieser is chief development officer and general counsel of Meredith Corporation.

Davenport-based Lee Enterprises is publisher of the The Courier, Quad-City Times, and dozens of other newspapers nationwide. Its the third-largest owner of newspapers in the United States. Alden Global Capital is a privately held New York City-based investment firm founded in 2007. Through acquisitions, it is now the second-largest owner of newspapers, behind Gannett.

We have demonstrated a long-standing commitment to investment in the local newspaper business and serving communities with robust independent journalism over the long term, Alden said in a statement. We believe (Lee) and its news and information platform have untapped potential and, with the right enhanced strategy and improved leadership, can provide significant value for stockholders while improving the quality of journalism for readers and subscribers.

Alden argues Junck and Moloney have served for more than 20 years, and are responsible for Lees significant underperformance since its acquisition of Berkshire Hathaways BH Media Group.

Alden also took aim at a letter Lee sent to shareholders Monday, which said, in part, A Vulture Hedge Fund is seeking to acquire Lee at a steep discount. Dont let it take value that belongs to you.

We urge stockholders not to be misled by the Companys misleading and disparaging rhetoric about our intentions for Lee, Alden said. Simply put, we are not seeking to acquire Lee at a steep discount, nor could the election of our two entirely independent director candidates result in any such unfair transaction.

Alden said its goal is to bring independent perspectives and relevant expertise to the boardroom and, who are committed to re-shaping the highly questionable corporate governance practices at Lee.

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WATERLOO  Grow Cedar Valley will host Business After Hours at The Hive from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Feb. 10 at Farmers State Bank, 131 Tower Park Drive.

Business After Hours is a unique opportunity for Grow Cedar Valley investors to network and experience various business locations throughout the Cedar Valley. Attendees learn special information and insight about the sponsoring business while socializing and enjoying complimentary hors d'oeuvres.

There is no cost for Grow Cedar Valley members to attend. Deadline to register is Feb. 3. Premier sponsor is The Hive at Farmers State Bank. For more information or to register, contact Bette Wubbena at bette@growcedarvalley.com or call (319) 232-1156.

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Every spring, Expo Alternative Learning Center in Waterloo erupts in celebration. For many high schools, graduation is serious. At Expo, it is living, breathing joy.

We have one of our teachers thats a DJ, and every kid walks up to their own song, across the stage, and youll see some kids dancing with the superintendent on the stage. And we tell people, Cheer as much as you want. Theyre screaming, theyre out of their seats; its standing-room only, said Cary Wieland, Expos principal. These are some of the first kids that have graduated in their families.

More than 550 students attend Expo, which serves sixth through 12th grades, but a total of 1,100 to 1,200 attend at some point during the course of a school year. In 2020, 155 students graduated, and over the past few years the district has achieved the highest graduation rates in its history, thanks to routing students to Expo who likely would have otherwise dropped out, Wieland said.

In February 2021, the school was designated a Leader in Me Lighthouse School for outstanding achievement, based on a standard set by leadership training service FranklinCovey. And in March, the Iowa Department of Education honored Expo as a model school for its positive behavioral interventions and support work during the 2019-2020 school year.

Despite those accolades, Expo is on Iowas list of 34 comprehensive schools deemed by elected officials as failing.

Leaders at 13 of the schools on that list explained the shortcomings of the metric that assigned them the failing label, as well as the unique challenges students and staff confronted  even before legislation introduced at the Statehouse singled them out as places where families could get state assistance to leave, they told IowaWatch.

Failing schools is hyperbole for schools designated by the state as comprehensive. These are the Title I schools that score in the bottom 5% in the state based on students performance on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress test, and/or for high schools, have a graduation rate below 67.1%.

IowaWatch in a year-long investigation found that although each state is required to identify the bottom-scoring 5% of Title I schools every three years, it doesnt mean these schools are failing.

A common misconception is that all schools are the same, said Jason Aker, principal of Baxter Elementary School in Baxter.

Thirty-four failing schools is a really crummy way of saying that, because the answer is simple; its the bottom 5%. So there will always be a bottom 5%, he said. So its really a tragedy on some level to lump schools in there and say that theyre failing, because that is not the case.

Political rhetoric

Despite political rhetoric, educators from schools on the states comprehensive list said they are seeing successes and finding solutions.

This list helps the U.S. Department of Education identify schools that could use more support. And the fact that comprehensive schools have a higher percentage of poverty and racial minorities is no coincidence; its by design. Only Title I schools are eligible for these funds, because the goal is to target schools in lower socioeconomic areas. Title I schools are those schools with at least 40% of their student populations coming from low-income families.

This means schools in which most students are from wealthier families can have lower scores than Title I schools, but they would not be eligible for comprehensive support.

According to the Iowa Department of Education allocation summary, state schools received $96,882,253 in Title I funds for the 2020-2021 school year. That amount increased to $101,854,621 for the 2021-2022 school year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Because schools identified as comprehensive have higher rates of poverty by design, they also have more English-language learners and more racial minorities than the statewide average.

Any correlation between lower academic successes and students who are either racial minorities or live in higher-poverty households has nothing to do with potential, and everything to do with access, said Mekisha Barnes, principal at Weeks Middle School in Des Moines. Barnes is the former principal at King Elementary School, which is on the comprehensive list.

Blaming families or socioeconomic status is a scapegoat. We know  research has shown over and over and over again  when states and schools invest in early childhood education, early intervention, provide the supports from 7:45 to 2:30, and they do that systematically with quality instruction, conditions, and provide that educational experience, with, again, the conditions, students achieve, Barnes said. Its not a parent involvement problem. Its not a poverty problem. It is not a kid problem, and it is not an adult/mothers/literacy level problem.

The problem, Barnes said, is that schools are not funded equitably.

Theres a cause and effect in this relationship, and schools are not in the position that theyre at by themselves, she said. We cant do things without resources and without permission and direction.

One spokesman for Gov. Kim Reynolds did not respond to multiple requests for interviews, while another spokesman declined to comment. Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton and chair of the Iowa Senate Education Committee, did not respond to requests for interviews.

Most experts and educators agreed that the term failing school is the result of politics colliding with education, seemingly ignoring thousands of puzzle pieces to focus on just one.

Iowa schools get their teachers from the University of Iowa, Iowa State, (University of Northern Iowa), said Pat Coen, superintendent of the Burlington Community School District, which has three schools on the comprehensive list. Theyre phenomenal teachers, but the second they come to Burlington theyre a failure. These are the same people populating all the schools in Iowa that are populating our school.

A political refrain

In her January 2021 Condition of the State speech, Reynolds advocated for a school choice agenda to help students trapped in a failing school. It was a refrain repeated by the governor and other lawmakers over the course of the 2021 legislative session, pointing to the 34 schools on the comprehensive list as the failing schools.

On May 19, Reynolds signed into law House File 813, which created a legal pathway for opening charter schools in Iowa, allowing groups to bypass local school boards and receive approval directly from the state Department of Education.

On Nov. 18, the Iowa State Board of Education authorized a set of rules and a timeline that paved the way for approved applicants to begin opening charter schools in fall 2022.

Under the new law, charter schools will be publicly funded, have more operational regulatory freedom, and be able to follow separate curricula and structures. Iowa has two charter schools, both high schools, in Maynard and Storm Lake.

About six school districts and founding groups had inquired about starting charters as of November, Janell Brandhorst, the Iowa Department of Educations chief of school improvement, told the Des Moines Register.

Passing the charter-school bill was a victory for Reynolds, who since 2018 has been advocating for education savings accounts, sometimes referred to as voucher programs, that would redirect state money to private, religious, or home schools. Iowa has 327 public school districts.

In her 2022 Condition of the State speech Reynolds pivoted in message, but continued to push toward the same goal: making it possible to funnel public funds to private institutions.

Reynolds said she will introduce legislation allowing middle- and low-income families and students on individualized education plans to receive state funding to go to the school of their choice. About 70% of those funds, some $5,300, would go into an account for the child, and the remaining 30% would be distributed by the state to smaller school districts. IEPs are special education services tailored to individual students.

Private schools are not currently required to provide special education services. Reynolds did not specify whether families schools of choice would be required to accept IEPs, which are paid for by federal and state funds. Currently in Iowa, many students attending private schools who also need special education services go to their local public school just for their IEP.

The effort goes back to 2019 when Reynolds met with former federal education secretary Betsy DeVos, along with lobbyists and lawmakers, for a discussion not open to the public or media. There, DeVos pitched a voucher proposal. DeVos has advocated for voucher programs and worked with school-choice groups for decades.

Iowa Senate Education Committee Chair Sinclair attended that meeting and has been an outspoken voice in the school-choice debate.

State Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Orange City, told IowaWatch he thinks education savings accounts are the best solution.

I dont think that (the federal Every Student Succeeds Act) uses a standard thats meaningful because schools that are succeeding according to ESSA still have students that are struggling and arent having their needs met and vice-versa. Students arent widgets on an assembly line, theyre individuals with unique aptitudes and needs, he wrote in an email to IowaWatch.

Stigma for students

Being thrust into political debates is difficult, not just for staff, but for students, too.

Our kids hear that too, right? I go to a failing school. What does that mean or suggest to them as individuals? I think we have an obligation as a community of adults to celebrate the things our kids are doing well, said Sheena Canady, principal of George Washington Carver Academy in Waterloo, the states first STEM middle school.

Jessica Styron is a Des Moines mom whose oldest son attended King Elementary School for first grade. Starting in second grade, she open-enrolled him at Hubbell Elementary School because he wasnt being challenged enough, she said. He is now in middle school. Her second son is currently in kindergarten at King.

Her sons experiences have been like night and day, she said.

This year at King with my youngest, I can see that the teacher he has is really going above and beyond at trying to be engaging for all of her students. I dont know if thats a difference with the school or just a teacher difference, but I appreciate that, and he really likes going to school, Styron said.

After the familys first experience with King, Styron tried to enroll her younger son at Hubbell, but it was full. She is relieved her son is thriving at King, but even if he wasnt, a charter school or a voucher program, such as one lawmakers have proposed, wouldnt be an option, she said.

Thinking about some of the financial situations of my neighbors, even driving to another school is kind of a bad solution, because whether its a transportation issue or where you work or where you live, its just inconvenient, Styron said I just would like to see them invest into these struggling schools.

Gaps widen

If tax dollars are funneled to private schools, the divide between wealthier communities and poorer communities will only widen, as will the gap between children with disabilities and those without, agreed Marshall Lewis, superintendent of the Ruthven Ayrshire Community School District and principal of the elementary school, which is on the states comprehensive list, and Chris Myers, the districts curriculum director.

The argument that the intent there is to serve all kids and provide them equal access to education is totally counter-intuitive  because youre basically taking your poorest, least accessible kids and youre leaving them in a public school while you drain all of the financial support that student should be receiving, and youre draining, in theory, the top academic, high achievers, Lewis said. Public schools will look like theyre failing more because well have less funds coming in, well have the lower-ability students stay where theyre at, because they wont be allowed to go to the private schools, and so you will see that disparity grow.

And it will be an easy target for public schools that are doing the best job, I believe, to meet the needs of all kids, and then be termed failing schools.

Iowa schools perform very well overall, but taking money out of a schools general fund and streaming it to private institutions undercuts their efforts, critics say. Even with some financial help, middle- and especially low-income families dont have the financial resources to send their children to private schools, which makes financial assistance from the state more likely to perpetuate inequities, rather than leveling the playing field, said Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association.

Iowa ranks very high nationally with how our students are doing, but we still have to identify the bottom 5%, Beranek said. So to take that narrative and to use that to punish our public schools, when we are performing very well, is something that is irresponsible.

Of the 34 Iowa schools identified as comprehensive, 85% are above the state average for poverty, 71% are above the state average for special education identification, and 65% are above the state average for the percentage of students who are racial minorities, said Cory Johnson, curriculum director for the Burlington School District.

The focus is on identifying where there are the biggest pockets of need and allocating resources towards those needs and really identifying why those needs exist, said Johnson, who was previously on Iowas Statewide School Improvement Team. This whole process is not at all about penalizing anybody.  What was unfortunate was that there are some politicians trying to shift the focus away from the model as its designed and as it is currently working.

Iowa has nine Area Education Agencies, which provide public schools with support and a framework for accountability. Schools identified as comprehensive begin working with an AEA to conduct an assessment, create an action plan and receive support in the form of visits, training and other resources from their AEA school improvement consultant, explained Lisa Hawker, literacy and school improvement consultant at Iowas Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency.

This is really done in the spirit of continuous improvement and support, said Shane Williams, director of educational services at the Mississippi Bend AEA. Whether youre a high-performing school or a low-performing school or somewhere in-between, the idea of continuous improvement, constantly trying to get better, reviewing your data, setting priorities, trying new initiatives, evaluating the effectiveness of those initiatives, is all part of the states continuous improvement process.

Despite the refrain of failing coming from the Capitol, the states Department of Education explains on its website: If my school is identified as Comprehensive or Targeted, does it mean it is a bad school? No, it simply means these are schools that need help and support to improve, and Iowa has the right system in place to provide that support. It is important to understand a schools local context and improvement efforts that are underway.

And that local context is everything, educators said.

Any school district is a microcosm of the community in which it exists. The health of the community and the health of the districts are completely interrelated, Johnson said.

In the Burlington Community School District, 256 youths were classified as homeless in 2020, said Cassie Gerst, the districts outreach and grant coordinator. The classification of homeless is based on the McKinney-Vento Act, which defines homelessness and unaccompanied homeless youth, and provides rights and services to children and youth experiencing homelessness.

The district works with 42 partners in the community. In supporting the school district, they also help support the entire community, she said.

In Waterloo, figuring out the underlying causes of academic struggles at Fred Becker Elementary wasnt a mystery for Principal Alex Hansen, who grew up in poverty in the same community he now works in.

I had very involved parents, but when I went to school every day, there were things on my mind that nonpoverty households didnt have to worry about, he said. Kids in poverty can still function at a high level. If youre not in tune with (poverty) it can be a barrier. If you are in tune with it, you can remove those barriers.

Not being in tune with poverty is also a drawback for those more financially well off, he said.

Theyll take that opportunity to run and not realize how those very things that theyre running from can also be the things that their child can grow the most from, he said. I would hate to see parents who see those as negative stereotypes leave that and deprive their children of life-learning opportunities.

Funding, the future

Requiring each state to identify its lowest-scoring 5% of Title I schools every three years is a method for allocating federal funding to the schools that theoretically need it most, said an expert.

(Previous federal education law) No Child Left Behind is what actually tried to bring accountability to Title I, and thats how you could even generate something like a bottom 5%, said Nora Gordon, an economist and professor at Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy.

High-poverty schools also usually have a wider variety of needs than their wealthier counterparts, such as more English-language learners, more minority students, more students on Individualized Education Programs and more programs to help low-income families. And because every dollar has to stretch further at a school with more needs, equal amounts dont translate to equality.

A school district with high poverty has more financial hurdles to clear than a wealthier district. This is because money raised locally has fewer strings attached than money coming from Title I, said Gordon, also a fellow at the Urban Institute.

Money thats coming through Title I is more restricted, and its especially more restricted if youre in one of these comprehensive schools, because then theres this whole other piece that comes into play about evidence, Gordon said.

The federal Department of Education sends funding for Title I and special funding, such as for schools designated as comprehensive or targeted, to the state. Then, the state distributes that money to the schools. Everything is on a reimbursement basis.

Comprehensive is a three-year cycle, where once youre designated, the idea there is that you have stable funding as a school, and you actually have some opportunity to make some change, said Jay Pennington, chief of the bureau of information and analysis services at the Iowa Department of Education. Under No Child Left Behind, we had 65 to 70% of schools on a list, (and) the amount of money each school received was less impactful. So that was sort of the policy decision made around ESSA.

That three-year cycle was interrupted by COVID-19, so ratings and support statuses for comprehensive and targeted schools nationwide have been carried over for an extra year, he said.

Although ESSA doesnt spread funding as thin as NCLB, Iowa still doesnt have enough funding targeted at schools in areas with higher poverty, said Margaret Buckton, a professional advocate for Rural School Advocates of Iowa and executive director and legislative analyst for the Urban Education Network of Iowa.

The average funding nationwide in the 47 states that have a poverty factor is 22%, she said. Iowas weighting for poverty is just this tiny bit in the formula called at-risk funding, and its  only $17.1 million statewide. Thats less than half the weighting Des Moines would get if (Iowa) had the average for the country.

Iowa also has dropout prevention money that is taken from local property taxes, but that amount is based on enrollment and does not factor in poverty, Buckton said.

A good example of this is if you compare Ankeny and Des Moines. For example, Ankeny had 16.7% of their kids on free and reduced-price lunch (as of two years ago). Thats over 2,000 low-income students in Ankeny. Their total of combined at-risk money and dropout prevention money is $3.3 million. That works out to $1,642 per low-income kid. But if you look at Des Moines, since theres 77% poverty, theyve got 26,000 low-income kids. So their total only works out to $401 per low-income student.

Concerns over funding are on educators minds heading into 2022.

Although the charter school legislation passed in 2021, Senate File 159, which would have created the Student First Scholarship Program, did not make it to Reynolds desk. According to the states Legislative Services Agency, the scholarships would have created a $2.1 million loss to public school funding in 2023, increasing to $3.8 million in 2025.

Anything thats introduced (in 2021), even if it does not clear our self-imposed funnel deadlines, which is what happened in the case of Senate File 159, can be introduced (in 2022). So its still technically eligible for discussion, said Melissa Peterson, government relations specialist for the Iowa State Education Association. We dont see anything wrong with private or religious education. We just dont think taxpayers should have to pay for it.

More school choice and voucher program legislation is expected to come back up in 2022, said Sen. Claire Celsi, D-West Des Moines. The legislative session began Jan. 10.

I think (voucher legislation) will come back and pass in the Senate and not in the House. It would kill rural communities. It would gut our public schools, said Celsi, a member of the Senate Education Committee.

Smaller class sizes and better pay for teachers are proven strategies for helping kids, and especially minority students, do better in school and graduate, which then produces the workforce Iowa needs, she said.

Ninety-three percent of kids go to public schools. Why should taxpayers pay for parallel school systems? Celsi said. I fault (Reynolds) for leaving so much low-hanging fruit.

Leading up to the 2022 legislative session, activists for Americans for Prosperity-Iowa knocked on doors to promote possible upcoming education savings accounts legislation in suburban Des Moines. AFP is a conservative advocacy group funded by David and Charles Koch.

For schools like Expo in Waterloo, students just arent going to be able to use a voucher to go to another school, whether legislation passes in the future or not, said Wieland, the schools principal. However, draining tax dollars from public schools will cause class sizes to increase and it will remove supports that work for kids, he said.

When we start looking at some of these political barriers, it hurts the heart. It hurts the soul. Because we see this on the front lines every single day, and we want people to understand that our kids are good, Wieland said.

34 Iowa schools on comprehensive list

These 34 schools are on the state comprehensive list. They are the Title I schools that score in the bottom 5% in the state based on students performance on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress test, and/or for high schools, have a graduation rate below 67.1%. This allows them to get additional funds and support.

Baxter Elementary, Baxter Community School District

Black Hawk Elementary, Burlington Community School District

Sunnyside Elementary, Burlington Community School District

James Wilson Grimes School, Burlington Community School District

Cedar River Academy at Taylor, Cedar Rapids Community School District

Charter Oak-Ute Elementary School, Charter Oak-Ute Community School District

Iowa Virtual Academy, Clayton Ridge Community School District (Guttenberg)

Mid City High School, Davenport Community School District

Frank L. Smart Intermediate, Davenport Community School District

Madison Elementary School, Davenport Community School District

Monroe Elementary School, Davenport Community School District

King Elementary School, Des Moines Independent Community School District

Goodrell Middle School, Des Moines Independent Community School District

Hiatt Middle School, Des Moines Independent Community School District

Harding Middle School, Des Moines Independent Community School District

Moore Elementary School, Des Moines Independent Community School District

Lincoln Elementary School, Dubuque Community School District

Fulton Elementary School, Dubuque Community School District

Durant Elementary School, Durant Community School District

East Sac County Elementary, East Sac County Community School District (Sac City)

West Elementary School, Emmetsburg Community School District

Essex Elementary School, Essex Community School District

George Elementary School, George-Little Rock Community School District

Little Rock Elementary School, George-Little Rock Community School District

Rogers Elementary School, Marshalltown Community School District

Anson Elementary School, Marshalltown Community School District

Ruthven-Ayrshire Elementary School, Ruthven-Ayrshire Community School District

South Page Senior High School, South Page Community School District (College Springs)

Sylvia Enarson Elementary School, Villisca Community School District

Expo Alternative Learning Center, Waterloo Community School District

George Washington Carver Academy, Waterloo Community School District

Fred Becker Elementary School, Waterloo Community School District

Hawarden Elementary School, West Sioux Community School District

Ireton Elementary School, West Sioux Community School District

Source: Georgetown Universitys Edunomics Lab. These numbers are from the 2018-2019 school year, which is the most updated per pupil data they have.

This story was produced by the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch, a non-profit, online news website that collaborates with news organizations to produce explanatory and investigative reporting. Read more at www.IowaWatch.org.

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SHELL ROCK -- Team members of POET Bioprocessing-Shell Rock have made a $5,000 donation to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank.

The donation matched a $5,000 gift from Co-Bank. Additionally, the POE-Shell Rock team gave a previous $5,000 donation to the Food Bank in November 2021. A donation of $1 to the NEIA Food Bank purchases approximately four meals, meaning each donation will help purchase about 20,000 additional meals for those in need for a total of 60,000 meals from all three gifts.

The Food Bank provides nutritious food and grocery products to nonprofit organizations and individuals while offering hunger education programs to the area and those in need. The POET team had the opportunity to tour the Food Bank and learn more about the program provided and the volunteer programs open to community participation.

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DES MOINES  Teachers should not have to worry about jail time for distributing books that some people might consider vulgar, Republican Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver said Friday.

Whitver made the comment while appearing on this weekends episode of Iowa Press on Iowa PBS.

Whitver was asked about comments made before the legislative session by two Senate Republicans  Sens. Jake Chapman of Adel and Brad Zaun of Urbandale  who said they felt educators should face jail time for distributing literature that they deemed vulgar or obscene.

When asked about the possibility of criminal penalties for teachers, Whitver on Friday appeared to dismiss the idea.

I think charging anyone with felonies for these types of things, I dont think is a good idea, he said. Whitver said no legislation has been proposed in the Senate that would criminalize the distribution of certain literature in schools.

Republican lawmakers are hearing concerns from parents about some books in schools and their libraries, he said. When books have been singled out by legislators or at school board meetings, they typically have been about LGBTQ characters or written by LGBTQ authors, and include brief passages that describe sexual acts or feelings.

Whitver said he thinks the topic should be addressed through transparency. That aligns with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who proposed legislation that would require schools to post a catalog of all of their library books and curriculum materials online. Schools are already required to have that information available.

Were hearing concerns from parents and our job is to listen to those concerns and try to address them, Whitver said. I think adding transparency is a really good way to do that: make sure our parents have a seat at the table in their kids education, give them a process to address any concerns they have.

Many school districts already have a process in place for considering books and other materials that some people may deem inappropriate.

The phenomenon is not unique to Iowa, and other states elected officials have taken action. Floridas Republican lawmakers are considering legislation that would ban schools from any instruction that makes people feel discomfort over historic actions by their race, nationality or gender. And a Tennessee school board banned a book about the Holocaust over concerns of graphic drawings.

Iowa Press airs on Iowa PBS at noon Sunday, and can be viewed online at iowapbs.org.

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If todays California is what the rest of America will look like tomorrow, you might want to brace yourself for too little water, too much animal manure, and $4.65-per-gallon gasoline.

And, weird, too, because in California these too-little, too-much, and too-expensive elements have been combined to create what was thought to be a partial cure for climate change.

The first, water, is precious. The same amount of municipally-supplied water that costs $23 a month in Nebraska costs $65 a month in the Golden State. Only 20% of all water, however, flows to 39 million Californians; agriculture gulps the other 80%.

Thirsty crops, right? More like thirsty livestock: 47% of Californias water footprint is associated with the production of meat and dairy, reports the Sacramento-based Comstocks Magazine.

Animals and water  no matter the livestock or the state  means manure. In California, that combination also means taxpayer subsidies to build manure handling systems to capture methane generated in anaerobic digesters to be burned by vehicles or put into the natural gas grid.

That recipe sounds like a two-birds-with-one-stone solution to ags two growing problems, increased methane pollution from a deepening dependence on CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) and animal ags growing role in global climate change.

Or at least it did until manure digesters were built and monitored. Their early results were worse than poor, according to a January report on manure digesters by Reuters. In fact, the results were dismal.

In 2009, the story noted, the Obama administration and an industry group, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, pledged to reduce the industrys greenhouse gas emission by 25% by 2020 over levels in 2007, in part by expanding federal support for new digesters.

Instead, methane emissions in the sector have risen more than 15%, in part driven by growth in herd size. In short, one solution  methane-making manure digesters  led to a second, bigger problem, more manure-making cows.

Thats just basic ag economics, explained Rebecca Wolf of Food & Water Watch, an environmental watchdog group, in the Reuters story: If you start making money off of pollution, youre not going to stop polluting.

Indeed, pollution grows with digesters because livestock numbers grow with digesters.

States like Iowa, however, are choosing to ignore the acrid evidence. Recently, Iowa enacted a digester-promoting law that, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, not only doesnt worry about livestock expansion it allows Iowa animal feeding operations to exceed confinement capacity if [farmers] install an anaerobic digester to treat all manure.

Uncle Sam wants in the bigger CAFOs/bigger digester game, too. The Biden administrations still-unpassed, $1-trillion-plus Build Back Better program contains a river of federal subsidies to promote climate mitigation strategies like manure digesters in the coming years.

Some ag researchers, however, want to flatten that rising trend.

In a Dec. 14 podcast titled On biodigesters  are they a real win-win technology? three University of Iowa research professors, Silvia Secchi, Chris Jones, and Dave Cwiertny, agreed that Iowas new focus on digesters as a solution to the states overwhelming livestock manure problem almost guarantees more and bigger CAFOs in Iowa and even more unmanageable manure.

If this is such a winning proposition for farmers, noted Secchi, an economist and geographer, in the episode, why should public money be spent on it; why not private investment?

Secchi goes on to add, We are rushing headlong into these so-called solutions because they have this feel-good factor like soil health but dont yet have the results to prove it.

California, however, now faces some digester indigestion. Recently, noted Reuters, Environmental groups petitioned the California Air Resources Board to make [manure digesters] ineligible for [state] credits, arguing their presumed role in combating climate change was inflated and that the credits encourage making more manure.

Which California  and the rest of the U.S. and its taxpayers  neither need nor want.

The Farm and Food File is published weekly through the U.S. and Canada. Source material and contact information are posted at farmandfoodfile.com.

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Q: When did the Courier stop printing in Waterloo?

A: On Oct. 20, 2008, the Courier ended its printing operations in Waterloo, contracting to have the paper printed in Cedar Rapids and shipped back. On Aug. 30, 2021, the Courier moved its print operations to Davenport when the Cedar Rapids printer ceased its print operations.

Q: How many epidemiologists and contact tracers do Johnson, Linn and Polk counties have compared to Black Hawk County?

A: Johnson County has 20 contact tracers at the moment. The county has one epidemiologist, but the position is currently open and has not yet been posted. At the height of the pandemic Linn County had two trained epidemiologists and up to 40 contact tracers. Linn County stopped contact tracing Jan. 1, but continues to have two epidemiologists. Black Hawk County has two epidemiologists and five contact tracers. Polk County did not respond to our request for information.

Q: What actually are the symptoms for the omicron? It says to get tested if you have the symptoms, but I dont know what they are.

A: The most prominent symptoms from omicron are cough, fatigue or tiredness, congestion and runny nose, sore throat and headache. Unlike in previous variants, the loss of taste and smell seems to be uncommon, doctors say.

Q: I was wondering how they filmed the scene in North By Northwest on Mt. Rushmore?

A: According to the website The Take: The only authentic shots of Mt. Rushmore in North by Northwest are the ones showing the monument from a distance. The shooting and ambulance scenes were filmed in the actual monument cafeteria and surrounding grounds. The rest was filmed on an MGM soundstage using set pieces, special effects, and clever camera work.

Q: How much money did the Cedar Falls Schools get from the COVID payout from the government and why could they not disburse that to paraeducators instead of giving a $14,000 raise to the top guy?

A: Cedar Falls Community Schools received $6.24 million in federal emergency relief funds to help it recover from COVID-19 disruptions. There is some discussion by the districts administration of using some of the money to provide employee incentives. Those funds wont be used to pay salaries or give staff members a raise. The compensation increase for Superintendent Andy Pattee approved by the Board of Education in October was not funded through the federal relief dollars. His salary and other benefits grew by $13,222 for the current fiscal year.

Q: Where does the money come from when the Waterloo school board asks for supplemental spending authority from the state of Iowa?

A: When Waterloo Community Schools and other districts ask for and receive additional spending authority from the state, it gives them the ability to increase property taxes and spend that money for the purposes requested. If the school board chooses to use that additional authority, it is approved in the spring as part of the districts property tax levy. So, the money comes from the school districts property taxpayers.

Calls are taken on a special Courier phone line at 234-3566. Questions are answered by Courier staff.

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I will update this over the next few days as I find information that is relevant

* * *

Malaysian Airlines MH17 plane was traveling almost the same route as Russias President Vladimir Putins jet shortly before the crash that killed 295, Interfax news agency reports citing sources.

* * *

At least seventy-one Dutch nationals were on board, reported RTL. It has also been reported by the media that 23 US nationals could have been on board, as well as four French nationals and between five and 10 Britons according to a Whitehall source who spoke to Mail Online.

* * *

The Ukrainian military reportedly deployed a battery of Buk surface-to-air missile systems, capable of bringing down high-flying jets, to the Donetsk region the day before the Malaysian passenger plane crashed in the area.

* * *

Here are the other notable updates in the past hour from Bloomberg:

Putins plane may have been target of Ukrainian rocket: Interfax

Russian President Vladimir Putins plane crossed route of crashed Malaysian plane near Warsaw, Interfax reports, citing unidentified person in Russian aviation service.

Possible that Ukrainian rocket was fired from land or from military plane: Interfax cites source

Plane that crashed was similar in size, color: Interfax

Obama Says U.S. Trying to Determine if U.S. Citizens on Plane

Ukraine Crash Kills 23 U.S. Citizens: Interior Ministry Adviser

Multiple airlines say theyre avoiding airspace in Eastern Ukraine

Lufthansa to avoid E. Ukraine airspace on shot-down plane

KLM avoids flying over concerned territory

Alitalia says all routes over Ukraine, nearby airspace halted

Aeroflot says flights going around Ukraine: RIA Novosti

Air France says its stopped flying over E. Ukraine

Turkish Airlines flights to avoid Ukraine airspace: Reuters

Transaero to avoid flying over Ukrainian territory

BA says its flights dont use E. Ukraine airspace

* * *

Everything about this entire incident screams: TOO CONVENIENT!

* * *

The self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic, which controls the area around the crash site, says that it will pass the flight recorders of the downed plane to Russian authorities.

In Moscow, they have high-class experts, and they will be able to determine the cause of the crash, though it seems obvious enough anyway, said vice-premier Andrey Purgin.

* * *

A Malaysia Airlines plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in eastern Ukraine. There were 285 people and 15 crew members on board the Boeing-777 aircraft.

* * *

The Netherlands  189

Malaysia  44

Australia  27

Indonesia  12

UK  9

Belgium  4

Germany  4

The Philippines  3

Canada  1

New Zealand  1

* * *

The OSCE has said 30 of its staff have arrived at the Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash site near Donetsk.

* * *

On Thursday, when a Malaysian Airlines plane was apparently shot down over Ukraine, a Ukrainian Buk anti-aircraft missile battery was operational in the region, the Russian Defense Ministry said, contradicting Kievs statements.
I had a link sent to me and it is the same as I said about the incident when it happened and the West as true to form has hidden and delayed everything about this incident, to this day it is shoved along as a can kicked down the road

I can say that Putins plane and the Malaysian Boeing intersected at the same point and the same echelon. That was close to Warsaw on 330-m echelon at the height of 10,100 meters. The presidential jet was there at 16:21 Moscow time and the Malaysian aircraft  15:44 Moscow time, a source told the news agency on condition of anonymity.  Source: WAS PUTINS PLANE THE TARGET?  The Burning Platform

Russia knows that their president had an attempt at his life and it was done in legal airspace and legal transport lanes of commercial traffic. This is the same tactics used against Iran a bit over a year ago by the USA.the concept of using perceived safe areas, traffic lanes and guarantees by countries to abide with safe passage for diplomats, has been undermined and destroyed by Western ruses

So yes, this link sent to me (above) by a reader is very prevalent.since nothing the west has said makes one sense of gobbledygook at all.and I am glad to see that someone else has the sense to question the happening when it happened

As far as gobbledygook is concerned.how long has it been since the Western World has made any sense on literally any subject and matter? It has been a long time!

Trust is earned

WtR
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 even stronger winds possible on Friday. 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. Please see the latest hazard text products for the latest information on anticipated wind speeds. * 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.

...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 9 PM PDT THURSDAY... * WHAT...Southwest winds 20 to 35 mph with gusts up to 55 mph expected. Wind prone areas may experience gusts in excess of 60 mph. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 45 mph and waves of 2 to 4 feet expected on Pyramid Lake. * WHERE...Greater Reno-Carson City-Minden Area and Western Nevada Basin and Range including Pyramid Lake. * WHEN...From 11 AM to 9 PM PDT Thursday. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects and high profile vehicles will be prone to tip over. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. Blowing dust may locally reduce visibility downwind of dry lake beds and sinks. Small boats, kayaks and paddle boards will be prone to capsizing. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Travel restrictions for high profile vehicles are possible. Check with NDOT for the latest on road conditions. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Now is the time to secure loose outdoor items such as patio furniture, holiday decorations, and trash cans before winds increase which could blow these items away. The best thing to do is prepare ahead of time by making sure you have extra food and water on hand, flashlights with spare batteries and/or candles in the event of a power outage. Check lake conditions before heading out on the water and be prepared for a sudden increase in winds and wave heights. Consider postponing boating activities on the lake until a day with less wind. &&


Quarterly Activities Report

Perth, Jan 31, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Wiluna Mining Corporation Limited ( ASX:WMC ) ( FRA:NZ3 ) ( OTCMKTS:WMXCF ) is a Western Australian-based gold mining company that owns and operates the Wiluna Mining Operation. The Wiluna Mining Operation is located at the northern end of the Western Australian Goldfields approximately 530 km north of Kalgoorlie and is 900 km northeast, and one and a half hours by direct flight, from Perth.The Wiluna Mining Operation currently has a Mineral Resource of greater than 5.5 million ounces and is one of the largest gold districts in Australia under single ownership.The Wiluna Mining Operation is currently in development with a staged, 3-year program underway to transform Wiluna from a modest, cashflow positive producer of free milling ore via a conventional Carbon-In-Pulp (CIP) plant to a multi-circuit operation producing circa 200-250kozpa. The staged development plan, on completion, will enable Wiluna to treat all the ore types at Wiluna through four processes including:- Existing 2.1Mtpa CIP process plant;- 750,000 tpa flotation concentrator which is now complete and was successfully commissioned in December 2021, scaling up to 1.5 Mtpa capacity by FY2024;- Gravity circuit which produces gold dore; and- Tailings retreatment plant which links tailings reclaim and re-slurrying with the existing CIP circuit to produce gold dore.Stage 1 development is defined at a targeted production profile of 100kozpa-120kozpa. The final size and shape of the Stage 2 development at the Wiluna Mining Operation will depend on the conclusions from the Feasibility Study currently taking place.HIGHLIGHTSGROWTH- $46.7 million net investment during the quarter ($41.9 million in Sept'21 quarter), principally in mine development and in completing the concentrator- Stage 1 concentrator successfully commissioned and outperforming nameplate capacity; targeting full production run rate of 100kozpa-120kozpa by end of June 2022- Development meters (including rehabilitation) for the quarter were 2,739 metres, YTD 5,012 metres- Underground sulphide development on schedule; 88,731 ore tonnes mined financial year to date- ~139,000 tonnes of sulphide ore stockpiled and ready to process as at 31 December 2021- 1,159 wet tonnes of gold concentrate ready for export produced to the date of this report; average concentrate grade of 69 g/t- Construction of Wiltails continues; work is 20% complete. Expected commissioning in May 2022. Wiltails will contribute a material increase in gold production over a long life.- Stage 2 Feasibility Study continues; completion expected end of March 2022RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT & DISCOVERY- Mineral Resource update during the quarter; total Mineral Resource is now 5.53Moz @ 2.19g/t, including 4.51Moz @ 3.90g/t at the Wiluna Mining Centre- Discovery drilling program targeted to commence in February, 40,000 metres targeting high-grade shoots at WilunaFINANCIAL, CORPORATE & ESG- Cash and Bullion at 31 December 2021 $41.6 million (30 September $18.1m)- Successful capital raising completed during the quarter to raise $53 million before costs; approximately $5.2 million of the capital raise was received in early January 2022 and is not included in the 31 December cash and bullion balance- Mercuria Tranche 2 debt repayment commencement extended for 3 months, commencing April 2022- Gold hedging contracts at 31 December 2021 were for 156,500oz @ US$1,820/oz (or ~A$2,509/oz), with a negative mark-to-market position of A$5.0m- London Stock Exchange main board listing targeted in coming months- Continued development and implementation of ESG platformTRANSITIONAL OPERATIONS- Positive net cash from operations (before overheads and treasury) for the December 2021 quarter was $8.3m (YTD: $19.4m)- Operations cash flow for the quarter was derived from WMC gold production of 7,752oz (with 5,863oz of gold sold at an average price of A$2,439.42/oz) and additional toll treating of 84,794 tonnes third-party oreTo view the full quarterly report, please visit:About Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd

Wiluna Mining Corporation (ASX:WMC) (OTCMKTS:WMXCF) is a Perth based, ASX listed gold mining company that controls over 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn Craton in the Northern Goldfields of WA. The Yilgarn Craton has a historic and current gold endowment of over 380 million ounces, making it one of most prolific gold regions in the world. The Company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation which has a defined resource of 8.04M oz at 1.67 g/t au. In May 2019, a new highly skilled management team took control of the Company with a clear plan to leverage the Wiluna Gold Operation's multi-million-ounce potential.


Quarterly Activities Report

Perth, Jan 31, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Monger Gold Limited ( ASX:MMG ) is pleased to provide an update for the quarter ended 31 December 2021.Exploration UpdatesMt Monger NorthThe Company received several auger vacuum assay results from drilling undertaken by Torian Resources in March 2021, at Mt Monger North (ASX 3 November 2021)Significant intercepts included:- MMWV0101 1m @ 1.37 g/t Au from 38-39m (EOH), Hoffmann North Prospect- MMWV0103 1m @ 6.80 g/t Au from 39-40m (EOH), Hoffmann North Prospect- MMWV0106 1m @ 2.18 g/t Au from 20-21mIn the next quarter, one reverse circulation drill hole is planned at Hoffmann North Prospect to test the end-of-hole vacuum drilling interval 1m @ 6.80g/t Au. The adjacent vacuum drill hole, to the northeast, has anomalous support of 1.37g/t Au at end-of-hole. Elevated arsenic along strike towards the northwest suggests a structure runs into this area where gold anomalism occurs. Other notable trace elements associations at Hoffmann North Prospect are bismuth, molybdenum, tellurium and tungsten. The molybdenum is interesting from the vacuum drilling as a porphyry was found towards the northwest with elevated chromium, that may be a mix of porphyry and ultramafic and/or fuchsite alteration in porphyry. Commonly in the Wombola and Bulong Structural Domains gold mineralisation is associated with porphyry as these intrusives have exploited important structures.The vacuum drilling assay results were quiet low values in areas with previous drilling. This appears to be because there is not significant horizontal dispersion of gold in the saprolite at Monger North. Gold is generally leached and removed in the regolith profile and the base of oxidation or REDOX front is very close to the semi-oxidised rock and saprock therefore any drilling that stops at blade refusal will only encounter gold where it is very close to the primary source. This is why we can directly target sporadic high-grade gold values in blade refusal drill holes as there is limited horizontal gold dispersion on the REDOX front.Mt Monger North (Providence)The Company completed a first stage RC drilling campaign at Mt Monger North's Providence Divine and Canista Prospects, of nine holes for 596m, returning high-grade gold intersections. (ASX 9 November 2021) Significant intercepts included:- MNRC001 3m @ 7.07 g/t Au from 14-17m including 1m @15.99 g/t Au from 14-15m- MNRC004 8m @ 16.15 g/t Au from 60-68m including 1m @ 111.4 g/t Au from 61-62m and 1 m @15.01 g/t Au from 63-64m- MNRC007 8m @ 31.84 g/t Au from 66-74m including 1m @ 37.03 g/t Au from 68-69m; 1m @ 18.2 g/t Au from 69-70m and 1m @ 190.06 g/t Au from 70-71mThe Company has planned a 3000m RC drill program at Providence to test the Stage One results at depth and along strike, scheduled to begin in late January. Testing of gold mineralisation is planned to deeper levels (new drill holes have -60deg/-55deg dip and 130deg magnetic azimuths) over a total of 250m extent to the southwest, towards old surface workings also with a southwest strike. No historical drill holes have been completed in the proposed new MMG drill program extension area, both at depth and along strike. The parallel drill traverses are spaced at 25 metre intervals in the northeast drilling beneath shallow historical holes (grid of historical drilling by other mining companies) and 40 metres towards the southwest (new extension step-out grid) with drill holes 20 metres apart along each traverse. This drill hole spacing will test the extents and continuity of steeply dipping gold mineralisation discovered by MMG. Subject to results from the Stage Two RC Drill program, the planned drill hole spacing will enable a maiden Resource Estimate at Providence, following the completion of the program. (ASX 20 December 2021)Providence Prospect is located within the Wombola structural domain, bounded to the east by the Wombola Fault and west by the regional scale Mt Monger Fault. It is characterized by NE-SW trending layering and bedding including thick (>150m) dolerite sills gently folded by SSE-plunging upright folds where gold is mineralised in NE-SW and ENE-WSW quartz veins cutting these sills. Dolerites with thin units of sedimentary rock at Providence are consistent with both extrusive basaltic lavas and shallow sub-volcanic sills. Felsic dykes have exploited structures that have been reactivated and host gold mineralisation. The primary targets are narrow quartz vein and sericite-silica-pyrite high-grade gold deposits within an amphibolite facies metamorphosed mafic sill. Quartz veins dip steeply towards 290deg to 330deg magnetic. The observed steep vein dip to the northwest is parallel with bedding/layering of the northern limb of an F2 fold. There are indications that a plunge component to mineralisation is controlled by the western limb of an F2 fold. Because the F1 and F2 fold axis are sub-perpendicular, at almost 90deg, they form a basin & dome type pattern. The sediment is in an orientation that conforms to the leading edge of a refolded fold. Sill layering dips into an underlying thrust fault on sediment-mafic contact. These basin & dome folds are then carved up by NW-striking strike slip faults. Mapping on the NE side of one of these NW-striking faults found a porphyry along the 430m length of a structure. Because the fault offset is sinistral this may be the same large porphyry MMG discovered that hosts mineralisation, the porphyry lode at Providence.Mt Monger SouthThe Company completed a geological mapping and sampling program at the underexplored Mt Monger South prospect. (ASX 18 January 2022)Gold assay results received for rock chip samples taken during the program returned significant assay values:- 89.79 g/t gold (MMS0032) quartz vein, east Three Emus Prospect- 9.65 g/t gold (MMS0027) quartz vein in small old workings shaftThere were also some gossanous rockchip samples with anomalous above background bismuth, tellurium, copper, zinc, nickel and cobalt (MMS0015). More sample assays are awaited and the interim results are still being analysed with more samples planned to be taken to understand the extent and significance of elevated trace elements in rockchip samples.Based on the geological mapping program, target areas were defined to focus further work. A major geochemical sampling program in 2022 is planned to utilise CSIRO's Ultrafine+(TM) (UFF+) sample assays, landform analysis and artificial intelligence algorithms. MMG is a sponsor of the CSIRO UFF+ program (ASX 11 August 2021).MMG is looking at completing ground geophysical programs at Monger South currently consulting with Gap Geophysics and Southern Geoscience on Sub-Audio Magnetics (SAM) parameters for potential work programs. Consultations have started with Model Earth Structural Geology and 3D Consultants to build an advanced structural geology model of the project.GibraltarBased on historical surface soils and historical drilling, target areas were defined to focus further work. A major geochemical sampling program in 2022 is planned to utilise CSIRO's Ultrafine+(TM) (UFF+) sample assays, landform analysis and artificial intelligence algorithms.MMG is looking at completing ground geophysical programs at Gibraltar consulting with Gap Geophysics and Southern Geoscience on Sub-Audio Magnetics (SAM) parameters of potential work programs.Corporate and Financial PositionCash available to the Company at the end of the Quarter ended 31 December 2021 was $3,641,000 Payments for the quarter included:- Payments to related parties over the Quarter were $25,000, included CEO, Executive remuneration and non-executive director fees. All payments were made in the ordinary course of business; and- Payments for Exploration expenditure over the quarter was $220,000.The Company's disclosures required by ASX Listing Rule 5.3.4 regarding a comparison of its actual expenditure to 31 December 2021 since listing on 6 July 2021 against the "Use of Funds" statement in its prospectus dated 16 April 2021 is included in the attached Appendix 5B.The Company confirms that, in the six months since listing on the ASX, it has incurred expenditures largely in line with the Use of Funds set out on page 12 of its Prospectus dated 16 April 2021.*To view the full Quarterly Report with tables and 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.
If 2020 and 2021 taught us anything, it is that threats to democracy are alive and well and its up to state legislatures to pass voting rights bills to protect our freedom to vote and maintain the integrity of our elections. In 2021 alone, 19 states passed 34 restrictive voting laws, severely restricting access to the polls. But New Mexico is better than that  in fact, we deserve better than that. And while we await the passage of federal voting rights legislation, New Mexico has the opportunity to, once again, set an example for state-level voting rights.

In 2019, New Mexico took an important step to modernize our states elections by passing and implementing Senate Bill 672, which included front-end automatic voter registration and same-day voter registration. Were moving in the right direction, but we still have work to do. SB 8, the New Mexico Voting Rights Act, is the next step we must take to ensure New Mexico continues to reform our elections and guarantee the right to vote for all eligible New Mexicans.

The proposed bill will not only upgrade our automatic voter registration system but also expand the capabilities of online voter registration, restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated New Mexicans, enhance protections for Native voters and improve our current system for mail voting. Exercising our constitutional right to vote is the most impactful tool New Mexicans have to support legislation that works for the people, not against them.

In the face of the dangerous, restrictive and anti-voter laws weve seen passed in other states, its time for New Mexico to step up and show the country how democracy can bring us together, not drive us apart.

While other states are pushing anti-voter policies, New Mexico is showing the rest of the country that moving policies that strengthen our democracy and protect our freedom to vote can be done. Passing SB 8, the New Mexico Voting Rights Act, is the best way to do just that. This comprehensive bill will not only better serve New Mexicos marginalized populations, but it will also enfranchise previously underserved communities and ensure every eligible voters right to vote is protected.

Every aspect of SB 8, the New Mexico Voting Rights Act, was drafted with New Mexicans in mind.

The proposed bill includes expanding on the Native American Voting Rights Act, which would foster collaboration between tribal leaders and election clerks, standardize early voting on tribal lands, and guarantee much-needed resources for polling places and secure ballot drop boxes for our states 23 tribes and pueblos. On top of expanding on the Native American Voting Rights Act, the New Mexico Voting Rights Act works to restore the voting rights of individuals that have been previously incarcerated. Restoring voting rights for previously incarcerated New Mexicans is an effective way to re-integrate them as active and engaged citizens of our state. As it stands, an overwhelming number of the people stripped of their right to vote are Hispanic and people of color. Our government has a responsibility to address all discrimination in the way our policies and systems are implemented to build a more inclusive democracy in our state.

Additionally, the proposed legislation will make critical updates to our voter registration system, moving from a front-end AVR system to a back-end system. Not only will this help to overall expand ballot access to communities across the state, but it will also increase the security and accuracy of our registration system. Back-end AVR has the ability to register more eligible voters than front-end. According to a recent study conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California in partnership with USC and the Goldman School of Public Policy, back-end AVR has been proven to increase voter turnout by 3.3% as compared to 1.1% in states using front-end AVR  adding up to thousands of additional eligible voters actively participating in our elections and casting ballots.

And the New Mexico Voting Rights Act doesnt stop there. The bill also includes enfranchising 16-year-old individuals to vote in local elections such as school board and city council, governing bodies that directly affect the current and future lives of young adults in our community.

As the fate of voting rights across the country grows increasingly uncertain, it is more important than ever to pass SB 8. It is time to make investments in ourselves, the community and the state of New Mexico and set the precedent for the future of voting rights everywhere. In the Land of Enchantment, the New Mexico Voting Rights Act will make our democracy not just the best it can be, but the best it should be.
We have seen the headlines of people leaving their jobs. Early retirement, shift in business related to the effects of COVID-19, child care challenges, living off savings and benefits, desire for a different career or other reasons. Employers are trying to attract employees with sign-on bonuses, increased wages, benefits and workplace enhancements.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of quits increased in November to a series high 4.5 million (+370,000). The quits rate increased to 3%, matching the series high in September.

Information from the N.M. Department of Workforce Solutions shows New Mexicos seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2% in November 2021. In November, New Mexicos labor force continued its trend of over-the-month decreases to 951,526 due to workers dropping out of the labor force.

This means there are job opportunities. Thinking about a new career but not sure where to start? N.M. Workforce Solutions has a website that identifies in-demand industries with resources to help job seekers and businesses. The information provided here is from the Ready.nm.gov website. Go to the website to find more information on the jobs available, training and education needed/available to enter the field and be successful, and financial resources for the training and education.

In-demand industries

Health care

No surprise here; we read about the need for health care workers daily. This industry is expected to include the greatest number of new jobs in New Mexico over the next 10 years. Health care workplaces include hospitals, doctors offices, home health care organizations and nursing homes. If you are thinking about a health care career, many jobs require good math and science skills. Jobs in this industry include a wide variety of educational backgrounds, ranging from medical degrees to jobs that require less than four years of college. Apprenticeships are available for medical coder and registered nurse resident.

Hospitality and leisure

As the second-largest industry in New Mexico, the opportunities are numerous  from front-of-house to back-of-house occupations to entry-level and managerial openings for any type of educational background. Career paths are available in restaurants, attractions, lodging, venues and travel-related services.

New Mexico has a program that will reimburse employers for up to 16 weeks of training.

Science, technology, engineering and math

People in STEM careers use scientific, technological, engineering and/or mathematical processes to do research and solve problems. Employers who are likely to hire STEM qualified workers include engineering companies; federal, state and local government; scientific research companies; colleges and universities; and medical device manufacturers. Many STEM careers require at least an associate degree or higher. Apprenticeships programs include instrument control electrician, machinist, mechanical measurements, MPS active ceramics and neutron generator electro-mechanical component.

Information Technology

Workers in the information technology industry develop the software and hardware and help us use the tools. As organizations and individuals face the threats and consequences of data theft, they need information security analysts. The kinds of organizations most likely to employ IT workers include custom computer programming companies, computer systems design companies, corporate and regional managing offices, software publishers, and data processing and hosting businesses. Apprenticeship programs include application developer, computer support specialist, cyber security support technician and network support technician.

Construction

Look around to see the commercial and residential buildings going up or restoration and remodeling work. Construction covers a range of jobs including architects, civil engineers, and skilled or licensed personnel. Employment includes private business as well as government. This area has one of the larger apprenticeship programs: bricklayer or block mason, cement mason, electrician, floor coverer, heavy equipment operators, laborer, plasterers, roofing, sprinkler fitters, carpenter, drywall applicator, elevator constructor, glazier, ironworker, painter, plumbers and pipefitters, and sheet-metal workers.

Education

Most occupations in education and training require at least a bachelors degree, with many postsecondary teaching professionals holding a doctoral or professional degree. Occupations with the most new jobs over the next 10 years are likely to include elementary, preschool and middle school teachers. College-level health specialties teachers occupy the top position for highest estimated percentage increase in jobs.

(In the Dec. 19, 2021, issue of the Albuquerque Journal I wrote about the opportunities available in education and resources to enter the education field.)

Training and Education

New Mexicans are fortunate to have programs available throughout the state. Ready.nm.gov has information about the training and education offered at colleges and universities for these in-demand occupations.

Financial Aid

Ready.nm.gov also provides information on resources to help pay for the needed training and education. Federal and state funding opportunities including grants; scholarships; GI Bill for service members, veterans and their dependents; loan-for service programs; and loan repayment programs for high-demand career fields. The availability and specifics vary based on the career areas. If financial barriers are on your mind, this is a good start to find help. Employers may also have funds available to support career advancement.

Jobs are available. Employers are looking for the right person to hire. If a new career is a goal for 2022, now is the time.

Source: https://ready.nm.gov/
In New Mexico, many of us bemoan our status at the bottom of many national rankings.

An old saw is thank goodness for Mississippi. Otherwise, wed be 50th. In the case of startup and high-growth companies, there is good news and a lot of bright spots.

One of the reasons for success in startup companies is that New Mexico can take advantage of the things we do have and the features of our state. We are small. The population is low. Many say we are more like a village or small town that a big city or the nations fifth largest state.

Forget six degrees of separation  how about one or two? So, an entrepreneur or executive should be able to connect with and reach anyone in our state that can help advance the company. We should encourage and support that. Need a customer, a researcher, a new employee and/or an investor? The proverbial village should be able to solve for that.

For investing in New Mexico companies, what our state offers is actually a bonus. Due diligence, especially to learn about the character of the entrepreneur and the history of the company, is right in front of us. This reduces cost and transaction time.

Many of our business leaders wear many hats in the community. They serve on boards, they support more than one company and they are involved in civic activity. This is positive. It supports the veritable barn raising, which was the only way small towns could accomplish large projects that provided a step forward  like a new building.

Companies like Build with Robots (buildwithrobots.com) have extensive success in New Mexico. Founded by two executives with previous entrepreneur successes, they were a known quantity. Local entities recognized their potential and partnered with them to advance for mutual benefit. Sandia National Labs, NMSBA  MEP, City of Albuquerque and NM EDD all understand the value of a company stating they were New Mexican and offered high wage, sustainable jobs that were here and staying here.

The company was able to connect with our local airport, local schools/school districts and corporations with warehouses  reaching decision-makers in these institutions through personal connection, even during COVID. This led to valuable partnerships, collaborations, investment and sales.

Electric Playhouse (electricplayhouse.com) is another success story. Dozens of angel investors understood the value proposition of the company  healthy play using advanced digital projection technology offering fun for families and adults that could leverage empty big box and mall retail spaces proliferating across America. Local stakeholders saw how their investment benefitted other parts of the community  schools, churches, neighborhood groups, businesses and so forth. The village was helping itself by fostering a new offering in our community. The company took over a big box store on the West Side that had been empty for years. Now, the parking lot is full.

From these relationships, this startup was able to get staff, advisors and experts in far-ranging topics to give invaluable input to advance goals. Now, the company is advancing to neighboring states, particularly Texas, where the high population, density and wealth provides extensive opportunity. If the business model can work in tiny New Mexico, the numbers will be easy in larger metropolises.

Our state offers many programs that truly help our local companies. New Mexico is ranked above average/near the top for public support to startups, research and development investment and federal grants received into startups. For a great report on this, check out our partner Tramway Ventures research at tramwayventures.com/our-strategy/. Many state agencies are doing good work and are providing valuable offerings that leverage private investment. This includes the alphabet soup of NM EDD, NMFA, NM Tax and Revenue, and others.

Hats off to the states license board taking on the challenge of regulating a marketplace for recreational cannabis. Weve seen excellent customer service and educational programming there.

The startup scene in New Mexico is vibrant, successful and growing. For success, we talk about the Ts: Time, Treasure and Talent. It isnt just investors who build these companies. Everyone has something to offer these companies to advance them on their journey: a customer, an employee, a consultant, a referral. Together, we can work together to make the difference. United we stand strong. Though trite, it is true. The proverbial village can raise the child.

Drew Tulchin is president of New Mexico Angels (nmangels.com) a 20-year-old local organization dedicated to supporting local startup and high-growth companies. Tulchin served as Meow Wolfs first CFO. The executives desk is a guest column providing advice, commentary or information about resources available to the business community in New Mexico. To submit a column for consideration, email gporter@abqjournal.com.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the vast divide between the haves and the have nots.

Most wealthy people have become richer, while many others are struggling to pay their bills. Caring for children at home due to virtual learning, working from home, or not having a job has taken a huge toll on families. Many in the service industry are exposed to the virus daily.

As we head into February and Valentines Day, I suggest we use the entire month to share the love and give generously to those who are less fortunate.

Maya Angelou said it best: The charitable say in effect, I seem to have more than I need, and you seem to have less than you need. I would like to share my excess with you.'

Many people already give to their church or synagogue or to a charity. I challenge you this year  if you can afford it  to expand your horizons. Consider giving more or giving to more charities.

When you give, you are not only helping others, but you are helping yourself. Scientists who study neuroscience have shown that when we give to charities, reward centers in our brains are activated. In essence, doing good feels good.

Before you give, make sure you understand the tax consequences of charitable giving, donor-advised funds, and how to evaluate charities you are considering supporting.

Lets review these issues.

Tax consequences

One of the positive features of the tax law changes enacted in December 2017 was that the amount for standardized deductions increased substantially. The change became effective for the 2018 tax year. For many years prior to 2018, a taxpayer would add up their deductions and if that amount exceeded the standard deduction, they would itemize them on their tax return. Currently (for the 2021 tax year), typical itemized deductions include medical expenses (that exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income), state and local taxes (that are now capped at $10,000), home mortgage interest and charitable gifts.

The process changed for the 2018 tax year. For tax year 2017 (prior to the tax law change) a couple filing as married filing jointly (MFJ) had a standard deduction of $12,700. After the tax law change, the standard deduction for MFJ in 2018 became $24,000, and, therefore, far fewer people itemized deductions.

For 2021 the standard deduction for MFJ is $25,100 and for 2022 it is $25,900. For tax year 2021, a MFJ couple would need itemized deductions that exceed $25,100 in order to itemize on their tax return. Otherwise, they would simply take the standard deduction. (For persons over 65 and those categorized as head of household the standard deductions are slightly different.) Beginning in 2018 far fewer taxpayers itemized, which also meant their charitable gifts were not tax deductible.

An exception was made in 2020 and 2021 when a married couple could deduct up to $600 of charitable gifts, even if they did not itemize on their tax return. The gift had to be in the form of a check and not on used household items or clothing. A single person could deduct up to $300. It is unknown whether this rule will be continued in 2022. (Discuss with your tax preparer the rules for documentation on charitable gifts.)

If you want to take a charitable tax deduction, your donation must be given to a qualified charity (the IRS keeps a list of qualified charities). However, if you do not plan on claiming a tax deduction, you can give to anyone. You can help your neighbor or family member who is suffering financially. You can surprise someone in need with a gift of cash just because. You can buy them a gift card for groceries or restaurants or pay to have a meal delivered to them.

Also, gifting used household items and clothing is allowed, but tax deductions are only permitted if you itemize on your tax return. Regardless, purging your home of unneeded items is always wise, and someone else may enjoy the items you donate.

Beyond taxes

I had a client who (many years ago) wanted to gift $300,000 to a university in one year. As their financial planner, I researched the tax consequences from such a large gift. Would the full amount be tax deductible over several years? The answer was no, based on their income and IRS limitations. I will never forget a conversation I had with their accountant, in which he told me (wisely) that most people who are very generous are not doing it for the tax benefits. He was right. Getting a tax benefit is an added benefit, but not the main reason for being charitable.

Evaluating a charity

As you consider expanding your horizons by giving to more charities, you may want confirmation that the charity is doing good work and not spending inordinate amounts of money on marketing, staff, etc.

I recommend reviewing the charities you are considering supporting on the following websites: Charity Watch, Charity Navigator and BBB Wise Giving Alliance.

Donor-advised funds

These are funds that are advantageous to investors with large taxable accounts. If the taxable account has highly appreciated assets (stocks, exchange traded funds, mutual funds), an asset can be transferred to the donor-advised fund (DAF), and the investor will not owe any taxes on the gain from the appreciation on that asset. It is a win-win: the DAF provides an efficient tax strategy for an investor who is charitable and the charity receives money to further their mission.

DAFs are available through many brokerage firms, and they have varying minimums and administrative fees. A tax document is provided by the brokerage firm to show the amount transferred to the DAF, which determines the amount of the tax deduction. The DAF is not appropriate for persons who want to write multiple $15 checks to charities throughout the year.

In my view, a DAF is best for people who want to donate $5,000 or more each year to multiple charities. The tax deduction is secured at the time the transfer to the DAF is made, and the investor can then notify the administrator of the DAF which charities they would like to support at any time in the future. Once the transfer is made, a completed gift has been made, and that is why the tax deduction happens as soon as the transfer occurs. The investor cannot change their mind.

So many worthy charities

As stated previously, I challenge you to expand your horizons and support more charities than you have in the past. You may be wondering, Where do I begin? There are undoubtedly many local charities, national charities, and international charities that are doing valuable work.

You may decide to search for charities that provide services such as local food banks, homeless shelters, or job training. Perhaps you want to consider charities that provide medical care in war-torn or poverty-stricken countries, charities that provide assistance after natural disasters, or charities that help animals or wildlife.

Selecting the charities you decide to support can be a fun and educational project. Include family members in your research. This is a great project for kids or grandkids, and you will be teaching them the importance of helping others.

To find charities in your community, you can search online for Charities Near Me, or Charities in New Mexico. For national and international charities, I suggest you go onto the websites for Charity Watch and Charity Navigator.

Donna Skeels Cygan, CFP, MBA, is author of The Joy of Financial Security. She was a fee-only financial planner in Albuquerque for more than 20 years before retiring in 2021. She welcomes emails from readers at dscygan@gmail.com.
Fifty years ago, the artist Judy Chicago launched Womanhouse, the first openly feminist art installation.

On June 18, the artist famous for The Dinner Party will relaunch the project in Belen, retitled Wo/Manhouse 2022.

Chicago is opening the project to New Mexico artists across the gender spectrum.

Proposals can be submitted in March; Chicagos nonprofit Through the Flower Art Space five-member committee will make final selections in April. Chicago expects to choose between 16 and 20 artists.

The artist says the idea came from new Through the Flower Executive Director Megan Malcom-Morgan to commemorate the projects 50th anniversary. A local couple is loaning the use of the 16-room Belen house.

She proposed this project to the board and everybody was incredibly jazzed about it, Chicago said.

The project will include a reinstallation of Chicagos 1971 Menstruation Bathroom, one of the first works of art on the subject, at her Through the Flower space, also in Belen. Both shows will run through the end of September.

Wo/Manhouse 2022 will allow artists to transform the rooms into works of art exploring the subjects of domesticity and gender, as well as the ever-evolving concept of home life. Viewers can expect themes of power dynamics, abuse, gender roles, parenting and daily rituals.

In 2006, British art historian Frances Borzello cited the historical importance of the original Womanhouse, noting until the 1890s, art history was silent on the subject of home. Domesticity was not considered a fit artistic subject until the rise of female artists like Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt.

Home is more than a place of love and nurture.

Chicago wants to continue this dialogue and hopes that those struggling during a time rife with misogyny, racism, attacks on womens and trans rights amid political turmoil will find their voices.

Throughout the five-month run of Wo/Manhouse 2022 and its companion exhibition at Through the Flower Art Space, Chicago will host special performances, lectures and educational programming. Several works from the International Honor Quilt, a collaborative feminist art project she initiated in 1980, will be on display.

In 2001, Chicago and her photographer husband Donald Woodman, launched a similar project at Western Kentucky University with At Home: A Kentucky Project, open to both male and female students.

The men did some of the most interesting work, she said. It woke us up to the fact that men live at home as well as women.
While Napa Valley in California gets the lions share of recognition when it comes to wine-making in the U.S., it was in what would eventually become New Mexico that the vine first took root in the country.

Nearly 300 years before it became a state, locals smuggled in the Mission grape, defying Spanish law preventing grapes be brought in from Spain. That was in 1629 in an area south of Socorro.

Various natural disasters and finally prohibition took its toll on the winemaking until 1977 when La Vina Winery opened in La Union south of Las Cruces that the grape and its aftermath regained its footing in New Mexico.

The industry is flourishing in the southern part of the state, so much so that the region is home to a nine-stop wine trail (lascrucescvb.org/explore/wineries-breweries) that will treat visitors to a wide array of local varietals.

Napa Valley is just amazing and whats been done there is known worldwide and this is nothing to discredit whats been done there, said Dan Trujillo of Visit Las Cruces. But we hold our own. New Mexicos official question is Red or green? But it could equally, or be the second, official question is Red or white or sweet or dry? The wines produced in New Mexico, especially here in Mesilla Valley, are very good, award-winning. Its a growing industry throughout the state.

And the balmy, comfortable southern evenings are just the spot to check out the local vintners, he said.

Our region is the oldest wine-producing region in the country and were very proud of it, Trujillo said. We have excellent wines and excellent wine makers. And equally important, we have a climate that is very conducive to sipping wine on a balcony on the back of the outdoor wineries.

It makes for a perfect evening, he said.

Great company, great views, great atmosphere, great wine all go together, Trujillo said.

Thats the exact formula that goes into Rio Grande Winery (riograndewinery.com), said Randy McMillan, one of four co-owners.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we have live music, he said. We have a back patio thats enclosed on three sides and the open side faces the most beautiful view of the Organ Mountains. It doesnt matter what the angle, the view of the mountains is as good as it gets. All of the seating is view seating. We have built-in, overhead heaters so even when its cold, its pretty dang comfortable out there. We have outdoor dance floor and can have 100 people out there dancing.

The elements that make the area so fertile for chile and other agriculture are perfect for most grape types, as well, said Rio Grande Winery winemaker Richard McDonald.

People think of New Mexico as a desert, a Southwest desert, but its elevation is lower than in Albuquerque, so we dont get that early autumn or late spring cold snap, he said. In Las Cruces, we irrigate from the Rio Grande. Were a little less at risk for the cold snaps, that late spring frost and the early autumn freeze, which can be devastating when the vines are not ready. But we do get those cool nights in the summer time.

During the harvest, the winery has picking parties to pluck the ripe grapes.

We invite our customers out, give them a breakfast burrito and we start picking grapes. We work until about 11 or noon, then Richard takes them through the destemming and crushing phase and how we start the fermentation process, McMillan said. Then they get to do some grape stomping and we have a nice barbecue and a few glasses of wine to celebrate.

At Amaro Winery and Tap Room (amarowinery.com), near downtown Las Cruces, ninth-generation winemaker Bernd Maier, who is part-owner, vintner and winemaker, has been in the area producing vino since 1983 before opening Amaro in 2009.

A variety of events makes it a fun stop on the tour, he said.

Live music Fridays and Sundays are sandwiched around salsa dancing lessons on Saturdays. The twice-a-month sip-n-paint events are popular with both tourists and locals alike.

But at Amaro, its all about the wines. This season Maier expects to release a sweet white wine made from Armenian Rkatsiteli grapes, one of the oldest varietals in the world.

Within in New Mexico, weve got the best conditions, the best grape-growing conditions in the Mesilla Valley when you consider lack of late frost, wind or cold, he said. Or any other issues you can encounter, the climate wins, this is a great performing area for grapes.

And that makes for some fine wine, indeed.
Conny the Whale is a life-size replica of a sperm whale, the state animal of Connecticut. The 60-foot sculpture has been at the Children's Museum in West Hartford for nearly a half century. (MARK MIRKO, HC)

West Hartford  For nearly a half century, Conny the Whale has been moored peacefully at the Childrens Museum in West Hartford, delighting generations of children who climbed in and around the massive sculpture.

But Conny is now headed out into uncharted waters.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 "Conny," the life-size model of a sperm whale on the grounds of the Children's Museum in West Hartford.

With the upcoming sale of the museum property for redevelopment and the museums move to another location, Conny  originally conceived as a face for the Save the Whale movement rooted in the 1960s and 1970s and a life-size model of the sperm whale, the state animal  now needs to find a new home.

[ Sale of The Childrens Museum property in West Hartford could bring upscale apartments, raises uncertainty for Conny the Whale ]

Conny  measuring 60 feet and weighing 20 tons, mostly of ferro-cement  has achieved iconic status in West Hartford since it was dedicated in 1976, the handiwork of volunteers and all donated materials.

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The connection is so strong that an online petition drive in support of Conny and the museum has gathered more than 1,000 signatures. Save Conny the Whale signs have popped up in West Hartford and Hartfords West End.

Erin Sheehan, who lives in Hartfords West End, remembers taking her son Kieran, now 12, to the museum almost daily when he was young. Sheehan is among those who have displayed the save Conny signs at their homes.

Conny the Whale has been a favorite for younger children visiting the Children's Museum in West Hartford. (Courtesy of Tessa Rickart)

The whale is right out front, Sheehan said. He ran up and down the whale, listened to his voice echo through the whales cavernous body. We always waved to the whale as we drove by. It was part of our lives as a family.

In West Hartford, Jane Torrey said she is now bringing her grandchildren to visit the museum  and Conny  the second generation of her family to do so.

Weve spent a lot of time with that whale, Torrey said. Its a symbol. It would be very sad if we couldnt figure out some way to do something with it.

Expensive endeavor

Michael J. Werle, the museums executive director, said the prospect of having to move the museum twice, the first to a temporary location, the cost to move and refurbish the sculpture and make sure it meets modern building codes has proved, at least so far, to be too much.

Michael Werle, the current director of the Children's Museum in West Hartford, said the museum would like to take Conny the Whale as the museum relocates, but the cost to move and other issues stand in the way. (Michael Walsh / Courant Community)

Werle also said it isnt clear who actually owns the sculpture. It isnt just the decision of the museum about what will happen with Conny, he said.

Giving up Conny is not trivial, Werle said. Our preference is to bring Conny with us, but we are facing a lot of challenges.

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Werle said the fate of Conny has been raised with state agencies, including the office of arts and culture as well as tourism, local legislators, the Connecticut Historical Society, the city of Hartford and the original builders of the whale, the Cetacean Society International.

Conny has become integral to the museum over the years, part of its logo and a big reason why many young visitors want to come to the museum.

The Children's Museum in West Hartford is relocating to a temporary location in June now that its property on Trout Brook Drive near Farmington Avenue will be sold for redevelopment. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said Conny is certainly an attraction for the town of West Hartford, but the whale is also a regional asset. So, the solution  including the crucial financing of a move, which by one estimate is $200,000  may have to reach beyond West Hartford and potentially include public contributions, Cantor said.

Theres an emotional attachment. Its iconic, a visual attachment and a real draw, Cantor said. We would love to have a plan, but alone, I dont know if the town could do it.

Werle said there may be an appetite for donations, noting that hes had one verbal offer to contribute $50,000 toward a move.

Save the Whale

While Conny may now be known as more of a playscape of sorts, that was not the original intention.

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In the 1970s, a fledgling group in Hartford formed the Connecticut Cetacean Society, concerned about the plight of whales, particularly the sperm whale, which had been hunted almost to extinction for its oil.

The society  its name drawn from cetaceans, which include whales, dolphins and porpoises  was one of the first organized around the issue with the connection that Connecticut once had a thriving whaling industry.

You go down to the seaport  Mystic Seaport  much of what you see is the whaling industry of 100 years ago, said David Kaplan, a West Hartford attorney and president of nonprofit, all-volunteer Cetacean Society International, the successor to the original group.

In 1996, on the 20th birthday of Conny the Whale, a refurbished sculpture added a water spout that spews water from Conny's forehead three times an hour. Below Conny, enjoying the spray is Geoff Barstow, then 17, of Austin, Texas (with arms out). Barstow is the grandson of Robbins Barstow, one of the founders of the Cetacean Society International. (Courant file photo) (STEPHEN DUNN/staff / THE HARTFORD COURANT)

The group was instrumental in the naming of the sperm whale as the state animal in 1975.

Conny  his name a shortened version of Connecticut  came to be built at the museum because the society held its outreach programs there. Some of the museums staff was supportive of the Save the Whale movement, Kaplan said.

Hundreds of volunteers helped build Conny, mixing cement by hand and slapping it on an armature made of wood and chicken wire.

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It was to be a symbol of the passive use of whales and all the harm that had been done to whales, Kaplan said. The killing of whales should stop. It was a very strong symbol for the whale movement, and to this day, that mission is still with us.

Sperm whales have come back from the brink, Kaplan said, but the right whale off the coast of New England is close to extinction.

Whaling still exists in some corners of the world. But today, whales are now more at risk from strikes by cargo ships, ingesting plastics and getting tangled in fishing gear and the climate change crisis, Kaplan said.

In the years since Conny was built, some of the connection back to being a symbol for saving whales has often been lost, Kaplan said.

The museum shifted its focus to being more children-oriented, Conny evolving into a mascot and playscape. Meanwhile the society turned its attention to the world stage.

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Kaplan said Conny doesnt necessarily have to stay with the museum and could find a home at, say, Mystic Seaport.

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The sculpture was built on pedestals, with the thought that one day Conny might have to be moved, Kaplan said.

But I think it should stay local, Kaplan said. The movement started here, and thats why Conny is here. Conny just needs a home.

Sheehan, of Hartford, said she understands there are costs to relocating something as huge as Conny, but she believes there has to be a creative way to raise the needed funds.

People in this area are still in pain over losing the Hartford Whalers, and now we might lose Conny, too? Sheehan said. Are you really going to do that to us, too? Now, are all our farm teams going to have to wear Conny the whale on them, in addition to the Whalers colors? Everything thats gotten taken away from us?

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

PEAASCO  Mardoqueo Chacon, 87, sat in the sun recently outside the former school known locally as La Parochial reminiscing about when he was a student there in the 1940s.

He was taught by Dominican Sisters, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who came to remote areas like Penasco in the 1920s to teach. Penasco, a town of about 1,200, is in Taos County on the scenic High Road to Taos.

Chacon is now on the St. Anthony Parochial School Restoration Committee formed by the nonprofit Penasco Valley Historical Preservation Society, which purchased the school with plans to preserve it and convert it to a museum and arts center.

He is one of several committee members including Sister Ada Dominguez and Alfredo Romero, who attended the school, which closed in 1987.

The sale for $30,000 from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe was completed Dec. 21, 2021, after three years in the works. At one point the building was in danger of being demolished.

Chacon spoke self-deprecatingly about his school days from the first through ninth grade when he was taught by the sisters.

I fell in love with those ladies mainly because why would such young, beautiful ladies  dedicate their lives so that a dummy like me could get a good education.

Former students recall that few of the sisters spoke Spanish and agree that the sisters were focused on teaching.

A lot of our students I think were mean to them, they would deliberately talk Spanish in front of them, said Chacon.

If you spoke Spanish in school they put soap on your tongue, he said. I didnt think it was right.

Romero, of Albuquerque, is president of the Restoration Committee. His first priority is to get the funding to be able to restore it to the way it used to be when it was built in 1931 and opened the following year. The vacant adobe building was last mudded about 14 years ago and needs work.

Romero, 75, attended school there from the fourth through eighth grade. The committee envisions focusing on preserving the history and legacy of that building, said Romero. That could include a center with books written about the area, arts and crafts and also honoring local veterans.

Committee member Kaori Lopez is married to Penasco native Gabriel Lopez, who also attended the school. She taught at the Penasco elementary and high schools and once assigned sixth graders a sustainability project and urged them to talk to their elders.

They all went home and talked to their grandparents and great-grandparents and they loved that and they talked about how things were back in the day where their food was sustainable, they grew their food, they built their adobe houses and had the wood stoves and it was really a sustainable and happy way to live and there was real sense of community, Lopez said.

Sister Dominguez, now of Albuquerque, was born and raised in Penasco and went to La Parochial from the first through the fifth grade in the late 1950s and early 60s.

She was so influenced by the education she received from the Dominican Sisters that she joined the order 50 years ago.

Isnt that crazy, she said in a recent phone interview. Now retired, she taught at several Albuquerque schools, including Navajo Elementary where she was also an assistant principal.

I loved to read, I had very good teachers, Dominguez recalled. Few of the sisters spoke Spanish and the students werent encouraged to speak Spanish, she said. We didnt speak very much English, she said.

Romero remembers his teachers as stern but dedicated.

The community was blessed to have the Dominican Sisters there, said Romero, by phone. They were awesome teachers, they were disciplinarians and they expected you to learn, plain and simple.

When asked if the sisters ever rapped his knuckles with a ruler, Romero responded, very much so and deservedly so.

They took no prisoners and I think in looking back you say, thank you for being the disciplinarians that they were, he said.

The Dominican Sisters, who taught in that building for over 50 years, will be honored in the future museum, the committee said in a news release.

Former students recall the hot lunch where the Catholic school students and high school students would be served at a Quonset hut-type building near the school.

It served as the cafeteria; to this day people remember it as the hot lunch,' said Romero. There are plans to also preserve that building.

Dominguez recalls meals prepared and served at the hot lunch as a treat for students living in the rural setting of the Penasco Valley.

Everything was homemade, absolutely everything, homemade bread, it wasnt packaged  they would actually peel potatoes, Dominguez said.

On holy days children would fast before going to school for communion and on those occasions breakfast was served.

That was such a big deal to us  Having packaged milk was a big thing for us because when we were kids we had cows and you drank (that), she said.

But when peas were served, which I never liked, I would stuff them into the milk container and throw it away so they didnt know I threw it away, Dominguez recalled.

Lopez believes that the school, as a former community hub, could once again connect the town as fundraising begins in earnest.

I feel like this community is so rich culturally and there is so much to be proud of and I think this parochial school highlights some of the best of Penasco, she said.

It highlights this pride in the community, which is well deserved  I think the museum will highlight those aspects of the community from their amazing crafts and self-reliance and working together. Thats key to what Penasco is and has been.

Donations

Donation checks are accepted at: PVHPS, P.O. Box 861, Penasco, NM, 87553. Electronic donations can be made through PayPal at PVHPS (Penasco Valley Historical Preservation Society).
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

From Cuba to Clovis, violent crime has surged in at least two dozen New Mexico communities, while fewer and fewer cases statewide are being solved by arrest.

Law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep up. And in some places, property crimes arent being prosecuted because there arent enough officers to investigate them.

Amid the spike in violent crime, the number of offenders sent to New Mexico state prisons on new charges has been dropping, with prison population down some 35% since 2015.

The recent public safety assessments from a key legislative committee, coupled with other state reports and Journal interviews, provide new evidence of what many New Mexicans might already suspect.

In short, we have identified an ongoing accountability gap where the criminal justice system has not kept pace with the level of crime, said Jon Courtney, deputy director of the Legislative Finance Committee. As a result, punishment has grown less certain as crime has increased, the LFC says.

With less than three weeks left in the current 30-day legislative session, state lawmakers are under the gun to provide some relief.

But theres no consensus as to how to lower crime rates in the state.

Controversial proposed changes in pretrial detention rules have monopolized the legislative debate so far.

But several other bills target specific crimes, such as eliminating the statute of limitations for second-degree murder and increasing the penalty. Another measure would create more severe penalties for certain crimes involving firearms.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also wants to devote $100 million to hire an additional 1,000 law enforcement officers in the state.

Increasing law enforcement ranks, with a goal of proactive policing, could provide the certainty of arrest that research shows is a significant deterrent to crime, the LFC concluded.

Its unclear what role lawmakers could play regarding other LFC recommendations.

Improving policing and increasing cooperation and coordination among criminal justice partners could help increase the certainty of punishment for the most violent offenses and provide a stronger deterrent to serious crime, an LFC report states.

Help wanted

Research suggests that more police and sheriffs officers deployed in a way that creates the perception the risk of arrest is high would help reduce crime. But the LFC found that New Mexico has struggled to hire enough law enforcement officers.

Two of the largest agencies, Albuquerque Police Department and New Mexico State Police, continue to lose officers and havent been able to catch up despite aggressive recruiting efforts.

At the APD, spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said the agency as of Wednesday had 900 sworn officers. That is some 39 fewer than last summer and far short of APDs current authorized strength of 1,100. A class of 13 cadets will graduate from Central New Mexico Community College next week.

To help the APD combat crime last summer, Lujan Grisham temporarily dispatched New Mexico State Police officers to the city to make arrests. But the State Police last week were down to 630 sworn officers, 92 officers short of its authorized strength of 722 officers, a spokesman said.

Nationally, law enforcement agencies employed an average of 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents, while New Mexico law enforcement agencies employed an average of 2.2 officers per 1,000 at the beginning of last year, according to the LFC.

To reach the national level, the state would need to add 408 more officers  more than it has employed in any point in recent history, the LFC reported.

Dianna Luce, president of the New Mexico District Attorney Association, said in some parts of the state theyve lost law enforcement  so in some places property crimes are really not being handled and reported the way we used to see them.

They may send out an officer to do a report, but there may not be a case brought to the DAs office (for prosecution) on certain property crimes because they have to focus on violent crime, she said.

Some smaller law enforcement agencies, Luce added, are not responding to property crimes at all.

Violence climbs

While lawmakers, prosecutors and public defenders debate the best ways to combat crime, statistics show that violent crime in many of areas of New Mexico has risen far faster than elsewhere in the United States in recent years.

Since 1992, New Mexicos violent crime rate has remained at least 19% above the national average and for the past three years it has been more than twice the national rate, the LFC reports.

The primary driver of New Mexicos violent crime rate is Albuquerque, which saw a record number of homicides last year at 117 and a 167% rise between 2014 and 2020.

But from 2016 to 2020, the LFC reports, Albuquerque joined at least 19 small- to medium-sized cities and towns in seeing an increase in the rate of violent crime. In many of those communities, violent crime rates exceeded the national average. Some of the communities with the highest spikes included Gallup, Farmington, Espanola, and in the southeast, Roswell, Clovis and Portales.

Violent crime is up and were not all sure whats driving that, said Luce, who is the district attorney for the 5th Judicial District, which covers Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties. Obviously, you all are seeing it in Albuquerque but were seeing that around the state. I believe we got up to 34 homicides for my district (in 2021), and if you think about the population, thats really high and its pretty evenly spread.

The northern New Mexico village of Cuba, with a population of about 700 people, saw a 300% spike in violent crime between 2016 and 2020, according to research conducted by the LFC.

Weve had a major increase in crime and the arrest rate here compared to the population is just insane, said Cuba Police Chief Manuel Romero. Its violent crime, but theres always a correlation with substance abuse.

The LFC cited drug use, poverty and sustained unemployment as the root causes of criminal behavior, and added that New Mexicos struggles in these areas are likely responsible for these troubling trends.

Arrests fall

As violent crime has risen, the rate of cases cleared by arrest has dropped dramatically. And that began before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The LFC reported the statewide clearance rate for violent crimes went from slightly less than 50% statewide in 2011 to just above 30% in 2020.

In Albuquerque, the LFC reported declining clearance rates for both violent and property crimes since 2010, meaning offenders are less likely to be apprehended than a decade ago.

Nationwide, according to the nonprofit criminal justice website, the Marshall Project, clearance rates for all violent crimes have suffered. The national violent crime clearance rate declined to 50% last year compared to slightly more than 70% in the early 1980s.

So too have prison admissions fallen in New Mexico, the LFC noted.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic initially slowed prosecutions in state courts and prompted early releases of some inmates, the number of admissions to state prisons began to fall in mid-2018, according to the New Mexico Sentencing Commission.

And by fiscal year 2021, which ended June 30, the average prison population in New Mexico fell to its lowest level in over a decade. As a result, the state Corrections Department had an average of almost 1,600 beds unoccupied in FY21, according to state records.

A stark drop was noted in Bernalillo County, which was responsible for 37% of the states total prison admissions in fiscal year 2015 to 22% in fiscal 2020, the LFC reports.

The District Attorneys Office in Albuquerque blames district court rules and practices for creating a bottleneck that has led to reduced filings of felony criminal cases in state District Court.

The DAs office also points out that since 2020, more than 500 felony cases, such as those involving firearms, drug trafficking or carjackings, have been sent to federal court for prosecution. In those cases, convicted offenders often receive stiffer sentences and are sent to federal prison.

Statewide, Luce says the decision to send a convicted felon to state prison is often a sentencing issue that most district attorneys are not going to be able to control. A lot of sentencing is discretionary, so its up to the judge.

The state sentencing commission forecasts a flat prison admission rate in the future, noting ongoing advocacy around criminal justice reform, sentencing changes and expansion of diversionary programs that keep people out of prison.

The New Mexico Public Defenders Office said its difficult to pin down the actual reason for fewer prisoners.

It is neither good nor bad. At the moment it is just one data point among many, Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur said in a statement.

Baur told the Journal that a lower number of admissions could be good if it correlated to increased treatment and diversion programs or early releases based on successful rehabilitation.

Eric Harrison, state Corrections Department spokesman, told the Journal that state prison capacity was at 72% last week, but he said theres an upside to the population drop because of a current shortage of corrections staff.

For instance, at the medium-security Guadalupe County Correctional Facility in Santa Rosa, we transferred half that population out and shut down one of two housing units. Its because our population was low that we were able to do that,he said.

This legislative session, the Public Defenders Office supports measures that would increase money for crime prevention programs, and any appropriations going directly to substance abuse treatment and behavioral health, said agency spokeswoman Maggie Shepard.

In addition, We would support funding more effective pretrial supervision, including better GPS monitoring, but havent seen any bills doing that.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

To the winner goes the confidence.

Claims of rigged elections and accusations of voter suppression, irregularities and fraud have deteriorated New Mexicans faith in the outcome of elections in the last three voting cycles, according to a report on New Mexico voters attitudes and experiences.

In 2020, Biden voters confidence in the election increased after the votes were counted, and Trump voters confidence declined, according to the report.

State election officials Wednesday released a report on voter attitudes during the 2020 presidential election. The University of New Mexicos Department of Political Science produced the report with assistance from the Secretary of States Office using funds from the Help America Vote Act.

Some of the key findings:

 928,230 New Mexicans cast a ballot in the election, marking the largest turnout in recent history with 69.7% of registered voters participating.

 Two out of every three voters in the state live in a landslide county, which means either the Democratic or Republican presidential candidate won by more than 20 percentage points.

 35% of all voters sent their ballot through the mail, up from 10% in the previous presidential election.

 77% of New Mexico voters, including Democratic, independent and Republican majorities, agree that photo identification should be required for each voter at the poll.

 New Mexicans overwhelmingly agree  79%  that an Independent Redistricting Commission should be created to determine district boundaries after the 2020 Census, that includes 82% of Democrats, 81% of independents and 75% of Republicans.

 About 2 in 5 New Mexico voters, or 41%, were not too or not at all confident in the results of the federal elections.

I am deeply concerned that the mis- and disinformation that came out of the 2020 election have issued a big hit to voter confidence, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said during a virtual news conference. And what that does is it encourages people to not participate.

The survey found that, by and large, New Mexicans were confident that their personal vote was counted correctly. But voters begin to lose faith in the results of county, state and federal decisions.

In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, Biden supporters in New Mexico on a 1-4 scale scored a 2.65 as to how confident they were in an accurate outcome. Trump supporters were at a 2.33.

After the election, Biden voters confidence in the outcome jumped to 3.68 and Trump voters dropped to a 1.52, according to the report.

Sadly, theres been a lot of false rhetoric thats been used over the past years to degrade election officials and our democratic system, Toulouse Oliver said. And its taken root in a lot of voters minds. It cant just be the voters of the winning party who have confidence in our elections.

There are ways to change that perception, said Lonna Atkeson, a former University of New Mexico political science professor and the principal author of the report.

She said helpful poll workers, easy-to-navigate websites with election information and smoothly run polling places have been shown to increase voter confidence in the election results.

All of these things, when they have a positive experience, it really favors positively to their voter confidence, she said. So thats where election administrators, and county clerks and local election officials can really make a difference, right, because its not just about winning and losing.

The report was the eighth postelection survey in New Mexico  done to examine voter attitudes after every federal election dating back to 2006. The report was based on two voter samples that are representative of the population and obtained from the Secretary of States Office.

One sample was made up of 13,550 voters in 2020 without emails. The second sample was sent to 34,795 voters who included emails with their voter registration. There was also a preelection survey that was sent to 1,595 vote-by-mail or early in-person voters.
BEIRUT  With a spectacular jail break in Syria and a deadly attack on an army barracks in Iraq, the Islamic State group was back in the headlines the past week, a reminder of a war that formally ended three years ago but continues to be fought mostly away from view.

The attacks were some of the boldest since the extremist group lost its last sliver of territory in 2019 with the help of a U.S.-led international coalition, following a years-long war that left much of Iraq and Syria in ruins.

Residents in both countries say the recent high-profile IS operations only confirmed what theyve known and feared for months: Economic collapse, lack of governance and growing ethnic tensions in the impoverished region are reversing counter-IS gains, allowing the group to threaten parts of its former so-called caliphate once again.

One Syrian man said that over the past few years, militants repeatedly carried out attacks in his town of Shuheil, a former IS stronghold in eastern Syrias Deir el-Zour province. They hit members of the Kurdish-led security force or the local administration  then vanished.

We would think it is over and theyre not coming back. Then suddenly, everything turns upside down again, he said.

They are everywhere, he said, striking quickly and mostly in the dark, creating the aura of a stealth omnipresent force. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

IS lost its last patch of territory near Baghouz in eastern Syria in March 2019. Since that time, it largely went underground and waged a low-level insurgency, including roadside bombings, assassinations and hit-and-run attacks mostly targeting security forces. In eastern Syria, the militants carried out some 342 operations over the last year, many of them attacks on Kurdish-led forces, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Jan. 20 prison break in Syrias Hassakeh region was its most sophisticated operation yet.

The militants stormed the prison aiming to break out thousands of comrades, some of whom simultaneously rioted inside. The attackers allowed some inmates to escape, took hostages, including child detainees, and battled the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces for a week. It was not clear how many militants managed to escape, and some remain holed up in the prison.

The fighting killed dozens and drew in the U.S.-led coalition, which carried out airstrikes and deployed American personnel in Bradley Fighting Vehicles to the scene. The battle also drove thousands of neighboring civilians from their homes.

It harkened back to a series of jail breaks that fueled ISs surge more than eight years ago, when they overwhelmed territory in Iraq and Syria.

Hours after the prison attack began, IS gunmen in Iraq broke into a barracks in mountains north of Baghdad, killed a guard and shot dead 11 soldiers as they slept. It was part of a recent uptick in attacks that have stoked fears the group is also gaining momentum in Iraq.

An Iraqi intelligence source said IS does not have the same sources of financing as in the past and is incapable of holding ground. They are working as a very decentralized organization, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security information.

The groups biggest operations are conducted by 7-10 militants, said Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Yehia Rasool. He said he believes it is currently impossible for IS to take over a village, let alone a city. In the summer of 2014, Iraqi forces collapsed and retreated when the militants overran vast swathes of northern Iraq.

On its online channel, Aamaq, IS has been putting out videos from the prison attack and glorifying its other operations in an intensified propaganda campaign. The aim is to recruit new members and reactivate quasi-dormant networks throughout the region, according to an analysis by the Soufan Group security consultancy.

On both sides of the Syria-Iraq border, IS benefits from ethnic and sectarian resentments and from deteriorating economies. In Iraq, the rivalry between the Baghdad-based central government and the autonomous Kurdish region in the north of the country has opened up cracks through which IS has crept back. Sunni Arab disenchantment with Shiite politicians helps the group attract young men.

In Afghanistan, IS militants have stepped up attacks on the countrys new rulers, the Taliban, as well as religious and ethnic minorities.

In eastern Syria, the tensions are between the Kurdish-led administration and Arab population. IS feeds off Arab discontent with the Kurds domination of power and employment at a time when Syrias currency is collapsing.

Kurdish authorities have carried out crackdowns against the Arab population on suspicion of IS sympathies, especially after a wave of protests against living conditions. At the same time, to reduce tensions, Kurdish authorities released detained Arabs and encouraged members of Arab tribes to join the ranks of the SDF. But those steps have raised concerns over infiltration or charges of corruption, adding to the challenges.

The militants have cells extending from Baghouz in the east to rural Manbij in Aleppo province to the west, according to Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory.

They are trying to reaffirm their presence, he said.

East Syria is also fractured among several competing forces. The Kurdish-led administration runs most of the territory east of the Euphrates, supported by hundreds of U.S. troops. The Syrian government, with its Russian and Iranian allies, is west of the river. Turkey and its allied Syria fighters, who view the Kurds as existential enemies, hold a belt along the countries border.

Dareen Khalifa, a senior Syria analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the SDFs dependence on an unpredictable U.S. presence in fighting the militants is one of its biggest challenges.

She said the SDF is viewed as a lame duck that makes local residents reluctant to cooperate with anti-IS raids or provide intelligence on IS cells, particularly after the group threatened or killed many suspected collaborators in the past.

Moreover, the Kurdish authorities claim to be able to govern and provide services to the region and its mixed population has taken a blow in 2021 as the economic conditions in the area deteriorated, Khalifa said.

Residents say the Islamic State group is not collecting taxes or actively recruiting people, indicating they are not seeking to seize and control territory like they did in 2014, when they became de-facto rulers of an area that stretched across nearly a third of both Syria and Iraq. Instead, they exploit the security vacuum and lack of governance and resort to intimidation and kidnappings.

The resident of Shuheil in Deir el-Zour said they mostly operate at night, in flash attacks on military posts or targeted killings carried out from speeding motorcycles.

It is always hit and run, he said.

He described the area as constantly on edge, under an invisible threat from militants who blend into the population. The fear is so great, no one talks openly about them, whether good or bad, he said.

Everyone is afraid of assassinations, he said. They have prestige, they have a reputation. They will never go away.

___

Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed reporting.
SAN FRANCISCO  On their final night together, father and daughter watched the news and traded goodnight kisses on the cheek. The next morning, Vicha Ratanapakdee was assaulted while on a walk in San Francisco and died, becoming yet another Asian victim of violence in America.

On Sunday, Monthanus Ratanapakdee marked the one-year anniversary of her fathers death with a rally in the San Francisco neighborhood where the 84-year-old was killed. She was joined by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, local leaders and several hundred people who came out to say they would stay silent no more.

Its been traumatizing to see this again and again happen to people who look like you, said Natassia Kwan, an attorney and rally organizer. Today, were going to say its not okay for our elders and women to be pushed into subway tracks, to be killed, to be beaten. We deserve better.

Hundreds of people in five other U.S. cities joined in the national event, all of them seeking justice for Asian Americans who have been harassed, assaulted, and even killed in alarming numbers since the start of the pandemic.

Ratanapakdee, who was raised in Thailand, feels compelled to speak out so people dont forget the gentle, bespectacled man who doted on his young grandsons and encouraged her to pursue her education in America.

I really want my fathers death to not be in vain, said Ratanapakdee, 49, a food safety inspector with the San Francisco Unified School District. I wouldnt want anyone to feel this pain.

Asians in America have long been subject to prejudice and discrimination, but the attacks escalated sharply after the coronavirus first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. More than 10,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition from March 2020 through September 2021. The incidents involved shunning, racist taunting and physical assaults.

In San Francisco and elsewhere, news reports showed video and photos of older Asian people robbed and knocked down, bruised and stabbed on public streets. Preliminary data shows that reported hate crimes against Asian Americans in San Francisco surged from 9 victims in 2020 to 60 in 2021. Crime stats dont tell the whole story, however, as many victims are reluctant to report and not all charges result in hate crime enhancements.

High-profile victims nationally include Michelle Go, 40, who died after a mentally unstable man shoved her in front of a subway in New York City earlier this month. In March, a gunman shot and killed eight people at three Georgia massage spas, including six women of Asian descent ranging in age from 44 to 74. Theres disagreement among officials whether those attacks were racially motivated, but the deaths have rattled Asian Americans, who see bias.

Organizers say Sundays events in San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles are to honor victims, stand in solidarity and demand more attention to anti-Asian discrimination. But organizers say they also want to spark conversation in a community where both longtime Americans and newer immigrants are often lumped together as forever foreigners.

The tiny window of visibility we had with the Stop Asian Hate movement, it really was just a glimpse of what Asian Americans feel every day, that kind of pervasive disrespect and casual contempt at our parents, our languages, our families, said Charles Jung, a Los Angeles employment attorney and executive director of the California Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

What we really want is to encourage Asian Americans to tell their stories, he said, and finally break the silence.

Vicha Ratanapakdee encouraged his oldest daughter to move to the U.S. more than two decades ago to pursue a masters degree in business at the University of California at Berkeley. He and his wife were living with Ratanapakdee, her husband and the couples two sons, now 9 and 12.

He was on his usual morning walk when authorities say Antoine Watson, 19 years old at the time, charged at him and knocked him to the ground. Ratanapakdees father died two days later, never regaining consciousness.

My mom told me that day was the best day for my father. He was happy to go out, said Ratanapakdee. But it was a bad day for us, because he never came back again.

San Franciscos district attorney, Chesa Boudin, has charged Watson, who is Black, with murder and elder abuse but not with a hate crime, frustrating the family. Watsons attorney, Sliman Nawabi, has said his client was not motivated by race, and the assault stemmed from a mental-health breakdown.

The brutal attack, caught on surveillance video, has galvanized Thai immigrants, said Chanchanit Martorell, executive director of the Thai Community Development Center in Los Angeles, which participated in Sundays rally. His killing, and the overwhelming support from other Asian American communities, has made them rethink their place in the United States, she said.

It really sparked this consciousness among Thai immigrants, she said, that theyre part of something larger.

While theres much more to do, the country has come a long way from 1982 when two white men in Detroit upset over the loss of auto jobs to Japan fatally beat Vincent Chin, says Bonnie Youn, a rally organizer in Atlanta and board member of the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

A judge sentenced the two men to probation, saying they werent the kind of people to go to prison.

Compare that to the March 16 shootings in Atlanta and a northern suburb, Youn said, when journalists worked to make sure the Asian names of six slain women were pronounced correctly and their stories were told with sensitivity.

In San Francisco on Sunday, Ratanapakdee and Breed led a short chant-filled march to the house where her father fell, and where flowers marked the pavement.

He loved the United States, she said, and would want people to raise their voice.

I know people are scared about anti-Asian hate in the community, and we must demand action for justice and all human rights, she said Sunday. Please be strong in memory of my father.
WENN/Anthony Dixon Movie

'Blood', which is directed by Bradley Rust Gray, narrates about a young woman named Chloe (Carla Juri) who travels to Japan in the wake of her husband's passing.

Jan 30, 2022

AceShowbiz - Michelle Williams was not ready to re-open her old wounds. The actress, who inspired a movie called "Blood" with her grieving and healing experiences after ex Heath Ledger's death, decided to withdraw from the film because it's too painful for her.

Directed by Bradley Rust Gray, the movie narrates about a young woman named Chloe (Carla Juri) who travels to Japan in the wake of her husband's passing. In the country, she meets her old friend (Takashi Ueno). However, she finds it difficult to let herself fall in love again amid her grief.

"Blood" itself received the 2022 Special Jury Award winner for Uncompromising Artistic Vision. Speaking about the project, Bradley shared in a statement, "We both shared this weight, of death, and the feeling that you always carry that weight when somebody close to you dies."

"When we were getting ready to shoot the film, she realized it was all a little too close for her still, and she politely bowed out," the director added. He then explained, "I don't think the title of the film, Blood, is about the definition of that word... I think of it like a song title."

"Sometimes a song title doesn't necessarily describe the lyrics of the song or anything else, but it sort of puts the song in a certain space. In Japan, blood and blood types are a way of looking at things, like how you might find a match based on your horoscope," he elaborated. "What type of blood you have matches you with another person who is of that type of blood. It's just something that we don't see. I think the word 'blood' has different meanings, and I like the fact that it doesn't have a single definition."

Michelle and Heath began dating in 2004 after playing husband and wife in "Brokeback Mountain". They later welcomed daughter Matilda, now 16, in the following year. The pair called it quits in 2007, just months before the actor died of an accidental overdose in January 2008. The actress is now married to Thomas Kail, with whom she shares one child.
Piglet, a pink, blind and deaf pup who lives with six other dogs in a house in Westport, is oblivious to the fact that hes a social media star and a novice teacher. His owner, veterinarian Melissa Shapiro, was inspired by her puppys plight to create an educational program with Piglet, aka Piggy.

I am partial to dogs with special needs. Thats my thing, Shapiro says. I am advocating for dogs and other animals with disabilities. When we go to see kids, we teach them about resiliency and inclusion. We hope they will take that, the normalizing of disabilities in dogs, and extend that to people as well.

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Piglet and his canine mates  Gina, Dean, Annie, Evie, Zoey and Lucy  are an example of that inclusion. Piglet wanders among them, sometimes bumping into them because he cant see and not hearing when they bark to complain. But the barks die down and the dogs are happy.

The dogs get along so well. They are all different colors, shapes, personalities, sizes, ages, sexes. Not only do they accept Piglet but they also all accept each other, Shapiro says.

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After taking in Piglet in March 2017, Shapiro put him on social media. He has 270,000 followers on Instagram, 221,000 on Facebook and 30,000 on TikTok.

Shapiro parlayed Piglets fame into Piglet Mindset Educational Outreach, a program for schools and libraries to teach empathy, kindness, inclusion and triumphing over adversity. The program also encourages adoption of pets with special needs.

Shapiro later turned the educational initiative into a nonprofit, Piglet International. She also published Piglet, The Unexpected Story of a Deaf Blind Pink Puppy and His Family, in 2021. In June, a childrens book, Piglet Comes Home, will be published. Profits from the books fund the educational initiative.

Piglet, a Chihuahua-dachshund mix, was born with a genetic condition called double dapple that causes eyesight and hearing difficulties. (Courtesy Melissa Shapiro)

A difficult beginning

Piglet is a Chihuahua-dachshund mix, with a genetic condition called double dapple that causes eyesight and hearing difficulties. His breed mix causes a coat so sparse his pink skin shows.

He was born in Georgia in a hoarding situation. The people started out with three dogs who were not spayed. It turned into about 30 dogs, she says. They were not abused. They were neglected.

After the dogs owners were evicted, they advertised the dogs on Craigs List. A rescue group saw the ad.

They met them at a gas station next to a Walmart. The dogs were in rusty crates in the back of a truck, Shapiro says. They transferred over about 11 dogs. Piglet was one of them. He was very tiny, probably about two weeks old. He was there with his mom, Abigail, and three of his littermates. Three out of four of them were double dapples.

Shapiro took Piglet in as a foster dog.

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He was a 1- pound screaming anxious baby dog. It took months, but Piglet eventually settled into a comfortable, predictable daily routine, she says.

Piglet fit in so well at Shapiros dog-filled house that she adopted him. She taught him tap signals to communicate. From the start, Piglet went straight to Shapiros heart.

My first dog was blind. That was normalized for me when I was just 6 years old. From there, I worked in a diabetes lab in medical school. I adopted a dog that was diabetic and needed shots twice a day, she says. I find it rewarding to help the ones others cant. Im a vet. I have access to care other people dont.

Schools, libraries

Last November, Piglet and Shapiro virtually visited Highland Elementary School in Cheshire. Second-grade teacher Jodie Monllos says the visit enhanced the schools social and emotional learning curriculum.

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A lot of times, kids look at things and say, I cant do that. ... We want them to say I can do that, Monllos says. We want to change the phrases we use when we come to a difficult task, especially if they need to overcome something challenging or if they have a limitation.

Parent Keri Banak says Piglet doesnt know what he cant do. He has no idea hes any different than other dogs. Hes not focusing on the fact that he cant see and hear. He uses what he does have to get all his daily tasks done.

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Willington Library brought Piglet in for a visit in October.

He has overcome all of these things. This is a creature who cant express himself. He has just learned to adapt, says Librarian Debbie Linares. Melissa has trained him. Its as if he can see and hear even though he cant see and hear.

How much can we achieve if he can achieve all that? Its quite the lesson for people of any age or capability.

Shapiro and Piglet will make an appearance on Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Bristol Public Library, 5 High St. Admission is free. To RSVP, go to bristollib.com.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
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Litigation against city of Albany is about managing risks

Staff Photo: Alan Mauldin Nathan Davis

Veronica Wright

ALBANY  After settling eight major lawsuits ($500 or better) for $42,475.05 in 2019, most related to traffic accidents, the city of Albany paid $438,150 to settle nine such suits in 2020, and $3,620,444.77 to settle six in 2021, the overwhelming majority of the latter total coming from a $3.5 million settlement for a car wreck involving an Albany Police Department officer.

The decision to settle lawsuits, which are brought frequently by people who see the city government as a relatively easy target, ultimately is made by the Albany City Commission, but the choice of recommending settlement a possible suit or taking it to court falls under the jurisdiction of the citys director of human resources and risk management, Veronica Wright, and Albany City Attorney Nathan Davis.

The pair, who say theyve never disagreed on an ultimate decision made to settle suits brought against the city, meet with risk management staff  which includes investigators who dig into the details of each claim  weekly to determine whether fighting a battle in court or settling a suit better serves the interest of taxpayers. And while the large majority of complaints brought against the city involves small claims that are easily proved or disproved, when it comes to the possibility of a large settlement being handed out by a jury, the true art of risk management comes to the fore.

What you have to remember is that contentious litigation can be costly, Davis, an attorney who has served as the citys top litigator since June of 2003, said. In most such cases, when you consider special damages and pain and suffering, its usually best to try and negotiate a settlement.

It helps, says Wright, who has served as the citys HR/risk management director since January of 2009, when the people making such decisions are as like-minded as she and Davis.

We may initially have different viewpoints, but once we meet with staff and talk over the specifics of a particular incident, we have always been able to come to a decision jointly, Wright said. Then you get into negotiations.

Negotiations are a very important part of risk management. Now when it comes time to negotiate, the opposing attorney may be an old classmate of mine or someone Nathan met at a seminar and they got along well. Thats often how we decide who will negotiate a settlement. But in any case, the facts are what they are; theyre cut and dried. We try to get to them and get a case off the books as quickly as we can.

The pair knows all too well, though, how a case can go sideways once it makes its way into a court of law. They need only look at the so-called Brick City case that involved the Valentines Day shooting death of LeSheldon Stanford at the Brick City facility that was licensed as a recording studio but had been cited a number of times for illegally selling alcohol.

Sheryl Stanford and Wilfred Foster, as executors of LeSheldon Stanfords estate, sued the owners of the establishment, the persons involved in the incident that cost Stanford his life, and the city of Albany. When a Dougherty County Superior Court jury returned a $15.2 million verdict in the case, the city found itself facing a $10.64 million payment.

The case was eventually overturned on appeal, a final ruling by the state Supreme Court being handed down in July of 2019. Still, the city paid the firm it contracts with to try such cases  the Atlanta-based Freeman, Mathis, Gary LLP firm  $450,681 for its work on the case.

Thats a big fee, but it ended up being a good return on the citys investment when you look at an eight-figure settlement that we were facing, Davis said. We knew we had a strong case; if we were determined liable for that kind of incident, wed have to control the property of every business we issue a certificate of occupancy (business license).

The city is facing a similar suit in a recent incident that occurred at the Sand Trap night club.

Wright points out that the city has an insurance policy that leaves the carrier responsible for paying a large part of any claims against the city.

But its like any other kind of insurance: If you have a lot of claims against you, youre going to end up paying a higher premium, she said. Were fortunate that our (insurance) broker has negotiated an agreement with a carrier that has insured us for a number of years.

Wright and Davis said they had to weigh the considerable pros and cons against settling with a driver who was hit by an APD officer who was responding to an emergency call last year and was involved with an accident at an intersection. Both the officer and the driver of the other vehicle insisted they had the green light at the intersection, and the Georgia State Patrol Trooper who investigated the accident said there was no way of determining who was at fault and did not issue a citation.

The citizen driver filed suit, and the risk management team decided a settlement of $3.5 million was the best option for the city.

It just wasnt a clear-cut case, Wright said. With the State Patrol ruling that they could not determine who was at fault and with a passenger in the (car driven by the civilian) claiming severe injuries that were going to exceed $700,000 in treatment, we thought the circumstances warranted a settlement.

We negotiated back and forth before coming to an agreement on the amount.

Accidents are a part of life, especially, as Davis notes, when the city provides so many utilities services to its citizens, but Wright said all employees go through extensive training before and after they are allowed to drive city vehicles.

All of our employees go through quarterly training, she said. A six-hour defensive driving course also is mandatory for all employees.

If an employee has an accident, he or she must take a remedial course. But if it is determined by our review board that the incident could have been avoided if the employee followed proper procedures, they could face corrective measures up to termination. That goes for a second and third incident over a three-year period as well. If there is a fourth incident within that three-year period, that calls for automatic termination.

Davis still handles some of the smaller claims in court, as well as city condemnation cases, but he says that most litigation that cant be settled is handled now by the Freeman, Mathis, Gary firm.

I used to be more involved in the litigation, but we now have only one city attorney  me  on staff, he said. Theres just no time for me to be tied up in court.

But realistically, as weve seen, its always better to try and settle a case. Its a risk not to. If things go to court, it can get bare-knuckled. And, as weve seen, when you get in a courtroom, there are no slam-dunks.
Customers of Oklahoma Natural Gas will be paying an extra $7.80 per month for the next 25 years under a plan approved Tuesday by the three-member Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

The fee will go toward paying almost $1.4 billion in natural gas costs racked up by the utility last February during a winter storm. The extra, fixed charge on customer bills will pay back bonds issued by the state under a process called securitization.

Oklahoma Watch and Floodlight News wrote about the proposed settlement last week. In a proceeding that lasted less than three minutes, the Corporation Commission approved the settlement in a 2-1 vote. Commissioner Bob Anthony voted against the plan, while Dana Murphy and Todd Hiett voted for it.

Here are some answers to relevant questions about the extra charges:

Will every ONG customer pay the same fixed charge for the next 25 years?

No. The exact amount wont be known until the bonds are given a credit rating and sold, which will likely happen later this year. But estimates have most residential customers paying between $7.80 and $8.40 per month. Those fixed charges come regardless of how much a customer used natural gas during the storm and are the same no matter the size of a customers house. Another class of residential customers, who use less gas per month on average, will be paying between $4.66 and $5.02 per month. About 14,000 customers who are in the utilitys low-income program will not have to pay the extra monthly charges. The fixed charges are higher for commercial, industrial and municipal customers.

Likely later this year. The Corporation Commission will require the utility to put it in a separate line item on bills and identify that the charge is for the fuel costs from the February 2021 storm.

Is there still an exit fee for customers who discontinue their gas service and switch to electric for cooking and heating?

No. That exit fee, a one-time cost of $687, was taken out by the Corporation Commission in the final order. Murphy said she didnt think the exit fee was needed to meet the laws requirement of non-bypassability or the risk that customers would get out of paying the extra fuel charges.

Why were natural gas prices so high during the storm?

Demand surged as customers used more natural gas to heat their homes and electric utilities needed gas for their generating plants. But the extreme cold affected supply as natural gas equipment froze and many gas producers couldnt fulfill their contracts. Utilities quickly used up their gas in storage and were forced to buy expensive gas on the spot markets.

Werent natural gas prices high everywhere during the winter storm?

Yes, but Oklahomas prices were the highest. Natural gas trades at several regional hubs around the country. Most utilities in Oklahoma buy their gas at the Oklahoma hub, where prices hit close to $1,200 a unit during the storm. That was about 600 times the prices in the days before the storm. Oklahomas electric and natural gas utilities spent more than $4.5 billion on natural gas during the storm, far exceeding the amounts each of them spent on natural gas in the entire year before.

Whos responsible for looking into the high prices?

The attorney general and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In the weeks after the storm, then-Attorney General Mike Hunter said his office was looking into possible price gouging. But his successor, John OConnor, hasnt provided any updates on the status of that investigation. Federal regulators are looking at possible price manipulations but have not completed any investigations. If any investigations find wrongdoing, the amount clawed back will come off the total owed by ratepayers under the securitization case.

The Corporation Commission has auditors who look at gas purchases, but they dont investigate prices. The auditors make sure the utility hasnt profited on the fuel, which is illegal under Oklahoma law, and that any transactions with related companies or subsidiaries were done properly.

Do we know the identities of the companies who sold the gas to the utilities?

No. Utilities typically ask for protective orders from the commission to keep the names of their gas suppliers out of the public eye. They argue thats needed so buyers and sellers dont get an advantage in future sales because theyll know how much a customer is willing to pay. But the extremely high prices from last February led consumer groups to call for greater transparency. The commissions public utility division earlier this month asked utilities to disclose the identities of the sellers, but that is a separate case that is still pending.

Whats the status of other utility fuel cost securitization cases?

The Corporation Commission approved a $749 million charge for customers of Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. in December on a similar 2-1 vote. That will add about $2 a month for most residential customers for 28 years. Other cases are pending at the Corporation Commission. Public Service Co. of Oklahoma has asked the commission to approve $688 million in fuel costs spread over 20 years. If approved, that would add $4 per month for most residential customers.

Who is challenging the securitization law at the Oklahoma Supreme Court?

A former lawmaker, Mike Reynolds, has filed a lawsuit against Senate Bill 1050, which passed in April 2021. Reynolds, who is not an attorney, is representing himself in the case. He said the securitization bonds need to go before voters for approval.

Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit organization that produces in-depth and investigative journalism on important public-policy issues facing the state. The organizations website is at http://www.oklahomawatch.org.
A Kansas woman has been arrested and charged in a stabbing at an Alva motel. Officers were called to the Holiday Motel at 701 E. Oklahoma Blvd. at 1:35 p.m. last Sunday, Jan. 23.

When Alva Police Officers Kris Franta and Keith Dale arrived on the scene, they met Lindsey Ellis in the parking lot. She is described as having blood on the back and sides of her shirt and pants.

Franta asked what happened, and Ellis said she and her husband, Duncan Ellis, got into an argument and it blew up from there. She said her tooth had been knocked out, and he kept hitting her and knocking her around...
Turkey's Islamist government is set to complete a pair of construction projects in New York City that, among other uses, will house Turkish-American students and expose Muslim youth to Turkish propaganda and extremism. However, Turkey's indoctrination of Muslim youths isn't the only reason why New Yorkers should oppose the Islamist government's real estate plans.

A notorious Turkish foundation involved in numerous cases of child abuse and rape will fund and administer one of these dormitories, exposing vulnerable immigrant youths to sexual exploitation.

The U.S.-based Turken Foundation, an organization set up jointly by two other religious foundations, Ensar and Turgev, is building a massive 21-story dormitory to "shelter" Turkish-American youths from the enemies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The building, called the Turken House, is being erected on a $15.5-million plot on the corner of 2nd Avenue and 41st Street.

"Our foundation ... works with all its power to prevent FETO elements from bothering the children of this nation both in the country and abroad," said Ensar Foundation General Manager Huseyin Kader.

FETO is the acronym for the Fethullah Terrorist Organization, the AKP's hostile name for the Gulen Movement, a worldwide network of businesses, schools, and nonprofits. Erdogan has claimed that Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim preacher in self-exile in the United States, was the mastermind behind a failed putsch against his government in July of 2016. Consequently, he has recognized the Gulen Movement as a terrorist organization. However, Western intelligence agencies have not been convinced by Turkey's claims.

Kader's assertion that the Ensar Foundation intends to keep youths safe is outrageous, considering the violations members of the foundation have committed against women and children. The most recent atrocity occurred in June when two Ensar religious instructors (identified only as O.S. and M.O. in court documents) were detained for blackmailing and raping nine women residing at Ensar's safe houses  sanctuaries established for women threatened by domestic violence.

The foundation's record of child abuse goes back for more than a decade. In 2008, Ensar's provincial chairman in the Turkish city of Corum, Zekai Isler, was arrested for raping a 13-year-old girl and for abusing her sister. A criminal court found him guilty.

In 2016, Mehmet Nuri Gezmis, a former Ensar provincial director, was arrested for sexually abusing two boys, aged 13 and 14.

Between 2012 and 2015, Turkish law enforcement systematically refused to investigate Ensar despite numerous allegations of abuse. But by 2016, pedophilia among Ensar's Islamist teachers was too commonplace to hide. Forty-five children, ages 9 and 10, who stayed at Ensar dormitories in the central Anatolian city of Karaman complained to prosecutors that local Ensar director Muharrem Buyukturk raped and sexually abused them.

The 54-year-old Buyukturk confessed to the crimes in his statement at the police station, but in court, he claimed that officers had misled him by claiming they were trying to help him. "If you confess and say you are mentally ill you will walk free from the courthouse, police officers told me," Buyukturk said during a hearing.

Medical reports confirmed that ten children were raped. A criminal court sentenced Buyukturk to 508 years in prison but refused to investigate Ensar further. During the entire trial, the court banned media reporting on the case.

Shortly after the verdict, the former opposition (and now Erdogan's staunch ally) of the Nationalist Movement Party submitted to Parliament a motion to investigate the rape case against Ensar after the court refused to investigate the foundation further. That request was voted down by the AKP benches.

As Ensar came under fire from secular and liberal Turks, Erdogan's government moved in quickly to defend the Islamist foundation. After the trial, Nihat Ozturk, a member of Parliament from Erdogan's AKP, said, "No matter what you [opponents] do, we will always support Ensar."

At the center of the seculars' ire was a female cabinet member. Minister for Family Sema Ramazanoglu said, "Just because this [the serial rapes] happened once it is not right to defame a foundation."

The controversy facing Ensar even provoked violence among the Turkish diaspora in America. In 2017, the AKP's North American branch organized a Women's Day event in Paterson, New Jersey, featuring Minister Ramazanoglu. AKP supporters brutally assaulted two Turkish women and a man who protested Ramazanoglu for her statement on the Ensar serial rape case.

Moreover, the rape investigation revealed another criminal offense. Ensar's dormitories in Turkey, built for primary school children, were illegal. Under Turkish law, foundations, organizations, and institutes are not authorized to operate dormitories for primary school students. Meanwhile, Erdogan's government transferred at least seven privately-owned student dormitories to Ensar's administration after the coup attempt in 2016. Those dormitories had previously been operated by organizations believed to be linked with Gulenists.

Higher-ups at the Ensar Foundation enjoy privileged access to the Erdogan family. Until recently, Ismail Cenk Dilberoglu was chairman of the foundation, serving in this capacity for the past nine years. He and Erdogan's son, Bilal, were graduates of Kartal Anadolu Imam School, where they first became friends. In a 2016 speech, the younger Erdogan said Dilberoglu was "the person with whom he spent most of his time apart from his wife."

In Turkey, child abuse cases rose between 2008 and 2018 by 700 percent. In the same period, 40,366 court cases were opened, resulting in 14,000 convictions. These numbers illustrate the urgency in protecting Turkish children from adult predators.

The Turken Foundation, which ran student dormitories in Boston, Virginia, Chicago, Queens, and D.C. between 2014 and 2017, collected over $54 million in donations, while it earned nearly $23 million over the following two years, according to IRS reports. The large bulk of Turken's 20182019 donations came from a single unidentified source.

The Turken Foundation's other partner in the dormitory project, Turgev, is one of the AKP's primary instruments in executing Erdogan's top political goal of "raising devout generations." Its chairperson is Fatmanur Altun, wife of Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan's communications director. This web of relationships illustrates how Turkish foundations operating on U.S. soil are connected to Turkey's top leadership, which wants to build a bridge between Turkish Islamism and Muslim Americans.

The Turken House is not the Islamist government's only construction project on U.S. soil. In a high-profile ceremony on September 20, Erdogan inaugurated Turkevi (Turkish House), another significant structure in New York, at a cost of $291 million and a height of 560 feet.

According to Turkish government officials, the 36-story skyscraper is housing the Turkish Consulate General but will mostly serve Turkish students living in the New York area. Turkevi was constructed by a partnership between Turkish company IC Ictas Insaat and U.S. company AECOM Tishman.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Siraj Wahhaj, the imam of the Al-Taqwa mosque in Brooklyn, New York, addressed Erdogan: "You are the leader of the world's Muslims. ... I love you." This sentiment is increasingly shared by Muslim Americans.

Wahhaj has made statements in support of Islamic laws over liberal democracy, arguing that "Islam is better than democracy." He also supports corporal punishment, such as stoning for adultery and severing hands for thievery.

Since the rise of the AKP, Turkey has exported its Islamist brand around the world, including in the West. In New York, the regime is embracing the lucrative field of real estate  not only for the commercial and diplomatic benefits that property ownership entails, but also to groom Turkish college students to do its political bidding.

With the troubled Ensar Foundation at the helm of at least one of these initiatives, New Yorkers should worry about more than political espionage and youth indoctrination. Midtown Manhattan could become the scene of an unforgivable tragedy involving vulnerable immigrants beholden to an illiberal foreign regime. If the AKP will not punish child abusers and rapists at home, Americans should not expect anything different in their own backyard.

Burak Bekdil is an Islamist Watch writer and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Image via Pixabay.
Vive la difference between British and French culture in two of the greatest playwrights in history. Britain has a rich literary heritage, but Shakespeare, "the Bard," is widely recognized as the greatest writer in the English language. In France, a number of writers  Voltaire, Hugo, Proust, Flaubert  can compete for that title, but Moliere is viewed as the most acclaimed writer of French comedy and satires, even more heralded than later satirists like Voltaire and Anatole France.

This year, specifically January 15, 1622, is the 400th anniversary of the birth in the heart of Paris of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, son of wealthy carpet-dealers, who became Moliere. He is being honored by new statues, a postage stamp, a costume exhibition, and new staging of his plays, starting with the controversial originally banned version in 1664 of Tartuffe.

Shakespeare and Moliere were both actors. Both ran a theater company, both had royal patronage, and both were prolific writers. Shakespeare is credited with 154 sonnets, Moliere with 31 plays. Both observe and comment on human folly, though Moliere more often satirizes authority, the Church, and the aristocracy. Shakespeare deals with a more complete range of emotions and human conflicts  murder, power, egotism, including issues such as sexual ambiguity and crossdressing, histories, and romances with happy endings. Both produced memorable, vivid characters: Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth are universally known. Moliere has given us Tartuffe, the hypocrite; Harpagnon, greedy and mean; and Argan, the hypochondriac.

Very little is directly known about Shakespeare's life apart from court records, land titles, and some contemporary opinions of others, and no original manuscripts survive. This is also true of Moliere.

Both playwrights are satirists, but they differ. Moliere is concerned mostly with contemporary society, while Shakespeare also refers to ancient history and literature, the Carthage queen, to astrology, and to magic. He is full of humor, double-entendres, puns, and soliloquies. Moliere was more sharp in ridiculing members of the French court, and general customs, fashionable absurdities, affected speech, fake sentimentality, intrigues, nobles, doctors, priests, and religious bigotry.

Shakespeare engaged in more in more imagery than did Moliere, but both were critics of power-holders. Moliere, who regarded nothing as sacred, is equally if not more biting on hypocrisy and cant in plays with philosophical, religious, and moral implications.

The plays are not easy to perform. Shakespeare's plays are written partly in prose but largely in iambic pentameter, with its rhythms of stressed and unstressed syllables. Moliere is difficult to translate into English because of his style of alexandrines and rhyming couplets.

Both men are honored in their countries. Shakespeare has countless memorials and is remembered by the reconstruction of the Globe Theater in Southwark, London, on the site of the original theater built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Moliere is remembered by the theatrical award, the Moliere, given to the most gifted French actor  an equivalent to the Tony in the U.S. and the Olivier in the U.K.  and by the "House of Moliere," the Comedie Francaise, in central Paris, which has the oldest active theater company in the world, established in 1680 in his honor after his death. Moliere's plays are performed there more often than those of any other French playwright today.

Who was he? Before becoming Moliere, he studied as a lawyer for a short time, never qualified, and in 1643 became an actor and founded a theatrical troupe. It became bankrupt with outstanding debts. The actor was imprisoned for one day and fled Paris. He traveled for thirteen years with another troupe, and adopted the pseudonym "Moliere," becoming actor, director, and playwright. He returned to Paris in 1658 with a new company and performed before King Louis XIV in the old Louvre building and in the Palais-Royal.

As a playwright, Moliere wrote 31 plays in different styles  comedies of manners, comedies of character, romantic comedy, and above all satires. Because of his friendship with Jean-Baptiste Lully he wrote comedy-ballets, written for royal divertissements at the Palace of Versailles. Moliere for his material drew on different sources, such as the Spanish poet Lope de Vega and the Italian Commedia dell'Arte, which provides for improvisation, as well as traditional French work.

Nothing was sacred; all things were a target of wit. The satires are most important, for their revelation of character, with their comments on social mannerisms, and affectations, on misers, hypocrites, hypochondriacs, nobles, pretentious men and women. Though he mocked the upper classes, he never attacked the monarchy, and indeed, he was a favorite of the king, who protected him.

A few of his plays may be mentioned to illustrate their flavor:

"Les Precieuses Ridicules," the affected young ladies, with conversations and word games, criticizes the affected speech and sentimentality of the pretentious, and also of the prestigious Academie Francaise.

"L'Ecole des Femmes," the school for women, parodied the poor education given to daughters of rich families.

"Le Medecin Malgre Lui," the doctor despite himself, parodies official sciences and pompous individuals, speaking poor Latin to impress others with false erudition.

"Le Misanthrope" satirizes the hypocrisies of aristocratic society but also indicates the flaws of everyone. The misanthrope does not engage in real change, but he insists on the strictest honesty in all situations, and he has no unbending opinions of his own.

"Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme," a comedy-ballet satire on social climbing, the pretentious middle class, and snobbish aristocrats. The middle-class bourgeois, M. Jourdain, wanting to be an aristocrat, takes a philosophy lesson on language and finds that for more than 40 years, "I have been speaking prose while knowing nothing of it."

Above all there is Le Tartuffe ou I'Imposteur, on dishonesty and hypocrisy of an individual masquerading as a priest to convince a naive, wealthy aristocrat to give him his fortune and daughter in marriage, while making love to his wife.

The original version of the play was suppressed because of the opposition of the archbishop of Paris and the Catholic hierarchy and upper class, who found it offensive. Moliere rewrote it to make it seem more secular and less critical of religion. Tartuffe confesses, "Yes, I am wicked, guilty, a miserable sinner."

While acting in February 1673 in "Le Malade Imaginaire," Moliere played the role of the hypochondriac Ardan. He collapsed and died, aged 51, of pulmonary tuberculosis within a few hours at his nearby home. The chair on which he sat during his final role is preserved and on display in the Comedie Francaise. He was denied the sacrament of the church, but his bust was placed in the Academy. He lives on in the theater in the heart of Paris.

But, while honoring him in his 400th year, it is arguable that Moliere, while important, is not as great as Shakespeare.

Image via Pixabay.
This week the Democratic National Committee gave Justice Steven Breyer the hook, announcing that he was retiring before hed firmly decided to do so. When he finally responded, he made clear his intention to remain on the bench until Bidens nominee was confirmed, which at best likely will be sometime this summer if ever. As part of a deal he made with congressman and House majority whip Jim Clyburn when he was on the ropes in the primaries, President Biden promised to nominate to this significant position a black woman, and three candidates names -- a weak bench if the suppositions are correct -- have been bandied about in the press. How odd to admit you are selecting a nominee on the basis of race and sex just as the Supreme Court is about to hear serious challenges to affirmative action in college admissions. Moreover, he asserts this will be an historic nomination, but it wont be. (Picking an Asian-American would be.)

Neither will it be a popular one that will accrue to the benefit of his party, in my view. His supporters in academia and the press have an inkling of this which is why they are trying to tar and silence critics of this move right from the start. But Clyburns demand will make their usual tactics harder to succeed.

The Background

The Daily Mail reports how Clyburn strongarmed Biden, who was doing poorly in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries and was desperate for a win in South Carolina. Clyburn said hed endorse him only if Biden would publicly pledge to place a black woman on the court if there were an opening during his term as president. Reports by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes show how insistent Clyburn was on this score, quoting him saying during a break in the Democratic debate, Look, I told you that I wanted you to say that you were going to name a black woman to the Supreme Court. You havent done it yet. Youve had a bunch of opportunities. Dont you dare leave this stage without doing it.

Has the DNC Miscalculated the Benefit of this Nomination to the Party?

Theres no doubt in my mind that the DNC imagines such a nomination will prove advantageous to its faltering chances in the November midterms. I agree with Paul Mirengoff at Powerline, who takes a contrary view. He thinks while it might energize some Democrats, it will also energize Republicans. If the DNC gets its wish for a quick confirmation, that will occur too far in advance to have much effect on the midterms, and likely to be overshadowed by events. If they fail to get a confirmation, the Clyburn Democrats will be unhappy and the Republicans will have scored a victory against race discrimination.

In any event, he argues that Americans dislike race/gender-based hiring decisions. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll confirms Mirengoff.

[O]nly 26% of voters think its a good idea to make race and gender the basis of choosing appointments to the Supreme Court. Sixty-one percent (61%) believe picking justices on the basis of race and gender is a bad idea. Another 14% are not sure.

Some surely fear that to contest such a nominee will be bad politics, that the Democrats will argue any objection will be racist and sexist. Others want payback for the Kavanaugh hearing outrage, where Democrats tarred the nominee with factually unsupported charges of youthful wrongdoing. Mirengoff disagrees, and so do I. I think the Republicans should challenge the nominee strictly on her record and views on the issues, and the Republicans have a strong and popular case to make if that record does not stand up to scrutiny. Bidens limitation of whom he would consider is a set aside which 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. Its time for the Republicans to stop ducking every time the Left pawns off a person or program and claims any opposition is racist.

You may ask why the approach the President took was not less blatant: Why didnt he make no such promise to be discriminatory and simply nominate a black woman jurist. Well, Ive already told you -- Clyburn made him do it, and Biden desperately needed his support in a critical primary.

Here the Left Goes Again

Even the marvelous Babylon Bee could not parody the left better than the Washington Post parodies itself. Under this header The carping over the Bidens Supreme Court pledge is historically inaccurate and racially tinged, Ruth Marcus, the papers deputy editorial page editor, elicits ridicule. She concedes she would be more comfortable if Biden had not been so explicit about limiting his selection to a black female because it carries an aura of unfairness to announce that no one will be considered who does not meet this test. Yes, it will, and it will even more so to those less blinkered who live outside the press rooms and academia.

Marcus is also less than fully comfortable because Bidens announcement opens the door to criticizing the nominees credentials compared to others ruled out due to their race and/ or gender. Yes, it does.

The Wall Street Journal editors joined Mirengoff in noting the absurdity of Marcus arguments about racially tinged criticism of the Presidents selection process:

"Racially tinged? We guess thats what you write if you want to accuse someone of racism but know it would be a canard to say so. [snip] But the racial tinge was applied by Mr. Biden in his criteria for his judicial selection. Is it taboo to comment on the use of a racial litmus test that a President has himself made explicit? The hilarious part is that, after she lambastes [Ed: critics of the process], Ms. Marcus ends up agreeing with most of our point. Would I be more comfortable if Biden hadnt been quite so explicit? Yes. Partly because it carries an aura of unfairness to announce that no one will be considered who does not meet an announced racial test, she writes. So its okay to use a racial test for judges as long as its not explicit, but anyone other than Ruth Marcus who criticizes the explicit racial test is racially tinged. What shes really saying is that conservatives are right in their criticism but only liberals can say so. [snip] Mr. Biden and his allies cant say hes choosing a nominee explicitly on the basis of race and then try to intimidate critics by claiming any criticism of the nominee is racist  or racially tinged. The Court and the public deserve a robust debate about the nominee, whether black, white, Asian, man, woman, whatever.

Too often, Republicans have lacked the spine to call the Democrats out on their racialist policies. This time, Congressman Clyburn has made the job easier by demanding and getting the president to make the partys racism blatantly explicit. Bidens defenders have such an absurdly weak case, they humiliate themselves in the effort.

Image courtesy Michael Ramirez
Hoping to be warmed by sunlight shining through wind-chilled single-digit temperatures, a 35-year-old homeless woman rests under a blanket in downtown Hartford on Jan. 11. The woman said she has been homeless since losing her apartment three months ago. The cold has added stress to homeless shelters already strained by COVID-19. "Sometimes," she said, "it's better off on the streets." Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

Despite Connecticut boasting one of the countrys most robust systems to shelter people experiencing homelessness, winter weather and COVID-19 are combining to pose challenges to Hartford-area resources serving the citys most vulnerable people.

Though infection rates are declining statewide, outbreaks among staff and volunteers have forced shelters to make do with thin crews working extra shifts.

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Meanwhile, the capital citys two warming centers  one for individuals at 110 Washington St. and one for families at 104 Vine St.  are at capacity as temperatures and snow fall, according to Salvation Army Maj. Migdalia Levenbein.

This is a difficult time for people to be outside, and its incredibly dangerous right now, with the way the temperatures have been, Lavenbein said.

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Connecticut is approaching the end of its latest severe cold weather protocol, a set of coordinated actions and requirements to help people access safe shelter.

Gov. Ned Lamont activated the protocol on Jan. 14 in response to the long-term chill, and later extended it through Feb. 2.

The protocol requires overnight warming centers  which are relatively rare in Connecticut  to stay open all day. Hartfords centers, which opened in December and are operated by the Salvation Army, were available between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. prior to Lamonts order.

The extreme cold poses a safety risk to anyone without a warm place to sleep, particularly for those who arent actively seeking shelter or other resources.

There could be myriad reasons for their hesitancy, said Marilyn Rossetti, a Hartford city council member and chief executive of Open Hearth, a mens shelter and resource center. Past trauma may make it difficult to deal with the large crowds and cramped conditions characteristic of some shelter settings, for example.

So then all of a sudden, when its really cold, they have nowhere to go, Rossetti said.

How many people are experiencing homelessness?

Experts say its difficult to track exactly how many people are experiencing homelessness, or who have tenuous access to shelter.

Some may be living outdoors during the warmer seasons. Others may lack stable shelter, but are temporarily borrowing a bed or couch from a friend or family member.

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There were 2,594 people experiencing homelessness in Connecticut during the 2021 point-in-time count, essentially a hand count to measure how many people are living outdoors or in shelters during a single night in January. The 2022 count took place Jan. 25, and results are currently being compiled.

At least 454 individuals were in need of housing in Greater Hartford last week, according to data from the Coordinated Access Network (CAN). Four names were added from the previous seven days.

Its a slight decrease from December, when at least 478 were in need. Eighty percent of those individuals were experiencing homelessness for the first time, and became homeless within the last 12 months.

Well over 30 to 40% of the people experiencing homelessness in Hartford are from places other than the city originally, Rossetti noted.

People come here, because if youre in a Wethersfield, a Windsor, a Bloomfield, this is where the social services are.

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How does Connecticuts homelessness response system work?

During the severe cold weather protocol, the states response system kicks into higher gear: Anyone who needs a bed, gets one. Our system is designed to help everyone who calls said Evonne Klein, chief executive of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness and former state housing commissioner.

Under the Coordinated Access Network, anyone in need of shelter can dial 2-1-1. A 2-1-1 worker assesses the individuals situation, and first tries to seek alternatives to entry into the shelter system. The individual may first be connected with a shelter diversion worker, according to Sarah Pavone, director of strategy for Journey Home, the backbone agency for the Greater Hartford CAN.

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If emergency housing is necessary, staff in the CAN network work to find available beds within the shelter system. The most important part of the CAN network, and why its been so successful, is how integrated all of our partners are, Pavone said.

Emergency shelters are usually preferred over warming centers, and those beds fill up first. Rossetti said Open Hearth is always at capacity  and COVID-19 safety measures have reduced shelter capacity to 100 beds from 125.

Jane Banks, executive director of Hartfords South Park Inn, said the shelter just found permanent housing for a handful of people, but usually runs near its 53-bed limit.

Short on shelter beds, and on funds

When Hartfords warming centers fill up, the states severe cold weather protocol requires hotel beds to be available for overflow emergency housing.

Shelter workers said they didnt know exactly how many people were in overflow housing, but said the number of people experiencing homelessness far exceeds the number of spaces shelters can provide.

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We dont have enough resources right now, Klein said. The ultimate solution, she said, is the expansion of affordable housing.

Clearly, what we know in the state of Connecticut is that ending homelessness is not insurmountable, Klein said. With the appropriate amount of resources, we can end homelessness, as we have with ending veteran homelessness.

Five Things You Need To Know Daily We're providing the latest coronavirus coverage in Connecticut each weekday morning. >

Kate Shafer, development director of Hands on Hartford said the local service organization recently formed a homeless outreach team to connect people in need with shelter or resources.

The team goes out into the area on evenings and weekends, Shafer said, and looks for people who appear to be living outdoors during times of severe cold.

Thats especially challenging, to see folks who are living outdoors when it gets really really cold, Shafer said. Its rough. Its rough out there.

Shafer said the outreach team was created thanks to, and is sustained by, funding from the CARES Act. Prior to the influx of federal dollars, Hands on Hartford relied on a shaky stream of private donations to support its meal program and other services. Its very tenuous, and it was always underfunded, Shafer said.

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The CARES Act dollars are set to expire in September. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers, and another $5 billion for affordable housing. Shafer hopes money can be made available to continue supporting outreach, too.

This is front line work that really needs to be funded, so we are really hoping thats what happens, she said.

Seamus McAvoy may be reached at smcavoy@courant.com.
If ever there were a face of innocence to haunt us as a victim of unthinkably cruel violence, it would be the beautiful and sweet visage of Melissa Ortega.

According to a GoFundMe page, Melissa and her mother  both from Mexico  arrived in Chicago in August. In Wednesday's statement, her mother said that the family had been "filled with dreams" about their move to the United States. "We imagined a better life here. We came in search of the American Dream we so famously hear of but instead I get to live a nightmare for the rest of my life," she said.

Via Twitter

As usual, guns are being blamed. But the hands that allegedly held the gun that shot her belonged to someone who should not have been at liberty to kill. Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times:

Something has gone awry with our criminal justice system as it pertains to juvenile offenders. The latest evidence of our broken system is the shooting death last weekend of 8-year-old Melissa Ortega of Little Village. Emilio Corripio, 16, is charged with opening fire on busy 26th Street and killing her. It isnt the first time the teenager accused in this shooting has been charged with using an illegally obtained weapon to commit a crime. At the time police say Corripio stepped out from an alley and turned a peaceful street into a shooting gallery, he was on probation for three armed carjackings in the past year. On the day Melissa was killed, the self-proclaimed Latin Kings gang member was targeting rival gang members, according to the police, and hit one of those rivals in the back, leaving him hospitalized in critical condition. But two bullets struck Melissa in the head as she ran alongside her mother, trying to escape the gunfire. The 8-year-old died hours later.
After demonizing Border Patrol agents and nullifying legal border enforcement as a profession, Biden officials were surprised and 'exasperated' to find that Border Patrol agents weren't applauding them.

That was what Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz found when they decided to visit Border Patrol stations in Laredo, Texas, and Yuma, Arizona, supposedly to take the temperature of the troops at the sharp end of the mighty border surges.

Videos leaked out of the meetings and they did not go well.

Here's the latest one, which the Washington Examiner got hold of:

Here's a snippet:

"We don't give up. We stay focused. We continue to do the job and the mission we all signed up for. We all raised our hand," Ortiz said. Among the group of agents in attendance, people could be heard getting restless, saying, "It's kind of hard to say that," with another retorting "to defend the Constitution." "It's not hard to say that," Ortiz fired back, raising his voice. "It may be hard for you to say it, but I've been doing this for 31 years. It's not hard for me to say it. Every day, I wake up, and I'm committed to this organization, and I'm committed to each one of y'all," he continued, talking over someone in the crowd. The crowd shot back with claims that the policies don't match the rhetoric. One appeared to complain about the release of criminals into the country. Ortiz said the agents were getting too focused on the policies and politics of the administration rather than the mission of getting drugs and criminals out of the country. "You're getting bogged down in the policies and the politics," an increasingly frustrated Ortiz said. One person claimed they can't even say "illegal aliens," to which Ortiz spat back that he "just said it. See? Is anything going to happen to you?" "Why are you so caught up in the semantics, right? There's a mission out there to be had guys," Ortiz continued. "We can sit here and argue until we're blue in the face. I've been doing this job as long as y'all." "That's a problem," one of the crowd said.

Who is Ortiz? Not a Democrat political operative, as might be expected, but kind of a zombie Border Patrol agent, a man who spent many years with the Border Patrol out in the badlands, got promoted by President Trump to deputy, and then took the top spot after Biden forced the previous Border Patrol chief, Rodney Scott, out last August. Get-along, go-along Ortiz got the job instead and now serves to defend the Biden administration, rather than the men in the field, which is apparently what Biden requires for that job at the top. It's pretty creepy. He had been apparently a good man, and now he's Biden's shill. Border Patrol complaints about policy to him are now 'griping.'

Mayorkas fared even worse at a meeting with agents in Yuma a couple of days earlier.

According to Julio Rosas at Townhall, who got hold of a leaked audio:

"The job has not gotten any easier over the last few months and it was very, very difficult throughout 2021. I know apprehending families and kids is not what you signed up to do. And now we got a composition that is changing even more with Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and the like, it just gets more difficult," Mayorkas said in the recording. Mayorkas said DHS is trying to work with the Mexican government to stop the flow of immigrants before they reach the U.S. border. "I know the policies of this administration are not particularly popular with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but that's the reality and let's see what we can do within that framework," Mayorkas added. An agent pressed Mayorkas on how DHS can reconcile saying border security is the main mission for Border Patrol, yet agents are unable to patrol the border due to the policies the Biden administration has in place. Border Patrol agents are being utilized to process the thousands of illegal immigrants. Mayorkas said he appreciated "the candor" and explained he is working to ensure agents have the personnel, funding, and equipment they need to do their job. The agent replied they have been hearing that answer for years.

The agent asking that then turned his back on Mayorkas, and Mayorkas tried to assure him that he was a mean prosecutor by trade, which doesn't sound as ferocious in the era of Soros D.A.s, and the corrupt administration of Kamala Harris during her attorney general days in California, where Mayorkas worked.

It's tough stuff. And it ought to be a wakeup call to these Biden officials that they've got a workforce that sounds like it wants to go on strike, That's actually something they ought to do, given that the Bidenites have been demonizing them as they do their jobs on horse-mounted patrols in hellhole rugged terrain brimming with rattlesnakes, or else amid toxic waste from Mexico south of San Diego. Border defense consists of running from fence hole to fence hole in the border in hellhole terrain, instead of having the security of a fence from which to watch for interlopers. It consists of cartel drug and human smugglers shooting at agents or throwing things, injuring and killing some. It consists of changing diapers and rescuing migrants from bad situations they put themselves in, knowing that the Border Patrol is always there to rescue them and get them on the U.S. side where they are no longer being expelled. It means subjecting Border Patrol agents to COVID, leprosy, scabies, tuberculosis, and a whole host of other diseases the migrants bring with them. It means serving as a taxi, ferry, and concierge at the service of Mexico's notorious cartels and human smuggling rackets, to get illegals to their destinations of choice instead of expelling them to back where they came from in the interest of defending U.S. law. And as one agent said, it's about releasing some of the vilest criminals on earth into the U.S. population to do what they will.

This doesn't sound like the job they signed up for, let alone a job anyone would want. It's effectively the nullification of the Border Patrol itself, meaning, the agents are supposed to focus on their shiny new equipment Mayorkas says he's bringing them instead, if not retire at their desks and maybe wait for the next president. Sound like a purposeful existence?

Mayorkas said he's all in for no-holds-barred conversations with the agents. But it's strange that he (and Ortiz) is so surprised and 'exasperated' at the outcome. How could they have been surprised? What more likely happened is that they wanted to gauge the sentiment of the troops in order to see what other outrages they could get away with. Or, they wanted to spy on the troops to see who was most loyal to Biden and who wasn't.

Whatever it was, it wasn't a pretty picture. One can only imagine that in such a scenario, the agents will work as deep state operatives to keep leaking videos, digging up dirt on these Quislings, and rousing the public to the Bidenite incineration of their profession. That's not good stuff for Biden, and you can bet they'll try to silence them.

Image: Screen shot from Washington Examiner video, via YouTube
As is typical of bullies and tyrants: when the people stand up to them, they bail. I give you exhibit A, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canadian media is reporting that the fearless (or feckless) leader and defender of all things Covid, has left town as the miles-long convoy of patriotic truckers arrived in Ottawa.

Trudeau and his family are no longer at their home, Rideau Cottage, which is on the property of the Governor General's residence in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa  roughly four kilometres from the epicentre of the protest. The Prime Minister's Office said it could not comment on Trudeau's whereabouts for security reasons. His itinerary, which normally lists the city where he's staying, said only that he's in the "national capital region."

Now theres a profile in courage.

A small part of the scary, scary crowd gathered in front of the Parliament Building in Ottawa Saturday

YouTube screengrab

And get this. The move came hours after it was speculated on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that Russian agents, whose mission is to destabilize the government, may be among the truckers. This skullduggery, supposedly, is a result of Canadas support for Ukraine. (LOL)

In addition to the Russkies giving government the vapors, officials are reporting extremist elements in the Freedom Convoy as evidenced by the sighting of Confederate flags amongst the truckers. As opposed to the extremist mandate policies resulting in supply chain shortages? But I digress.

As is typical with political hacks worldwide, they go to the racist innuendo riff when all else fails. Crying white supremacy is the last refuge of a demagogue.

It was announced just a few days ago that Trudeau was in isolation after a reported exposure to Covid. Perhaps it was decided by Trudeaus handlers that this excuse lacked the gravitas to justify snubbing this historic protest? I can only guess.

However, I do believe this example of spineless leadership will in the end destroy whatever credibility Trudeau had left. After all, the appearance of cowardice is never a resume enhancer, especially when compared to the inspirational courage exhibited in this historic protest by thousands of heroic truckers.

Dex Bahr is a freelance writer and author of the book No Christian Man is an Island: Leading the Spiritual Quest in Americas Culture Wars.
For the past several days, the worlds longest convoy, made up of truckers, has been slowly traveling across Canada from Vancouver east to Ottawa, the countrys capital city. They are protesting a new Canadian policy that mandates that truckers must be vaccinated to cross into Canada, even if they are Canadian citizens. In response to this peaceful protest, Justin Trudeau has run away and hidden, while in Nova Scotia, the political class has already lined up the penalities for any convey that dares breach its sacred borders.

Ive written here and here about the convoy, so I wont rehash the details. Briefly, roughly 16,000 Canadian truckerspeople who sit alone in their cabs hauling the huge loads of goods that make up modern lifewill be put out of work unless they get vaccinated. Worse, theyre required to have electronic vaccine passports that are quite obviously the beginning of a social credit system that, as in China, will isolate people from access to jobs, homes, goods, and services if they dont comply.

Hundreds of truckers, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, have formed a 70-km-long convoy that has been wending its way across Canada. Everywhere the convoy has gone, despite the freezing weather, the drivers have been greeted by cheering people, numbering in the hundreds and thousands depending on the size of the town or city through which they pass. The truckers entirely peaceful journey has been inspiring people, not just in Canada, but across the once free world.

One person who is not impressed is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a nascent tyrant and moral midget. Hes mindlessly accused unvaccinated people of being misogynistic and racist because those are the worst insults he can think of. In the same way, my son, when he was not quite three and deeply resented a walk to a lake, swore as only a toddler can: I dont want to go to dirty, stinky, poo-poo luck. His words made as much sense as Trudeaus insult, although Trudeau lacks the excuse of extreme immaturity.

Despite the massive outpouring of support for the convoy, Trudeau also called the truckers, who have support from millions of Canadians, a fringe minority that holds unacceptable views. And ignoring entirely the good cheer and peacefulness that has characterized the truckers, Trudeau preemptively accused them of being violent.

Image: Justin Trudeau (edited in befunky). YouTube screen grab.

Trudeau has been so frightened by his own rhetoric that he announced that hed been in contact with COVID and therefore had to quarantine at home. Raise your hand if you believe him.

Now that the truckers have entered Ottawa, though, Trudeau has abandoned the pretense of quarantine. Instead, hes simply run away:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family were reportedly moved to an undisclosed location as thousands of people protesting COVID-19 rules gathered at Parliament Hill. Sources told CBC that the family was moved from their home to an undisclosed location in Canada's capital of Ottawa amid security concerns.

In 1381, peasants protesting the onerous poll tax imposed against them moved on London. They were a powerful mob once they arrived and, among other things, they beheaded Simon Sudbury, the innocuous Archbishop of Canterbury, and Robert Hales, the Lord High Treasurer. Nevertheless, King Richard II, although only 14 years old, bravely went to meet the peasants.

The meeting turned violent and the kings guards killed the rebel leader but the boy king remained calm, defused the situation, and promised mercy to the rebels. Richard promptly broke that promise because he was a rotten human being, but the point is that he showed true physical courage and grace under pressure.

By contrast, Canadas boy despot has, as I said, run away. And all I could think of was that Monty Python got there firstBrave Sir Justin ran away!

Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, the political class is making sure that no protest comes anywhere near it:

Using their pre-existing state of emergency, the Province today, January 28, issued a directive under the Emergency Management Act prohibiting protesters from blockading Highway 104 near the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border. According to the provincial government, fines for a summary conviction under the new directive will range from $3,000 to $10,000 for individuals and between $20,000 and $100,000 for a corporation. Additionally, outdoor gatherings of more than 20 people are prohibited under a Health Protection Act order.

The brave people in Canada fighting for their freedom from useless, tyrannical dictates deserve better than the leaders they've got.
In ancient times, pagans sacrificed children to propitiate angry, erratic, and inscrutable gods, hoping that giving up their most precious possessions would save the entire community. Leftists are still doing that, not just with abortion, but with their COVID policies and the madness of their decriminalizing crime.

Child sacrifice was normative across the ancient world. It was only the combination of the Torahs proscription against human sacrifice (The Binding of Isaac, Genesis 22), combined with Jesus Christ offering himself as the ultimate sacrifice, that pagan societies eventually abandoned the practice.

Their reluctance was understandable. From one pagan culture to the next, their gods were motivated by the basest human emotions and, when triggered, were likely to visit drought, flood, earthquakes, hurricanes, famines, and disease on unwary humans who, somehow or other, offended these prickly deities. Whether as a preemptive bribe or an ex post facto apology, the offering had better be big, and what could be bigger than ones children?

But we in the modern West are better than that, right? Weve abandoned child sacrifice. We wouldnt dream of killing children to appease a god. After all, most on the left dont even believe in the capital G God and theyre probably materialists who dont believe in small g gods either. Or do they?

Image: Aztecs sacrifice a child to appease angry gods (1499). Public domain.

A few stories got me wondering if leftists are quite the rational atheists they think they are.

Abortion. I suspect most American Thinker readers recognize that abortion is a death cult. After all, Americans have killed some 61,000,000 babies since 1973, when the Supreme Court first found that imaginary right to abortion hidden deep within the Constitution. In the beginning, though, women were embarrassed about what they were doing. It was shameful.

Now, though, things are different. Women shout their abortion. Theyve made goddesses of themselves and willingly sacrifice babies to satisfy their own emotional needs. In addition, the cult of climate change says that humans are killing Mother Gaia, another goddess who must be propitiated. And thats how we end up with this story:

A live segment Sunday on WJBK in Detroit was shaping up to be a standard debate between two advocates from the abortion rights and antiabortion camps. Let It Rip host Charlie Langton opened the discussion, asking abortion rights advocate Jex Blackmore about the Food and Drug Administrations decision in December to allow abortion pills to be prescribed via telehealth and shipped to patients in the mail. After explaining how the mail-order system worked and arguing that the drugs are incredibly safe, Blackmore held up a white pill. She explained it was the first of two that a person would take to terminate a pregnancy. I want to show you how easy it is, and safe it is, by taking it myself, she said. Blackmore then popped it into her mouth. Appearing bewildered, Langton asked: Youre not pregnant, are you? I would say that this is going to end a pregnancy, Blackmore replied. This would be my third abortion.

Cold. At least in pagan times, there was some ceremony.

Its not just abortion, though. What weve seen in the last two years is that large numbers of Americans are willing to destroy their children if it will keep the grown-ups safe from a disease with an average mortality rate of less than 1%. This is a complete inversion of the biological urge to save children.

For two years, Democrats have forced parents to isolate, mask, and inject experimental drugs into their childrenand this is despite its being known for almost two years that children do not spread the virus, are unlikely to sicken from it, and are being destroyed at every leveldevelopmentally, educationally, physically, and emotionallybecause of policies intended to assuage adult fears.

A Reason article reports that there is no good evidence supporting the universal masking policy in schools. Even if you dont read the article, just look at that tragic photograph of children cut off from what makes us most human: our mobile, expressive faces.

Theres one more photo for you, and this one results from the leftists completely insane crime initiatives:

Melissa Ortega. GoFundMe.

Melissa Ortega, 8, was the most recent victim of the crime spree that followed the leftists orgy of George Floyd worship. You remember him: Armed robber, felon, drug addict, and an all-around loser.

But having elevated Floyd, along with a rogues gallery of other criminals to the status of racial, secular gods, leftists ritualized destroying the criminal justice system across American cities. The result is that, in the last two years, almost 300 children died in Chicago alone, with Melissa just the most recent. Youll find obscene numbers in other cities as well. But clearly, George Floyds vengeful spirit requires blood.

Leftists may claim to be secular but thats not true. They just worship different godsthemselves, Gaia, criminals, etc. And their gods are hungry gods who demand young blood, which leftists seem awfully glad to provide.
As I write this, New York City is laying to rest a 22-year-old police officer killed in an ambush attack by a career criminal.

New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg has doubled down on his written progressive policy stating that the U.S. Constitution gives him the right not to prosecute certain crimes, while Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon has recommended prosecuting a 26-year-old adult transgendered female as a juvenile for a sexual assault on a 10-year-old committed when the suspect was 17 years of age.

If convicted in juvenile court under Gascons proposal, the suspect would be incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility with other minors. Rational people understand this is not an acceptable solution.

Meanwhile, Bragg tries to justify his blatant disregard for enforcing the laws he is sworn to uphold by stating, No prosecutor is enforcing every single law all of the time. We are all exercising prosecutorial discretion. The problem however is that Braggs day one memo flatly outlines certain crimes will not be prosecuted under any circumstances, including resisting arrest. Is it any wonder that felonious assaults against the police are on the rise?

How then do we hold these rogue D.A.s and judges who are sworn to uphold the laws and protect all citizens, but who release criminals with no bond, or deliberately fail to bring appropriate charges responsible? Is it through repeated recall efforts that have failed in George Gascons case? I have a different recommendation. For every criminal defendant who is deliberately released on extremely low or no bond and commits a felonious crime when they should be behind bars, the victim of that new crime should bring disbarment proceedings against the district attorney, or judge who deliberately set that criminal free.

Under Rule 10 of the American Bar Association, there is a set of factors that are to be considered when imposing sanctions against a member of the bar. These factors include:

Whether the lawyer has violated a duty owed to a client, the public, to the legal system, or to the profession.

Whether the lawyer acted intentionally, knowingly, or negligently.

The amount of ACTUAL, or POTENTIAL (emphasis added) injury caused by the lawyers misconduct

The existence of any mitigating, or aggravating factors.

Every D.A. and judge across the country swears an oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the state in which they are elected to office, and to faithfully discharge the duties of that office (as an attorney, or lawyer) to the best of their ability. They owe that duty to all the citizens (their clients) of the city or state they serve. Violating ones oath of office is grounds for disbarment in most states.

Declaring in writing that under no circumstances will you or your staff prosecute certain crimes clearly violates your duty as a lawyer owed to your clients, the victims of the crime alleged, the citizens of your city or state, the legal system, and the legal profession and are grounds for disbarment. It is prima facie evidence these rogue D.A.s and judges are acting intentionally, knowingly, or negligently and, as a result, should face civil prosecution as well. We have all seen the tragic results of criminals on probation, bond, or early release who have committed felonious assaults when they should have been behind bars. It is time that D.A.s and judges are held to account for the potential and actual injury their imprudent use of discretion inflicts.

Scott W. Houghton is a United States Marine Corps veteran (Sergeant), and retired 32-year law enforcement veteran of Colorado's Douglas County Sheriffs Department, and the Denver Police Department.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
What are Republicans for? asked Joe Biden at his recent press conference. Its an important question, and it calls for a simple and clear answer. We Republicans need to write a New Contract With America, packed with ideas that will resonate with American voters in 2022. Here are some suggestions:

1. We will Refund, Reform, and Respect the Police! We will do whatever we can to end the crime wave devastating American neighborhoods.

2. We will make America energy independent again! We will lower the cost of energy and thereby lower the price of all the things that depend on energy, such as gasoline, heating oil, and even groceries. To do this, we will encourage an all of the above energy policy. We will build solar farms, wind farms, and safe nuclear power plants. We will drill for oil and gas, and open our pipelinesstimulating economic growth and enhancing Americas security.

3. We will bring vital industries back to America! This includes the manufacture of microchips, medicines, and medical supplies, and the mining of lithium for electric car batteries. We will encourage building state-of-the-art factories in America. We cannot rely on the goodwill of the Chinese Communist Party to supply us with our necessities. We must decouple from China until its totalitarian leaders veer away from their belligerent and dangerous course.

4. We will take politics out of the Supreme Court. We will pass an Amendment to the United States Constitution with these provisions: the Court will remain at nine justices forever; the Senate must vote nominees up or down within 60 days; no filibustering of nominees will be allowed, but at least 55 percent of Senators must confirm a nomination; there shall be life-time tenure for the justices, except for either traditional impeachment or an inability to discharge the duties of the office.

Image by Andrea Widburg

5. We will respect parents rights to guide their childrens education! We will take money already budgeted for the federal Department of Education and use it to fund $500 vouchers that parents can give to the accredited school of their choice. There were 73.2 million students of all ages in the US in October 2020; the Biden Administration asked for $102 billion for the Department of Education for FY2022that is roughly $1,400 per student; lets shift at least 35% of that money to these vouchers. In addition, we will set up a certification process for homeschoolers so that parents who meet basic educational qualifications can use the vouchers for books, computers, software, and supplies.

6. We will finish the wall on our southern border and institute policies that control cross-border traffic. American citizens should decide who comes into our country, just as a homeowner decides who comes into her house. We do not blame people for wanting to come here to make a better life for themselves and their families, but in this time of COVID and criminal cartels, we must protect our citizens. We cannot afford to grant generous benefits to the millions of people around the world who would cross our borders illegally if they had the chance.

7. When the wall is complete and the border situation stabilized, we will pass legislation to tie legal immigration and temporary work visas to the unemployment rates in America, the number of jobs available, the type of jobs, etc. Subject to these metrics, we welcome legal immigrants of every race and from every nation!

8. We will rein in the power of the Tech Giants and limit their ability to stifle free speech! We will pass laws allowing Americans to file lawsuits against Big Tech corporations who breach good faith user agreements by censoring political speech and unjustly defaming those with whom they disagree. We will break up Big Brother monopolies because they threaten our rights; we will encourage competition and the innovation it brings.

9. We will do whatever is possible to help small companies recover from the devastating hits they have taken over the last two years. That includes keeping federal tax rates low, especially for small corporations, so that, as they regain profitability, they can hire American workers.

10. Our foreign policy and our defense policy will be guided by Ronald Reagans wise maxim Peace Through Strength! We will participate in alliances such as NATO and the Quad, but we will insist that our allies and friends share the costs and the burden.

Those are my ideas. I also have a Call to Action: Please send your own ideas to Republican party leaders. Insist that they hammer out a New Contract With America that speaks with a simple, clear, and united voice.
Everyone for the most part loves a clean and beautiful environment and doesn't want to see it degraded while protecting the habitats of wild animals. The problem that's so much the case of liberalism and the militant environmentalism of today, is that it's been weaponized and made into an idol that discounts the infinite for the temporary.

To illustrate this point, there is an excellent documentary showing at some theaters right now called The Velvet Queen

It's a French production with two French environmentalists who are in search of a rare and elusive snow leopard in Tibet. The snow leopard eventually becomes a holy grail (more religious terminology they used in the documentary), and when it is found, prompts a kind of fake salvation to take place, only to dissipate into the Tibetan air once it's been found. It's very French. Cinematically, it's somewhat dreamy and surreal compared to an American-produced documentary, but it's not hard to watch.

It reminded me of something that's nagged at me for awhile, and that's how nature has been turned into a religious idol. The documentary unintentionally demonstrates a fundamental contradiction in today's liberalism/progressivism that is rarely pointed out, i.e., how can you be for saving humanity while being anti-human at the same time?

I watched The Velvet Queen, and noticed how the two men always talked in the hushed tones of self-proclaimed priests that seem to feel as though some sort of transcendental holiness has been bestowed upon them. It's a lot like listening to Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer, who always talk as though they're ordained ministers of the holier-than-thou Church of Liberalism. There's also clearly an anti-humanist tone during the documentary blaming modern man for desecrating Mother Earth while periodically taking shots at the human race for degrading the environment. When one them talks about how some of the wild animals can pick up their scent from far away, he takes an easy potshot saying "men smell bad." It was redolent of the French Enlightenment, which even now influences French thinking. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the most influential philosophers of the era and considered to be one of the founding fathers of liberalism, claimed that man is born free but everywhere in chains. That is to say, man is corrupted and fallen because of civilization. Therefore, he argued, true happiness for mankind lies in a kind of pre-civilizational state of nature. This is where uncorrupted man will find his true bliss. The fatal error of Rousseau was in thinking that man ever lived in a primordial state of bliss. However, his philosophy lingers as strongly today as it did back when he wrote Emile, the book where Rousseau, the poor misfit (if you've read his Confessions) first outlined his anti-modernist thought of re-orienting the relationship between the individual and society in 1762. There are other major flaws with Rousseau's thought, even as his influence endures in the modern era, but the big one was in his claims about nature.

Both liberalism and environmentalism have roots in his proto-romantic thinking. Before civilization developed, the state of man's existence wasn't all that different from that found in the animal kingdom, with man in a perpetual state of survival. In the words of Thomas Hobbes, life before civilization was " solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short ."

Besides the errant reading of the past, Rousseauvian liberalism and environmentalism also deny the reality of a spiritual dimension, which again, is redolent of the world of animals. Rousseauvians accept the material world alone as all that there is, no more, no less.

Because of that denial, fake spirituality and faux religions filled the vacuum in the minds of those who embraced Rousseau's world view, and it eventually evolved to replace the authenticity of original Judeo-Christian belief and traditions. This is easy to say because the language the secular Left uses is always couched in the language of religion and more specifically the language of Christianity. Towards the end of 'The Velvet Queen,' the audience hears a voice-over say: "Hope for nothing ... Be content with the world ... Have faith in poetry."

For such an outstanding documentary, these platitudes were effectively the twisted and tortured words of Biblical scripture that are essentially disposable junk food for the soul.

The search for meaning and the nature of being has been going on for a long time. The question is, what is authentic and what is not?

Defining the human self by its metaphysical dimension is another longstanding belief in the West, in other words, is a homo metaphysicus, not a frequently used term in philosophy but quite adequate in this context. The word metaphysics has never had a precise meaning but let us use it in the sense that Aristotle did, though he never used the word itself. Metaphysics is a philosophical inquiry into ultimate principles and causes. Taking the definition as a general framework, we could say that homo metaphysicus defines himself by his natural inclination to search for the ultimate meaning to both the world around him and his life. Though painfully aware of his own existence's finite and contingent nature, he nevertheless can perceive the infinite horizon and believes there might be a path that might lead him to the absolute whether through philosophy, religion, or some other means.
I have proposed a seven-year plan to take back our country that has already started. It is a battle of will and philosophy that is intensely engaged locally. It is hand-to-hand combat in a war of ideas. The first phase ends with the election of a Congressional majority that will take up the fight the people have defined.

With the battlefield defined and the goals outlined, the new Congress will have two years. The direction will have been determined, but it is still necessary to turn the ship. The people must apply continuous pressure from below. The congressional majority and its chosen leader will draw upon the omnipresent push from the people who support the agenda. We will be the source of their courage if they will accept it. Congressional courage may be a stretch, but that is the reason leadership must be focused and relentless, and we must hold them accountable.

The two-year congressional phase will change the direction of the federal government but not with legislation. It will be done by exposing those within government as bad actors who must be removed. It will take the full two years for the country to begin to realize that the people they have trusted are not trustworthy. They must be exposed, discredited, and removed with information and truth.

At the same time Congress is working, the next presidential campaign will be building momentum. Our presidential elections have become a continuous election season but, for the final two years of the campaign, the election becomes the only news. Every event is seen and reported only as it relates to the upcoming election.

The third and final phase of the plan begins the moment the new president takes the oathat which time Congress should already have completed two years of preparation for the new administration.

The next president must be in line with the will of the people because they started this movement. They elected the new congressional majority and are the cheerleaders for the new direction. The president will use the peoples support and the power it gives. With the people and the congressional majority at his back, he can take on the corruption.

Image: The next president. Public domain image (edited).

There are a few qualifications for the new president to do this job of killing corruption. These are not the typical qualifications for an American president. These are unique qualifications for a different time. It will be a great challenge to find someone who meets these requirements. To be successful, the people must have forced changes to the election processes so that the presidents legitimacy will be unquestioned.

1. The new president must know without any doubt that what he is going to do is the right thing and that there is no cost too high for doing what must be done, and the Constitution and the rule of law must always be his guides.

2. The president needs to know that absolutely no one in Washington politics can be completely trusted.

3. He must decisively and without remorse ruin the lives of those whose wrongdoing he and Congress expose. Sympathy or empathy for corrupt political enemies is not part of this job.

4. He must be willing to purge those who are allied with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. It must be an equal opportunity purge of the corrupt.

5. He will need the courage and willingness to publicly accuse people by name while citing the evidence of their corruption.

6. The president must be willing to do what must be done while knowing that he may have no political future, the media will hate him and run daily stories against him, schools will develop entire curricula denouncing his administrations policies, and government employees will actively organize a true insurrection to have him removed.

7. Finally, the president must know who it is that elected him, know who it is that supports him as he purges corruption, and connect with his supporters directly in a personal way. He will draw his strength from them.

This plan turns our current governance upside down and back to the way it was originally intended. The power must come from the people with the leaders carrying out the peoples will. This plan requires a Congress and a President that know this and draw from that power.

That seven-point description describes the person needed. Everyone may have a name or two to put with these qualifications. The field of contenders is very small and there may be an unknown someone prepared by God to step up that may have already been called and is on the mission.

This has become a battle of survival. This is our moment in history to survive as a republic and return to the pattern of governance given to us by our framers. If we fail, our enemies will complete their takeover and we can lament what could have happened.
A few days ago, following the news of Justice Stephen Breyers retirement, Joe Biden pledged to nominate 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

The NAACP President Derrick Johnson called it a " historic opportunity to appoint someone with a strong record on civil and human rights.

The news was lauded and applauded by the Democrats in Washington and the Democrats on the Hill. One can hardly blame them, for Biden has given them no reason to applaud, hence they make the most of the few opportunities he presents them with. Words such as diversity, representation, and equity were thrown around as the celebrations went on.

This isnt the first time that Biden has used race and sex as his primary selection criteria for top government posts.

During his campaign, Biden proudly declared his vice president would be a woman of color.

The result was Kamala Harris, the most unpopular and perhaps the worst Vice President in recent history. She has been a fiasco in handling tasks assigned to her. She even struggles to construct basic sentences during friendly TV interviews and in public forums.

Biden has nominated 16 people to federal appeals courts and eight of his appointees have been Black women.

So what does one make of this?

Firstly, it is gravely insulting to any individual to be openly acknowledged as a diversity hire.

How would the new Supreme Court Justice candidate feel knowing the primary criteria for her selection is not her experience or her aptitude or her knowledge of the Constitution but the pigment under her skin and her gender, both of which she was born with and had nothing to do with.

It also implies that she may not necessarily have been the best choice overall, but instead, among her race and gender only.

It means she wasn't the best choice at all. This is the soft bigotry of low expectations; the hire is a favor to someone they consider inferior.

This is the equivalent of complimenting a Black man by claiming he is the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.

Guess who said the above?

It was Joe Biden. This was his way of lavishing blandishments on his rival for the Democrat Presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama back in 2008.

This is the mindset of a man who clearly has deep racial prejudices.

How did Senator Joe Biden behave during the confirmation of the second African American Supreme Court Justice when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee?

Senator Biden questioning Clarence Thomas in 1991

Twitter video screengrab (cropped)

Justice Clarence Thomas has made it amply clear Biden's conduct was motivated by bigotry.

CLARENCE THOMAS ON JOE BIDEN:



Do I have stupid written on the back of my shirt? We know what this is all about. This is the wrong BLACK GUY, he has to be destroyed. Just say it.



pic.twitter.com/kL9kinwJE6  Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 27, 2022

A recently conducted Quinnipiac poll showed that Bidens approval among African Americans has fallen to 57 percent, down from 78 percent a year ago.

Perhaps this is a move of desperation on the part of Biden, in addition to the empty virtue signaling?

It is also downright patronizing to think that people who belong to a category owing to their race or gender cannot think beyond their race or gender.

It is also condescending to expect individuals to toe the line defined by the Democrats that only they belong to any minority group.

The Democrats frequently refer to Justice Clarence Thomas as a traitor to his race while Justice Amy Coney Barrett has been called a traitor to women.

In other words, if you are black or a woman or any minority, you earn respect only when you follow orders from the Democrats.

This is a slave owner mentality and a definition of bigotry.

It is this bigoted mindset that reinstates segregation in educational institutes. It's just that they have euphemistic terms to make it sound noble.

A place of education is where students should engage in healthy debate and be exposed to the most diverse perspectives. The results of this segregation will further aggravate the resentment and prejudice among racial groups. These students may find it impossible to function in the real world and their future place of employment especially if they have to work with people of other races.

How shameful that the Democrats define this as progress when they are actually undoing all civilizational progress.

The Oxford dictionary defines discrimination as the practice of treating someone or a particular group in society less fairly than others

By pledging to select a black woman, Biden has discriminated against the following races, taken from a US government website:

American Indian or Alaska Native. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment. Asian. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. Hispanic or Latino. A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

It could be argued that Biden has institutionalized government racism and sexism through his selection process.

If the Democrats are going down that road, where does it stop?

They begin with race and gender. Facebook or Meta currently has 58 gender choices, if one combines this with the 6 races currently recognized, we have 348 permutations.

There are myriad other categories such as religion, sect, caste, tribe, sexual orientation, income group, IQ, etc.

New races are created as a result of interracial parents. New religions can be founded. Every religion can create new sub-groups. The HR division at Facebook will invent many more genders.

It is impossible to represent each and every category and sub-category within.

The Democrats seem to have forgotten the dream that Martin Luther King had about living in a nation where individuals will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

The only way to fight discrimination is to totally and completely abolish it.

The only factors to examine during the selection of a candidate for Supreme Court Justice, are qualifications, experience, record, acumen, ability, and above all an understanding of the Constitution.

A Supreme Court Justice must be an individual who can transcend inherent biases to judge cases dispassionately while following the Constitution.
Katja Kolcio, an associate professor at Wesleyan University, has been working closely with civic non-governmental organizations in Ukraine since 2015. She has worked in cities across the nation and has, since 2019, focused on the Donbas region. She works with a cross-section of the population, including humanitarians, war-relief workers, activists, soldiers, veterans and government officials, predominantly in the area of war relief, civic vitality and Ukrainian self-determination. Her current project, Vitality Project Donbas, is funded by the UN and has been supported by Wesleyan. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

As reports of a military buildup along Ukraines eastern border become increasingly foreboding, some Ukrainian-Americans in Connecticut say they are watching news of a potential Russian invasion with deep concern.

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Im horrified by what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is trying to do. Im hoping sanctions work  from everything Ive read Russias economy is kind of in shambles. Whether Putin is posturing, I dont know, said Maria Brandriff of Hamden, who was born to Ukrainian parents in a displaced persons camp in Germany after World War II.

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The Ukrainian-American community in the state has not been holding public events so far.

But U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who two weeks ago was part of a Senate delegation that went to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenksyy, said he hears regularly from Connecticut Ukrainian-Americans calling for stronger support for their ancestral homeland.

There is a sense of tension and anxiety in the Ukrainian community that is like the one here. I have been in very close contact with Ukrainian-Americans in Connecticut. Theyre a powerful voice for freedom and independence for their family and friends in Ukraine, Blumenthal said Friday.

Some Ukrainian-American community and religious leaders in Connecticut declined to talk publicly Friday about the situation, but two university professors with connections to Ukraine said they are following developments regularly.

I spoke with several people in Ukraine today to check the pulse on this. My read is that folks are strained, but they are not entirely surprised, and theyre not particularly scared, said Elena Koulidobrova, an associate professor in linguistics at Central Connecticut State University.

Koulidobrova was born in Ukraine before it gained independence from the Soviet Union; her heritage is Russian, and she does not consider herself Ukrainian. But she said she would side with Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

Theres this sense of impending doom here that her friends in Ukraine dont share, she said. There, theres a feeling that this is being externally heated. Its a fire created from the outside.

Koulidobrova said her friends in Ukraine are less alarmed now than immediately after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

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There isnt a sense that people are stockpiling now. But with that said, one couple disclosed to me that theyve had space underneath their garage floor since 2014  a cellar with sleeping bags and a stockpile, she said.

Katja Kolcio, an associate professor at Wesleyan University and director of the Allbritton Center, said her contacts in Ukraine fear a so-called hybrid war  involving cyber attacks on the power grid and the internet along with military incursions.

That can really destabilize social systems. They feel thats a danger as real as a military invasion, said Kolcio, the principal American researcher with Vitality Project Donbas, a collaboration between Wesleyan and the NGO Development Foundation that seeks to offset the psychological effects of exhaustion, depression, and social isolation in communities in eastern Ukraine.

I was just on the phone this morning with a good number of people who were trying to figure out how to survive and live their lives with this impending invasion. They say, We have to continue to live. The teachers there are teaching how to talk with children without panic.

Archbishop Leonard P. Blair presided at a Holy Hour for Peace in Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon at the St. Mary Parish in New Haven, which was attended by Bishop Paul Chomnycky of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford.

Five Things You Need To Know Daily We're providing the latest coronavirus coverage in Connecticut each weekday morning. >

But last week, the websites and online bulletins for several Ukrainian churches in Connecticut made no reference to the situation.

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Pastors at New Britain and Stamford churches did not return calls, and a man identifying himself as the pastor at St. Mary in Colchester declined to comment. Richard Wanik, president of the Ukrainian Home in Hartford, said he wasnt comfortable speaking of a political issue.

Blumenthal, however, said the Ukrainian-Americans he knows are strong defenders of Ukraine. Blumenthal and Sen. Chris Murphy were part of a bipartisan group of senators that traveled to Ukraine to demonstrate solidarity. They have been pressing President Joe Bidens administration to speed the sale of more lethal weapons to Ukraine, including Stinger and Javelin missiles.

Those are the kinds of weapons the Ukrainians need to defend themselves. Ukraine has been fighting a long eight-year struggle against Russian military action, he said.

Ive come back from Ukraine with stronger and deeper support than ever for Ukrainians and their homeland  people who feel threatened so deeply and dangerously. I strongly believe we should have sanctions right now  export controls, end Putins supply of semiconductors, disconnect his financial system from the world framework.

Brandriff, who still has relatives living in Ukraine, said shes trying to stay optimistic that sanctions would succeed. She said shes concerned that some Ukrainian-Americans arent more troubled by developments.

Some Ukrainians have swallowed the right-wing rhetoric. It just amazes me, she said. My parents escaped Ukraine during World War II because my father was an outspoken patriot  he had been imprisoned more than once, both under Poles and Russians. I grew up with this horror of communism. When I see an authoritarian like Putin just decide to grab what he wants to grab, its unconscionable.
If Russia's President Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine, he will become a pariah to the Western world and a new cold war will descend on his relationships with European nations.

NATO will be strengthened with Finland joining in and unconquered parts of western Ukraine may also join NATO eventually.

Ukraine is a huge country, and about 120 thousand Russian troops may not be able to cover all of Ukrainian territory and occupy all of it.

This may result in a western and eastern Ukraine split much like Germany was split in two after World War II. So, if Ukraine fights back hard, the net military effect will be a partial incursion and a sore wound for Russia on into the foreseeable future.

China is now a potential escape route around monetary economic sanctions which the West may impose, but China will have a hard time fulfilling. China itself is having hard economic times and can be no real guarantee against economic hardship for Russia in the long run.

Germany may decide to go nuclear in its power generation to wean itself off of Russian dependence on oil and gas if Russia militarily invades Ukraine so future German empathy for Russia may fade in the long run.

Tyrant Putin fears a democratic Ukraine with a strong military presence that could reach Moscow in five minutes' time with rockets, so a threat to Putin and future Russian tyrants is real. In reality, the future of Russian politics will probably be determined by Putins action or inaction in Ukraine. If Putin succeeds in getting concessions from Ukraine politically with or without military intervention, then his tyranny is guaranteed. If he fails, then his political future is in doubt and that of all future Russian autocrats.

China recently stated that Putins demands should be seriously considered so we know where China stands, obviously supporting another tyrant state.

War is costly economically and with the high price of oil and gas Russia is currently sitting pretty as long as the world continues to buy it from Russia. In the short run, you can ask why Russia would want to jeopardize its current strong economic trade with Europe and the world? A drawn-out war in Ukraine would mean economic hardship for the people of Russia and the people of Ukraine.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov on Jan. 28 said that Russia does not want war with Ukraine and President Zelensky of Ukraine said not to panic as tensions subside so it seems that war is not as imminent as suspected. When Russia invaded Crimea, Russian soldiers in uniform were not used to take over Crimea and the Russian people were prepped with propaganda about a possible takeover.

One of the prime factors in war is the element of surprise and Russia no longer has the element of surprise about a Ukraine invasion with its prolonged buildup of forces along the Ukraine border. Neither have the Russian people been primed for a Ukraine invasion with Russian propaganda. If Ukraine is invaded, then it will not be a devastating surprise Blitzkrieg invasion that the Germans were so famous for.

There is a big difference between being a threatening bully and being a violent bully and I dont think Putin is that concerned about saving face like Xi Jinping is, if he decides not to invade Ukraine. I think Putin is more of a pragmatic tyrant than a delusional one with megalomaniac dreams of conquering the world, so he probably will not invade Ukraine even though he would savor a political victory if he could get away with it by mere bullying.

I wrote a previous article on Ukraine and predicted a greater than 50/50 probability for an invasion. Having studied the situation more thoroughly I now conclude that the probability is less than 50/50. Of course, I could be wrong again but those are the perils of trying to predict the future actions of tyrants.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
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The widow of James Brokenshire, who died after suffering from lung cancer aged 53, has called for a national screening programme for the disease to improve poor survival rates.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the former government ministers death last October, Cathy Brokenshire said she was determined help others avoid a similar fate.

She told the PA news agency: I miss him on a daily basis, he was my best friend.

But Ive got no choice and I have to get on with it.

From the Brokenshire family: We have set up a memorial page to James where you can share your memories, photographs and donate in his memory to the @Roy_Castle_Lung Cancer Foundation, a charity James supported. Please retweet. https://t.co/6ay3nDYXSO  James Brokenshire (@JBrokenshire) October 8, 2021

Weve got three kids and I can either sit and cry my eyes out and be in a heap on the floor, or I can try and bring some positivity from what has happened to us as a family and help promote the cause.

Mrs Brokenshire wants to help break down the stigma surrounding lung cancer, with many people incorrectly believing it is only caused by smoking.

She said of her husband: He never smoked and my understanding is 15% or more people that suffer with lung cancer never smoked.

Peoples natural assumption is, well they bought it on themselves because they smoked, everybody knows not to smoke.

But that clearly isnt how it happened to him.

Mr Brokenshire, who served as Northern Ireland secretary and security minister, was first diagnosed with the disease after coughing up a small amount of blood in 2017.

He underwent surgery to remove the upper lobe of his right lung, after which appeared to be making a full recovery.

The pandemic meant that some of his regular scans were delayed for several months, and after he again coughed up blood in December 2020, it was confirmed the cancer had returned and the rest of his right lung was removed.

Last summer, he learned the disease had spread to other parts of his body.

Doctors tried various lines of treatment, including immunotherapy, but an infection developed in his remaining lung and his condition deteriorated as he struggled to get enough oxygen.

James Brokenshire pictured leaving 10 Downing Street in 2017 (David Mirzoeff/PA)

Mrs Brokenshire fought back tears as she recalled her husbands final days, saying her emotions are still raw.

She said: We had one of those really heartfelt conversations like in 9/11 when people knew that they were going to die on the airplane phoning their loved ones, he was phoning me.

We told each other how much we loved each other and how wed enriched each others lives.

A few days after being put on a ventilator, Mr Brokenshire passed away on October 7.

Mrs Brokenshire said his death came as a shock.

She added: Im just so grateful we had the chance to say goodbye and he didnt suffer.

When he knew he was going on a ventilator, I think he knew what was going to happen to him.

But prior to that no-one had given us a terminal diagnosis.

If you have lungs then you can develop lung cancer. Make sure you know the signs and symptoms of the disease. Catching lung cancer early can save lives. Know the signs of lung cancer: https://t.co/pWaSml9Kod pic.twitter.com/lUGmXfzEfO  Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation (@Roy_Castle_Lung) January 4, 2022

The last time he saw the oncologist, he said, youre young, youre fit and well.

He was still doing 15-20,000 steps a week, he was still working.

(The oncologist) said this isnt the end of the road and were trying these immunotherapies and well see what happens.

But unfortunately, he ran out of time and science wasnt quick enough.

Mr Brokenshire was a vocal advocate for better lung cancer screening, using a debate in Parliament in April 2018 to raise the issue, and his wife said she wants to pick up the mantle.

She is working with the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation to get lung cancer services back on track after they were dealt a blow by the coronavirus pandemic.

Patients had less access to GPs and surgery, and NHS Englands targeted lung health check programme, launched in 2019, stalled.

Fewer people recognised the symptoms of lung cancer  such as a persistent cough  due to the similarities to Covid symptoms.

Mrs Brokenshire urged people to take notice of differences in their health, no matter how subtle or trivial they might appear.

She said: Early diagnosis is key.

And raising awareness so things dont get ignored and people go to their GPS and get these things looked at.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the House of Commons as MPs paid tribute to James Brokenshire (UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor Handout/PA)

Mrs Brokenshire was speaking ahead of a ceremony to name a Southeastern Railway train after her husband at Londons Cannon Street Station on Monday.

She said: He would be tickled pink, he loved trains.

As the Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, Mr Brokenshire had worked to get more services on the line.

His wife said: Its lovely that the constituents that he campaigned for since 2010 will be able to travel to and from work on a train with his name on it.

And for me personally, if I go up to London, Ive got a chance of getting on a train and in effect, my husband will take me up to London.

A tribute page set up by the politicians family for people to share memories and photographs, and donate to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation in his memory, has raised more than 65,500.

To find out more about the fundraiser, visit jamesbrokenshire.muchloved.com.
Actress Tisha Campbell shared on Instagram that she believed she was almost taken by human traffickers.

Campbell, 53, who rose to fame in the hit '90s sitcom Martin, took to Instagram on Friday to share her experience in a video she originally sent to her brother, and then decided to share with the public.

"Don't freak out, but I think I almost got snatched up," Campbell shared. Dressed in a black Adidas zip-up and a black hat that read "You Go Girl," the star explained in the minute-long video how she found herself in the terrifying situation while on location to film a movie. "They don't have Ubers where I'm filming, so I had to call a taxi. The van that pulls up is real sketchy-looking. There's a guy in the backseat. When he jumps out, the guy is just standing there. He goes, 'get in.'"

Campbell said she peered into the disheveled van, and noticed the backseat looked like it had been removed, and it was dirty, with various pieces in disarray. "The driver goes, 'get in the car.' I go, 'I'm not getting in the car.' The guy in the back is motioning his body towards me to get in the car." When the man told her to get in the front seat, Campbell responded, "I'm not getting in the f****** car. F*** y'all."

While Campbell did not share where the incident took place, TMZ reported it happened in Brownsville, Texas, about 10 minutes from the Mexican border.

"Yo, this trafficking s*** is real, but they got me f***** up," Campbell shared, seemingly in disbelief. She concluded the video by saying "I ain't Gina, bitch," referencing her famous character from Martin.

Campbell later explained how important it is to be aware of your surroundings to prevent situations like this from occurring.

"I felt it important for [people] to be aware. I need for EVERYONE to be overly conscious of themselves and their loved ones," she captioned the post, adding that she was only aware of what to look out for because she had been advised by friends and colleagues. She said if she wasn't so knowledgable about the hazards of human trafficking, "s*** wouldve been real different. PLUS I dont sound like I look."

Campbell also alleged that the incident was a "set up" and shared her suspicions about the hotel clerk who told her to call that number for a taxi.

"I am thankful to the production for their concern and their understanding. Whats crazy is I went back to the front desk, the guy that gave me the taxi number wasnt there. I asked the woman where he was. She looks at the number and says, 'why would he give you this number? This isnt the normal number.' It was a set up fo' real," said Campbell.

Actress Holly Robinson Peete was among those expressing concern about the star's safety following her post.
Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland departs after speaking at the Justice Department on June 15. (Associated Press)

When President Trump left Washington last January after losing his noisy battle to overturn the 2020 election, it was tempting to heave a sigh of relief and rejoice that the guardrails of democracy had held.

But there was a more sobering lesson in our near-miss with a coup detat: Those supposed barriers were more fragile than we knew. Theyre really just a vulnerable fabric of laws, rules and norms.

And during his four years in the White House, Trump appeared bent on shredding all of them.

He demanded that the Justice Department and FBI investigate his opponents and go easy on his friends. He pardoned two convicted ex-advisors suspected of concealing evidence on his behalf.

He secretly blocked the delivery of military aid to Ukraine so he could strong-arm the Kyiv government into producing dirt on Joe Biden.

When whistleblowers filed complaints, he tried to get them fired. When his aides faced congressional subpoenas, he ordered them not to comply.

When Congress refused to appropriate money for a border wall, he declared a national emergency and spent the money anyway.

The only penalty Trump suffered was the indignity of being impeached twice. Hes still his partys presumptive leader and a viable candidate for a second presidential term.

The lesson for other politicians who share Trumps authoritarian bent? Norms are for wimps.

One of Bidens campaign promises, as the apostle of normalcy, was to restore traditional political norms. Biden has said all the right things and  unlike Trump  has restored the tradition of releasing his tax returns.

But all those other norms still need shoring up  and Biden hasnt offered much in the way of new laws or regulations to deter a future president from asserting extralegal powers.

In a book-length report they wrote before the election, two eminent legal scholars  former White House Counsel Bob Bauer, a Democrat, and former Assistant Atty. Gen. Jack Goldsmith, a Republican  provided the next president with a long list of potential reforms.

Theyre disappointed by how little action has occurred, not only in the closely divided Congress but within Bidens executive branch.

Theres a list of things that arent really advancing, Goldsmith, who served in the administration of President George W. Bush, told me last week. These are all really important issues that have to be taken care of.

In Congress, the Democratic-run House passed a sprawling bill in December that included almost every measure a reformer in either party could want. The Protecting Our Democracy Act, written by Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), would protect whistleblowers and inspectors general against retaliation, strengthen Congress power to enforce subpoenas, prohibit future presidents from promising anyone a pardon in exchange for political favors, and rein in presidents ability to invoke emergency powers at will.

But the bill isnt going anywhere in the Senate, partly because Schiff and his colleagues were explicit about it being written with Trump in mind. Republican senators  and the bill would need at least 10 of their votes to overcome a filibuster  will hesitate to touch a measure thats so clearly a swipe at their partys favorite ex-president.

Luckily, some of the bills provisions have won support from Republicans in the past, and those measures may resurface in other forms.

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, for example, wants to strengthen the independence of inspectors general. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah hopes to restrict a presidents ability to invoke emergency powers. Others have supported strengthening Congress powers to enforce subpoenas, perhaps because they can imagine a future when their party will hold a majority.

Those measures are not at the core of the norms Trump violated  the conflict-of-interest stuff, the disclosure of tax reforms, the pardon abuse  but they are still important, Goldsmith said.

Paradoxically, its not clear whether all those provisions will get backing from the Biden White House.

Any executive branch is going to be wary about tying its hands in a way that a lot of these reforms do, Goldsmith noted. The prospect of Republican-led congressional committees issuing subpoenas if the GOP wins this years midterm elections may give administration officials pause.

Meanwhile, there are still reforms the Biden administration can undertake on its own.

Last year, Bauer and Goldsmith wrote a letter urging Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland to strengthen the Justice Departments internal rules, beginning with a clear written statement of the Departments commitment to non-partisan law enforcement. Garland says hes committed to the departments independence but hasnt bolstered its regulations, they said.

Some of these measures would be non-controversial, Bauer, who was an advisor to Bidens 2020 presidential campaign, told me. Its something that really should happen this year. ... Garland himself represents, in his person, his background and his approach to the department, a major change. Thats important, but its not enough to stand the test of time. Hes not going to be attorney general for the next 30 years.

Why hasnt Garland done more? Goldsmith and Bauer said they dont know, beyond the fact that the attorney generals first-year agenda has been hectic. Other lawyers who know Garland say hes deliberative and cautious  sometimes to a fault. He waited almost a year before making it clear that he intends to hold accountable those responsible for the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol "at any level," a delay that drew complaints from progressives.

More steps to bolster the independence of the Justice Department are long overdue  and so are the rest of those proposals for reform.

When Biden came to office, he wanted his legacy to be a wave of legislation to rival Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal. That plan ran aground in the 50-50 Senate.

But the way is still open to keep an equally important promise: repairing the guardrails of democracy. Biden has a chance to leave the Constitution stronger than when he arrived  and that would be a legacy too.





Updates:

6:00 p.m. Jan. 30, 2022: An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to Atty. Gen. Merrick Garlands position on investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Garland had previously said that the Justice Department would follow investigative leads wherever they take us.





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A Kansas man who was traveling to Washington was being held Saturday on charges of threatening President Joe Biden, authorities said.

Scott Merryman was in the Washington County Detention Center in Hagerstown, Maryland, awaiting a court appearance set for Monday, a detention center official said.

A court filing in the case said Merryman phoned police in Independence, Kansas, on Tuesday and told them that he was going to the nation's capital to see the president.

In a telephone interview with a U.S. Secret Service agent on Wednesday, Merryman said that God told him to go to Washington to cut off the head of the serpent in the heart of the nation," the filing states.

Merryman denied in the interview that Biden was the serpent, though in a Facebook post he identified the president as the AntiChrist and said he will suffer a fatal head wound. Merryman added, I'll deal that blow in Christ's name.

Another Secret Service agent located Merryman at the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Hagerstown. The agent searched Merryman and found three rounds of ammunition and a spotting scope, but no gun or other weapons, according to the court document.

On Thursday, Merryman called the White House switch board and threatened Biden, the document says.

The criminal complaint calling for his arrest on the federal charges was filed Friday.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned on Sunday that Russia's menacing military troop buildup on Ukraine's borders signals the Kremlin's "intentions to use them," noting that Russia still has a chance to "find a diplomatic way out."

Thomas-Greenfield's comment to ABC's "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos came on the eve of an open U.N. Security Council meeting she requested to discuss Russia's aggression toward Ukraine and what to do about it.

Stephanopoulos pressed Thomas-Greenfield, asking, "Does the U.S. believe an invasion is imminent?"

"You don't amass 100,000 troops if you don't have intentions to use them," Thomas-Greenfield said.

PHOTO: Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks at Security Council Stakeout with ambassadors of Estonia, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom at UN Headquarters in New York, Dec. 15, 2021. (Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

She said Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting "is one more opportunity to find a diplomatic way out for the Russians." She added that Ukrainian officials have also asked for the meeting, which is expected to be heard in open session.

"We've made clear that we're prepared to address our concerns, Ukrainian concerns and Russian concerns at the diplomatic table, but it cannot be done on the battlefield," Thomas-Greenfield said.

Ahead of United Nations Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield says Russia will attempt to "distract from our unified voices. We're not going to be distracted by their propaganda. https://t.co/PIlfAYzEAGpic.twitter.com/IBJUSwRvqY  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

Russia has maintained that it has no intentions to invade Ukraine and has objected to Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting, threatening to move to try to block the gathering. Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy permanent representative at the United Nations, posted on Twitter that the meeting was a "clear PR stunt shameful for the reputation of UN Security Council."

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield tells @GStephanopoulos that Monday's U.N Security Council meeting "is one more opportunity to find a diplomatic way out for the Russians." https://t.co/csX1asIKNlpic.twitter.com/sxE5VhbRJM  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

"Can Russia block it?" Stephanopoulos asked Thomas-Greenfield of the U.S. Security Council meeting. "If not, what do you hope to achieve?"

"They know that they cannot block the meeting and I expect that, knowing what we're dealing with, that they will make an attempt," Thomas-Greenfield said. "But the Security Council is unified, our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves. We're going to go into the room prepared to listen to them, but we're not going to be distracted by their propaganda and we're going to be prepared to respond to any disinformation that they attempt to spread during this meeting."

While Russia's official line has been that it has no plans to invade, it has demanded promises that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO and that the Western alliance will pull its troops out of Eastern Europe. Both requests have been rejected by the United States and its Western allies.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warns that Russia's menacing military buildup on the Ukraine border signals the Kremlin's objective. "You don't amass 100,000 troops if you don't have intentions to use them. https://t.co/tiUtZXER2zpic.twitter.com/A7MRgjjFgd  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

Stephanopoulos noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team have "expressed some irritation, even alarm" that the U.S. and its allies are exaggerating the threat for political reasons.

"How do you respond to that?" Stephanopoulos asked Thomas-Greenfield.

She said the United States has engaged very closely with the Ukrainians, citing the call Biden had last week with Zelensky, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent trip to Ukraine and her meetings on a regular basis with the Ukrainian ambassador in New York.

"We've also been working with the Ukrainians on building up their defenses in the event of an attack," Thomas-Greenfield said. "And ... since 2014, we've provided close to $5 billion in support to them, $200 million of that was just provided in the past week."

"We've seen the Russian playbook before," she added. "They are using disinformation. They're encouraging Ukrainians not to worry about an attack. But we know an attack is possible."

Stephanopoulos pressed Thomas-Greenfield on what a diplomatic settlement would look like.

We have made clear that we're prepared to address our concerns, Ukrainian concerns and Russian concerns at the diplomatic table. But it cannot be done on the battlefield, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield tells @GStephanopoulos. https://t.co/rOq9mAavzqpic.twitter.com/b2HHjbgtfr  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 30, 2022

"You know, at first it would mean Russia making the decision to de-escalate, to pull their troops back and to come to the diplomatic table and to talk with the United States, with the Ukrainians and our NATO allies about their security concerns," Thomas-Greenfield said.

Turning to concerns over seven ballistic missile tests North Korea has conducted this month alone -- more than all it conducted in 2021, including Sunday's launch of the longest-range missile it has tested since 2017 -- Stephanopoulos asked about how the U.S. will respond.

MORE: US warns Russian attack may be 'imminent,' Ukraine disagrees: Here's why

It is provocative and it is something that we have very very strongly condemned in the Security Council," Thomas-Greenfield said.

She said the United States has imposed unilateral sanctions in the last few weeks against North Korea and has pushed for sanctions within the U.N. Security Council.

"I will be engaging with our allies, the (South) Koreans as well as the Japanese, who are also threatened by this, to look at other options for responding," Thomas-Greenfield said.

MORE: Biden meets with Europeans about Ukraine as US puts 8,500 troops on 'heightened alert' to be sent to region

Stephanopoulos followed: "Is it time for President Biden to engage personally with (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un?"

You know, we have been clear on that from the beginning: We are open to having diplomatic discussions," Thomas-Greenfield replied. "Weve offered this over and over to the DPRK, and theyve not accepted it."

MORE: Biden clarifies comments on Ukraine, says any Russian move across border would be an 'invasion'

"But were absolutely open to a diplomatic engagement without pre-conditions," she added. "Our goal is to end the threatening actions that the DPRK is taking against their neighbors."

Russia has chance for 'diplomatic way out' of Ukraine crisis: US ambassador to UN originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Hartford police say they arrested a man after seizing this stolen gun and more than 100 bags of fentanyl on Jan. 19. (Hartford police photo) (Provided by Hartford police)

Its no secret that fentanyl kills.

According to the states Drug Overdose Deaths in Connecticut Data Dashboard there were 7,636 unintentional drug overdose deaths in Connecticut from 2015 to 2021. Among those deaths, 5,293 involved fentanyl or fentanyl analog, according to the data shown on the dashboard.

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And while there were 728 overall overdose deaths in 2015, there were 1,359 in 2021, the data shows.

That is a very steep hike, but an easier way to think about the enormity of it may be to note that the state Department of Public Health says that, in Connecticut, residents are more likely to die from unintentional drug overdose than a motor vehicle accident.

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The majority of these deaths are linked to overdose of prescription opioid painkillers and illicit opioids, the agency says.

The horror of this hit home in Hartford this month with the death if a 13-year-old boy who police said overdosed at a city school. Police said they found 40 bags of fentanyl packed for street-level sale in the school the boy attended.

And just in Greater Hartford, the synthetic opioid seems ubiquitous.

In December federal authorities said they filed drug charges against 21 people accused of running a cocaine and fentanyl ring that spanned Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine and Puerto Rico.

This month, police arrested a Hartford man who they said had a stolen gun and 116 bags of fentanyl.

In Rocky Hill, federal authorities this month said a man who had more than 300 grams of unpackaged fentanyl and approximately 3,500 bags of packaged fentanyl at his home now faces prison.

And on Jan. 14, Hartford police issued a warning stating they recently recovered fentanyl 50 times more potent than the kind typically tested across New England.

As part of that warning, police said, The strength and potency of this product can be deadly to anyone coming in contact with it, including absorption through the skin.

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And it turns out that, according to medical and addiction experts, the information about skin absorption is not true.

Opinion Weekly Perspective on the week's biggest stories from the Courant's Opinion page >

I am unaware  of a legitimate, scientifically reviewed, published case report of dermal powder fentanyl exposure resulting in severe toxicity and death, Dr. Suzanne Doyon, medical director of the Connecticut Poison Control Center, told a Courant reporter.

Hartford police later clarified what they wrote in the warning.

Weve always had training bulletins and things that [said] youre not supposed to touch this stuff because it can be absorbed through the skin. Apparently that is no longer the case, Lt. Aaron Boisvert the Hartford police spokesperson, said.

Hartford police were not alone in the mistaken belief that fentanyl can be lethal through skin absorption, as it has been pervasive among law enforcement officials as police and other emergency workers have responded to more fatal overdoses over the last decade, The Courant learned.

The truth and providing state residents with clear and up-to-date information is important as we face this scourge that has taken so many lives.

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But as Dr. Charles McKay, former president of the American College of Medical Toxicology and associate medical director of the Connecticut Poison Control Center also noted, there is an important focus that cant be lost.

And that is the widespread availability and use of very potent opioids with no idea what is in them.
(Reuters) - U.S. former President Donald Trump said on Saturday if he were to run for president and win in 2024, he would pardon people charged with criminal offenses in connection with the deadly Jan. 6 assault by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump, who has not said whether he will run for president again after his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election, was speaking at a rally in Conroe, Texas.

"Another thing we'll do, and so many people have been asking me about it, if I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly," Trump said to applause. "We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly."

Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the worst assault on Congress since the War of 1812. Fueled by Trump's false claims that his November 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud, the attackers sought to stop Congress from certifying Biden's victory.

One police officer who responded to the scene died the day after the attack, while four others who guarded the Capitol died later by suicide. About 140 police officers were injured during the hours-long attack. Four rioters also died. More than 700 people have been charged with joining in the assault.

(Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by William Mallard)
WASHINGTON  As politics have grown more combative in last few years, college campuses  long thought of as homes for open debate  have followed along. At many schools the question of where free speech ends and campus tensions begin has become an important topic.

A new poll from the Knight Foundation and Ipsos finds some growing concerns about limits to free speech among the nations college students and offers some insights about where they think the line is between the First Amendment and students desires to feel protected.

The most important finding in the poll may be just how important today's college students believe free speech is to democracy. For all the talk about how today's students fear that serious debates can lead to hurt feelings, the survey found a strong belief in the need for free speech in the United States.

Across gender divisions and racial and ethnic groups, 80 percent of more of those surveyed said free speech is "extremely" or "very" important to American democracy.

The figure was 84 percent across all students, 83 percent among men and 85 percent among women. For white students the number was 85 percent, while it was slightly lower among non-white students  Black, Hispanic and Asian-American  at 80 percent.

The fact that these figures show at least 80 percent agreement on an issue (especially on one as important and potentially as divisive as free speech) is actually somewhat remarkable.

However, todays students are less sure about how secure freedom of speech is in America, and some sharp divides emerge when political partisanship is added into the mix.

Across the political spectrum, students say they are less certain about the security of free speech than they were five years ago, with the number who say freedom of speech is "very secure" or "secure dropping among all partisan groups.

The decline among Democratic students is quite small (with in the margin of error): 61 percent said freedom of speech was secure in 2021 compared to 63 percent in 2019. But the drop is steeper among independents, 13 points, with only 46 percent saying freedom of speech is secure in 2021, compared to 59 percent in 2019.

The real drop, however, came among students identifying as Republicans. The number saying they thought freedom of speech was secure declined by 25 points between 2019 and 2021. The figure was only at 27 percent in 2021, compared to 52 percent in 2019.

To be clear, there might be a lot going on in the sudden drop in those numbers, particularly among Republican students. These are questions about perceptions and some of that drop might be attributable to right-leaning news media and politicians paying more attention to what they perceive as left-leaning, "woke" behavior.

Those conversations might have impacts on young conservatives, especially on college campuses, which generally tend to more politically liberal than the nation as a whole.

The survey asked specifically about campus environments and found there were concerns about people not being able to say whats on their minds for fear of offending others.

In 2016, a little over half of those surveyed agreed with the statement that their campus environment prevented people from speaking freely out of fear they would offend. The number climbed 11 points in 2021 to 65 percent, almost a two-thirds majority.

And the feelings are widespread. When broken into partisan affiliation, more than 60 percent of Democrats, independents and Republicans said they agreed with that statement in 2021.

Despite those concerns, however, when it comes to what kinds of practices students feel should be restricted on campus, there was actually a great deal of unanimity around one issue: racial slurs.

More than two-thirds of those surveyed said campuses should restrict the use of offensive racist slurs, but no other action or display garnered 50 percent of students wanting restrictions.

On that list of other possibilities: 34 percent support restrictions on wearing clothing with the Confederate flag, 19 percent favor restrictions on expressing political views that are upsetting or offensive to certain groups and 10 percent favor restrictions on displaying a poster for a presidential candidate.

Taken together, the numbers do not suggest a wildly restrictive free-speech environment in higher education, because most people oppose the use of racial slurs. But the data here do show some concern that there currently is a chilling effect on campuses  a worry about what can and cant be said in dorms and classrooms.
Russia says it will relocate naval exercises off the coast of Ireland after Dublin raised concerns about them amid a tense dispute with the West over expansion of the NATO alliance and fears that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.

In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday Russian military vehicles prepares to drive off a railway platforms after arrival in Belarus. Russia has sent an unspecified number of troops to its ally Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine, for major war games next month. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)





In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday Russian military vehicles prepares to drive off a railway platforms after arrival in Belarus. Russia has sent an unspecified number of troops to its ally Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine, for major war games next month. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

The Feb. 3-8 exercises were to be held 150 miles off southwestern Ireland  in international waters but within Irelands exclusive economic zone.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney this week objected to the war games, saying This isnt a time to increase military activity and tension in the context of whats happening with and in Ukraine. The fact that they are choosing to do it on the western borders, if you like, of the EU, off the Irish coast, is something that in our view is simply not welcome.

In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, a Russian soldier walks demining the site during drills, Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)





In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, a Russian soldier walks demining the site during drills, Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russias embassy in Ireland on Saturday posted a letter on Facebook from Ambassador Yuriy Filatov saying the exercises would be relocated outside of the Irish economic zone with the aim not to hinder fishing activities.

The decision was a rare concession amid the escalating tensions surrounding Russias massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and its demands that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance, stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe.

The U.S. and NATO formally rejected those demands this week, although Washington outlined areas where discussions are possible, offering hope that there could be a way to avoid war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made no public remarks about the Western response. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it leaves little chance for reaching agreement, though he also says Russia does not want war.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that Putin could use any portion of his force to seize Ukrainian cities and significant territories or to carry out coercive acts or provocative political acts like the recognition of breakaway territories inside Ukraine.

Two territories in eastern Ukraine have been under the control of Russia-backed rebels since 2014.

A Russian lawmaker is encouraging residents of those areas of Ukraine to join the Russian army, a sign that Moscow is continuing to try to integrate those territories as much as possible.

Viktor Vodolatsky said Saturday that residents of the regions controlled since 2014 by Russia-backed rebels fear assaults by Ukrainian forces and that those who hold Russian passports would be welcomed in the military.

If Russian citizens residing in the (territories) want to join the Russian Armed Forces, the Rostov regional military commissariat will register and draft them, Vodolatsky, deputy chairman of parliament committee on relations with neighbors, told the state news agency Tass.

Russia has granted passports to more than 500,000 people in the territories. Vodolatsky said the recruits would serve in Russia  but that leaves open the option that they could join any future invasion force.

A senior official in President Bidens administration said the U.S. welcomed Lavrovs comments that Russia does not want war, but this needs to be backed up with action. We need to see Russia pulling some of the troops that they have deployed away from the Ukrainian border and taking other de-escalatory steps. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly.

Lavrov has said the U.S. suggested the two sides could talk about limits on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, restrictions on military drills and rules to prevent accidents between warships and aircraft. He said the Russians proposed discussing those issues years ago, but Washington and its allies never took them up on it until now.

He also said those issues are secondary to Russias main concerns about NATO. He said international agreements say the security of one nation must not come at the expense of others, and said he would send letters to Western counterparts asking them to explain their failure to respect that pledge.

Washington has warned Moscow of devastating sanctions if it invades Ukraine, including penalties targeting top Russian officials and key economic sectors. Lavrov said Moscow had warned Washington that sanctions would amount to a complete severing of ties.

NATO, meanwhile, said it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region.
The federal stimulus package gave struggling families a break in the rules for obtaining the earned income tax credit even if they lost a job or work hours during the pandemic in 2020. Here, Catherine Campbell, an engineer at the Ford Motor Company, volunteered in 2020 to help tax filers claim the federal credit. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont wants to allocate $75 million to keep the credit at 41.5% at the state level. (Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press/Detroit Free Press/TNS)

HARTFORD  Gov. Ned Lamont will propose spending $75 million to keep the earned income tax credit at the highest level in state history.

Lamont said Friday that he has been meeting with his budget team to craft the proposal that will be unveiled to the state legislature on Feb. 9 as part of the fiscal adjustments in the second year of the two-year budget.

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Were going to try and do what we did last year this year and raise the rate, Lamont said on a Zoom call.

Using federal money unspent from the states allocation, Lamont retroactively changed the credit for the 2021 calendar year for more than 200,000 low-income households. The average family in the program will receive an additional $375 to bring their state total to as much as $1,000 for the year, depending on their income, officials said.

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Lamont increased the state credit to 41.5% of the federal credit, which is the highest in Connecticut history by far. It jumped up from 30.5%  and would have reverted when the federal stimulus money runs out. But Lamont has made the credit among his budget priorities for the upcoming session that ends on May 4.

Lamont touted the credit Friday on a Zoom call with U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, an East Hartford Democrat who has pushed for the credit in Washington, D.C. Changes at the federal level have made it easier to receive the credit.

If youre single and under 65 and making less than $12,500, youre eligible for the earned income tax credit, Larson said. If youre single and over 65, youre eligible for the earned income tax credit. ... In order to get this money, though, people have to file [a tax return]. Thats why the IRS has been pushing the awareness and why its vitally important.

To be eligible, married couples with no children can earn up to $27,380 per year. Couples with two children can earn as much as $53,865 and those with three or more qualifying children can earn as much as $57,000 per year. Recent changes have included the maximum credit amount and the maximum income amount for childless filers. Childless seniors and young adults under 25 are also eligible. For 2021, filers can have as much as $10,000 in annual interest and dividend income from their investments, up from the previous total of $3,650.

Nobody is getting wealthy with this money, Larson said. I dont know how people are able to survive on that kind of money, but they do.

The money is needed for daily expenses, advocates said, citing U.S. Census statistics that 33% of renters with children in Connecticut are not caught up on their rent.

In Connecticut, the credit amount has changed multiple times over the past 10 years, depending on the states budget fortunes and decisions by the legislature. The credit has gone from 23% to 30.5% and now to 41.5%.

House Republican leader Vincent Candelora and others have been concerned for weeks that Lamont had unilaterally boosted the credit without a vote by the legislature and without any input by Republicans.

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Instead of paying down the mountain of federal unemployment debt Connecticut businesses will have to pay back, the governor is using $75 million in federal aid to send checks to people who will already benefit from an Earned Income Tax Credit expansion included in the last budget, Candelora said recently. Given the growing excesses of Gov. Lamonts promotional tour, its clear that his decisions are influenced more by a looming re-election campaign than a sense of duty to do whats best for the state as a whole.

For years, Connecticut had no state credit because it was blocked in the state legislature and had been opposed by Republican governors John G. Rowland and M. Jodi Rell. The measure was finally approved for the first time under then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in 2011.

Other states, advocates said, also have generous programs, including 40% in New Jersey. By 2023, the rate in South Carolina is expected to jump sharply to 125%, officials said.

Both Lamont and Republicans have been advocating for tax cuts this year at a time when the state budget surplus has surged to a projected $1.2 billion in the current fiscal year and $1.1 billion next year. A record-breaking streak on Wall Street  before severe volatility during the past week  has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into state coffers in capital gains taxes that are traditionally paid quarterly by wealthy investors through the state income tax.

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com
The social security benefits will be provided to around 7,453 employees for whom contributions have been filed by Air India with EPFO

These Employees of Air India now will now receive extra 2% employers contributions in their Provident Fund accounts at 12% of their wages. (Representational image: PTI)

New Delhi: The Tata-owned Air India employees will now be covered under Employees' Provident Fund Organisation instead of the usual Provident Fund that was provided by the government.

Clarifying air on the status of social security over of the earlier state-owned Air India employees who have now become Tata employees, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment said the EPFO has onboarded the airline for social security coverage to provide the social security benefits to its employees. The approval for this was granted on January 13 after Air India Ltd applied for voluntarily cover under the EPF and MP Act 1952.

The social security benefits will be provided to around 7,453 employees for whom contributions have been filed by Air India with EPFO for the month of December 2021. These Employees of Air India now will now receive extra 2% employers contributions in their Provident Fund accounts at 12% of their wages. Earlie,r they were covered under the PF Act of 1925, where the contributions to the Provident Fund was at 10% by employer and 10% by employee.

Besides, the EPF Scheme 1952, EPS 1995 and EDLI 1976 will now be applicable to the employees and a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1,000 will be available to employees and pensions to the family and dependents in case of death of the employee.

In addition, an assured insurance benefit in case of death of member will be available in the range of minimum Rs 2.50 lakh and maximum 7 Lakhs. No premium is charged to the EPFO covered employees for this benefit.

Since 1952-53, Air India and Indian Airlines were the two separate companies that were covered under PF Act 1925. In 2007, both the companies merged into one company -- Air India Ltd. Under the PF Act 1925, benefit of Provident Fund was available but there was no statutory pension scheme or insurance Scheme. The employees used to participate in self-contributory annuity-based pension scheme. Based on the scheme parameters, the accumulations used to be paid to the employees. There was no minimum pension guarantee and no extra benefit in case of death of a member.
PM Modi to open Uttar Pradesh election campaign today

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hit the BJPs high-voltage campaign trail in Uttar Pradesh on Monday with a virtual address, his first after the announcement of the election schedule, which will cover at least five western UP districts Gautambudh Nagar, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Saharanpur. These districts are crucial for the BJP to retain power in the state, and in its election campaign the party keeps its focus on the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and the law and order situation. Voting in these districts is scheduled to take place in the first and second phase of polling.

For the PMs virtual rally that will cover at least 21 assembly seats, LED screens and campaign vans will be dispatched to locations for people to listen to the address.

On Saturday, Union minister Amit Shah campaigned in Muzaffarnagar and recalled how riot victims were victimized by the police under the Samajwadi Party government for vote-bank politics, while a few kilometers away in Baghpat, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath claimed that the more than 60 Hindus were killed and over 1,500 were put behind bars during the Muzaffarnagar riots and alleged that the SPs red cap is painted with the blood of innocent ram bhakts.

"SPs Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhury (RLD chief) said hum saath saath hain (we are together) but the question is for how long We say only till counting (of the votes) If their (SP) government is formed, then Azam Khan will sit (in their government) and Jayant Bhai will be out They (SP-RLD) think that people of Muzaffarnagar do not know this but it became evident with their ticket distribution that this is what will happen if their alliance comes to power, Mr Shah said in Muzaffarnagar while hailing the valour of the Jat community and their nationalism. Jats are an important vote-bank in the region and the BJP has been aggressively wooing them.

While Mr Shah addressed a small gathering of "prabhavi matdata samvaad" in Muzaffarnagar and participated in door-to-door campaigning in Saharanpurs Deoband, the UP CM was in Baghpat to inspect a Covid hospital and addressed a "prabhavi matdata samvaad". BJP president J.P. Nadda participated in a similar exercise in Etawah and Auraiya.
Budget Session of Parliament begins on Monday, January 31, and the first phase will last till February 11

It seems unlikely at the moment that the Narendra Modi government has any major legislative agenda apart from the Finance Bill 2022 in the Budget Session of Parliament that begins on Monday, January 31, and whose first phase will last till February 11. The Economic Survey will be laid before Parliament on Monday itself, while finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2022-23 on Tuesday. The second phase of the session will be from March 14 to April 8.

It is of course possible that the government has something up its sleeve, and that it will put the cards on the table as it were only at the eleventh hour. But it may not take too many risks in the first phase of the session because of the Assembly elections due in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur -- in February-March. It may well try to announce some measures in the Budget or bring in legislation to deal with sections of the electorate in these five states. Due to the multi-phase polling, the extent of the Election Commissions model code of conduct will differ, and the government will surely want to do something electorally gainful in the window that is available. The major policy instrument that the government has is the Budget, and it could announce measures for farmers and address the unrest by unemployed youth as it exploded during the railway job examinations in Bihar. There will just be minor bills that come up, but little of major controversy. It does appear that in the last two Covid-hit years, the government had little room for anything else but to come up with ameliorative measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. As the crisis has not yet passed, the government cannot hope to do anything really new and innovative. The Presidents speech to the joint session of Parliament, which is the governments statement, is likely to talk about the successes achieved in rolling out the vaccination programme, the free rations that have been announced for 80 crore ration card households, and various incentives for different segments of the economy.

The all-party meeting that the government customarily holds with the Opposition parties and its allies is unlikely to be fruitful. The Opposition will demand a discussion on the Covid-19 situation, on the controversial Pegasus issue involving Israeli spyware acquired by the government, the youth unrest over jobs.

The government is unlikely to yield any ground on the Pegasus issue as it is being probed by a Supreme Court-appointed technical committee. The Congress is likely to use an exhaustive New York Times report about an India-Israeli deal, which included the undisclosed Pegasus spyware. But it will not be sufficient to cry foul and treason, as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi did at a press conference. There is a need for some member to cull the facts and build a strong case against the governments secrecy in the matter. Its much most likely the issue will create a lot of predictable heat and little of substance. There is likely to be a furore in both Houses on the issue. The Opposition parties have consistently failed to nail the many omissions and commissions of this government. All that they display is fury and little argument.

As the first phase of the Budget Session is quite short, the Motion of Thanks to the Presidents Address could take up much of the time though the presiding officers and the government have restricted it to a few days. This will most probably end up in a slanging match between the government and the Opposition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will use his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks in the two Houses to talk about the governments successes and dismiss the Oppositions charges, which could as well be an indirect campaign speech for the elections to take place in the five states in the following weeks.

In more ways than one, the government is on safe ground. The focus will be on the Opposition. If the Opposition parties can chalk out a strategy of cooperation, then it could put pressure on the government on several issues, especially during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President. Unfortunately, the Opposition remains divided, much to the amusement of the government.

It is indeed the case that the government is unwilling to yield time and space to discuss issues that the Opposition wants to raise, but the Opposition most of the time is flailing its hands in the air. It should be using the Comptroller and Auditor-Generals reports, though there are not many of them, to expose the government.

For example, the CAG report on the new Indian Institutes of Technology, which are failing on every front, from infrastructure to enrolment to research work, has not been taken up by any of the Opposition parties. The reputed British science journal, Nature, has done a critical editorial on the issue. No one in the Opposition has paid attention to the reality of these so-called unicorns among the start-ups as much of it is market overvaluation. The government is getting away because there is not an iota of diligence on the part of the Opposition parties, and they dont do their homework.

In a press conference at the Congress office in New Delhi on January 19, 2021, Rahul Gandhi lamented: Vipaksh ko free and fair media ki zaroorat hai (The Opposition needs a free and fair media). But the media needs substantial stories and not rhetorical hot air. When the BJP was in Opposition, its leaders used to dig out stories of corruption and inefficiency, and hold press conferences. Though Mr Modi enjoys huge support in sections of the media, there are others who are looking to get real stuff about the governments exaggerated claims and even lies. The Opposition leaders are not willing to dig out the facts.

An untapped story of secrecy and wrongdoing on the governments part is its much-hyped vaccination programme, its procurement of vaccines from various manufacturers. No question has been raised by any Opposition leader on why the India-made Covaxin of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has failed to produce the vaccine doses needed in the country, and why is it manufactured-in-India Covishield of Punes Serum Institute of India that has supplied about 85 per cent of the vaccine doses administered in the country.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the Narendra Modi government can be assured of an easy time in Parliament.
People can find Jesus if they accept his ways and his challenges, without complaint, without suspicion, without criticism and long faces. In other words, Jesus asks you to accept him in the daily reality that you live; in the Church of today, as it is; in those who are close to you every day; in the reality of those in need. The pontiff noted that the Lunar New Year, which begins this Tuesday, will provide many families with opportunities to gather together and experience moments of love and joy!

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  In today's Angelus Pope Francis spoke about the Gospel story in which Jesus is chased out of the Nazareth synagogue.

In his address, the pontiff said that those who seek miracles or a faith made up of power and external signs shall not find Jesus, who wants to be accepted in the daily reality that you live; in the Church of today, as it is; in those who are close to you every day; in the reality of those in need.

After the Marian prayer, Francis spoke to the 10,000 people gathered in St Peter's Square, noting that in early February, many countries in the Far East celebrate the Lunar New Year, an occasion for many families to gather together and experience moments of love and joy.

However, Many [other] families, unfortunately, will not be able to get together this year because of the pandemic. I hope that we will soon be able to overcome this trial. Indeed, thanks to the good will of individuals and the solidarity of peoples, the entire human family will be able to achieve with renewed dynamism goals of material and spiritual prosperity.

Before the Angelus, commenting on this Sundays Gospel reading, Francis said that for Jesus, the way in which his fellow villagers reacted was not entirely unexpected".

And, so, we might wonder: but if it was like this, if he foresaw a failure, why did he go to his hometown all the same? Why do good to people who are not willing to accept you? It is a question that we too often ask ourselves. But it is a question that helps us understand God better.

Faced with our closures, he does not withdraw: he does not put brakes on his love. Faced with our closures, he goes forward. We see a reflection of this in parents who are aware of the ingratitude of their children, but do not cease to love them and do good to them for this. God is the same, but at a much higher level. And today he invites us too to believe in good, to leave no stone unturned in doing good.

[I]n what happens in Nazareth we also find something else. The hostility towards Jesus on the part of his people provokes us: they were not welcoming  but what about us? To verify this, let us look at the models of acceptance that Jesus proposes today, to us and to his fellow countrymen. They are two foreigners: a widow from Sarepta of Sidon and Naaman, the Syrian.

Both Elijah the widow and Elisha the Syrian welcomed a prophet, showing readiness and humility. This is how faith expresses itself; this is the way of welcoming God.

Jesus also goes the way of the prophets: he presents himself as we would not expect. He is not found by those who seek miracles  if we look for miracles, we will not find Jesus  by those who seek new sensations, intimate experiences, strange things; those who seek a faith made up of power and external signs. No, they will not find him.

Instead, he is found only by those who accept his ways and his challenges, without complaint, without suspicion, without criticism and long faces. In other words, Jesus asks you to accept him in the daily reality that you live; in the Church of today, as it is; in those who are close to you every day; in the reality of those in need.

And us, are we welcoming or do we resemble his fellow countrymen, who believed they knew everything about him? I studied theology; I took that course in catechesis I know everything about Jesus! Yes, like a fool! Dont be foolish, you dont know Jesus. Perhaps, after many years as believers, we think we know the Lord well, with our ideas and our judgments, very often. The risk is that we get accustomed, we get used to Jesus.

Thus, how do we grow accustomed? We close ourselves off, we close ourselves off to his newness, to the moment in which he knocks on our door and asks you something new, and wants to enter into you. We must stop being fixed in our positions. And when a person has an open mind, a simple heart, he or she has the capacity to be surprised, to wonder. The Lord always surprises us: this is the beauty of the encounter with Jesus. Instead, the Lord asks us for an open mind and a simple heart. May Our Lady, model of humility and willingness, show us the way to welcome Jesus.

Finally, Francis mentioned that today is World Leprosy Day. Expressing his closeness to those who suffer from this disease, he said he hoped that there will be no lack of spiritual assistance and healthcare.

For him, It is necessary to work together towards the full integration of these people, overcoming every form of discrimination associated with a disease that unfortunately still afflicts many, especially in the most disadvantaged social contexts. (FP)
Here is a list of the 17 bills U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert has introduced, complete with summar
Former House Republican leader Themis Klarides is now running for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Richard Blumenthal. Here, she is shown hugging Gov. Ned Lamont before the State of the State Address in 2020. (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)

HARTFORD  In a surprising turnaround, former House Republican leader Themis Klarides dropped out of the race for governor Sunday and is instead running for the U.S. Senate.

Former House Republican leader Themis Klarides announced Sunday that she plans to challenge Richard Blumenthal for his U.S. Senate seat in November. (Courant file photo) (Kassi Jackson/The Hartford Courant)

Both Republicans and Democrats have been discussing the possibility for the past week, but Klarides avoided interviews in recent days so that she could make her announcement exclusively on a television news show with a large audience of political insiders.

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Klarides said she changed her mind after constantly hearing from voters about the gridlock and dysfunction in Washington that she said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has not done enough to improve.

Is he just going to get a pass? Klarides asked television host Dennis House of Blumenthal. He needs to explain to people why he votes with Democrats almost 100% of the time. ... You see him outside throwing rocks at the building  being partisan and political. ... What I see is not enough compromise.

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In a deep blue state, Republicans have not won the Senate race since Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1982 as the seat has been dominated by major Democratic leaders such as Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman, Chris Murphy and Blumenthal.

My brand of Republicanism is what Connecticut wants, Klarides said.

When asked about former President Donald Trump, Klarides said, My focus is completely Connecticut.

With Republican Bob Stefanowski saying that he will spend $10 million to battle against Gov. Ned Lamont, some political insiders had said that the high total might deter Klarides from the governors race.

With Themis Klarides dropping out of the race, Republican Bob Stefanowski, right, is looking for a rematch against Democrat Ned Lamont in the battle for governor. Here, they are shown at a debate in 2018. (Courant file photo) (John Woike / Hartford Courant)

But Klarides, 56, said in a text message that she was not concerned about the size of Stefanowskis campaign war chest. Instead, she will now be involved in a big-money race against Blumenthal, one of the states best-known politicians for the past 30 years. After raising money at a steady pace, Blumenthal had a daunting $6.9 million cash on hand as of the most recent public filing reports.

The entrance of Klarides immediately gave Republicans a top-tier candidate against Blumenthal, a Democrat who was facing three lesser-known Republican candidates who have never held major offices.

Republican supporters were energized by an outspoken, hard-charging woman with 22 years of experience in the state legislature, including six years as House Republican leader. Known as a collaborator who held her caucus together, Klarides also had a no-nonsense style that included blunt criticisms of Lamont at times.

Shes a unique individual, said former House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk. She would be a phenomenal senator. She calls it like she sees it. You know where she stands. Thats for sure. Very common-sense, very direct, take-charge type of person.

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In response to Alabama's 2019 law on abortions, then-House Republican leader Themis Klarides speaks in support of abortion rights during one of two rallies held at the same time at the state Capitol. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)

Blumenthal defeated Linda McMahon and her $50 million campaign war chest in 2010, but Cafero said that Klarides brings a different skillset with 22 years of deep knowledge of Connecticut government and political connections across the state.

Dick Blumenthal has never run against a person who has the knowledge and the breadth of experience in government and campaigning as Themis does, Cafero said. Linda had money, but Themis has, most importantly, the experience. She knows how to deal with the press, with constituents. She knows town committees. She knows delegates. She knows all those things. She can talk the talk. She has walked the walk.

Hes not going to know how to handle her. Let me put it this way: He never had an opponent like Themis Klarides.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Greenwich walks the halls of the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 19. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades) (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP)

Blumenthal, who turns 76 in February, declined to comment when asked about Klarides.

My focus is on doing my job and working for the people of Connecticut, Blumenthal said in an interview. There will be plenty of time for politics later in the year.

Klarides has already spent nearly $400,000 of her own money as she explored the governors race before switching to the Senate race.

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The other Republicans who have been talking about challenging Blumenthal include immigration attorney Peter Lumaj, who has lost three races for statewide office; Simsbury landscaper and Trump supporter Robert Hyde, and Norwalk resident John Flynn, a former portfolio manager who holds an MBA in finance and lost two races for the state House of Representatives in 2018 and 2020 by at least 50 percentage points each time.

Lumaj said strongly Sunday that hes staying in the race  which could lead to a battle at the state party convention in May. Lumaj pushed his case to the convention in 2018 in the battle for governor, but he failed to receive enough support from delegates to force a primary.

Now that Themis Klarides has finished her $500,000 electoral shopping spree, I welcome her to the fight to end Dick Blumenthals career in Washington, Lumaj said. But I also know that Connecticut Republicans will see through this blatant political gamesmanship. I know that I am the conservative fighter that Connecticut Republicans need to take this fight on.

Another potential candidate is Greenwich resident Leora Levy, a major fundraiser and Republican National Committee member who was nominated as ambassador to Chile by Trump but was not confirmed by the time Trump left office. A source close to Levy said she is focusing on the battle against Blumenthal and not against U.S. Rep. Jim Himes in the 4th Congressional district.

Her supporters like that shes a conservative with a national network and a national policy outlook, a supporter said. None of the calls shes received have been contingent on someone else running or not running for the Republican nomination. Shes been blown away by the offering of support and is seriously considering entering the race.

With the party convention less than four months away on May 7, Republicans are far behind Blumenthal in the fundraising race. Blumenthal has been fundraising online on a steady basis for months as Republicans have been working behind the scenes to see who would challenge the incumbent.

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Besides a large campaign war chest, Blumenthal has several advantages, including high name recognition and approval ratings in a blue state where he has already won two races for U.S. Senate, five races for state attorney general and three for state legislature earlier in his career.

The switch in plans by Klarides was first disclosed by Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie, a former state senator, in his blog and column.

While some Republicans are excited about Klaridess chances, Democrats say Blumenthal has too much campaign money and too much popularity in polls.

Longtime Democratic political operative Matthew J. Hennessy of Hartford said he expects that Trump, who has clashed with Blumenthal in the past, could surface in the race that Hennessy said Klarides is definitely going to lose in November.

Trump would put some of his support behind Themis to raise money across the country  just to mess with Blumenthal, Hennessy said. Trump cant help himself to take a shot at Blumenthal.

At the same time, Klarides could find herself on the Fox News Channel and other conservative outlets because Republicans are no fans of the Democratic incumbent who serves on the judiciary committee and often appears on national television.

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If shes taking shots at Blumenthal, shell get invited on Tucker Carlson on Fox  probably more than a few times, Hennessy predicted. She wouldnt be on Fox if she was running against Stefanowski.

Politics is a family tradition for Klarides. In 2017, she and her sister, Nicole, became the first two sisters to serve simultaneously in the legislature in Connecticut history.

It was Themis who first entered public service when she ran for the legislature in 1998. As the House Republican leader, she became the highest-ranking woman in the legislature and one of the top politicians in the state.

My mother and all the Klarides women were just strong, independent women, Nicole Klarides-Ditria recalled. My mother always said to us, as far back as I can remember, that You can do whatever you want. You dont need someone to hold you back and tell you you cant do it. Whatever it is you want to do, we will always support you. We will be there by your side, and you can do it.

State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, the sister of then-House GOP leader Themis Klarides, takes a phone call before the session starts at the state Capitol in Hartford. (Courant file photo) (Brad Horrigan/The Hartford Courant)

Through the years, Themis often encouraged her younger sister to enter public life, but the moves were not immediate. The sisters are so close that they talk almost every day  and often multiple times a day by telephone or text.

They served together for four years until Klarides decided in 2020 not to seek reelection to her legislative seat. At that time, she left the door open for higher office. Many supporters thought she would end up running against Lamont, but now her opponent will be Blumenthal.

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Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com.
Athens, TX (75751)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
One of the most recent problems reported by users out there concerns Google Maps , the worlds number one mobile navigation app so many drivers rely on.This time, the feature thats broken down is voice navigation, as Google Maps no longer provides any audio guidance during phone calls. For some reason, everything is working fine when listening to music or when running other audio apps, but when a call takes over the sound, Google Maps interrupts the audio guidance completely.The navigation is still working properly, users say, and the visual indicators continue to be available.And of course, Android 12 is the one to blame for the whole thing, as Google Maps was working just fine before the installation of this new operating system version.While on a phone call, Google Map's voice navigation doesn't work; there's no sound (not even the alarm notification). However, while navigating, upon hanging up the phone call, it works again (no need to restart navigation). This is a new problem I noticed only after I upgraded to Android 12, it was working before on Android 11, one user says on Googles forums Several others have confirmed the same behavior in their cars, and at first glance, no workaround seems to be bringing things back to normal.If Android 12 is indeed the culprit, the only solution is downgrading to Android 11, but this is neither convenient nor easy to do for the Average Joe.Google is yet to acknowledge the problem, but the company has a lot to fix in Android 12 anyway, at least as far as the experience in the car is concerned.
Record-breaking waves of campaign cash are poised to flood state-level races for secretary of state and other positions with a role in administering elections, according to the election watchdog Brennan Center.

Why it matters: As many GOP-led states move to restrict voting rights, and as former President Trump promotes loyalist candidates backing baseless election fraud claims or paths for elected officials to overrule the will of voters, both parties have put outsized focus on getting the "right" people into decision-making posts.

Driving the news: In a report released Wednesday, the Brennan Center says secretary of state candidates in Georgia, Michigan and Minnesota have been more than doubling their overall fundraising, compared to comparable points in the 2018 and 2014 midterms.

In Georgia  the front lines both in the battle over voting rights and Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election  Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's re-election campaign had raised four times more money by last June than he had at the same point in 2018.

had raised four times more money by last June than he had at the same point in 2018. And he's only the second-best fundraiser in the race.

Trump-backed Rep. Jody Hice had brought in more money than anyone else in the Georgia secretary of state race.

In Michigan, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, had nearly quintupled her 2018 cycle draw as of last October, coming in at $1.2 million.

Data: Brennan Center; Chart: Will Chase/Axios

The big picture: It's not just individual races.

The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State raised $202,000 in the first six months of 2019, the report said  the first time the national group ever had cleared six figures in the first half of an odd-numbered year.

Then the group cleared $1 million in the first half of 2021.

The Republican State Leadership Committee also has seen an increase.

Details: Brennan Center officials say this is the first time they've launched tracking initiatives for these contests.

The group also will track local election-official races in Arizona, Florida Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Texas and Wisconsin; and governor's races in the same states plus Pennsylvania.

States have different filing requirements, so some of these totals are outdated and a new candidate may have moved into the fundraising lead. But the overall trend toward more overall flooding of cash appears unstoppable.

What to watch: The Brennan Center says it also will be keeping track of candidates who claim the 2020 election results were illegitimate, threaten not to certify results, call for baseless "full forensic audits" or otherwise use election denial in campaign messaging.

The report says all six of the battleground states with secretary of state elections this year  Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Wisconsin  have at least one candidate questioning or denying the 2020 election.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Jody Hice is currently a member of Congress, not a former U.S. representative.
Vard Terry took a drive from Bakersfield to Paso Robles not long ago to visit a retired farm manager and former customer who had reached out a